What happens if Trump wins?

The last shred of respect for Americans will be gone. Because if they elect Trump, they essentially force him on the rest of the sane world,

I have a lot of respect for a lot of Americans, and for the USofA as a country and as a concept, if you want.
In contrast, I shudder at some individuals (Trump being one of them, if that needed saying ) and at some actions of the country as a whole.

I have lived in the States, and I still have family and friends there.
There is a certain type of arrogance, for lack of a better word, that is part of the psyche of the country/nation: the whole 'the Best Country In The World' thing, the whole 'Everybody wants to come here', combined with (often) a lack of travel and exposure to other cultures and countries (see the number of people who don't own a passport) makes for some weird opinions and a vague sense of superiority. V strange to witness and hard to tackle IME.

Unfortunately, I am not so sure that a version of a Trump-like version wouldn't work elsewhere tbh. Despite what I just said, people are people and pied pipers seduce so well.

He's an utter joke to the rest of the world. If - God forbid - he were to win, he'd be a ridiculous figure on the world stage, playing dress-ups and utterly out of his depth. He wouldn't be respected.

As it is, the rest of the world, looking on, just cannot see what it is about him, that his followers have been so sucked in by. He really is a horrible man. To look at (yes, shallow), and to listen to.

He's an American phenomenon through and through. He wouldn't work anywhere else. Everyone else thinks he's just silly (at best; dangerous at worst).

I wonder if those same people would then begin to see him through the eyes of the rest of the world. Imagine the scales falling...

Didn't mean to write a rambling essay

So sorry everyone!

First of all, this man is Such. A . Coward. He knows he's going to lose, so he's trying to undermine her presidency before it even begins.

That's so fucked up. I agree with the guy who said it comes across like an assassination attempt/ I've said it before: Bush was stupid, but Trump is mentally unstable. Regular people are not as erratic as him. Regular people don't say shit like this.

This interested me:

*Suggesting the insinuation that the comment was a threat against Clinton was engineered by her supporters.

"Hillary lies a lot, so it's no surprise that her supporters would lie," she said.*

That was the comment by a 49 year old woman for anyone who hasn't read the article. The whole 'Crooked Hillary' thing is him He says Hillary is a liar, so his fanatical followers blame her for everything. How the hell did he manage to brainwash so many people? He says jump, they say how high.

And he knows that. Which makes this comment by far the worst he's ever come out with.

Problem is, he's a businessman. And business men know how to wine and dine the media, or manipulate them. What they don't know what to do however, is run a country.

Trump knows how to make sure all eyes are on him, I'll give him that. Then he uses that attention to sow seeds against Clinton. Again, smart. But this was way, way, WAY too far.

If God save us all Trump does win, he'll be so out of his depth. He can shout slogans well, yes. But no other Nation leader will respect or defer to him, and I can't see him taking that well. He will lt down all his fanatical followers because he;s made promises he can't - or IMHO, never had any intention of - keeping. He'll do all the things the working class don't need. That'll be my one comfort. Laughing in the faces of bigots who genuinely thought he was going to build a wall and put the Star of David on those evil Muslims.

I wish there was an American on this thread. If Trump wins, it doesn't really matter what America does next. The last shred of respect for Americans will be gone. Because if they elect Trump, they essentially force him on the rest of the sane world,

This is going beyond all decency. This man will have blood on his hands.

www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/08/09/trump-appears-to-encourage-gun-owners-to-take-action-if-clinton-appoints-anti-gun-judges/?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_trump-guns-4pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory

*Davos

Davaos is not a person. Sorry, had to say it.

Also this:

goes up against a populist Trump supporting challenger tonight. Trump expressed support for him on twitter but then had to reluctantly endorse Ryan under Republican Establishment pressure.

I do admire a man who stands by his principles. Especially one who keeps to them under pressure.

Big election tonight. Paul Ryan, Republican Speaker of the House, and called Lyin' Ryan by some Trump fans like the Stump for Trump Susters, Diamond and Silk, goes up against a populist Trump supporting challenger tonight. Trump expressed support for him on twitter but then had to reluctantly endorse Ryan under Republican Establishment pressure.

The polls don't give the populist, Paul Nehlen, a chance, but if he somehow manages to win tonight, then the Establishment will be almost finished.

"The most important election of the year, apart from the one occurring on November 8, takes place tomorrow. That’s when Speaker of the House Paul Ryan goes up against the vice president of a water filtration company, Paul Nehlen, in the first serious primary challenge that Ryan has faced in the 18 years since he was elected to Congress."

www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/08/paul-ryan-nehlen-election

As Trump tweeted just 9 hours ago

"I am running against the Washington insiders, just like I did in the Republican Primaries. These are the people that have made U.S. a mess!"

It's Trump versus them and Davos is biting its nails.

' I think you've passed the Turing test.'

In which case it didn't.

Claig, well done. I think you've passed the Turing test.
I can't think of any other explanation for your perplexing and oddly expressed views.

It's about a sense of purpose in life.

Yes, that, entirely.

Sadly, that need for purpose can easily be manipulated in following all manner of pied pipers which is what makes the current state of the world so frightening IMO.

People are heading to both extremes. It's the 30s again, all over.

Yes, it's a common and widespread effect. We see it in Europe too.

Interestingly, not so much in Portugal where I live, although the swing seems to be mostly towards a more radical left than right.

I think there's a strong argument that globalisation is hitting those who have historically worked in manufacturing and production hard, and that's undeniable. So addressing the consequences, whether through education or regeneration or both, has to be done. It's been ignored too much.

It's not just about jobs. It's about a sense of purpose in life. Ironically the same drivers that are causing young men in the Middle East and Africa to join terrorist groups.

When the economy is doing well people tend to be happy with the status quo.
Maybe GOP needs to stop being a blockage force and actually do and support constructive measures that support the most vulnerable. Perhaps both parties need to be seen to be stricter on big finance companies that have been screwing up the economy in the last decade.
Perhaps people need to feel that they voice is heard and their opinion matters.
But much of the protest vote, as analysts note, seems to be by white males who've been losing white male privilege. Not sure I'd want to pander to that group. :) Although, perhaps there could be campaigns to show that equality works better for society as a whole and that white males also benefit from it.
And from the less educated, who end up being the most vulnerable to economic pressure. Perhaps a case here to restructure education in the US and support the most vulnerable populations.

Typos and autocorrect failures

How can Trump make thousands of individual people say Merry Christmas if they don't want to?

He sounds more and more like a totalitarian every time he opens his mouth. It's like he just says 'this is the way 6I^ think the entire world she be - And if i become president, I'll do everything in my power to force my exact and very precise ideas on absolutely everyone'

I don't know why, but out of all the cruel things he's said, this bothers me the most. I think it's because it's so... well, totalitarian! He's not even trying to hide that anymore.

I think the demographics are changing in a way that makes this likely to be the last 10/20 years (at most) of the very reactionary politics. The ongoing challenge (in both the US and UK) is to deal with the disengaged, who are protest voting.

To be fair, Judy, the GOP alternative was lacklustre or somewhat worse.
It's definitely a GOP problem and they should have the courage to move from tea party politics.
But politics and society move in cycles. It's kind of natural to see some backlash from having a black president, more social protection and more gay/etc rights, coupled with the economy having been in recovery from a serious blow, so much that many haven't yet felt the effects of recovery. Plus the historical conservationism of middle America, political and religious, and, yes, educational limitations.
Someone like Trump, but also Cruz.
The question is if the whole society can change, or if polarisation will get worse.

Enforced Merry Christmas now (from the New York Times):

"Trump then complained that big department stores do not say “merry Christmas” during the holidays.

“When they don’t want to say ‘merry Christmas’ in department stores anymore. I won’t shop at places that don’t say ‘merry Christmas.’ Guess what? I don’t too much shopping,” he said to applause. “No, no, it’s true. When I see these stores, and they have a red wall and they have nothing on it. They don’t want to say ‘merry Christmas’ anymore. I say, ‘Why don’t you say merry Christmas?'”

Trump vowed to change the department-store situation when it comes to wishing people “merry Christmas.”

“I’ll tell you one thing: I get elected president, we’re going to be saying ‘merry Christmas’ again. Just remember that,” he said. “And by the way, Christianity will have power, without having to form.”

Well, thank goodness he plans to devote Presidential and Congressional time to this massively important issue. This is the sort of batshittery you normally expect to come out of the likes of the BNP over here. What on earth are the Republicans thinking?

shifty eyes

That's very interesting SwedishEdith.

Now, after the fake transcript tweet that was doing the rounds on Saturday morning, I'm wondering what Putin could possibly have against Christopher Biggins

'How Russia Dominates Your Twitter Feed to Promote Lies (And, Trump, Too)'

www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/08/06/how-russia-dominates-your-twitter-feed-to-promote-lies-and-trump-too.html?via=mobile&source=twitter

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