"One Man Could Turn This Country Around"

[Ursus Minor]

That's a quotation by Donald Trump in an interview by Rona Barrett on October 6, 1980.

Her final question to Trump back at the time was: "If you had lost all of your fortune, what would you do?"

 

[Michael B-C]

Hi Ursus Minor

Not sure what you take from this video of Trump in his 30;s but what I hear/see is:

1. A man who puts American hegemony and fear of America (i.e. 'respect') top of his wish list and as such is part of the 100 year problem not a solution.

2. A man who knew nothing of the US's perpetual attempt to bring Iran to its knees ever since the Mordad coup d'état in 1953 when they violently removed the one man willing to stand up to the demand that Iran hand over its oil reserves to US/western control from which all issues since have emerged (and still go on); hence his send in the troops one stop solution - 'hey no one would argue with our right' and 'hey we'd have control of their oil' (his great complaint about his false perception of the outcome of the invasion and decimation of Iraq in 2003)!

3. A man who dumbly thinks that the 'capable' men don't go into politics because they'd rather make grotesque profits running corporations (which is the point after all - politicians are chosen by the same for their graven obedience to the system and their willingness to maintain the same for the good of the thieving corporations which are, after all, the real government!)

4. A man who still expressed the idea that the president was a powerful figure independent of the corporate system despite all the evidence to the contrary.

5. A man who says this answer is to get together with other rich people to find a man to do the job - in other words screw democracy, its money that counts.

And we end up now with that one man! Hubristic, narcissistic, xenophobic, ignorant and utterly deluded about what goes into making the wheels of the corpocracy go round and round. Well he's undoubtedly learned a whole lot more having walked onto the right hook of Russiagate. But I still see no real evidence that the creature in that video is now more wise or suitable to be that 'one man who can turn this country around'. The only thing to be said for him is that he inadvertently stirred the hornets nest and he has yet to start a major war. Something I know. But please don't anyone suggest this man is a revolutionary. Second term Trump has all the potential with Boris as his wing man to do real and unspeakable damage. His ego, his ignorance and his love of bullying allied to Johnson's psychopathological tendencies are a recipe made in hell.

 

[JGeropoulas]

Hi Ursus Minor

Not sure what you take from this video of Trump in his 30;s but what I hear/see is:

1. A man who puts American hegemony and fear of America (i.e. 'respect') top of his wish list and as such is part of the 100 year problem not a solution.

2. A man who knew nothing of the US's perpetual attempt to bring Iran to its knees ever since the Mordad coup d'état in 1953 when they violently removed the one man willing to stand up to the demand that Iran hand over its oil reserves to US/western control from which all issues since have emerged (and still go on); hence his send in the troops one stop solution - 'hey no one would argue with our right' and 'hey we'd have control of their oil' (his great complaint about his false perception of the outcome of the invasion and decimation of Iraq in 2003)!

3. A man who dumbly thinks that the 'capable' men don't go into politics because they'd rather make grotesque profits running corporations (which is the point after all - politicians are chosen by the same for their graven obedience to the system and their willingness to maintain the same for the good of the thieving corporations which are, after all, the real government!)

4. A man who still expressed the idea that the president was a powerful figure independent of the corporate system despite all the evidence to the contrary.

5. A man who says this answer is to get together with other rich people to find a man to do the job - in other words screw democracy, its money that counts.

And we end up now with that one man! Hubristic, narcissistic, xenophobic, ignorant and utterly deluded about what goes into making the wheels of the corpocracy go round and round. Well he's undoubtedly learned a whole lot more having walked onto the right hook of Russiagate. But I still see no real evidence that the creature in that video is now more wise or suitable to be that 'one man who can turn this country around'. The only thing to be said for him is that he inadvertently stirred the hornets nest and he has yet to start a major war. Something I know. But please don't anyone suggest this man is a revolutionary. Second term Trump has all the potential with Boris as his wing man to do real and unspeakable damage. His ego, his ignorance and his love of bullying allied to Johnson's psychopathological tendencies are a recipe made in hell.

You make some good points, but overall, your attitude seems to have fallen victim to the media's persistent bias and propaganda against him. If this video is watched without prejudice, you might see Trump displaying little more sincere optimism and a little less naivete or duplicity.

 

[Michael B-C]

You make some good points, but overall, your attitude seems to have fallen victim to the media's persistent bias and propaganda against him. If this video is watched without prejudice, you might see Trump displaying little more sincere optimism and a little less naivete or duplicity.

Hi JGeropoulas. I didn't and don't respond to the media's obvious lies and manipulations, but merely to the precise words and ideas as expressed in this interview by the the younger Trump. That's all I referred to. I would be interested to hear how what I posted in anyway reflects media manipulation, and my suggested prejudice and what specifically he says that you view as being symptoms of what you describe as 'displaying sincere optimism and a little less naivete or duplicity'. I obviously missed something in those 4.5 minutes.

I ask out of genuine interest because I know that even on this forum being 'pro' or 'against' Trump can be a divisive issue when in fact we must surely grasp that that is merely yet another trap - a potentially divisive 'either or' camp - 'you are either with him or against him' BS. I was willing to see Trump as the worst best option back in 2016 but increasingly I've become less willing to view him through such even partially rosy spectacles. For me, standing back and looking at the whole system and his support for making America great, he is as much a symbol of its rotten core as some others (whilst its a given that others are clearly far worse), but in a way specifically dangerous with regard to his underlying personality traits. And I hear those traits loud and clear in this youthful interview. That's all.

But do please let me know what you think are the specifics of my errors in judgement. Which after all are but merely where I stand today on the matter. I remain open to being proven wrong in the months and years ahead. And I can assure you it would give me greater pleasure to be proved so.

 

[Ursus Minor]

Hi Ursus Minor

Not sure what you take from this video of Trump in his 30s...

Quite honestly I took the video on a light-hearted basis. It was not meant to be a political statement. I was trying to indicate this by adding "superhero" to my post.
My post was not intended to be divisive.

While Trumps hubris may be as American as apple pie and he comes across as narcissistic and blustery, you've got to give him credit for putting the EU in its place by withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement in 2017, and surviving the snakepit Washington D.C. is.

But all of that doesn't relate to the 34 year old Donald we saw in that video.

On a personal note:

I've been a left-winger myself, albeit twenty years ago. At some point in time it became clear to me that the Left had failed me, even before they went totally globalist and put a strain on society with their divisive antics.

You might actually say that the lefties have taken the left-winger out of me.

In general I would think that all of that left-wing, right-wing crap is a trap.

It should be all about facts and objectivity.

 

[JGeropoulas]

Hi JGeropoulas. I didn't and don't respond to the media's obvious lies and manipulations, but merely to the precise words and ideas as expressed in this interview by the the younger Trump. That's all I referred to. I would be interested to hear how what I posted in anyway reflects media manipulation, and my suggested prejudice and what specifically he says that you view as being symptoms of what you describe as 'displaying sincere optimism and a little less naivete or duplicity'. I obviously missed something in those 4.5 minutes.

I ask out of genuine interest because I know that even on this forum being 'pro' or 'against' Trump can be a divisive issue when in fact we must surely grasp that that is merely yet another trap - a potentially divisive 'either or' camp - 'you are either with him or against him' BS. I was willing to see Trump as the worst best option back in 2016 but increasingly I've become less willing to view him through such even partially rosy spectacles. For me, standing back and looking at the whole system and his support for making America great, he is as much a symbol of its rotten core as some others (whilst its a given that others are clearly far worse), but in a way specifically dangerous with regard to his underlying personality traits. And I hear those traits loud and clear in this youthful interview. That's all.

But do please let me know what you think are the specifics of my errors in judgement. Which after all are but merely where I stand today on the matter. I remain open to being proven wrong in the months and years ahead. And I can assure you it would give me greater pleasure to be proved so.

Though you say that you responded to "merely the precise words and ideas as expressed in this interview", a lot of what you wrote contains (media-biased ?) assumptions about Trump's motives or intentions--not just simply what he said. For example, he said he'd like to be part of a group who could put forth someone that would make a good candidate, whereas your interpretation is that he said "the answer is to get together with other rich people to find a man to do the job - in other words screw democracy, its money that counts."). He agreed with Rona Barrett that it seems the most successful, capable people don't run for president because it's a mean (?) life, but you wrote that Trump is a man "who dumbly thinks that the 'capable' men don't go into politics because they'd rather make grotesque profits running corporations." Any interpretation, above all, would have to keep in mind that Trump was only 34 years old--less than half his current age and not even old enough to run for president at that time, so his answers might tend to be idealistic and perhaps innocently naive, yet sincere without a hidden, future political agenda for 2016.

 

[JGeropoulas]

...What he may symbolize in retrospect today (or be accused by the media of symbolizing), is a very different issue than what he proposed or may have intended in that interview at age 34.

 

[DianaRose]

All I can say is that Trump is definitely sincere in this interview. Now, does he truly grasp the geopolitics of the world? Not really. America then as in now had "respect" in the sense he formulates it. America is the hegemon of the world. I do believe that Trump probably wants to Make America Great Again in the sense he understand it.

To be honest, in regards to Trump and politics, I think the bar is set very low. I mean most of the politicians are psychopath or something close to it and operate like a cabal, then you have Trump who probably has a massive ego but isn't psychopatic. It's not really a choice, is it? Personally, while I do think he's smarter than many people credit him, I don't find him as impressive or great as many other members here, but I guess he was the right man for the situation and he represents the time of the world. Also, I think with his persona he was able to connect with the American public and give them what they wanted. He's a good representation of the people and what they wanted at this current moment.