The Match Cut Presidential Dog and Pony Show

[kuehnepips]

I'm banking on my dad being Canadian gets me preferential treatment for the inevitable move.

... they are building a wall already

[Morris Schæffer]

Crazy outsider opinion. Doesn't this guy deserve a chance? Not saying you shouldn't grieve or be crushed, but as an outsider, I'm more intrigued by this than Clinton who strikes me as safe, vanilla.

Some of Trump's ideas are fairly out there, but will they actually come to fruition?

I'm genuinely not trying to get anyone riled up, skepticism is warranted and understandable, but who knows? Perhaps some good things will come out of this. I hope so for you all and by extension the rest of the world.

It genuinely feels like every previous US president was maligned for not being up to snuff.

[Skitch]

Looking at the markets, I guess Trumps plan isn't to make us great again, but to make everyone else worse? Addition by subtraction?

I feel like I'm on the Truman Show this morning.

[Dead & Messed Up]

There are multiple SCOTUS seats at stake. Every branch of government is red. They have the ammo to define policy that wil haunt us for the rest of our living years. This is not a four-year nuissance.

I am catatonic.

And the next round of congressional redistricting occurs in 2020, during Trump's tenure, which will further entrench the nation in misrepresentative conservatism on account of gerrymandering.

[Dukefrukem]

My state voted correctly. What's wrong with the rest of you people?

[Dead & Messed Up]

My state voted correctly. What's wrong with the rest of you people?

My state voted to legalize marijuana.

[[ETM]]

German travel agency is promoting trips to US with a timer that counts down days until Trump is sworn in, with the tagline "Go see it before it's too late"...

[Lazlo]

Crazy outsider opinion. Doesn't this guy deserve a chance? Not saying you shouldn't grieve or be crushed, but as an outsider, I'm more intrigued by this than Clinton who strikes me as safe, vanilla.

Some of Trump's ideas are fairly out there, but will they actually come to fruition?

I'm genuinely not trying to get anyone riled up, skepticism is warranted and understandable, but who knows? Perhaps some good things will come out of this. I hope so for you all and by extension the rest of the world.

It genuinely feels like every previous US president was maligned for not being up to snuff.

What has Trump done to indicate that he deserves such a chance? Everything he's done screams that he's not worthy of the position.

Not everything deserves a chance. "Give cancer a chance, you might like it!"

[Dead & Messed Up]

Crazy outsider opinion. Doesn't this guy deserve a chance? Not saying you shouldn't grieve or be crushed, but as an outsider, I'm more intrigued by this than Clinton who strikes me as safe, vanilla.

Some of Trump's ideas are fairly out there, but will they actually come to fruition?

I'm genuinely not trying to get anyone riled up, skepticism is warranted and understandable, but who knows? Perhaps some good things will come out of this. I hope so for you all and by extension the rest of the world.

It genuinely feels like every previous US president was maligned for not being up to snuff.

"Deserve" has nothing to do with it. He gets four years of chances.

It's not just that his ideas are "fairly out there," it's that so many of them, for me, going beyond differences in policy and creep toward an uneasy combination of amorality and completely disregard for the Constitution. His call for a ban of indeterminate length on all Muslim immigrants, for example. Or his choosing of running mate Mike Pence, who is an enemy of LGBT rights - not someone skeptical, but someone so heavily against non-heteronormative behavior that he supports gay conversion therapy. Or his history of sexual assault and derogatory comments towards women. His support of "punishment" for those who commit abortion and commitment to appointing justices who will overturn a woman's right to abortion.

And you say "intrigued" like you're watching this like it's a movie you can dip in and out of. This is going to impact everything. This is going to increase international hostility between the USA and China. This is going to impact the migrant crisis in Europe and the current efforts of Russia to expand its own power and territory. Trump's already spoken of abandoning NATO and forcing allies to "pay up."

I don't mean to be combative, but Trump has struck me from day one as a uniquely unqualified bully with an open contempt for the best values of this nation.

[bac0n]

These last couple of posts have made we think about the 1998 Minnesota Gubernatorial Election - the one that saw former Pro-Wrestler Jesse "The Body" Ventura sweep into the MN Governor's mansion on a wave of voter discontent with the two major party candidates.

People didn't really know what he stood for, but they did appreciate his candor, and his "outsider" status, and he won because of it.

So, he's elected, everyone is ecstatic, all this "we made a statement against the status quo!" and shit. He's sworn in, and again, we in MN are so proud of ourselves that we aren't slaves to the two party machine.

Well, the honeymoon was over pretty quick, and the reality soon set in that Jesse was a pretty incompetent politician. No idea how to compromise. If things didn't go his way, his usual tactic was to puff out his chest, hurl some insults, and storm out of the room. He also seemed to be spending a disturbingly large amount of time on talk shows promoting his new book...

Soon, he had both the DFL and the GOP united against him. State Rep Tim Pawlenty from the suburbs south of the Twin Cities soon rose as the leading contra-Ventura voice, and that momentum took him all the way to the governor's mansion in 2002, and to the national spotlight two terms later. Ventura didn't run for reelection.

In the end, all we got out of the Ventura Years was a tax rebate, which left a pretty big hole in the budget which the Pawlenty administration attempted to patch up without raising taxes. The result was that a huge settlement the state had won against the tobacco industry was pilfered (money from that was supposed to go to tobacco cessation programs) and lots of social and educational programs were axed. One of those hatchet jobs cost my wife her job.

I guess the moral of the story is, the people who voted for Trump are feeling celebratory right now, but if the Ventura Experiment is any indicator, the heartburn will be coming for them too soon enough.

[Peng]

I had lived in America for a year, England for a year, and Thailand almost my whole life. So the succession this year of Brexit, Thai referendum (which turned out as shit as you'd expect), and now this US election really is just depressingly unbelievable. When the news about PA came I just had to go cry in the office bathroom a bit. Feels like all my previous and current homes are so uniformly in bad places right now. Hope the best for you guys.

[TGM]

You're both looking at this as if it's a normal Presidency. It's not.

This guy is divisive within his own party. Half the GOP hates him. He didn't campaign for them and they didn't return any favors either. Several key members disavowed him during the campaign.

He also has limited political experience. Pros -- from DC insiders to world leaders -- eat people like that alive (eg: Carter).

I'm not worried about Trump. I think he'll flail around and be ineffectual the way George W. Bush was. The guy lives for the press conference and the TV camera. He's not a guy who wants to sit behind a desk and actually administer anything.

I'm much more worried about the opportunists that will take advantage of Trump's narcissism. Guys like Gingrich, Huckabee, and Giuliani are authoritarian whack-jobs and dangerously incompetent. With them running various federal agencies, the rule of law goes out the window.

After that, I worry about what China, Russia, and North Korea will do because they perceive the US as having a weak executive. If Trump follows through on anything he said during the campaign, he could very easily destabilize Western Europe, Korea, and Japan. That will likely mean one or more wars.

SCOTUS, not so much. They have leaned right for the last ~50 years.

Pretty much my thoughts on what we can come to expect from a Trump presidency.

[number8]

[Mysterious Dude]

I feel like everyone I meet is just a character in a bad dream. It's lonely.

[Dukefrukem]

Nm .

[Sycophant]

Of all the depressing, scary things I've seen this morning, this is the first to make me cry.

[Fezzik]

This guy is divisive within his own party. Half the GOP hates him. He didn't campaign for them and they didn't return any favors either. Several key members disavowed him during the campaign.

That's because they thought he was going to lose and were trying to distance themselves.

Now that he's won? They'll flock back to him like roaches and bask in the benefits of their party controlling the legislative, the executive and almost assuredly the judicial branch.

Checks and balances? What checks and balances?

[Skitch]

My state voted correctly. What's wrong with the rest of you people?

We are pilgrims in unholy lands, front lines of rebellion.

[Sycophant]

That's because they thought he was going to lose and were trying to distance themselves.

Now that he's won? They'll flock back to him like roaches and bask in the benefits of their party controlling the legislative, the executive and almost assuredly the judicial branch.

Checks and balances? What checks and balances?

Yeah, at this point the best I can hope for is that he'd meet resistance on executive order-ing away the first amendment. Now that he's won, they're gonna be one big happy family.

[Watashi]

Man, Jeb Bush sounds so good right now.

[Irish]

Now that he's won? They'll flock back to him like roaches and bask in the benefits of their party controlling the legislative, the executive and almost assuredly the judicial branch.

Sure. That's what I meant when I said that they will steal everything that's not nailed down. Using Trump for their own ends isn't that same as being loyal to him, though. And he will need real loyalty if he expects to carry through on any of his fringe ideas.

Pros play the long game and know that whatever happens, they still need to face their constituents and run for re-election. They also know Trump is playing a short game and has no actual plan.

On the bright side, I woke up this morning thinking, "Of course he won't carry through on anything said during the campaign because nobody ever does."

Checks and balances? What checks and balances?

This is still -- for the time being -- a functioning democracy, one that is working as designed. That hasn't changed because we do not like a particular result.

[Irish]

a [...] bully with an open contempt for the best values of this nation.

Yeah -- to borrow from Chomsky -- we could make this same statement about every post-WWII president.

Edited to stress: ie, every single one of them is a war criminal.

[Skitch]

On the bright side, I woke up this morning thinking, "Of course he won't carry through on anything said during the campaign because nobody ever does."

Bingo. Lets just hope the same holds true of this non-politician.

[Lazlo]

Pros play the long game and know that whatever happens, they still need to face their constituents and run for re-election. They also know Trump is playing a short game and has no actual plan.

Even with the specter of being primaried by Trumpist voters?

[Irish]

These are the warning signs I will look for:

That he's lost in the West Wing: Minor functionaries carve out massive chunks of real world policy, Ã* la Wolfowitz under GWB.

That he's trying to be an actual Republican: He goes after the pothead states and enforces federal drug laws.

That he's an loony authoritarian: Puts mechanisms in place so that the NSA can legally share data with federal, state, and local cops.

That he's dangerous: Top officials at intelligence services resign, along with 4 star generals in different military branches.