In the unlikely event that Trump wins, how will you react?

it's sort of a grim compulsion at this point tbh k3v, there's other stuff i should be thinking about instead.

i think introducing americans to muslims would be important, too. ive encountered a great deal of islamophobia from my students and when ive asked, most have never even met a muslim before and i realized literally every encounter with muslims and islam is through tv/film/media and it is 99% of the time something to do with terrorism. so some activism around that seems necessary.

idk, this idea is just depressing to me. i saw a truck with a trump sticker outside the office depot i went to this week and what appeared to be a bunch of white nationalist shit (couldnt tell, was passing it by). its right across from an indian cafe, a halal market, and a taqueria.

a friend of mine from childhood recently had a picture of his go viral. he was the first sikh to play with a turban in the ncaa and some shithead made an anti-mulsim "comedy" meme from it. another friend made a big post about how fucked up it was on FB and THAT shit went viral, too.

should say first sikh to play in ncaa basketball with a turban

I will fume. I will whine. I will complain. I will seek whatever weak-assed revenge is available to me at every opportunity. Unless he turns out to be far better than expected, because who the fuck knows what a President Trump would do? He's utterly baffling, apart from his constant, visceral, hourly need for attention.

What would happen if, at the 11th hour, he erupted in a hideous rictus grin, and told everyone they were a bunch of idiotic fools who fell for his long game troll, that he hadnt even made any policy outlines (because cmon.. he hasnt, has he?) and that he cant believe it all worked so well.

And then drops his greasy lil mic and buggers off.

...I.... kind of want that to happen?

And then drops his greasy lil mic and buggers off.

to the obscurity he's always craved

Not a yank; observe with terror from afar.

Trump will not destroy America. People who are afraid he will are the exact mirror image of people who are afraid "militant Islamic terrorism" poses an "existential threat" - as in, they will somehow defeat the world's largest military and we will become an Islamic theocracy. The post above, about "a truck with a trump sticker...and what appeared to be a bunch of white nationalist shit" perfectly encapsulates the hallucinatory nature of the Trump "threat." Who's got more real power in America? Guys with bumper stickers on their trucks, or the owners of "an indian cafe, a halal market, and a taqueria." I really think we should long ago have replaced "In God We Trust" with Coolidge's "The Business Of America Is Business" on our money. This country is not going anywhere, and it's not going to suddenly replace money worship with some other ideology. Will there be isolated ugly incidents? Yeah, just like every other day of this country's history since its founding. After four years of Trump being unable to focus on a single insane idea for more than the length of a sentence, never mind get anything through what will become a breathtakingly do-nothing Congress, he will vanish from office and we'll have a new President We're Most Ashamed Of/Sorry About (current rankings: W., then Nixon, then I don't know, Harding or Fillmore or somebody).

Other. Point and laugh at any Americans I happen to meet.

I don't think the terrifying craziness is going to be contained within the borders of the US.

"Trump will not destroy America" is technically true in the way that "humans will not destroy the planet" is technically true. Meaning he will simply render America uninhabitable.

And, yes, I'd think even people outside of the US would also be hoping like mad that we don't collectivelly lose our minds in November.

"Trump will not destroy America" is technically true in the way that "humans will not destroy the planet" is technically true. Meaning he will simply render America uninhabitable.

He won't even do that, though, IMO. He'll render the Presidency a cartoonish figurehead position like the British monarchy, is all. Everything he tries to do will either die in Congress or be stymied by the Supreme Court for blatant unconstitutionality and/or defiance of the laws of physics and logic.

I do still think there's some long con in play here. Maybe not on the order of Trayce's 'I cannot believe you suckers bought it!' but something. I can see him trying to make money off of the presidency and failing and sulking for the rest of his term and threatening to sue everyone in America.

he's just going to rename the position "Champion of Earth" and then accomplish nothing for 2.5 years until he is removed from office for making fun of Ban Ki-Moon during a live broadcast

Not sure if you might've skipped a few days in class, 誤訳侮辱, but the parallels that some are seeing with Trump (and the shit he's stirring up that would survive him), are not generally on the other side of the fence from the military?

Not sure if you might've skipped a few days in class, 誤訳侮辱, but the parallels that some are seeing with Trump (and the shit he's stirring up that would survive him), are not generally on the other side of the fence from the military?

This sentence is too glib to make any actual sense to me. Not joking. Could you rephrase in clearer, more declarative language?

yeah what is this "some are seeing" stuff?

blind ppl for Trump

i have the visa he wants to get rid of, so i guess i'll be off

what he's saying is that both Trump people and military people are total Nazis.

or perhaps very racist country folk that dropped out of primary school and think their needs are being neglected (which they are, because their needs are stupid)

Oh, you mean an Executive Action-style coup? Ain't happening. Our GOP friends are too stupid.

I think the occupation of the federal reserve is about the most successful we will see any resistance.

still doesn't make the concept of a Trump-led US less frightening, but....

this is a thread for the hilarious ways we will react to Trump's alternate reality presidency!

Sorry about that. I agree that the idea that Radical Islam is any kind of threat to the US is ridiculous, for the reasons you give. But I don't that the threat that Trump represents is similar, or at least not similar enough to be dismissed the same way.

He's bringing to the surface rank racism and bigotry, focussed through a fascist ideology - he is the great man, the things he does are great, others are inferior, and can be ignored because of that. It looks ridiculous to us because he looks ridiculous to us - we aren't his audience, we aren't looking for a simple solution.

But crucially this is an ideology which isn't incompatible to the military, which needs and frequently gets the military as its core support. I'm not saying it's going to work, but it's not going to fail because of opposing the World's Greatest Military.

The "will survive him" line is because I am honestly undecided (and don't much care) whether Donald Trump is himself a fascist or a world-class opportunist.

I appreciate the dark lols that the Republican party is now being eaten by the people they've been feeding fear and guns to for the last 20 years, and who have no actual taste for sober Conservative Values. But those people are still there, and they know there's a lot of them too. The same way that people say about Bernie "Well, this will mean nothing if we don't build a movement", someone out there is saying the same about Trump.

He's bringing to the surface rank racism and bigotry, focussed through a fascist ideology - he is the great man, the things he does are great, others are inferior, and can be ignored because of that.

The problem here is that you're viewing this entirely through the prism of politics. Trump, I believe, is viewing it more through the prism of showbiz. Remember, he didn't just run The Apprentice and Celebrity Apprentice for years; he also had a long association with professional wrestling. To him, it's all about twirling on haters. Trump is a fascist the way Beyonce is a revolutionary.

Also, the US military is probably the single most racially integrated sector of American society. If you think of the US Army as some kind of skinhead force that's gonna line up behind a racist dictator, you've never actually seen a photo of the average Army unit. (Stats here; note that they're weird because the military doesn't separate out Latinos as their own group, for some reason.)

it is an ugly thing for sure, but on the other hand, part of me appreciates Trump for exposing what much of the right truly believes without dancing around it (which comes as no surprise to us here, but moreso to the general ignorati "undecided voters").

i'll stick around and do what i can to help the people who get screwed under a trump presidency

build some ladders to get over the wall and whatnot

xxpost

actually I am planning to create this popular video game, a puzzle game called "Wallbreakers", where innocent civilians think all they're doing is playing a game. but secretly this game will be connected to top secret drone robots who will actually mimick the players' activities and punch holes in the wall on their command.

boom, wall down, video game becomes most popular app, I become rich, it's win win

He's a captialist and an opportunist. Trump believes in Trump, full stop. I kinda think he isn't really a fascist any more than he's really a republican or really a Christian. It's all just mealy-mouthed, half-calculated bullshit. But he clearly doesn't have to be a true believer to stir up the people who are and to give them someone to rally around.

I still love that he read a passage from the Bible during a speech, from "Two Corinthians" instead of "2nd Corinthians". then blamed the guy who wrote it down for him

I honestly can't believe a single Christian actually believes a word he says about Christianity. It's all so nakedly disingenuous and, one would think, insulting.

ehh, there's Christians and there's conservative-molded Christianity.

the Fundamentalists I spent time with in high school were conservatives, don't get me wrong, but they would have seen Trump for a phony immediately. they were much more taken with Dubya, who for all of his failings as a politician, at least was a passable man of God.

Trump's supporters are people who remember God from Sunday School, haven't been in years, yet protect their 'faith' like a tigress when they feel it is threatened.

and then there's those who gravitated towards it because misreads of scripture legitimized their xenophobia/homophobia etc.

tl;dr - fuck God.

this may come as a shock to you, but god...is actually bad

he also had a long association with professional wrestling

Did not know this! Got me thinking about a Trump Corgan ticket now.

(誤訳侮辱), I agree the worries about Trump are a little overblown, including my own. But look at the things that have happened inspired by Trump: homeless immigrant beaten, armed "counter-protestors" showing up to people protesting getting murdered by police, armed idiots stationing themselves outside mosques. Not to mention all of the mass shootings that have happened using the same language, and coming from people who share the same ideology, as Trump. The climate in this country is pretty tense right now, and with the direction technology and the economy is going, that situation is probably only going to get worse.

And who's to say pragmatist neocons won't be like "OK, looks like we'll have to work with Trump here" and Trump may be like "I have no idea what I'm doing, so I'm going to hook up with the powers that be that are already here." Because that would seem like a pretty sensible move to me, and we've seen what these people are capable of. Trump falls along a worrying spectrum of mass shooters, violent racists, religious fanatics, and warmongers, and if you've looked at what's been happening around here recently, these things are getting serious.

Maybe it's trauma from the Bush administration. The worst case scenario for that guy was not only met, but exceeded handsomely. Trump looks like he's overwhelmingly unpopular among most Americans, so I doubt he'll become President, and if he did, that he'd be able to do any major damage. But you have to admit it's pretty fucked this guy has gotten this far already.

But you're assuming he has a chance of winning the presidency.

this may come as a shock to you, but god...is actually bad

― ciderpress, Monday, February 29, 2016 9:57 AM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

bro I quit church years ago for that reason, yer preaching to the choir.

I think unless you're a certainty junkie like Shakey, it's inarguable that he has a chance of winning it.

Maybe it's trauma from the Bush administration. The worst case scenario for that guy was not only met, but exceeded handsomely. Trump looks like he's overwhelmingly unpopular among most Americans, so I doubt he'll become President, and if he did, that he'd be able to do any major damage. But you have to admit it's pretty fucked this guy has gotten this far already.

― larry appleton, Monday, February 29, 2016 9:59 AM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah but Bush had a lot of things working in his advantage, namely:

*Supreme Court blocking recount
*a country fatigued of Clinton politics who saw Gore as an extension of them
*the general public thinking Gore was an asshole for things like his attempt to intimidate Bush during the debate
*Nader siphoning away some votes

etc etc

as much as the Repubs hate Hilary, many of them hate Trump more. I'm trying to imagine someone on the Democratic ticket that would infuriate us to this degree and I'm drawing a blank. like maybe a cloned Che Guevara? (and even then college kids would be cumming all over him)

Nader.

Honestly, I think fear of Trump betrays a real ignorance of US history. I hate to get all Ta-Nehisi Coates here, but we have always been a country of "mass shooters, violent racists, religious fanatics, and warmongers," even as we have also always been a country of ambitious immigrants and people who marry outside their race or ethnicity. And I genuinely don't think it's getting any worse.

xxpost of course he has a chance as in "anything is possible", but how is he going to carry the minority vote he needs to win? if they stay home, maybe, but uhhh I think his candidacy would have the opposite effect.

everybody's viewing Trump's success through the blinders of a primary housing lots of like-minded people, he isn't battle-ready for the rigors of a general election yet though. he even showed frustration ("just stop it!") with Rubio's light barbs.

I half expect he'd have a Cartman "Faith Plus One" sized tantrum at the third or fourth general debate.

I voted Nader btw - :(

Honestly, I think fear of Trump betrays a real ignorance of US history. I hate to get all Ta-Nehisi Coates here, but we have always been a country of "mass shooters, violent racists, religious fanatics, and warmongers," even as we have also always been a country of ambitious immigrants and people who marry outside their race or ethnicity. And I genuinely don't think it's getting any worse.

― the top man in the language department (誤訳侮辱), Monday, February 29, 2016 3:08 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

So you're saying conditions and circumstances never affect anything in the present, because something was "always this way"? If that was a way to look at problems, we'd never have to do anything.

I don't think it will happen of course, but I think/hope that the nation would probably survive Trump's election. It's survived a lot, after all.

Most activities would continue as normal - most of us would just keep going to our jobs, buying our groceries, loving our children, tending our gardens.

If more people are downtrodden in the new regime, then I hope that people of good will will continue to work to reduce their misery (many of them already do so). That should be true of the downtrodden both here and abroad. If/when His Orangeness decides to wreak havoc on innocents - innocents anywhere - I hope even the expatriate antiTrumpers would still help out rather than saying "I'm in Canada now so fuck y'all, not my problem."

Now to government.

Caveat: I am not a political operator and I don't work for the government, but I've lived inside the Beltway for 40 years, and worked in and around Washington for 20.

When people say "D.C." or "THOSE PEOPLE in Washington" or "the government" or "bureaucrats," they're talking about my friends, my customers, my colleagues, my neighbors, my family. They're everyone's favorite punching bag, and it's been years since I heard anyone say anything nice about them.

The actual President is like one-two-hundred-thousandth of the government. There is a solid professional core of the Executive Branch that is fairly diverse, generally liberal, mostly well-intentioned, and 100% human. That means they fuck up sometimes, at about the same rate as private-sector humans (in my experience). That core has trembled as the new right-wing politics has risen, but the last time I checked it was still there, still trying to do its job as best it could by its own lights.

MOSTLY they just keep doing their jobs. Sometimes politics leaks in: In the year of our lord 2000 or so, I had a contract job for HHS: edit a book about the history of women's health. All went fine and it was about to go to press, and the incoming HHS secretary - Tommy Thompson - got wind of the project. His staff directed us to remove any mention of birth control, abortion, and lesbians from the book. It became much slimmer.

A Trump administration will probably have more effect on the basic functions of governance than the incoming Bush administration did, but less than a rabid TeaHadi "close five departments on day one!!!!" administration would.

if the next president reigns [sic] 8 years, it is v likely the land will be much further on its way to uninhabitable no matter who it is (i don't exempt Sanders)

nobody is going to move to canada
trump is an asshole a racist sexist shitbag but probably wouldn't be any worse than GWB, possibly better in some ways
no wall is going to happen
also he won't win but i realize this thread is just talking abotu the hypothetical