Reaction to Trump winning the 2016 US Presidential Election

[StatGuy2000]

Hi everyone! I know that the Election Day thread has now been locked by the moderators, but I felt I had to respond to Donald Trump winning the 2016 US Presidential Election.

I had a swirl of emotions floating inside of me, from shock (despite knowing that there was a reasonable chance that Trump could win the election), disbelief, bewilderment, horror, anger, outrage, disgust, and sadness.

I did see a few reactions from some PF members, but I wanted to ask what the reactions were more broadly from others.

 

[Averagesupernova]

I have no reaction per se, but I want to share that one of my facebook friends (long ago acquaintance) is for Trump. She used to be a stripper. Go figure...

 

[DiracPool]

I wanted to ask what the reactions were more broadly from others.

It's amazing how naive and stupid humans can be. That's my take on it. I was talking to a crying girl at a pub in Massachusetts last night and told her not to fret because the reality is most people are existentially deeply dissatisfied with their lives and positions and place in society, regardless of the brave eminence front they put on. So, regardless of how groovy things may be currently, human nature is always going to be that the grass is greener on the other side.

The empirical evidence for this speculation is the fact that the political party in the white house flip flops pretty much every 8 years. Look it up.

The problem here is that, now you you have a megalomaniac with a mandate. He's frighteningly unpredictable. We just have to hope that he keeps it together.

 

[AaronK]

This election really seems to have been a populist uprising from the very beginning if you really think on it. Many American voters are discouraged by the current political architecture and the apparent corruption and cronyism among the US government. For many, it feels as though "elites" in places like Washington and elsewhere are directing policy and law towards their own interests, and ostensibly to the detriment of the average middle/lower-class American, of which the vast majority of voters is constituted. With that popular social/political climate in mind, I personally feel it was therefore a mistake on the part of the mainstream democratic establishment to push Hillary Clinton as the main player for the presidency.

She is an invariably flawed candidate (and I write that with sober awareness of how much worse Trump is than her as a potential President). I think that if Bernie Sanders or even Joe Biden ran in place of her (or Elizabeth Warren if she'd decided to run), they would have had a far better chance of defeating Trump and protecting the Presidency from a complete ignoramus.

As for my reaction--I suppose I feel numb. This entire situation just seems surreal to me; I don't quite know what to feel, except for deep uncertainty. Just the idea of a person like Trump having direct access to the nuclear biscuit, and the ability to launch any number of our tactical warheads with the seconded confirmation of whoever he decides to appoint Secretary of Defense, as per the two-man rule--well, it frankly disturbs me to think about it. Here's hoping the next 4 years don't bring our civilization to ruin.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Sickening overwhelm and dread.

 

[gleem]

It is his unpredictability that bothers me most. He has used hyperbole extensively sometime acknowledging it as such and sometime not. leaving us to guess regarding his intents or meanings. I do not fear his behavior for initiating a conflict as much of causing others to wrongly interpret statements or actions, For example what might have been inferred when Sec of State Dean Acheson omitted the Korean peninsula as a part of our defense perimeter in a speech to the National Press Club in Jan 1950. South Korea was attacked in June.

I am also concerned about his advisors. Will he encourage true discourse and seek/follow sound advice or not? Does he know what sound advice is? Will they stand up to any aberrant plans he might propose.

Not much has been said of his company what how it will be managed to eliminate conflict of interest.

Lots of unknowns folks lots of unknowns.

 

[Monsterboy]

As Trump gets busy building the wall along the Mexican border, Canadians might want one too to stop Americans ! HaHa

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-37921376

 

[Astronuc]

We live in interesting times.


Interestingly, Clinton is ahead in the popular vote by about 190,000 as of noon EST.

59,445,467 votes (47.7%) - Clinton
59,251,810 votes (47.5%) - Trump

but she lost in several swing states by several percentage points.

 

[Monsterboy]

Not much of a surprise for me , i knew something ugly was cooking behind the scenes and that things are going to be similar to Brexit i.e anti-establishment sentiments.

 

[gleem]

Why the polls where wrong. People polled didn't vote. The large unexpected turnout of rural voter - farmers traditionally republican. Only about 58% of eligible voters voted 28th out of 34 major countries.

You hear many times that my vote won't make a difference. To be sure that is true if you do not use it.

 

[HossamCFD]

I'm quite gutted. I can't believe the world will have to deal with his statements on a regular basis now, let alone his decisions, though I still have no idea what those could be. It's hard to distinguish the things he wants to actually do from the things he said just to win the election.

To be perfectly honest, part of me wanted the Democratic party to pay a price for mishandling Bernie. But I haven't fully realized what that price would mean until now.

 

[jtbell]

Thread provisionally closed until @Evo can render a verdict on it.

 

[Evo]

Thread will remain closed.