❝❝Unscientific test.

Two video monitors of equal size. A dozen people, some of who were Democrats. Both videos played side by side with the volume turned down. All but one person thought that Trump came across stronger, more confident, better body language, and more convincingly. One guy said that Pelosi and Schumer looked like high school student council candidates.

Again, I don't like Trump and I don't trust Trump. But compared to the Democrat leadership, well, there's no comparison.

Is anyone else reminded of the Kennedy-Nixon debate?❞❞

❝❝Kennedy vs. Nixon.

Regardless of what was said, visually Trump came across looking very well. Pelosi and Schumer came across looking like two high schoolers running for student council. That observation isn't mine, but I am caging it anyway. Why in the World were they sharing a lectern?

Trump came across as an executive with pictures of his loved ones in the background. And with only one American flag. Pelosi and Schumer looked like they got kicked out of the cafeteria and they dragged in flags to make the walls look good.

As an aside, the trend of using multiple flags behind you to show your patriotism is stupid.

Kennedy vs. Nixon.

---

If you'll remember, I told you before you need to focus on the things that Trump does that are actually wrong. I specifically mentioned his misuse of eminent domain in the past. Lo and behold, the key part of his emergency plan is eminent domain.

Peepers, you focus on the wrong things when you attack Trump. You have from the very first. And you continually mistake my not agreeing with you as support of Trump.

Trump has been making Democrats look bad since he announced. It doesn't help when Democrats continually underestimate him. Even if they ignore everything that Trump did before, there's not a one of the Democrat Congressional leadership who has ever negotiated anything outside government. Trump is playing this exactly right and the optics reflect that.

You want to take Trump down? I'll tell you what to focus on. Eminent domain. The volatility of the stock market. Not the direction, but how fast and how far it changes direction. There's some major instability there. His treatment of the EU, particularly downgrading the ambassador. National security, particularly spying on Americans. Healthcare. War on drugs. Prescription drugs and self medication. The Second Amendment. Social Security and pensions. The national debt. Military spending and accountability. Free speech. Protectionism. Start with those.

You can't treat him as a Republican politico because he isn't one. And don't forget that this man has been dragging his fights and negotiations through the press for forty years. Remember that exchange from the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie about the worst pirate. Trump doesn't care if the press is good or bad, he just wants the press.

---

This came from an unscientific experiment that some friends and I did. And yes, some of them were Democrats. We ran the videos side by side on two monitors with the sound turned off.

Trump looked like he belonged. Pelosi and Schumer didn't. Their body language showed that they were unhappy, probably because they were sharing a lectern and neither wanted to share the spotlight. Pay attention to their hands specifically. Trump looked friendly, Pelosi and Schumer looked like they wanted to strangle someone.

I never have liked the multiple American flag thing, not even when it started with Bush League. I think it was him, he was the one I noticed using it first. Certainly the Democrats of that time were doing it. I think it is purposely distracting. Come to think of it, that's when I remember multiple Democrats sharing a lectern. Or at least all standing behind one person at the lectern.

As for the Z group, I adjusted my tactics accordingly. They wanted to ignore the political implications when those same implications were central to the argument, whether they wished to acknowledge that or not.

You on the other hand don't like to deal when facts or actions don't fit your script. You think that opposing someone means throwing every insult and accusation possible at them in the hope that something sticks. You're not willing to look the person's history and adjust accordingly. You let the labels control your expectations and then get frustrated when things don't turn out the way you want.

I was never against criticizing Trump. I was against criticizing Trump stupidly foolishly in ways that would make him look stronger and better. Throwing insults at him doesn't work, he just pushes back. Treating him as the typical Republican politico who will back down out of civility or for the greater good doesn't work because that is not what he does.

It's not that I support Trump. I just think you are attacking him in very stupid and amazingly ineffective ways.❞❞

Tags: Donald Trump ∙ Democrats ∙ Nancy Pelosi ∙ Chuck Schumer ∙ Kennedy-Nixion debate ∙ multiple flags ∙ eminent domain ∙ underestimating ∙ negptiate ∙ stock market ∙ volatility ∙ EU ∙ ambassador ∙ national security ∙ spying on Americans ∙ health care ∙ War on Drugs ∙ prescription drugs ∙ self medication ∙ Second Amendment ∙ Social Security ∙ pensions ∙ national debt ∙ military spending ∙ accountability ∙ protectionism ∙ Republican ∙ politicos ∙ press ∙ political opinions ∙ insult ∙ label

People can do most things on their own without government help, direction, or control.

Tags: Donald Trump ∙ trust ∙ none of the above ∙ disrupt ∙ press ∙ publicity ∙ Democrats ∙ Republicans ∙ progressives ∙ talking points

❝❝Pardon, but the media set the stage for their own demonization well before Trump's election. No, not everyone of them and not most of them. But the shift from news to liberal-opinon-passed-off-as-news has been going on for decades now. In the mission to present "THE truth," the media has forgotten that there is often more than one truth and that truth needs something more than passionate writing.

Anyone remember supply-side economics? The common narrative is that it was a product of the Reagan administration and that it was a catastrophic failure. But truth shows that Kennedy tried reducing taxes and regulations first. And under both Kennedy and Reagan, it boosted the economy. But that is not what the media says.

The common narrative is that people of faith demand that minorities be suppressed. Unless of course you are a minority person of faith who depends on government protection. But truth shows that Christians (yes, Christians) made American pluralism possible and even to this day are among the strongest defenders of religious freedom. In some minority communities, local churches are bedrock. Good luck finding that in the news today.

The common narrative is that conservatives mistreat and suppress women. But one truth that #MeToo has demonstrated is that certain (scumbag) high profile liberal politicos and celebrities gave lip-service to feminism so they could take sexual advantage. Many more liberals than conservatives in fact. But the stories that we get are that liberals Are Taking Steps while conservatives could care less.

In all these cases and many more, conservatives and conservative ideas are disparaged while the press presents liberal ideas as the Only Practical Solution. Never mind that many of those liberal ideas don't work and make things worse. After seeing that happen again and again, conservatives naturally distrust the media. They don't see the stories where their ideas and beliefs are celebrated. Those stories with a NEUTRAL bias are hardly ever there. The press passes itself off as mainstream when it isn't, and goes out of it's way to avoid stories that show conservatism in a good light.

As for libertarianism (CLASSIC liberalism), we get labeled as the kookiest of the those scary alt-right types. Never mind that isn't who we are. Never mind the merit of our ideas. No, we're the dangerous nutcases that you dare not listen to.

When the press shows that it can't be trusted with even some truths, why should the press be trusted? They demonized themselves long before Trump did.❞❞

Tags: freedom of the press ∙ demonization ∙ Donald Trump ∙ supply-side economics ∙ John F. Kennedy ∙ Ronald Reagan ∙ people of faith ∙ Christians ∙ pluralism ∙ religious freedom ∙ women ∙ #MeToo ∙ feminism ∙ conservative ∙ liberal ∙ libertarianism ∙ press ∙ media bias

No one person and no one group has all the answers. No one group should be vested with THE moral authority to decide who is and is not a hate group.

The SPLC needs competition.

Tags: Southern Poverty Law Center ∙ hate groups ∙ competition ∙ religion ∙ authority ∙ FedGovs ∙ press ∙ conservative ∙ libertarian ∙ KKK ∙ Nation of Islam ∙ pro-life Christian ministries ∙ militias ∙ hate crime ∙ mala in se ∙ mala prohibita ∙ Mark Potok ∙ hypocrites

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Tags: freedom ∙ press ∙ politicos ∙ protect citizens ∙ marriage ∙ approval ∙ medicine ∙ medical devices ∙ government power ∙ Congress ∙ Public Laws ∙ 2016 ∙ Barack Obama ∙ regulations ∙ Federal Register ∙ More Government ∙ personal responsibility? ∙ ☆

Tags: media ∙ press ∙ libraries ∙ The New York Times ∙ Washington Post ∙ Wall Street Journal ∙ The Economist ∙ journalistic objectivity ∙ opinion ∙ Ronald Reagan ∙ George H. W. Bush ∙ Bill Clinton ∙ Higher Calling ∙ ignorance ∙ enlightenment ∙ Billy boy ∙ Bush League ∙ 9-11 ∙ Iraq ∙ Afghanistan ∙ Barack Obama ∙ Imperious Leader ∙ Grand Vision ∙ Utopia ∙ Donald Trump ∙ untruths ∙ fake news ∙ ☆