Mrs Trump

[StMarks]

And yet another assassination attempt, this time in Florida, apparently.

If at first you don't succeed..../

Blinking yanks, utterly useless.

Perhaps it will be a case of third time lucky ?

[Kwacky]

Another 4 years of Agent Orange.

America was never going to vote for a black woman.

[duke63]

[C00kiemonster]

Another 4 years of Agent Orange.

America was never going to vote for a black woman.

It’s so very sad. He can **** off.

[D41]

I'm not pi$$ed off about it...well, maybe a little bit. More like....dejected?
I had high hopes for Harris, and now we're back stuck with this fcuking clown.
And all this win is going to do is reinforce the line of total fcuking bull$h!t he's been spewing for close to a decade.

[Kwacky]

This could be fun

[D41]

And.....Trump has been sentenced to exactly zero jail time, no fines or probation, etc.

[Kwacky]

It's a circus and he's the main clown

[Kwacky]

Just when you think the bloke can't stoop any lower, he finds a way to turn a disaster in to a disgusting rant.

[StMarks]

Just when you think the bloke can't stoop any lower, he finds a way to turn a disaster in to a disgusting rant.

Imho it just continues to illustrate the ongoing theme, that he will politicise anything whatsoever into a point scoring opportunity.

Fwiw over my life & careers I've come across plenty of people who operate with his type of psychological mindeset, and in all walks of life and with very disparate outcomes. As long as you identify them, and affect your interactions accordingly, they can often be fairly straight forward to cope with imho.

The main difference here, as I see it, is the potential results of his given role being almost unfettered.

[duke63]

The best, most cogent and elegantly simple explanation into the inexplicably destructive negotiating processes of the president, by Prof. David Honig of Indiana University.
Everybody I know should read this accurate and enlightening piece...

“I’m going to get a little wonky and write about Donald Trump and negotiations. For those who don't know, I'm an adjunct professor at Indiana University - Robert H. McKinney School of Law and I teach negotiations. Okay, here goes.
Trump, as most of us know, is the credited author of "The Art of the Deal," a book that was actually ghost written by a man named Tony Schwartz, who was given access to Trump and wrote based upon his observations. If you've read The Art of the Deal, or if you've followed Trump lately, you'll know, even if you didn't know the label, that he sees all dealmaking as what we call "distributive bargaining."
Distributive bargaining always has a winner and a loser. It happens when there is a fixed quantity of something and two sides are fighting over how it gets distributed. Think of it as a pie and you're fighting over who gets how many pieces. In Trump's world, the bargaining was for a building, or for construction work, or subcontractors. He perceives a successful bargain as one in which there is a winner and a loser, so if he pays less than the seller wants, he wins. The more he saves the more he wins.
The other type of bargaining is called integrative bargaining. In integrative bargaining the two sides don't have a complete conflict of interest, and it is possible to reach mutually beneficial agreements. Think of it, not a single pie to be divided by two hungry people, but as a baker and a caterer negotiating over how many pies will be baked at what prices, and the nature of their ongoing relationship after this one gig is over.
The problem with Trump is that he sees only distributive bargaining in an international world that requires integrative bargaining. He can raise tariffs, but so can other countries. He can't demand they not respond. There is no defined end to the negotiation and there is no simple winner and loser. There are always more pies to be baked. Further, negotiations aren't binary. China's choices aren't (a) buy soybeans from US farmers, or (b) don't buy soybeans. They can also (c) buy soybeans from Russia, or Argentina, or Brazil, or Canada, etc. That completely strips the distributive bargainer of his power to win or lose, to control the negotiation.
One of the risks of distributive bargaining is bad will. In a one-time distributive bargain, e.g. negotiating with the cabinet maker in your casino about whether you're going to pay his whole bill or demand a discount, you don't have to worry about your ongoing credibility or the next deal. If you do that to the cabinet maker, you can bet he won't agree to do the cabinets in your next casino, and you're going to have to find another cabinet maker.
There isn't another Canada.
So when you approach international negotiation, in a world as complex as ours, with integrated economies and multiple buyers and sellers, you simply must approach them through integrative bargaining. If you attempt distributive bargaining, success is impossible. And we see that already.
Trump has raised tariffs on China. China responded, in addition to raising tariffs on US goods, by dropping all its soybean orders from the US and buying them from Russia. The effect is not only to cause tremendous harm to US farmers, but also to increase Russian revenue, making Russia less susceptible to sanctions and boycotts, increasing its economic and political power in the world, and reducing ours. Trump saw steel and aluminum and thought it would be an easy win, BECAUSE HE SAW ONLY STEEL AND ALUMINUM - HE SEES EVERY NEGOTIATION AS DISTRIBUTIVE. China saw it as integrative, and integrated Russia and its soybean purchase orders into a far more complex negotiation ecosystem.
Trump has the same weakness politically. For every winner there must be a loser. And that's just not how politics works, not over the long run.
For people who study negotiations, this is incredibly basic stuff, negotiations 101, definitions you learn before you even start talking about styles and tactics. And here's another huge problem for us.
Trump is utterly convinced that his experience in a closely held real estate company has prepared him to run a nation, and therefore he rejects the advice of people who spent entire careers studying the nuances of international negotiations and diplomacy. But the leaders on the other side of the table have not eschewed expertise, they have embraced it. And that means they look at Trump and, given his very limited tool chest and his blindly distributive understanding of negotiation, they know exactly what he is going to do and exactly how to respond to it.
From a professional negotiation point of view, Trump isn't even bringing checkers to a chess match. He's bringing a quarter that he insists of flipping for heads or tails, while everybody else is studying the chess board to decide whether its better to open with Najdorf or Grünfeld.”
— David Honig

[StMarks]

The problem with Trump is that he sees only ,,,,

, Trump isn't even bringing checkers to a chess match. He's bringing a quarter that he insists of flipping for heads or tails, while everybody else is studying the chess board to decide whether its better to open with Najdorf or Grünfeld.”

Ok, so I'm not an adjunct professor like your Mr Honig, but (imho) in essence isn't he explaining in better detail & more illustratively, precisely what I had concluded in my previous post.

[D41]

I thought it was a really good read...and pretty much hits the proverbial nail on the top bit.

[StMarks]

I thought it was a really good read...and pretty much hits the proverbial nail on the top bit.

Thank you Darren.

[Kwacky]

Gov. Braun has banned the distribution of the Imagination Library books in Indiana.

For those who do not know, Imagination Library is a program started by Dolly Parton which provides a free book each month to children from 0-5

Who needs educated children?

[StMarks]

Gov. Braun has banned the distribution of the Imagination Library books in Indiana.

For those who do not know, Imagination Library is a program started by Dolly Parton which provides a free book each month to children from 0-5

Who needs educated children?

Not content with just teaming up with their one time adversary Russia, they're now adopting a Taliban approach to education.?
Welcome to Trump-land !

[D41]

To be fair, the Imagination Library books are not being "banned" as such, the state is simply not going to pay the 50% of costs it has contributed to the program for the last few years. And at this point it's just a proposal that may or may not make it onto the Indiana state budget.

[D41]

Watching a snippet of Trump's meeting with Ukraine's President Zelenskyy as he belittles the man in front of the world press. Shameful.

[StMarks]

Watching a snippet of Trump's meeting with Ukraine's President Zelenskyy as he belittles the man in front of the world press. Shameful.

A man never looks as small, as when he is trying to look big.

[Kwacky]

What a prick.

There's nothing more I can add