Maybe Mandarin Orange Mugabe will shriek and throw feces at the low ratings his inauguration gets.
Problem is, it will probably rate OK, as everyone, supporters or otherwise, will tune in to watch the train wreck. Regardless of low turn out, no performers, etc, Trump will tweet it was a resounding success with bigly huge ratings.
Of all the blatant corruption and conflicts-of-interest in Trump’s cabinet, it’s plagiarism of a PHD thesis that gets someone to resign? Really? I bet she didn’t really want the job.
I’m thinking of taking Inauguration Day off work and going skiing in the remotest place possible where I don’t get any cell signal. If anyone has a better idea I’m open to hearing them.
I had a vaguely optimistic thought last night. I was thinking about Trump lifting the sanctions against Russia and I thought to myself, “Maybe he’ll settle for that in the end.” What are the odds that he lifts the sanctions, waits for certain deals to go through, collects a very, very fat paycheck and then bails? “You guys don’t appreciate my greatness? Fine, I’m taking my toys and going home. Enjoy President Pence.”
By that point there’s going to be investigations up the wazoo, his approval ratings will be shit, his ego will be taking a beating and he;'ll realize that the job is hard work and he doesn’t want it. Take the money and run. “I beat them and now I’m beating them again by taking my greatness away from them.”
That’s probably wildly optimistic. But maybe?
Trump has hinted more than once that he wouldn’t actually go the distance - the offer Kasich got if he’d agree to be VP for one, or this article from the NYT back in July
On the one hand, it’s clear he has no interest in actually doing the hard, intellectually challenging job of President.
On the other hand, if he walks off the job then his opponents will cackle in triumph, and Trump is so driven by resentment and spite he may not be able to let that happen.
But yeah, I’ve pictured him flying off to Russia for a summit with Putin, only for Air Force One to return with no Trump.
He wants to lift sanctions against Russia. He’s saying NATO is obsolete. He criticizes everyone except Putin. Our President is a Russian plant. It’s like a crazy spy novel.
I have to think that if Manchurian Candidate was about Russian mole being the next President instead just an assassin, it would have been so implausible that nobody would have read the book or seen them movie.
Sometimes, truth is truly stranger than fiction.
Can the President lift sanctions all by himself? I had assumed that that was up to Congress. I don’t see even the GOP going for that.
The sanctions were imposed by executive order, so they can be lifted by it.
Having an unreliable at best, antagonistic at worst USA might make the EU change for the better? I think that’s the extent of my “optimism”.
How? The US brand of free market hyper-capitalism is toxic and inhumane. The EUs approach to workers rights, regulation and consumer protection is far superior. At a social level the US can provide little more than inequality and violence and murder as a way of life.
I don’t know if I would agree with your assessment of what the social level the US can provide is, but as for my comment, I don’t mean in a sense of becoming more like the US, but rather making it plain we can either make the EU work for the people, make it project that can resist the far rights of this world, or prepare to have the best possible deals from whatever imperial master each country will end up with…
If this isn’t optimism then I don’t know what is.
I doubt it.
Like I said, Trump has no real honor or ethics. He said some words… so what? He says lots of words. Then he says the opposite later, and no one gives a shit.
At best, he’ll just interpret it to mean what I said above… that everyone gets “insurance”, which ends up being some kind of garbage catastrophic coverage plan, little more than what folks had through ER care prior to the ACA.
At worst, he just pretends that he never said it.
What’s crazy is how Trump seems to be reining in the Republicans. How does this make sense? Getting rid of Trump unleashes the forces of deconstruction.
I agree with Timex. Nothing seems to matter anymore. If you challenge congress on what Trump said, they can just make a fart sound, give you the finger, and go do what they want anyway. All the people being fucked by losing their insurance will vote R again, or they’ll die, which is a-ok in the Conservative world view. If you’re not a productive member of society, if you’re a drag on the state, do the right thing and go die quietly.
So what of all those Republican Congressmen and Senators who were unable and unwilling to make a budget the last few years then? They were a drag on the state, can they go die quietly please?
All lies. The Washington Post is fake news.
LOL you think Paul Ryan is desperately rewriting his Everyone Can Go Fuck Themselves America health care plan based on a snippet of Trump saying something stupid?
And do you think Trump will care when he signs said plan?