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In the past, Presidents took serious consideration of what they stated publicly. It would routinely undergo vetting by various internal departments, depending on the topics involved. Yes, it ran the risk by today's standards of not being seen as so "raw" and "genuine" as some people like, and of course Presidents were still far from perfect in their utterances. But there was awareness that the top leader's words signaled a lot - they could reassure allies (or opposite), enable deals to happen (or not), and signal boundaries to adversaries. So Presidents - Republican and Democrat - generally picked their words carefully. They would at least consider whether their statements would enhance national interest or make it more difficult to achieve.
By contrast, we now have the first US President who shoots from the hip with a spur-of-the-moment word salad formed mainly around his insecure ego, i.e. as reactions to what we perceives others to think about him. This plays well with his base, who as local yokels identify with a world where they don't need to vet what they say - and so Trump comes across as "one of us."
Great for Trump with respect to his base, but the problem with this is that it's not just Trumpers reading his Tweets (and the Libs that Trumpers gleefully see as enraged by it); it's also the rest of the world. And when our allies and adversaries are faced with a slew of inconsistent, cathartic statements, one of two things happen:
1. They think he seriously means it, and they form their policies accordingly to go it alone - they form new alliances that exclude the US, etc.
2. They think he doesn't seriously mean it since he spews a lot of hot air, in which case they learn not to take it seriously. This the blunts the credibility of the currency the President carries with his word in public.
Notice that either way, the President's wors becomea devalued, which can't even good.
I think both have happened to an extent, but #2 is especially the risky one with respect to entities like North Korea. Given Trump's flippant and petulant comments, I think others are being conditioned not to take him seriously. That means his word can no longer give valuable, meaningful signals to the opponent in terms of where the negotiation areas are and where the hard boundaries are; they disregard all of it. North Korea also obviously does the same, and the world has similarly discounted them.
So now you have two ego-driven entities who can no longer get good signaling from each other's word - and with nuclear weapons. This is how the stage gets set for a misunderstanding, which is a likely spark to a very costly fight between the two. It only takes a matter of minutes for this to play out.
And that is why a President's character and word still matter, as we will discovery to our own misfortune.
Dead on. Thanks for the summary. We all see the reality of the situation very clearly now. The most dangerous part is that we have a Congress that refuses to do their duty in the balance of power equation. They have decided that power and politics comes before country. Greatest danger this country has faced since the founding.
This place needed a Dirty Hairy, Matt Dillon type.
Seems to be working well, compared to the last few guys.
He is the teflon Don. Everything you guys have thrown at him, slid right off. Only to have it thrown back at you, hitting the target solid.
In the past, Presidents took serious consideration of what they stated publicly. It would routinely undergo vetting by various internal departments, depending on the topics involved. Yes, it ran the risk by today's standards of not being seen as so "raw" and "genuine" as some people like, and of course Presidents were still far from perfect in their utterances. But there was awareness that the top leader's words signaled a lot - they could reassure allies (or opposite), enable deals to happen (or not), and signal boundaries to adversaries. So Presidents - Republican and Democrat - generally picked their words carefully. They would at least consider whether their statements would enhance national interest or make it more difficult to achieve.
By contrast, we now have the first US President who shoots from the hip with a spur-of-the-moment word salad formed mainly around his insecure ego, i.e. as reactions to what we perceives others to think about him. This plays well with his base, who as local yokels identify with a world where they don't need to vet what they say - and so Trump comes across as "one of us."
Great for Trump with respect to his base, but the problem with this is that it's not just Trumpers reading his Tweets (and the Libs that Trumpers gleefully see as enraged by it); it's also the rest of the world. And when our allies and adversaries are faced with a slew of inconsistent, cathartic statements, one of two things happen:
1. They think he seriously means it, and they form their policies accordingly to go it alone - they form new alliances that exclude the US, etc.
2. They think he doesn't seriously mean it since he spews a lot of hot air, in which case they learn not to take it seriously. This the blunts the credibility of the currency the President carries with his word in public.
Notice that either way, the President's wors becomea devalued, which can't even good.
I think both have happened to an extent, but #2 is especially the risky one with respect to entities like North Korea. Given Trump's flippant and petulant comments, I think others are being conditioned not to take him seriously. That means his word can no longer give valuable, meaningful signals to the opponent in terms of where the negotiation areas are and where the hard boundaries are; they disregard all of it. North Korea also obviously does the same, and the world has similarly discounted them.
So now you have two ego-driven entities who can no longer get good signaling from each other's word - and with nuclear weapons. This is how the stage gets set for a misunderstanding, which is a likely spark to a very costly fight between the two. It only takes a matter of minutes for this to play out.
And that is why a President's character and word still matter, as we will discovery to our own misfortune.
"In the past, Presidents took serious consideration of what they stated publicly."
How old are you?
Obama CONSTANTLY mis-spoke, and mostly when he had a teleprompter to read form.
I guess you think, "It depends on what the meaning of the word is, is", was OK.
"I did NOT have sexual relations...."
It is NOT just dems who mis-speak.
I didn't wast my time reading the rest of your whining biased based rant.
Where is the republican leadership that accepts Trump statements as anything resembling normal behavior. When history looks back at their silence on Trump its not going to paint them in a positive light.
"In the past, Presidents took serious consideration of what they stated publicly."
How old are you?
Obama CONSTANTLY mis-spoke, and mostly when he had a teleprompter to read form.
I guess you think, "It depends on what the meaning of the word is, is", was OK.
"I did NOT have sexual relations...."
It is NOT just dems who mis-speak.
I didn't wast my time reading the rest of your whining biased based rant.
There is no equivalence. Every President has had their fair share of foolish statements; in addition to those you mention above, remember "Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job" and "mission accomplished" from Dubya? This is par for the course, because Presidents are fallible.
Trump is in a different league entirely. His rhetorical grenades are designed to play to his base, we all understand that; but their unintended effect is to destabilize our international relationships and put the nation at risk. It's abundantly clear that he could not care less. And that makes him totally different from every President in my lifetime. Whether Democrat or Republican, there was never any doubt about the fact that aside from their politics, they took the protection of the security of the nation very seriously. Trump on the other hand, puts the protection of his fragile ego above every other consideration. He's willing to make any statement at any time to "punch back" against real or imagined "enemies". We have a deeply sick person as the leader of our nation, and this is totally unprecedented. Trump represents a unique threat to our democracy.
Last edited by GearHeadDave; 01-04-2018 at 06:18 AM..
As you will soon see, from some of the posts they will make, his cult LOVES the fact that he is rude, uncensored, and arrogant. They see it as "being tough and strong". They see anyone who realizes that words have consequences as being weak.
Everything you posted is absolutely accurate. He does not seem to grasp that every time he tweets out something, it is not just read by his core, but rather, the rest of the world. They don't know if they can trust him or not. He is essentially a loose cannon internationally.
We need to bring maturity, discretion , intelligence, and class back to the WH. The spoiled child who has occupied it for the past year has done more damage in that time than anyone before him, and it needs to stop before we end up being a country that is not respected or needed by the rest of the world.
Not going to unless Mueller finds something that even Republican Senators in deep red states feel they can't ignore. Even if the house flips in November, a two thirds vote in the Senate (after impeachment in the House) would be needed to remove Trump. I doubt Pence will flip on Trump, and he would be needed, in addition to a majority of the cabinet secretaries, for a 25th Amendment removal.
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His Teflon is gone, he's covered with Velcro now. 
