Trump

[droid]

lol. Another twist. This may end up being tight.

 

[craner]

Jeepers.

 

[vimothy]

Hold tight.

 

[Leo]

weiner's revenge!

reports are it's unlikely the fbi will get to the bottom of these new emails before the election.

 

[craner]

The Curse of Craner

 

[droid]

Doesnt look like the emails are all that. I think it boils down to 3 messages, neither sent or seen by Clinton. Not that it matters. It would be funny if the FBI dig up some Trump goodies in Weiner's email.

Seen one poll that says the lead has slipped to 4 points, another that says its risen to 14. Cant see how Trump can swing it with the electoral college and vote distribution though.

Still. A reminder of how changeable the weather can be in this grotesque carnival.

 

[droid]

Im sure youve all read it, but...

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/election-update-the-fbi-is-back-this-time-with-anthony-weiner/

 

[Mr. Tea]

Perhaps I'm being dense here, but how does any of this implicate Clinton? Or does it not implicate her at all, but just harm her in a guilt-by-association manner, and by a sort of Pavlovian association of the words "Clinton", "emails" and "scandal"?

A reminder of how changeable the weather can be in this grotesque carnival.

The 'scary clown' phenomenon could hardly have arisen at a more fitting time.

 

[vimothy]

What happens to the GOP if Trump loses. Can they go back to business as usual, or do you think they will be permanently changed?

 

[Leo]

What happens to the GOP if Trump loses. Can they go back to business as usual, or do you think they will be permanently changed?

there will certainly be a period of dysfunction. trump emboldened the right-wing populous/nationalist base, and the elected representatives from that base (aka "the freedom caucus") could drive out paul ryan (who in their minds symbolizes the GOP washington establishment) as speaker of the house...and if not drive him out, then certainly make his life miserable, as they did for previous speaker john boehner.

there will be a lot of finger pointing on both sides as to who was responsible for losing a winnable election against a very flawed candidate (assuming clinton wins!). i don't think the GOP will permanently break into two parties, but it's safe to say it won't be back to the old business as usual immediately. the best indication of where things stand will be the results in the next round of house and senate races in 2018, see which side -- freedom caucus or traditional establishment GOP -- has more success in the election.

 

[vimothy]

My view is that Trump is more of an effect than a cause. None of the (social) factors that have brought this about will go away just because Trump does, but it's not a given that the GOP mainstream needs to pay them much heed in the near-term, particularly if Trump loses by a big margin.

 

[Leo]

there's still a chance the freedom caucus will act as an obstructionist element within congress, regardless of what the GOP establishment does....particularly if they are egged on by trump TV broadcasts.

 

[vimothy]

There was an interesting article in The Conversation recently, summarizing some research into "Donald Trump and the rise of white identity":

Many political commentators credit Donald Trump’s rise to white voters’ antipathy toward racial and ethnic minorities. However, we believe this focus on racial resentment obscures another important aspect of racial thinking.

In a study of white Americans’ attitudes and candidate preferences, we found that Trump’s success reflects the rise of “white identity politics” – an attempt to protect the collective interests of white voters via the ballot box. Whereas racial prejudice refers to animosity toward other racial groups, white identity reflects a sense of connection to fellow white Americans...

[O]ur data provide some of the clearest evidence that ongoing demographic changes in the United States are increasing white racial identity. White identity, in turn, is pushing white Americans to support Trump.

When we talk about white identity, we’re not referring to the alt-right fringe, the white nationalist movement or others who espouse racist beliefs. Rather, we’re talking about everyday white Americans who, perhaps for the first time, are racially conscious.

The concept of “garden variety” white racial identity stands in contrast to conventional wisdom. In the last three decades of scholarship on whiteness as a race, the prevailing view has been that most whites fail to notice their own whiteness. In a society dominated by white people, whiteness simply fades into the background. Just as fish fail to notice the water around them, whites are unlikely to think about how they are members of a distinct group.

Our research shows that the era of “white invisibility” is coming to a close.

Non-Hispanic whites are projected to become a minority in the year 2044. This increasing diversity across the country is making whites’ own race harder and harder to ignore. Political and social phenomena, from Barack Obama’s presidency to the Black Lives Matter movement, are making whiteness even more salient to white Americans.

https://theconversation.com/donald-trump-and-the-rise-of-white-identity-in-politics-67037

 

[Leo]

interesting inside look from ny mag

“Paul Manafort didn’t understand him,” a longtime Trump confidant told me. “Trump is going to do whatever the fuck he wants. You have to trick him into doing what you want.”

No one understands this better than Manafort’s successors. To hear Kellyanne Conway talk about managing her boss is to listen to a mother of four who has had ample experience with unruly toddlers. Instead of criticizing Trump’s angry tweets, for instance, she suggested that he also include a few positive ones. “You had these people saying, ‘Delete the app! Stop tweeting!’ ” she recalled. “I would say, ‘Here are a couple of cool things we should tweet today.’ It’s like saying to someone, ‘How about having two brownies and not six?’ ”

Another way Ivanka has tried to exert influence on the campaign is by positioning Kushner to all but run it. “You have to remember something: Jared is the final decision-maker,” a senior adviser said — except, he noted, when Trump is. Trump and his son-in-law are by all appearances close. “Jared is a brilliant young man,” Trump told me. Kushner, a lifelong Democrat, declined to comment, but a Republican close to the campaign said of his feelings: “Jared doesn’t look at supporting the campaign as taking a philosophical position. He’s opportunistic.”

In recent weeks, the mood at Trump Tower has veered between despair and denial—with a hit of resurgent glee when the news broke that the FBI was looking into more of Clinton’s emails. When I asked one senior Trump adviser to describe the scene inside, he responded: “Think of the bunker right before Hitler killed himself. Donald’s in denial. They’re all in denial.” (As Times columnist Ross Douthat put it, in a tweet, “In Trumpworld as Hitler’s Bunker terms,” the FBI investigation is “like when Goebbels thought FDR’s death would save the Nazi regime.”)

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/10/trump-campaign-final-days.html

 

[Corpsey]

Can someone explain to me why the FBI would want to have Trump in charge?

 

[firefinga]

Can someone explain to me why the FBI would want to have Trump in charge?

All speculative of course, but I'd say with the predisposition of FBI-types to be rather right wing leaning in their personal political views it makes sense those people rather have NOT a female Democrat prez (How little those two things mean in actual policies, just look at Thatcher who was said to be a woman but hardly showed those traits widely attributed to females like warmth, compassion etc. - which a personal sidenote: are more myth than reality anyways).

So I'd say it's more a NOT Hillary and less of YAY TRUMP thing to leak that stuff just about NOW.

 

[Corpsey]

I see the right-wing in American politics as demanding less governmental intervention in peoples' lives, which I wouldn't have thought squares with the FBI's MO. And isn't Hillary the sworn enemy of Julian Assange?

 

[firefinga]

I see the right-wing in American politics as demanding less governmental intervention in peoples' lives, which I wouldn't have thought squares with the FBI's MO. And isn't Hillary the sworn enemy of Julian Assange?

That's what the right wing wants you to believe - theywant NO governmental intervention in THEIR OWN people's lives, but the more so into others - the lefty-treehugger-fags kind of people can never have enough being looked into.

and regarding Assange - that is one creepy person it there ever was one. Saw him not too long ago in a live TV debate. Came across as a very creepy geezer, but that's just me.

 

[Corpsey]

Perhaps if Trump is allowed to carry out his draconian measures in the pursuit of 'security' the FBI will get more funding than under Hillary?

 

[firefinga]

Perhaps if Trump is allowed to carry out his draconian measures in the pursuit of 'security' the FBI will get more funding than under Hillary?

A possible motive, but then I still suspect the reason lies within the right wing mindset of people working for organisations like the FBI. After all, this is a common theme within western countries - secretly collected data via their domestic intelligence services on leftist/liberal politicians etc. Happened in Italy, Germany, France, Austria and so on.