Any parting thoughts about Trump's reign as president?

[Inmate Trump]

Most of us laughed at the Clinton campaign's description of him as a "pied piper" because it was tied to a strategic mistake on their part, but it might be the best term for describing his presidency.

With that said, the GOP of Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell needed to be destroyed. Imagine how much worse the pandemic would have been in the second term of a Mitt Romney presidency after he mortgaged off our future Medicare and Social Security benefits to build more aircraft carriers. You think that team would have sent out expanded unemployment checks and stimulus payments? Of course not. They probably would have work requirements just for getting the vaccine!

A Romney presidency during covid would have seen compassion and empathy...for starters...but most importantly an embrace of science and the healthcare community.  Masks wouldn't be a partisan issue.  Trust in science and vaccines would be a thing.

You're literally the biggest fool on the forum if you honestly think anyone would have done worse than Trump.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

He was just utterly unsuited to leadership, unfit for the job. To a certain extent you can say that character is not as important as policy, but Trump's huge character flaws had huge costs to the country. America was very lucky in the first three years that there wasn't a major crisis, but the fourth year was an utter disaster for the country. Trump, by failing to rally the nation, undermining social distancing guidance and pressuring states into premature reopenings, cost perhaps hundreds of thousands of lives. I don't know about you, but for me this is his number one legacy. The Capitol Riot wasn't hugely consequential on its own, but it symbolizes how divided he left the nation and how harmful he was to democracy itself. Things will almost inevitably be better going forward, and of course already are, than when Trump left office with the nation divided, the economy suffering and over 3,000 deaths a day. Perhaps Biden will get the credit for that, he is doing a great job so far. I really hope he breaks the decline America seems stuck in and that Trump accelerated.

I'd argue that the "Trump's personality/Trump's policies" dichotomy people talk about is a false one. Personality issues with Trump like his personal corruption, demonization of his political opponents, and constant belittling of disfavored groups and demographics were also policy issues because they were just as much part of his vision for what American society ought to be like as were his judicial appointments and tax cuts.

[Hermit For Peace]

I am still utterly baffled over the amount of support that trump still has, from the ground on up.

Any rational person can see that he is now, has always been, and will probably forever be, full of crap.

I guess I have been giving too many people credit for being rational, thinking humans. Those who still support trump are simply not that, and should not be treated as such.

[Red Velvet]

It was basically another 4 years of trickle-down, with a veneer of populism.  

Pretty much. His damage was more in regards the US image, Supreme Court nominees and some few reversible domestic policies. But I never saw him as the most dangerous thing. He had too much strong opposition domestically to have room to destroy anything. Maybe if US democracy was weaker damage would’ve been much worse.

[7,052,770]

He was a loser and a joke, and will go down in history as the worst president we've ever had, at least up to this point.

[Crumpets]

None of this would have happened if Mark Burnett hadn't decided to rehabilitate Trump's image by giving him the platform of an NBC show tailored to make him look like a competent businessman for a solid decade before he ran for President. If you ever have the ability to give people that kind of a positive promotion in your life, know that this is where it could lead.

[R.P. McM]

An awful man that sadly showed us how awful we’re also capable of being.

We are all capable of a lot of things, but that doesn't mean we act on our lower impulses. Trump was the King of doing that.

Are you basically sticking up for trump, or debasing humanity?

I’m saying that Trump brought out the worst of a lot of people. Sure, not everyone acted on their worst impulses, but I do feel like our society as a whole is less empathetic than it was before.

Less empathetic in the sense that those of us with actual empathy now recognize there are monsters in our midst. But I won't accept a single ounce of blame for Trump or his party, nor will I apologize for reluctantly coming to view them as dangerous, degenerate invertebrates. You notice how contrite the GOP is over Trump? Yeah — because they're exactly what I say they are. Sadly, empathy and civility have to fall by the wayside when the opposition is determined to subvert democracy and institute authoritarian minority rule. I'll gladly stand down once the threat has passed, but given recent developments, you're kidding yourself if you believe this is even remotely over.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

I miss the America First agenda.

[Inmate Trump]

I miss the America First agenda.

From a guy who had all his merch made in China?

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

I miss the America First agenda.

From a guy who had all his merch made in China?

C'mon, Clay, do better.

[Sir Mohamed]

There's no need for me to repeat what's obvious and has been mentioned more than once in this thread; that Mr. Trump's resign and as complete disaster with horrible policies and personell that greatly harmed America's reputation and stoked hate and divisions that was there before to new levels.

What's equally important is that his tenure has revealed the true faces and color of several GOP politicians we thought to be just political competitors. Their entire lack of decency, awareness and critical thinking and the continued embracing of their orange buffoon really speaks volumes.

[Santander]

I miss Mr. Trump, but I appreciate his service to America and pray for him and his family daily.

[darklordoftech]

Why did something like Bridgegate hurt Chris Christie more than any of Trump’s scandals hurt him?

[Sir Mohamed]

I miss Mr. Trump, but I appreciate his service to America and pray for him and his family daily.

His biggest service to America was delivering a Dem trifecta and open our eyes for the deep flaws as a collective society.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Why did something like Bridgegate hurt Chris Christie more than any of Trump’s scandals hurt him?

Christie had made his brand off using his hard-nosed nature for good ends in the eyes of the public - he attacked corruption as a US Attorney for instance, and swept out a (popularly seen as) corrupt Democrat from office. Bridgegate recontextualized this personality trait and aired dirty laundry that seemed to suggest he was no better, so a big chunk of what had made him attractive to NJ voters suddenly fell away.
At least that's my understanding of the situation.

[Del Tachi]

Why did something like Bridgegate hurt Chris Christie more than any of Trump’s scandals hurt him?

Shame is a necessary component of the mainstream media's "gotcha" game.

The media can only police public figures as much as public figures care what the media has to say about them.  That's one revolutionary aspect of Trump's use of social media - his public image and communications strategy is completely divorced from established media channels that have long enforced the bounds of what "acceptable" political behavior is.

It is no coincidence that the people most ardently opposed to Trump (i.e., the media class) are also the ones who have the most to lose from his style of politics being normalized.  They are really just lamenting the loss of their preferred station in the discourse.

[Roll Roons]

Why did something like Bridgegate hurt Chris Christie more than any of Trump’s scandals hurt him?

I think a big part of it was that Trump wasn't seen as a traditional politician, and people had been reading about his personal life in tabloids for decades, so bad behavior on his part wasn't as shocking.

[Hermit For Peace]

There's no need for me to repeat what's obvious and has been mentioned more than once in this thread; that Mr. Trump's resign and as complete disaster with horrible policies and personell that greatly harmed America's reputation and stoked hate and divisions that was there before to new levels.

What's equally important is that his tenure has revealed the true faces and color of several GOP politicians we thought to be just political competitors. Their entire lack of decency, awareness and critical thinking and the continued embracing of their orange buffoon really speaks volumes.

This.

[Badger]

I miss the America First agenda.

America first turned out to be America alone in practice. The foreign policy of realpolitik equivalent of shooting ourselves in our Collective groin.

[R.P. McM]

Why did something like Bridgegate hurt Chris Christie more than any of Trump’s scandals hurt him?

In what sense? Trump lost reelection, no? Were it not for his stolen/illegitimate SCOTUS appointments, Trump's biggest accomplishment would be elevating the COVID death toll by tens/hundreds of thousands. To the extent that Trump's scandals didn't bother most Republicans, the answer is pretty simple: he's a racist authoritarian. Which is exactly what they're looking for in a leader. As Liz Cheney can attest.   

[Badger]

Why did something like Bridgegate hurt Chris Christie more than any of Trump’s scandals hurt him?

In what sense? Trump lost reelection, no? Were it not for his stolen/illegitimate SCOTUS appointments, Trump's biggest accomplishment would be elevating the COVID death toll by tens/hundreds of thousands. To the extent that Trump's scandals didn't bother most Republicans, the answer is pretty simple: he's a racist authoritarian. Which is exactly what they're looking for in a leader. As Liz Cheney can attest.   

You're actually both right. I do see Dark Lord's point. Christy ran and governed as - - by New Jersey standards at least - - a relatively anti-corruption politician. Getting caught up in a petty ass Scandal like that that arguably resulted in the deaths of individuals whose ambulance to the hospital was held up by the backlog, stood out like a sore thumb and in fact a sore forearm.

Trump, by comparison, head so so so so many scandals and shocking displays of psychopathy in what he said and thought, actions end Deeds which would result in the impeachment of any other president in a normal timeline, that Americans literally became inured to it. We paragraph plus, Chris Christie didn't have the benefit of about 45% of the population being hardcore Unapologetic cultists or enablers, primarily the former.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Graham and many Rs are playing Golf with Trump that's why you see Johnson as the spokesman for the R party, he is DOA anyways, Nelson has been leading in every po and so has Evers; consequently, he is giving cover to Rs like Graham whom are gonna stay in the Senate and negotiate with Biden

Johnson could have wob if he didn't make outrageous inflammatory comments

[All Along The Watchtower]

Why did something like Bridgegate hurt Chris Christie more than any of Trump’s scandals hurt him?

Shame is a necessary component of the mainstream media's "gotcha" game.

The media can only police public figures as much as public figures care what the media has to say about them.  That's one revolutionary aspect of Trump's use of social media - his public image and communications strategy is completely divorced from established media channels that have long enforced the bounds of what "acceptable" political behavior is.

It is no coincidence that the people most ardently opposed to Trump (i.e., the media class) are also the ones who have the most to lose from his style of politics being normalized.  They are really just lamenting the loss of their preferred station in the discourse.

The media class were most certainly not the people most ardently opposed to Trump, and I resent you saying that. Just because you weren't hurt by his administration's policies or the target of abuse from his cultish supporters doesn't mean that many other people weren't.

And give me a break - Trump has always needed the media more than they need him, even if they also benefit from the arrangement. Indeed, Donald Trump would be nothing without the media (well, maybe in jail for tax evasion, fraud, embezzlement, etc.).

[Derpist]

Basically gave liberals free reign to embrace the neoconservatives. Accomplished nothing of note, but basically eviscerated the American left by getting them to simp for the CIA, military-industrial complex, wall street, etc.

And now we have stuff like this.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Trump is leading all these efforts in voter suppression laws and the AZ recount. Rs made Gore concede an Election that he won anyways, if the shoe is on the other foot and D's lose narrowly like what happened in 2000, the Rs can not make D's concede that Election.

It's gonna happen again eventually, that's why Ds told Biden to don't concede.


But, I expect 2022/2024 to be blowouts, we are already coming out if this Covid people are working, that's why DeSantis is down double digits

Rs like ,2016 said 2022 won't be a boom Economy that's why Ds will fail, we are booming and by next yr it will be back to full employment