OK, angry, neglected, left-behind, resentful, aggrieved, non-passport-owning rural and suburban white people of all socio-economic groups – we get the message. I thought the UK’s Brexit vote was at least mildly funny, delivering a well-deserved kick up the backside to Eurocrat-visionaries obsessed with their idiotic ‘project’, and producing howls of anguish among the trendy Guardianistas. But Donald Trump? Whoa. You should have said something.
Among the mountains of demographic data that mysteriously no polling or forecasting had detected up to 24 hours ago, one statistic that sticks out is about Evangelical Christians. Over 80% of them voted for the philandering, casino-developing, utterly Godless New Yorker. Of course, his attitude to women – and Hillary’s being one – would have helped him among those who believe in the divinely ordained God-Men-Women/Children chain of command. These people also see Noah’s Ark, the parting of the Red Sea and the resurrection as literal, inerrant accounts, so there must be some overlap with the 86% who support a 100-cubit tall wall along the Mexican border. Still… 81%?
We will now find out the answer to the question that not long ago was a joke: how can someone with Trump’s narcissistic condition hold high office? People like this often don’t analyze or reflect, can’t hear anything that doesn’t match their internal fantasy-reality, can’t do compromise or give-and-take, and will act or speak irrationally when questioned or thwarted. Political leadership requires a totally different sort of screwed-up personality.
Presumably, there will be enough heavyweights in suits and uniforms in and around the White House to steer him and if necessary pin him down. Provided they are constantly assured that they are important and superior, narcissists are happy and pretty oblivious about what others are really thinking or doing. So if his staff keep Prez Trump busy with vanity-boosting activities and engagements, they might be able to look after the tedious small stuff like ‘policy’ and ‘strategy’ and ‘details’.
Otherwise, it mostly looks scary. In our part of the world, a trade bust-up with China would have a seriously negative impact on Hong Kong (although my inner-malevolence wonders if some ‘negative impacts’ might be quite appealing). But maybe there are limits to how much havoc Trump can wreak. If he seriously attempted to implement deranged ideas, the resulting mess would attract a barrage of criticism and denigration. As a narcissist, he would ultimately have only one course of action: kick the Oval Office chairs over, storm out and blame everyone else for everything, leaving the US in the hands of a normal, safe and comforting mouth-frothing nut.
The only way that Trump becomes surrounded with sensible policy advisers is if pretty much the entire Republican policy establishment (who were terrified of him) eats crow and goes to him hat-in-hand for a job. And if Trump deigns to forgive them for their betrayal. As you may have noticed, he is not a forgiving man.
Otherwise, he will staff his administration with sycophants, cranks and amateurs. One of the few economics papers his campaign put out was by a minor economist who claimed that because the formula for GDP = C + I + G + (E-I), if you stop importing stuff, GDP will automatically soar. (Leaving out: It might work for about 5 minutes, until your trade partners retaliate, and then you’ll have neither E nor I, which will depress C, which will in turn depress I. Good job.) The fact that they put this out to bolster their policy credentials just shows that nobody surrounding Trump has a clue.
Can we have the zombie apocalypse yet? That’s got to be an improvement.
Don’t you just love democracy? It allows ill-qualified nut jobs to have a go at running the country and to play with nuclear weapons. This should be fun to watch.
Don’t have a heart attack. Mr. Trump will do fine. Certainly better than the lying corrupt harridan he defeated and whose election would have greatly increased the chances World War IV breaking out.
Fish hooks, seeds, a strong knife, a good torch, vitamin pills, kerosene…
That and Ice Station Zebra.
See you on the plane.
There is only one possible outcome to Trump becoming president, and I’m saying it here and now: Let’s open a Hemlock Sweepstake on how long after assuming office President Trump is assassinated by the CIA and then everything goes back to normal: I wager six months. Possibly in a tragic aeroplane accident.
@PCC
Hear hear… I’ll take a moderately corrupt real estate tycoon over the heinous, possessed, murdering, child-trafficking, arms-peddling, influence grafting, “let’s drop some democracy and human rights bombs on the little brown people”, “lets provoke Russia into a nuclear-armed confrontation”, madness and insanity of the Democratic candidate and her bad-news crew…
[NB: Sadly yes, there is quite solid evidence for the *all* of the above allegations based on my recent research of direct sources].
A nice tweet out by Mr. Nassim Taleb, on the major “losers” of this election cycle … https://twitter.com/nntaleb/status/796230799746068480
Anyone want to take 10/1 odds of an armed and violent confrontation kicked off by a false-flag event in Eastern Europe periphery before inauguration? And 50/1 of at least one assassination attempt within the first year of office….
p.s. DISCLAIMER I am no particular fan of Mr. Trump (I am a fan of Dr. Jill Stein), but I feel in my bones, that we just dodged a bullet as a species and a global society. Who would have thunk we – as a species – could owe a debt of gratitude to a bunch of hillbilly rednecks?
“Never in the field of human politics was so much owed by so many to so few. “
PCC – Surely I can’t have slept through World War III?
https://wikileaks.org/podesta-emails/emailid/50332
Pasta = known internet pedo reference to boys
Cheese = known internet pedo reference to young boys
Playing dominos = known internet pedo reference to BDSM
Herb Sandler = Co-Founder of Golden West Financial, major donor to the Clinton campaign, and close friend of associate of Podesta brothers (Herb passed away but wife and Co-CEO Marion remains a close associate).
Anyone have a plausible alternative for what “playing dominos on cheese than on pasta?” could mean, apart from the above interpretation?
https://twitter.com/LeahRBoss/status/795525180256874496?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Comparison of police sketches from two eyewitnesses to the Madeleine McCann abduction, with pictures of Podesta brothers. Note we know from Wikileaks that John Podesta’s email was completely wiped the day before Madeleine’s abduction (emails from the hacked inbox begin on the day of her abduction), and there is circumstantial evidence that John and Tony Podesta had engagements in Portugal at the time.
Scary shit… so an old but relevant juice rap news vignette for some perspective:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hl4NlA97GeQ
Interesting perspective on the topic:
https://medium.com/@nntaleb/the-intellectual-yet-idiot-13211e2d0577#.3jd4hz2ik
@Monkey King
Sorry? Hillary is possessed?
Big Al, there are still 2 month to go. If the “unfortunate accident”/ stray bullet etc. happens before the Inauguration, DT will always be referred to as the ‘president-elect’ rather than than 45th prez.
It’s impossible that there are no ‘scenarios’ being plotted right now in various quarters.
‘Provided they are constantly assured that they are important and superior, narcissists are happy and pretty oblivious about what others are really thinking or doing.’
So, no change from Obama then?
Given some of the comments, is there anybody from the USA (repeat chant) sane and articulate enough to explain how the population of that place was faced, in practice, with a choice between the allegedly corrupt, sense of entitlement Democratic representative and the , undoubtedly, narisstic, bombastic, incredibly shallow Republican representative? Or does nobody now wish to admit being from said place?
And back on this side of the godforsaken planet, they’ve found a United Front outfit to file a lawsuit to get 8 pan-democrats disqualified from Legco based on Beijing’s lovely interpretation. The screws are turning.
@PCC – I was just thinking yesterday that I would thump the first person who trued to assure me that a Trump presidency would not be so bad after all. Unless of course you think the extinction of the human race by unchecked global warming is a great idea.
Oops, that should have read “tried”.
Old Newcomer: PCC (aka Walter de Havilland) is a troll. Just read the two consecutive posts, which are quite contradictory.
Hemlock’s link as to the Vice President elect is also apt. Absolutely appalling to type but President Trump might be preferable to president Pence, in same way George W was preferable to Presidnet Cheney. But typing those four names makes me ask on what basis the USA (repeat chant) can ever expect respect again.
“The major problem—one of the major problems, for there are several—one of the many major problems with governing people is that of whom you get to do it; or rather of who manages to get people to let them do it to them.
To summarise: it is a well-known fact that those people who most want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it.
To summarise the summary: anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job.”
With regard to the attempted disqualification of the 8 legislators, no fair system would allow someone to be punished for failing to comply with a rule which didn’t yet exist at the time of their action. That would be like banning tobacco today, then punishing someone for smoking yesterday. But of course we don’t have a fair system, so it appears to be open season on democracy. The SCMP piece on this has attracted some of the most stupid 50-cent remarks ever. Sample: ‘Becoming a Legislator is not a ” Basic right” of an Elected representative.’
@Old Newcomer
It wasn’t illegal when Baggio and Yau Wai-ching did it either. The question is whether a court can invalidate the decision of the Legco president.
@pie-chucker
If you missed the Cold War, a harrowing, decades-long conflict as deadly serious as any hot war, then yes, you slept through WWIII.
@Old Newcomer
You’re joking about global warming, right? Nuke the whales. And the baby seals. And Harambe.
And the trolls?