Quote Originally Posted by rory_20_uk View Post
He will run it into the ground. But how much damage in the meantime? He's looking into whether he can pardon himself along with all the hangers on, he's trying to erode most other departments of their independence and is now casting his eyes on undermining the freedom of the press. A "good" President (and there's not been one for quite a while) would try to get Congress to work together in a bipartisan way. Obama tried initially but apparently it wasn't his natural style and he initially had the votes to force things through. I suppose Trump is so universally vilified he might help unify them all against him.

Internationally, China is gleefully moving into the vacuum that is left be that a new world bank, a free trade area in Asia. Whilst Trump tries to make everything into a simple zero-sum game. These are long term trends, but they are accelerating. And it's only been 6 months!

It feels worse that it really has been because of the hype. The lives of most Americans are about the same as they were a year or 18 months back. Our economy still grows slower than we want, but grows. We pay our taxes. We mostly get to do what we want health and money permitting etc. We've had gridlock in Washington many times in the past, and will again. We have had less than stellar Presidents several times (Grant, Harding, Carter, Buchannan...) and we survive those stretches too.