Predictions for a Trump presidency

[kristina]

Congress is filled with men with egos the size of a small planet, men who revel in influence and power.  How will the President-Elect change this dynamic?

Trump?   The man is the definition of ego personified.

... That is exactly what I feel as well... plus, Mr. Trump is definitely a very good and very well versed showman... So, the people which are concerning me most of all are the people who hide behind this showman, because I very much doubt they mean well with the American people ...

[PrimeTimer]

I recently read an article written by a retired Army officer describing similarities between the Spanish Civil War and what is happening now. I believe he could be right. He added that Trump has got to be more than ready to deal with this. On the world stage I think it is more important than ever to stand behind the POTUS, whether you voted for him or not. Strength in numbers...to avoid the evils that may befall us.   

[kitkatz]

A post was reported from here.  Seriously folks. Get your big kid panties on if you post in here.  It is not moderated.  Good luck.


kitkatz-Admin

[Simon Dog]

What do you mean by "reported from here"?  Did some feds demand an IP address from the admin or serve you with a national security letter?

[Michael Murphy]

No I some moron said some things that I found offensive, and oddly enough about my mother.  I did not realize we were allowed to reply with the same type of comments.  My bad,  howevever it shows the mentality of Trump supporters to follow the man who made personal remarks about any one who appeared critical of him.  For some reason the people who have disrespected the Obama presidency feel we have to sing kumbaya and join hands to rejoice in the Trump election.   Nope no way,  the ground rules have been set over the last 8 years of Republican bigotry and obstruction.  It still continues Trumps New York chaairman just made some incredibly racist remark about Obama and his wife.  Not a peep from Trump,  the only one to condemn the cretin was his son.  To quote Sonny from The Godfather ," It's time to take to the mattresses".   It won't be pretty but it sure will be fun.

[kitkatz]

I said: I refuse to moderate the political discussions area. If you decide the get into it with someone else over here, keep it civil, but please do not report posts.

kitkatz,Admin

[MooseMom]

No I some moron said some things that I found offensive, and oddly enough about my mother. 

What?

[MooseMom]

I said: I refuse to moderate the political discussions area. If you decide the get into it with someone else over here, keep it civil, but please do not report posts.

kitkatz,Admin

Oh deary me.  Sorry someone bothered you, kitkatz.  Not cool.

[Athena]

An astrologer in a local paper has predicted that Donald Trump will be a great President & his cabinet the best the country has experienced in years! Personally, I have always felt this will be the case & cannot wait for the 20th January. (Yes, I'm well aware of the perils of reading newspaper astrologists, btw )

[KarenInWA]

An astrologer in a local paper has predicted that Donald Trump will be a great President & his cabinet the best the country has experienced in years! Personally, I have always felt this will be the case & cannot wait for the 20th January. (Yes, I'm well aware of the perils of reading newspaper astrologists, btw )

I have a hard time with thinking that something that is so reminiscent of Nazi Germany can be considered "the best the country has experienced in years!" Sounds more like a "Horror-scope" to me....

KarenInWA

[willowtreewren]

An astrologer in a local paper has predicted that Donald Trump will be a great President & his cabinet the best the country has experienced in years! Personally, I have always felt this will be the case & cannot wait for the 20th January. (Yes, I'm well aware of the perils of reading newspaper astrologists, btw )

I have a hard time with thinking that something that is so reminiscent of Nazi Germany can be considered "the best the country has experienced in years!" Sounds more like a "Horror-scope" to me....

KarenInWA

Exactly my feelings, Karen. He definitely "drained the swamp" by putting them in his cabinet. These will be interesting times. Let's see how many foreign powers he manages to offend (besides Russia, who we know he wants to cozy up to!). And with his immature temperament and his finger on the button, no telling what will happen. I'm not sure I want the times to be THAT interesting! 

Aleta

[MooseMom]

You know, it is Christmas Day, and the last thing I want to be thinking about is our partisan politics.  But truth be told, these past few months have been hard for my family for various reasons that are irrelevant here, and I am not in the best of spirits.

A Trump presidency frightens me, and I don't want to be frightened.  I am truly anxious about our country's future.  You can call me a sore loser if you want, but honestly, that's not it.  I feel really worried and scared, and I have so far seen nothing yet to console me.

I am hoping that once Trump is actually President, things will find some sense of balance, and we can get on with it.  But that's still a month away and does not help to decrease my anxiety level.

So in the spirit of Christmas, I respectfully ask those of you who support Trump to please give me some morsels of hope.  Please tell me why it "won't be so bad".  Please don't say stuff like, "He's going to make America great again."  If you DO want to say that, please tell me how you believe he will do that.  Please show me how he can be MY president, too.  Tell me what he is going to do for me, someone who is on the more liberal side of the spectrum.  How is going to make MY life better?  How is he going to ensure MY financial and economic security?  How is he going to help ME as I get older?  How is he going to protect MY access to health care?  How is going to treat the people I care about who are gay?  How is going to make it harder for ME to be shot by some nutjob with a gun?  How is he going to keep MY country from becoming isolationist?

Seriously, I would SO appreciate some reassurance.  I really want our country to be successful, and I am so very worried.  I really need y'all's help!

Thank you.  Really, thank you!

I'm still awaiting a response to THIS.  Athena?  People are dancing in the streets in your country, so maybe you can tell me why.  Anyone have any reassuring words of comfort?

[kickingandscreaming]

Don't hold your breath, MM.

[Athena]

You know, it is Christmas Day, and the last thing I want to be thinking about is our partisan politics.  But truth be told, these past few months have been hard for my family for various reasons that are irrelevant here, and I am not in the best of spirits.

A Trump presidency frightens me, and I don't want to be frightened.  I am truly anxious about our country's future.  You can call me a sore loser if you want, but honestly, that's not it.  I feel really worried and scared, and I have so far seen nothing yet to console me.

I am hoping that once Trump is actually President, things will find some sense of balance, and we can get on with it.  But that's still a month away and does not help to decrease my anxiety level.

So in the spirit of Christmas, I respectfully ask those of you who support Trump to please give me some morsels of hope.  Please tell me why it "won't be so bad".  Please don't say stuff like, "He's going to make America great again."  If you DO want to say that, please tell me how you believe he will do that.  Please show me how he can be MY president, too.  Tell me what he is going to do for me, someone who is on the more liberal side of the spectrum.  How is going to make MY life better?  How is he going to ensure MY financial and economic security?  How is he going to help ME as I get older?  How is he going to protect MY access to health care?  How is going to treat the people I care about who are gay?  How is going to make it harder for ME to be shot by some nutjob with a gun?  How is he going to keep MY country from becoming isolationist?

Seriously, I would SO appreciate some reassurance.  I really want our country to be successful, and I am so very worried.  I really need y'all's help!

Thank you.  Really, thank you!

I'm still awaiting a response to THIS.  Athena?  People are dancing in the streets in your country, so maybe you can tell me why.  Anyone have any reassuring words of comfort?

Moosemum, I wasn't aware that you were actually waiting for a response from anyone, much less from me. I cannot possibly imagine what words of reassurance I could offer you right now. Except to say, that we here in my country now appear to be dancing in the streets because of all the New Year celebrations, not because of anything else (that was a joke!). My last post about a newspaper astrological prediction was meant to be as light-hearted & humourous as it was corny. It was not meant to exacerbate anyone's stress.

You really do sound quite anxious and worried and that is a pretty sad thing. I wish I could transfer some of our enthusiasm and optimism about the side that actually won onto you now & anybody else who may be worried. But that is impossible because our minds are all locked into believing what we have already decided to believe will happen. And nobody really knows with 100% certainty what will happen - whether it be our side or the 'wrong side' had won. If it had been the 'wrong side' that had won (from my perspective), I'd be now putting all my energy into restoring my faith and trust in that leadership ... Which is a simple, universal coping mechanism.

We are all united by our common medical concerns and for me personally, I like to focus on things that take me away from the reality of being a medical patient - which non-medical economic/political/social affairs enables me to do. And that is the sole basis for my participation in this particular thread.

I hope you can find anything at all in the current situation that can give you some comfort and reassurance. There has to be something, surely?

[MooseMom]

Athena, no, I can't find anything reassuring at all, and that's why I am asking.  It's a genuine question because my worries are genuine and are also pretty profound.

You've said that you and your fellow countrymen are optimistic and enthusiastic.  Can you tell me why, and can you give me specifics? 

Do you have a national health service where you live?  How do people pay for their dialysis treatments?

If ANYONE can list reasons that I should be happy and optimistic, I truly would be grateful.  Today I was listening to the radio and heard how Paul Ryan, et al aim to dismantle Medicare and Social Security.  I had to turn it off.  I ended up with a stonking great headache.

Please talk me off the ledge.  Thank you!!!  (I promise that I am not being snarky.  I really do want to feel better.  My family has been through sort of a lot since Thanksgiving, and the idea of a Mr. Trump presidency is not helping.  I really would appreciate some compassion here.)

[kickingandscreaming]

MM- Sorry, I can't talk you off the ledge, but I'll hold your hand as we contemplate the fall.   

Actually, I have spent the whole week figuring out how to commit suicide.  I'd rather do that than have Trump and the Granny Killer, Ryan do it for me.  I do depend on Soc. Security.  I'm 75, a widow, and i've paid into the system my whole life.  My savings were decimated during the 2008 crash so I have little to fall back on.  I rely on Medicare for my dialysis.  These GOP Monsters are another species of human (if they are human at all) with no compassion, no empathy-- and now lots of power.

And killing the Affordable Care Act also comes with a nice tax break for the 1%.  What a coup!  So they get to "kill" lots of birds with one stone. And they have enough votes to do it right away.  I think that Congress' health policy should be suspended until they come up with a really viable alternative.

Trump supporters were for the most part a hugely uniformed and gullible lot who bought a lot of snake oil.  Those who weren't angry racists, just wanted to drop a bomb in the heart of government to destroy it-- without any thought to how many of their lives are dependent on the very government they aimed to destroy.   Sadly, they're taking the rest of us down with them.

[MooseMom]

Oh, k&s, I am so sorry you have been feeling so sad and dismayed this past week.  It's not how I would like your 2017 to start. 

You know, to be fair, I DO have one sliver of hope.  I don't know what Mr. Trump REALLY wants to see happen to Medicare and SS.  We all know what Swamp Monsters Ryan and McConnell want, but it is very possible that Mr. Trump will not agree and will veto whatever legislation in this regard is placed in front of him.  There are so many people who also depend on these programs, and most of them are from so-called red states.  So, the pressure will be on Mr. Trump to keep his word and protect people's insurance to show that he really IS working for "the people", and I assume that means you and me.

Now, I don't know what this means, but...
http://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/03/trump-adviser-conway-says-no-one-will-lose-health-coverage-after-obamacare-repeal.html

[Simon Dog]

Now, I don't know what this means, but...
http://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/03/trump-adviser-conway-says-no-one-will-lose-health-coverage-after-obamacare-repeal.html

The Republican version of "If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor".

[Athena]

Now, I don't know what this means, but...
http://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/03/trump-adviser-conway-says-no-one-will-lose-health-coverage-after-obamacare-repeal.html

The Republican version of "If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor".

I am now really starting to pray that Mr Trump will look after all those in need of healthcare, including all those who have become uninsured with the passage of Obamacare & who are suffering badly (whose stories I have heard quite painfully over the years & still do).

Mr Trump has called for Big Pharmas to stop ripping off the government with their exorbitant ever increasing cost of drugs recently - I think that is a positive sign of his intentions.

 

[MooseMom]

Who has become uninsured due to Obamacare?  On the contrary, enrollment and re-enrollment has hit new highs as people are beginning to panic that Paul Ryan and the other swamp monsters will repeal the ACA without offering a replacement plan.

It is true that premiums in some states have gone up, but that is because those states refused to cooperate and set up their own exchange.  The idea was that the "power" would be with the individual states, that each state would set up its own exchange (market), and not have to be governed by the Feds.  But those red states who were bound and determined to go against Obama refused to do this.  The ACA didn't set penalties high enough for individual non-compliance, and the insurance companies didn't set their premiums high enough.  They saw that younger, healthier people weren't signing up and that more and more sick people did, so their profits weren't high enough for their stockholders. 

I would welcome drug pricing controls, although Mr. Trump has yet to explain what he will do.  It was the Republicans under Bush who agreed not to negotiate with Big Pharma over drugs covered by Medicare.  If Trump can successfully go against the Republican controlled Congress to change this, we will all be delighted.

Perhaps Mr. Trump could investigate the Russian health care system and get some advice from Mr. Putin.  I imagine the Russians have a particular expertise in the workings of the urinary tract.

Athena, you are certainly entitled to your opinion and to the right to express it.  But once again, you do not live here and you do not have to suffer the consequences, so I have a very hard time giving your opinions any credence at all because they are couched in unsubstantiated stories and sweeping generalizations.  I've pretty much given up hoping that you will ever any of my directly put queries.  Mr. Trumps "intentions" are questionable and are undermined by his already revealed difficulty working with Congress.  Do you know anything about Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan and what THEIR intentions are?

If the ACA can be amended so that it works better, I'd be all for it.  But I and everyone on here at IHD have a pre-existing condition, and our care is expensive.  So when Congress starts rabbiting on about changing Medicare and repealing the ACA, we get scared.  Can you empathize with that at all?  This might be a big game to you, but to us, it is not.

Again I will ask you:  where do you live and how is your personal health care paid for?  Can you at least answer that one question as this is the third time I've asked you!  Thank you!

[kristina]

MM- Sorry, I can't talk you off the ledge, but I'll hold your hand as we contemplate the fall.   

Actually, I have spent the whole week figuring out how to commit suicide.  I'd rather do that than have Trump and the Granny Killer, Ryan do it for me.  I do depend on Soc. Security.  I'm 75, a widow, and i've paid into the system my whole life.  My savings were decimated during the 2008 crash so I have little to fall back on.  I rely on Medicare for my dialysis.  These GOP Monsters are another species of human (if they are human at all) with no compassion, no empathy-- and now lots of power.

And killing the Affordable Care Act also comes with a nice tax break for the 1%.  What a coup!  So they get to "kill" lots of birds with one stone. And they have enough votes to do it right away.  I think that Congress' health policy should be suspended until they come up with a really viable alternative.

Trump supporters were for the most part a hugely uniformed and gullible lot who bought a lot of snake oil.  Those who weren't angry racists, just wanted to drop a bomb in the heart of government to destroy it-- without any thought to how many of their lives are dependent on the very government they aimed to destroy.   Sadly, they're taking the rest of us down with them.

Dear K&S I send you over the cyber a big hug, keep my fingers crossed for you and I do hope things work out alright...
Please take care and best wishes from Kristina

[kristina]

An astrologer in a local paper has predicted that Donald Trump will be a great President & his cabinet the best the country has experienced in years! Personally, I have always felt this will be the case & cannot wait for the 20th January. (Yes, I'm well aware of the perils of reading newspaper astrologists, btw )

I have a hard time with thinking that something that is so reminiscent of Nazi Germany can be considered "the best the country has experienced in years!" Sounds more like a "Horror-scope" to me....

KarenInWA

Exactly my fears as well ...  and let's hope it won't be as bad as we fear ...
Today I heard in the early morning radio-news that Mr. Trump has responded to the political concerns a Congressman has about a Trump-Presidency, that this Congressman is "all talk" and should "shut up". This so shocked me that I am honestly not sure anymore whether I really heard it ... or not ?

[Simon Dog]

Exactly my fears as well ...  and let's hope it won't be as bad as we fear ...
Today I heard in the early morning radio-news that Mr. Trump has responded to the political concerns a Congressman has about a Trump-Presidency, that this Congressman is "all talk" and should "shut up". This so shocked me that I am honestly not sure anymore whether I really heard it ... or not ?

What is the appropriate response to a congressional representative of the people who declares that the duly elected president is not a "legitimate president"?

[kristina]

... I have just noticed that I did hear it after all in the radio-news this morning and I have found an article explaining this and it looks really bad:

... " Congressman John Lewis, America’s civil right’s icon, spoke out about what most Democrats and independents likely believe. Donald Trump’s legitimacy as President of the United States is in questions.
 
Civil Rights icon Congressman John Lewis: Trump an illegitimate president

John Lewis says Donald Trump isn’t a legitimate president, and Trump hits back hard
 
President-elect Donald Trump launched a Twitter attack against civil right icon, John Lewis, after the Georgia congressman called Trump's win "illegitimate" due to Russian interference with U.S. elections. (Reuters)

For the first time, a leading Democrat has called into question Donald Trump's legitimacy as president.
 
Rep. John Lewis, a Democratic congressman from Georgia and civil-rights icon, told NBC's Chuck Todd in an interview for Sunday's "Meet the Press" that he believes Russia's alleged hacking aimed at helping Trump in the 2016 race makes Trump an illegitimate president.
 
Asked whether he would forge a relationship with President-elect Trump, Lewis said, "It's going to be very difficult. I don't see this president-elect as a legitimate president."
 
He added: "I think the Russians participated in helping this man get elected, and they helped destroy the candidacy of Hillary Clinton." Lewis called it a "conspiracy" and added: "That's not right. That's not fair. That's not the open democratic process."
 
Lewis added that he won't attend Trump's inauguration, which he said is unprecedented in his 30-year congressional career.
 
Update: Trump hit back at Lewis on Saturday morning, saying Lewis should instead focus on his Atlanta district.
 
Congressman John Lewis should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to......
 
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 14, 2017
 
mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results. All talk, talk, talk - no action or results. Sad!
 
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 14, 2017
 Lewis's comments come from a particularly powerful source: A black member of Congress and major civil-rights figure. While Lewis didn't cite allegations of bigotry and racism made against Trump, the whole thing can't help but hearken back to Trump's own questioning of the legitimacy of his predecessor, Barack Obama. For years, Trump raised questions about whether Obama was born in the United States and thus could serve legitimately as president. Obama eventually produced a birth certificate in 2012, but Trump only acknowledged Obama was born in the United States a few months ago.
 
Members of the Congressional Black Caucus were particularly incensed by Trump's long-running questioning of the legitimacy of the first black president, saying it amounted to bigotry and a racial dog-whistle. After Trump finally admitted Obama was born in the United States in September 2016, members of the CBC held a press conference to denounce Trump.
 
At the time, Lewis urged Trump to seek forgiveness.
 
Lewis's words are sure to reverberate in Washington. The intelligence community has said Russia did indeed attempt to assist Trump in the 2016 election. But there's no real way of knowing whether it was decisive when it comes to putting Trump over the top.
 
Most prominent Democrats have been reluctant to push the idea that Russia won the race for Trump and directly call into question his legitimacy, though Clinton and President Obama have suggested it made a difference -- if not the difference.
 
Clinton last month named Russia's hacking alongside FBI Director James Comey's late announcements about her email server investigation as the "unprecedented factors that I don’t think we can ignore" when it came to her loss.
 
Obama has said he thought Russia had some impact, though he couldn't be sure whether it tipped the scales. "Elections can always turn out differently,” he told NPR. “You never know which factors are going to make a difference. But I have no doubt that it had some impact, just based on the coverage.”
 
About the only other major political figure prior to Lewis who has outright questioned Trump's legitimacy is former Mexican president Vicente Fox, who tangled with Trump over latter's stated plan to have Mexico pay for his U.S.-Mexico border wall."

[MooseMom]

What is the appropriate response to a congressional representative of the people who declares that the duly elected president is not a "legitimate president"?

Whatever happened to Trump's "people" who found so much information "that you wouldn't believe" that supposedly substantiated Trump's claim that Barack Obama wasn't born in the US?  Simon Dog, I wouldn't go there if I were you.  Enjoy the irony.

Here's the appropriate response that Mr. Trump should make"

"I hereby apologize to President Barack Obama, to his family and to the American people for my role in attempting to delegitimize the president and in popularizing the birther movement.  I deeply regret my role in dividing this country, and I will work hard to help America bridge that divide.

I hereby declare that I will order my administration to fully investigate any and all influence that Vladimir Putin had on the General Election and to make public their findings.  I will be cooperative with all eleven agencies that comprise our intelligence community.  I will cooperate with Congress in this regard.

I will do what it takes to address the concerns of the 65% of Americans who do not approve of my transition into the White House.

I will immediately remove Gen. Flynn from my list of nominees as I recognize that he had no business speaking to the Russian Ambassador on the day that President Obama placed sanctions on Russia.  I will memorize and uphold the Logan Act.

I will stay off Twitter and will try to concentrate on my job.

I will work with you, Congressman Lewis, to revisit the changes to the Voting Rights Act so that we can make sure that Americans, regardless of race or ethnicity, should be able to vote more easily, not with more difficulty.  I will work with you to get rid of gerrymandering."

Trump has all the best words.  Maybe he can string them together to make some coherent sentences like the ones mentioned above.

Trump was voted in with the smallest number of votes in history.  His opponent had more votes.  There are many questions about his financial ties to Russia and what those ties might mean for this country's energy policy, our foreign policy and our trade policy, and many of those questions could be answered if he were to release his tax returns.

President Obama answered questions about his birthright by producing his birth certificate.  Trump can answer questions about his legitimacy by releasing his tax returns at the very least.  It's easy, and it would be one part of an "appropriate response."