Author Topic: Mr. Trump Goes to Washington  (Read 387927 times)

0 Members and 6 Guests are viewing this topic.

Offline Cloud3514

  • The Beast
  • *****
  • Posts: 1776
  • 404: Personal text not found.
Re: Mr. Trump Goes to Washington
« Reply #150 on: December 07, 2016, 04:43:18 pm »
So apparently Time named Trump as Person of the Year.

I should point out that Person of the Year is not necessarily an endorsement nor a condemnation. It is given to the person that Time thinks had the most historic impact of the year. And, yeah, I'd say that would be Trump.
Who needs a signature?

Offline Askold

  • Definitely not hiding a dark secret.
  • Global Moderator
  • The Beast
  • *****
  • Posts: 8358
  • Gender: Male
Re: Mr. Trump Goes to Washington
« Reply #151 on: December 07, 2016, 04:45:10 pm »
Yeah, that's why Hitler was also the person of the year. You can't deny that he had a huge impact on the world.
No matter what happens, no matter what my last words may end up being, I want everyone to claim that they were:
"If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine."
Aww, you guys rock. :)  I feel the love... and the pitchforks and torches.  Tingly!

Offline Lana Reverse

  • The Beast
  • *****
  • Posts: 978
  • Gender: Female
Re: Mr. Trump Goes to Washington
« Reply #152 on: December 07, 2016, 04:57:43 pm »
Yeah, that's why Hitler was also the person of the year. You can't deny that he had a huge impact on the world.

And Stalin was given the title twice. It's about significance, not goodness.
Beware those who hate the rich more than they love the poor.

Offline Id82

  • The Beast
  • *****
  • Posts: 1204
Re: Mr. Trump Goes to Washington
« Reply #153 on: December 07, 2016, 05:10:37 pm »
No doubt Trump will see it the other way around.
G.O.P
a  b r
s  s o
l   t   j
i   r  e
g  u c
h  c  t
t   t

Offline The_Queen

  • Royalty & Royalty-free
  • The Beast
  • *****
  • Posts: 1840
  • Gender: Female
  • And here we go...
Re: Mr. Trump Goes to Washington
« Reply #154 on: December 07, 2016, 06:46:14 pm »
Took a gander at Wikipedia's page on Trump's 2000 presidential bid. Makes for interesting reading.

For instance, Trump campaigned for universal health care, named Oprah Winfrey as his ideal running mate and called Pat Buchanan a "Hitler Lover".

I wonder if he really believes in anything, aside from making a quick exit with pockets full of suckers money that is.

I've recommended the book "The Authoritarians" before, but it explains the phenomenon. In essence, Trump is a social dominator who enjoys the power that comes from controlling others. These people really don't care much for policy or consistency, because it gets in the way of power, which they want. They are very likely to flip-flop because, again, power is more important to them than policy... That is until they get elected, then they just do whatever the fuck they want, because again, power!

If what I just said scares you, it should. You should be terrified. I mean shitting your pants scared. This book was written almost a decade ago, and it describes Trump, his followers, the increase in violence, and so many things we're seeing right now to a T.
Does anyone take Donald Trump seriously, anymore?

Offline Id82

  • The Beast
  • *****
  • Posts: 1204
Re: Mr. Trump Goes to Washington
« Reply #155 on: December 07, 2016, 08:08:08 pm »
Well fortunately the constitution doesn't allow Trump to become a dictator of the country. Political parties don't hang onto absolute power for long and I forsee a large gain of democrats in the house in senate in 2018. Mainly because history repeats itself.
G.O.P
a  b r
s  s o
l   t   j
i   r  e
g  u c
h  c  t
t   t

Offline dpareja

  • The Beast
  • *****
  • Posts: 5680
Re: Mr. Trump Goes to Washington
« Reply #156 on: December 07, 2016, 08:26:04 pm »
Well fortunately the constitution doesn't allow Trump to become a dictator of the country. Political parties don't hang onto absolute power for long and I forsee a large gain of democrats in the house in senate in 2018. Mainly because history repeats itself.

The House is gerrymandered all to hell, and it'll be even worse since the Voting Rights Act has been disemboweled (not that I'd expect any Justice Department headed by Jeff Sessions to enforce the VRA however strong its provisions might be). And the Senate map for 2018 has a huge number of Democratic incumbents, making it very difficult for them to make gains and very likely that they will lose seats.

For instance, do you really think the Dems could pick off any of Arizona, Mississippi, Nebraska, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, or Wyoming? That leaves only Nevada as being vulnerable on the Republican side, while on the Democratic side Florida, Indiana, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia are all vulnerable. Given the 2016 election, I could even see them threatened in Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.

The anti-Trump backlash would have to be amazingly strong to give the Democrats a majority in the Senate (since they'd need 2 seats even if they win the Louisiana runoff, thanks to Pence's tiebreaking vote), and I really only see one vulnerable Republican Senator. Meanwhile I see potentially twelve vulnerable Democratic Senators.

I am not sanguine about the Dems' prospects in 2018.
Quote from: Jordan Duram
It doesn't concern you, Sister, that kind of absolutist view of the universe? Right and wrong determined solely by a single all-knowing, all powerful being whose judgment cannot be questioned and in whose name the most horrendous acts can be sanctioned without appeal?

Quote from: Supreme Court of Canada
Being required by someone else’s religious beliefs to behave contrary to one’s sexual identity is degrading and disrespectful.

Offline The_Queen

  • Royalty & Royalty-free
  • The Beast
  • *****
  • Posts: 1840
  • Gender: Female
  • And here we go...
Re: Mr. Trump Goes to Washington
« Reply #157 on: December 07, 2016, 09:07:17 pm »
Well fortunately the constitution doesn't allow Trump to become a dictator of the country. Political parties don't hang onto absolute power for long and I forsee a large gain of democrats in the house in senate in 2018. Mainly because history repeats itself.

As a lawyer, that is pretty silly. Governments are only as strong as their institutions, which are only as strong as the norms that surround them. As George Bush is falsely accused to have said, "the Constitution is a piece of paper." The only thing really keeping Trump from trampling the Constitution is the Supreme Court, and Trump may appoint as many as three Justices, assuming he doesn't go full court-packing. That isn't even considering the federal appointments that he will make to the District Courts and Courts of Appeals, which will decide most cases (as SCoTUS has discretionary review). Then there is also the Jackson problem of "the Court made their decision, let them enforce it." In essence, I think it is the greatest example of American exceptionalism to think that we cannot fall prey to totalitarian regimes. None of this is to say that Trump absolutely will bring about totalitarianism, but to say that if you play with fire enough, eventually you will get burned. And this is the closest we have come to a totalitarian leader in our nation's history.

Also, the Weimar Republic had one of the most liberal and pro-civil rights constitutions of its time... and look what happened to it.
Does anyone take Donald Trump seriously, anymore?

Offline Cloud3514

  • The Beast
  • *****
  • Posts: 1776
  • 404: Personal text not found.
Re: Mr. Trump Goes to Washington
« Reply #158 on: December 08, 2016, 04:19:35 am »
The problem with assuming the constitution will prevent Trump and the Republican controlled (despite a 9-13% approval rating, just to show how fucked the system is) congress from going full on fascist is that that requires the checks and balances the system was designed to have to be working as intended. As it stands, within four years, there is a VERY good chance, I'd say more likely than not, that the entire federal government and the majority of state level governments will be under Republican control. The checks and balances are gone. We're in for a very rough probably four and likely eight years.
Who needs a signature?

Offline dpareja

  • The Beast
  • *****
  • Posts: 5680
Re: Mr. Trump Goes to Washington
« Reply #159 on: December 08, 2016, 04:54:24 am »
The problem with assuming the constitution will prevent Trump and the Republican controlled (despite a 9-13% approval rating, just to show how fucked the system is) congress from going full on fascist is that that requires the checks and balances the system was designed to have to be working as intended. As it stands, within four years, there is a VERY good chance, I'd say more likely than not, that the entire federal government and the majority of state level governments will be under Republican control. The checks and balances are gone. We're in for a very rough probably four and likely eight years.

Very good chance?

The Republicans control the Presidency. They control the House of Representatives. They control the Senate. They control the Governorship and both houses of the state legislature (the lone house for Nebraska) in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. They will control at least one of those bodies in Alaska, Colorado, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia.

They're already there.
Quote from: Jordan Duram
It doesn't concern you, Sister, that kind of absolutist view of the universe? Right and wrong determined solely by a single all-knowing, all powerful being whose judgment cannot be questioned and in whose name the most horrendous acts can be sanctioned without appeal?

Quote from: Supreme Court of Canada
Being required by someone else’s religious beliefs to behave contrary to one’s sexual identity is degrading and disrespectful.

Offline niam2023

  • The Beast
  • *****
  • Posts: 4213
  • Gender: Male
  • The Forum Chad
Re: Mr. Trump Goes to Washington
« Reply #160 on: December 08, 2016, 01:57:52 pm »
So, basically, if Trump wants to declare himself Eternal Super Fuhrer, all he needs to do is pass an amendment saying the following;

Donald J. Trump will never be removed from office, is Eternal Super Fuhrer, and there are no longer any elections.
Living Life, Lifting, Waiting for Summer

Offline RavynousHunter

  • Master Thief
  • The Beast
  • *****
  • Posts: 8108
  • Gender: Male
  • A man of no consequence.
    • My Twitter
Re: Mr. Trump Goes to Washington
« Reply #161 on: December 08, 2016, 10:26:04 pm »
And get two thirds of both parts of Congress to ratify it, which is borderline impossible.  Plus, the people can petition their state governments to pass another Amendment to undo it which, again, would require a two thirds majority in the resultant convention.

Trump won't take over and become our new emperor.  That's fearmongering bullshit and not how the god damned government works.  He'll be another Bush, Jr. and that's going to be pretty much it.
Quote from: Bra'tac
Life for the sake of life means nothing.

Offline Tolpuddle Martyr

  • The Beast
  • *****
  • Posts: 3716
  • Have you got thumbs? SHOW ME YOUR FUCKING THUMBS!
Re: Mr. Trump Goes to Washington
« Reply #162 on: December 09, 2016, 04:48:27 am »
He doesn't have to be God Emperor to do a shitton of damage. Bush Jr stuck America and it's allies in a a military mire that lasted longer than both world wars and led to the rise of ISIS.

Offline Askold

  • Definitely not hiding a dark secret.
  • Global Moderator
  • The Beast
  • *****
  • Posts: 8358
  • Gender: Male
Re: Mr. Trump Goes to Washington
« Reply #163 on: December 09, 2016, 05:42:47 am »
They also legalized torture in USA and kidnapped people without a trial. I find it sad that USA still hasn't done anything about that bit.
No matter what happens, no matter what my last words may end up being, I want everyone to claim that they were:
"If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine."
Aww, you guys rock. :)  I feel the love... and the pitchforks and torches.  Tingly!

Offline rookie

  • Miscreant, petty criminal, and all around nice guy
  • The Beast
  • *****
  • Posts: 2200
  • Gender: Male
Re: Mr. Trump Goes to Washington
« Reply #164 on: December 09, 2016, 01:03:14 pm »
They also legalized torture in USA and kidnapped people without a trial. I find it sad that USA still hasn't done anything about that bit.

We really can't do anything about it. The people who care have no power and the people with power seem to have no problem with it. We could maybe elect representatives who will promise to, idk, close down Gitmo. But really it'd be up to them to keep their promise.
The difference between 0 and 1 is infinite. The difference between 1 and a million is a matter of degree. - Zack Johnson

Quote from: davedan board=pg thread=6573 post=218058 time=1286247542
I'll stop eating beef lamb and pork the same day they start letting me eat vegetarians.