8 ms·
I'll be impressed when he actually issues a pardon. I'd say Trump is notorious for "talking about" things without ever delivering anything. Take the issue of 50
by mindcrime 6y ago
I'll be impressed when he actually issues a pardon. I'd say Trump is notorious for "talking about" things without ever delivering anything. Take the issue of 50 state concealed carry reciprocity. Regardless of what you think about this issue yourself, it seems clear that Trump has tried to pander to gun owners and 2A advocates by constantly talking about this. But last I heard, there had been no meaningful action on it, or any reason to believe he was actually pushing his allies in Congress on the issue.
- cryptonector 6y agoIt's easy to promise controversial things that require Congressional action and cannot pass Congress. The President -no matter who they are or what Congressional action they promised- can't even push their allies in Congress to do something that can't work because of the filibuster or lack of sufficient majorities. Every candidate, and every President, promises things that they know Congress won't likely deliver -- cheap talk. But there are things they can do and so promises they can keep, so long as either they are sufficiently popular or do not require Congressional action.
- mindcrime 6y agoWhat you say is true. And all I'm saying in turn is that Trump strikes me as being unusually insincere, even for a politician, in terms of the things he talks up and then never throws any meaningful support behind. Yes, all politicians pander, but I think this particular politician has made it an art form like few others.
- cryptonector 6y agoDid you really think you were going to get carry reciprocity anytime soon? Could you not see then, and now, that that will require sizeable Republican majorities in the House and Senate, and that there was no way for Trump to move the needle on that issue all by himself, especially after the midterms? Carry reciprocity is kind of a niche issue, lacks enough popularity, and is hard to make more popular. Well, maybe now that the gun stores are empty and millions more are armed than were before March, maybe now carry reciprocity can become popular enough. Before March, the 2A was just barely popular enough to be difficult to gut. I dunno, if you really care about that one issue, you know Biden won't give it to you (he's not even promising it, and it's not something Democrats want, obviously, else it would have passed already). Trump can't give it to you unless the needle has moved a lot, which... maybe it just-now has. So if this is your one issue, I'm shocked you'd be so angry as to hold it against Trump that he's not been able to deliver it to you. There must be like, three people who care so much about just this one issue. Maybe you could use more issues to make up your mind.
- mindcrime 6y agoDid you really think you were going to get carry reciprocity anytime soon? No, and that was just an example to illustrate a point. So if this is your one issue, It's not. You're reading WAY too much into that. It was just an example, and it was the first one that jumped to mind.
- cryptonector 6y agoWhat a strange and minor issue to pick as an example. Do you have a list of promises not kept? I'm curious how they break down into ones that could not be kept because of Congress and ones that Trump reneged on.
- dementik 6y agoCheck out Trump Tracker https://trumptracker.github.io/ https://trumptracker.github.io/
- doonesbury 6y agoYes ... Yes .. But meanwhile djt confers distinction for gratuitous and wanton blabbering on about what he could do, will do, can do under the law etc.. His talk is 1000x worse that what the average DC politician gas bags on about.
- ithkuil 6y agoPresidential pardon does not require approval from Congress, does it?
- cryptonector 6y agoI was referring to GP's reference to carry reciprocity.
- duxup 6y agoTrump really hasn't taken the lead in much in the way of legislative action, almost ever. I don't think he understands or has the patience for the process. Anything beyond what he can try to decree himself, he seems to lose interest / struggle with. Even tripping up his own party members in congress while they try to understand what he wants. He has threatened to veto things he pushed for... then signed them shortly after. I think he might simply be incapable of anything requiring too many new steps for him.
- hirundo 6y agoOr he understands that in this environment, for him to flog a bill makes it less likely to become law. And that embarrassment is a political debit.
- duxup 6y agoThe times he has done it his own party has straight up said it isn't helpful and that he was pushing for it earlier. There's no 3d chess going on.
- doonesbury 6y agoAgree. Cross functional management? Are you kidding? The man can barely find the oval office desk two days in a row.
- refurb 6y agoTrump really hasn't taken the lead in much in the way of legislative action, almost ever. First major tax reform in decades?
- ekianjo 6y agoTrump likes to throw ideas in the wild and see how people react to it. It does that kind of polling all the time. This way you can see how the public is ready or not to have such discussions.
- kgraves 6y ago> I'd say Trump is notorious for "talking about" things without ever delivering anything. He "talked" about doing something about TikTok, then "did" something by signing an executive order on it. EDIT: Downvotes... OK, so he didn't "talk about" and "do" this? Downvoters care to explain?
- SV_BubbleTime 6y agoTrump couldn’t do national reciprocity with en EO. Trump can pardon. As to why national reciprocity didn’t go through, it was because the margins in congress were too low. Republicans in NY IL and CA mostly aren’t into it. Besides, it’s the same story as ever... “if we give you the thing you want, we can’t campaign on it next time!”.
- Lammy 6y agoThat's every politician on every issue, though. Relevant Bors: https://thenib.com/the-gay-marriage-rush/ https://thenib.com/the-gay-marriage-rush/
- noobermin 6y agoIt works because he maintains a high approval rating in his party.
- smsm42 6y agoPardoning Snowden is not likely to be popular is his party, most Republicans aren't very big fans of Snowden. However, it is true that Trump is known for publicly "floating" a lot of ideas that he latter drops if they prove unpopular. But, if everybody cheers him for it it might actually make it more likely to happen.
- topspin 6y ago> Republicans aren't very big fans of Snowden Republicans have grown far more circumspect regarding their faith in intelligence services and Federal LEOs. Many see them as just players in and tools of the establishment political/media complex. At this point I don't think pardoning Snowden would hurt Trump with most Republicans. Certainly the 'Never Trumper' wing of Republicans would involuntarily soil themselves, but that's neither unusual nor significant.
- smsm42 6y agoTrue, Republicans are now much more sour on FBI and other alphabet agencies than they had been before. I'm not sure they are sour enough yet to embrace Snowden. We'll see.
- 0xy 6y agoThe "floating" is A/B testing. Chances are, if this passes some formula of (left wing people won over) - (right wing people who hate it) > 0 then he'll do it.
- smsm42 6y agoExactly. It is strange how many people who know what A/B testing is and have done it themselves are surprised when politicians do the same.