It’s been a long time since I’ve studied this, but I believe a President can go to war without congressional approval for three months. After that, he (or she, maybe) must seek permission from Congress, but it doesn’t normally get knocked back.
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That is genuinely scary and seems rather counter intuative. Wonder how many other democratic nations can go to war on the whim of one man without any counters.
I’m sure people will cite Blair but it was still debated in parliament
Donald seems to have taken people by surprise by making some sensible statements.
How long do you think it will take until you lot start to notice?
Do you see similarities between the Trump & Reagan elections? Similar abuse from the luvvies (obviously less vitriol but not by much)
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I don’t think Trump will prove to be a Warmonger, or at least he won’t be doing so much wars abroad, he might do a war on home soil vs Mexicans and i.e. Musloids, but I don’t suppose he will go as far as using Nukes on them because it would be bad form to level i.e. Los Angeles just to kill a few Mexicans. That Clinton bird had much more of the mad, warmonger gleam in her eye imo.
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I don’t doubt that my fuzzy friend, just seems a bizzare system through and through.
Another question for the OP - Do you think th emajority of US residents truely feel they have freedom of speech ?
Serious question - does the US look as fucked-up from there as it does from a distance?
Race problems, intolerance, poverty, ignorance - or are we just getting fed the worst bits?
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You read my mind 4 hours before I thought it…
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You’ll meet a tall dark stranger…
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Do Americans feel more relaxed about Trump now that he’s been endorsed by Bashar Assad?
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**You suspect wrong then Redslo over 33 years does give me some sort of statistical significance. I don’t believe I have met any so called Democrats from Europe to the middle east and now the far east.
Correct in your assumption that most of these are business personnel or military but the expats who still pay taxes also vote republican as the party of lower taxes. The ones that are not paying US taxes are basically just hoping not to be found.
I did not realize how long a period you were referencing. Very possibly if you have 5 or more independent contacts per year it would be statistically significant. The point about the party of lower taxes makes sense because expats would not be directly benefiting from the government services their taxes are paying for. Otherwise, I think we agree.
** “That question is stupid and pointless so I don’t have to answer it in this thread. Post it in my old thread if you really want an answer.”
**blimey. My next question is whether trump is going to reintroduce humour after Obama clearly removed it. Keep your knickers on, I didn’t mean to upset you on your self-indulgent thread where you think everyone has to give any sort of fuck about your opinion.
I thought your question was mildly funny but I had no funny direct response so I made what I thought would be a mildly humorous response. Sorry you didn’t like it. I guess this thread is self-indulgent, but really posting on internet forums is inherently self-indulgent. I assumed that people who didn’t care about my opinions (or, at least, my opinions on this issue) would ignore the thread.
**Do you have sane or respected friends or family members that voted Trump?
I do not know of any friends who voted for Trump. I know of a few aquaintances who voted for Trump. I have some family members who voted for Trump but not immediate family members (my brother’s widow, for example).
Have you fallen out with anyone because they backed Trump?
No. I have not discussed the issues since the election with any Trump voter and, before the election, Trump voters in my area were not open about it.
**(both questions based on my personal experience of Brexit)
**What sort of profile / image does Nigel Farage have in the US?
Virtually none. I am aware of him personally because, due to my interest in Southampton FC, I followed Brexit more closely than 99.99% of Americans. That number is not a guess. I really do not think 30,000 Americans paid more attention to it than I. He made a brief appearance in our Presidential race when he said good things about Trump but it wasn’t covered that heavily compared to what else was going on at the time. More Americans may have heard of him now after he met with Trump over the past weekend.
**What should Donald do and what is he likely to do re gun control?
What he should do is put forward the strongest gun control legislation the Supreme Court will allow and appoint a Supreme Court judge who will allow alot. That Legislation wouldnt get through Congress, however.
What he will do is probably nothing because the NRA was one of the biggest supporters and there is no support for gun control in the Republican Congress.
**What is the pervading attitude of the Us towards the EU?
I don’t think there is a pervading attitude. I believe most Americans rarely think about the EU. I am confident I think about the EU more often than most and I can go a week without think about the EU.
If EU is short hand for Europe, NATO, the EU, and our western allies all together, most Americans generally have a favorable opinion, but based on recent nonsense propaganda many Americans worry that you guys are becoming hot beds of Islamic Terrorism and hope that Trump can solve this problem before it gets here.
Personally, my primary EU thought is the Germany’s policies following the 2008 crash have been a total disaster. Germany has forced the Southern EU to countries to go through years of high unemployment just so that they could avoid a little bit more inflation. Although I like what Merkle has done is some other areas, economically she has done more harm to the rest of Europe of any German leader since Hitler and this includes the communist East German leaders. Note, however, that I am not suggesting that she was anywhere close to Hitler in any respect.
**Really thick question and I apologise for showing my ignorance.
**How much power does the president actually have? Are their robust failsafes that can stop somone effectively turning into a dictator as soon as they get the keys to the whitehouse. What I’m really getting at is if the president wanted to start a war with a random small country just to flex his muscle - what could government do to intervene and debate it ?
The president has a lot of power, but I don’t think he could randomly start a war like that or turn into a real dictator. With respect to the former, a lot would depend on whether the military viewed their duty as blindly following orders or would instead act in the best interest of the cournty. I currently believe the latter is more likely.
See below for more war responses.
The president can do a lot of stuff directly. For example, several state have legalized marijuana, but it is still illegal under federal law. Obama had told the Justice Department not to enforce those laws in state where it was legalized. Trump could turn that around on a dime and send federal agents out to arrest all the legal marijuana dealers. They would probably face 20 plus years in federal prison. But the local juries might refuse to convict them.
Obama increased the minimum wage federal contractors must pay. Trump can reverse that.
Trump gets an immediate Supreme Court appointment. That won’t change a lot directly, but if that appointment had gone to Obama or Clinton, a lot would have changed. If Trump gets to replace Breyer or Ginsburg or Kennedy, abortion rights will go away either completely, or it would be left to the individual states. Gay marriage might go away too.
**Just look back to Grenada for your answer
**That made the line frm teh Spitting image song jump straight into my head
**‘We went into Grenada with our heads held high’
**Da-do-ron-ron-ron, da do-ron-ron
**‘Though none of us can really remember why’
**da-do-ron-ron-ron-da-do-ron-ron
** It’s been a long time since I’ve studied this, but I believe a President can go to war without congressional approval for three months. After that, he (or she, maybe) must seek permission from Congress, but it doesn’t normally get knocked back.
I believe that all of these comments are basically correct. The difference is that the military trusted and supported Reagen’s anti-communist goals and wanted a victory after Vietnam and the bombing of the marines in Lebanon. Currently, the military does not want to fight more wars so they will not be as enthusiastic just to start a war to win a war. But I could be wrong—I don’t have any good military contacts so I am answering these question based upon my sense of the courty and its mood, But I never thought Trump would win–although, unlike some people, I feared it as a real possibility. Non-stupid people, whom I did not like, were predicting it.
**In light of the USA’s 4-0 defeat by Costa Rica and are bottom of the 6 team group what are the odds on them qualifying for the next world cup and will your foreign coach be deported.
Looking at the remaining schedule, I think the USMNT should get 15 or 16 points which would be enought to qualify. Also, fourth place should get in unless we draw South America in the playoff.
If the USMNT does not qualify, the coach will likely be fired. I do not think there is any chance he will be deported.
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Not as much as the UK does from here! 
How many of the racist incidents, intolerant incidents etc would have occurred anyway but get more media attention right now? Is Trump’s transition team as chaotic as media claim or much the same as previous transitions? I’m not a Trump supporter but the media isn’t going to cut him any slack
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Absolutely! If he had got that before the election, there would have been no doubt he would win.
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I have friends that voted for Trump but I have not fallen out with any of them. They have their reasons and, while I don’t agree, I understand. None of them, as far as I know, are racist or intolerant. Who knows how the next 4 years will go? Could be an interesting ride.
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Can you see Trump getting nationwide support for this? (Fucking hell, btw)
Donald Trump’s policy advisers are discussing plans to establish a registry for Muslim immigrants in the US, a man believed to be a key member of the President-elect’s transition team has revealed.
Kris Kobach, the secretary of state for Kansas, said the President-elect’s advisers were looking at how to implement a proposal suggested by the billionaire businessman that would force immigrants from Muslim countries to register on a database.
A great idea, though I’m wondering whether there might be a small loophole…
What happens if those with criminal intentions don’t register?
What are your views on Trumps cabinet picks?
Mike Pompeo and Jeff Sessions particularly.
Originally posted by @Redslo
**In light of the USA’s 4-0 defeat by Costa Rica and are bottom of the 6 team group what are the odds on them qualifying for the next world cup and will your foreign coach be deported.
Looking at the remaining schedule, I think the USMNT should get 15 or 16 points which would be enought to qualify. Also, fourth place should get in unless we draw South America in the playoff.
If the USMNT does not qualify, the coach will likely be fired. I do not think there is any chance he will be deported.
He has just been fired. So now how likely you will get another foreign boss or they will go back to an American to do the duties?