❝❝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

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Virtue-signaling and derangement in the wake of a massacre

Tags: SNAP ∙ Social Security ∙ dead people ∙ Obama Administration ∙ Guatemala ∙ China ∙ internet of things ∙ NBC ∙ sexual misconduct ∙ censorship ∙ speech police ∙ online hate ∙ #WalkAway ∙ liberalism ∙ megafires ∙ Pacific Northwest ∙ deficit ∙ trillions ∙ debt ∙ caravan ∙ Big Brother ∙ Amazon ∙ DoD ∙ ICE ∙ CIA ∙ Pittsburgh ∙ murder ∙ Oregon ∙ gun sanctuary ∙ New Hampshire ∙ privacy ∙ Google ∙ Mexico ∙ benefits ∙ massacre ∙ virtue signaling

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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What a bunch of idiots

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Tags: Julian Assange ∙ Ecuador ∙ Britain ∙ politicos ∙ Social Security ∙ hoax ∙ warning ∙ drag show ∙ Catholic ∙ Title IX ∙ ideology ∙ envy ∙ theft ∙ Los Angeles ∙ pensions ∙ bank ∙ Foxconn ∙ eminent domain ∙ European Union ∙ EU ∙ CEI ∙ environment ∙ plastic

For something with no moral relativism, there's an awful lot or relative morality going on.

Tags: John Stossel ∙ Social Security

❝❝As far as the world's reserve currency, as a whole that's a bad idea. I doubt that Trump sees that, but competition is good. This is one instance where he is doing the right thing by accident.

---

Yes, Trump is contributing to the debt, but so has every national politico since the "reform" of 1974. The continuing resolutions instead of actual budgets and the exploding bureaucracy are creating greater problems than Trump did. Both also predate Trump's election.

Meanwhile, that has nothing to do with the (BAD) idea of a single reserve currency or fractional banking. Both of which by their very existence distort the free market and introduce instability. But that is another topic or six.

---

The aging population is a problem because a) government promised that it could provide better, more reliable retirement income than the private sector, b) government mandated contributions, thereby reinforcing the idea that Government Knew Best when it came to retirement and driving out many private sector alternatives, c) government mismanaged the funds it collected, and finally the REALLY Big One, government borrowed against those funds without payback.

A good smartphone can get up to the minute currency exchange information, along with futures markets, stock markets, index funds, and football pools. Understand this, the only "practical" reason for a single reserve currency is so the government producing the currency can control the economy.

None of which has anything to do with the Korean negotiations of the impact of Chinese trading.

ETA: I should warn you, some libertarians spend a lot of time studying economics.

---

When people are told that they will be taken care of because it is their right, they stop paying attention to the numbers. That's true with pensions, Social Security, health care, public schools, roads, the post office, and clean water. I call it Somebody Else's Problem after a fictional FTL drive introduced by the late Douglas Adams. On the other hand, if they have to take responsibility, they pay closer attention. Just as one example, why should there be a mandatory retirement age? Just as interesting now that you brought it up, the current interest on savings accounts is artificially low because of government currency manipulation. It doesn't even beat the rate of inflation. Basically if you put money in a bank, you're losing money.

I'm not saying that the U.S. didn't benefit when the dollar was unquestionably the single reserve currency. That tends to happen with monopolies. I'm saying that competition and the free market can do better, with less government control and more choice and more benefits for people.❞❞

Tags: reserve currency ∙ fractional banking ∙ 1974 ∙ reform ∙ budget deficits ∙ budget process ∙ football pools ∙ aging population ∙ retirement income ∙ private sector ∙ mismanaged ∙ borrowed ∙ smart phone ∙ currency exchange ∙ futures markets ∙ stock markets ∙ index funds ∙ single reserve currency ∙ Somebody Else's Problem ∙ Douglas Adams ∙ pensions ∙ Social Security ∙ health care ∙ public schools ∙ roads ∙ post office ∙ clean water

Demonstrating that certain modern liberals don't understand economics

Tags: Original Vigil ∙ AlterNet ∙ classic ∙ retirement income ∙ cyberwarfare ∙ public schools ∙ reform ∙ control ∙ private sector ∙ distrust ∙ promises ∙ contract law ∙ net neutrality ∙ wasting cash ∙ corporate accountability ∙ spends too much money ∙ class distinctions ∙ spending cuts ∙ taxes ∙ health care providers ∙ Federal government ∙ insurance companies ∙ pharmaceutical companies ∙ Medicare ∙ Inferior Golden Rule ∙ single payer system ∙ FedGovs ∙ George Soros ∙ DNC ∙ Barack Obama ∙ race card ∙ Social Security ∙ Robert Murdoch ∙ Tea Party agenda ∙ David Koch ∙ decentralized ∙ Glen Beck ∙ Tea Party ∙ LewRockwell.com ∙ bias ∙ usefulness ∙ mutual ∙ voluntary ∙ exchange ∙ consenting activities ∙ consenting adults ∙ regulation ∙ license ∙ legislature ∙ economic disparity ∙ KYFHO ∙ individual citizens

And this would be a bad thing how?

I know what CNN is saying.

But realistically, why would a government shutdown be bad?

We know what Milton Friedman said.
Pretty much everything else could be done better by the states or the private sector.

If your local grocery store closed because they forgot to order, you'd go somewhere else. If the plumber you called couldn't come because his truck got repossessed, you'd call another. If your favorite coffee place had no one to work and was closed, well, there are other options.

But with government services, there aren't options.

Government doesn't like competition.

Every year, statists tell you How Important Government Is and how the "other party" is about to screw up your life.

It's political theater.

There isn't even a budget.

The last time there was officially a budget was 2009. But it was pretty much a budget in name only. Even if there was a budget, it would be several thousand pages long, incredibly detailed on some things and disturbingly vague on others. It's meant to be abused. I don't want to examine the Federal budget process here but I will tell you that even if Congress makes no changes, each agency gets the same amount it had the previous year plus an automatic increase. This is the so-called discretionary spending.

That's right. It takes an act of Congress to keep spending at the same level it was in the previous year.

The default setting is more government and more spending.

Then there is the mandatory spending which isn't part of the budget process. Congress may revisit the rules every few years on mandatory spending qualifications, but it usually rolls along on it's own. Mandatory spending is about two-thirds of the budget, Social Security alone is about one-third.

And I haven't even gotten to earmarks.

Government doesn't like competition so it locks private interests out of the services it provides. It manipulates you into blaming the other party so it can tax and spend more of your money. And it expects thanks for it's hard work.

Government shutdown.

This would be a bad thing how?

Tags: government ∙ government shutdown ∙ Milton Friedman ∙ picture ∙ competition ∙ Congress ∙ budget process ∙ political theater ∙ budget ∙ discretionary spending ∙ mandatory spending ∙ Social Security ∙ earmarks

Too good to skip

Tags: reform ∙ regulations ∙ Federal Register ∙ cut spending ∙ national defense ∙ israel ∙ Saudi Arabia ∙ Social Security ∙ too big to fail ∙ commenting

How a benevolent and socially progressive government drags people down

Tags: Original Vigil ∙ freely chosen ∙ classic ∙ victimhood ∙ Social Security ∙ favorites ∙ flood insurance ∙ good intentions ∙ bad choices ∙ compassion