What happens if Trump wins?

[Soapalert]

I know the comments Trump has made about blocking Muslims from the USA, and building a wall between the states and Mexico. But what will the world look like if he becomes president? People seem to be afraid of his success and suggest we 'should push the button now' or that he will be assassinated. Surely he comments are to stir up media interest?

I would love to know how many Mexican vs American blue collar/low skilled workers Trump has employed in his career

I cannot get over how the billionaire son of a multi-millionaire has become a Champion of The People - it's be funny if it was not so potentially dangerous.

claig, most of your contributions to IndyRef/EU ref/US elections are interchangeable posts containing (but not limited to) the phrases OxBridge, The Elite, The People, The Establishment, running scared, Davos etc etc in various combinations. I'm not calling you names, but I do miss a bit of substance. And watching Fox News does not a well-informed person make...

'I cannot get over how the billionaire son of a multi-millionaire has become a Champion of The People '

Because of his policies which have the FInancil Times, Davos and the elite worried. Just as Tony Benn, a hereditary Viscount or whatever before he renounced, had policies for the people.

'interchangeable posts containing (but not limited to) the phrases OxBridge, The Elite, The People, The Establishment, running scared, Davos etc etc in various combinations'

Because I want to emphasise that those are what really lie behind the anti Corbyn and anti Trump coverage by the corporate media whose bosses are not happy with Corbyn's and Trump's policies because they are for the people and not Wall Street, K Street and corporations.

'And watching Fox News does not a well-informed person make'

That is what we have MN for.

This is why Trump is so popular with the people and not with the Economist, the Financial Times, Davos and the world's political class

"Trump’s populist economic message baffles the elites

The mainstream media continues to be baffled by the success of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign as he solidifies his Republican base and gains in the polls against his likely Democratic rival.

That may be because media analysts are totally missing the point.

Typical is a contribution this week to the New York Times “Upshot” opinion series by business correspondent Peter Eavis, who opines that “the boring economy seems to be making the presidential race even more exciting.”

Really? Boring economy? Have you really not seen the thousands of people who throng to Trump’s rallies, or those of Bernie Sanders, and raucously celebrate that at last someone has recognized they are suffering from an oppressively unjust economic system and losing hope?"

www.marketwatch.com/story/trumps-populist-economic-message-baffles-the-elites-2016-05-25

Trump has renounced fuck all. He's made money all his life, mostly on speculation, gambling, and close to complete bankruptcy, and is on an ego trip now. Quite frankly, I worry for people who think this man is their hero and champion of the people.

Sometimes people worry the elites because they intend to limit their position, but sometimes they worry the elites (and everyone else) because they are dangerous nutcases.

Am scrolling past about half the posts, sorry if I've missed anything.

This is where the Constitution really scores, Trump will run up against legal barriers whenever his staff try to implement anything much. Next phase will be him blaming inaction on that, probably in intemperate language. Then either he will actually show some evidence of the whole Art of the Deal schtick and work with Congress (unlikely), or will incite home-grown terrorist violence against the judiciary (quite possible but at least should mean rapid impeachment) or he will sulk, go on lengthy foreign tours blowing in Nicola whatsernames ear and having photo ops with sports stars. The UK will be fairly fucked as he and May will get on like a house filled with cement. Melania will fade out and the First Daughter will run the country.

'but sometimes they worry the elites (and everyone else) because they are dangerous nutcases.'

Before Trump ran for President, he was loved by the Republican Establishment. They all wanted his cheques, his reality TV fame, they all invited him to their speeches and Mitt Romney begged Trump for his endorsement. As soon as Trump ran for President and challenged their sacred cows on trade, immigration, Russia, foreign policy etc, they turned on him and called him a "nutcase", "dangerous" etc, just like Corbyn is now called a "bully".

So the Republicans are cynical hypocrites. It's hardly news, is it?

I suspect First Daughter could eventually run the country and get the votes too. She doesn't seem to have the ego for that, but also, I suspect she'd run for the Democrats. Particularly if her dad managed to ruin the country.

I'd almost be looking forward to his State of the Union addresses, and particularly the White House correspondents' dinner speech. I'm sure they'd be great comedic (cringing) moments.

He must be saying something that people want to hear

Sometimes Godwin's is the only way to go. You could, very obviously, say the same about Hitler in the 1930s.

I think Trump's populist economic message baffles "the elite" because it is such a pile of rubbish that they are baffled that anyone could even put such nonsense forward.

Yy, I find it's hard to argue back at indecipherable ranting, Judy.

"You could, very obviously, say the same about Hitler in the 1930s."

And this is what is so frightening. Trump's jingoistic, xenophobic 'America first, America is best" rants do sound terribly familiar.

Of course I want my country to be strong and secure. But not at the expense of a segment of its people or its relationship with its allies.

Liar, liar, pants on fire

It's not just the content of Trump's speeches that are scarily reminiscent of 1930s Germany, it's the ranting and frothing at the mouth too. The style is so similar - I find this so incredibly off-putting

Yes, I am sure The Elite is just as baffled as anybody with the ability of critical thinking. Yes, he might well be saying something that many people want to hear - exactly that is what is so worrying . People are sheep IMVHO and the disenfranchised are angry and frustrated sheep that will follow any shepherd that promises them a dry stables and food whether he can/wants to deliver or not.

He's now claiming the election will be rigged, that Hillary Clinton is the devil, and that waterboarding is fine.

Reminds me of the stupid useapen campaign before the referendum with lots of predictions that the result would be fixed in some way. Clearly Trump thinks he is going to lose, but as we know, he may be wrong about that.

[clings onto belief in the shining city on the hill]

Based on recent history, the Democrats should be more worried (and campaign accordingly) about election rigging than the Republicans.

Although, Trump doesn't seem to have relatives as Governors in key States.

But, considering all the crap Trump has been involved with, I wouldn't put it past him rigging the election in some way. People usually tend to accuse others of doing what they do themselves.

Obama says Trump unfit to be president - breaking story

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-36958126?ns_mchannel=social&ns_campaign=bbc_breaking&ns_source=twitter&ns_linkname=news_central

Does Obama's opinion matter? Serious question - does the outgoing president have any say on the suitability of the other candidates??

And, is there any kind of measure of what makes a candidate 'fit for office'?
If a megalomanic person simply achieve candidacy by dint of their wealth and rhetoric (just generally speaking, of course ), does that render them 'unfit'??

Just leaving this here:

m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_579f8fb7e4b08a8e8b5ed586

I am terrified of a Trump victory, for its effect on the Supreme Court if nothing else. He and Pence have vowed to overturn Roe v Wade, just for starters. The man is currently being sued for raping a 13 year old, an event to which there is a witness. His own ex-wife wrote about him raping her. The man is a danger to women, personally and politically.

A US rapprochement with an expansionist Russia? The crumbling of NATO? This will lead to peace? A man who has spent months pumping out poisonous racist rhetoric against Muslims will make the febrile political situation in the Middle East better?

A man whose campaign is full of lies, as proven by independent fact checkers, whose campaign has been promoted by notoriously untruthful right wing journalism? A man whose advisers yesterday accused a Muslim soldier killed in Iraq and the owner of a Purple Heart of being a Islamic fundamentalist who hadn't managed to fulfil his mission before he was shot protecting his troops?

A man with no control over himself, what he says and how he reacts to others, with control over the nuclear button? I can't sleep at night.

Says it all really!

Does Obama's opinion matter? Serious question - does the outgoing president have any say on the suitability of the other candidates??

Dogwood It doesn't matter in a 'follow-me-blindly' way and of course he doesn't have any 'technical' say. But I think it has influence with the voting public. If a voter thinks of Obama as a good president with policies they agree with, and if that person accepts the premise that someone who has been a good president would have 'insider knowledge' of what it takes to be a good president, then yes, his opinion would matter (to that person). That's why same-party candidates generally seek the endorsement of the outgoing president. The only exception I can think of to that (within my 'voting memory') was GW Bush. If memory serves he kept a pretty low profile during the '08 election and neither Republican candidate actively sought his endorsement.

I think the 'measure of fitness' is entirely subjective to each voter. We all want someone we consider upstanding who espouses policies that we believe in. And unfortunately one person's 'ideal' candidate is another person's megalomaniac.

Being a megalomaniac is a pretty common accusation. I can remember the Bushes being accused of wanting to found 'a Presidential Dynasty', and both Bill Clinton and Obama have been accused of intending to 'abolish the next election' and declaring themselves 'President for Life'. This election is the first one in which I actually believe we may be in danger of having someone who just might want to do that.

Does Obama's opinion matter? Serious question - does the outgoing president have any say on the suitability of the other candidates??

nope. he gets a vote same as any other citizen.

I believe the only qualifications to run as president are that you are born a US citizen and are over 35.

I think Trump is dangerous and would be a disgrace to the office but there really is a limit to what he can do. He and Pence cannot overturn Roe v Wade. All they can hope to do is fill enough vacancies on the supreme court with justices likely to overturn it - or chisel away at it. But he can't just get any nutjob onto the supreme court. Congress has to approve. Really the US constitution is a good system of checks and balances. And even then, the most conservative judge can be surprising.

The news here over the past few days has been all over the furor caused by Trump's refusal to acknowledge the sacrifice of the muslim family whose son died saving his fellow soldiers and who was awarded the purple heart. He made a comment about the man's mother saying something like "the wife just stood there, I suppose she wasn't allowed to speak" - meaning because she was muslim. Oh, and he and his son both commented on the Fox news sexual harrassment scandal when they were asked how they would feel if that happened to Ivanka by saying "well that would't happen to Ivanka because she is a strong woman". So only weak women get sexually harrassed. Megyn Kelly is going nuts over this one.

The elites and the establishment are certainly running scared - along with anyone with an ounce of decency and human kindness.

I suspect John McCain is about to officially break ranks and "unendorse" him. A republican congressman just announced he is voting for Clinton.

Oh, and I don't mean Hillary!

There must be some kind of mechanism to prevent somebody with, say, a past history of paranoid schizophrenia from having access to the Big Red Button, surely? Some kind of medical fitness?

Personality disorder or even just certain traits in keeping with personality disorders would be much more difficult to pin down (not talking about anybody specifically, natch ).

Well, lets hope that enough people respect Barack's opinion, then.

Canyou, yes, I did think/hope that how he commented about the bereaved parents of a fallen soldier was beyond the pale and hopefully (if that is an appropriate work in the context of a family having lost their son) that was an indiscretion too far and quite damaging for him, even in his own camp.

I know that many Republican voters are rather horrified to find themselves in a position to either have to vote for Trump or Clinton