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I'll start: The economy will shrink 20% - maybe even before he takes office. Merrick Garland will Not be a Supreme Court Justice, and Roe V Wade will essentially become quaint history. Trump will face impeachment by his own party within 2 years. There will be race riots in at least three major cities. Russia will drop any pretense of cooperation and retake Ukraine. Iran's Republican Guard will provoke a confrontation resulting in abrogation of the nuclear deal. Gas will hit $4.00+/gallon by next summer. China will build more artificial Islands to include a naval base near Taiwan. Hong Kong will lose self rule. Federal officers will be killed in a stand-off with Bundy supporters.
In 2020 a Democrat will be elected President after Trump becomes the least popular President in history, but the legislature will still be controlled by the GOP. Obamacare will not be replaced, but Medicare and Medicaid will be severely curtailed. The deficit will double in just two years as the result of tax cuts and military spending.
Every single time a Rethugliclown gets into the Executive Branch, a Democrat has to come behind and clean up his sh!t. Every time!!!!
I'm sick of it!!!!
They have all three now.
I'm out of the prediction game. Frankly between the Irish financial crash, brexit and now Trump, im a little discombobulated.
Last edited by Schlack; 11/09/1602:08 PM.
"The basic tool for the manipulation of reality is the manipulation of words. If you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use the words." (Philip K.Dick)
As I write, at one in the morning, it looks as though the Republicans will score a hat trick: the White House, Senate, and House of Representatives.
Which means we are poised for an extraordinary revolution in American government, with a 100 days of legislation beginning on January 20 next in which Obamacare will be repealed and replaced, and in which we can begin to talk about major tax, immigration, and campaign reform bills. We can imagine a Supreme Court that respects our republican system of government.
We can begin to drain the swamp.
What that adds up to is a reversal of the parade of horribles that have been enacted over the last eight — indeed eighty — years.
One thing is absolutely crucial, and that is the necessity of abandoning the Senate filibuster. The Democrats don’t honor it, and it’s become a handcuff that fetters only the Republicans. Trump’s legislative agenda will be DOA if the filibuster survives. As it stands, it’s turned out to be the principal obstacle to republican government, since the gridlock it’s given us provided Obama the excuse to rule as an elective monarch.
"The basic tool for the manipulation of reality is the manipulation of words. If you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use the words." (Philip K.Dick)
Until now,I had never believed in dystopian visions.
A well reasoned argument is like a diamond: impervious to corruption and crystal clear - and infinitely rarer.
Here, as elsewhere, people are outraged at what feels like a rigged game -- an economy that won't respond, a democracy that won't listen, and a financial sector that holds all the cards. - Robert Reich
Until now,I had never believed in dystopian visions.
Which one are you thinking of? Road Warriors? Blade Runner? Terminator? The Bible?
You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the old model obsolete. R. Buckminster Fuller
1984, mostly, and Phillip K. Dick (take your pick).
Here's what I think:
Trump views the Presidency like he views his "real estate empire" - it's about being a figure head. He has no idea what it actually entails, and, worse, he doesn't care. He just wanted to get elected. He will turn over day-to-day operations to Mike Pence, and expects only to be consulted for show events. He will be overwhelmed before he takes office (you can see by the success of all of his non-real estate ventures: casinos, airlines, clothing, steaks, vodka, etc.). He doesn't care to understand, and has the attention span of a gnat.
The people he has around him are not "the best of the best," but cast-offs, has-beens, and rejects. Newt Gingrich, Rudy Giuliani and Chris Christie? OMG. There will be Republican consiglieres (Reince Priebus, Paul Ryan) to "help" but they may be of limited utility, since he trusts none of them. The Republican party, on the other hand will be like the proverbial dog that caught the car. It will be like George W. Bush without a governor. Yes, there will be many seeking input, and there are still some adults in the room, but The Donald isn't one of them.
They will get at least one Supreme Court appointee, and it will be in the mold of Alito, in all probability. I suspect Thomas will take this opportunity to retire as well, but Ginsberg, Breyer and Kennedy will hang on as long as possible - valuing the law and country over their personal needs. Our tradition of "a nation of laws" will be further eroded, as rank ideologues are given positions of unthinkable power that will last beyond our generation.
What disturbs me the most about this development is the utter rejection of rational thought in the process. Lies will become the currency of the land - and that is no exaggeration. I'm not talking spin, here, but outright, baldfaced, factless lies. Doublespeak come to fruition. Trump was the most dishonest candidate in modern history, spouting the baldest of lies and unconcerned with the underlying realities or implications. He doesn't care as long as he gets headlines. He has no policy proscriptions, or any idea how things actually work - domestic policy, the Constitution, foreign policy, taxes, economics - they're too complicated. He's never had to live in the real world, so he doesn't understand it. Worst of all, he doesn't care. The damage that attitude will have is incalculable. I've literally never been as scared about the future in my life.
But, as a historian and political scientist, this was foreseeable (if unthinkable). Ronald Reagan rode nostalgia and nostrums to power and popularity, while his underlying policies were a disaster with lasting implications (out of control deficits, unsustainable/unjustifiable tax cuts). Clinton restored sanity and intelligence to the White House but faced an unending resistance throughout his terms. George W. Bush, likewise, turned the country upside down creating the worst international and economic conditions since the Great Depression (that was only 8 years ago!). Prior to Trump he was the least qualified President to take office - and won reelection, despite is rank incompetence. I should have read the tea leaves better. Obama restored order and confidence, but has been besieged by the nattering nabobs of negativity throughout his two terms. He brought much hope (and still inspires it, with a 53% approval rating), but change was stifled at every turn. Trump is just the next iteration of incompetence and bad policy. Again, people want "change" but he offers absolutely nothing to accomplish that - again, no exaggeration.
I don't know where this goes, but it is not a good place. My wife, though, offered a meme that made me laugh out loud: "Orange is the New Black." Gallows humor may be the only humor we have for awhile.
A well reasoned argument is like a diamond: impervious to corruption and crystal clear - and infinitely rarer.
Here, as elsewhere, people are outraged at what feels like a rigged game -- an economy that won't respond, a democracy that won't listen, and a financial sector that holds all the cards. - Robert Reich
