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US 2016 Presidential Election

Reality is we don't know. The reigning presumption at the moment (judging by markets' response) is that he won't upset the apple cart. After the "scandal" of Clinton giving a speech at Goldman Sachs showing how much she was in the service of Wall St, Trump is supposedly appointing a Goldman Sachs man as his treasurer, and Goldman Sachs shares are up 5%.
 
Well, I do NOT want to get into a partisan dogfight here but the media coverage of the election has inspired a lot of rhetoric and perhaps incorrectly painted Donald Trump as a devil..instead of what he really is...a buffoon...a dangerous one perhaps but still a completely unpracticed and amateur politician who may actually now that he has won the top prize has no idea what actually to do. It was all about getting there never expecting with all the hurdles he would have to jump through that winning WAS a reality.

For my country, Canada, a Trump presidency could be an absolute disaster as America goes back into protectionist mode and rips up our free trade agreement and cancels our softwood lumber deals causing our dollar to crash and a lot of unemployment. But..what has caused it is decades of neglect by the American system, the Clintons, Bushes and Obama in particular, allowing millions of American jobs to be outsourced to other countries, China, Mexico, SouthEast Asia, and those hurt worst were of all people, the blue collar workers and union members who previously voted Democrat in unison. Their jobs were ripped away by the system in place and none of the previously mentioned regimes stood up for them as their incomes shrank and jobs became scarce and they lost trust in the system they counted on to protect them. Then along comes Donald Trump who is not beholden to this very system, he is running on HIS money, not the money of countless corporations funding special interests and lobbying groups promising to bring jobs back to America and they have found a voice to express their displeasure through. Whether or not he can actually help them will be determined through the first couple of years of his presidency. Note where his votes came from. You can put a big red stripe down the heartland of America...it was, like Brexit won in the countryside in thousands of towns that have suffered during the last couple of decades . When John King on CNN would put up the counties map of each state virtually every large metro center went Clinton and the rural ones went Trump.

As for the wall across the Mexican border, I dont see it as racism. I see it as protecting your borders. Australia does not have a long continuous border with anyone so does not share that sort of issue although I guess they do have some refugees landing in boats. The SouthWest US is full of undocumented aliens again...taking away entry level type jobs from US citizens and many Americans...and immigrants who legally waited in line to get in want more control over just who is actually coming into the country and what are they bringing with them. Trump has on several times not been politically correct on this issue and been justifiably slammed for it but racism is not in my opinion at the heart of the matter, Americans wouldnt want undocumented Canadians of any colour (and we come in all of them) streaming in over their border either and would vote against anyone who supported such a system as it appeared that the Democrats did.

Also note that the Clintons have a long history of corruption that surrounds them going back to Bill and Hillary's days in Arkansas and continuing through the establishment of the Clinton foundation which is funded by all sorts of foreign interests and corporations which by their very practices have little interest in the issues that this foundation has been established for. And lets face it....Donald Trump did EVERYTHING WRONG and still beat Hillary Clinton, she is that hated..not because she is a woman but the long trail of mistrust that follows her everywhere and was highlighted by her email destruction and Benghazi issues. As well many Democrats who supported Bernie Sanders saw, and it was shown by emails hacked through wikileaks that the fix was in with the Superdelegates and the DNC that Hillary WAS going to be the Democratic choice for President and Bernie never had a chance, it was never really a race. The Democrats lost because they lost touch with what had previously been the foundation of all their previous success...the white working class voter ...not because of race issues, but betrayal on economic issues of their loyalty....and dearly paid the price , so badly that Hillary (and everyone else) lost to a politically incorrect billionaire who uses questionable business practices but hit the right nerve with the American public at the right time.

So I am of mixed feelings....a Clinton presidency would have maintained the status quo which would probably have been the best for my country and myself financially and otherwise but, American voters desired real change and wanted to send a strong message to those who they felt have been screwing them for decades...the corporations, the media, Wall Street, and the embedded in New York and Washington fat cat politicans that they were tired of being fed the same old mush and wanted something bright shiny and new.


Well they got it, and it could be a complete disaster or ....if he surrounds himself with the right people and actually listens to logical advice instead of angrily tweeting at overweight ex beauty queens at 3am it could be a great 4 years of rejuvenation for Americans if he is actually given a chance by his opposition to do it without them angrily burning down the country first. Trump has to be conciliatory and attempt to mend a few fences and show some political chops at this time, not burning bridges but bringing even those who opposed him into the fold. Can he do it is the question. Im hoping, and believe that despite what we have seen..he can.

The next four years are like leaping off a cliff and hoping there is water below and not jagged rocks but we have no choice. We have to hope for a successful Trump presidency and not tear him to shreds before he is even officially on the job because our world depends on that happening.
 
There are no jobs that undocumented immigrants do that Americans would do.
In Alabama when they acted harshly against undocumented immigrants the food rotted in the fields because no one would take the job to pick it.
 
reepbot said:
I remember during the loooong election season feeling uneasy about Clinton winning and becoming President because it felt kind of like a Monarchy? I know that is a bad analogy but that is what it felt like.
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That's why I think it's important to realise if she won two terms by the end it would have been 40 out of 44 years with out a Clinton of Bush at the top or near the top. It is insane when you think about it like that.[DOUBLEPOST=1479003215][/DOUBLEPOST]This is one of the reasons Trump will be better than Hillary.

Him talking about Middle East politics.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1809876609227048
 
up_all_night said:
That's why I think it's important to realise if she won two terms by the end it would have been 40 out of 44 years with out a Clinton of Bush at the top or near the top. It is insane when you think about it like that.[DOUBLEPOST=1479003215][/DOUBLEPOST]This is one of the reasons Trump will be better than Hillary.

Him talking about Middle East politics.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1809876609227048
Click to expand...

that is insane.

my personal opinion is that Australia and the USA should stay out of the middle east. us being there solves nothing and only serves to rile up the people who live there.
 
Apparently there have been a lot of anti-Trump protests around in America lately. I never quite get protests. They don't seem to change anything. All they serve to do is make the protester feel good about themselves.
 
Protests can do amazing stuff @reepbot, there have been bloodless coupes changing a country or system entirely.

Time to laugh at this mess...funny, funny memes


Obama: Did you replace all the toiletries with travel size bottles?
Biden: He's got tiny hands Barack, I want him to feel welcome here

Cw_t9rLXAAAcbqK.jpg




Josh‏@jbillinson
"I left a Kenyan passport in your desk, just to fuck with him"
"Joe"
"Oh and a prayer rug in your bedroom. He's gonna lose it!"
"Dammit Joe"


Cw8_KxbXUAEIXzE.jpg
 
Tuttle said:
Okay, my take on this? Trump was as surprised that he won as Hillary was that she lost. Sucks to be him, he's going to have to be a grown up now. Hillary came across as having it in the bag from the get go, and women like to tear down women who are better than they are, and men just don't like women who are more capable than they are.
As to what has been going on since the result, would have anyway, just from a different angle. The world is changing, and America is part of the world, even though most think they ARE the world.
The haters were always going to hate, the kids were always going to be pricks and incite violence so they could brag to they're mates, and "mothers" were always going to say their daughter cried that a woman couldn't be the President of the US. To sum up. all bullshit, didn't go your way, suck it up. Went your way, don't be an ass. Sadly in this day and age, and face it people, the next one could be Kanye, the world as we knew it has passed.
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Totally agree. As shocked as I was at the result, he won. The majority has spoken. Wanting him to fail now makes as much sense as wanting your bus driver to drive his bus off a cliff while you and everyone you love are seated on it.
 
up_all_night said:
I know I'll be shaking my head at stuff that goes on over the next few years in America but I am not terrified, upset or worried about a Trump Presidency.

I think a lot of hysteria over him winning is because of the media bias. Hillary should win was the default thought and because people knew she was actually a bad candidate they just attacked Trump and because of who he is it is easy. He kept defying all logic and so these Hilter exaggeration was drawn on him and everyone ignored why people preferred him to Hillary.

If people wanted the first female President they should have nominated Elizabeth Warren. Hillary did not lose because of her gender, she lost because people didn't want to vote for her.

George H W Bush was vice president 1981-1989
He was President from 1989-1993
Bill Clinton was President from 1993-2001
George W Bush was president from 2001-2009
Hillary Clinton was secretary of state from 2009 - 2013

That is a lot of time for the same families to be high up on control with out adding another 4 or 8 years of one of them as President.

People are unhappy with the system which they feel doesn't work for them, so nominating Clinton was a mistake. She should have bowed out after she lost to Obama. People said they didn't want her then. This time people also said it and it seems the party rigged it against who people wanted.

Trump, his party didn't want him but he won the nomination.

Listen to the people.

People also dislike Hillary, which is something I think we are immune to here to a large extent. I travel a fair bit, have a lot of American friends and interacted with a lot. Spending half of last year in the America's, you'd be surprised how much hate I heard for Hillary and Obama. Also Obamacare, a lot of people hated it and found it infuriating and more expensive. We here focus on the people it covered that didn't have coverage and the shit healthcare system in the USA to think it must be better. It's apparently a mess, even Hillary talked about making a lot of changes to it. It also was not what people were told they were getting. Choice of doctors, cheaper insurance and so forth.

People are not happy.

What annoys me is that people are far more upset and emotional at a racist, misogynist climate denier becoming US president than one becoming Prime Minister here with Abbott. Or the fact for the most part our government is held hostage over people with such ignorant views.

As for foreign policy, Clinton is awful. She believes in the Henry Kissinger style of US leadership in the world. She was involved in coups while secretary of state. She has complete hypocrisy with governments and regimes she supports and does business with. Her as secretary of state and policies of supporting the Saudi's and insurgencies is responsible for the mess we have in Libya, Syria and Iraq today.

Why on the left did we all suddenly give up on US foreign policy? Year the Iraq war was awful, but what has happened since is awful.

At least Trump has consistently been against this awful US foreign policy. We don't know what Trump will be like but Hillary is more of the same foreign policies and potential conflict with China.

I suspect a lot of people got fatigue and threw up their hands at US foreign policy after Obama didn't really fix anything. I was there in the protests for the Iraq war and was amazed how after Obama people just seemed to give up.

Hillary was not a good choice and there is a lot wrong with her. People forget this. Yeah there's a shitload wrong with Trump and people like Pence are awful.

However there is such a mischaracterisation of both of them and what they stand for.

End of the day the USA will go on pretty much the same as it can be. Where is the "HOPE AND CHANGE" Obama was meant to bring?We know he knows a lot better but the system is what is powerful.

This is reality, there are some positives to Trump, he isn't Hitler and a lot of his policies are to the left. The danger is he lets the republican's go nuts.

However end of the day, for you or me here in Australia nothing will be different. US is a democracy, they voted, lets hope for the best. The plus side is at least Trump's world view is nicer and doesn't have America fucking with countries for their own interests. Remember Clinton said Kissinger's view of the world applies today. He's someone who should have been on trial for war crimes and responsible for millions of deaths.

Will I think Trump be a good president. Nah, but there is Zero chance Hillary would have been either because of her world view of American dominance and interference. Especially covertly and behind the scenes.
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Cracker of a post, Mr Smartyman :)
 
Hmm...


West Virginia Mayor, Official Lose Jobs Over Post Calling Michelle Obama ‘Ape In Heels’ (UPDATE)
One woman made the disgusting comments, while the other said the posts “made [her] day.”

The director of a state and federal-funded nonprofit in West Virginia has been removed after writing a racist Facebook post referring to first lady Michelle Obama as an “ape in heels.”

Clay County Development Corp. director Pamela Ramsey Taylor wrote the offensive post after Donald Trump was elected president in an exchange that also embroiled the mayor of Clay, a small town near Charleston.

“It will be refreshing to have a classy, beautiful, dignified First Lady in the White House. I’m tired of seeing a Ape in heels,” she wrote.

Clay Mayor Beverly Whaling replied to the comment, “Just made my day Pam.”

Pam = sacked
Beverly = resigned in shame

http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/20...ing-michelle-obama-ap/?utm_hp_ref=au-homepage


The wonderful classy elegant, warm and practical Mrs Obama, who is also funny

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