What is your take on the 2016 US Presidential election?

They are arguing about it here in the UK. So much for democracy if the losing sides (lots here in the UK) keep up the divisions.

I am conflicted about it.

In one respect I am vindictive enough to say that what you are suggesting did not happen when Obama and the Democrats won so lets return tit-for-tat and retaliate in a likewise manner;obstruct in any possible manner. Make governing as difficult as possible for them.

Yet another part of me says that we the losers instead of becoming the obstructionists should just back out completely and let the do it whatever way they want; just stand back and let them do it their way. If they succeed, more power to them, they were right. If they fail, well, the failure of their policies is entirely on their head and we had nothing to do with any of it. But this is what my mother would call “cutting off your nose to spite your face”. If they fail we are also punished for their failure.

And that brings me back around to cooperation and this is more what my temperment suggests is the right course of action. BUT it is my belief that the Republican party is in no mood to compromise. They have been unwilling to do so when they did not control the POTUS and now that they have all the power, I don’t see it changing. It is their way or the highway and without compromise, real compromise, there can be no healing.

I didn’t vote so, I am aware my opinion may be null and void, that said however, I find the Trump victory appalling on so many levels I couldn’t even begin to express them all, nor will I even grace that goon with one more second of my precious time than I already am. I will not vote until I am voting for the greater of two goods opposed to the lesser of two evils. In ths case, the evils are equal and I fear what may come. Now…it’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood and I am going out to get some fresh air and sunshne and forget the travesty that is unfolding. Hah!

Stunned and grieving.

Trying to give a rational account of the irrational is irrational.

All I’m going to do at the moment, aside from just trying to take it in, is watch what the Republican Party does with its bludgeoned remains. Who is going to reverse position again? What will the “Never Trump” crew do? Whom will everybody blame now?

Meanwhile there are also the pending court cases, the Trump University fraud case and the lawsuit over alleged rape of a minor. Even if they just disappear, those charges tell us something.

The FBI will tell Obama the election was rigged by Russians hacking into US voting machines. Obama will not release this information, because of the potential outrage from both sides.
Trump will say, in the spirit of cooperation, he will pardon Hillary from all crimes. Hillary will reject it, saying she did nothing wrong.
Trump will release a new list of Supreme Court nominees, much more liberal than the prior list.

I think now is the time for liberals to fight. The Republicans managed to obstruct Obama for 7 years, it’s time for the Democratic party to grow a spine, get real, tell their donors to fuck off and to start fighting like hell for the people. The party should announce tomorrow that they’re cancelling all super pacs. They need to stop going to cocktail parties with lobbyists and instead go to union meetings and protests They need new leaders in the house and senate, Reid and Pelosi need to step down for the likes of Warren/Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard.

If they try business-as-usual politics I think they could fracture the party and see many of us jump ship to the Green Party (or something else entirely).

It left a sour taste in my mouth, but without a viable candidate, I had to take it in the shoulder with Xerxes Trump, rather than a clean head shot with Jezebel Clinton; damn the party of Twiddle Dee and Twiddle Dumb for not nominating someone worthwhile.

This election brought me back to my fear some years ago: whether there will be a war in my country. Apart from sadness and sympathy for Americans who now have to suffer an idiot, I also fear what this idiot will do to the world. From what I gather, Trump will stop all America’s involvement in other countries, and that is exactly what China wants for their conquest trip (I’m not saying that American is helping anyone, but America is standing between China and their neighbors, that’s why China has been beating around the bush for so long. If America ceases their involvement, China will havr nothing to fear and a war between them and their neighbors is likely to happen. Who wants war in the first place?)

Information about this is very conflicting. Some sources say Trump will leave China lots of opportunity, while others say he will pay more attention to China. I don’t know what to think anymore. I don’t know what to do in the worst case scenario either.

Anyway, it has been a sad day for all of us. I don’t know how I can stay positive…

Maybe the only good thing from this is the Fluther community coming closer together ~

@Mimishu1995 Thank You my dear far away friend, I am ashamed t be an “American”. This “win” is beyond the scope of comprehension.

Right now, I am struck by the inaccuracy of the polls. I have made offhand jokes about the skewed sample pollsters must get from using phones in this day and age (caller ID, I said, which isn’t even the issue)... but I assumed that they used them because the process actually did work.

I was listening to discussions on the radio today that should have happened months ago. The speakers were talking about how there was some level of arrogance in circles of college-educated liberals, in pollsters, in the media, etc.—that it was easier to brush off the contingency of the country that was building behind Trump as bigots than it was to actually consider their perspective in a meaningful way. The radio speakers talked about how many people in areas that were once high in manufacturing jobs are hopeful that Trump can (with his tariffs etc.) get companies to bring their manufacturing jobs back here… Bring back the good times of America’s manufacturing heyday.

But that heyday is gone—it’s not coming back. There was a period of time after labor unions dug manufacturing work out of the conditions of the industrial revolution, and before technology advanced even farther, that manufacturing jobs offered formidable livelihoods. My grandfather worked in manufacturing at that time—his career was winding down during a transition to heightened automation in his particular area, so it didn’t affect him much but he did witness the changes. And the economic landscape is different today—it won’t support the same number of manufacturing jobs for the same wages.

And the horrible irony, it seems to me, is that the goal of debt-free higher education in Clinton’s platform (after Sanders’s, sure) would offer people a way to afford the training/education to pursue other careers… Clinton also promised to support workers whose jobs are going to go by the wayside soon as the economic landscape continues to shift. People would have the support to pursue opportunities.

But there was no apparent effort to campaign on that kind of a platform. “Things are not as bad as they used to be” is not the same as “Hey, I see you’re having a hard time economically right now. Let me offer you the means to fix that and to choose where you want to be” ... I would say imagine how powerful the second one could be, but I guess we don’t have to imagine, because to some extent we saw it… I don’t see how Trump’s plan actually offers the second statement, and the economists on the radio certainly articulated all of the ways that it doesn’t actually offer the second statement, but he certainly said the second statement in so many words.

So I guess I am struck by realizing my own privilege. I hear “things are better now than they were eight years ago” and I feel it. So I I guess I get to focus on Trump’s bigotry and be outraged by it. I get to focus on Trump’s bluster and bemoan his inexperience, his ignorance on many international issues, his lack of substantial policies, etc., and feel smug and indignant. I am not in a position where I feel politically invisible and economically strapped and looking towards Trump as someone who vocalizes that disquiet and disillusionment.

I don’t know. Maybe this is all a totally inaccurate portrayal of another perspective… It’s just what’s going on in the part of my head trying to come to grips with this whole thing.

..

I also heard on the radio that the number of people voting this year wasn’t necessarily up that much (I didn’t catch specific numbers), and the number of Democrats/Obama supporters was down. I wonder, again, if better polling would have changed that. I wonder if many liberal-leaning people who disliked both candidates, but felt like Clinton would win, thought they could avoid compromising with their vote and still wind up with the more liberal of two perceived evils. Maybe not.

…

I am also still a bit confused why the Comey thing became such a negative for Clinton. The only new emails that were found were personal. You would think such a fact would lend some amount of credibility to Clinton’s claim to that the deleted emails were personal emails, even if just the slightest amount…

…

I am fairly concerned about the shape of the next four years, and for now I am just hoping that my concerns are proven unnecessary.

I am worried that Trump is supported in my country, and by the worst ones. I think his victory may only be a beginning sign of a giant shift in thought and political stance in America, and Europe and, as I can see, it may affect Asia as well, and I’m not really supportive of all of this. People around here claim it is a very good thing for Serbia that Trump won, and all that sudden support and positive attitude towards America is very fishy.
But, alea iacta est, no return now. I can only clench my teeth and move on.

@Sneki95 Yeah, it is probably a good thing for Serbia as long as you don’t mind Russian overlords.

@rojo Some actually do like russian overlords. Until now, Putin was “our mother and father” and America was the biggest villain. Now Trump is a brave lion that beat an evil snake.
Serbia is very indecissive in whose side it wants to take, American or Russian.
But then again, if Trump and Putin end up agreeing, it won’t matter anumore, and even if they don’t, we’re fucked anyways, аs we allways are.

Yeah, @Sneki95 unfortunately there is a large percentage of the US population that appear to be happier living under a strongman; ones who equate might with right and believe that respect and fear are the same thing.

I cannot see Putin and Trump coming to any agreement that does not benefit them individually (screw the countries, they are a means to an end).

I wish you luck with it my friend. Wouldn’t want to be in your shoes, don’t want to be in my own for that matter.

@rojo Thank you, bro, I appreciate it. I wish you and all in the US luck as well, hopefully it will turn out we were just panicking too much for no reason.

Hey, us peons have a right to panic in such times. Which way are the hills….......

<<<< That about tops & tails it.

After a day’s reflection, here’s what I’m thinking as of this moment—that is, my current surmise or hypothesis:

Everybody’s in for a big surprise:

1. the Trump voters, because he’s not going to do for them any of the things they think he’ll do; he doesn’t care about them at all;
2. Trump himself, because he thinks it’s about him—all about him—whereas his supporters don’t even care who or what he is, much less what he’s said and done (which is why all the revelations didn’t matter); all they want is to throw a firecracker into the toilet and blow up the plumbing, and he’s the firecracker;
3. the Trump opposers, because—no matter how much it pains me to say this—it’s not going to be as bad as we think it’s going to be.

That’s my thought for today. May be different tomorrow.

@Sneki95 I hope the China thing is also me overreacting too. There are also a lot of Trump supporters in my country, ironically. But their reasoning isn’t as clear or as reasonable as Sebrian supporters. The majority of them support Trump because he “sounds strong”, because of his sole “make American great again” slogan, because they want to piss Hillary supporters off, or just because they want to be hippies. And when Trump won, they insulted Hillary, saying she was a monster, a corrupted human being, a liar, ect ect, while having no evidence to back themselves up at all. Another evidence that stupidity can sometimes win.

In the meantime, we can only hold our breath and virtual hands.

What I heard on Sunday, 11/13, in a nutshell: Right to choose is out the window. Environmental Protection Agency is out the window. I’m holding on. It’s going to be a bumpy ride.

I remember when I heard that Trump announced his candidacy for President. I thought it was a joke, not unlike Howard Stern for Governor. I figured he’d do his soap box thing, and then step down and pass the torch to someone more qualified. I thought it was for publicity. I can’t believe he took it this far and he won. Many who voted for him chose him because they said he’s not a politician and so he’ll do some different things, and they were tired of the old guard, long time politicians. Guess who he is choosing to help him run things? The old guard, long time politicians.