2016 elections - because it's never too early

[Crazy_Ivan80]

2016 has been a shitfest of a year in politics. Let's hope 2017 doesn't get any worse.

War in the Ukraine,
Le Pen in France,
Collapse of the EU,
Putin at the North Sea,
Jinping in Darwin...

so yea, it'll get worse.

[Crazy_Ivan80]

It's pretty bad dude. The West needs a strong and capable US, not an erratic laughingstock.

"The West" is probably done for. It was a good 70 years.

[Crazy_Ivan80]

As an American, I am embarrassed that the President of the United States is going to have to hand the keys over to the man whose campaign was based on the premise that he never, ever belonged there in the first place.

he could drop 'em at the last second...

[garbon]

It's pretty bad dude. The West needs a strong and capable US, not an erratic laughingstock.

"The West" is probably done for. It was a good 70 years.

I'm confused. We just got a candidate who shares your xenophobic views.

[Crazy_Ivan80]

It's pretty bad dude. The West needs a strong and capable US, not an erratic laughingstock.

"The West" is probably done for. It was a good 70 years.

I'm confused. We just got a candidate who shares your xenophobic views.

hardly.

[Syt]

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/11/david-duke-trump-victory-2016-election-231072?cmpid=sf

David Duke: Trump win a great victory for 'our people'

Former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke is calling Donald Trump's electoral victory "one of the most exciting nights of my life."

Duke, a white nationalist who unsuccessfully ran for Louisiana Senate, tweeted early Wednesday that his supporters played a major part in paving Trump's road to the presidency.

"Make no mistake about it, our people have played a HUGE role in electing Trump!" he wrote.

Trump faced criticism early on in his candidacy for failing to denounce the KKK and disavow Duke, who had endorsed Trump for president. But more recently, the Trump campaign made several attempts to distance itself from the former KKK grand wizard, with Eric Trump saying earlier this month that Duke "deserves a bullet."

[Syt]

Vladimir Putin has sent Trump a telegram to congratulate him. The Russian president hopes for joint work to improve US-Russian relations, Russian media report.

Russia has been widely accused of backing Trump in the election, and in Moscow, Sergei Markov, a pro-Kremlin political analyst, was jubilant at the result. He said a Trump presidency would mean more chance that the US would agree with Russia in Syria, and less American backing for "the terroristic junta in Ukraine".

He denied allegations of Russian interference in the election, but said "maybe we helped a bit with Wikileaks", according to the Guardian's Shaun Walker in Moscow.

Alexei Venediktov, the editor in chief of Russia's liberal Echo of Moscow radio, said some in the Kremlin are probably celebrating now, but other "more serious" people will realise there are unpredictable times ahead.

"Putin doesn't like unpredictability and Trump is the definition of unpredictability," he said. "They celebrated Brexit, and then Boris Johnson became foreign secretary, and they thought, 'Oh God, what is this?'"

Venediktov said in Syria and Ukraine, two key areas where Russia and the US are at loggerheads, there might be little difference between Trump and Clinton in the White House. "What will be really interesting is the Baltics. Will Trump remove troops from there?"

At a morning reception his residence in Moscow held as Trump edged ever closer to the White House, US ambassador to Russia John Tefft reminded visitors that diplomats are unable to give personal opinions on elections. He added: "Whether you're happy or not, one of the key things here is to understand that our institutions in America will continue."

Privately, however, many US diplomats in the country will be wondering whether a President Trump means a total reversal on Russia policy. Tefft's predecessor in the role, Michael McFaul, wrote on Twitter: "Putin intervened in our elections and succeeded."

Egypt's President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi is the only Arab leader to have met with Donald Trump, who has also made no secret of his warmth towards Egypt's ally Russia, reports Ruth Michaelson from Cairo.

Sisi also congratulated Trump on his victory Tuesday night.

Trump told Sisi during a meeting in New York in September that: "under a Trump Administration, the United States of America will be a loyal friend, not simply an ally, that Egypt can count on in the days and years ahead."

Reached by phone on the cusp of Trump's victory, spokesman for Egypt's Foreign Ministry Ahmed Abu Zeid said that Egypt is ready to work with Trump. "In general, I want to emphasize that Egypt has strategic relations with the United States that go beyond who is the president in the White House," he said.

These relations serve for the benefit of both the Egyptian and American people. We have always stated that choosing the president of the United States is the choice of the American people, and Egypt respects this choice. We stand ready to work closely with the new President of the United states for the benefit of both countries and peoples.

India's prime minister Narendra Modi has also congratulated Trump, according to Reuters.

And in China, speaking shortly before Trump's victory was officially announced, a spokesperson for China's foreign ministry said Beijing was looking forward to working with the new administration, according to the Guardian's Tom Phillips.

"We will work with the new US president to ensure the steady and sound development of bilateral relations so as to benefit the people in both countries as well as around the world," Lu Kang told reporters at a regular press briefing in the Chinese capital.

Lu said Beijing hoped to be able to build a "mutually beneficially" relationship with the US, pointing to the massive growth in trade between the two nations since the 1960s.

Lu said any future disputes over trade could be settled "in a responsible manner" and hinted at Chinese concerns over the possibility that Trump might introduce protectionist measures.

"I would like to say that China and US trade cooperation has benefited the US people rather than hurting their interests," he said.

[celedhring]

Looks like Clinton will likely win the popular vote once all the West Coast comes in. Not that the Electoral College is going to get reformed anytime soon, but it will give me some mental comfort that a majority of Americans don't want this.

[dps]

Don't know whether to try to wake up and find out it was all a nightmare, or hope I sleep for at least 4 years.

[jimmy olsen]

It really is a shame the GOP establishment is so spineless or we could see some real Machiavellian shit go down once Trump is convicted of fraud. Pence and Ryan stabbing Trump in the back House of Cards style to impeach him and put a "real" conservative in the Oval Office.

[grumbler]

Don't know whether to try to wake up and find out it was all a nightmare, or hope I sleep for at least 4 years.

Wish I'd made a save back during the primaries. 

[Liep]

Well I won a 100 dollars so not all bad.

[CountDeMoney]

It really is a shame the GOP establishment is so spineless

You fucking mutts need to wake the fuck up and realize that "the GOP establishment" won the presidency last night.

[Gups]

If we can get through the next 4 years without a limited nuclear war, a major Russian expansion, without climate change treaties being ripped up and without the world's trade being decimated, I'll take it as a win at this stage.

In the meantime, we on the liberal/left side need to STFU about trans toilets, safe spaces and microagressions and start focussing on equality, employment and wages like we used to.


I agree with Ivan that it feels like the death march for liberal western capitalism.

[CountDeMoney]

In the meantime, we on the liberal/left side need to STFU about trans toilets, safe spaces and microagressions and start focussing on equality, employment and wages like we used to.

The NYT suggested dropping the "alt" from "alt-right."  It's mainstream now.