The Great White Wail: The Not-So-Silent White Majority

[Grallon]

Anyway, to restate, here is my concern:  the good guys have not yet figured out a way to combat the "firehose of falsehoods" tactic.  It just seems to work...

What's the saying - the more often you repeat a lie the more believable it becomes?  I've been to those sites and channels that rooted for Trump.  Most of them were endlessly going on about the Clinton rumors, the globalists' conspiracies, etc - yet what really struck me was how utterly convinced they were, or appeared to be.  We're in faith territory here - hence why they believe the lies or half truths presented to them.

As for the long term effects... Tocqueville once wrote: "In a democracy, the people get the government they deserve."

You guys apparently deserve a reality TV show swindler as leader...  Just like Canadians deserve the empty shell/empty headed poster child they have as Prime Minister or we Quebecers the greedy, self-loathing French-Canadian federalist scumbag we have.



G.

[DGuller]

Ok, that's more reasonable, but I still say it's foolish to consider a buffoon like Trump an existential threat to democracy.  Soviet communism was an existential threat to democracy;  the southern slaveholding interest was a threat to democracy (and not simply because of chattel slavery per se, but because of the unwillingness to abide by election results--you retards out in California who want to succeed take note);  Trumpism's not. 

Jacob's right--we just elected a grifter.  But in a way, that's OK.  By no means am I saying that graft is good, but American democracy has survived graft for 230+ years;  we can survive it for another 4 or 8.

Trump himself is not an existential threat to democracy.  The forces and tactics that allowed him to get elected, I fear, are.  He got elected because truth doesn't matter any more, and a large reason truth doesn't matter anymore is because it got firehosed into oblivion by all the propaganda, and there is no effective counter to it.  Can you really have true democracy with supremely and deliberately misinformed electorate?

Let's also not forget that we didn't just get Trump and his alt-right trash two weeks ago;  we also lost most remaining checks on power of the one party that knows that the more limited the franchise and the weaker the institutions, the better it does, and acts ruthlessly on that knowledge.  I don't draw as much difference between Trump and GOP as most people when it comes to authoritarian tendencies;  in that respect, Trump just accelerated what GOP was building to slowly.

[DGuller]

And honestly, one thing I really don't care about a whole lot is the graft that is surely to come.  It wasn't important during elections, given other issues, and it isn't going to be important afterwards, except for the loss of prestige that would result from how obvious it would be.  Even if Trump's family Yanukovich's out ten billion or so, that's really nothing.  The president and his team make decisions that can cost the country many, many trillions, and they don't need to have a single crooked bone in the body to do that.

[Tamas]

One thing to note, however, is that our depiction of events, i.e post truth and an  electorate deliberately misinformed by a cabal, is EXACTLY how the current Trump fans had seen the liberal-dominated world they felt they were forces to live in.

[Valmy]

One thing to note, however, is that our depiction of events, i.e post truth and an  electorate deliberately misinformed by a cabal, is EXACTLY how the current Trump fans had seen the liberal-dominated world they felt they were forces to live in.

Well there is a reason I don't pay much attention to the news channels these days. They are not necessarily 'post truth' but they certainly set out to manipulate you. They also have stupid and simplistic takes that piss me off.

[dps]

Ok, that's more reasonable, but I still say it's foolish to consider a buffoon like Trump an existential threat to democracy.  Soviet communism was an existential threat to democracy;  the southern slaveholding interest was a threat to democracy (and not simply because of chattel slavery per se, but because of the unwillingness to abide by election results--you retards out in California who want to succeed take note);  Trumpism's not. 

Jacob's right--we just elected a grifter.  But in a way, that's OK.  By no means am I saying that graft is good, but American democracy has survived graft for 230+ years;  we can survive it for another 4 or 8.

Trump himself is not an existential threat to democracy.  The forces and tactics that allowed him to get elected, I fear, are.  He got elected because truth doesn't matter any more, and a large reason truth doesn't matter anymore is because it got firehosed into oblivion by all the propaganda, and there is no effective counter to it.  Can you really have true democracy with supremely and deliberately misinformed electorate?

Let's also not forget that we didn't just get Trump and his alt-right trash two weeks ago;  we also lost most remaining checks on power of the one party that knows that the more limited the franchise and the weaker the institutions, the better it does, and acts ruthlessly on that knowledge.  I don't draw as much difference between Trump and GOP as most people when it comes to authoritarian tendencies;  in that respect, Trump just accelerated what GOP was building to slowly.

I suggest that you read up on some past election campaigns.  None of this is new, except that the media used to spread lies has changed over time.  And I'm not talking about "nothing new" as in "how things have been for the past 20 (or 30, or 50) years, but about how things have pretty much always been, at least post 1824.  You need some historical context here.

[Jacob]

Here we go Siegy, conflict of interest already playing out bigger than anything Clinton ever did:

Over the weekend, there were a flurry of stories about how Donald Trump and his family are already using the presidency to leverage his overseas businesses as well as his new DC hotel. Well, now there's more. This time in Argentina.

Here's the background.

For a number of years, Trump and his Argentine partners have been trying to build a major office building in Buenos Aires. The project has been held up by a series of complications tied to financing, importation of building materials and various permitting requirements.

According to a report out of Argentina, when Argentine President Mauricio Macri called President-Elect Trump to congratulate him on his election, Trump asked Macri to deal with the permitting issues that are currently holding up the project.

"Hey, I'm president of the US - how about you let me build those office buildings in your country I'd like to build."

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/cashing-in-bigly-in-argentina

[garbon]

Yeah. That's party of making America great again! Yay!

[Admiral Yi]

I suggest that you read up on some past election campaigns.  None of this is new, except that the media used to spread lies has changed over time.  And I'm not talking about "nothing new" as in "how things have been for the past 20 (or 30, or 50) years, but about how things have pretty much always been, at least post 1824.  You need some historical context here.

There has always been straight up bullshit surrounding elections, but Trump's campaign is still notable for the number of outright lies he himself told.

[MadImmortalMan]

"Hey, I'm president of the US - how about you let me build those office buildings in your country I'd like to build."

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/cashing-in-bigly-in-argentina

Building office buildings is so 20th century.

Bad investment.

[11B4V]

Here we go Siegy, conflict of interest already playing out bigger than anything Clinton ever did:

Over the weekend, there were a flurry of stories about how Donald Trump and his family are already using the presidency to leverage his overseas businesses as well as his new DC hotel. Well, now there's more. This time in Argentina.

Here's the background.

For a number of years, Trump and his Argentine partners have been trying to build a major office building in Buenos Aires. The project has been held up by a series of complications tied to financing, importation of building materials and various permitting requirements.

According to a report out of Argentina, when Argentine President Mauricio Macri called President-Elect Trump to congratulate him on his election, Trump asked Macri to deal with the permitting issues that are currently holding up the project.

"Hey, I'm president of the US - how about you let me build those office buildings in your country I'd like to build."

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/cashing-in-bigly-in-argentina

[11B4V]

Naw, say it ain't so.
http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/trackers/2016-11-21/fec-cites-trump-campaign-for-1-3m-in-disclosure-errors-cnn

FEC Cites Trump Campaign for $1.3 Million in Disclosure Errors: CNN

[CountDeMoney]

That raises three questions--

1) So?
2) What are you going to do about it?
3) Well?

[Admiral Yi]

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/11/richard-spencer-speech-npi/508379/

Alt Right Conference in DC. 

"Hail Trump.  Hail our people."  Nazi salutes.

[CountDeMoney]

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/11/richard-spencer-speech-npi/508379/

Alt Right Conference in DC. 

"Hail Trump.  Hail our people."  Nazi salutes.

Just more lies from the lamestream media