I'm not naive enough to believe that Barron is going to magically turn his back on his family or anything like that. He's a Trump and at the end of the day, he's most likely going to fall in line and become another Wal-Mart level clone of his father just like his brothers did.
But he also just turned 18, and we know exactly nothing about him, his political views, or why he became a delegate in the first place.
There could be a possibility he's doing this just for his father and has little to no real interest in politics. Does he even understand the ramifications of what he's doing? Legit question. I honestly don't know. There's also the possibility he's savvy enough to use the Trump name to jump-start his political career, then take a career path that's very different from his father's once he's established himself (I'm not even saying he'd be a Democrat, but but even a Mitt Romney-style Republican would be very different from Trump and the MAGA party). Or he could just be another Trump clone setting himself up to march to his father's MAGA drum for the next several decades.
I fully acknowledge that the chances of him being a clone of his father are probably above 99.9%. But until we start learning more of his political views or what his own objectives are, I'm willing to give him that .1% benefit of the doubt. For now.
I'm not saying we should have a constitutional amendment preventing children of ex presidents from running, but I am saying we as a society need to stop caring about a family name and start caring about ideas.
He's 100% voting for his father at the convention and helping his father in the campaign. That's what I'll judge him for, just like any other Trump delegate.
Republicans aren't really bother about being republican. They like the idea of monarchy. Powerful leaders that will crush their enemy's. They don't realise they will eventually become a target for the tyrant.
Because he was just a kid born into this shit. Now he's a participant.
Similarly, Ivanka sucks, but not nearly as much as her father.
I assume "support" is used here like "least favorite". Whatever your least favorite thing is; it's nowhere on your actual favorites list. It's just how we say "this sucks the most" while using less abrasive words.
So if Baron Trump has entered the world of politics, that means that the rest of his life is no longer closed to scrutiny. Stupid move. You can't have it both ways.
We really should have some sort of law that if you hold any high office of government, your immediate family (maybe for 2 generations) is permanently barred from serving in a similar capacity. Some sort of anti-dynasty law.
Gotta ask if you were saying this when Hillary ran for Senate, when she was Secretary of state, or when she ran for president, which would have been her effective 3rd term
Has he registered for selective service, or does he have those pesky genetic bone spurs that allow you to play football, baseball, soccer, and wrestling while attending military school, but prevent you from actual military service?
It's a "draft" sign up everyone signs when they register to vote or get thier drivers license. Since there's no longer a draft it's basically just saying yes to maybe being selected for jury duty someday.
I won't say that won't happen, but they will call back all the inactive reserves first. The 1st time you sign an active duty contract, you sign up for 8 years total. Everyone does. It normally is 4 years active and 4 years inactive, but sometimes it's 5 and 3 or 6 and 2.
They called people back in '02, '03 during OEF/OIF. It's easier to call people with prior training back then train 100% new one.
Most people in the US get automatically registered by their state DMV to the feds, but you’re technically responsible for doing it even if you don’t get a driver’s license
This entire time I have never said a bad thing about Barron Trump. His future was not set for him. He could still be a decent person. But now that he is 18, and involved in the Republican party, he is fair game.
I'm not gonna pretend he deserves anyone's pity or that you should change your opinion here, but acting like 18 is some magic age where someone is suddenly completely responsible and free of childish impulses/problems is ridiculous. Society may need to set an age for accountability in a legal sense, but socially, humans just don't work that way.
Especially when you have constant pressure to be that way from everyone around you. Truth be told, I've always just felt bad for the kid. Sure we're to the point where you've gotta expect him to at least start thinking for himself, but that type of deprogramming takes a long ass time.
He’s not a minor anymore and he can make decisions to be in politics or not. That’s my point. He was totally unknown until now. I was HOPING he would disown his family. But, apparently they’re all insane.
Well, true, but until now we haven’t heard much about him. I guess what I’m saying is, I didn’t want to judge anybody before they did something wrong. It wouldn’t really be very nice to assume he would be the same way. After all, his childhood would have been very different than Trump‘s previous children. Maybe his friends convinced him to be rational.
He’d be free to walk, taking a leap into the unknown at the cost of losing almost everything he has. Expecting that sort of heroic act of him is not entirely reasonable.
OTOH, judging by the photos, he does give off Brock Turner/Kyle Rittenhouse vibes. If, having grown up where he did, he turned out to be an aggressive predator, it would not be a huge surprise.
Also, why do we act like 18 is the magic minimum age when someone should know better? I remember being 15, 16, 17 and having a solid understanding of morals and how to participate in society. I wasn't special.
It's not "You're 18 now, so you should know better." It's "For fucks sake, you're 18. You should have figured this shit out years ago."
The point I'm making is we set 18 as the age when you're responsible for your own actions, but it's not because just in that moment you become responsible.
We set the age at 18 because it's a really generous guess. Most people understand how to interact with others years before their 18th birthday. If someone is still fucking up at 18 then consequences are appropriate.
The point I’m making is we set 18 as the age when you’re responsible for your own actions, but it’s not because just in that moment you become responsible.
Legally.... yes. it is where you become responsible.
Mentally, emotionally, and any other way? you're right. there is no single age. But the law can't really make fluid distinctions like that without becoming an unweildly mess. So we get one age, everyone younger than that (*) is not a legal adult and everyone older is. that's how it is, and yes, its pretty much an arbitrary decision that was made ages ago.
(* there is a process where children can become emancipated and have no guardians, taking legal responsibility for themselves. but it's extremely rare for courts to grant it. usually they just dump the kid into the system if there's cause.)
Dude exactly. At the time I understood I didn't know shit but I understood nonetheless and that helped me make decisions about how to act and what to do in society and how I was perceived by those around me. We were young and ignorant not stupid.
It took me well into my 30s to walk away from religion. Especially in an isolated environment, it's likely he doesn't really understand his choices, and though he has had a much more comfortable way of life than us, it's still hard to transition to a much less forgiving way of life. I had to leave behind friends and family I still wish I had a good relationship with, but the cultlike environment (JW) is specifically designed to discourage leaving. Learning about other viewpoints are heavily discouraged, as is associating with people not in the same belief structure.
While mine was religion, with how polarizing his father is and the protection needed, I don't doubt he had even less access to other people and viewpoints than I did. I at least got to meet people online, at work,and through shows (funny enough, Futurama was a huge part of breaking me away) to get some other viewpoints, but some of my friends were homeschooled and wouldn't watch or be allowed to watch almost anything secular.
It's why so many are afraid to allow kids to go to college (pretty discouraged by JW also), because they might change. I say at 18 the chance of someone in his position being able to get alternative experiences is slim to none.
IDK, the power that people have over him is probably way too much. 18 year olds are still highly influenceable and he's likely under a lot of pressure from his family and their political cohort to join in.
Try saying no to those people, he'd likely lose everything.
I've only ever seen comments online saying they feel bad for him being in that environment or that they hope he turns out normal. In hindsight, it's kind of astonishing any Trump was afforded such grace from the general public.
And that little shit threw it away his very first chance to do so. Fuck him.