usmbguest5318
Gold Member
I suppose yesterday's televised immigration/DACA meeting offered something for political partisans of every stripe. With regard to Trump and from what was shown of the meeting, I take the following:
One take away that has nothing to do with the subject matter of the meeting and everything to do with the governance process is that all policy deliberations the POTUS and members of Congress have, among their own staffs and colleagues as well as jointly, should be televised/recorded and, after redacting whatever national security content be in them, released within 24 hours of the conversations. What we saw in the televised portion of yesterday's meeting was a body of responsible people comporting themselves responsibly and temperately to develop solutions to a matter material quantities of Americans consider important. The behavior and remarks we observed from some of them was 180° different from the hyper-partisan way they speak when speaking on-air to reporters and news commentators, or even on their respective stump speeches, for that matter.
I think that is what should happen because it forces each and every participant in the meeting who desires not to look like a f*cking idiot/jerk to be on his/her best behavior, as it were, and work in a collaborative manner, in a manner conducive to accomplishing the work voters sent them to Washington to do. Whereas elected office holders can in one-on-one conversations with reporters and on political "talking heads" shows be intransigent, "spin" things six ways to the wind, and point fingers at "the other team/guys," they cannot do so in working meetings with colleagues that the American people will see and accomplish the governing they've been employed to do.
- Trump is indeed as incoherent and ill informed as his detractors have long asserted. The man was "all over the place" as go immigration and DACA policy and showed no particular subject matter acumen. He furthermore all but recanted his positions on the wall and DACA people's residency/citizenship status. Plus, he said nothing about Mexico paying for a wall on the southern border.
- The nature of Trump's mental faculties is neither "tack sharp" nor "straight jacket" crazy.
- Trump was capable of moderating a meeting attended by individuals having differing objectives and points of view.
- While Trump can moderate a meeting, it's clear that as goes DACA and immigration he's either unwilling or unable to lead solutioneering of the issue. Which it be is not yet clear to me.
- Trump doesn't give a damn about immigration/DACA policy or the people affected by it. What he cares about as go DACA/immigration policy is that he can claim a second (third if you count his SCOTUS appointment) major "win" of sorts by signing a second bill of substance.
- "When this group comes back — hopefully with an agreement — this group and others from the Senate, from the House, comes back with an agreement, I’m signing it. I mean, I will be signing it. I’m not going to say, 'Oh, gee, I want this or I want that.' I’ll be signing it.
-- Donald Trump, "Remarks by President Trump in Meeting [...] on Immigration"
- "When this group comes back — hopefully with an agreement — this group and others from the Senate, from the House, comes back with an agreement, I’m signing it. I mean, I will be signing it. I’m not going to say, 'Oh, gee, I want this or I want that.' I’ll be signing it.
- The oft made claim that Trump cannot be trusted was again confirmed. Trump's naysayers have never trusted him; however, now his supporters are finding out what the rest of us have long known: they cannot rely on what that man says.
"Nobody" need be reminded that among Trump's most widely desired and unequivocal campaign promises were that (1) he/we was (are) going to build a wall, not a fence, not a few hundred miles of wall or fence, not electronic sensors, etc., and (2) Mexico was going to pay for the wall. In yesterday's meeting, however, Trump expressed clearly his indifference about adhering to and fulfilling those signature promises of the Trump campaign, promises that, taken together, were key differentiating factors between him and his GOP primary opponents.
I'm sorry, but nobody gets to make a campaign promise as stridently as did Trump with his wall and Mexico paying for it and then simply walk away from it!!! Indeed, in the streets, in schools, and at Trump rallies, throngs of his supporters were so enamoured with Trump's commitment to Mexico paying for the wall that they chanted "build that wall" for minutes on end and when Trump asked, 'Who's going to pay for it?", they responded, "Mexico." And yesterday Trump made no mention of Mexico paying for the wall and expressed indifference about there even being a wall (or even a fence) such as he described. (It should also be noted that he's no longer committed to allowing the government to close down if he doesn't get funding for his wall.)
- Aspects of the flexibility Trump showed are what many people, myself included, from 2013 to 2015 when his candidacy was but a frequently enough heard rumor, had hoped Trump the candidate and POTUS would be.
One take away that has nothing to do with the subject matter of the meeting and everything to do with the governance process is that all policy deliberations the POTUS and members of Congress have, among their own staffs and colleagues as well as jointly, should be televised/recorded and, after redacting whatever national security content be in them, released within 24 hours of the conversations. What we saw in the televised portion of yesterday's meeting was a body of responsible people comporting themselves responsibly and temperately to develop solutions to a matter material quantities of Americans consider important. The behavior and remarks we observed from some of them was 180° different from the hyper-partisan way they speak when speaking on-air to reporters and news commentators, or even on their respective stump speeches, for that matter.
I think that is what should happen because it forces each and every participant in the meeting who desires not to look like a f*cking idiot/jerk to be on his/her best behavior, as it were, and work in a collaborative manner, in a manner conducive to accomplishing the work voters sent them to Washington to do. Whereas elected office holders can in one-on-one conversations with reporters and on political "talking heads" shows be intransigent, "spin" things six ways to the wind, and point fingers at "the other team/guys," they cannot do so in working meetings with colleagues that the American people will see and accomplish the governing they've been employed to do.
