Former President Trump

[jeremyp]

I think our Government is very unhappy about Trump's dangerous stupidity over Iran, and doesn't need any convincing.

Was that in answer to my question? If it was,, you missed the point.

There's two aspects to Trump's decision. There's the obvious one about how dangerous and stupid it is in terms of Iran getting hold of nuclear weapons. But there is another issue - perhaps as dangerous in the long term - in that it appears you cannot do any kind of deal with the USA because the next president could just overturn it.

[jeremyp]

Sorry I didn't get the point of your question, I thought you were referring to the idiot who is the preseent incumbent of the White House.

There's that too. It might not be the next president, it might be the current one in the case of Trump who seems to change his mind on a whim.

[Harrowby Hall]

Isn't there another factor?

I have heard on the radio someone suggest that Trump may make it awkward for any other country trading with Iran to trade with the USA. So, for instance, Airbus, with operations in (at least) France, UK, Germany and Spain - with a holding company, EADS, based in the Netherlands may find it difficult to get components made in the USA. In addition, as was the case briefly with Bombardier of Canada, Airbus products may be hit with a 200% tariff.

[Rhiannon]

Isn't there another factor?

I have heard on the radio someone suggest that Trump may make it awkward for any other country trading with Iran to trade with the USA. So, for instance, Airbus, with operations in (at least) France, UK, Germany and Spain - with a holding company, EADS, based in the Netherlands may find it difficult to get components made in the USA. In addition, as was the case briefly with Bombardier of Canada, Airbus products may be hit with a 200% tariff.

Yes, I read this somewhere too. It seems to be about a trade war as much as any kind of moral position. The problem is that Trump is actually a really shit businessman and doesn't realise he’s heading for ruining the economies of both his own country and the world as a whole; against a background of seeing Iran dash back towards nuclear arms (followed by Saudi?) and Russia throwing its weight around this seems even more insane.

[wigginhall]

Also the idea that Trump wants regime change in Iran is circulating among journos.    This sounds crazy to me, but I think the plan is not so much military, as economic.    In other words, the US will now implement intense sanctions against Iran, bringing about conflict within the country, and the rise of an opposition to take power.   However, it may well have the opposite effect, that is, helping the hard-liners regain influence, and producing intense Iranian patriotism.   

Military solutions seem crazy, although I suppose that Israel may act as a proxy, attacking Iranian positions in Syria, attacking Hezbollah, and so on. 
 
Wow, is this dangerous, or what?   There is a joke about regime change, which regime might fall?

[Harrowby Hall]

  In other words, the US will now implement intense sanctions against Iran, bringing about conflict within the country, and the rise of an opposition to take power.   However, it may well have the opposite effect, that is, helping the hard-liners regain influence, and producing intense Iranian patriotism.   

Oh dear.

Doesn't the orange headed idiot president realise that there are no "normal" politics in Iran? The "government" is only a front. The real power is held by a bunch of clerics who have a band of youthful zealots prepared to use violence to enforce the clerics' will.

[Robbie]

He'd pay the polygraph examiner ,telling him to name his price!

[SteveH]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-44143960

It would be very entertaining to see Trump featured on the ghastly Jeremy Kyle show, having taken a lie detector test regarding his 'affair' the porn star Stormy Daniels. No doubt he would say the test was wrong, if it revealed he was telling porkies!

Unfortunately, the test could well be wrong. Lie-detectors are little better than guesswork at detecting lies, which why results from them are not admissible as evidence in court. They are a con trick, really: the person taking one thinks they work, and is thus deterred from lying; or an accused person knows that they don't work, and offers to take one, knowing that they can still get away with lying through their teeth.

[jeremyp]

https://liedetectortesting.co.uk/how-accurate-is-a-lie-detector-test/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI8cmrk72R2wIVzrXtCh1eqQ7-EAAYAiAAEgLXO_D_BwE

Although no forensic testing of any kind can be guaranteed to be 100% accurate, research gathered by The American Polygraph Association has suggested that qualified polygraph examiners can achieve an accuracy of 95% to 98% when an examination is conducted in an accurate manner, with issue-specific questions and using validated polygraph techniques.

I'm thinking of as number. You pick a number between 1 and 20 and if it's the same as mine you go to prison for the rest of your life. Do you want to play that game?

[Aruntraveller]

Well, well, well......

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-44242558

[jeremyp]

Well, well, well......

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-44242558

Not remotely surprised, and now he has decided to start a trade war with his closest allies.

[Aruntraveller]

Not remotely surprised, and now he has decided to start a trade war with his closest allies.

Although he has, of course, changed tack again on the summit.

[Harrowby Hall]

Of course - he is not a strategist. He operates in the short term - he is a "deal maker". And the deal can change from day to day.

[Nearly Sane]

And for his own supporters he is doing very well


https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-44324545

[jeremyp]

And for his own supporters he is doing very well


https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-44324545

Yes, this is why he will not be impeached.

It's been said that, in the current climate, Nixon would get away with Watergate.

[Aruntraveller]

And in further news:

https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/united-states-un-human-rights_uk_5b293c0ce4b0f0b9e9a5e0fc?5ev

[wigginhall]

I read a recent tweet from Trump talking of Democrats who are telling "phoney stories of sadness and grief", in relation to children being separated from parents.   This stuff is scary; I am thinking of how the Jews were treated in the 30s.   How do the Christians who vote Trump sleep at night? 

[Rhiannon]

Yes, Fox News had a woman saying these kids are actors reading ‘scripts given to them by liberals’.

[wigginhall]

I wonder if Christians who support him, genuinely think It's fake news, or that you have to crack down on immigration, and removing children is necessary?  It's what Jesus would want, after all.

[Rhiannon]

I think there’s a perception of scarcity. Trump fuels that by making others the enemy, even those who have been friends. I guess living your enemies doesn’t extend to treating them with humanity.

[Harrowby Hall]

It's what Jesus would want, after all.

Indeed. Suffer the little children.

Trump probably thinks he is approaching sainthood by making children suffer!

[Roses]

Indeed. Suffer the little children.

Trump probably thinks he is approaching sainthood by making children suffer!

No doubt.

[Nearly Sane]

Trump and Elton John


https://www.intomore.com/culture/so-it-seems-like-trump-is-obsessed-with-elton-john

[Robbie]

Hope Elton doesn't reciprocate!

(The fact that Trump doesn't have an organ explains a lot.)

[Harrowby Hall]

Now the Orange Oaf has decided to interfere in domestic UK politics. If May were not the gutless incompetent that she is, then she would terminate his visit to this country immediately and order the departure of him and his entourage.



She should follow the example of Lester Pearson, who in 1967, encouraged Charles de Gaulle to leave Canada following his "vive le Quebec livre" speech in Montreal.