Trump And Turkey

[ludwig]

This is what Donald Trump tweeted in relation to Turkey and the situation with the Kurds..

// As I have stated strongly before, and just to reiterate, if
Turkey does anything that I, in my great and unmatched wisdom, consider to be off limits,
I will totally destroy and obliterate the Economy of Turkey (I've done before!). //

I just wondered what people made of that. Is it supposed to be a joke, or is he being serious, and which of those two alternatives would be preferable?

[naomi24]

I think a lot of what he does and says is strange for a president - but then he isn't a politician by trade so doesn't make the empty noises a politician makes. He's a businessman - and he's astute. He knows that regardless of what he says or does, he will never win the war of hatred and spite that has been waged against him since before he was elected. If he discovered a cure for cancer he would be criticised – and since, contrary to widespread belief, he is not a fool, he knows it. Therefore, he doesn't attempt to ingratiate his critics - he plays to his audience in the sure and certain knowledge that he is who he is – the most powerful man on the planet. Who are the fools?

[douglas9401]

Thankfully he'll be dead soon and we can return to some kind of normality.

[dannyk13]

Douglas //Thankfully he'll be dead soon//
Do you know something that the rest of the world doesn't?

[ludwig]

Naomi, I don't agree with you, but thanks.

You're right, he's no fool, but I don't think there's as much strategic thought behind what he does and says as you give him credit for. He's famously thin skinned for example, and I see no act or cunning plan behind that. If he really was safe in the knowledge of his power - he should be after all - he wouldn't need to get involved in silly spats and insults over Twitter and other media as he constantly does.

My own view is that there's Trump the man and Trump the president. Personally I find Trump the man obnoxious. Truly obnoxious. That's just my opinion based on what I see. I have no personal axe to grind or reason to hate him.

Then there's Trump the president, which is a different thing altogether. Being an obnoxious person doesn't necessarily make someone a bad president. That can only be judged on actual results in terms of his success with the American economy, foreign policy, approval ratings etc etc, and those things can probably only be assessed in hindsight, after he's finished his term(s) in office - so I'm not even saying he's a bad president.

Where I think a lot of people go wrong, is that if they don't like him as a person, then he can do no good thing ever in their eyes, probably including your cancer cure.

Conversely, if they like his policies, then they will hear no bad thing said about him in any respect and defend every single thing he ever says or does, however ridiculous.

I genuinely wondered what people made of his latest Tweet about Turkey.

Sorry for the essay, but you gave me a proper answer so I thought it deserved a proper explanation on my part.

[naomi24]

Ludwig, //Where I think a lot of people go wrong, is that if they don't like him as a person, then he can do no good thing ever in their eyes, probably including your cancer cure.

Conversely, if they like his policies, then they will hear no bad thing said about him in any respect and defend every single thing he ever says or does, however ridiculous.//

Both those statements are absolutely accurate – and the people they refer to equally disingenuous. That inability – or more often point blank refusal – to be honestly discerning is what I object to. I detest sycophancy as much as I detest witch hunts.