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"The time allocated for running scripts has expired."
Anyone know what this is/ how to fix this statement appearing throughout the "Multiple Presidents" and "Other Presidents" sections instead of attraction names and phone numbers? JakeOregon (talk) 22:57, 4 August 2020 (UTC)
- Not sure what caused it. I purged the page (by clicking the "Edit source" button and then saving the page with no edits), and that seems to have solved the problem, at least for now. —Granger (talk · contribs) 00:49, 5 August 2020 (UTC)
Trump and Israel-UAE peace deal
As many of you may have gotten the news, Trump successfully brokered a peace deal between the UAE and Israel, and both countries are now going to establish diplomatic relations. Should we add this to his blurb? I would say it's certainly a significant foreign policy achievement. The dog2 (talk) 22:02, 13 August 2020 (UTC)
- His blurb doesn't list any of his policy accomplishments or any of his scandals. Why pick just this one accomplishment? It doesn't actually affect Americans materially, unlike changes to medical insurance, tax cuts, trade disputes with China and Canada and Mexico, what he has done/not done about the covid pandemic, to mention a very, very few. Starting to list those would change this from a travel article about presidents to an article about the Trump presidency. I think Wikipedia would be a better place for an article like that. Ground Zero (talk) 22:23, 13 August 2020 (UTC)
- This should not be included in the blurb. —Granger (talk · contribs) 22:28, 13 August 2020 (UTC)
- What others said. Very minor accomplishment. Ikan Kekek (talk) 03:07, 14 August 2020 (UTC)
- This should not be included in the blurb. —Granger (talk · contribs) 22:28, 13 August 2020 (UTC)
Incorrect Info, Trump's blurb
Sorry, I didn't notice this page was not supposed to be edited without discussion. Some proposed edits:
-Bill Clinton's blurb says he was not impeached. This is just factually incorrect. It's common knowledge that he was impeached and easily verifiable. He was impeached but not removed from office. His blurb needs to say that.
On Trump's blurb, I think this sounds less biased:
Donald Trump, 2017-present — A billionaire businessman and television personality who is the first president to have held no prior elected or military office and the second president to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His campaign platform included a Mexican border wall to reduce immigration from Latin America, international trade restrictions and fairer trade agreements, particularly with China, and a promise to bring heavy industry and coal mining jobs back to the U.S. He became the third president to be impeached by the House of Representatives but not convicted and removed from office by the Senate. As of May 2020, he is the oldest person to assume the office."
- The basic changes are adding the Hollywood Walk of Fame trivia (since it's mentioned in Reagan's), attempted to include his pushback against China which has become more important in the past couple years of his presidency, and remove irrelevant "white nationalist" and "climate change denial" comments. Attempting to connect him to white nationalists (who apparently have endorsed Joe Biden in the upcoming election) is purely political. "Climate change denial" is always silly. His actual record in what he has said about the topic is all over the place. He has both called it a hoax and a "serious issue". Either way, it wasn't an issue that particularly moved American voters. His stance on climate change is not what got him elected (nor do I imagine voters who didn't vote for him would have if he had only said he cared about this topic). No, the core policy issues that made people want to vote for or against him were those mentioned: The wall/stricter immigration, and maintaining or reestablishing the US as a world power with trade agreements and bringing production and manufacturing back (and then the non-policy factor of his humor, brashness, and overall demeanor/personality). I know as the current president, people have the strongest opinions about him, but it reads a bit biased. It's a short blurb. Most of the presidents give minimal trivia with little to no information on their political stances on anything. ChubbyWimbus (talk) 12:24, 27 August 2020 (UTC)
- I think the changes are mostly good, though "fairer trade" is arguable. I would remove "and fairer trade agreements" altogether. I think the blurb says he was "unsuccessfully impeached" or something very similar to that, which is half true. I think your description of Clinton's impeachment is more accurate. Also agreed that "climate change denial" has proven irrelevant to the actions of his presidency, as climate has had little relevance to his important executive orders and other decisions. Not sure what to say about "white nationalists," but I don't think we can claim that he brought about the rise of white nationalism, with the racial connotations included, which has long been present in the U.S. --Comment by Selfie City (talk | contributions) 12:58, 27 August 2020 (UTC)
- Shouldn't the blurb in some way say he has been controversial? Having been impeached shows that, but there is no hint on the reasons. The "fairer trade agreements" is over the top, but for me it seems his followers would agree to everything there, nodding with a content smile. –LPfi (talk) 13:12, 27 August 2020 (UTC)
- Because the sentence started with "his campaign platform", the addition of "fairer trade" is not meant as a claim of achievement; just that it is something that he talks/talked about. I'm okay with removing it, though. It may have become more of a talking point after his election than during the campaign... It's easy for these things to run together in one's memory, especially with a campaign happening in the present. ChubbyWimbus (talk) 13:25, 27 August 2020 (UTC)
- Maybe the bigger problem here is that the blurb is too focused on his original campaign platform and not focused enough on his accomplishments as president. How about replacing the "campaign platform" sentence with something like
- —Granger (talk · contribs) 13:28, 27 August 2020 (UTC)
- Agreed, and definitely an improvement. We first wrote this during the mid-first term of his presidency, so there wasn't so much we could say about actual events. That has since changed and the paragraph should probably change accordingly. --Comment by Selfie City (talk | contributions) 13:30, 27 August 2020 (UTC)
- I like Granger's blurb to replace everything in the "his campaign platform..." part. It's short and concise and avoids delving into political issues which may always be messy, but are especially so with sitting presidents. ChubbyWimbus (talk) 13:34, 27 August 2020 (UTC)
- Agreed, and definitely an improvement. We first wrote this during the mid-first term of his presidency, so there wasn't so much we could say about actual events. That has since changed and the paragraph should probably change accordingly. --Comment by Selfie City (talk | contributions) 13:30, 27 August 2020 (UTC)
- Because the sentence started with "his campaign platform", the addition of "fairer trade" is not meant as a claim of achievement; just that it is something that he talks/talked about. I'm okay with removing it, though. It may have become more of a talking point after his election than during the campaign... It's easy for these things to run together in one's memory, especially with a campaign happening in the present. ChubbyWimbus (talk) 13:25, 27 August 2020 (UTC)
- Shouldn't the blurb in some way say he has been controversial? Having been impeached shows that, but there is no hint on the reasons. The "fairer trade agreements" is over the top, but for me it seems his followers would agree to everything there, nodding with a content smile. –LPfi (talk) 13:12, 27 August 2020 (UTC)
- I think the changes are mostly good, though "fairer trade" is arguable. I would remove "and fairer trade agreements" altogether. I think the blurb says he was "unsuccessfully impeached" or something very similar to that, which is half true. I think your description of Clinton's impeachment is more accurate. Also agreed that "climate change denial" has proven irrelevant to the actions of his presidency, as climate has had little relevance to his important executive orders and other decisions. Not sure what to say about "white nationalists," but I don't think we can claim that he brought about the rise of white nationalism, with the racial connotations included, which has long been present in the U.S. --Comment by Selfie City (talk | contributions) 12:58, 27 August 2020 (UTC)
Let's rewrite this at the end of January 2021... Hobbitschuster (talk) 13:46, 27 August 2020 (UTC)
- No argument with revising Trump's blurb. It's a fool's errand to try to summarize a president's legacy when they're still in office (let alone when they'd just taken office, which is roughly when the text in the blurb was written). However, Bill Clinton's blurb does not say he was not impeached. He was impeached, and given that the desired outcome of impeachment is to remove a elected official from office, the impeachment was unsuccessful. We want to keep the blurbs short, and "unsuccessfully impeached" says the same thing as "impeached but not removed from office" in four fewer words. -- AndreCarrotflower (talk) 14:23, 27 August 2020 (UTC)
- When I read "Unsuccessfully impeached", I assume the impeachment itself was unsuccessful, but the impeachment was successful. He was impeached. The removal from office was unsuccessful (He was acquitted). That impeachment is required for the removal but it is not nullified if the removal is unsuccessful. Nancy Pelosi made a big to-do about the success of the impeachment as a blemish on the administration in spite of non-removal during the most recent impeachment. Trump's sentence on impeachment is very clear. To me, Clinton's doesn't read as well. Upon looking, "unsuccessfully impeached" is also the phrase used in Jackson's impeachment. If that is really preferable or the "right way" (admittedly impeachments aren't something I read much about) to describe a successful impeachment but unsuccessful removal, I guess Trump's is the one that should be changed, but I prefer the way his is written. ChubbyWimbus (talk) 15:06, 27 August 2020 (UTC)
- This is all unnecessary hair-splitting. "Unsuccessfully impeached" may not be correct in the nitpicky technical sense, but as a space-saving mechanism, it's an acceptable substitute for impeachment-plus-failure-to-remove-from-office. The other definition - where a bill calling for the opening of an impeachment inquiry is introduced in Congress but fails to pass - is a common enough occurrence that it wouldn't even rate a mention in one of these blurbs. That happened to both George W. Bush and Barack Obama, IIRC. The American presidency is the most prominent and powerful office in the world, and we can expect our readers to come to the article with some preexisting knowledge of recent American presidential history even if they don't live in the U.S. The business with Bill Clinton happened recently enough that the fact that he wasn't forcibly removed from office is Captain Obvious. Maybe the same isn't true for Andrew Johnson, but in the end who really cares? Even if you buy that there's ambiguity between "not impeached" and "unsuccessfully impeached" (I don't), that still doesn't affect the logistics of visiting the POIs in his section. Anyone who's enough of an Andrew Johnson buff to care about that fine distinction probably already knows what really happened anyway - it's by far the thing he's most well known for historically - or will be set straight by the tour guides at the historic site or museum/library or wherever they go. -- AndreCarrotflower (talk) 16:05, 27 August 2020 (UTC)
- OK, what is the current proposal on what the entire Trump blurb should look like? Please post it. As for actions and inaction helping to accelerate global warming being irrelevant, pay attention to what's currently happening in California and the Gulf States. I really don't want to be having to argue against fact-denial in talk page discussions on this site. Wikivoyage is not bound to be scientifically objective like Wikipedia (NPOV), but pretending that deliberately worsening global warming with the aid of fact-denial is irrelevant is not being fair. Ikan Kekek (talk) 00:40, 28 August 2020 (UTC)
- People can argue all day about whether or not Trump is a white nationalist, and I don't want to have that argument here. But what is certain is that Steve Bannon, who is unquestionably a white nationalist, was part of his campaign staff, and in the initial phase was part of his cabinet. Also, prominent white nationalists like Richard Spencer and David Duke endorsed him. So I don't think it's unfair to mention the coincidence between Trump's presidency and white nationalism. At least according to the news, white nationalist terrorism seems to have increased since Trump assumed office. The dog2 (talk) 02:17, 28 August 2020 (UTC)
- I think impeachment needs to be explained for the benefit of non-American readers. Despite having lived through the Clinton impeachment, and I suppose the attempted impeachment of Nixon when I was a kid, I was still confused when Trump was impeached and stayed on as president — I had to look for an explanation for this. My country doesn't have the concept of impeachment. I don't think that "unsuccessfully impeached" is a useful shortcut, especially for an international website like ours. Ground Zero (talk) 02:20, 28 August 2020 (UTC)
- I've always agreed that "impeached by the House of Representatives but not removed from office by the Senate" is the kind of unimpeachably (:-) clear phrasing we should use. Ikan Kekek (talk) 02:24, 28 August 2020 (UTC)
- OK, what is the current proposal on what the entire Trump blurb should look like? Please post it. As for actions and inaction helping to accelerate global warming being irrelevant, pay attention to what's currently happening in California and the Gulf States. I really don't want to be having to argue against fact-denial in talk page discussions on this site. Wikivoyage is not bound to be scientifically objective like Wikipedia (NPOV), but pretending that deliberately worsening global warming with the aid of fact-denial is irrelevant is not being fair. Ikan Kekek (talk) 00:40, 28 August 2020 (UTC)
- This is all unnecessary hair-splitting. "Unsuccessfully impeached" may not be correct in the nitpicky technical sense, but as a space-saving mechanism, it's an acceptable substitute for impeachment-plus-failure-to-remove-from-office. The other definition - where a bill calling for the opening of an impeachment inquiry is introduced in Congress but fails to pass - is a common enough occurrence that it wouldn't even rate a mention in one of these blurbs. That happened to both George W. Bush and Barack Obama, IIRC. The American presidency is the most prominent and powerful office in the world, and we can expect our readers to come to the article with some preexisting knowledge of recent American presidential history even if they don't live in the U.S. The business with Bill Clinton happened recently enough that the fact that he wasn't forcibly removed from office is Captain Obvious. Maybe the same isn't true for Andrew Johnson, but in the end who really cares? Even if you buy that there's ambiguity between "not impeached" and "unsuccessfully impeached" (I don't), that still doesn't affect the logistics of visiting the POIs in his section. Anyone who's enough of an Andrew Johnson buff to care about that fine distinction probably already knows what really happened anyway - it's by far the thing he's most well known for historically - or will be set straight by the tour guides at the historic site or museum/library or wherever they go. -- AndreCarrotflower (talk) 16:05, 27 August 2020 (UTC)
- When I read "Unsuccessfully impeached", I assume the impeachment itself was unsuccessful, but the impeachment was successful. He was impeached. The removal from office was unsuccessful (He was acquitted). That impeachment is required for the removal but it is not nullified if the removal is unsuccessful. Nancy Pelosi made a big to-do about the success of the impeachment as a blemish on the administration in spite of non-removal during the most recent impeachment. Trump's sentence on impeachment is very clear. To me, Clinton's doesn't read as well. Upon looking, "unsuccessfully impeached" is also the phrase used in Jackson's impeachment. If that is really preferable or the "right way" (admittedly impeachments aren't something I read much about) to describe a successful impeachment but unsuccessful removal, I guess Trump's is the one that should be changed, but I prefer the way his is written. ChubbyWimbus (talk) 15:06, 27 August 2020 (UTC)
Proposal
Pulling together suggestions from above gives us (I think):
- Donald Trump, 2017-present — A billionaire businessman and television personality who is the first president to have held no prior elected or military office and the second president to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His "America First" stance has involved restricting immigration and international trade, and withdrawing the United States from international agreements; signature policies include a Mexican border wall and a trade war with China. He became the third president to be impeached by the House of Representatives but not removed from office by the Senate. As of May 2020, he is the oldest person to assume the office."
I think the "oldest person to assume office" bit is not particularly interesting, and I'd remove that. Ground Zero (talk) 02:57, 28 August 2020 (UTC)
- This version is alright with me. I think it's OK to leave the thing about age there. Ikan Kekek (talk) 03:16, 28 August 2020 (UTC)
- I think we should mention climate change denial. That was a key part of his campaign, and he has indeed acted on that by pulling out of the Paris climate agreement. The dog2 (talk) 03:19, 28 August 2020 (UTC)
Proposal 2
Since tinkering is inevitable, I'm going to point out that Trump has not, as far as I can tell, withdrawn the United States from and international agreements. He withdrew from Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, and that's it. NAFTA was renegotiated as the almost-identical USMCA. His trade war with China is already mentioned. I think his attack on Obamacare should be mentioned. And the border wall is more of a fence, and there was already a fence along parts of the border. So incorporating The dog2's comment about the Paris
- Donald Trump, 2017-present — A billionaire businessman and television personality who is the first president to have held no prior elected or military office and the second president to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His "America First" stance has involved restricting immigration, withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris Agreement on climate change, and extending the Mexican border fence. He has also worked to repeal and undermine Obama's expansion of public support for healthcare, and instigated a trade war with China. He became the third president to be impeached by the House of Representatives, but was not removed from office by the Senate. As of May 2020, he is the oldest person to assume the office."
Ground Zero (talk) 05:34, 28 August 2020 (UTC)
- A technical change: "but was not removed", as otherwise it is unclear whether additional president were impeached and removed. –LPfi (talk) 06:12, 28 August 2020 (UTC)
- Change made. Thanks. Ground Zero (talk) 06:29, 28 August 2020 (UTC)
- I'm OK with this form of words. Is this good enough? There is no way we can mention all of the important things Trump did or did not do, nor should we. It's really ideal for us to agree on a summary and once again move on. Ikan Kekek (talk) 06:20, 28 August 2020 (UTC)
- I'm okay with this. Trump has withdrawn (or is withdrawing) the US from quite a few international agreements and organizations, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the Paris Agreement, the World Health Organization, the UN Human Rights Council, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, and UNESCO. But if others would rather not mention this, I can live with that. —Granger (talk · contribs) 07:15, 28 August 2020 (UTC)
- I think it sounds good, but I'd omit the Obamacare thing. Obviously some Americans care as it relates to their health and ability to afford healthcare, but as a description lead in a subheading about visiting sites related to Trump, I don't think it's of any interest to travelers. I might also call it an "America first" policy instead of "stance". It sounds better/more "political" to me, just as a small nitpick. ChubbyWimbus (talk) 09:38, 28 August 2020 (UTC)
- I'm okay with this. Trump has withdrawn (or is withdrawing) the US from quite a few international agreements and organizations, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the Paris Agreement, the World Health Organization, the UN Human Rights Council, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, and UNESCO. But if others would rather not mention this, I can live with that. —Granger (talk · contribs) 07:15, 28 August 2020 (UTC)
- A technical change: "but was not removed", as otherwise it is unclear whether additional president were impeached and removed. –LPfi (talk) 06:12, 28 August 2020 (UTC)
Proposal 3
- Donald Trump, 2017-present — A billionaire businessman and television personality who is the first president to have held no prior elected or military office and the second president to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His "America First" policy has involved restricting immigration, withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris Agreement on climate change and other international agreements, and extending the Mexican border fence. He has also worked to repeal and undermine Obama's expansion of public support for healthcare, and instigated a trade war with China. He became the third president to be impeached by the House of Representatives, but was not removed from office by the Senate. As of May 2020, he is the oldest person to assume the office."
I've added back in "international agreements" (I was thinking just of trade agreements, but now I see it's broader). I think attempting to repeal or scupper Obamacare is a key initiative that is no less linked to visiting sites than anything else.) The border fence is really the only thing in the list that can be visited. I can live without the healthcare line, but i'd like to see a better argument for dropping it. Ground Zero (talk) 13:00, 28 August 2020 (UTC)
- This works for me. I don't have strong feelings about whether or not to mention Obamacare. —Granger (talk · contribs) 13:09, 28 August 2020 (UTC)
- With regard to Obamacare I think his second term (if re-elected) may merit its inclusion,
but currently I don't think it's likely that we'll see any attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act be successful due to the coronavirus pandemic, and this is a time when if anything people want to see more healthcare, not less. Otherwise I support the wording of proposal 3, although "Border Fence" sounds interesting after "Build the Wall, "We Build the Wall," etc. The current construction looks half like a wall and half like a fence, so I guess either word would do. --Comment by Selfie City (talk | contributions) 13:32, 28 August 2020 (UTC)- Yeah, given that it's basically always called a "border wall", not only by Trump himself but also the media, "wall" makes more sense. ChubbyWimbus (talk) 13:43, 28 August 2020 (UTC)
- With regard to Obamacare I think his second term (if re-elected) may merit its inclusion,
I've made the change without Obamacare and with "wall/fence". My understanding is that it's more fence than wall, but I agree with Ikan Kekek that we shouldn't spend this much time fussing over this. Ground Zero (talk) 13:48, 28 August 2020 (UTC)
- Should we mention anything about the travel ban? It is one of Trump's signature policies. It was originally called the Muslim ban, but that's now a misnomer because it has been expanded to include North Korea and Venezuela, which are not Muslim countries, and could conceivably be expanded to include China too given the current geopolitical situation. The dog2 (talk) 16:56, 28 August 2020 (UTC)
- Your proposal on Paris Agreement/climate change was incorporated. It's time to stop fussing and arguing over this. Let's move on to creating/updating actual travel content. If you want to focus on writing about politics, please do so at Wikipedia. Ground Zero (talk) 17:01, 28 August 2020 (UTC)
- @Ground Zero: For God sake, please stop the personal attacks. I have never insulted you here. I was just making a suggestion, and if you disagree with me, then just say you disagree. I have in fact always gone along with the consensus even if it goes against my views. But please stop insinuating that I'm using Wikivoyage to push a political agenda. That is absolutely untrue and defamatory. The dog2 (talk) 17:12, 28 August 2020 (UTC)
- I made no personal attack. I did not accuse you of "pushing a political agenda". I am saying that you focus on political discussions too much for a travel guide. This takes up the time of other editors. Others have made this point to you too. Let's not spend more time fussing over the political content of this article. Ground Zero (talk) 17:29, 28 August 2020 (UTC)
- (Tangent, but: SelfieCity, I'm not sure that you're aware that the U.S. Supreme Court will rule on whether to eliminate the ACA after this year's elections, as a result of an appeal by Trump's Justice Department, which is not independent of him. If you think that they would be dissuaded from so ruling because of the pandemic and would have otherwise ruled against it, I seriously doubt that. It's quite possible that since Chief Justice Roberts previously sustained it though seriously weakening it, he'll vote to sustain it again on some other basis than before, because it's no longer a tax with the individual mandate eliminated and no tax penalty imposed, but the fact that the decision will take place after the election means that confidently predicting a decision one way or the other is a fool's errand. Ikan Kekek (talk) 22:43, 28 August 2020 (UTC))
- Okay, thanks for explaining. I have removed that part of my comment. --Comment by Selfie City (talk | contributions) 12:48, 30 August 2020 (UTC)
- (Tangent, but: SelfieCity, I'm not sure that you're aware that the U.S. Supreme Court will rule on whether to eliminate the ACA after this year's elections, as a result of an appeal by Trump's Justice Department, which is not independent of him. If you think that they would be dissuaded from so ruling because of the pandemic and would have otherwise ruled against it, I seriously doubt that. It's quite possible that since Chief Justice Roberts previously sustained it though seriously weakening it, he'll vote to sustain it again on some other basis than before, because it's no longer a tax with the individual mandate eliminated and no tax penalty imposed, but the fact that the decision will take place after the election means that confidently predicting a decision one way or the other is a fool's errand. Ikan Kekek (talk) 22:43, 28 August 2020 (UTC))
- I made no personal attack. I did not accuse you of "pushing a political agenda". I am saying that you focus on political discussions too much for a travel guide. This takes up the time of other editors. Others have made this point to you too. Let's not spend more time fussing over the political content of this article. Ground Zero (talk) 17:29, 28 August 2020 (UTC)
- @Ground Zero: For God sake, please stop the personal attacks. I have never insulted you here. I was just making a suggestion, and if you disagree with me, then just say you disagree. I have in fact always gone along with the consensus even if it goes against my views. But please stop insinuating that I'm using Wikivoyage to push a political agenda. That is absolutely untrue and defamatory. The dog2 (talk) 17:12, 28 August 2020 (UTC)
- Your proposal on Paris Agreement/climate change was incorporated. It's time to stop fussing and arguing over this. Let's move on to creating/updating actual travel content. If you want to focus on writing about politics, please do so at Wikipedia. Ground Zero (talk) 17:01, 28 August 2020 (UTC)
- Should we mention anything about the travel ban? It is one of Trump's signature policies. It was originally called the Muslim ban, but that's now a misnomer because it has been expanded to include North Korea and Venezuela, which are not Muslim countries, and could conceivably be expanded to include China too given the current geopolitical situation. The dog2 (talk) 16:56, 28 August 2020 (UTC)
"ethnic Japanese"
Franklin D. Roosevelt's blurb says "Forcibly interned many ethnic Japanese". The link is confusing (as the majority of people interned were US citizens, many second or third generation), and the phrasing is a bit unidiomatic. I suggest rephrasing to "Forcibly interned many Japanese-Americans". See w:Internment of Japanese Americans for background. Does anyone object? —Granger (talk · contribs) 13:43, 29 August 2020 (UTC)
- The majority were born in the US, so "Japanese-American" is a better description. Ground Zero (talk) 14:06, 29 August 2020 (UTC)
- "Ethnic Japanese" is broader, and they interned both Japanese-Americans and ethnic Japanese who were not US citizens. That said, I'm not going to fuss too much over this. The dog2 (talk) 21:07, 29 August 2020 (UTC)
- I don't find "ethnic Japanese" unidiomatic and agree with the dog that it is more accurate than "Japanese-American". Definitely agree with removing the link to Japan, however.--ThunderingTyphoons! (talk) 21:10, 29 August 2020 (UTC)
- If we're going to discuss this, I'd like to hear from other Americans about whether they find "ethnic Japanese" or "Japanese-Americans" to be a more natural phrasing. In my experience, the terminology "X-American" is more common in the US than "ethnic X". —Granger (talk · contribs) 21:21, 29 August 2020 (UTC)
- (edit conflict) As was stated already, the people imprisoned weren't all American citizens, which is why "ethnic Japanese" is more accurate, in this instance, than Japanese-American. If there's a problem with "ethnic Japanese" that I'm not seeing, then "...forcibly interned many Japanese and Japanese-Americans." is another historically-accurate phrasing. --ThunderingTyphoons! (talk) 21:27, 29 August 2020 (UTC)
- If we want to avoid any ambiguity, we should use the phrasing "Japanese permanent residents and Japanese-Americans", or I think better, "permanent residents and U.S. citizens of Japanese origin", but "ethnic Japanese" is an accurate short-hand, and it's idiomatic for people who are of Japanese ethnicity but not necessarily Japanese citizens. Ikan Kekek (talk) 21:30, 29 August 2020 (UTC)
- It's not entirely surprising that a country at war would round up nationals of the country that has attacked it without provocation or warning. What is shocking is that the US (and Canada) incarcerated its own citizens base on their ethnicity, took away their civil rights and their property (and didn't return it). This is worth being clear about. Ground Zero (talk) 21:36, 29 August 2020 (UTC)
- If we want to avoid any ambiguity, we should use the phrasing "Japanese permanent residents and Japanese-Americans", or I think better, "permanent residents and U.S. citizens of Japanese origin", but "ethnic Japanese" is an accurate short-hand, and it's idiomatic for people who are of Japanese ethnicity but not necessarily Japanese citizens. Ikan Kekek (talk) 21:30, 29 August 2020 (UTC)
- (edit conflict) As was stated already, the people imprisoned weren't all American citizens, which is why "ethnic Japanese" is more accurate, in this instance, than Japanese-American. If there's a problem with "ethnic Japanese" that I'm not seeing, then "...forcibly interned many Japanese and Japanese-Americans." is another historically-accurate phrasing. --ThunderingTyphoons! (talk) 21:27, 29 August 2020 (UTC)
- If we're going to discuss this, I'd like to hear from other Americans about whether they find "ethnic Japanese" or "Japanese-Americans" to be a more natural phrasing. In my experience, the terminology "X-American" is more common in the US than "ethnic X". —Granger (talk · contribs) 21:21, 29 August 2020 (UTC)
- I don't find "ethnic Japanese" unidiomatic and agree with the dog that it is more accurate than "Japanese-American". Definitely agree with removing the link to Japan, however.--ThunderingTyphoons! (talk) 21:10, 29 August 2020 (UTC)
- "Ethnic Japanese" is broader, and they interned both Japanese-Americans and ethnic Japanese who were not US citizens. That said, I'm not going to fuss too much over this. The dog2 (talk) 21:07, 29 August 2020 (UTC)
I'm pretty sure they would have interned people of Japanese ethnicity who were neither American nor Japanese citizens. For instance, Peru and Brazil both have large Japanese diaspora communities, and if you were ethnically Japanese but a citizen of Peru or Brazil while in the U.S., they would have interned you too. And neither Peru nor Brazil were at war with the U.S. The dog2 (talk) 21:38, 29 August 2020 (UTC)
- Ground Zero's point cuts to the heart of it. I'll suggest "Japanese-American citizens and permanent residents", so that we put the more shocking part first, but I won't fight the omission of "permanent residents". After all, there is no attempt to be minutely, encyclopedically accurate in this short blurbs. Ikan Kekek (talk) 21:49, 29 August 2020 (UTC)
- Absolutely fine with Ikan's suggestion.--ThunderingTyphoons! (talk) 21:54, 29 August 2020 (UTC)
- I'll compromise and accept Ikan's suggestion. The dog2 (talk) 23:32, 29 August 2020 (UTC)
- @Ground Zero: And just you know, this kind of internment of people based solely on their ethnicity is not unique to the US and Canada. When India and China went to war in 1962, India did the exact same thing to the ethnic Chinese community of Kolkata (most of whom were born in India). The Indian government never returned the confiscated property, and it was not until 1998 that the local-born Chinese were allowed to apply for Indian citizenship. And likewise, Vietnam expelled the ethnic Chinese (most of whom were born and raised in Vietnam) in the North when Vietnam and China went to war in 1979. That is why there is no Chinatown in Hanoi today, and the Chinese clan temples have been converted to other uses. And I'm sure you know that many Arab countries like Algeria expelled their local-born Jews after the start of the Arab-Israeli conflict was founded. The dog2 (talk) 15:30, 30 August 2020 (UTC)
- The edit has been made. Ikan Kekek (talk) 14:00, 3 September 2020 (UTC)
- @Ground Zero: And just you know, this kind of internment of people based solely on their ethnicity is not unique to the US and Canada. When India and China went to war in 1962, India did the exact same thing to the ethnic Chinese community of Kolkata (most of whom were born in India). The Indian government never returned the confiscated property, and it was not until 1998 that the local-born Chinese were allowed to apply for Indian citizenship. And likewise, Vietnam expelled the ethnic Chinese (most of whom were born and raised in Vietnam) in the North when Vietnam and China went to war in 1979. That is why there is no Chinatown in Hanoi today, and the Chinese clan temples have been converted to other uses. And I'm sure you know that many Arab countries like Algeria expelled their local-born Jews after the start of the Arab-Israeli conflict was founded. The dog2 (talk) 15:30, 30 August 2020 (UTC)
- I'll compromise and accept Ikan's suggestion. The dog2 (talk) 23:32, 29 August 2020 (UTC)
- Absolutely fine with Ikan's suggestion.--ThunderingTyphoons! (talk) 21:54, 29 August 2020 (UTC)
Biden
Well folks, it looks likely that Biden has won, so should we try to draft the final version of Trump's blurb, as well as Biden's blurb to make the switch when 20th January comes? The dog2 (talk) 16:30, 6 November 2020 (UTC)
- With the caveat that results aren't conclusive yet, if you'd like to start a rough draft of a Biden entry in your sandbox, ready to add on Jan. 20, go ahead. As for Trump, he has until Jan. 20, 2021 to continue doing things, so we can't close the book on his presidency until then. Ikan Kekek (talk) 16:41, 6 November 2020 (UTC)
- By the nature of a wiki, there's no such thing as the "final" version of any of these blurbs. The relative importance of various aspects of the Trump presidency will only become clear with historical perspective. But of course we can update it (maybe it should mention why he was impeached). I would suggest that the initial version of Biden's blurb should be brief.
- Anyway, the destinations are much more important than the blurbs—are there any Biden-related sites to visit? We have some time to do our research, assuming he does become president. —Granger (talk · contribs) 18:18, 6 November 2020 (UTC)
- Your point about the mutability of historical perspectives is well taken. In terms of Biden-related sites, we know he recently visited the house where he grew up in Scranton, PA, so we could probably find that address and mention it but note that it's a private house that can't be visited. Ikan Kekek (talk) 18:21, 6 November 2020 (UTC)
- whatever happens, Biden won't be president before noon January 20th. And a lot could potentially happen until then. Plus how does one even begin to summarize a thing yet in the future, namely Biden's tenure in office? Hobbitschuster (talk) 18:25, 6 November 2020 (UTC)
- We can write a little about Biden's background. For instance that he was Obama's VP, and we can even mention a bit about Kamala Harris, who would be the first black, Asian and female VP. As for Trump, perhaps the peace deal he brokered between Israel and the two Arab countries, Bahrain and the UAE could be mentioned as a foreign policy achievement. The dog2 (talk) 18:34, 6 November 2020 (UTC)
- Not a peace deal, mere normalization of relations between countries that don't border on each other and weren't active combatants for a long time. And I think that's less significant than moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, which also doesn't bear mentioning, IMO. Ikan Kekek (talk) 18:36, 6 November 2020 (UTC)
- One more thing about Biden. He would be the oldest person to take office, overtaking Trump in this regard. Of course, at this moment, while Biden looks likely to win, the results are far from conclusive, so no changes should be made to the article until the race is actually called. The dog2 (talk) 18:42, 6 November 2020 (UTC)
- I'd suggest waiting until some time in January before adding a Biden entry. A lot of things could happen between now and then. Ikan Kekek (talk) 18:50, 6 November 2020 (UTC)
- Biden's childhood home is at 2446 N. Washington Ave, Scranton per this local news article. Of course, we should mention that it's a private residence, and travellers should stay on the sidewalk. JakeOregon (talk) 23:19, 6 November 2020 (UTC)
- I'd suggest waiting until some time in January before adding a Biden entry. A lot of things could happen between now and then. Ikan Kekek (talk) 18:50, 6 November 2020 (UTC)
- When did we add mention of Brexit to European Union? Not in 2020, when it nominally took effect, but way back in 2017 when the vote took place. I see no reason for Wikivoyage to wait to Jan 2021 to acknowledge that President-elect Biden won this race; as soon as Pennsylvania is declared, we can stick a fork in this mess because it's done. 23.239.59.12 23:40, 6 November 2020 (UTC)
- Many things can happen between now and 20th January. And in any case, all blurbs have to be approved here by consensus before they can posted to the article. I don't mind if people want to try drafting the Biden blurb here, but until the community agrees, it should not go into articlespace. The dog2 (talk) 00:01, 7 November 2020 (UTC)
- If something happens between now and then? We continue to update the page as it happens, much as we update pages rapidly as destinations are obliterated by tornadoes or become unsafe due to armed conflict. Wikivoyage is a wiki. If a disaster affects travel, we want the info sooner rather than later. 23.239.59.12 00:26, 7 November 2020 (UTC)
- First of all, we're nonpartisan, so information should be presented in a nonpartisan way. Secondly, the community has agreed that the blurbs for each president have to be approved by community consensus before they can be published in articlespace. And thirdly, this article is about Presidents of the United States, and Biden is not president until he gets inaugurated on 20th January. The dog2 (talk) 01:04, 7 November 2020 (UTC)
- I agree with Ikan Kekek and The dog2. As soon as Biden is sworn into office, he should be added. Prior to that, he's not yet president. Compiling sights related to him beforehand is obviously fine. I don't really imagine his blurb upon entry really needing that much content. Former VP and oldest elected president are the main relevant/noteworthy trivia to say until he actually starts doing things in the office. ChubbyWimbus (talk) 03:36, 7 November 2020 (UTC)
For what it's worth, having first run for the office in 1988 he may well hold the record for "longest time from first campaign for President to Presidential inauguration" at something above 32 years... Hobbitschuster (talk) 12:52, 7 November 2020 (UTC)
- I've done a bit of searching for destinations and found these pages: . Not sure if any of those are worth listing in this article though. —Granger (talk · contribs) 16:01, 7 November 2020 (UTC)
- Auntie Beeb just called Pennsylvania for Biden. It's over: https://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2020-54836636
- That will require a few edits. Remove the "oldest" superlatives from Reagan and Trump. In "other titles" in the intro, replace "he" with "he or she" for the VP. (Her spouse, presumably, becomes the "second gentleman" - matching the existing use of "first gentleman" and "first lady" for spouses of individual state governors) Cut back the number of Trump POI's to match that of other former presidents - Mar-a-Lago might be notable, but every individual golf course Trump owns? No. That'd leave two POI's at most (maybe Trump Tower and Mar-a-Lago) until it's decided whether (and where) a Presidential Library or other museum will be created to mark the end of the Trump era. Put the map marker back on Mount Rushmore.
- As for a 46. Biden entry? One line saying that he's currently expected to be inaugurated on 20 Jan 2021 and leave it at that for now? Dunno. 66.102.87.40 16:44, 7 November 2020 (UTC)
- I don't see why we would "cut back" POIs when a president leaves office. That said, it might make sense to cover Trump International Golf Club as part of the Mar-a-Lago listing. —Granger (talk · contribs) 17:18, 7 November 2020 (UTC)
- The "oldest" lines are still true for some time. –LPfi (talk) 17:42, 7 November 2020 (UTC)
- @Mx. Granger: If look at the Google Maps, Trump International Golf Club is not next to Mar-a-Lago. It's actually a couple of miles away. The dog2 (talk) 18:33, 7 November 2020 (UTC)
- Four POIs is a lot compared to most single-term presidents, but then again Trump's presidency will likely go down as unusually consequential to American history by comparison with other single-term presidents, so viewed in that light the amount might be more understandable. Still, it's worth thinking about what POIs might be more relevant specifically to Trump's time as president, rather than his previous life as a public figure outside the political realm (Trump Tower, for example, doesn't seem to have much importance to any of the pivotal events of his administration). Also, two golf courses? I know he enjoyed the sport, but still... -- AndreCarrotflower (talk) 03:38, 8 November 2020 (UTC)
- Also, mark me down as in favor of the IP editor's idea for a one-line acknowledgement of Biden's impending inauguration but putting off the addition of any POIs until after January 20. -- AndreCarrotflower (talk) 03:46, 8 November 2020 (UTC)
- Four POIs is a lot compared to most single-term presidents, but then again Trump's presidency will likely go down as unusually consequential to American history by comparison with other single-term presidents, so viewed in that light the amount might be more understandable. Still, it's worth thinking about what POIs might be more relevant specifically to Trump's time as president, rather than his previous life as a public figure outside the political realm (Trump Tower, for example, doesn't seem to have much importance to any of the pivotal events of his administration). Also, two golf courses? I know he enjoyed the sport, but still... -- AndreCarrotflower (talk) 03:38, 8 November 2020 (UTC)
- @Mx. Granger: If look at the Google Maps, Trump International Golf Club is not next to Mar-a-Lago. It's actually a couple of miles away. The dog2 (talk) 18:33, 7 November 2020 (UTC)
- The "oldest" lines are still true for some time. –LPfi (talk) 17:42, 7 November 2020 (UTC)
- I don't see why we would "cut back" POIs when a president leaves office. That said, it might make sense to cover Trump International Golf Club as part of the Mar-a-Lago listing. —Granger (talk · contribs) 17:18, 7 November 2020 (UTC)
I think we should also try to draft the "final" version of Trump's blurb, so we can switch it in once Trump leaves office and Biden takes over. So I guess we should think about what are Trump's most consequential policies. And I'm not sure if we should have a one line summary on why he lost re-election (which I think it's safe to say is due to COVID-19). Of course, Trump could still do many things in the 2+ months he has left in office, but we can always update the draft until it gets implemented in the main article after he leaves office. The dog2 (talk) 04:28, 8 November 2020 (UTC)
- I don't think it's at all clear that he lost because of COVID-19. Some people probably voted for him because they buy his false dichotomy between fighting the disease with behavioral restrictions and getting the economy back to normal. And circumstantial evidence suggests that Biden's margin in several states was from Republican and Republican-leaning voters who voted against Trump because they were sick of his tweeting and so on but then voted for Republicans for the House, Senate, State Legislature, etc. As for points of interest for an outgoing president, I doubt we should remove any. And furthermore, New York's Trump Tower was relevant because blocks of it were rented by the Secret Service at cost and it was a focal point for anti-Trump demonstrations. Ikan Kekek (talk) 07:09, 8 November 2020 (UTC)
- I'm pretty sure there was also a significant people who turned away from Trump because of his mishandling of COVID-19. I actually personally know someone who was a Trump supporter because he is making millions of dollars and was very grateful to Trump for the tax cut he received, and in fact donated $20,000 to Trump's campaign before COVID-19 hit. Only when COVID-19 hit and it became plainly obvious that Trump was not taking it seriously did he turn on Trump and end up voting for Biden instead. But yes, what you said is true. I have other conservative friends who never liked Trump from the outset because of the things he says. The dog2 (talk) 07:27, 8 November 2020 (UTC)
- A big part of the problem in trying to figure out why Trump lost is that opinion polls were so inaccurate this year in the U.S. Over the course of the Trump Administration, he looked consistently and historically unpopular, with his popularity only arguably decreasing somewhat after the early days of the pandemic in the U.S., but the polls were wrong, so we really don't know why he lost, but it's not obvious whether he would have had more or fewer votes without the pandemic. Ikan Kekek (talk) 07:48, 8 November 2020 (UTC)
- We're travel guide writers, not historians or political scientists, so I suggest we keep this kind of debate to a minimum. The blurbs are really not important. —Granger (talk · contribs) 08:06, 8 November 2020 (UTC)
- Agreed. And what they should reflect is known or at least widely accepted facts. Stating that Trump lost during a pandemic many people thought he mishandled is true; stating he lost because he was perceived to have mishandled the pandemic is problematic because how would we know? Ikan Kekek (talk) 09:30, 8 November 2020 (UTC)
- Still, him having been highly controversial is a "known or at least widely accepted fact". I think we should, with suitable wording, say something about that. I suppose he contributed significantly to the polarisation of the country (that's at least part of the story told over here), and if so – given we can word it in a neutral way – something should be said about that. I suppose most presidents before him have tried at least to look like they strive to be president for all of the people, which my impression is he hasn't. –LPfi (talk) 10:18, 8 November 2020 (UTC)
- Right. Ikan Kekek (talk) 10:27, 8 November 2020 (UTC)
- I don't think it's true that Trump didn't try be "president for all of the people", but his methods were certainly different from the norm. I obviously don't know him, but my impression is that he likely genuinely felt/feels that he was "representing the people" against the media establishment, corrupt political elites, and China. I think in many ways he did have his hand on America's pulse (Americans on both sides do distrust the media and are skeptical of establishment politicians, and the growing threat/fear of China is also on more Americans' minds) but there was a clear disconnect regarding HOW he chose to address things versus how the public wanted him to address them, even if only in terms of his way of speaking. Whether or not Americans FELT represented doesn't seem like a uniquely Trumpian thing. Very few presidents are likely to be cited as making all or most Americans "feel represented".
- I agree with others that Covid was the predominant cause of Trump's loss. Not only were some voters turned off by his response, but I have doubts that the turnout for Biden would have been so high had the mail-in ballot system not been implemented. The mail-ins were heavily in favor of Biden in most places. It's clear that mail-in ballots were responsible for Biden's (probable) win, and that is all due to Covid. It can be debated as to whether those voters would have still voted if it had all been in-person, but Covid was undoubtedly a huge part of this election and it definitely benefited Biden. I think it definitely should be given mention. It changed the entire election process. ChubbyWimbus (talk) 13:54, 8 November 2020 (UTC)
- Right. Ikan Kekek (talk) 10:27, 8 November 2020 (UTC)
- Still, him having been highly controversial is a "known or at least widely accepted fact". I think we should, with suitable wording, say something about that. I suppose he contributed significantly to the polarisation of the country (that's at least part of the story told over here), and if so – given we can word it in a neutral way – something should be said about that. I suppose most presidents before him have tried at least to look like they strive to be president for all of the people, which my impression is he hasn't. –LPfi (talk) 10:18, 8 November 2020 (UTC)
- Agreed. And what they should reflect is known or at least widely accepted facts. Stating that Trump lost during a pandemic many people thought he mishandled is true; stating he lost because he was perceived to have mishandled the pandemic is problematic because how would we know? Ikan Kekek (talk) 09:30, 8 November 2020 (UTC)
- We're travel guide writers, not historians or political scientists, so I suggest we keep this kind of debate to a minimum. The blurbs are really not important. —Granger (talk · contribs) 08:06, 8 November 2020 (UTC)
- A big part of the problem in trying to figure out why Trump lost is that opinion polls were so inaccurate this year in the U.S. Over the course of the Trump Administration, he looked consistently and historically unpopular, with his popularity only arguably decreasing somewhat after the early days of the pandemic in the U.S., but the polls were wrong, so we really don't know why he lost, but it's not obvious whether he would have had more or fewer votes without the pandemic. Ikan Kekek (talk) 07:48, 8 November 2020 (UTC)
- I'm pretty sure there was also a significant people who turned away from Trump because of his mishandling of COVID-19. I actually personally know someone who was a Trump supporter because he is making millions of dollars and was very grateful to Trump for the tax cut he received, and in fact donated $20,000 to Trump's campaign before COVID-19 hit. Only when COVID-19 hit and it became plainly obvious that Trump was not taking it seriously did he turn on Trump and end up voting for Biden instead. But yes, what you said is true. I have other conservative friends who never liked Trump from the outset because of the things he says. The dog2 (talk) 07:27, 8 November 2020 (UTC)
My hunch is that Trump would have won re-election in a landslide had it not been for COVID-19. Trump actually got a record turnout and won more votes this time than Obama did in 2008, and it took an even bigger record turnout for Biden this time round to defeat him, so it's certainly conceivable that Trump would have even won the popular vote had it not be for COVID-19. And not to mention, Trump actually increased his vote share among black, Latino, LGBT and female voters, but eventually lost because there was enough of a swing in the other direction from retirees and white college-educated male voters. But anyway, to get back to updating Trump's blurb, how about inserting a sentence at the end stating: "Lost his bid for re-election amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which many people felt he had mismanaged." In that way, we're not speculating on the reasons for his loss, and we're also keeping it nonpartisan by not taking sides ourselves, but merely acknowledging that many people felt that way. The dog2 (talk) 16:58, 8 November 2020 (UTC)
- ChubbyWimbus, ask any liberal whether Trump tried to represent us. Liberals don't expect Republicans not to differentiate themselves from liberals, but the level of vituperation, personal attacks and threats from a president is unprecedented in my 55 years. And I could go on to talk about whether he tried to represent POWs and their families, Muslims, anti-Nazis, refugees and immigrants from "shithole countries", New Yorkers struggling because he refuses to send relief to our state's government that was way into the black until the pandemic he refused to manage hit, etc., etc. As for your proposed wording, The dog2, I already proposed it, and I'd appreciate not having more discussions about how Trump would have supposedly won by a landslide if he was different in no other way than not having a pandemic to (mis)manage or how the most divisive and vulgarly abusive president in modern history who said Nazis and KKK and a teenage lyncher who threatened and murdered were "good people" actually tried to represent everyone. Signed, a democratic socialist New York Jew. Ikan Kekek (talk) 17:35, 8 November 2020 (UTC)
- @Ikan Kekek: I think you're misunderstanding what I was saying. I don't disagree with all these things you brought up about Trump, and my statement was not meant to be a political endorsement of Trump, but merely stating what I think the numbers showed, because frankly speaking, the fact that slightly less than half the country turned out in record numbers to vote for someone like that who has made America a laughing stock on the international stage is concerning. Go and check out some of Andrew Yang's post-election interviews and you'll see where I'm coming from. But anyway, this is not the place for political debates, so I'll leave it at that. The dog2 (talk) 17:46, 8 November 2020 (UTC)
- Ikan Kekek, The thing is, Liberals also said Bush didn't represent them. Conservatives said Obama didn't represent them or try to represent them. None of that is at all unique to Trump. The people's feelings don't tell us if the men themselves believed they made the effort, and that's what matters when talking about whether they "tried" or not. "Trying" comes from oneself, not from others. You can try to save someone's life and end up contributing to their death. The horrible results don't negate the fact that you tried or felt like you were doing good at the time. I'm surprised you still believe the "fine people" soundbite. If you actually listened to that press briefing, he stated clearly that the "fine people" were those who just wanted to protest the tearing down of the statue and also stated clearly that he was not referring to the white nationalists and neo-Nazis who he said "should be condemned totally". That whole debacle was one of many that was easy to verify the complete dishonesty of the media.
- At any rate, the Covid line seems to be agreed upon.
- Another bit of trivia for Trump is that he is the first president since Jimmy Carter to not start a new war or send Americans into a foreign conflict. That is rather noteworthy as Americans have become quite accustomed to war and in spite of Trump's aggressive demeanor, he maintained unprecedented peace during his time in office. ChubbyWimbus (talk) 11:33, 9 November 2020 (UTC)
- Anyone can see audiovisual footage of him supporting the actions of the 17-year-old terrorist who drove up from Illinois to shoot demonstrators dead in Kenosha just for being Black and affirming that Black lives matter, in the wake of a killing by the police. And trying does matter, but it's a matter of words and gestures at least. No, GW Bush didn't represent me and I consider him an unpunished murderer, torturer and war criminal, but his rhetoric was not at the level of Trump's constant insults, verbal attacks and threats toward everyone he didn't like. Recall that domestically, GW Bush made both words and gestures of respect for the American Muslim community, and even though with the other hand, he quietly had hundreds of people in New York City alone arrested and detained just because they were Muslim and his rhetoric and actions on the international stage had a role in making the situation scary for American Muslims (along with many American non-Muslims' reaction that because terrorists were avowedly acting in the name of Islam, all Muslims should be under suspicion, when that's never the reaction to all whites when white terrorists strike, as in Oklahoma City), that did matter. The idea that Trump, of all people, tried to bring people together is not something that can pass any kind of smell test while he's still in office. You could try that argument again after most of the witnesses to his presidency are no longer around to refute it, but even then, if you're not dealing with people comfortable with fact-denial, the mountains of tweets and video clips would be hard to get around. And I'd as soon continue to argue about this as to argue with a QAnon supporter that the Democrats aren't actually a cabal of child molestors who drink human blood and the civil rights struggle isn't caused by Jews manipulating Blacks, so if you insist on having the last word on this non-argument, that's up to you as long as you don't try to put any of this stuff into articlespace. Ikan Kekek (talk) 12:32, 9 November 2020 (UTC)
Please stop the political debates, everyone. I suggest we leave the blurb alone for the time being—it is really not important. If we must change it, let's keep any discussion narrowly focused on what should go in the article. —Granger (talk · contribs) 17:08, 9 November 2020 (UTC)
- I don't think there has been any disagreement on the addition to Trump's blurb, so I'd say let's go ahead and add it. Trump has lost his bid for re-election, and even Fox News has called it, and regardless of how you lean politically, that is a fact. If Trump does anything noteworthy in his final two months in office, we can always add it to the blurb later. As for Biden's entry, let's wait till inauguration to add it, because he is not president yet. The dog2 (talk) 19:16, 9 November 2020 (UTC)
- We should at least acknowledge, by name, that Joe Biden is scheduled to be inaugurated to the 46th US presidency in Jan 2021. The comment "Biden isn't president yet. Anything can happen in the next 2 months." is bizarre, as the election is over and the outcome is known. A recount in one state won't be enough to change that, at least not lawfully, so no reason not to name 46. Biden as the current President-Elect of the United States of America. 66.102.87.40 06:55, 10 November 2020 (UTC)
- For all we know, he could die prior to January 20. I don't expect that, but I don't see in a travel guide what we gain by running a blurb for a president before he takes office. What's bothering you about just having a blurb ready to run when he's inaugurated? Ikan Kekek (talk) 16:13, 10 November 2020 (UTC)
- (edit conflict) Granger, you keep saying that the blurbs are not important, but the consensus almost since the beginning of this article's existence has been that they do serve an important role in contextualizing the POI listings. So I would ask you to respect that consensus and redirect your comments toward how to make Trump's blurb best reflect his administration. I agree that much of the political discussion preceding your comment was extraneous, but some of it wasn't, and when you strip away the bluster you find a lot of valuable insights about what does and doesn't belong in the blurb.
- At the very least, I think we can all agree on including the facts that Trump was president during the COVID-19 pandemic and that his response to it was widely criticized as ineffective, as well as the fact that there was widespread civil unrest during his administration, for a variety of different reasons, most notably police brutality against POC and the feeling among some Americans that the COVID-19 lockdowns were too heavy-handed. I also like ChubbyWimbus's suggestion of mentioning Trump's relatively isolationist and non-interventionist foreign policy, which really is a startling break from his predecessors going back at least as far as Reagan.
- As The dog2 said above, I would prefer to avoid any speculation about what contributed to Trump's defeat in 2020 (COVID may well rank high among them, but we won't know for sure for a long time, and we should avoid regarding the immediate post-mortems as being conclusive). Bizarre tangents about whether Trump felt he represented all Americans as president or just his base also don't belong in the blurb.
- And, perhaps just as importantly, we need to let go of the idea that whatever is the end result of this discussion will be the "final" Trump blurb. The ultimate legacy of any given president in American history generally does not become clear until years or decades after their administration, and that legacy often ends up looking very different than we would have expected in the immediate aftermath (for instance, did you know that as of 2018, a solid majority of Americans have a positive opinion of George W. Bush?). Not to mention that Trump is still in office for two more months, and it's possible that some unexpected event that's consequential to his legacy (a terrorist attack, a major stock market crash) might occur between now and January 2021. So we should remain open to further revisions to the blurb as the final weeks and months of Trump's presidency elapse, and even after he's out of office as his legacy continues to evolve.
- Going into detail about the police killing of George Floyd and the anti-lockdown protests is going to make Trump's blurb too long. So I suggest we keep it short and sweet by just using the term "widespread civil unrest". So perhaps we modify the addition to his blurb to "Lost his bid for re-election amid the COVID-19 pandemic and widespread civil unrest, which many people felt he had mismanaged." How does that sound? The dog2 (talk) 17:13, 10 November 2020 (UTC)
- Too unspecific and too extreme (there wasn't "widespread civil unrest", contrary to totally false Republican claims about the downtowns of "Democrat-run cities" burning for months). We could add "and civil unrest following the killings of several unarmed Black people by police officers". It wasn't just George Floyd but also Breonna Taylor, Daniel Prude, the attempted killing of Jacob Blake, the man who was murdered by racist white civilians in Atlanta, etc. Ikan Kekek (talk) 18:17, 10 November 2020 (UTC)
- Ikan - There were George Floyd protests in practically every major city in the country, some of which lasted for weeks, which covers the "widespread" part. As for "civil unrest", the statement that the vast majority of George Floyd protests were nonviolent is true but irrelevant. Civil unrest does not automatically imply violence. It's a spectrum that encompasses nonviolent protest at one end, rioting somewhere in the middle, and literal civil war at the other end. Furthermore, "widespread civil unrest" does not refer only to the George Floyd protests. The anti-lockdown demonstrations were also widespread, albeit not quite as much so as the George Floyd ones, and also were more often violent or at least carried the implicit threat of violence (many of the protesters were armed, for example). So the lack of specificity is at least somewhat by design. The overarching idea those words are intended to convey is that the Trump presidency represented the point in time where America's increasing political polarization, a trend that had been accelerating since the Clinton years, reached the level of direct confrontation in the streets. We can draw the line there and say that readers who are curious about all the different themes around which those confrontations manifested themselves can look elsewhere for that information. -- AndreCarrotflower (talk) 19:36, 10 November 2020 (UTC)
- And before anyone gets on my back, I call them "George Floyd protests" because they immediately followed the death of George Floyd, not to deny that the other unarmed killings of Black folks by police also played a role in the reaction. -- AndreCarrotflower (talk) 19:36, 10 November 2020 (UTC)
- Your points are well taken. So what phrasing do you propose to add? Ikan Kekek (talk) 19:43, 10 November 2020 (UTC)
When uniformed police riot, it's still a riot. Hobbitschuster (talk) 20:07, 10 November 2020 (UTC)
- My phrasing was intentionally vague in keeping with our policy of non-partisanship. Perhaps 50 years or so down the road when Trump is evaluated by historians, things will change, but as of now, I think we can just acknowledge that there has been civil unrest. Yes, there has been the BLM protests, but there were also white right-wingers storming the Michigan Legislature with their guns in order to protest the COVID-19 lockdowns, and the Proud Boys deliberately going to Portland to start fights with the BLM protesters, so simply stating "civil unrest" convers all these things. Whether or not Trump is to blame for the unrest is not for us to judge here on WV, though it is accurate to say that many people have blamed him for mismanaging the civil unrest too. The dog2 (talk) 22:21, 10 November 2020 (UTC)
- @Ikan Kekek, AndreCarrotflower: So what will it be then. How should we cover the unrest? Or should we even mention it at all? The dog2 (talk) 23:47, 13 November 2020 (UTC)
Here's an attraction in Ballina, County Mayo, Ireland - https://www.forbes.com/sites/suzannerowankelleher/2020/11/11/irelands-new-must-have-photo-op-is-a-mural-of-president-elect-joe-biden/ that could possibly be included when Biden gets added to the article. - WOSlinker (talk) 21:48, 14 November 2020 (UTC)
- @The dog2, Ikan Kekek: Here's a first draft:
Donald Trump (R), 2017-present — Wealthy real estate tycoon and media personality who was the oldest president to assume office (age 70 at his inauguration), and the first to have held no prior elected or military office. His "America First" agenda involved restrictions on immigration, an expansion of the Mexican border wall, and a foreign policy that emphasized military non-intervention and economic protectionism (culminating in a trade war with China) and saw the U.S. withdraw from the Paris climate accords among other international agreements. An extremely divisive figure, Trump was the third president to be impeached (though he was not removed from office); his single term coincided with widespread civil unrest and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which he was widely felt to have mismanaged.
- (For the sake of reducing the blurb's length, I took out the part about him being the second president to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, which, while potentially travel-relevant, doesn't have much to do with his presidency per se. Perhaps his star [and Reagan's] would work better as POI listings than in the blurbs?)
- Just a few minor changes from me. First, I think we can be more specific and use "billionaire" instead of "wealthy", since it's true. He was in fact the richest person to hold an elected office in the US until J. B. Pritzker got elected governor of Illinois in 2018. Also, I would replace "agenda" with "policy" since he was actually in power, and the word "policy" comes across as less politically charged to me. And for the last sentence, "he was widely felt to have mismanaged" could be contentious because it suggests that the majority of people think he has mismanaged those things. As far as I know, we have no data, so "many people felt he had mismanaged" would be better since it gives no indication as to whether it's a majority of people or not. The dog2 (talk) 23:57, 14 November 2020 (UTC)
- I'm fine with the proposed new version of the blurb on Trump. I don't care about agenda vs. policy, but "widely" doesn't mean "by a clear majority" and is briefer and neater than The dog2's proposed edit. Also, I don't think it's a fact that he's a billionaire, so I would oppose stating that he is. Ikan Kekek (talk) 01:08, 15 November 2020 (UTC)
- I prefer the word "agenda" because "policy" appears again later in the same sentence.
- Also, notably: we will soon be able to shorten Trump's blurb by removing the "oldest president to assume office" factoid, as Joe Biden will be 78 years old upon inauguration.
- Yes, the "oldest president to assume office" will need to be removed once Joe Biden gets inaugurated. I have no further points than the ones I previously raised, so if there are no further objections for others, go ahead and update the blurb. The dog2 (talk) 02:17, 15 November 2020 (UTC)
Done. I also added POI listings for Reagan and Trump's stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and removed the reference to Reagan's star from his blurb. -- AndreCarrotflower (talk) 05:42, 15 November 2020 (UTC)
- Going back to Biden's age, we will also need to remove the part of Reagan's blurb that says he is "to date the oldest president upon leaving office", as Reagan left office at the age of 77 which is already younger than Biden will be on Inauguration Day. -- AndreCarrotflower (talk) 20:42, 16 November 2020 (UTC)
Draft
Since we're approaching inauguration, I have come up with a draft so we can start working on it and having a blurb ready to run once Biden gets inaugurated:
Joe Biden (D), 2021-present — A former long-serving senator from Delaware and Vice President under Barack Obama. Elected to office amid the COVID-19 pandemic on the promise for a return to normalcy. As of 2021, the oldest person to assume the office, and will be the oldest person to do so when he leaves office.
- 1 Biden birth house, 2446 N Washington Ave, Scranton, Pennsylvania. The house where Joe Biden was born, and lived in until the age of 10. It is still a private residence today and cannot be entered, though it can be viewed from the outside.
- I added "A long-serving senator from Delaware". I think this is enough to cover before he's done anything as President. Ikan Kekek (talk) 07:25, 28 December 2020 (UTC)
- If and when he does anything major related to railroads we can mention him being nicknamed "Amtrak Joe" and why that is. Hobbitschuster (talk) 12:38, 28 December 2020 (UTC)
- Instead of "on the promise for a return to normalcy," what about "with the [slogan/theme] 'Build Back Better'"? I listened to many of Joe Biden's remarks during the pandemic and I'm not sure he or anyone can be sure of an immediate return to normalcy given the coronavirus, but I think the focus was on making things better than they were once the pandemic eases. And also , "As of 2021, [he is] the oldest person the assume the office" feels more grammatically correct. But otherwise this should work as a draft pending inauguration. --Comment by Selfie City (talk | contributions) 13:48, 28 December 2020 (UTC)
- Should the fact challenges to the election were dismissed by the Supreme Court be included? Or is is irrelevant? My feeling is that we should avoid discussing it as it is a slippery slope to go into the election challenges. If we want to steer well clear of all that we could just write "Inaugurated as president" instead of "Elected to office" but I don't know how others may feel about that. After all, the goal of this article is not to write about elections, but rather the presidential term, which in his case would last from January 20, 2021 to January 20, 2025. --Comment by Selfie City (talk | contributions) 13:51, 28 December 2020 (UTC)
- Just one more thing — we need to clarify that he is a former senator. Some reading the article, if they are not from the U.S. and not familiar with the political system, might not know that a president cannot also be a member of Congress. --Comment by Selfie City (talk | contributions) 14:06, 28 December 2020 (UTC)
- Regarding Biden's promise/slogan: I don't think anyone knows his "slogan". Did he even say it? If he did, he certainly didn't have the charisma to make it stick. I'm not even sure he really made a solid promise to "return to normalcy" but the media pushed that narrative, so I think that one is better.
- Regarding election challenge: We didn't mention election controversies surrounding Bush v Gore or Trump v Clinton, so it seems there is precedent to omit such things. If it ever comes out that fraud or rigging occurred and got Biden (or any other president) falsely inaugurated, then it would obviously be worthy of adding, but just saying that the election was challenged isn't itself worthy of adding in my opinion. If doubts regarding the legitimacy of his election actually affect his presidency, we can always talk about adding it at a later date. As a first draft blurb, we should say the bare minimum. ChubbyWimbus (talk) 14:32, 28 December 2020 (UTC)
- We should perhaps also come up with POIs to list for Biden so they can go into the article on inauguration day with the blurb. One I can think of is his birth home in Scranton, Pennsylvania (though unfortunately, I don't know the address). There's also probably a few sites in Delaware connected to Biden's teenage years, though I'm not familiar with them. The dog2 (talk) 16:51, 28 December 2020 (UTC)
- Just one more thing — we need to clarify that he is a former senator. Some reading the article, if they are not from the U.S. and not familiar with the political system, might not know that a president cannot also be a member of Congress. --Comment by Selfie City (talk | contributions) 14:06, 28 December 2020 (UTC)
- Should the fact challenges to the election were dismissed by the Supreme Court be included? Or is is irrelevant? My feeling is that we should avoid discussing it as it is a slippery slope to go into the election challenges. If we want to steer well clear of all that we could just write "Inaugurated as president" instead of "Elected to office" but I don't know how others may feel about that. After all, the goal of this article is not to write about elections, but rather the presidential term, which in his case would last from January 20, 2021 to January 20, 2025. --Comment by Selfie City (talk | contributions) 13:51, 28 December 2020 (UTC)
- Instead of "on the promise for a return to normalcy," what about "with the [slogan/theme] 'Build Back Better'"? I listened to many of Joe Biden's remarks during the pandemic and I'm not sure he or anyone can be sure of an immediate return to normalcy given the coronavirus, but I think the focus was on making things better than they were once the pandemic eases. And also , "As of 2021, [he is] the oldest person the assume the office" feels more grammatically correct. But otherwise this should work as a draft pending inauguration. --Comment by Selfie City (talk | contributions) 13:48, 28 December 2020 (UTC)
- If and when he does anything major related to railroads we can mention him being nicknamed "Amtrak Joe" and why that is. Hobbitschuster (talk) 12:38, 28 December 2020 (UTC)
there's a train station named after him, too. Hobbitschuster (talk) 18:02, 28 December 2020 (UTC)
- I added "former" before "long-serving senator". Trump's frivolous, malicious lawsuits and constant lies about not actually losing the election are about him, not about Biden and might be covered under Trump's blurb as "refused to accept that he was defeated in the 2020 elections and filed numerous lawsuits to try to annul the result"; that's a very significant event and definitely could be included in his blurb, though I see no reason we need to change anything, as the blurbs are short and we came to a hard-won consensus about Trump's. But just keep that in mind. And the suggestion that we wouldn't say Biden was elected is preposterous per be fair. We call Jerusalem capital of Israel and Jammu and Kashmir an Indian state, facts which I daresay are much more controversial than the reluctance of some Americans to accept that their Great Leader lost, because this site is reality-based. Ikan Kekek (talk) 20:53, 28 December 2020 (UTC)
- Speaking of which, I wonder if we should mention that Biden won more votes than any other presidential candidate in history. This most recent election was a rather exceptional one though, because Trump actually broke the record for most votes won by a presidential candidate, previously set by Obama in 2008, but still ended up losing the popular vote. The dog2 (talk) 03:16, 30 December 2020 (UTC)
- That's a notable fact about the 2020 presidential election, but "won the largest number of popular votes in American history" seems to me to be a bit trivial in regard to a presidential candidate in a broad historical perspective. I think the fact that his running mate is the first woman and first Black and Asian-American to become Vice President is more significant. Ikan Kekek (talk) 03:45, 30 December 2020 (UTC)
- Not to mention the fact that this is a record that's regularly broken as the population and median age of the U.S. citizenry continue to increase. -- AndreCarrotflower (talk) 04:07, 30 December 2020 (UTC)
- Although the fact that 2020 turnout constituted the largest percentage of eligible voters since the election of Woodrow Wilson won't necessarily be beaten soon. But still, as I said, relatively trivial in regard to Biden, as opposed to the election itself. Ikan Kekek (talk) 04:36, 30 December 2020 (UTC)
- Added a POI listing for Biden's birth house. Please add more if you can think of anything. The dog2 (talk) 04:49, 31 December 2020 (UTC)
Storming of the Capitol
We might want to add something about this to Trump's blurb once the dust in settled since this is really unprecedented. I've never seen anything like it before in a developed country, and never would I have imagined that I would see something like this happening in America, which is supposed to be the world's shining beacon of democracy and freedom. The dog2 (talk) 21:33, 6 January 2021 (UTC)
- Not sure. It's obviously important (there is a warningbox in the DC article) but I don't see the relevance to tourism related to any president. --Comment by Selfie City (talk | contributions) 21:37, 6 January 2021 (UTC)
- I think The dog2's argument might have merit, but let's let the dust settle first. Other various thoughts:
- SelfieCity, this concerns the descriptive blurb that serves as the section lede to Trump's entry under "List of presidents", not to any POI.
- Is there an argument for adding it to Biden's blurb instead? Something along the lines of "inaugurated despite an attempted coup that sought to invalidate the results of the election he won" or something of that nature. Forgive me if this comes off as offensive because clearly Trump is to blame for the unrest, but on the other hand the unrest is in response to Biden's victory, and Trump's blurb is getting quite lengthy while conversely Biden's could use a bit more padding.
- On second thought, if we do decide today's events merit mention, adding them to Trump's blurb could be done without lengthening it too much. Here's a possible rewrite, starting from the final semicolon of the present blurb:
his single term coincided with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which he was widely felt to have mismanaged, as well as widespread civil unrest, culminating in an attempted coup by his supporters who sought to overturn his defeat in the 2020 election.
- Are we indeed okay with describing this as an "attempted coup", or is that verbiage too tendentious? I'm especially interested in what ChubbyWimbus, for example, would have to say about that, as I've noticed he's one who tends to push back against the natural inclination of our editor base to skew left, which as I see it is valuable in dealing with a reader base that might not.
- I'm happy with AndreCarrotflower's suggestion, and I think it belongs more under Trump's blurb because it happened during Trump's presidency. And of course, it was Trump who convinced his supporters to do this. But yes, let's wait till the dust settles before we add anything. The dog2 (talk) 23:45, 6 January 2021 (UTC)
- It looks like there was an edit conflict. The dog2, what do you think about my final bullet point, which I added after you had already typed the above comment? -- AndreCarrotflower (talk) 23:49, 6 January 2021 (UTC)
- If there's any pushback on the idea that this is an attempted coup, we could describe it as "armed followers of his stormed the Capitol in an attempt to annul the results at his behest" or something like that. Ikan Kekek (talk) 23:50, 6 January 2021 (UTC)
- I'm fine with the term "attempted coup". I may not be the furthest left person here, but it is what it is, and clearly they were trying to use intimidation overturn the results of an election, which fits the definition of an attempted coup. But let's also see what ChubbyWimbus says. Perhaps Mx. Granger could weigh in too. He seems to have a knack for avoiding political controversy. The dog2 (talk) 23:56, 6 January 2021 (UTC)
- I guess but we ought to prepared to see how this all pans out and that may require some changes to the text. It was a tragedy to see what happened in the Capitol today, but I fear it isn't over, and where things go over the next few days is in question. "Attempted coup" may be the best wording for now as we don't know that the goal of the riot was to annul the results, even though that may seem obvious. We don't know what would have happened if somehow the rioters had taken control of the building. --Comment by Selfie City (talk | contributions) 23:59, 6 January 2021 (UTC)
- Thanks for the ping. I'd say there's no rush, and would suggest waiting a couple of weeks to get a better sense of whether this merits mention, how it fits into the Trump presidency overall, and how to characterize what happened. I'm wary of the word "coup" in this case and might prefer "insurrection" or "stormed"/"storming" as more precise and uncontroversial descriptions – but again, let's give it a couple weeks. —Granger (talk · contribs) 07:42, 7 January 2021 (UTC)
- I would say this unique event in American history certainly deserves a mention, but I have no problem with your suggested wordings and also think that waiting till January 21 is sensible, since we don't know what other horrors might take place between now and then. Ikan Kekek (talk) 18:40, 7 January 2021 (UTC)
- Thanks for the ping. I agree that it's best to wait as it may not be over and the ramifications also have yet to be seen even if nothing else happens. Of the proposed rewrite, I don't want to lengthen it, but does "as well as widespread civil unrest, culminating in..." sound like the civil unrest was also from his supporters? I don't think "culminating" is necessarily wrong, but those involved in the civil unrest that preceded are presumably mostly different from those involved here.
- Regarding "attempted coup", I think that is a mischaracterization as far as THEIR beliefs about what they're doing which is what's most important in describing why what happened happened (regardless of whether they are right or wrong). While those who disagree with them see them as simply trying to overturn an election, they seem to legitimately believe that the "coup" occurred during the election (or the counting). Their motivation is to "stop the steal", as they say. I definitely don't think we should or need to go into details about the controversies surrounding the election, but I do think if we're going to mention this event, we need to properly characterize the motives of these people from THEIR, not our, perspective. ChubbyWimbus (talk) 14:33, 8 January 2021 (UTC)
- I don't know how to state it, but I think that, as the description is in the context of the presidencies, the protesters views are not what is essential, but rather that there was (sadly: is) such an extreme divide, and Trump's role in handling it (I would say furthering it, but I am indeed biased). –LPfi (talk) 20:50, 8 January 2021 (UTC)
- ChubbyWimbus, thanks for checking in and giving your views. I don't think be fair means that we need to describe incidents the way those who committed them would describe them; rather, accuracy should be the standard, unless we decide to write an article about "Right-wing conspiracy theorist travel", which I definitely don't think we want to do but which in any case is not this article. Also, do you really contest that right-wing groups such as the Proud Boys, militia organizations and neo-Nazis were part of the civil unrest that happened in instances such as violence and threats in Portland, Oregon, in and around the Statehouse in Lansing, Michigan, in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in Charlottesville and in several other acts of terrorism such as in synagogues in Pittsburgh and San Diego? If it troubles you that the culmination isn't from the left, that doesn't change how events have unfolded. Ikan Kekek (talk) 21:32, 8 January 2021 (UTC)
- I am not saying we should describe the events that way; I'm saying we should state their motivations accurately. I find it odd that we would mention the event but hide, omit, or lie about what motivated it. That's essential information. If someone commits a crime, the motivation is the first thing people want to know. Why did she kill her husband? Why did he bomb the marketplace? etc. If your concern is that we would be "giving them legitimacy" or something of the sort, that's not true. Saying that "she killed her husband because she thought he was cheating on her" is not the same as saying he cheated on her. His innocence would not change her motivation.
- On the civil unrest: No, I'm not saying right wing individuals were not there, but by all accounts (both left and right sources), the riots were "George Floyd Protests" or "BLM riots" (BLM not being heavily associated with the far right) and the Portland and Seattle unrest and "autonomous zones" were not established by the far right. I am not "troubled" that the culmination isn't from the far left. As I stated, I'm not necessarily against "culminated". my concern is that it sort of sounds like the unrest that preceded it is all from the same people representing the same cause and that's not the case. ChubbyWimbus (talk) 04:53, 9 January 2021 (UTC)
- OK, thanks for clarifying. I don't disagree with the basic points you're making, but let's remember this is a blurb to describe a president, not the motivations of people who acted on his call to march to the Capitol and prevent the acceptance of the Electoral College votes. But I think the relevant way to describe their motivations is "a mob incited by a commitment to white supremacy and President Trump's repeated false claims that Biden's victory was illegitimate and the product of a conspiracy by Democrats and Republican 'traitors', marched to the Capitol at his urging and invaded it, forcing the evacuation of the building and causing five deaths and great damage to the building and the country's international reputation" or something like that. Ikan Kekek (talk) 05:52, 9 January 2021 (UTC)
- ChubbyWimbus, thanks for checking in and giving your views. I don't think be fair means that we need to describe incidents the way those who committed them would describe them; rather, accuracy should be the standard, unless we decide to write an article about "Right-wing conspiracy theorist travel", which I definitely don't think we want to do but which in any case is not this article. Also, do you really contest that right-wing groups such as the Proud Boys, militia organizations and neo-Nazis were part of the civil unrest that happened in instances such as violence and threats in Portland, Oregon, in and around the Statehouse in Lansing, Michigan, in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in Charlottesville and in several other acts of terrorism such as in synagogues in Pittsburgh and San Diego? If it troubles you that the culmination isn't from the left, that doesn't change how events have unfolded. Ikan Kekek (talk) 21:32, 8 January 2021 (UTC)
- I don't know how to state it, but I think that, as the description is in the context of the presidencies, the protesters views are not what is essential, but rather that there was (sadly: is) such an extreme divide, and Trump's role in handling it (I would say furthering it, but I am indeed biased). –LPfi (talk) 20:50, 8 January 2021 (UTC)
If "attempted coup" is too contentious, maybe we can just say "storming the Capitol during the counting of the electoral college votes". And look, even Fox News called the election for Biden. Only One America News Network and Newsmax, which are to the right of Fox News and so conspiratorial that I would even question whether or not they should be called "news", went with Trump's fraud claims. So objectively speaking, they were trying to overturn the election results. The dog2 (talk) 02:13, 10 January 2021 (UTC)
- I don't see the relevance of the news networks. You are mistaken if you think Fox News dictates conservative thought/opinions. I'm sure they'd like to, but conservatives often roll their eyes at Fox News, and a lot of people at Fox were or were said to be anti-Trump. But anyway, I didn't object to saying that they wanted to overturn the results. I only said we need to state their motivations, so I think your suggestion is decent, because it doesn't editorialize, but to add their motivation, how about (I'll bold it for easy reference): "During the counting of the 2020 electoral college votes, pro-Trump protesters, who believed that the election was fraudulent, stormed the Capital Building with unclear intentions to somehow overturn the election results, which resulted in 5 deaths and [hundreds?] of arrests." I'd like to say more explicitly what the plan was, but my impression is that they didn't actually have a plan. What they did was ONLY bad for them, and I can't even dream up a hypothetical scenario in which what they did ends well for them or their cause. Even people who believe the election was suspect agree that storming the Capitol was stupid. ChubbyWimbus (talk) 11:03, 10 January 2021 (UTC)
- That’s good wording but “somehow” unnecessarily makes it vague. Instead of “which resulted,” “resulting” because otherwise it sounds like the election results resulted in five deaths. --Comment by Selfie City (talk | contributions) 12:37, 10 January 2021 (UTC)
- Well, it's a bit long, so here's what I suggest:
- That’s good wording but “somehow” unnecessarily makes it vague. Instead of “which resulted,” “resulting” because otherwise it sounds like the election results resulted in five deaths. --Comment by Selfie City (talk | contributions) 12:37, 10 January 2021 (UTC)
- "During the counting of the 2020 electoral college votes, pro-Trump protesters, who believed that the election was fraudulent, stormed the Capit
aol Buildingwith unclear intentions to somehowin an attempt to overturn the election results., which resulted in 5 deaths and [hundreds?] of arrests."
- "During the counting of the 2020 electoral college votes, pro-Trump protesters, who believed that the election was fraudulent, stormed the Capit
- I think the "unclear intentions" part is unnecessary, because the main point is that they were trying to overturn the election results. How they wanted to do it is not important, and we're also trying to keep the blurbs from becoming unnecessarily long. And I'm also we need to mention the deaths and arrest. The storming of the Capitol in and of itself is unprecedented; this has not happened since the British invasion in 1814, and is the first time it has been done by U.S. citizens. Alternatively, we could mention the number of deaths, which we know is 5, but leave out the part on the arrests, since official figures have yet to be released. The dog2 (talk) 20:07, 10 January 2021 (UTC)
- Still way too long. Remember, Trump's is already the longest of the 44 blurbs - by a significant margin - even without any of this additional information we're proposing to add. I did the math just now, and even if we used The dog2's shortened version, we'd be devoting over 20% of the text in the blurb to what is only one of a laundry list of shocking, disturbing, and unprecedented events that have occurred in the Trump presidency. I think the text I proposed is the best option presented thus far (and if we can't build consensus around "attempted coup", I like Granger's suggestion of "insurrection", which would even shorten the text a few characters further). I'm not married to that wording, but I would say that anything of significantly more length than my proposal would be overkill. -- AndreCarrotflower (talk) 06:22, 11 January 2021 (UTC)
- To be clear, I'm fine with your proposed wording in full, or with the substitution of "insurrection". Ikan Kekek (talk) 07:55, 11 January 2021 (UTC)
I mostly don't mind it, but still think the motivation is important. This is basically the same, but adds my bit and changes "his supporters" to "some of his supporters" so as to not conflate the two (again highlighted for quick and easy reference): "his single term coincided with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which he was widely felt to have mismanaged, as well as widespread civil unrest, culminating in an attempted coup by some of his supporters who believed his 2020 election defeat was fraudulent and sought to overturn it." ChubbyWimbus (talk) 13:41, 11 January 2021 (UTC)
- I don't think it's worth trying to settle on a phrasing right now. Information is still emerging and further developments are likely before inauguration day. (For example, if Trump is impeached again, that will presumably need to be mentioned.) I suggest we revisit this after the inauguration. —Granger (talk · contribs) 14:26, 11 January 2021 (UTC)
- I agree. Ikan Kekek (talk) 18:14, 11 January 2021 (UTC)
- I'm also fine with waiting until inauguration day to finalise this. The dog2 (talk) 19:32, 11 January 2021 (UTC)
- Trump almost certainly will be impeached, but we of course have to wait until the vote takes place to include that information. --Comment by Selfie City (talk | contributions) 23:58, 11 January 2021 (UTC)
- I'm also fine with waiting until inauguration day to finalise this. The dog2 (talk) 19:32, 11 January 2021 (UTC)
Impeachment, again
As expected, the House has proceeded with a second impeachment of Trump. This is historically unprecedented and IMO the need to mention it in his blurb is self-evident, and I think this also takes care of any lingering doubts about whether to mention the storming of the Capitol, as it is the factor that led directly to this second impeachment. I will draft yet another new version of the blurb shortly, and then you all can share your feedback before it goes live. -- AndreCarrotflower (talk) 22:04, 13 January 2021 (UTC)
- I still think we're better off waiting until after the inauguration to try to settle on a phrasing. There's no need for these historical blurbs to keep up with news on a day-to-day basis, and there's still a significant chance of related developments in the next few days. —Granger (talk · contribs) 07:18, 14 January 2021 (UTC)
- I agree with Granger. I can't imagine anybody being against mentioning this (was there even anyone in the previous discussion?), but at this point, the inauguration is less than a week away. It's a waste of time to write and discuss a blurb before then. ChubbyWimbus (talk) 10:50, 14 January 2021 (UTC)
- I agree, too. I mean, it's fine to write a draft, but it makes more sense to wait until inauguration day or probably a day or two after that. Ikan Kekek (talk) 12:07, 14 January 2021 (UTC)
- Let's hope we don't have too much to add to the blurb between now and then... Hobbitschuster (talk) 16:41, 14 January 2021 (UTC)
- Fair enough. Let's wait until after Inauguration Day to draft a new blurb, but let's also not let this issue fall off our radar screen between now and then. -- AndreCarrotflower (talk) 19:46, 14 January 2021 (UTC)
- OK, I think we can finally close the book on the Trump presidency and can go live with a new edit to the blurb about him anytime. Ikan Kekek (talk) 22:13, 20 January 2021 (UTC)
How about this? Changes are underlined:
- Wealthy real estate tycoon and media personality who was the first president to have held no prior elected or military office. His "America First" agenda involved restrictions on immigration, an expansion of the Mexican border wall, and relatively isolationist foreign policy. An extremely divisive figure, Trump is the only president to have been impeached twice: first after asking the Ukrainian government to investigate rival Joe Biden's son, and again after a mob of his supporters stormed the United States Capitol to try to overturn the 2020 election results. His single term coincided with widespread civil unrest and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which he was widely felt to have mismanaged.
I've summarized several of Trump's policies with the phrase "isolationist foreign policy". While the trade war, Paris Agreement, and so on are important, I'm conscious that the blurb should be kept to a length similar to the other presidents. Thoughts? —Granger (talk · contribs) 22:35, 20 January 2021 (UTC)
- Fine with me. Ikan Kekek (talk) 22:38, 20 January 2021 (UTC)
- Looks fine to me too. The dog2 (talk) 00:29, 21 January 2021 (UTC)
- On the whole, that looks good to me, but IIRC (and I suppose I might be wrong) Trump's first impeachment had more to do with his role in the Russian government's interference with the 2016 election than with asking Ukraine to investigate Biden's son. -- AndreCarrotflower (talk) 00:34, 21 January 2021 (UTC)
- On second thought, maybe we should use the term "relatively isolationist" instead of just "isolationist". Trump came pretty close to starting a war with Iran, arguably paid mercenaries to launch an invasion of Venezuela (which failed), and continued the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria, which are certainly contrary to true isolationism. Someone who is a true isolationist would be more along the lines of Thomas Massie, who is opposed to going to war unless America is attacked. The dog2 (talk) 01:02, 21 January 2021 (UTC)
- I agree with "relatively isolationist" on that basis. As for the reasons for the first impeachment, read the articles of impeachment here and draw your own conclusions. It's always been clear it was not primarily about the 2016 election. Ikan Kekek (talk) 01:39, 21 January 2021 (UTC)
- I'm fine with "relatively isolationist". —Granger (talk · contribs) 07:23, 21 January 2021 (UTC)
- OK, I've made the change.
- @ChubbyWimbus: Is the wording good for you? The dog2 (talk) 21:54, 21 January 2021 (UTC)
- I think it's probably as good and as short as it can be. Seems safe to say the blurb issue has been resolved. ChubbyWimbus (talk) 11:18, 22 January 2021 (UTC)
Eisenhower
Looking at the blurb on Eisenhower, I think we should briefly mention that he was the one who planned the D-Day invasion at Normandy. After all, that was probably what gave him the necessary fame to successfully run for the presidency. The dog2 (talk) 00:12, 12 November 2020 (UTC)
- Just that, or the totality of his record as Commander of the European Theater of Operations? Ikan Kekek (talk) 00:14, 12 November 2020 (UTC)
- There is a limit to how much we can fit in the blurbs but sure, I guess we could mention both. Or which do you think is more important to mention? The dog2 (talk) 00:21, 12 November 2020 (UTC)
- I don't think anything needs to be added to the blurb about him. Ikan Kekek (talk) 00:25, 12 November 2020 (UTC)
- yeah, George Patton got the big Hollywood movie, but Ike did chew him up and put him aside of the main action, which this movie does not show. He also liked to cook outdoors, and barbecued a lot on the roof of the White House while he lived there.... where would we stop, eh. Ibaman (talk) 00:27, 12 November 2020 (UTC)
- There are also some important foreign policy events we don't mention, including the CIA involvement with the overthrow of Mossadegh and Arbenz, and Eisenhower's Farewell Address, in which he warned about the military-industrial complex. Ikan Kekek (talk) 00:38, 12 November 2020 (UTC)
- The Farewell Address is memorable indeed, but paragraph size and spacing are real issues here. Ibaman (talk) 00:45, 12 November 2020 (UTC)
If not for the limited space, I would have mentioned something about Eisenhower's farewell address, though unfortunately, it was not heeded by future American presidents. The dog2 (talk) 00:59, 12 November 2020 (UTC)
- No comment about possible reasons for their silence, but since space is an issue, we don't really need to add any of this. Ikan Kekek (talk) 01:00, 12 November 2020 (UTC)
Air Force One Experience
There's a new attriction in New York called the "Air Force One Experience" (https://www.airforceoneexperience.com/). It's not directly linked to any presidents as it's only a replica (still a real aeroplane but was never Air Force One). The attraction is not fully open yet, but once it is open, is it worth adding? -- WOSlinker (talk) 22:12, 14 November 2020 (UTC)
- What pushes me off the fence into the "no" column is that the #Multiple presidents section includes an actual (retired) Air Force One plane that was donated to a museum in Seattle and can be toured by visitors, and strongly hints that others exist as well. A mere simulation of the same thing would strike me as both redundant and, from the traveller's perspective, clearly the inferior of the two options. It's a tough call, though, and both positions have merit. -- AndreCarrotflower (talk) 23:05, 14 November 2020 (UTC)
- I've found a couple other museums we list that have real planes that were used as Air Force One- Museum of the U.S. Air Force has one that was used by Kennedy thru Clinton, and the Reagan Library, used 1973-2001. We also already mention that the Air Mobility Command Museum has a plane that was mainly used as Air Force Two, but occasionally as Air Force One when Presidents visited smaller airports. JakeOregon (talk) 01:03, 15 November 2020 (UTC)
- Here's an article that lists where all the old aircraft are. -- WOSlinker (talk) 09:02, 15 November 2020 (UTC)
Hoover's philanthropy
I know it is a minor quibble, but Hoover was actually a well known philanthropist before becoming president - this - and ironically a "he can get stuff done" reputation is what propelled him to that office. Among the biggest feathers in his cap are his relief effort for Belgium during the phase of the Great War when the U.S. was still officially neutral. He also had an extraordinarily long post-presidency (he post-deceased Kennedy) and an unusually travel-happy pre-presidency (he'd lived in China for a time). He was also something of a polyglot, translating w:de re metallica into English in an apparently still well-regarded translation. What's a bit sad is that he seems to have bought the hype of his opponents after leaving office (his actual policy vis-a-vis the Depression had actually not been "do nothing") and became something of a Libertarian-Conservative "think tank" leader avant la lettre. Hobbitschuster (talk) 16:50, 16 November 2020 (UTC)
- I think this is an OK thing to edit, by stating that he was also known as a philanthropist before and after his presidency. Ikan Kekek (talk) 21:00, 16 November 2020 (UTC)
Houses of presidents' siblings?
Re: this edit: I didn't think we'd be listing houses of presidents' brothers, sisters or what have you, though maybe we should if they visited frequently. What do you all think? Ikan Kekek (talk) 08:20, 3 December 2020 (UTC)
- Best to avoid expanding this article's scope given that we're already flirting with the threshold of too many POIs. -- AndreCarrotflower (talk) 17:09, 3 December 2020 (UTC)
- That's a reasonable position, certainly. Any other opinions pro or con? Ikan Kekek (talk) 20:53, 3 December 2020 (UTC)
- I'd say not given how many POIs we already have. The dog2 (talk) 02:32, 4 December 2020 (UTC)
- User:JakeOregon, would you like to argue for the listing before we delete it? Ikan Kekek (talk) 08:03, 4 December 2020 (UTC)
- Reasonable points have been made on the length of this article and unwanted expansion of scope, so no, I don't object now to deletion. JakeOregon (talk) 18:41, 4 December 2020 (UTC)
- OK, thanks for understanding. I'll take care of this now. Ikan Kekek (talk) 23:49, 4 December 2020 (UTC)
Presidential rail transport
this has been used by several presidents and candidates for the presidency but if I read WP correctly it is not open to the public. The article makes no mention of Biden's 2020 use of this specific vehicle, which may or may not indicate that his "whistle stop tour" was done with yet another rail vehicle. Hobbitschuster (talk) 16:14, 28 December 2020 (UTC)
- Nah, Biden’s too busy relying on Amtrak. JTZegers (talk) 02:18, 13 June 2021 (UTC)