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• tennmike Senior Member Posts: 27,444 Senior Member

  January 2019 #2

  The MSM will hate it and do one of two things. They'll either downplay it and find fault at every turn, or they'll refuse to report on it at all. Trump has China buying American grown rice, for crying out loud! THAT in itself is a really big first.
  

    “I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that I don't know the answer”
  ― Douglas Adams
  

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• Jermanator Senior Member Posts: 16,131 Senior Member

  January 2019 #3

  I really do hope this works out for us. I don't trust China at all and am waiting for the catch. 
  

  Reason obeys itself; and ignorance submits to whatever is dictated to it.

  -Thomas Paine

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• jbp-ohio Senior Member Posts: 10,192 Senior Member

  January 2019 #4

  Jermanator said:

  I really do hope this works out for us. I don't trust China at all and am waiting for the catch. 
  

  I am sure they are no more willing to give up the $$$ any more than Kim is willing to give up his nukes, but they conceded and that's something.

  "The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not." Thomas Jefferson

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• bisley Senior Member Posts: 10,798 Senior Member

  January 2019 #5

  It takes a dedicated person to engage in negotiations with someone who will lie, cheat, and renege on any promise, regardless of how solemnly it was made. It has always been that way, although maybe not to such extremes. The 'carrot and stick' approach is all about being able to force someone you don't trust to do something they don't want to do, and then giving them small rewards, when they do. The smallest of successes are only gained after very arduous efforts, and the large successes only come when the small successes are strung together, to make a whole.

  
  

  Diplomacy exists to prevent major conflicts from developing, and sometimes its effectiveness has to be measured in terms of whether negotiations are even taking place, at all. If we are talking and not shooting, that is a net gain, unless we are stupid enough to think we can let our guard down.
  

  
  

  
  

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• tennmike Senior Member Posts: 27,444 Senior Member

  January 2019 #6

  "Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock." Will Rogers
  

    “I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that I don't know the answer”
  ― Douglas Adams
  

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• rberglof Senior Member Posts: 2,684 Senior Member

  January 2019 #7

  tennmike said:

  "Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock." Will Rogers
  

  I hadn't heard that one before I like it!
  

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• tennmike Senior Member Posts: 27,444 Senior Member

  January 2019 #8

  Will Rogers was one of the best political commentators of his time. He was a humorist, but the government gave him lots of material, so he didn't let it go to waste.
  

    “I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that I don't know the answer”
  ― Douglas Adams
  

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• bisley Senior Member Posts: 10,798 Senior Member

  January 2019 #9

  Will Rogers never denied being a Democrat, during a time when most of the poor folks just wanted a job that would support their families. That was the only issue they cared about, until relief came in the form of honest work becoming available, which everybody naturally attributed to FDR. Most of FDR's work plans were not much more effective than what the Democrats have been selling for the last 50 years, but it cheered people up, because he seemed to care.

  
  

  Will Rogers was a much more genuine person, though, than the so-called comedians of today who incite hatred for any who disagree with any Democrat sanctioned idea, because they believe it furthers their own ambitions. The best days of government in this country usually were the result of compromise between rich and poor about what made the economy work for the largest number of people. Even then, though, Democrats were fairly successful in painting all Republicans as robber-barons. The difference was that most folks actually understood, on a very basic level, how capitalism worked. They had learned, the hard way, how to deal with reality, and they were the people who Will Rogers spoke to.
  

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