Some suggest he is. I suggest nothing of the kind. I flat-out KNOW he's setting it!
Love or loathe it, Donald Trump is setting the agenda again
Liberals are absolutely going bonkers over/about TRUMP.
Conservatives find TRUMP a daily source of revulsion/obsession/angst.
Establishment think tanks are overheating trying to figure out ways to marginalize TRUMP.
The gover-business house organ (i.e., the mainstream media) is absolutely apoplectic about TRUMP.
Everybody in the country is talking about TRUMP.
Everybody in the world is talking about TRUMP.
It matters not whether you love the man or hate him. If you're obsessing about TRUMP, he OWNS YOU! He's had you evicted from your own frapping mind!
Of course he's setting the agenda. If there's anything Trump knows how to do, it's get attention. The question is, will Americans see through the obviously manufactured photo ops, and demand real substance, or won't they?
I'm not going to pretend like I'm immune to the spectacle; it's endlessly fascinating to me. But part of the fascination is that this is a real thing that has the potential to seriously affect the lives of many people, for a good long while.
Correct!
And knowing that, you'd think liberals (in particular) and conservatives (as an aside) would quit feeding into this media monster. Nevermind us. We don't count. The people with the big megaphones count, and through their obsession they're doing everything they can to ensure a Trump victory.
And I think we can both agree that would be bad news.
If Americans wanted substance they'd be climbing over themselves to vote for Gary Johnson, and not because he's a Libertarian. They'd be voting for him because he represents the ONLY real/rational alternative to the jingoistic, corporatist statist quo. If Sanders/Stein were running on the Green ticket things might be a bit different, but neither of them appear to have sufficient savvy to join forces.
I don't agree. I think the media coverage, even while getting sucked into the sensationalism of the thing, are still laying bare the absolute hypocrisy, insanity and inconsistency of the Trump campaign. Yes that's getting him more attention, but he should be getting attention. Does Clinton use some of that to her advantage to hide her own faults? Absolutely. But at the end of the day, I think it's because she really is smarter than Trump, who is the living embodiment of being one's own worst enemy. You may say that there's really no difference between the two, but I think you're wrong - elections do actually matter. We get disappointed over and over again, but it does still matter that people get to choose.
"No. He may think he is, but people are not going to go along with his insane agenda."
I would certainly hope not, but I didn't ask whether people would accept it. I asked whether he was setting it. He clearly is.
"The GOP sets the political platform."
Good point. And you're right: ordinarily they do. Not this year, though. This year's GOP didn't have an agenda. Trump coopted it.
"I think you are caught in the Tea Party mania that seems to be dominating the media right now."
And I think you're reading too much into my question. I don't like Trump. I like the asinine 'Tea Party' even less. (BTW, the Tea Party is largely defunct now--at least insofar as federal elections are concerned.)
"But the dust will settle when the election gets here and we will be rid of the hype."
I SINCERELY hope you're right! Trouble is, people tend to vote by name recognition. Even worse, they vote by associative analysis. Since Trump hasn't been caught and held to account for telling any major lies, that means Hillary will stick out as an obvious non-starter.
I do wish there was a viable 3rd party, but let's be realistic here. It's too big of a change for America right now. The best chance for any real change was Bernie, but it was still too much. I hate how he got screwed, but I do understand why it happened.
Suffice to say that America's political system is rife with inconsistency and hypocrisy. I assign no greater or lesser degree of same to either wing of the statist oligarchy (or plutocracy if you prefer).
And of COURSE Hillary is smarter! Hell, I have a tree stump in my back yard which is smarter than Trump. 'Smarts,' though, isn't always a good measure of a candidate's worthiness for office. Hitler was smart. So was Stalin, Lenin, Mao... Surely you can see the folly of relying solely on intelligence as an assay of a candidate's fitness.
I'll meet you half-way on the question of whether elections matter. Sure they do...when a) there's a readily discernible difference between ideals, parties and candidates, and b), when the elections themselves aren't rigged. That's one thing about which Trump and I are in agreement.
Agreed. Sanders literally HAD to get screwed. We can't have the illusion of TWO alternative candidates. That's not how this control drama is designed.
(Note: the conspiracy theorist in me still believes this whole farcical nonsense is Ross Perot 2.0. I still believe Trump's gonna do or say something REALLY stupid/insane prior to the election--thereby clinching a Hillary victory. To borrow from a local colloquialism, "just you hide and watch." :-))
I'd rather have someone smart and devious, than someone stupid and out of control. Hillary has her problems, but she's no Hitler, or Stalin, etc.
Trump absolutely is, but not without his witting or unwitting cohorts.
I cannot remember the last time the media has been so obsessed with a candidate that is so hated by so many.
He's the master of showmanship and he knows how to get stuff for free like publicity.
Exactly!
That was way to easy :)
Then say something nasty. You know, like saying that one of my opinions is bullsh*t? :-D
I don't know anything about political agendas because to me everyone thinks they are better than everyone else and everyone has a political agenda (short answer.) I've always assumed that everyone has an agenda.... whether it's good or bad is the thing to actually debate here.
I've decided I am voting for the libertarian candidate either way (depends if I decide to vote) but I can tell you my opinion which is mixed and somewhat harsh because I can semi understand why one would vote for Trump considering.
When liberals argue with me on here and other places even though I talk about Islam in the context of it actually being a part of a system in over 6 different countries that are very different from how we operate in America... they always tell me it's not true and those things don't happen and I'm racist for talking about it. I'm just lying as if I know SO much and just researched so much because I'm just some racist that bothered to do a bunch of digging and keep track of the victims of sharia law (which happen to be primarily Muslim?) Like how many racists actually bother to do that? Come on I been keeping track of all religious atrocities since the early 2000s. Yeah makes sense right? Nope but for some reason they can't add 2 plus 2 together you know it equals 6 now I guess :)
They really know nothing and I'm supposed to trust them? Yuck. Really like all sarcasm aside I really find it sick like deep down. Now if it was someone like you who wanted a reasonable conversation on Trump, I'd trust your opinion and give it a little more consideration on WHY you think that more so than the type of person I described above. But there's too many people who talk a big game but don't mean a single thing they say... then accuse Trump of ... I don't know being an a*hole? Hmm. I suggest a mirror to some of these people.
...and then I'm supposed to trust these people that can't add 2 plus 2... who claim that Hillary is better and not to trust Trump for some reason? Ha yeah right and I'm God :)
Look here's how I see it. Trump is just words and Hillary is action. Hillary's questionable ethics as a lawyer, what she said about the victims of Benghazi, how she treated the women Bill had uhhh errr... ummmm... "encounters" with, her email scandal. So to me that says that at the end of the day the WAAMBULANCE says Trump hurt their feelings but they wouldn't care if someone just went behind their backs instead.. it's OK then. They'd rather have you do something slimy behind their backs then just well saying mean stuffs. OK sure makes sense? Not really to me.
Trump may say a lot of things but the guy is a great troll. Don't pretend like it's not secretly hilarious the way he has both establishments in a frenzy. Honestly it's hilarious :)
K I will lol. Something nasty and your opinions are bullsh*t :)
Thanks, but you're just spinning the dial landing on random numbers. Goat knows the right combination. :-D
"Trump may say a lot of things but the guy is a great troll. Don't pretend like it's not secretly hilarious the way he has both establishments in a frenzy. Honestly it's hilarious :)"
Congratulations! As far as Trump is concerned, no truer, more aptly descriptive words have ever been spoken!
As for the rest of your post, you're more or less spot on.
Thanks! I heard that Hillary was invited to a couple of Trump's personal engagements in the past.... I don't know if their friendship has changed or what but that's just what I heard.
I've never truly seen both establishments like this though and it is a bit funny. I feel like I want to pick them both up and feed them bottles and rock them gently to sleep and tell them it will be OK... North Korea will blow us all up in a few years anyways. Hopefully not but you get my drift.
Are you obsessed? Why do you keep talking about the same old thing and saying the same old thing? The same people get on here and say the same old thing back to you. Don't you ever get bored of it?
1) I believe the Clintons are beholden to Trump for some MAJOR campaign donations in the past, but no. It wouldn't surprise me if they were good friends off the campaign trail. That's how this charade is played.
2) Kim Jung's missiles prolly wouldn't make it to the contiguous U.S., but that doesn't mean he couldn't cause all manner of mayhem if he tried. That's especially so if the Iranians help out with, say, an EMP weapon. Either way, though, you're right. America's time in the limelight is just about done.
