• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

What is the greatest mystery of the Trump era?

What is the greatest mystery of the Trump era?

  • Total voters
    17
Cardinal

Cardinal

Respected On All Sides
DP Veteran
Joined
Jun 20, 2008
Messages
106,843
Reaction score
98,882
Gender
Male
Political Leaning
Independent
In the past four years, questions we expected to have the answers to within the first year of Trump's Presidency have been entirely denied to us.

If or when Netflix comes out with a documentary than solves just one mystery, which would you want it to be?

1)What's up with Putin and Trump anyway?

Putin is the one human being (perhaps besides most of his family) that Trump absolutely will not insult. He's been meaner to Tiffany than he has to Putin. Sure, it's quite likely that Trump just admires Putin's iron grip on his country and his untold billions in wealth, but Trump is also the President of the world's most powerful country with the most powerful military and the most powerful economy. Surely even to Trump that's got to carry some street cred. And yet, trump will spare no opportunity to cow-tow to Putin.

It's also possible that he still has business ambitions in Russia. He lied throughout all of 2016 about having no business ventures with Russia, so obviously it's important to him.

Is it blackmail? Is there a metaphorical "pee tape" out there somewhere? (To any trump supporters reading this, get a dictionary and look up "metaphor" before you body-slam the reply button).

Also, so far as I can tell, Trump's admiration for Putin doesn't really seem to be reciprocated. The nicest thing he said about trump is that he was "colorful." His praise is otherwise restrained or couched in terms of insulting Democrats.

2)What's in his tax returns?

I mean, this one has got to be bad. Right? We know he's a tax cheat, we know he pays off women for his affairs, we know he's a sexual predator, we know he was (or perhaps still is) a money launderer. We know he's the worst human being in the country. What could be so bad in there that even Trump is like, "Whoah, we can't have the world knowing this stuff."

Or is he hiding his tax returns just because he likes to fight? Both possibilities seem equally likely to me.

3)What in the holy hell is up with George and Kellyanne?

There is a saying: "Every marriage is a foreign country." In other words, don't speculate about other people's marriages by how you and your spouse conduct yours. But to hell with that. This is not a marriage that should work. You could not ask for two more diametrically opposite people.

Do they have the superhuman powers of being able to leave their politics at the door? What possible dinner table conversation could they have? Do they just talk about Ozark and Westworld in order to avoid murdering each other?

Is it all a hilarious game to them?

Do they fight like banshees and just not talk about it in public?

Do they come home and channel their disagreement into crazed, sweaty monkey sex that lasts for hours?

Is that an image that you wanted to have in your mind?

4)Does trump believe his own lies?

Seriously, why don't we know this by now? But four years and 18,000 lies later and we're no closer to the truth than we were in 2016. Does he knowingly lie or does he craft a fantasy world in which he is the hero and everybody else is the villain? Is one necessarily worse than the other?

If a person says 18,000 false things, you would think that the question, "Does trump believe his own lies?" would be self-answering. And yet, bizarrely, it really isn't.

5)Is trump an idiot or is he playing eighteen-dimensional chess?

Sure, everything he says is stupid and wrong. Listening to him speak, you become depressingly aware that no matter how long you wait for it, there will never be a point. Sure, he often forgets where he is and wanders away from what he's supposed to be doing. He mangles simple English words all the time.

But consider this: He beat a crowded field of experienced Republican candidates. "Yes, Cardinal, but that's because of populism. He merely tapped into a tidal wave of anger and surfed it to victo-....oh." And of course he beat a highly experienced Democratic candidate. And finally, on inauguration, there was a great deal of resistance to him and his character from his own party. But by the end of 2017, all of that resistance was crushed. All you were left with was George Conway's tweets. Stupid people aren't normally able to pull that sort of thing off.

And yet....and yet...we'll always have this:

 
Last edited:
What is the greatest mystery of the Trump era?
Click to expand...

The biggest mystery is how so many people could be duped by a spray painted sociopath with an IQ of maybe one hundred and a third grade vocabulary. I don't really believe in simulated universe theory, but the more I watch this debacle, the more I have to wonder.
 
Helix said:
The biggest mystery is how so many people could be duped by a spray painted sociopath with an IQ of maybe one hundred and a third grade vocabulary. I don't really believe in simulated universe theory, but the more I watch this debacle, the more I have to wonder.
Click to expand...

That's actually the one mystery we do have the answer to: populism.
 
Cardinal said:
In the past four years, questions we expected to have the answers to within the first year of Trump's Presidency have been entirely denied to us.

If or when Netflix comes out with a documentary than solves just one mystery, which would you want it to be?

1)What's up with Putin and Trump anyway?

Putin is the one human being (perhaps besides most of his family) that Trump absolutely will not insult. He's been meaner to Tiffany than he has to Putin. Sure, it's quite likely that Trump just admires Putin's iron grip on his country and his untold billions in wealth, but Trump is also the President of the world's most powerful country with the most powerful military and the most powerful economy. Surely even to Trump that's got to carry some street cred. And yet, trump will spare no opportunity to cow-tow to Putin.

It's also possible that he still has business ambitions in Russia. He lied throughout all of 2016 about having no business ventures with Russia, so obviously it's important to him.

Is it blackmail? Is there a metaphorical "pee tape" out there somewhere? (To any trump supporters reading this, get a dictionary and look up "metaphor" before you body-slam the reply button).

Also, so far as I can tell, Trump's admiration for Putin doesn't really seem to be reciprocated. The nicest thing he said about trump is that he was "colorful." His praise is otherwise restrained or couched in terms of insulting Democrats.

2)What's in his tax returns?

I mean, this one has got to be bad. Right? We know he's a tax cheat, we know he pays off women for his affairs, we know he's a sexual predator, we know he was (or perhaps still is) a money launderer. We know he's the worst human being in the country. What could be so bad in there that even Trump is like, "Whoah, we can't have the world knowing this stuff."

Or is he hiding his tax returns just because he likes to fight? Both possibilities seem equally likely to me.

3)What in the holy hell is up with George and Kellyanne?

There is a saying: every marriage is a foreign country. In other words, don't judge another marriage by how you and your spouse conduct yours. But to hell with that. This is not a marriage that should work. You could not ask for two more diametrically opposite people in the country.

Do they have the superhuman powers of being able to leave their politics at the door? What possible dinner table conversation could they have? Do they just talk about Ozark and Westworld in order to avoid murdering each other?

Is it all a hilarious game to them?

Do they fight like banshees and just not talk about it in public?

Do they come home and channel their disagreement into crazed, sweaty monkey sex that lasts for hours?

Is that an image that you wanted to have in your mind?

4)Does trump believe his own lies?

You'd think we would have figured this out by now, but four years and 18,000 lies later and we're no closer to the truth than we were in 2016. Does he knowingly lie or does he craft a fantasy world in which he is the hero and everybody else is the villain? Is one necessarily worse than the other?

If a person says 18,000 false things, you would think that the question, "Does trump believe his own lies?" would be self-answering. And yet, bizarrely, it really isn't.

5)Is trump an idiot or is he playing eighteen-dimensional chess?

Sure, everything he says is stupid and wrong. Listening to him speak, you become depressingly aware that no matter how long you wait for it, there will never be a point. Sure, he often forgets where he is and wanders away from what he's supposed to be doing. He mangles simple English words all the time.

But consider this: He beat a crowded field of experienced Republican candidates. "Yes, Cardinal, but that's because of populism. He merely tapped into a tidal wave of anger and surfed it to victo-....oh." And of course he beat a highly experienced Democratic candidate. And finally, on inauguration, there was a great deal of resistance to him and his character from his own party. But by the end of 2017, all of that resistance was crushed. All you were left with was George Conway's tweets.

And yet....and yet...we'll always have this:

Click to expand...


Of that list, I think George and Kellyanne is the greatest mystery to me.

I'm reasonably confident of the answers to the other mysteries, and your above speculations reflect my assumptions fairly well.

1.) He is both admires and is intimidated by Putin.
2.) He is not nearly as rich as he pretends to be.
3.) No earthly idea.
4.) Most of his lies are little more than commands directed at to those who hear them to give him unconditional respect.
5.) Idiot
 
Helix said:
The biggest mystery is how so many people could be duped by a spray painted sociopath with an IQ of maybe one hundred and a third grade vocabulary. I don't really believe in simulated universe theory, but the more I watch this debacle, the more I have to wonder.
Click to expand...

Assuming a simulated universe theory, the researchers studying us might want to see what happens when Republicans get everything they ever hoped for. Similarly, in the next four years the researchers might change the rules to see what happens when Democrats get everything they hoped for.

The main flaw in my theory being, of course, that Biden isn't exactly what most people imagine when they think, "everything Democrats hoped for."
 
Last edited:
Cardinal said:
Assuming a simulated universe theory, the researchers studying us might want to see what happens when Republicans get everything they ever hoped for. Similarly, in the next four years the researchers might change the rules to see what happens when Democrats get everything they hoped for.

The main flaw in my theory being, of course, that Biden isn't exactly what most people imagine when think of the words "everything Democrats hoped for."
Click to expand...

but don't they know by now? we've already experienced hundreds of years of feudalism in Europe, and trickle down has crashed the economy multiple times in just the past forty years. why would the experiment still be going?

also, if the Democrats lose this time, it's time for their entire leadership to go. enough is enough. win and then do stuff. do important, smart stuff first after winning. but win. FFS.
 
Cardinal said:
In the past four years, questions we expected to have the answers to within the first year of Trump's Presidency have been entirely denied to us.

If or when Netflix comes out with a documentary than solves just one mystery, which would you want it to be?
Click to expand...

6.) Where did the remaining rational left go?

Seriously, we need a left and right dynamic, a healthy one. Both sides have to balance each other out and the complete removal of one or the other would result in radicalism. Unfortunately, there is hardly any rational left opposition anymore.
 
Helix said:
but don't they know by now? we've already experienced hundreds of years of feudalism in Europe, and trickle down has crashed the economy multiple times in just the past forty years. why would the experiment still be going?

also, if the Democrats lose this time, it's time for their entire leadership to go. enough is enough. win and then do stuff. do important, smart stuff first after winning. but win. FFS.
Click to expand...

Yes, but there are a couple unique questions such researchers might address, such as,

1. American exceptionalism and whether "it could happen here."
2. How long democratic institutions could endure under a President who had no respect for democracy.
 
Fishking said:
6.) Where did the remaining rational left go?

Seriously, we need a left and right dynamic, a healthy one. Both sides have to balance each other out and the complete removal of one or the other would result in radicalism. Unfortunately, there is hardly any rational left opposition anymore.
Click to expand...

Christ, you people are predictable.
 
Cardinal said:
Yes, but there are a couple unique questions such researchers might address, such as,

1. American exceptionalism and whether "it could happen here."
2. How long democratic institutions could endure under a President who had no respect for democracy.
Click to expand...

1. yes, it could.
2. economic inertia could have pushed us along for maybe ten years in that scenario absent a serious economic crash. economic crashes are fertile grounds for dictatorships.

i hope that we can vote him out soon.
 
Helix said:
1. yes, it could.
Click to expand...

Of course "it" would need to be qualified. But when you see kids being put in cages and deporting parents as a warning to future immigrants, I'd say "it" has already happened.

The terrifying prospect of a simulated universe is that none of us know what "it" is in the mind of the researcher. Maybe he wants to see just how far it goes. If the simulation is forty years and not four, then that would be bad.

As Jordan Peterson said (before he went completely insane): it can always get worse. There is no bottom to the depths of human depravity.

Helix said:
2. economic inertia could have pushed us along for maybe ten years in that scenario absent a serious economic crash. economic crashes are fertile grounds for dictatorships.

i hope that we can vote him out soon.
Click to expand...

I don't really understand that comment. We were well along to total economic recovery when trump won. The economy really wasn't a factor (despite what many trump supporters claim) in trump's rise to power.
 
Helix said:
The biggest mystery is how so many people could be duped by a spray painted sociopath with an IQ of maybe one hundred and a third grade vocabulary. I don't really believe in simulated universe theory, but the more I watch this debacle, the more I have to wonder.
Click to expand...

You can always leave the country as so many never-Trumpers have threatened to do.
How did you get stuck in this alternate universe with Trump as president?
You should have gone into the universe where Hillary was successful and she was living in the White House with predator Bill.
You could be reading about Comey, McCabe, Brennan, and Clapper all saying how the country dodged a big bullet by defeating Trump.
Instead, you're stuck in this universe with a reality show host as the most powerful politician in the world.
And listening to pundits constantly reminding people how Trump could have prevented the deaths of tens of thousands of people if only he had listened to all those critics who said he should have acted sooner.
You're in the wrong universe.
 
Cardinal said:
Assuming a simulated universe theory, the researchers studying us might want to see what happens when Republicans get everything they ever hoped for. Similarly, in the next four years the researchers might change the rules to see what happens when Democrats get everything they hoped for.

The main flaw in my theory being, of course, that Biden isn't exactly what most people imagine when they think, "everything Democrats hoped for."
Click to expand...

Democrats that I talk to don't want to have a discussion about Biden.
All they hope for is that the people are sick and tired of listening to Trump.
And they hope Biden will have enough good advisors so they don't have to rely on Biden to be a strong leader.
 
Helix said:
but don't they know by now? we've already experienced hundreds of years of feudalism in Europe, and trickle down has crashed the economy multiple times in just the past forty years. why would the experiment still be going?

also, if the Democrats lose this time, it's time for their entire leadership to go. enough is enough. win and then do stuff. do important, smart stuff first after winning. but win. FFS.
Click to expand...

Sounds like people like you should be getting out there and scaring up more Democrat voters if you hope to have a chance against Trump.
 
Cardinal said:
Yes, but there are a couple unique questions such researchers might address, such as,

1. American exceptionalism and whether "it could happen here."
2. How long democratic institutions could endure under a President who had no respect for democracy.
Click to expand...

No respect for democracy? You recall he is the duly elected president who went along with the Constitution and its way of electing a president. The opposition tried to smear him with a phony investigation designed to discredit his presidency and it didn't work. That was done by the rules set out by Trump's own Dept of Justice and the investigation failed.
Where has he disrespected democracy?
How come you haven't used the old trope of Trump "shredding the Constitution".?
That has more of an impact than 'disrespecting democracy'.
 
Cardinal said:
In the past four years, questions we expected to have the answers to within the first year of Trump's Presidency have been entirely denied to us.

If or when Netflix comes out with a documentary than solves just one mystery, which would you want it to be?
Click to expand...

I picked #2. Something devastating is in those financials.

But #5 is hilarious. I heard it described best, by some member, as a circus ringmaster & promoter. He's the Barnum & Bailey of presidents who can tap into the blue-collar voter's sympathies. Many people, like him, are idiot savants that excel in some areas and flop in others. So, yes, he has his finger on the pulse of populism.
 
jaypatriot said:
Democrats that I talk to don't want to have a discussion about Biden.
Click to expand...

That's because Biden doesn't matter. The election is going to be solely a referendum on Trump.
 
Where does he buy his white eye shadow?
 
d0gbreath said:
Where does he buy his white eye shadow?
Click to expand...

I considered adding a "why the orange" option, but then thought, "Meh, don't care." People make really weird grooming decisions for themselves all the time.

In a hundred years there'll be extremely nerdy historians who'll share the highly obscure factoid that the 45th President painted himself orange. It'll be like that one guy who tells you that, unbeknownst to many, the 17th President had mad halitosis (or something).
 
Cardinal said:
Of course "it" would need to be qualified. But when you see kids being put in cages and deporting parents as a warning to future immigrants, I'd say "it" has already happened.

The terrifying prospect of a simulated universe is that none of us know what "it" is in the mind of the researcher. Maybe he wants to see just how far it goes. If the simulation is forty years and not four, then that would be bad.

As Jordan Peterson said (before he went completely insane): it can always get worse. There is no bottom to the depths of human depravity.



I don't really understand that comment. We were well along to total economic recovery when trump won. The economy really wasn't a factor (despite what many trump supporters claim) in trump's rise to power.
Click to expand...

and inertia has carried us up until now. we'll see soon enough if the wheels have truly flown into the ditch.
 
jaypatriot said:
You can always leave the country as so many never-Trumpers have threatened to do.
How did you get stuck in this alternate universe with Trump as president?
You should have gone into the universe where Hillary was successful and she was living in the White House with predator Bill.
You could be reading about Comey, McCabe, Brennan, and Clapper all saying how the country dodged a big bullet by defeating Trump.
Instead, you're stuck in this universe with a reality show host as the most powerful politician in the world.
And listening to pundits constantly reminding people how Trump could have prevented the deaths of tens of thousands of people if only he had listened to all those critics who said he should have acted sooner.
You're in the wrong universe.
Click to expand...

stopped reading when you did the love it or leave it bull****. i'll do it, too, though, just for fun. move to Somalia. they have (or at least had the last time i checked) a minimalist government and a good warlord system that would be very satisfying for libertarians and Republicans. good luck!
 
Helix said:
stopped reading when you did the love it or leave it bull****. i'll do it, too, though, just for fun. move to Somalia.
Click to expand...

I heard that the weather along the Somalia coast in Mogadishu is really pleasant. You can watch the pirates go out and snag cargo ships right from your hotel room.
 
Cardinal said:
In the past four years, questions we expected to have the answers to within the first year of Trump's Presidency have been entirely denied to us.

If or when Netflix comes out with a documentary than solves just one mystery, which would you want it to be?
Click to expand...

The real mystery is how the Democrats were both so historically complacent and incompetent as to lose to possibly the worst candidate the Republicans have ever managed to nominate.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom