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Can anyone really deny that this is true? He's clearly the most partisan President in history. Remember when Obama critics used to claim he's dividing America (for being black apparently)? Trump says "hold my beer."

Trump Calls His Critics ‘Very Dangerous For The Country’

Trump: Media Is ‘Enemy of the American People’

Poll: Trump is Dividing America

America's Political Divide Intensified During Trump's First Year as President

Of course I think FOX News is where most of the blame should rest. Trump is merely a puppet of FOX News entertainment. They drive policy, they shape his tweets, they determine who he hires (usually FOX employees) and fires (anyone FOX criticizes). They probably have more influence over Trump than Putin does.

Don't people in the right have all the guns?

aussieguy55 wrote:Don't people in the right have all the guns?

Yes, they have the guns. In an ideological war, they would annihilate their opponents because they have the guns and no moral compass with which to restrain their actions.

Trump defines life by winning, and winning means winners and losers. The idea of a 'win-win' does not seem to be the first option for the President. His rallies are not about bringing the country together, but about bragging how he beat the other side. Trump never leaves campaign mode. His fragile ego will not allow him. For Donald Trump, the other side is not people who think differently. It is people who are against him.

MeDotOrg wrote: His rallies are not about bringing the country together, but about bragging how he beat the other side.

This appeals to folks suffering from a certain degree of stunted emotional development.

MeDotOrg wrote:Trump defines life by winning, and winning means winners and losers. The idea of a 'win-win' does not seem to be the first option for the President. His rallies are not about bringing the country together, but about bragging how he beat the other side. Trump never leaves campaign mode. His fragile ego will not allow him. For Donald Trump, the other side is not people who think differently. It is people who are against him.

This is one of the things I find most distressing about Trump. He is not interested in, nor does he believe in "win-win" scenarios. It is never enough for him to win. Making sure the other side loses as ignominiously as possible is at least as important, maybe even more important to him, than winning. He has little sympathy or concern for anyone other than himself--even for those who support him. He demands absolute loyalty from his associates, yet doesn't hesitate to turn on them and excoriate them while blaming them for every little thing that doesn't go the way he wanted--especially if it was his own fault.

Numbers of guns don't help.

Chris Smith on his Facebook page posted
"Experimental research suggests that carrying a gun increases levels of testosterone. Testosterone causes feelings of confidence, but it also has some negative side effects: it inhibits empathy and increases aggression.

Experimental research also shows that *firing* a gun increases levels of cortisol, especially in novices. Cortisol causes feelings of stress and anxiety. The combination of high testosterone and high cortisol is especially conducive to irrationally aggressive behavior."

Gunnar wrote:

MeDotOrg wrote:Trump defines life by winning, and winning means winners and losers. The idea of a 'win-win' does not seem to be the first option for the President. His rallies are not about bringing the country together, but about bragging how he beat the other side. Trump never leaves campaign mode. His fragile ego will not allow him. For Donald Trump, the other side is not people who think differently. It is people who are against him.

This is one of the things I find most distressing about Trump. He is not interested in, nor does he believe in "win-win" scenarios. It is never enough for him to win. Making sure the other side loses as ignominiously as possible is at least as important, maybe even more important to him, than winning. He has little sympathy or concern for anyone other than himself--even for those who support him. He demands absolute loyalty from his associates, yet doesn't hesitate to turn on them and excoriate them while blaming them for every little thing that doesn't go the way he wanted--especially if it was his own fault.

I agree, and it's what I also find most distressing about Trump, but it's what his supporters love the most about him. Some people are attracted to a-holes. I don't get it.

Trump is only the face of it. Power corrupts and power is in the hands of one party to the extent that the checks and balances are failing. When Democrats get enough power they also become corrupt. That's why partisanism becomes an endless series of lies and distortions.

I think you are probably right, Mak. Years ago I read about (I think it was in USA Magazine) a study that showed that, historically, both Government spending and deficits tend to grow fastest whenever both the Whitehouse and congress are controlled by the same party, whether Democrat or Republican, and slightly faster when it is Republicans control both branches than when it is Democrats who do. The slowest growth in both deficits and spending tended to be when Democrats controlled the Whitehouse with a Republican majority in Congress.