Re: US General Election 2016

by halfwise Mon Nov 14, 2016 5:45 pm

So far his choices for cabinet have been about as bad you can imagine.

by Bluebottle Mon Nov 14, 2016 5:50 pm

He'll hire the people on the right wing of the republican party that helped got him elected. As someone said, they'll supply him with the policy he doesn't have himself.

So, eight years on, the tea party is running the show. Good luck, America. Good luck, world *gulp*

by Bluebottle Mon Nov 14, 2016 5:52 pm

by Lancebloke Mon Nov 14, 2016 6:00 pm

As I said earlier Blue... old people ruining it for everyone!

by Lancebloke Mon Nov 14, 2016 6:02 pm

Mrs Figg wrote:I am worried about the people he will surround himself with. there's one guy in particular, cant remember his name, the one that thinks the earth is 6000 years old. if he just does the tycoon thing that's ok by me, but if he starts putting pro-lifers in charge its going to turn sour pretty soon.

Well, I assume we will learn somewhat whether he believes some of the rubbish he spouted by who he appoints.

Couple today are already worrying!

by Bluebottle Mon Nov 14, 2016 6:18 pm

Lancebloke wrote:As I said earlier Blue... old people ruining it for everyone!

Yeah, it is sad to see generally more liberal young people having their future decided bry a growing reactionary movement among older people, who might not even be there to see the results of their actions. Neutral

by Bluebottle Mon Nov 14, 2016 6:19 pm

Donald Trump will be the next president of the United States. How did we get to this point? And what do we do now?

If you can afford the time or money, here are some organizations that are worth supporting…

To support women’s health, donate to Planned Parenthood (plannedparenthood.org) or the Center for Reproductive Rights (reproductiverights.org).

If you don’t believe manmade global warming is a silly issue, give to the Natural Resources Defense Council (nrdc.org).

If you don’t think refugees are a terrorist army in disguise, donate to the International Refugee Assistance Project (refugeerights.org).

You may also want to donate to the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund (naacpldf.org), the Trevor Project for LGBT youth (thetrevorproject.org), or the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (maldef.org).

And to support journalism, subscribe to a newspaper and donate to ProPublica (propublica.org).

by malickfan Mon Nov 14, 2016 6:50 pm

http://uk.businessinsider.com/trump-obama-meeting-2016-11?r=US&IR=T

http://www.salon.com/2016/11/14/inside-job-donald-trumps-transition-team-is-a-sordid-new-swamp-of-lobbyists-donors-family-and-republican-retreads/

by **Amarië** Mon Nov 14, 2016 7:39 pm

Bluebottle wrote:
Lancebloke wrote:As I said earlier Blue... old people ruining it for everyone!

Yeah, it is sad to see generally more liberal young people having their future decided bry a growing reactionary movement among older people, who might not even be there to see the results of their actions.

Might teach them kids to get out and do something about it. They still have plenty of years left to vote and support their causes.

by Mrs Figg Mon Nov 14, 2016 11:23 pm

got to agree with that. smartphones are anaesthetic of the masses. so messed up with FB and Twitter they forget to live.

by Mrs Figg Mon Nov 14, 2016 11:34 pm

halfwise wrote:So far his choices for cabinet have been about as bad you can imagine.

that Ballon dude is scary. he looks like the Witch Finder General

by Bluebottle Mon Nov 14, 2016 11:50 pm

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-evangelical-church-has-lost-its-witness_us_5824a197e4b0edfa1393615b

by David H Tue Nov 15, 2016 12:11 am

Trump considering woman, openly gay man for leadership posts

WASHINGTON (AP) - His nascent administration already under attack, President-elect Donald Trump was considering Monday whether to inject new diversity into the GOP by recommending a woman to lead the Republican Party and an openly gay man to represent the United States at the United Nations. The moves, among dozens under consideration from his transition team, follow an intense and extended backlash from Trump's decision on Sunday to appoint Steve Bannon, a man celebrated by the white nationalist movement, to serve as his chief strategist and senior adviser.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/fronts/HOME?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME

I don't know, it sure sounds like he's casting for a reality TV show... Suspect

by halfwise Tue Nov 15, 2016 1:21 am

But at least he's trying to do the right thing, even if it's all acting. The problem with Hillary is people felt she was just acting.

So if this is true I'm much encouraged. Anybody would be better than Bannon. Let's hope this keeps up.

by halfwise Tue Nov 15, 2016 1:24 am

From that same page, pretty much what Dave and I were saying in pooh-poohing the anti-Trump protests:

WASHINGTON (AP) - Demonstrators upset over the election of Donald Trump have marched in cities around the country over the past week, and some are making plans to be in Washington for his inauguration Jan. 20. But whether marches will become a movement is an open question. At this early stage, the protesters who have taken to the streets to brand Trump a bigot and a sexist and chant "Not my president!" appear to be mostly venting their frustrations and do not seem to have coalesced behind overall leaders or a common set of demands. Columbia University professor Todd Gitlin, who as an early leader of Students for a Democratic Society helped organize an anti-Vietnam War demonstration that brought thousands to Washington in 1965, said the anti-Trump protests by themselves "are not the makings of a movement." "A movement requires that clusters of people take responsibility for creating vehicles that can carry through, focus energy, develop priorities, strategize, recruit, figure out how to govern themselves," Gitlin said.

by Mrs Figg Tue Nov 15, 2016 1:53 am

I am prepared to give Trump a chance to make this work, if he can stir things up and change a stagnant swamp then go for it, but give Ballon the boot. Trump has spent his life in NY with Bill and Hillary types as mates, he is a rich sophisticated urbanite from New York, I cant see him turning into a bible bashing flat-earther somehow.

by Bluebottle Tue Nov 15, 2016 2:05 am

I am not prepared to give Trump a chance. Trust is earned, and he has already lost all of mine during the election campaign. He can try and earn it back through his actual actions. Then, perhaps, I'll give him a chance. But the person he has showed himself to be so far.. I'm not waiting with baited breath.. to put it mildly..

by Bluebottle Tue Nov 15, 2016 3:03 am

by halfwise Tue Nov 15, 2016 3:14 am

Actually, there was a surprising number of minorities that voted for Trump (I was talking to one on election day). They are so used to racism, that when they see it out in the open they are not at all surprised by it, so were able to look past it.

by **Orwell** Tue Nov 15, 2016 7:19 am

Older people. Fear. Isolationism. Xenophobia. Changephobia (backwards thinking - I just made that up). I suspect it was older people who rejected the Renaissance, the Enlightenment and the Future, preferring a past that was Golden, and, largely, imagined.

by Bluebottle Tue Nov 15, 2016 9:34 am

by Bluebottle Tue Nov 15, 2016 3:40 pm

http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/38360-trump-in-the-white-house-an-interview-with-noam-chomsky

by halfwise Tue Nov 15, 2016 4:40 pm

Noam Chomsky is pretty far to the left in the American political spectrum, but I think he gave a good analysis (or I should say yet another good perspective, there are so many) on how the Republican party has interfaced with it's base since the 1970s.

His argument that the Republicans are one of the most dangerous political forces in the world is largely based on their resistance to climate change. Chomsky overstates the case for this, as liberal non-climate scientists are wont to do. It's not an existential threat, it's an organizational and economic threat to our species. Which is still very bad. Plus, it's already too late to stop things changing though we can decrease the final amplitude and rate. But it's still a bitter blow to be on the verge of losing all the progress we've made.

by David H Tue Nov 15, 2016 4:40 pm

I've always loved the way Chomsky thinks. I took a linguistics class in transformational grammars (which he created) at the university just because I wanted better understand how his mind works. He's a clearheaded articulate extremist. We could use more of them.

by Mrs Figg Tue Nov 15, 2016 5:16 pm

Orwell wrote:Older people. Fear. Isolationism. Xenophobia. Changephobia (backwards thinking - I just made that up). I suspect it was older people who rejected the Renaissance, the Enlightenment and the Future, preferring a past that was Golden, and, largely, imagined.

dunno if its older people, its anyone who feels threatened by change. They had kittens when Manet painted Olympia, and they said the Impressionists were crap painters. go figure. Suspect