4 ms·

So bizarre. The US defense department even says that climate change is one of the largest threats to US security. So, basically the Trump administration is pure

by afpx 7y ago

So bizarre. The US defense department even says that climate change is one of the largest threats to US security. So, basically the Trump administration is pure politics.

shivo 7y ago
The power of lobbying dollars is insurmountable. Even for wealthy ivy league politicians.
basementcat 7y ago
Not bizarre at all. The Administration is just carrying out the wishes of the electorate (who carefully considered the qualifications of all the candidates in the year prior to the election before deciding that the current executive is the most qualified person for the job). Any USA DoD personnel who aren’t carrying out the wishes of the electorate are part of the "deep state" that many Americans believe are undermining the country.
- munk-a 7y ago
  The US election system is based off a binary choice, many people who ended up voting for Trump did so for some of his stated positions without regard to the others. As such being elected to president isn't any sort of endorsement of all their policy positions.
- dmode 7y ago
  The electorate chose a candidate with 3million more votes. Unfortunately an archaic system gave us this incompetent fool
  - eclipseo76 7y ago
    No. If the system had been different, the candidates would have adopted a different strategy and you can't predict the outcome. The current system doesn't incentivize republicans from California to go vote like it doesn't for democrats from Alabama.
  - SlowRobotAhead 7y ago
    >I want New York City and Los Angeles to select the president of the United States for the far foreseeable future. No thanks though. You can argue first past the post, or ranked, or even if the division of EC votes always makes sense. But these are the rules we have - for good reason. Hillary Clinton didn't get 3 million more votes, she got 74 fewer.
- mikeash 7y ago
  “who carefully considered the qualifications of all the candidates” This whole comment is massive sarcasm, right?
  - TremendousJudge 7y ago
    what do you think?
    - mikeash 7y ago
      I think that sufficiently advanced sarcasm is indistinguishable from Trump support.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
danans 7y ago
> So, basically the Trump administration is pure politics. Every administration's positions and policies reflect their politics, and their donor base. This one isn't different in that way. This particular administration's positions represent the interests of the fossil fuel extraction industry, whether via the appointment of fossil fuel industry executives to positions of authority over environmental policy, or in the leniency by the administration toward particular authoritarian petro states like Saudi Arabia and Russia.

by afpx 7y ago

So bizarre. The US defense department even says that climate change is one of the largest threats to US security. So, basically the Trump administration is pure politics.

shivo 7y ago

The power of lobbying dollars is insurmountable. Even for wealthy ivy league politicians.

basementcat 7y ago

Not bizarre at all. The Administration is just carrying out the wishes of the electorate (who carefully considered the qualifications of all the candidates in the year prior to the election before deciding that the current executive is the most qualified person for the job). Any USA DoD personnel who aren’t carrying out the wishes of the electorate are part of the "deep state" that many Americans believe are undermining the country.

munk-a 7y ago
The US election system is based off a binary choice, many people who ended up voting for Trump did so for some of his stated positions without regard to the others. As such being elected to president isn't any sort of endorsement of all their policy positions.
dmode 7y ago
The electorate chose a candidate with 3million more votes. Unfortunately an archaic system gave us this incompetent fool
- eclipseo76 7y ago
  No. If the system had been different, the candidates would have adopted a different strategy and you can't predict the outcome. The current system doesn't incentivize republicans from California to go vote like it doesn't for democrats from Alabama.
- SlowRobotAhead 7y ago
  >I want New York City and Los Angeles to select the president of the United States for the far foreseeable future. No thanks though. You can argue first past the post, or ranked, or even if the division of EC votes always makes sense. But these are the rules we have - for good reason. Hillary Clinton didn't get 3 million more votes, she got 74 fewer.
mikeash 7y ago
“who carefully considered the qualifications of all the candidates” This whole comment is massive sarcasm, right?
- TremendousJudge 7y ago
  what do you think?
  - mikeash 7y ago
    I think that sufficiently advanced sarcasm is indistinguishable from Trump support.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

danans 7y ago

> So, basically the Trump administration is pure politics. Every administration's positions and policies reflect their politics, and their donor base. This one isn't different in that way. This particular administration's positions represent the interests of the fossil fuel extraction industry, whether via the appointment of fossil fuel industry executives to positions of authority over environmental policy, or in the leniency by the administration toward particular authoritarian petro states like Saudi Arabia and Russia.