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crazytown

(7,277 posts)
Wed Aug 21, 2019, 01:26 PM Aug 2019

'I am the Chosen One,' Trump proclaims as he defends trade war with China

Source: CNBC

President Donald Trump on Wednesday declared himself “the Chosen One” as he defended his administration’s actions in the ongoing U.S.-China trade war.

The president’s self-aggrandizing remark followed a string of criticisms aimed at his predecessors, whom he claimed had ignored China’s alleged malpractice on trade.

“This isn’t my trade war, this is a trade war that should have taken place a long time ago,” Trump told reporters outside the White House.

“Somebody had to do it,” the president said. He added, while looking to the heavens: “I am the Chosen One.”

Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/21/i-am-the-chosen-one-trump-proclaims-as-he-defends-china-trade-war.html




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'I am the Chosen One,' Trump proclaims as he defends trade war with China (Original Post) crazytown Aug 2019 OP
meth DBoon Aug 2019 #1
Don't stop him, he's on a roll... Scurrilous Aug 2019 #2
Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Bob Loblaw Aug 2019 #25
Good gawd MontanaMama Aug 2019 #3
Hot Messiah Blue Owl Aug 2019 #4
Congress keep investigating, SDNY keep investigating, New York AG keep investigating, Democratic NoMoreRepugs Aug 2019 #5
OMG! Impeachment sounds really good right now. djacq Aug 2019 #6
He must have snorted an extra rail this morning htuttle Aug 2019 #7
He IS The Chosen One -- Chosen By PUTIN nt smb Aug 2019 #8
Trump thinks the trade deficit is because China is ripping us off William Seger Aug 2019 #9
China holds all the cards - how right you are! rurallib Aug 2019 #12
Trump is taking Nixon's Madman Strategy a bit literally... RockRaven Aug 2019 #10
This IS YOUR trade war ol self-chosen one. Deal with it. You can not disown it. You own it! riversedge Aug 2019 #11
And I thought xxqqqzme Aug 2019 #46
He is demented. MBS Aug 2019 #13
Yep, heading into full-blown dementia now. PandoraAwakened Aug 2019 #14
Deuteronomy 4:16 Historic NY Aug 2019 #15
25th Amendment now Mz Pip Aug 2019 #16
I don't like this episode. Ramsey Barner Aug 2019 #17
I am sorry, but... Newest Reality Aug 2019 #27
Victory Announcement: Employment has increased by 501,000 fewer jobs! crazytown Aug 2019 #35
++ Newest Reality Aug 2019 #36
4, 3, 2, 1 crazytown Aug 2019 #37
Vaporized Unpersons Newest Reality Aug 2019 #38
doublethink - in practice crazytown Aug 2019 #39
How amazingly Newest Reality Aug 2019 #40
I think it is a recurring and inevitable pattern crazytown Aug 2019 #41
Thanks for your view on that. Newest Reality Aug 2019 #42
Addendum: 'Ignorance is Strength' crazytown Aug 2019 #43
Pretty bold statement coming from a universally known lier Wash. state Desk Jet Aug 2019 #18
Eh, Sam Neill did it better. Grokenstein Aug 2019 #19
The man (child) is mentally ill. Firestorm49 Aug 2019 #20
Cult45's Beatles moment. ffr Aug 2019 #21
The Beatles actually had talent and a message. n/t gldstwmn Aug 2019 #30
Queue Obi-Wan line here...... FreeLookMode Aug 2019 #22
25th amendment time Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin Aug 2019 #23
Isn't he the cutest thing? Sugar Smack Aug 2019 #24
You spelled beat wrong Bob Loblaw Aug 2019 #26
Chosen by Putin. Kid Berwyn Aug 2019 #28
If anyone has watched Netflix's The Family gldstwmn Aug 2019 #29
Putie's choice. BHDem53 Aug 2019 #31
I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for this. yardwork Aug 2019 #32
Yes MustLoveBeagles Aug 2019 #34
Didn't we used to make fun of N. Korea for this shit? MustLoveBeagles Aug 2019 #33
The Nazi republican is trying to cause more mass murders. All in the name of him rockfordfile Aug 2019 #44
Cuckoo! Cuckoo! Cuckoo! Nitram Aug 2019 #45

NoMoreRepugs

(9,216 posts)
5. Congress keep investigating, SDNY keep investigating, New York AG keep investigating, Democratic
Wed Aug 21, 2019, 01:34 PM
Aug 2019

candidates keep pointing out his lies and gargantuan foibles - the pressure will cause this useless meat Popsicle to crack under the pressure.

William Seger

(10,726 posts)
9. Trump thinks the trade deficit is because China is ripping us off
Wed Aug 21, 2019, 01:57 PM
Aug 2019

That's as bad as -- maybe worse than -- thinking China pays his tariffs.

What worries me as that with his trade war blowing up in his face, Trump will be so desperate to make any kind of trade deal that the Chinese hold all the cards now. They can screw us and Trump will still claim he won the war, please adore him.

riversedge

(69,537 posts)
11. This IS YOUR trade war ol self-chosen one. Deal with it. You can not disown it. You own it!
Wed Aug 21, 2019, 02:17 PM
Aug 2019



“This isn’t my trade war, this is a trade war that should have taken place a long time ago,” Trump told reporters outside the White House.

“Somebody had to do it,” the president said. He added, while looking to the heavens: “I am the Chosen One.”

PandoraAwakened

(905 posts)
14. Yep, heading into full-blown dementia now.
Wed Aug 21, 2019, 02:56 PM
Aug 2019

The inevitable and only possible outcome for those suffering from NPD (Narcissistic Personality Disorder).

Historic NY

(37,449 posts)
15. Deuteronomy 4:16
Wed Aug 21, 2019, 02:58 PM
Aug 2019

that you do not act corruptly and make an idol for yourselves of any form or shape, whether in the likeness of a male or female,

Ramsey Barner

(349 posts)
17. I don't like this episode.
Wed Aug 21, 2019, 03:28 PM
Aug 2019

When do we resume the regularly scheduled program?

And whoever laughed to cover for him should be put out to journalism pasture.

Newest Reality

(12,712 posts)
27. I am sorry, but...
Wed Aug 21, 2019, 09:01 PM
Aug 2019

the regularly scheduled programming has been preempted by the Ministry of Truth, (Minitrue) indefinitely...and now for a message from our sponsors. Oh, and there NEVER was any regularly schedule programming. Repeat that!







Newest Reality

(12,712 posts)
38. Vaporized Unpersons
Wed Aug 21, 2019, 11:49 PM
Aug 2019

Here is how Winston Smith described doublethink in the novel:

"To know and not to know, to be conscious of complete truthfulness while telling carefully constructed lies, to hold simultaneously two opinions which cancelled out, knowing them to be contradictory and believing in both of them, to use logic against logic, to repudiate morality while laying claim to it, to believe that democracy was impossible and that the Party was the guardian of democracy, to forget whatever it was necessary to forget, then to draw it back into memory again at the moment when it was needed, and then promptly to forget it again: and above all, to apply the same process to the process itself. That was the ultimate subtlety: consciously to induce unconsciousness, and then, once again, to become unconscious of the act of hypnosis you had just performed. Even to understand the word 'doublethink' involved the use of doublethink.'

crazytown

(7,277 posts)
39. doublethink - in practice
Thu Aug 22, 2019, 12:23 AM
Aug 2019

"In an ever-changing, incomprehensible world the masses had reached the point where they would, at the same time, believe everything and nothing, think that everything was possible and that nothing was true. The mixture in itself was remarkable enough, because it spelled the end of the illusion that gullibility was a weakness of unsuspecting primitive souls and cynicism the vice of superior and refined minds. Mass propaganda discovered that its audience was ready at all times to believe the worst, no matter how absurd, and did not particularly object to being deceived because it held every statement to be a lie anyhow. The totalitarian mass leaders based their propaganda on the correct psychological assumption that, under such conditions, one could make people believe the most fantastic statements one day, and trust that if the next day they were given irrefutable proof of their falsehood, they would take refuge in cynicism; instead of deserting the leaders who had lied to them, they would protest that they had known all along that the statement was a lie and would admire the leaders for their superior tactical cleverness."

Hannah Arendt
The Origins of Totalitarianism

Newest Reality

(12,712 posts)
40. How amazingly
Thu Aug 22, 2019, 12:32 AM
Aug 2019

precise and prescient can it get?

It seems like that fits "the base" rather well, at least in part currently and in whole with time.

One has to wonder if works like that and Orwell's writings are not being used as playbooks by the GOP, et al. Or is it just a repeating pattern that some astute academics, intellectuals and authors discern?

crazytown

(7,277 posts)
41. I think it is a recurring and inevitable pattern
Thu Aug 22, 2019, 12:38 AM
Aug 2019

The fundamental of totalitarism is that the party / leader is right - always right, even though this defies credibility - so truth becomes relative - relative too what the leader is saying on the say, and devoid of substantial meaning without that context. The more fantastic and absurd the lie - anti-Semitism is a favorite, the more insubstantial objective facts, the easier doublethink becomes. Everything is a lie / the leaser tells it like it is .

Newest Reality

(12,712 posts)
42. Thanks for your view on that.
Thu Aug 22, 2019, 01:11 AM
Aug 2019

I wonder what that says about the individual psyche and collective consciousness of this species?

Is this an inherit, wired trait or an aspect of cultural conditioning, or both? I consider the nature/nurture debate to be about two sides of the same coin, so, even with the many variables involved, I imagine the same is true for traits/culture. Certain kinds of conditioning in a culture begin very early in the developmental process, and there are obvious flaws in that in respects to authority and the deprecation of critical thinking. Western religious dogmas often allow for and encourage authoritarians and subservience to them, whereas the teaching and promotion of higher order, rational ethics might actually negate that, so the nature of the education system is implicated as well.

As far as the masses go, ignore-ance seems to factor in as a vulnerability, yet, historically, many intellectuals, academics, philosophers, scientists and clergy have been lured into the miasma of tyranny for various reasons like power, self-preservation and other perks, once it gets going full swing as populism. Perhaps a herd mentality holds sway, as well?

Yet, in light of the above, we could say that a society/culture, collectively has to take responsibility, to the proper degree, for how resilient a population will be to that kind of phenomena, that is, if it does respect its population and does not consider such resilience to be a threat and it does not require its citizens to be pliable and easily manipulated for ulterior motives. And yes, I am being sarcastic and know full well that is the case. The American education system, overall, has not been utilized, in my opinion, to accomplish the task of inculcating skills and values that a true democracy and freedom demand. In fact, it has been increasingly doing the opposite since, at least, the 50s-60s as far as quality goes. The dumbing down began around that time, though the authoritarian essence has prevailed much longer and, other than in higher education, since the inception of compulsory education.

"War is Peace; Freedom is Slavery; Ignorance is Strength;"

crazytown

(7,277 posts)
43. Addendum: 'Ignorance is Strength'
Thu Aug 22, 2019, 01:22 AM
Aug 2019

Orwell worked with military intelligence. Ignorance is strength is SOP. Whether it describes the modus operandi of cells, covert operations, or major endevors, such as D-Day, best practice is that information be tightly restricted on a needs to know basis. That ignorance of classified material is regarded as military strength is a tautology.

Kid Berwyn

(14,522 posts)
28. Chosen by Putin.
Wed Aug 21, 2019, 09:02 PM
Aug 2019

And he scrubbed it from the Helsinki press conference transcript.



URI Friedman of The Atlantic:

Snip...

Understanding what Putin said depends on what you watch or where you look. If you watch the video of the news conference provided by the Russian government, or by news outlets such as PBS and the Associated Press, you will hear the Reuters reporter Jeff Mason ask a bombshell of a question: “President Putin, did you want President Trump to win the election and did you direct any of your officials to help him do that?”

Putin then responds with a bombshell of an answer, according to the English translation of his remarks that was broadcast during the press conference: “Yes, I did. Yes, I did. Because he talked about bringing the U.S.-Russia relationship back to normal.”



Trump was chosen because he would do what was best for Russia.

gldstwmn

(4,575 posts)
29. If anyone has watched Netflix's The Family
Wed Aug 21, 2019, 09:08 PM
Aug 2019

you will see exactly why he thinks this. He is off his rocker.

rockfordfile

(8,673 posts)
44. The Nazi republican is trying to cause more mass murders. All in the name of him
Thu Aug 22, 2019, 02:34 AM
Aug 2019

Remember the kind of followers that he's got.

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