United States election discussion

[2bizE]

I thought I would start a post for the US election. At this time, Trump appears to be winning narrowly.
How will things be different or change for you depending on who is elected?
What are some take-always from this election?

[w2mz]

A watching and very surprised white lamanite here....

Will be interesting to see the result and the aftermath.

[Red Ryder]

How were the polls so,wrong? Nate Silver of 538 is taking a clubbing.

[LadyLillith]

So disappointed. This country is more misogynistic, racist, and hateful than I imagined.

[Korihor]

Last night was the best night I've ever had watching TV. The Cubs Game 7 was really really really good too.

Watching the faces of the anchors on CNN, MSNBC, CNBC display pure agony was hilarious. During Trumps acceptance speech, his youngest son was visible on screen and the poor little guy was falling asleep on his feet. I felt sad for him, but that was hilarious.

That CNN was soooo sloooow to update their projections and call the race on a few states was astounding. They just couldn't accept what they were seeing.

The news outlets and media don't know how to process this, no one was prepared for this. I wasn't prepared for this.

Trump broke all the rules. Zero government/military experience. Said crazy things. Relatively small campaign budget (Clinton outspent him like 3:1). Major states that were long time Blue states flipped to Red.

A 3rd party candidate actually showed up on the radar in Utah. Johnson was pretty steady with 3% of the vote.

All of this drama was wonderful.

Now, we actually have to live with our choices. This will be the hard part. I don't think it will be as bad as some are fearing. But it won't be sunshine and daffodils.
The rules have been rewritten. The status quo changed. The colors flipped. The underdog has won. Isn't this what many of us want as NOM's (referring to the chruch)? Maybe this is a good example of be careful what you wish for.

[LSOF]

Undirected rebellion is very bad, because if you succeed in "breaking the system", you have no idea what to replace it with. There will always be selfish and malicious people who do know what they want to replace it with, and the new system, being constructed by the selfish or the malicious, will invariably harm others, particularly the most vulnerable. It is for this reason that I hold a very low opinion of those who elected Trump for the sake of "breaking the system".

[Jinx]

So disappointed. This country is more misogynistic, racist, and hateful than I imagined.

Exactly my sentiments. I woke up in a different America than I thought I lived in. I will never look at the people around me the same way again.

My own mother-in-law voted for Trump because she's been so poisoned by talk radio and Fox News that she has no idea what truth is. She's against Hillary because "she's not a nice woman" and "what she did is worse than Trump". Misogyny among women is real and alive. We are our own worst enemies.

I fear for the entire world. We are the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases and we have a president who thinks climate change is a hoax. We have the largest stock of nuclear weapons with a madman at the trigger. He has pledged to overturn our treaties with other nations, the very things that keep the world as secure as it is.

My only hope is that, being the serial liar that he has been proven to be, he won't do any of the things he promised. But even without Trump at the top, the prospect of Republican control of the entire government, including the Supreme Court, makes me nauseated. It will take us decades to get back the liberties we are about to lose.

[Korihor]

On a related note, there is another shift in the trade winds, a shift that is hard to measure.

About three weeks ago, there was an article about some Artificial Intelligence program that has now correctly predicted 4/4 elections
http://www.thepoliticalinsider.com/comp ... -election/

The AI program measures social media and such instead of traditional polling. Obama won his election in no small part due to social media.

Repeatedly, Trump said to not trust the polls, especially in the rust belt states. Michael Moore correctly predicted this election, much to his dismay.

It seems the old tools to analyze the trade winds are no longer as effective as they once were. Polls were wrong. Public sentiment was wrong. I imagine the political game playbook is being heavily re-written. This will change university curriculum for political science. Regardless of what happens in the next 4 years (assuming Trump makes it that long) I expect very different tactics from all candidates.

Big Data might become much bigger.

[Korihor]

As the final numbers come in, it's surprising what happened with McMullin. He got about 20% and Hillary got about 25% and Trump getting 50% in Utah.

What would be interesting is to know if McMullins 20% was siphoned from Trump or Clinton. Currently, Wyoming is the reddest state in the union. Utah was feared to be a battleground state, but that was incorrect.

So, do we now know the weight of of the church in Utah? Somewhere between 20%-50%? If the church only controls half the state, there is half they don't. Maybe Utah is poised for change in the upcoming years. Maybe not.

[moksha]

Didn't Trump promise that the elections would be rigged? I wonder if the electorate may have been somewhat like the petulant teenager who orders anchovies on his pizza even though he has been warned that he will not like it, especially considering those anchovies had been soaked in the brine of the confluence between the Hudson and East Rivers where Charley the Tuna croaked last week.

[Hagoth]

This just confirms what 30 years of working in a career has taught me: Bullsh*t is the most valuable commodity in our society. Those who wield it convincingly and in the largest quantities are the most likely to get what they want.

[document]

NPR said last night that this was a race to see who was the most hated candidate. Hillary Clinton won that race. I didn't hate Hillary or Trump, and I supported Clinton through the primaries and the general election both financially and in a call center.

I have to say that I agree with their assessment, though.

I saw my more left-liberal friends have a dose of hate and anger towards Hillary, and almost unanimous hate and distrust towards Hillary coming from conservative friends.

I saw my more center-conservative friends have a dose of hatred and anger towards Donald, and almost unanimous hate and distrust towards Donald from liberal friends.

Both candidates were the most disliked candidates in recent history. I know two people who burned their ballots (with evidence in photographs on Facebook) in protest to the candidates.

I saw fewer stickers and signs up than I ever have in my life.

I put a sign up in my yard for Obama in '08 and again in '12. The worst thing that happened to me was an anonymous letter with photocopied pages from a Glenn Beck book. I wore a Hillary sticker for a few hours at the carnival and two people swore at me, both using the "F-word" for supporting Hillary. A friend of mine who supported Trump and had a bumper sticker has had multiple people come up and scream at him. I kept my "I'm with Her" sticker on my fridge this year.

Our local federal building and court house was tagged yesterday with spray paint and said "F*** Hillary and f*** Trump".

I have never seen this much sheer dislike and outright hatred of candidates.

[Corsair]

I have never seen this much sheer dislike and outright hatred of candidates.

I made the mistake of checking Facebook at lunch today. Nearly every post was political and fell into one of two camps:

1. Thinly veiled gloating and satisfied sighs of relief
2. Concern bordering on hysteria over the impending apocalypse

I think it's obvious who voted for whom. One of my Alt-Right acquaintances is gleefully hailing the "ascendance of the God-Emperor" which is going to cause panic attacks among a rather lefty Lesbian couple if they read my feed.

But I did get my two entirely secular wishes fully granted to me as of this morning. First, a clear winner has been established with no controversy over cheating, ballot problems, or impending recounts. Second, an orderly and constitutional turnover of the presidency appears to be on track. This started with the gracious concession speech by Hillary Clinton and a polite, public invitation by President Obama for President-Elect Trump to visit the White House. If the presidency can survive presidents who are womanizers (Kennedy, Clinton), drunkards (Grant), slave owners (Washington, Jefferson), suffer with clinical depression (Lincoln), fall down steps (Ford), conspire to steal (Nixon), reach out to communists (Nixon), threaten nuclear war as a hilarious joke (Reagan), play lots of golf (Eisenhower, Obama), railroad us into a European war (Wilson), or suspiciously die in office after a major scandal (Harding) then I think we can survive President Trump.

[Silver Girl]

On a related note, there is another shift in the trade winds, a shift that is hard to measure.

About three weeks ago, there was an article about some Artificial Intelligence program that has now correctly predicted 4/4 elections
http://www.thepoliticalinsider.com/comp ... -election/

The AI program measures social media and such instead of traditional polling. Obama won his election in no small part due to social media.

Repeatedly, Trump said to not trust the polls, especially in the rust belt states. Michael Moore correctly predicted this election, much to his dismay.

It seems the old tools to analyze the trade winds are no longer as effective as they once were. Polls were wrong. Public sentiment was wrong. I imagine the political game playbook is being heavily re-written. This will change university curriculum for political science. Regardless of what happens in the next 4 years (assuming Trump makes it that long) I expect very different tactics from all candidates.

Big Data might become much bigger.

^^^^^ THIS ^^^^^

The unrest in the country has been palpable, but the pollsters have continued to use way outdated tools as well as analysis. This surprised many in Trump's group, too, I think, despite his boasts to the contrary. I agree that he did not trust the polls, but they still didn't have a real handle on what is going on. Not that anyone else has the full picture - too many factions being blamed just now.

[SeeNoEvil]

I am sure I will ruffle a few feathers here, ... but there are no words to describe the horror of last night. I don't find any humor or entertainment in this election. This decision of America is serious and sadly telling of who voted for him. No I don't think this means the end of the world but what I do believe is that under Trump the America we all love and respect will be no more. America just got conned.

Hagoth stated: Bullsh*t is the most valuable commodity in our society. Those who wield it convincingly and in the largest quantities are the most likely to get what they want.

THIS.... MY SENTIMENTS EXACTLY!

I have been voting ever since the early 1970's. I have accepted the vote of the people no matter who won. I don't ever recall waking up the morning after an election in fear, but when I hear that millions of American's woke up this morning in fear there is a problem. Yea, America has elected some doozies as Cozair reminded us of in his opening post, but I don't ever recall such hate filled comments, bullying and insults coming from one candidate in my life time..... And then America chooses him! Who in the heck are these people who voted for such hate? Are they all bullies and racists like him?

The easy part is now over. The hard part lays before us as over the next 4 years as we watch the undoing of all the hard work this country has fought for. Today I am not proud to be an American .... Trumps America is not the America I will be apart of.

[Zadok]

Was there an election? Who won?

[Korihor]

Was there an election? Who won?

Yes. Corsair won

[LSOF]

Corsair for president 2020!

[document]

But I did get my two entirely secular wishes fully granted to me as of this morning. First, a clear winner has been established with no controversy over cheating, ballot problems, or impending recounts. Second, an orderly and constitutional turnover of the presidency appears to be on track. This started with the gracious concession speech by Hillary Clinton and a polite, public invitation by President Obama for President-Elect Trump to visit the White House. If the presidency can survive presidents who are womanizers (Kennedy, Clinton), drunkards (Grant), slave owners (Washington, Jefferson), suffer with clinical depression (Lincoln), fall down steps (Ford), conspire to steal (Nixon), reach out to communists (Nixon), threaten nuclear war as a hilarious joke (Reagan), play lots of golf (Eisenhower, Obama), railroad us into a European war (Wilson), or suspiciously die in office after a major scandal (Harding) then I think we can survive President Trump.

Thank you for this. I've spent much of the last day calming a few friends down with a "this is how the constitution works" pep-talk.

[Corsair]

Was there an election? Who won?

Yes. Corsair won

Corsair for president 2020!

Important safety tip: Do not elect Corsair to positions of presidential power. He is likely to divert most of the incoming tax revenue into attempting to build the actual Death Star. NASA might appreciate him but he has very little interest in making friends with politicians.