March 15 will be an important day.

[Eric the Green]

Oh Rags, and I thought you liked 1Ts because they are so calm and comfortable. Now you like 2Ts; a man after my own heart. I think..... but as usual when you are more bi-polar or something, not very practical. Not the practical side of the nomad in you; maybe being burned up by the fiery boomer in you.

Fire = prophet
Earth = nomad
Air = civic
Water = artist

[Eric the Green]

(04-04-2017, 03:31 PM)Bob Butler 54 Wrote:

(04-04-2017, 01:32 PM)Eric the Green Wrote:

(03-30-2017, 11:37 PM)Bob Butler 54 Wrote: But red and blue perceptions are so skewed that I doubt there would be a general consensus on any news organization being, um, fair and balanced.  Would you and Eric care to get together to try to find a truly neutral news source?

I wonder what kinser would say about AP?

I saw one chart that placed them squarely on top and in the middle.

Not a bad nomination, though they might be considered the most main of all main stream presses.

Considering kinser's response, I would say yes AP is mainstream, but quite often these days, "mainstream" means "just the facts." Not embellished or faked by one side or the other.

[Bob Butler 54]

(04-06-2017, 03:22 AM)Eric the Green Wrote: Considering kinser's response, I would say yes AP is mainstream, but quite often these days, "mainstream" means "just the facts." Not embellished or faked by one side or the other.

Some extreme partisans live in a severe enough alternate reality that 'just the facts' can cause cognitive dissonance.  If a story isn't spun to 20,000 RPM in the correct direction, it feels wrong to them.

I haven't been reading pure AP.  Their reputation may be as you say.  I can't really confirm anything.

[Eric the Green]

(04-05-2017, 10:18 PM)Ragnarök_62 Wrote:

(03-17-2017, 03:58 PM)X_4AD_84 Wrote: <snip>

Tell me, were our government systems destroyed during the Great Power 4T? Is this sort of "burn it all down" destruction the only path?

1. Huh? You ain't jonesin' for creative destruction?

2. Nature requires a periodic clean up, via fires, man.



Just look at that! That's a controlled burn with measuring devices.  So yeah, Rags to XY_MOX_4AD, BURN, BABY BURN - a well known 2T slogan.  

I know Eric will like that pic. It confirms his aura reading, Red and Black baby!  Death to NATO, death to the UN, death to the MIC, death to IMF, death to the EU, death UN, death to all that rotten rubbish set up in the prior turning. May the ashes nourish the new US isolationist order.  Like, where have you been in the 2T? You have a bucket of water, Rags has a flamethrower.  I want all the rotten order to just go.


Yeah, that's the cycle man, the Great Power cycle institutions are just a bunch of worthless underbrush.
McStain and his shit show clowns are just so, so stupid. McStain is a freakin' dinosaur man.  I await a meteor with his name on it. Out with old, in with the new.

Well, I'm with you today, Rags. Maybe forever. But I have a slightly different list of who is fucking up the world and needs to burn, baby, burn. I'll throw in the MIC, and add all Republicans to the flame. Our so-called president, Republicans and Democrats-in-Name-Only in congress, the Senate, legislatures, and everyone who voted for them; the Courts, Gorsuch, all those dinosaur guys; and then for good measure, everyone who has fucked up our culture; all the folks who hate the New Age; and all the rock and pop stars except a few over the last 40 years. And our commercial media, and all our corporations, fossil fool barons and big box store chains; the polluters and climate science deniers. The gun nuts and drug warriors and drug lords. All the criminals. Red and black baby! Burn em up! Lock em up and throw away the key! Plus all the creeps abroad who make it harder even to flee to another country; the Brexits and alt rightists in Europe, Deterte, Erdogen, Putin, Xi Xi, that crook who rules Venezuela and all his cronies, the creeps who run Brazil; and of course Assad, the Islamic State creeps, Al Qaeda, Sisi, the ayatollahs, the dictators of the former Soviet Empire, the hoodlums in charge in Africa; burn em all up! I want all the rotten order to just go.

[Eric the Green]

Burn baby burn. A list of people who ought to be killed.

I am on his list a couple of times.

[Ragnarök_62]

(04-06-2017, 07:36 PM)Eric the Green Wrote:

(04-05-2017, 10:18 PM)Ragnarök_62 Wrote:

(03-17-2017, 03:58 PM)X_4AD_84 Wrote: <snip>

Tell me, were our government systems destroyed during the Great Power 4T? Is this sort of "burn it all down" destruction the only path?

1. Huh? You ain't jonesin' for creative destruction?

2. Nature requires a periodic clean up, via fires, man.



Just look at that! That's a controlled burn with measuring devices.  So yeah, Rags to XY_MOX_4AD, BURN, BABY BURN - a well known 2T slogan.  

I know Eric will like that pic. It confirms his aura reading, Red and Black baby!  Death to NATO, death to the UN, death to the MIC, death to IMF, death to the EU, death UN, death to all that rotten rubbish set up in the prior turning. May the ashes nourish the new US isolationist order.  Like, where have you been in the 2T? You have a bucket of water, Rags has a flamethrower.  I want all the rotten order to just go.


Yeah, that's the cycle man, the Great Power cycle institutions are just a bunch of worthless underbrush.
McStain and his shit show clowns are just so, so stupid. McStain is a freakin' dinosaur man.  I await a meteor with his name on it. Out with old, in with the new.

Well, I'm with you today, Rags. Maybe forever. But I have a slightly different list of who is fucking up the world and needs to burn, baby, burn. I'll throw in the MIC, and add all Republicans to the flame. Our so-called president, Republicans and Democrats-in-Name-Only in congress, the Senate, legislatures, and everyone who voted for them; the Courts, Gorsuch, all those dinosaur guys; and then for good measure, everyone who has fucked up our culture; all the folks who hate the New Age; and all the rock and pop stars except a few over the last 40 years. And our commercial media, and all our corporations, fossil fool barons and big box store chains; the polluters and climate science deniers. The gun nuts and drug warriors and drug lords. All the criminals. Red and black baby! Burn em up! Lock em up and throw away the key! Plus all the creeps abroad who make it harder even to flee to another country; the Brexits and alt rightists in Europe, Deterte, Erdogen, Putin, Xi Xi, that crook who rules Venezuela and all his cronies, the creeps who run Brazil; and of course Assad, the Islamic State creeps, Al Qaeda, Sisi, the ayatollahs, the dictators of the former Soviet Empire, the hoodlums in charge in Africa; burn em all up! I want all the rotten order to just go.

Well, that's quite a list there. I do think the Soviet Empire dictators are already six feet under though. We've had some good rains here and today, farmers are getting the fields ready.

[Eric the Green]

(04-06-2017, 08:49 PM)Ragnarök_62 Wrote:

(04-06-2017, 07:36 PM)Eric the Green Wrote:

(04-05-2017, 10:18 PM)Ragnarök_62 Wrote:

(03-17-2017, 03:58 PM)X_4AD_84 Wrote: <snip>

Tell me, were our government systems destroyed during the Great Power 4T? Is this sort of "burn it all down" destruction the only path?

1. Huh? You ain't jonesin' for creative destruction?

2. Nature requires a periodic clean up, via fires, man.



Just look at that! That's a controlled burn with measuring devices.  So yeah, Rags to XY_MOX_4AD, BURN, BABY BURN - a well known 2T slogan.  

I know Eric will like that pic. It confirms his aura reading, Red and Black baby!  Death to NATO, death to the UN, death to the MIC, death to IMF, death to the EU, death UN, death to all that rotten rubbish set up in the prior turning. May the ashes nourish the new US isolationist order.  Like, where have you been in the 2T? You have a bucket of water, Rags has a flamethrower.  I want all the rotten order to just go.


Yeah, that's the cycle man, the Great Power cycle institutions are just a bunch of worthless underbrush.
McStain and his shit show clowns are just so, so stupid. McStain is a freakin' dinosaur man.  I await a meteor with his name on it. Out with old, in with the new.

Well, I'm with you today, Rags. Maybe forever. But I have a slightly different list of who is fucking up the world and needs to burn, baby, burn. I'll throw in the MIC, and add all Republicans to the flame. Our so-called president, Republicans and Democrats-in-Name-Only in congress, the Senate, legislatures, and everyone who voted for them; the Courts, Gorsuch, all those dinosaur guys; and then for good measure, everyone who has fucked up our culture; all the folks who hate the New Age; and all the rock and pop stars except a few over the last 40 years. And our commercial media, and all our corporations, fossil fool barons and big box store chains; the polluters and climate science deniers. The gun nuts and drug warriors and drug lords. All the criminals. Red and black baby! Burn em up! Lock em up and throw away the key! Plus all the creeps abroad who make it harder even to flee to another country; the Brexits and alt rightists in Europe, Deterte, Erdogen, Putin, Xi Xi, that crook who rules Venezuela and all his cronies, the creeps who run Brazil; and of course Assad, the Islamic State creeps, Al Qaeda, Sisi, the ayatollahs, the dictators of the former Soviet Empire, the hoodlums in charge in Africa; burn em all up! I want all the rotten order to just go.

Well, that's quite a list there. I do think the Soviet Empire dictators are already six feet under though. We've had some good rains here and today, farmers are getting the fields ready.

Well, thanks for not disagreeing. I am upset over what the Goppers are doing. It looks like it will take decades to recover, if we ever do. The oligarchs and their neo-liberal ideology have been allowed to completely take over, even though they only have the support of half or less of the people.

The dictators in the former Soviet Empire are alive and well and dictating, torturing, murdering etc. to their hearts content. Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, etc. are not cool places.

[Bob Butler 54]

The main stream media in the form of CNN are still projecting the end of April rather than March 15 as the crucial time.  See Government shutdown: What we know so far.  CNN doesn't seem to be pushing panic buttons yet.  From their perspective, Trump hasn't weighed in heavily yet, which would be the largest potential monkey wrench, though they report the leadership in both parties, in both sides of Congress, are in heavy duty dickering mode.

They also suggest that the Republicans can't count on the Freedom Caucus, thus they need some Democratic votes.  On health care, the last minute changes tried and failed to appease the Freedom Caucus.  This time, they seem to be looking to the Democrats.

[David Horn]

(04-20-2017, 08:55 AM)Bob Butler 54 Wrote: The main stream media in the form of CNN are still projecting the end of April rather than March 15 as the crucial time.  See Government shutdown: What we know so far.  CNN doesn't seem to be pushing panic buttons yet.  From their perspective, Trump hasn't weighed in heavily yet, which would be the largest potential monkey wrench, though they report the leadership in both parties, in both sides of Congress, are in heavy duty dickering mode.

They also suggest that the Republicans can't count on the Freedom Caucus, thus they need some Democratic votes.  On health care, the last minute changes tried and failed to appease the Freedom Caucus.  This time, they seem to be looking to the Democrats.

Somehow, I doubt it.  Yes, there may be some negotiation after the deed is done and Trump-Ryan start asking, what now?  Until then, the FC is still the stopper in the bottle, and they enjoy the power they have.  If Ryan has to go around the FC to get the government funded, then it's WW-III in the House for the foreseeable future. 

The GOP seems incapable of being a ruling party.  If that continues, we're in for more gridlock and an ineffective Presidency.  Trump can't stand that, so it will be a good time to get that popcorn popping.  The downside: there is virtually no chance the Senate will flip in 2018, and only a 50/50 chance in the House.  This dysfunctional play may have a long engagement.  Let's hope no more Justices decide to retire or die.

[Bob Butler 54]

(04-20-2017, 09:52 AM)David Horn Wrote:

(04-20-2017, 08:55 AM)Bob Butler 54 Wrote: The main stream media in the form of CNN are still projecting the end of April rather than March 15 as the crucial time.  See Government shutdown: What we know so far.  CNN doesn't seem to be pushing panic buttons yet.  From their perspective, Trump hasn't weighed in heavily yet, which would be the largest potential monkey wrench, though they report the leadership in both parties, in both sides of Congress, are in heavy duty dickering mode.

They also suggest that the Republicans can't count on the Freedom Caucus, thus they need some Democratic votes.  On health care, the last minute changes tried and failed to appease the Freedom Caucus.  This time, they seem to be looking to the Democrats.

Somehow, I doubt it.  Yes, there may be some negotiation after the deed is done and Trump-Ryan start asking, what now?  Until then, the FC is still the stopper in the bottle, and they enjoy the power they have.  If Ryan has to go around the FC to get the government funded, then it's WW-III in the House for the foreseeable future. 

The GOP seems incapable of being a ruling party.  If that continues, we're in for more gridlock and an ineffective Presidency.  Trump can't stand that, so it will be a good time to get that popcorn popping.  The downside: there is virtually no chance the Senate will flip in 2018, and only a 50/50 chance in the House.  This dysfunctional play may have a long engagement.  Let's hope no more Justices decide to retire or die.

I'm just echoing what CNN is reporting.  The leaderships of the two major parties are talking to one another.  Talking to the Freedom Caucus has proven futile in the recent past.  The Democrats and Republicans have negotiated budgets frequently enough in the recent past.

This doesn't mean they will inevitably do so again.  You may well be right that the GOP is incapable of being a ruling party.  Still, there are not a lot of articles in the press, either mainstream or partisan, that are screaming in panic that the sky is falling.  This implies that a lot of people think some sort of compromise is still possible.  If so, I don't think it is the gung ho Tea Party partisans that are apt to be the team players.

But all I've got to guess on is leaked stuff.  I'm not going to bet the farm on anything.

[Cynic Hero '86]

The Crisis will not improve until tyrannical boomers realize that they have to ask the people for their permission first in order to implement their proposed policies. The Boomer governments refusal to do so is why Trump, Duterte, Erdogan and probably Le Pen are being elected.

[Bob Butler 54]

The end of April deadline is close enough that I sort of expect regular coverage of the possible shutdown.  To this point CNN seems willing to do an article on it most days, while I'm not seeing a lot of it elsewhere.  Their latest CNN bit notes a conference call between the Republican leadership and the rank and file.  Apparently, the Republican leadership are so afraid of leaks and the damage the leaks will cause that the leadership doesn't dare brief their rank and file on what they are planning.  This isn't a great sign that the budget compromise is going to be widely accepted and non-controversial.

Also, Trump is weighing in.  He, or at least his Homeland Security guy, is going to push for funding for the wall.

I was not surprised at all when the March 15 date proved meaningless.  I'm a bit surprised that the end of April date isn't building into a media frenzy yet.  Apparently, there are still enough better ways to sell papers and induce clicks.

[Mikebert]

(03-24-2017, 11:19 AM)SomeGuy Wrote:

Quote:I just read the Wiki article.  I remember those things, they had the red serial numbers you would occasionally see on.

I realize you like to edit your posts multiple times, adding stuff as you go, but really?  Not even gonna finish that last thought? On what?

some money.

[Mikebert]

(04-22-2017, 08:38 PM)Bob Butler 54 Wrote: The end of April deadline is close enough that I sort of expect regular coverage of the possible shutdown.  To this point CNN seems willing to do an article on it most days, while I'm not seeing a lot of it elsewhere.  Their latest CNN bit notes a conference call between the Republican leadership and the rank and file.  Apparently, the Republican leadership are so afraid of leaks and the damage the leaks will cause that the leadership doesn't dare brief their rank and file on what they are planning.  This isn't a great sign that the budget compromise is going to be widely accepted and non-controversial.

Also, Trump is weighing in.  He, or at least his Homeland Security guy, is going to push for funding for the wall.

I was not surprised at all when the March 15 date proved meaningless.  I'm a bit surprised that the end of April date isn't building into a media frenzy yet.  Apparently, there are still enough better ways to sell papers and induce clicks.

These things and debt ceilings have become non-events.  If a Republican Congress were to hold a Republican president hostage (or vice versa) this would be a first.  Since Trump has of late become more and more like a conventional Republican, I think he will following the script. He might as well throw in the towel on the wall, he's done so on everything else. 

I know Washington has been licking Israeli and Saudi balls for years, but now China too?  I though Trump was all hot to trot with Putin, but now he's personna non grata, and Jinping is Trumps's new best buddy. 

Then's there's the North Korean shit.  Douglas Feith, be prepared to hand over your crown as the "fucking stupidest guy on the face of the earth" to Lindsay Graham.  Arrrghhh!

[Bob Butler 54]

(04-23-2017, 06:33 AM)Mikebert Wrote: These things and debt ceilings have become non-events.  If a Republican Congress were to hold a Republican president hostage (or vice versa) this would be a first.  Since Trump has of late become more and more like a conventional Republican, I think he will following the script. He might as well throw in the towel on the wall, he's done so on everything else. 

I know Washington has been licking Israeli and Saudi balls for years, but now China too?  I though Trump was all hot to trot with Putin, but now he's personna non grata, and Jinping is Trumps's new best buddy. 

Then's there's the North Korean shit.  Douglas Feith, be prepared to hand over your crown as the "fucking stupidest guy on the face of the earth" to Lindsay Graham.  Arrrghhh!

I think a lot of people are expecting and/or hoping the budget thing will be a non-event. That the Republican leadership doesn't want to make their plan known until last minute doesn't make me sure. What you say makes all sorts of sense in a 2 party system, but we might have to start thinking in terms of 3 parties.

Trump is starting to remind me of a little kid learning to ride a bicycle. If one is starting to fall to the left, one has to steer more to the left to avoid a fall, but if you steer too far you start falling to the right. The trick is learning not to over steer, to hit the balance right. Trump and his team are inexperienced, and are over steering all over the place. We can hope the budget thing will be a non-event, but I'm still not betting the farm it will be so.

[Bob Butler 54]

CNN is now talking of a stopgap bill that will give another few weeks to hammer out budget details.  They aren't pushing a panic button yet. They again report the notion that the Republican Establishment is working more with Democrats than the Tea Party.

CNN Wrote:Congressional Republicans recognize that conservatives are unlikely to back any measure so they are working across the aisle to get support on a bill that will pass with votes from both parties.

Still think it might be time to start thinking of things as three parties, with the two Establishment parties the most compatible.  As three parties tend to be unstable, to revert to two parities after a while, with the notion that the Tea Party extreme conservatives might be one of the two survivors, this shouldn't be a total shock.  Part of the country has been well and truly sold on the Reagan borrow and spend - trickle down - the government is the problem - build up the military memes.  These might not go away, but they are failing badly enough that a need for change is definitely there.

Not absolutely clear what has to come, but I'm not alone in thinking the Reagan unraveling values are what has to go.  It's looking more and more like the red protest vote to get rid of the status quo went after the wrong status quo.  It's the coming of the red unraveling values that pushed the country into an unraveling.

I know a lot of folk dislike the blue leaning main stream reporting.  What's being said about the potential shutdown out on the fringes?

[David Horn]

(04-24-2017, 07:03 PM)Bob Butler 54 Wrote: CNN is now talking of a stopgap bill that will give another few weeks to hammer out budget details.  They aren't pushing a panic button yet. They again report the notion that the Republican Establishment is working more with Democrats than the Tea Party.

CNN Wrote:Congressional Republicans recognize that conservatives are unlikely to back any measure so they are working across the aisle to get support on a bill that will pass with votes from both parties.

Still think it might be time to start thinking of things as three parties, with the two Establishment parties the most compatible.  As three parties tend to be unstable, to revert to two parities after a while, with the notion that the Tea Party extreme conservatives might be one of the two survivors, this shouldn't be a total shock.  Part of the country has been well and truly sold on the Reagan borrow and spend - trickle down - the government is the problem - build up the military memes.  These might not go away, but they are failing badly enough that a need for change is definitely there.

Not absolutely clear what has to come, but I'm not alone in thinking the Reagan unraveling values are what has to go.  It's looking more and more like the red protest vote to get rid of the status quo went after the wrong status quo.  It's the coming of the red unraveling values that pushed the country into an unraveling.

I know a lot of folk dislike the blue leaning main stream reporting.  What's being said about the potential shutdown out on the fringes?

I think you may be on the right track here, but that will not make for a successful 4T.  The libertarian memes are becoming less viable by the year, and the emerging labor-free economic model can only be held up as a harbinger of a beautiful future until it's obvious that it isn't.  I see that being a 2T issue, frankly.  There is too much vested intellectual spirit to push it aside any time soon.  Fortunately, the Millennials are seeing the failure for what it is, but they don't seem ready or willing to take it on as a cause, nor do they seem to have an alternative in mind.  To be honest, I don't see a good solution either, so who am I to talk?

[Bob Butler 54]

Looks like the potential government shutdown thing ended with more whimper than bang. From the main stream media accounts, at least, the Democrats were at the table. The Republicans had enough division between themselves that their establishment was better able to deal with the Democrats than the Tea Party.

[Bob Butler 54]

(04-25-2017, 10:46 AM)David Horn Wrote:

(04-24-2017, 07:03 PM)Bob Butler 54 Wrote: CNN is now talking of a stopgap bill that will give another few weeks to hammer out budget details.  They aren't pushing a panic button yet. They again report the notion that the Republican Establishment is working more with Democrats than the Tea Party.

CNN Wrote:Congressional Republicans recognize that conservatives are unlikely to back any measure so they are working across the aisle to get support on a bill that will pass with votes from both parties.

Still think it might be time to start thinking of things as three parties, with the two Establishment parties the most compatible.  As three parties tend to be unstable, to revert to two parities after a while, with the notion that the Tea Party extreme conservatives might be one of the two survivors, this shouldn't be a total shock.  Part of the country has been well and truly sold on the Reagan borrow and spend - trickle down - the government is the problem - build up the military memes.  These might not go away, but they are failing badly enough that a need for change is definitely there.

Not absolutely clear what has to come, but I'm not alone in thinking the Reagan unraveling values are what has to go.  It's looking more and more like the red protest vote to get rid of the status quo went after the wrong status quo.  It's the coming of the red unraveling values that pushed the country into an unraveling.

I know a lot of folk dislike the blue leaning main stream reporting.  What's being said about the potential shutdown out on the fringes?

I think you may be on the right track here, but that will not make for a successful 4T.  The libertarian memes are becoming less viable by the year, and the emerging labor-free economic model can only be held up as a harbinger of a beautiful future until it's obvious that it isn't.  I see that being a 2T issue, frankly.  There is too much vested intellectual spirit to push it aside any time soon.  Fortunately, the Millennials are seeing the failure for what it is, but they don't seem ready or willing to take it on as a cause, nor do they seem to have an alternative in mind.  To be honest, I don't see a good solution either, so who am I to talk?

I'm also thinking on a four party way of looking at things.  From left to right, the Warren - Sanders progressives, the Democratic establishment, the Republican establishment, and finally the Tea Party.  There are not a few who would have favored Sanders over Hillary, but otherwise the Warren - Sanders attitude hasn't near the weight yet to dominate.  The Unraveling memes (borrow and spend - trickle down - the government is the problem - spend more on the military) do have a lot of weight in parts of the country.  I've vague daydreams that the Warren - Sanders anti establishment faction and the Tea Party anti establishment faction could unite against the establishment, but the specifics of what is wrong with Washington are driving the two anti-establishment factions apart more than the agreement that Washington is well and truly messed up might pull them together.

I'm still thinking Trump hasn't got the people skills to form any sort of effective governing coalition.  He is trying to ride the Unraveling memes after their time with a dysfunctional bunch of inexperienced staffers.  This could discredit the Unraveling memes.  This could duplicate the Buchanan - Hoover situations, where attempts to extend old political patterns past their time discredited the old patterns.  That's as close as I can get to a path to a 4T mood.  I don't see where doubling down on the Unraveling memes will go anywhere but worse.

But it's not clear we're in an unrecoverable flat spin yet.  The Unraveling memes are still mighty in some parts of the country.

[MillennialJim]

(05-01-2017, 12:57 AM)Bob Butler 54 Wrote: I'm also thinking on a four party way of looking at things.  From left to right, the Warren - Sanders progressives, the Democratic establishment, the Republican establishment, and finally the Tea Party.  There are not a few who would have favored Sanders over Hillary, but otherwise the Warren - Sanders attitude hasn't near the weight yet to dominate.  The Unraveling memes (borrow and spend - trickle down - the government is the problem - spend more on the military) do have a lot of weight in parts of the country.  I've vague daydreams that the Warren - Sanders anti establishment faction and the Tea Party anti establishment faction could unite against the establishment, but the specifics of what is wrong with Washington are driving the two anti-establishment factions apart more than the agreement that Washington is well and truly messed up might pull them together.

I'm still thinking Trump hasn't got the people skills to form any sort of effective governing coalition.  He is trying to ride the Unraveling memes after their time with a dysfunctional bunch of inexperienced staffers.  This could discredit the Unraveling memes.  This could duplicate the Buchanan - Hoover situations, where attempts to extend old political patterns past their time discredited the old patterns.  That's as close as I can get to a path to a 4T mood.  I don't see where doubling down on the Unraveling memes will go anywhere but worse.

But it's not clear we're in an unrecoverable flat spin yet.  The Unraveling memes are still mighty in some parts of the country.

I had hopes of a left-right limited anti-establishment/anti-corruption agenda around the time of the TARP vote.  It's since faded, as Tea Party groups are increasingly like the pigs that turn into the farmer in Animal Farm.  (The Sanders wing is not immune from the same, but have fared better due to being in a relatively less powerful position.)  

Trump right now is on the Jimmy Carter track.  He could come out of it much as Bill Clinton was able to do and get re-elected; I'm reserving judgment to see how things play if the Democrats can take the House in 2018.  

I understand Trump best in the context of Skowronik's theory of political time.  He is either a pre-emptive president (if one believes Obama is a reconstructive president along the lines of FDR/Reagan) who is frustratingly swimming against a new, prevailing political tide; or he is a disjunctive president (if one believes Obama was a pre-emptive president), who is the last gasp of the Reaganite governing consensus.  I think of him as a disjunctive president.  He is a president that has little loyalty to party orthodoxy and is unable to hold together a governing coalition, and here we sit waiting for a new "default" to establish itself in politics as we are unable to make any meaningful progress.  [Edit: I should note that I think a Trump as a reconstructive president scenario has been ruled out by the course of the first 100 days of his presidency. Had he been a reconstructive president, it would have gone very differently.]

In crises, we have had good presidents and we have had bad presidents.  For every Lincoln/FDR, we have a Johnson/Hoover.  So far, Trump has been a bad president.  I say that not due to my politics, but rather from the standpoint of actually accomplishing what he has set out to do.  Congress, for example, just struck a spending deal what expressly forbids him from using funds on the wall and basically disregards other his budget priorities (EPA, ACA, PP, etc.).  This is indicative of the administration's level of respect on the Hill at the moment.  I suspect that Congress will be doing most of the governing in the next 4 years, to the extent that any governing actually gets done.

Often, with disjunctive presidencies in times of crisis, you see a desire for a virulent, hyperapplication of the governing philosophy of the previous political/generational era.  For Hoover, you have him presiding over Smoot-Hawley, for example.  The impact of that law is debated, but at a minimum, it was likely an aggravating factor in the depression.  Hoover presided over a dying and increasingly answerless GOP governing consensus.  This time, we have Trump defaulting back to an increasingly virulent strain of Reaganism in his governing tendencies.  If he accomplishes anything major before 2018, it will be massive tax cuts.  

IMO the 2020 democratic primary will be the most consequential presidential primary in decades.  I suspect the Sanders wing may prevail, much as the Reaganites finally overcame the GOP establishment in 1980 after coming unexpectedly close in 1976.