What do you hold in high respect?

[Sunstroke]

You think he's stiff now, give him another couple years.

That was an iced coffee snort out of the left nostril comment...bravo sir! 

[pondwater]

^ I feel differently about Trump.

I'd love to meet George Bush or W.  ...but Trump, I find a detestable person that I just don't respect as a human.

They're all the same crooks, cheaters, lairs, and scumbags. The only difference with Trump is that he has no filter on his mouth. They've all said and done the same or worse as Trump, it just wasn't front and center in the Media circus everyday. I'm pretty sure the next Republican to win the White House after Trump will be the new "worst" detestable person. Identity politics at its finest....

[Spider-Dan]

They've all said and done the same or worse as Trump, it just wasn't front and center in the Media circus everyday.

This is turning into the conservative battle cry: "everyone else is just as terrible as the guy I support!"
First everyone else was as bad as Dubya, and now everyone else is as bad as Trump.

Trump is worse than GWB.
GWB was worse than GHWB.
GHWB was better than Reagan, who was better than Nixon but worse than Ford.

Seems like a sad lot when you are forced to insist that everyone else is as atrocious as the guy you support, because actually claiming that he's NOT awful is too ridiculous to be believable.

I'm pretty sure the next Republican to win the White House after Trump will be the new "worst" detestable person.

I guess that depends on the success of the future GOP presidential campaigns of David Duke and Alex Jones!  The bar can always go lower.

[Cathal]

They're all the same crooks, cheaters, lairs, and scumbags. The only difference with Trump is that he has no filter on his mouth. They've all said and done the same or worse as Trump, it just wasn't front and center in the Media circus everyday. I'm pretty sure the next Republican to win the White House after Trump will be the new "worst" detestable person. Identity politics at its finest....

Yeah.... OK. Look at the bills and laws passed by Obama vs Trump. This is such a lame and ignorant excuse.

[BigDaddyFin]

I hold the belief in the plain and everyday wisdom of ordinary people to govern themselves.
I hold the belief that there is a God, his Son was Jesus Christ and he died for my sins.  (if you don't believe in my religion, then I hope you hold the same belief in your God.  If you're an atheist, I hope you believe in trying to better yourself and even though it may not match perfectly, that you are guided by a moral compass as we all are)
I hold the belief that this country is special in the sense that our Constitution defines the limits of the government's powers, not the people's.
Most of all, even if you don't agree with me politically or philosophically, even if you don't believe in me, know that I believe in every single last one of you.

[CF DolFan]

The Trump thing really does baffle me. He clearly is doing things to help this country and benefits everyone but gets zero credit from the Left. It's as if nothing matters because he is a douche but other presidents who did nothing are supposedly better because they faked a public persona. No one seems to be able to separate the issues any longer. It's an irrational fear to think you can't acknowledge anything being positive. 

[Fau Teixeira]

it isn't clear .. that's the problem .. what is he doing to help the "country" .. i see him doing absurd things like starting trade wars that hurt the country

[Cathal]

The Trump thing really does baffle me. He clearly is doing things to help this country and benefits everyone but gets zero credit from the Left.

Uhhhhh, what? What's he done to actually help the country?

[Tenshot13]

Oh boy, thread derail imminent.

[CF DolFan]

it isn't clear .. that's the problem .. what is he doing to help the "country" .. i see him doing absurd things like starting trade wars that hurt the country

Perfect example. that's all you want to see. Already countries have come to the table to renegotiate trade terms. Just this week he made a preliminary agreement with the European Union and China wants to talk. His strategy has been ... talk tough and then walk it back to negotiate. So far it has worked perfectly. it also gives Leftist things to complain about because they think he's too brash.

Even if the North Korea thing was his only accomplishment, and it isn't, he would have done quite a bit for us. GDP just grew a freking 4.1%! That's f'ing amazing and yet crickets from the Leftist side. He's also bringing home bodies of dead soldiers from the Korean War. Seriously ... this has been a good week for him but the gloomsayers won't see it.

[Spider-Dan]

Starting trade wars and then "solving" them (but not really, because the tariffs still exist) does not earn you credit for works accomplished.  Neither does starting hostilities with North Korea and then getting us back to the starting point.  What you consider a success with North Korea - giving Kim a huge photo op in exchange for soldiers' remains - would have earned complete denouncement had any other president done it.  The bar for Trump is permanently set at the floor, and any time he clears it, we're expected to throw a parade.

To wit: GDP grew an amazing 4.1% this year, you say?



It grew more than that three times under Obama.  It grew damn near SIX percent under Obama and all you guys had to say was that he was an incompetent Marxist who is destroying the economy.  The soft bigotry of low expectations strikes again!

When it comes to any sort of foreign policy (economic or political) the essence of the Trump Presidency is he screws something up, "negotiates" a solution that is almost as good as what we already had before (but now HIS name is on it), and we're all supposed to cheer.

The one thing that Trump has been extremely effective at is punishing immigrants.  So if you're a member of the Fuck Off, We're Full crowd, I can see how you would enthusiastically cheer him.  Maybe even if you're in the trickle-down tax-cuts crowd... although the hardcore free-market corporatists are probably not happy about the tariffs and the wild uncertainty every time he sends a tweet.  To everyone else, Trump has given them basically nothing.  It's been Obama-but-worse.

To bring this back to your original question, this is why I don't "respect the office." The office is held by a person, and my respect for that person is based on their actions.  I respect ideas.  I respect symbols.  I respect people who have done good things... unless I find out that they have done bad things.

Does winning an election mean that you deserve some respect?  Sure, in the same sense and to the extent that I respect a teacher, a police officer, a judge, or a governor.  That respect is not a shield that protects you from any criticism of your actions.

[Fau Teixeira]

Perfect example. that's all you want to see. Already countries have come to the table to renegotiate trade terms. Just this week he made a preliminary agreement with the European Union and China wants to talk. His strategy has been ... talk tough and then walk it back to negotiate. So far it has worked perfectly. it also gives Leftist things to complain about because they think he's too brash.

Even if the North Korea thing was his only accomplishment, and it isn't, he would have done quite a bit for us. GDP just grew a freking 4.1%! That's f'ing amazing and yet crickets from the Leftist side. He's also bringing home bodies of dead soldiers from the Korean War. Seriously ... this has been a good week for him but the gloomsayers won't see it.

he reached no trade agreement with the EU, they spoke about speaking in the future, no tariffs or trade agreements were made, furthermore he tweeted out that the EU omitted to buying more soy beans which is just a lie, the EU doesn't buy any commodity.

The facts are that his trade policies (if you can call it that) have put american farmers into a 11 billion dollar hole and then he's proposing a 12 billion dollar handout to the same farmers he's screwing. I thought republicans didn't like welfare handouts.

[Spider-Dan]

Republicans love corporate welfare, though.  So taking taxes from the middle-class and giving them to farming corporations is win-win for the GOP.

[Cathal]

CF, I think you see the issues he creates and then "solves" and say he's doing good for the country. I don't think you actually see what's going on. You THINK you see what's going on but you don't quite see it. He says China is hurting the farmers. But that started when he started a trade war. Now he's giving out $12 billion in aid to farmers because he's supposed to help them. Even though, in the past, he said the farmers will understand why they're going to be hit, because they're patriots. They'll take it.

The man is a lunatic. You really need to see this.

[CF DolFan]

CF, I think you see the issues he creates and then "solves" and say he's doing good for the country. I don't think you actually see what's going on. You THINK you see what's going on but you don't quite see it. He says China is hurting the farmers. But that started when he started a trade war. Now he's giving out $12 billion in aid to farmers because he's supposed to help them. Even though, in the past, he said the farmers will understand why they're going to be hit, because they're patriots. They'll take it.

The man is a lunatic. You really need to see this.

LOL ... you guys are funny.  He doesn't create problems. They are already there. In fact I'm sure thee is tape of Democrats saying as much ... before Trump took office.  He blows them up and then comes out with a better deal. He's done it time and time again. See Korea and his results. He's done more in one year than all the other presidents combined just on that one issue.

Somehow Democrats have gone from "Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country" to "how can we get free stuff to the most people?". It's really sad and I don't say that facetiously.