Donald Trump rightly was regarded as a master negotiator. He screwed over banks and bond holders repeatedly in his Atlantic City misadventures. You don't make a fortune in real estate by being an easy mark either. So has he lost a step, as Bannon intimated? Or did he just have clever advisors in business and now is on his own with a bunch of advisors who didn't even vote for him?
I ask because the Donald Trump of Art of the Deal didn't get there by leading with his chin the way he is doing on this DACA nonsense. The dems have a big problem on DACA. Their supporters are beside themselves to get it passed. The dems however have very limited options. Basically they have two options. One, they can try the government shutdown ploy that Obama used so masterfully to bully cuck republicans. Or two, they can play the waiting game and hope they get congressional majorities, a risky ploy if they alienate their base of true crazies.
The problem with the shutdown gambit is, a shutdown is actually quite popular among Trump's hard right supporters. If dems went this route and lost, not only would Trump have a huge win but the shutdown weapon would be rendered useless in the future. An entire generation of republican cucks have been conditioned to believe that a shutdown only hurts them, and dems might think twice before disproving that belief.
Luckily for them, it appears that Trump has come up with a third approach, one that will give the dems a big win and, as a bonus, infuriate Trump's supporters. Trump made one huge mistake when he ended DACA prospectively. He should have either ended it immediately or waited and just let the courts declare it unconstitutional. By kicking it over to congress, he effectively agreed to a legislative amnesty. The current negotiations are just about the terms of his surrender. Dems would prefer an unconditional surrender, while Trump at least wants a fig leaf.
Bitter experience teaches us that whatever we get in return will be ephemeral. Amnesties take effect immediately and for all time. And whatever Trump signs off on will be vastly enlarged by the federal courts. Any limits will be judged unfair and discriminatory. By contrast, building a wall takes time. Stepping up enforcement takes time and can be reversed by the next sellouts who take office. Ending outrages like chain migration will require lengthy court battles.
So what should Trump have done? In essence, nothing, often a powerful negotiating technique. By doing nothing, you signal that you hold all the cards. Force the dems to negotiate against themselves by rejecting every offer. What's the worst that can happen? Illegals demonstrate against him? Bring it on, please bring it on.
What is happening now is that the cuck establishment is upping the pressure on Trump to agree to token concessions. The most important item, e-Verify, is apparently off the table completely. You can thank your Chamber of Commerce business lobby for that. The media and republican amnesty advocates, ie pretty much all the Senators, have started a campaign against Trump's one remaining MAGA hawk, Steve Miller. They want him out of the negotiations because he is an "obstacle" to a deal.
Trump detests criticism and has put himself into a downward spiral as a result. His core supporters are furious at his impending betrayal, but the more they criticize, the more he shuts them off and turns to establishment figures like Ryan and McConnell. He still seems to crave the approval of his hometown NYT as well.
Trump is so mercurial, no one can predict how this ends up. Maybe it's more of his 3D chess wizardry and the rest of us are too dim to appreciate it. Right now, things do not look good however.
I ask because the Donald Trump of Art of the Deal didn't get there by leading with his chin the way he is doing on this DACA nonsense. The dems have a big problem on DACA. Their supporters are beside themselves to get it passed. The dems however have very limited options. Basically they have two options. One, they can try the government shutdown ploy that Obama used so masterfully to bully cuck republicans. Or two, they can play the waiting game and hope they get congressional majorities, a risky ploy if they alienate their base of true crazies.
The problem with the shutdown gambit is, a shutdown is actually quite popular among Trump's hard right supporters. If dems went this route and lost, not only would Trump have a huge win but the shutdown weapon would be rendered useless in the future. An entire generation of republican cucks have been conditioned to believe that a shutdown only hurts them, and dems might think twice before disproving that belief.
Luckily for them, it appears that Trump has come up with a third approach, one that will give the dems a big win and, as a bonus, infuriate Trump's supporters. Trump made one huge mistake when he ended DACA prospectively. He should have either ended it immediately or waited and just let the courts declare it unconstitutional. By kicking it over to congress, he effectively agreed to a legislative amnesty. The current negotiations are just about the terms of his surrender. Dems would prefer an unconditional surrender, while Trump at least wants a fig leaf.
Bitter experience teaches us that whatever we get in return will be ephemeral. Amnesties take effect immediately and for all time. And whatever Trump signs off on will be vastly enlarged by the federal courts. Any limits will be judged unfair and discriminatory. By contrast, building a wall takes time. Stepping up enforcement takes time and can be reversed by the next sellouts who take office. Ending outrages like chain migration will require lengthy court battles.
So what should Trump have done? In essence, nothing, often a powerful negotiating technique. By doing nothing, you signal that you hold all the cards. Force the dems to negotiate against themselves by rejecting every offer. What's the worst that can happen? Illegals demonstrate against him? Bring it on, please bring it on.
What is happening now is that the cuck establishment is upping the pressure on Trump to agree to token concessions. The most important item, e-Verify, is apparently off the table completely. You can thank your Chamber of Commerce business lobby for that. The media and republican amnesty advocates, ie pretty much all the Senators, have started a campaign against Trump's one remaining MAGA hawk, Steve Miller. They want him out of the negotiations because he is an "obstacle" to a deal.
Trump detests criticism and has put himself into a downward spiral as a result. His core supporters are furious at his impending betrayal, but the more they criticize, the more he shuts them off and turns to establishment figures like Ryan and McConnell. He still seems to crave the approval of his hometown NYT as well.
Trump is so mercurial, no one can predict how this ends up. Maybe it's more of his 3D chess wizardry and the rest of us are too dim to appreciate it. Right now, things do not look good however.
