Its almost over!

[Greenday]

Yeah, what better way to flip a finger to the elites than by electing a guy who lives in a GOLD PLATED PENTHOUSE at the top of a TOWER in the heart of New York City?

That'll show those snobby bastards!

I know when I want change from politicians, I pick the filthy rich white guys who know nothing but privilege in their lives.

[mjr]

I know when I want change from politicians, I pick the filthy rich white guys who know nothing but privilege in their lives.

And that's in opposition to picking career politicians who live in a bubble and have privilege in their lives?

[KabeRinnaul]

And that's in opposition to picking career politicians who live in a bubble and have privilege in their lives?

I do get that a vote for Trump was, most of the time, not really a vote for him or against Clinton, but instead a vote against Washington DC.

But it does always strike me as a bit absurd that they can't just call it that and instead pretend that Trump is the voice of the common man. Trump was the son of one of New York City's wealthiest land developers, even ignoring nonsense like "a small loan of a million dollars".

The parents of Bill and Hillary were a car salesman and a nurse, and the owner of a textile plant and a housewife, respectively. Beyond Bill & Hillary becoming lawyers on scholarships and then getting into politics, they're about as blue collar as politicians get.

[mjr]

The parents of Bill and Hillary were a car salesman and a nurse, and the owner of a textile plant and a housewife, respectively. Beyond Bill & Hillary becoming lawyers on scholarships and then getting into politics, they're about as blue collar as politicians get.

I understand that perspective, but they're pretty much also the epitome of "career politician", are they not? The kind of "career politician" that people believe is bad for D.C., and for the American people.

They're also multimillionaires several times over. IMHO there's nothing wrong, really, with being a multimillionaire several times over. The Clintons have been so "isolated" from where they came from, that people don't believe them (as with most politicians) when they try to give the impression that they're "regular people", like us. And yes, both of them may have had humble upbringings, and may reference those, but I don't think they're genuine when they say that they haven't forgotten where they came from.

As far as Trump goes, if his net worth is indeed in the $10 billion range, that means he not only paid back that loan to his father, but increased that investment by ten thousand. That would be like taking a $10,000 loan and turning it into $100 million. That's a pretty darn good ROI, I don't care who you are.

[Anthony K. S.]

To those ignored, suffering people, Donald Trump is a brick chucked through the window of the elites. "Are you assholes listening now?"

Apparently, the number of people - men and women, white and POC - that feel ignored, neglected, disregarded by the eslablishment is a lot bigger than Democrats thought. Which kinda means that they've gotten fairly disconnected from the people who used to vote for them.

I have read David Wong's Op-Ed, and let me say this. Two things :

First, I think that Mr. Wong makes a very moving argument that a great deal more needs to be done to help the people in rural communities like the one he grew up in. Granting that everything he is saying is true, I can understand the anger and resentment that these towns are feeling after being pushed aside by career politicians for so long.

Second, there is something that I honestly feel is being glossed over here.

Hillary Clinton and the Democrats did not fail to win these people over. The Republican establishment did.

Here is what I mean by that :

Take a look at David Wong's description of the small towns that he is talking about.

"Conservative, evangelical Christians" ... Traditional values ... Viewing dependence on anyone, especially the government, as shameful ... Looking down on LGBT issues ... Being a "real man" means being able to repair your own car, patch your roof, hunt your own food, defend your home, haul firewood in your pickup truck ... The Church is the focal point of the entire community ...

All of this just screams one thing to me. Three words : Republican Base Voters.

When these towns supported Donald Trump, was that, as Mr. Wong puts it, a brick thrown through the windows of liberal elites? Undoubtedly. But may I point out, these people would have voted for the Republican nominee, even if it had been George Pataki.

Politically, everything from July to November is pretty much just a formality in these communities. What really set this year apart from previous Presidential elections, in these conservative towns, wasn't the general election. It was the GOP primary.

By supporting Donald Trump, first against establishment Republicans like Jeb Bush, Lindsey Graham, and John Kasich, and then against an entrenched liberal Democrat like Hillary Clinton, these communities were giving their middle finger to the entire political establishment, not just the Democrats alone.

I think that, if anything, the "Stop Trump" movement only fueled the passion of these towns to see Donald Trump as the GOP nominee. If the party's establishment didn't want Trump, then these voters did.

Has the Washington establishment fallen out of touch with their base constituents? Unquestionably. For Hillary Clinton, this can be seen in her campaign's failure to get Democrats to turn out to vote for her.

But just to be clear, it isn't the Democrats who have become disconnected from the rural communities that David Wong is speaking of. (They were never connected to them in the first place.) It's the Republican establishment.

But it does always strike me as a bit absurd that they can't just call it that and instead pretend that Trump is the voice of the common man.

There is precious little that I can find amusing about politics these days, but I still laugh whenever I think of how, when Sarah Palin endorsed Donald Trump in the Republican primary, she spoke of how Trump had "spent his life with the working man."

On the Daily Show, an incredulous Trevor Noah said :

"He spent his life with the working man? Telling him what to do! That's what she forgot to add in there!"

Some pundits are saying that Donald Trump will have tremendous power as President because his party controls both houses of Congress and will also be able to secure a majority of the Supreme Court. The thing is, this will only be true as long as the Republicans can hold together, and Donald Trump has accumulated an unusually long list of enemies in his own party.

I don't know if it will matter, but Trump is encountering some resistance now.

Rand Paul is opposing Trump's consideration of John Bolton and Rudy Giuliani for Secretary of State.

Paul claims that he could likely find two or three Republican Senators to join him. With the Senate split either 52-48 or 51-49 (depending on who wins the runoff on December 10 for the U.S. Senate seat from Louisiana), that would be enough to block either Bolton or Giuliani's appointments if the Democratic Senators are able to stand together in opposition as well.

[Anthony K. S.]

Oh, and by the way ... No surprise, Donald Trump has flip-flopped on the Electoral College.

Four years after calling it a "disaster for democracy," Trump is hailing it as "genius."

[Gravekeeper]

Yes, she said that; and no, people apparently didn't believe her. And why would they? How often have politicians promised that, or something to that effect?

That was not a promise. It was something she said in those supposedly scandalous private speeches that everyone insisted were a terrible controversy but no one actually ended up caring about the contents of after they were leaked.

But once more; the opposing candidate is a well documented near pathological liar that literally says ANYTHING he thinks people want to hear.

What I'm saying is: I get why people voted for him. He's not a Messias, not a figure of hope. He's a protest figure, someone who's different. Someone who is not one of the myriad of politicians who make the same promises every year, and never keep them. Yes, Trump is an asshole, who behaves horribly to people. But who exactly does he behave horribly to? Politicians, celebrities? The Elite that the "Deplorables" feel don't care about their welfare. So, why should the "Deplorables" care that their future President is shitty to them?

And again, I'm not debating why some people say they voted for him. I am debating why if they were going to protest vote they would vote for an absolutely terrible human being that is every quality they are protesting times ten and who is indeed immensely shitty to also them ( the working class ) as well as women and minorities.

Sure, if you're angry enough to throw a brick through a window you might not care if its covered in shit. But you should care that you just did it in broad daylight with all your friends and family watching and the house you pitched it into was your own. With your children inside.

Oh and I completely guarantee that the same folk who just protest voted to burn the country down are also going around complaining about the anti-Trump protesters.

[Kheldarson]

Oh and I completely guarantee that the same folk who just protest voted to burn the country down are also going around complaining about the anti-Trump protesters.

Speaking as a WVian, I can confirm this. The FB feeds for our local news stations are horrible.

[HYHYBT]

How is it not completely idiotic, if your complaint is that the system is broken, to vote for someone representing the party that deliberately broke it?

[Crazedclerkthe2nd]

T
Oh and I completely guarantee that the same folk who just protest voted to burn the country down are also going around complaining about the anti-Trump protesters.

Also the same people who viciously protested and attacked Obama for 8 years...

[CaptainJaneway]

Oh, and by the way ... No surprise, Donald Trump has flip-flopped on the Electoral College.

Four years after calling it a "disaster for democracy," Trump is hailing it as "genius."

He may change his tune if the electors decide to flip their votes and cast them for Hillary on December 19th. This maybe a historic event. Who knows? Everyone thought Hillary was going to win instead of the orange baby hands carrot.


If you want to email all the electors and try to persuade them to vote Hillary.
http://asktheelectors.org/

This is a list of all the electors by state.
http://heavy.com/news/2016/11/electo...rump-faithles/


This is the petition to sign to send to the electors. The have close to 4.5k signatures.
https://www.change.org/p/electoral-c...m_medium=email

[mjr]

literally says ANYTHING he thinks people want to hear.

Like a large majority of politicians already do?

[mjr]

He may change his tune if the electors decide to flip their votes and cast them for Hillary on December 19th. This maybe a historic event. Who knows? Everyone thought Hillary was going to win instead of the orange baby hands carrot.


If you want to email all the electors and try to persuade them to vote Hillary.
http://asktheelectors.org/

This is a list of all the electors by state.
http://heavy.com/news/2016/11/electo...rump-faithles/

This is the petition to sign to send to the electors. The have close to 4.5k signatures.
https://www.change.org/p/electoral-c...m_medium=email

Sorry, but this is simply a wishful thinking pipe dream.

[Greenday]

Sorry, but this is simply a wishful thinking pipe dream.

It's just as cute as those people who honest to God thought Sanders could still win the superdelegates after all the primaries happened.

[CaptainJaneway]

People want to stop this fascist dictator one way anorher. If this is the one way it can happen legally and somewhat peacedully then let us try. It cant hurt to try. I think all those people protesting Trump, signed and wrote letters to the electors they may sway them.

Those electors I am hoping have a conscience and see what Trump is doing to this county with his staff picks.

You already have one of them wanting a muslim registry and relating to the japanese interment camps. Ask George Takei how well the camps went over for his people.

I have been on this earth 44 years and I voted in most every election since I was allowed to legally vote at 18. This is the first time I have been afraid in my in life of the outcome from an election.

I fear for myself and for everyone once he becomes the actual president. We are going to be a very divided country. There is a war coming whether it is a race or civil war but something is coming and its not good.