How many of you still admit to supporting the Clown, Trump?

And I see no evidence that the "sitting president" is doing anything other than the business of being president. I will not say he is doing that well, (or not well) or that I like or dislike what he is doing. I think I've been pretty clear right from the start that I am not a fan of Trump. But I'm not going to be a hypocrite about it either (and not saying you are here, btw)

I'm not sure Trump is being treated fairly in this issue. His business makes his name part of the brand, and it's truly impossible for him to do much more than step away via a Chinese Wall (that's appropriate, isn't it? ) from it. You can't expect him to simply try and liquidate all assets - even if he did, then those on the left would accuse him of making profit as a result of the sale because somebody "paid him extra for favors". It's an unfortunate reality and the only way to prevent it would be to exclude anybody in a similar business model as Trump from being president. But that would require a Constitutional Amendment - not even getting into the idea that it would be IMHO wrong, and stupid. As far as I'm concerned, the risk of unethical business dealings with Trump is FAR less than what has likely happened with Pelosi, Maxine Waters, and a ton of others out there who have ties to investment banking, etc. Far far more difficult to monitor unethical behavior that may well have benefited them personally than with Trump IMHO.

 

which can also be political to a certain extent, no?

 

<wmhjr>
No shit. The government has no problem going after businesses and their heads. Being ethical isn't a concern for those that aren't pursued, politician's.

 

There is politics in everything.

 

Sure, but politicians sell your dreams up the river. Businessmen at least sell you a product.

 

Not sure what you're trying to say here - really.

 

Corrected at least partially

 

"You have to have ups and downs in order to know which way up is"....Yogi Berra

 

But for former POTUS it's just fine. Lib conviction at its finest.

 

Make sense?

Trump may be illusive in his business dealings, and that will likely transfer to his government role, but I don't think he'll step into unethical territory.

 

I agree. So what business is the current POTUS engaging in outside of being President.

 

Not letting people know your plans is the surest way to keep them from subverting those plans.

 

The chinese wall you refer to is his son-in-law, who is also on staff of the WH. That strikes me as a damn porous wall. I do believe the appropriate course of action would have been to place his entire holdings into a real blind trust. What we have here is nothing of the sort. Trump Inc is clearly still operating, and while you might see the risk of ethical breaches as FAR less than other politicians, those other politicians are not president, do not have direct authority over foreign policy, have enumerable business holdings and contracts with foreign governments, and have not been sued under the emoluments clause.

It's also quite possible I am more cynical about Trump's business ethics based on past and ongoing practices. Strangely, many here prior to his election thought similarly, but have seemed to have a turn of opinion.

 

No, the chinese wall is his sons - who are NOT on staff at the WH.

There is no possible way to place his entire holdings in a blind trust. That's been discussed time after time. You can't just have him "forget" that Trump hotels are, well, Trump hotels. The blind trust offers no protection.

And I'm not criticizing you for being cynical. I was cynical about him prior to the election, and remain cynical of him today. But I try to be as unbiased as I can about the issues. I still think he's a blowhard that needs to learn how to keep his mouth shut, that he's said many things to appease peoples emotions just to get popularity and that his ego is the size of Mount Rushmore. That doesn't mean I'm going to jump to all kinds of other accusations because I personally don't like him. The only turn of opinion I've had here is that since the election, while my impression of Trump has not improved, my impression of the left has markedly degraded.

 

Trump becoming a billionaire by working in the private sector prior to becoming POTUS is evil.

Both Clinton and Obama working their entire life on the tax payers dime becoming millionaires after being POTUS?.......... Crickets.

Libs are awesome.

 

What the fuck are you talking about??

You really have a hard on for Obama, dont you??

 

Yes, just me.

Do you need cliff notes for three sentences?

 

On this I guess we will just disagree. It is not impossible. It would be laborious and complex. Painter/Eisner set out a clear path to ethical protection. The current setup offers no protection that he isn't calling the shots. A better arrangement would provide a true blind trust with an independently assigned executor/trustee. A best-case outcome would be to liquidate his assets (like Obama did in 2008) and have that run as a blind trust.

 

Is a semi-chub okay?