Martin_B wrote: Wed Nov 06, 2024 8:33 am
Spare a thought for Ukraine and Palestine. Both are unlikely to last long with Trump in office.
Taiwan could be in danger, too, as Trump might put tariffs on China, but is unlikely to give Taiwan aid (or be able to afford it!)
Ukraine should still get support from the rest of Europe. They’ll have to decide how much they’re willing to spend to compensate for a likely lack of US aid. Trump will probably still sell arms.
We’re likely to see a continuation of the Trump 1 administration policy on the Middle East. That was to engineer a normalisation of relations between Israel and Gulf Arab states. Obviously bad for the Palestinians.
Trump winning the popular vote has really put a downer on it for me. I was reasonably prepared for him to win the electoral college, but not the popular. I know practically it doesn’t matter, but it feels important.
where once I used to scintillate
now I sin till ten past three
lpm wrote: Wed Nov 06, 2024 3:33 am
Things I don't understand
- losing despite big turnout?
- where's the famous Dem ground game vs the joke Rep ground game?
- why are Americans such f.cking idiots?
- Voters in multiple Red states voted to protect abortion and to place the person who is threatening to ban abortion nationally and who put abortion under threat back into power.
lpm wrote: Wed Nov 06, 2024 3:33 am
Things I don't understand
- losing despite big turnout?
- where's the famous Dem ground game vs the joke Rep ground game?
- why are Americans such f.cking idiots?
- Voters in multiple Red states voted to protect abortion and to place the person who is threatening to ban abortion nationally and who put abortion under threat back into power.
- Voters saying inflation is a concern voting for massive taxes on goods.
TimW wrote: Wed Nov 06, 2024 10:40 am
I suppose Trump will be in prison soon anyway.
Yeah, right.
The wheels of law haven't been spinning freely, now they'll gum up. And in the unlikely event it's looking like he could go to jail, he'll step down on the condition Vance pardons him for all items.
lpm wrote: Wed Nov 06, 2024 10:49 am
I think the why is simply sexism and racism. No need to get more into it than that. Biden squeaked a win because he was an old, boring white guy.
There wasn't really any way for Biden to be switched out for a boring white ex-military heterosexual man.
I think the how is simply Fox News.
I don't buy it that twitter and Musk had anything to do with it, people on twitter are already highly partisan.
TimW wrote: Wed Nov 06, 2024 10:40 am
I suppose Trump will be in prison soon anyway.
Yeah, right.
The wheels of law haven't been spinning freely, now they'll gum up. And in the unlikely event it's looking like he could go to jail, he'll step down on the condition Vance pardons him for all items.
Vance cannot pardon him for state crimes. Trump won't step down in any case. He doesn't really care about doing the job of President, he just wants to be the centre of attention. There is no way he is going to let anyone else do that. He is more likely to try and make himself President for life.
lpm wrote: Wed Nov 06, 2024 10:49 am
I think the why is simply sexism and racism. No need to get more into it than that. Biden squeaked a win because he was an old, boring white guy.
There wasn't really any way for Biden to be switched out for a boring white ex-military heterosexual man.
I think the how is simply Fox News.
I don't buy it that twitter and Musk had anything to do with it, people on twitter are already highly partisan.
I think the what's next is mostly incompetence.
I don't think he'll recruit people capable of achieving his aims. The deportation program is hard. Sure, some people crossing the border will die in prison camps, but rounding up people for deportation is not an easy task. Say what you like about the Nazis, at least they were jolly good at organisation.
Biden is still president for two months. Maybe he'll use his new powers to protect US democracy from itself.
*Joins in with the wishful thinking on this thread*
Last edited by Sciolus on Wed Nov 06, 2024 11:09 am, edited 1 time in total.
I'm desperately trying to find whatever silver linings I can and I wonder if Trump winning decisively, with both the Electoral College and popular vote, is actually a good thing here, obviously only compared to a contested or EC only win that Trump squeeks in on. It'll mean Trump won't be acting on a bruised ego.
But it also means the Democrats won't have anything to hide behind. It'll be harder for them to make excuses that let them off from having to confront and address why they're unpopular.
lpm wrote: Wed Nov 06, 2024 10:53 am
I think the what's next is mostly incompetence.
I don't think he'll recruit people capable of achieving his aims. The deportation program is hard. Sure, some people crossing the border will die in prison camps, but rounding up people for deportation is not an easy task. Say what you like about the Nazis, at least they were jolly good at organisation.
Of course Trump is incompetent, but he's easily manipulable by competent people. And besides, you don't need to be competent to destroy stuff, only to build stuff.
bjn wrote: Wed Nov 06, 2024 11:01 am
The main thing I draw from this is that vitriolic lies and hate (f.ck you Murdoch) was normalised over decades and people went with it.
“Free speech” meaning freedom to lie and “free speech” meaning freedom to spend unlimited money on promoting lies was ultimately corrosive.
I can’t see a way back for the US that doesn’t involve something horrible.
Yep, the exit polls show that young voters happily voted Trump - Harris won them overall but nothing like the huge generational divide we see in the UK. It's not like waiting for the elderly Brexit voters to die off.
Chris Preston wrote: Wed Nov 06, 2024 6:29 am
Well, I was horribly wrong. After the dysfunctionality of Trump's first term and his efforts to stay in power, I really couldn't envisage that people would say "Let's do that all again."
There are a few bright spots. Kari Lake looks almost certain to lose. On the other side Greene and Boebart both won.
The Republican Party currently looks like it could easily have the House, Senate and the Presidency. If so, I can't see how a lot of Project 2025 will now not be enacted.
I read an article a couple of weeks ago about the phenomenon of turkeys voting for Christmas. The psychology as it was explained in the article was that out groups know they are in the frame, but are hoping there are other out groups who will rake the fall first and they will be spared.
Maybe some people thought Trump might not do any of the things he said he was going to do, but he has promised to put Kennedy in charge of health policy and Musk in charge of the budget. It will be that bloodbath, Trump promised.
I saw it described as people voting for authoritarianism as being like lottery players thinking they are not going to be the losers
lpm wrote: Wed Nov 06, 2024 10:49 am
I think the why is simply sexism and racism. No need to get more into it than that. Biden squeaked a win because he was an old, boring white guy.
There wasn't really any way for Biden to be switched out for a boring white ex-military heterosexual man.
I think it's sexism more than racism, as well. So many American women don't think women are capable of being in charge, and so many American men hate the idea.
