Mourning in America - Trump Year One: November '16 to

It makes sense that a vicious thug would surround himself with similar types of people.

extravagantly wealthy men who have never heard the word no

Well, yeah, and it's not normal to have a vicious thug in the white house, obviously. But you'd think the media would think the pick of Bannon would be a scandal because of that report. But no.

'New Trump appointee has a history of domestic violence

...yadayadayada....

The president elect himself was accused by his first ex-wife of spousal rape in 1991, and during the election a taped recording showed him bragging about getting away with sexual assault. Later ten women came forth with accusations of sexual assault.

Steve Bannon is expected to start at...'

Like, that's the story. That's why if you've got a history of attacks against women, you don't hire people with a history of attacks against women as your special adviser.

Argh, I'm going insane, why am I writing this to you? As if anyone here disagrees. As if anyone in the media disagrees. And yet they won't write about it.

Don't worry, the fun cover story on Bannon in next week's People will help us all see what a good choice he is. Look, he's relaxing in a pool, just like regular folks!

P.S. I am melting down and worrying about my long-term physical health and starting to sincerely wonder whether I'm going to survive four years of this.

it's not normal to have a vicious thug in the white house

Are we sure about this, really? I feel like we're deciding to treat mid-20th Century values (like, say, FDR through LBJ) as the norm. Trump is probably not all that different from politicians of the 19th and early 20th Centuries.

the office had less power during those periods

Andrews Jackson and Johnson, Harding, and Nixon are three of the most perfidious Oval Office inhabitants, but at least Harding had a sentimental streak.

No, in the long perspective, a lot of them probably were spousal rapists, and Andrew Jackson straight up killed a guy for insulting him.

i see that 60 minutes has decided to get into the PR business

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zT0Rjc6jKCg

I haven't been able to take the media seriously since W's war in Iraq.

if medicare gets phased out in 2017, my mom will miss getting grandmothered in by one year - she won't be 65 until December 2018. i wonder if she's even vaguely aware of that.

Yeah, I'm trying desperately to hang on to my last shreds of hope, no way am I watching 60 Minutes fawn over him.

Yeah spare yrself OL, it's a soft-focus rimjob

Btw was saddened to read yr post upthread. I hope things start turning around for you

xps that video is the headline on Drudge rn. it's brutal. i remember watching many of those clips as they aired.

Yeah spare yrself OL, it's a soft-focus rimjob

― never have i been a blue calm sea (collardio gelatinous), Sunday, November 13, 201

I can recommend a couple gay threads

my Trump induced Depression/Anxiety ended sometime yesterday. big relief. it is still terrible of course but more rationally than emotionally and physically. hope you turn around soon, Old Lunch. also no shame in taking a day or two off twitter/news/ilx to clear the mind

Can't see a link anywhere to this Ezra Klein piece--excellent.

http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/11/11/13578618/why-did-trump-win

"It's easy to come up with stories where Clinton could have gained 2 points, or to theorize that another candidate could have gained 4. But on the merits, this should have been 60-40, or 50-40-10...I can’t confidently explain his win."

― clemenza, Sunday, 13 November 2016 23:09 (yesterday) Permalink

This piece "gets it" I think... except when it's time to bring everything home and just say straight up that the GOP won because of its racist politics and there was really nothing else coming close to having such an effect

Like he brings that all up, like "2 + 2 isn't 3, and it's not 5. There's some strong evidence it's 4. So what is 2+2? I'm not sure, and that scares me."

During their private White House meeting on Thursday, Mr. Obama walked his successor through the duties of running the country, and Mr. Trump seemed surprised by the scope, said people familiar with the meeting. Trump aides were described by those people as unaware that the entire presidential staff working in the West Wing had to be replaced at the end of Mr. Obama’s term.

After meeting with Mr. Trump, the only person to be elected president without having held a government or military position, Mr. Obama realized the Republican needs more guidance. He plans to spend more time with his successor than presidents typically do, people familiar with the matter said.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/leading-contender-for-donald-trump-s-chief-of-staff-is-rnc-chairman-reince-priebus-1479069597

same article: priebus's job is "to make the trains run on time," says member of trump transition team.

Lots of ppl posting this on fb

https://scontent-yyz1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-0/s480x480/14925634_10153847166116890_6368362774375574730_n.jpg?oh=2016e47e130d552e961aee1bc17b911a&oe=58CBBD50

something that really irks me about this logic. not sure any of these really quite get at it but

- you can help black/muslim/lgbt/latino americans AND indigenous ppl in Canada
- climate change or nuclear war would affect us, too
- "these are all worse conditions than African-Americans experience in the United States" i find this sickening, it's not a contest guys!
- as sick as the 'score-keeping' is, if you're gonna do it at least don't ignore that US also genocided their native population, and treat them like shit!

way I see it Americans are gonna need our help and i'm there for yall. of course being smug is bad but enough of this 'lets fix our own backyard first' bs

On the "what is to be done?" front, I want to share an article I just read about how some of the wins on Tuesday (Kamala Harris in CA, Charles Todd Henderson for Jefferson County AL DA) point the way to how local work on criminal justice issues can also help build progressive coalitions and electoral gains.

https://www.thenation.com/article/election-night-saw-victories-in-local-criminal-justice-reform-this-should-be-the-beginning/

An excerpt:

 The election of Donald Trump may send forth global tremors in many areas. But it changes very little on issues related to criminal-justice reform as practiced at the local level. Roughly 50 million people live in just 15 of the counties that Clinton won this week. Some of these counties voted for Clinton by a margin of 2-1. If disheartened citizens and advocates chose to refocus their resources and attention to pushing reforms in these places, they could quickly see significant gains in the battle to end mass incarceration and help secure relief for millions of Americans.

After meeting with Mr. Trump, the only person to be elected president without having held a government or military position, Mr. Obama realized the Republican needs more guidance. He plans to spend more time with his successor than presidents typically do, people familiar with the matter said.

Obama is truly remarkable and I hope he's able to make a positive impact on Trump.

Yeah it's been a bit irritating to see all the articles about "why Trump won" that make it look easy to call in hindsight (especially that Jonathan Pie video...barf). Like...at best, it was a fluke, with Comey's letters arriving at the worst times, voter suppression happening in the worst states, and Trump winning by getting a bunch of rust belt states by a small margin. I don't remember anyone calling the "Trump wins but loses popular vote" scenario as a possibility, besides Nate Silver. Even the people who really did see it coming got it wrong too...Bill Mitchell and Scott Adams both said Trump was going to win by a landslide, and obviously that didn't happen. My prediction that principled Republicans wouldn't vote for such an obviously terrible person and a blatant con man was...very off

Lol Bill Mitchell and Scott Adams only 'saw it coming' in a Gettier paradox-style "look at a stopped clock at noon but it was actually noon" type of way

Lots of ppl posting this on fb

https://scontent-yyz1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-0/s480x480/14925634_10153847166116890_6368362774375574730_n.jpg?oh=2016e47e130d552e961aee1bc17b911a&oe=58CBBD50

something that really irks me about this logic

Yr points are valid, but I do think there's value in retaining perspective and resisting Canadian complacency/exceptionalism, this is probably not the thread to be having that discussion at length tho

Obama is truly remarkable and I hope he's able to make a positive impact on Trump.

This is all so hilarious and surreal.

i still can't believe they didn't know they had to replace all the white house staff

Bill Mitchell, sure - dude legit thought Trump was going to win by 10

Scott Adams wound up having a few good observations - namely the idea that voters apparently did not care about facts at all this election. Of course his descent into one-eye-shut "hmmm seems to me only the Hillary people are getting violent and hateful here" alt-right idiocy is unforgivable

Here's the Canadian politics thread for anyone who wants to chime in: Because It's 2016: Canadian Politics in Sunnier Days

Like Adams did a pretty good job explaining how and why a lot of Trump's "persuasion" wound up working, why he was able to command such a crowd and cult of personality despite knowing nothing and never telling the truth about anything

The fact that he was rooting for him all along despite correctly identifying him as a con man was really gross though

A thought that occurred to me re stuff like his not knowing they had to replace the white house staff: during the W years it was really, really easy to get lulled into focusing on all the absurdist comedy and boobery of the presidency (just as it had been during the election, when no liberals thought he could really win). While comic relief is sometimes needed, it will be a shame if we waste much energy on "lol drumpf!" jokes as the GOP dismantles the architecture of the liberal federal govt.

It's happening already. The joeks about his terrible taste in sofas and cutlery were old before Nov. 8.

it's not comic relief, i literally just keep thinking obsessively about that fact over and over because it is incredible

a state of emergency
is where I want to be

It's happening already. The joeks about his terrible taste in sofas and cutlery were old before Nov. 8.

and the goddamn size of his hands, who gives a fuck

as the GOP dismantles the architecture of the liberal federal govt lol I'm thinking no, that would require a plan

again, please go and tell everyone you know to apply! https://apply.ptt.gov/ (the content of that entire form and the backend it feeds was built long before they knew who would win, just in case that wasn't obvious)

They honestly just learned this week that they need like 3000 people. They did not know they needed to hire 3000 people. They need to hire hundreds of people between now and February. They have no idea who should be doing what. Put your name in the hat!

The problems, as I see them, were:

1.) Hillary's messaging centered too much on personality -- both hers and Trump's -- even though people didn't especially like her. She lacked a unifying, graspable message beyond experience and the glass ceiling. People were unaware that her platform was actually super dope.
2.) The media misrepresented her "scandals" to drive ratings and to create an appearancepf balance in an election that pitted a distinguished stateswoman against a notorious con artist and race baiter. Perhaps more significantly, garbage right wing conspiracy sotrs infilitrated the nation's news feeds. This contributed to the cloud of mistrust surrounding her, which tarnished her image even among non-deplorables.
3.) tens of millions of people in America are truly reckless and would rather have their anger validated than see anything productive happen in their government. Maybe their bitterness is justified, to a point, but their tolerance of racism, misogyny and lying is not acceptable.

Hillary didn't count on 3.) especially, hence her ads, which hinged on the idea that people would recognize that Trump's unfitness to lead was self evident

Tombot, Paul Ryan and the GOP congress have that plan dude.

The only potential saving grace is that Trump isn't one of them. He may actually turn out to be better than a Cruz or a Rubio if his arrogance and narcissism means he blocks some of their agenda. OTOH he may be too bumbling and lazy and clueless and easy to manipulate for that to be the case.

yes and their plan is "Step 1. Burn down the most popular program in the government"

I know, and I sure hope the third rail effect works, but I've been burned a lot of times by now thinking "The GOP are stupid and I'm just gonna sit back and watch them play themselves"

still think the media treating this entire election like an episode of WWE Raw contributed a lot to Hillary's loss

take 5 minutes to play around with this.

http://graphics.wsj.com/blue-feed-red-feed/

lol, one of the popular conservative outlets is "Western Journalism" (WJ), which chose the exact same font for its logo as Wall Street Journal (WSJ) so that it appears more legitimate

re: Trump anxiety/depression/fear, the moment it all started to turn on tuesday night around 9:30pm EST, it really felt exactly like the gradual slipping into a nightmare that was the morning of 9/11. i've been listening to "Imagine" a lot, late at night, loud, over and over.