221–230 of 404 posts
If he actually does it I'll seriously considering voting for him. He won't, though.
It is interesting, your comment is completely insane to me. Doesn't that seem strange to you too?
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Are there any measurable metrics by which he is doing a good job?
Sure, the most important one. Hasn't invaded any new countries.
I suppose on his mind this might fit with some sort of fight with the "deep state". Beyond that I would just chalk it up to some inherent capriciousness... bordering on concerning instability.
Clearly there is a deep state. Snowden is proof.
The 'deep state' concept requires more than just secret acts that people don't like.
If he actually does it I'll seriously considering voting for him. He won't, though.
It is interesting, your comment is completely insane to me. Doesn't that seem strange to you too?
To someone with full blown TDS, sure, a Snowden pardon probably won't sway your opinion at all. But think of someone who leans libertarian and maybe doesn't love Trump but also doesn't hate him, and remembers how the Obama admin forced Snowden to flee and revoked his passport, forcing him to stay in Russia. Seeing a pardon from Trump could move them into being a mild supporter.
A lot of people have one or two big issues that their political allegiance revolves around. It can be abortion rights, gun rights, taxes, the national debt, anything. If someone's core issue is fighting the surveillance state, a Snowden pardon would be a massive change in the landscape.
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Trump really hasn't taken the lead in much in the way of legislative action, almost ever. First major tax reform in decades?
Entirely driven by congressional Republicans.
And of course he needed help from congress, he can't actually pass a bill without congress.
This is not news. Let's see him actually pardon Snowden, then talk about it.
Considering 3-4 years ago he referred to him as a traitor, I'd say the significant shift in stance is news. Should a pardon happen, this would set an important precedent for future whistleblowers and for the rule of law in the often obfuscated corners of the federal government. Support the efforts of Rand Paul and Thomas Massie, who have already publicly stated their support for a Presidential pardon in this case.
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Politically, he just says insane things that get headlines, which distract from the real news: Covid killing hundreds of thousands under his care, dismantling of the Post Office, and other highly unpopular consequences of his presidency.
Covid killing hundreds of thousands under his care But the US is near the middle-bottom of per capita deaths in Western countries and far behind several European countries.[1] [1] https://www.statista.com/statistics/1104709/coronavirus-deat...
A real ranking shows the US is doing far worse (orders of magnitude worse) than many countries[1].
One of the few countries doing worse is Sweden, which actively did nothing. They serve as a (flawed, but interesting) baseline.
Our own health officials are blowing whistles, criticizing the federal response in the press, and (universally) disagreeing with Trump's dismissals, false predictions, and insane medical advice.
To think the US is doing well is utter delusion. I don't know what else to call it.
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Well there you go. I guess it was my own assumption based on one of the PRISM slides that show when surveillance for each company started.[1] I assumed it involved cooperation. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PRISM_(surveillance_program)#/...
Well, that's court-ordered production of data based on given search terms. Being ordered by a court to do something is not the opposite of "cooperation" but it's not the same thing either. What Googlers were angry about was the stuff in the leaks that showed they were tapping undersea cables.
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they've intentionally selected the word due to it's negative context. The usage of "leaker" allows them to play to the 'orange man bad' narrative, which they value more than getting Snowden pardoned.
Are there any measurable metrics by which he is doing a good job?
Metrics aligned with the general welfare of the US, though? Not so much.
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Probably why he's considering - or talking about - it now.
Was thinking the same thing, sounds like he's looking to win some votes back.