All Hail God-Emperor Trump

[Mr BadGuy]

Shit.

[gaggedLouise]

Total recall, if it were feasible. 

[ShimapanThief]

I can't even understand this.

[Elysian Radiance]

My heart is so heavy right now. This is a dark time and the future of our nation terrifies me to the core. As someone put it...

It’s not just Trump.
It’s Trump with a Republican House.
It’s Trump with a Republican Senate.
It’s Trump with anywhere from 1-3 Supreme Court nominees.
It’s Trump with all three branches of government on his side and no one to hold him back
That is what we’re facing.

[gaggedLouise]

Plus he will be coming into office at a critical point in world politics, with some very tricky problem knots that he won't be doing much to solve: the Syrian war, Nato and Russia, South China Sea, questions of asylum seekers and migration, the rifting across Europe, and so on. 

[Elysian Radiance]

I just can't believe that he won. I can't believe that so many people can be okay with everything stands for. 

I just want to AltF4 the US.

[Mr BadGuy]

My heart is so heavy right now. This is a dark time and the future of our nation terrifies me to the core. As someone put it...

It’s not just Trump.
It’s Trump with a Republican House.
It’s Trump with a Republican Senate.
It’s Trump with anywhere from 1-3 Supreme Court nominees.
It’s Trump with all three branches of government on his side and no one to hold him back
That is what we’re facing.

If the republican party doesn't like him as much as they claimed to, he won't get much done. I hope his efforts are blocked until we can get someone else in charge, or if the miraculous happens and he shapes up.

[Caedy]

My anxiety, depression and health cannot survive a Trump presidency.  Not even on the best of days.

[Beorning]

This is a disaster for the world...

[Samael]

As I went to bed, the NYT had changed their prediction from 75% Clinton winning to 53% Trump winning, and I had the feeling that was a bad omen.

Just woke up to see that he actually has become the new president of the United States.

The man who literally asked why the US doesn't use its nukes.

Good luck to everyone.
We need it.

[Devilyn Sydhe]

We American voters had screwed ourselves either way.  While I'm hoping for a miracle in that someone can keep Trump reigned in, that he can somehow be a mere figurehead while more sensible conservative people actually run the government, I don't have a ton of hope for it.  However when it comes to Russia, Clinton was just as likely to get us into war.  Her idea of a no fly zone in Syria was dangerous if she actually attempted to enforce it against Soviet jets.  As well, her reset button with Russia was an utter failure as was nearly all of her foreign policy experience while in the State Dept.

Not that I'm saying Trump will be better, but I had no faith at all in Clinton's ability to keep America strong while also keeping us out of war.  That's one reason I couldn't vote for either candidate and hold against both parties that the country was forced into this choice.

[CrownedSun]

I kind of want to go back to the Campaign now; it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought. Can't we just do that, please, just Obama stays president and Hillary/Trump campaign for the next 8-years. That sounds workable to me. It's the punishment that we deserve!

[Teo Torriatte]

It's so depressing reading some of the comments on other sites, especially Yahoo news. They act like he won in some kind of landslide or major referendum, when in fact the popular vote is almost tied.

All I want to say right now to anyone who voted for Trump is that whatever happens in the next four years is on your head as much as it is on his.

[Lilias]

While I'm hoping for a miracle in that someone can keep Trump reigned in, that he can somehow be a mere figurehead while more sensible conservative people actually run the government, I don't have a ton of hope for it.

No one will get much done with the amount of pet-sitting Trump will need. And he'll still make a laughing-stock of the country wherever he goes, power or no power. Seriously, a Commander-in-Chief that needs his Twitter taken away?

He's definitely the leader America deserves. See y'all at the Hunger Games.

[RedRose]

I didn't see that coming.
My (French ) contacts range from "omg let's leave this planet" to celebratory lunch.
I remember eons ago when Bush won, people in my parents' town had organized something similar.
But really most Frenchies are so un-political... they either vote left or right on principle, or just don't bother. It does make me wonder what we'll end up with at Presidential election

[Kristen]

An ironic title for this thread.

Caesar came to power because Rome was sick of the Oligarchs controlling their Senate.
Caesar befriended the common man, but most importantly the soldier (and Rome was a very integrated soldier/citizen community). Caesar wanted to give them land, something the Senators and wealthy oligarchs couldn't stomach.

Caesar became more and more popular with his victories, which by contrast to the Senators and Oligarchs saw the people getting behind him, instead of discouraging him or seeing Caesar like a hazard.

The heads of the Senate who wanted to oppose Caesar did fight him with Pompey, and Caesar defeated them. Pompey was defeated at Pharsalus, causing the Senators with him to go to other continents and try to gather troops again. Caesar followed them as well and defeated them in battle. Caesar consolidated his victories and became the conquering hero, the man of the people.

The only way to hurt Caesar, to stop him, was in fact to kill him via the method of the conspirators. Caesar had proven himself to be beyond his enemies on the battlefield, and the people loved him overwhelmingly.

Caesar's death gave way to the first Emperor, Octavian. Primarily because the assassination of Caesar was something the Oligarchs thought the people would get behind. They thought the people would embrace them with loving arms for putting an end to the terror of the man.

The conspirators were sorely mistaken. The people loved Caesar... and they hated the conspirators for what they'd done. I have to check to be sure but I believe not a single conspirator outlived Caesar by 3 years (all of them killed by Antony and Octavian, backed by the people of Rome who saw Caesar's assassination as the act of corrupt men desperately trying to hold onto their power.

Caesar expanded Rome's borders, and extended the senate, which meant the wealthy corrupt oligarch's votes were less influential. If you have 30 friends in a senate of 100 people, you are quite significant. If you have 30 friends in a senate of 300 people, you are less so. A senate was shaping up that represented more and more of Rome, and that meant the oligarchs were a smaller part of it. Caesar had found a way to fight the corruption of the Oligarchs. They in turn would argue that Caesar was electing senators who would vote whatever he wanted whenever he wanted.

In the end, Caesar rose, fighting the special interests of Rome, and was killed by those special interests. Fortunately in Rome's case, Caesar's followers didn't flee like rats, and they hunted down and killed every conspirator; Octavian was accepted as Emperor as a statement that the Republic in the hands of a corrupt establishment was less preferable to the people than an Empire in the hands of a great man.

Now... there is a flip side to this too. Caligula, Nero... Rome had some horrible Emperors as well, and it eventually lead to their fall. But in the beginning, it was pure brilliance of their empire, the Pax Romana era was something formidable.

But hey, that's just my opinion hehe...

Here is someone who puts alot more thought into this stuff than I do lol!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCvyg679bsg

- Kristen -

[CrownedSun]

The only good thing about this is it'll make Thanksgiving with my Family a bit less contentious, since I'd never have heard the end of helping my grandmother see that Hillary was the better choice if she'd won, but with the Trump victory-- it probably won't come up,- heh.

That's literally the only good thing about it.

Now, you know, 4 years of hoping that I've been wrong. Hoping that Trump's occasional statements implying that he's not actually interested in running the country, and just intends to let other people do that while he basically- I assume-- cuts business deals that benefit him personally with other countries.

I'm not even... like.. /upset/.

Just disappointed, a bit shocked, and feeling generally let down.

I'll live with it, though, its the will of the people.

The blind idiot will of the people.

[CrownedSun]

I didn't see that coming.
My (French ) contacts range from "omg let's leave this planet" to celebratory lunch.
I remember eons ago when Bush won, people in my parents' town had organized something similar.
But really most Frenchies are so un-political... they either vote left or right on principle, or just don't bother. It does make me wonder what we'll end up with at Presidential election

I'd sort of seen it coming, after the latest FBI/email thing, because everyone saw that and not nearly as many people saw the whole '...yeah, my bad, nothing here..' later.

(It was like, you know, one is BREAKING NEWS! n' the other is a quiet aside and a bit of poo'pooing on the FBI Director.)

I let a friend convince me that maybe Hillary still had a shot, though,--

--but, yeah, wow.

:)

I have to admit, I find that reaction from across the pond slightly amusing and sort of endearingly French, though. <3

[Samael]

An ironic title for this thread.

In this case, wouldn't the "Caesar" be Obama, who got constantly dogged and blocked by the republicans (senate), yet beloved by the people, with Trump, one of the Oligarchs, (one of the few, super-rich people in power) taking up the Laurels after Obama's death (Inability to be voted into POTUS again)?

[haren]

My hope is both parties take this as a wake up call to change, and for the better. Or shake themselves apart leaving no two party system.

In this case, wouldn't the "Caesar" be Obama, who got constantly dogged and blocked by the republicans (senate), yet beloved by the people, with Trump, one of the Oligarchs, (one of the few, super-rich people in power) taking up the Laurels after Obama's death (Inability to be voted into POTUS again)?

I think you're exactly right there. Both Obamas were loved.

[CrownedSun]

Totally totally fair, the Obama's weren't loved by everyone and a large part of this election is almost certainly the anti-Obama backlash taking root. A bunch of people freaking out over problems and issues that aren't actually real, sure that Obama has been destroying the country when he very much hasn't, and so on.

The Republicans spent 8-years setting this up, only for Trump to walk in and steal it out from under him.

I can almost respect it, honestly, it's fucking brilliant-- just,-- utterly utterly horrible.

[Gypsy]

Thought I'd share the best thing to come off my facebook news feed this morning:



It's advice everyone seems to be ignoring (at least on facebook), but I can hope.

[CrownedSun]

Thought I'd share the best thing to come off my facebook news feed this morning:



It's advice everyone seems to be ignoring (at least on facebook), but I can hope.

I don't think I'm despairing, just almost in shock more than anything, but yeah,-- that is good advice and a very heartfelt little thing,--

Thanks for sharing, Rose! <3

[Kristen]

In this case, wouldn't the "Caesar" be Obama, who got constantly dogged and blocked by the republicans (senate), yet beloved by the people, with Trump, one of the Oligarchs, taking up the Laurels after Obama's death (Inability to be voted into POTUS again)?

Well I'd look at the platforms and promises to see what lined up with Caesar's popularity? Obama was on the side of the establishment that people are clearly sick of. Obama can be (and is) liked by many, while others severely dislike his policies. It's a game of ebb and flow in terms of what you inherit when you take office and what you can do with it. The complication is align the love the people have for Obama, with the hate they have for the corruption of Clinton.

Trump wasn't elected by promising to continue what Obama was doing. He was elected challenging it, claiming he would do things differently (as the people are often driven to when the current establishment proves unsatisfactory and even intentionally devious.

The oligarch senators of Rome felt they were protecting Roman culture by assassinating Caesar. However, many Senators also supported Caesar, which is why there was such an uproar. Caesar was not this monster of the people, and Caesar had the benefit of being from the Julii clan which the people respected as a name of value. He was able to effectively say: "Look... I see the corruption. I see the imbalance. I benefit from it. Don't think I don't know your frustrations. Being in this position, I bring about the change that will help."

It's what threatened the senators. Mussolini once said in regards to making cabinet picks: "If I have to choose between putting a good man in positions of power or putting a scoundrel there, I will always prefer the scoundrel. I can blackmail a scoundrel." (I should probably lok up this quote haha)

In essence... someone who stands up against the establishment has to have a degree of wealth to do it. As such... the establishment can always hedge their bet and assess that someone from their own ranks would never hurt them or pass policies that would test them because they would be hurting themselves, right? Caesar shattered that wall going directly to the people, which is what the wealthiest Senators didn't want. As Rome controlled Macedon, Spain, Greece, Gaul, Carthage... the Senator's gained so much wealth from the captured slaves that the good of the people in Rome itself was less important to them. The citizen soldiers of Rome spent years fighting, occupying lands, only to return home and find they'd been left behind. Slaves sent back were taking up all the work that the wealthy used to have to pay free men to do.

Caesar's challenge to this automatically struck a chord with the disenfranchised citizen soldiers. Caesar didn't come to power promising to protect the status quo (which is another valid election principle. The idea that: "We are under siege from this danger. Let's keep this from happening. Let's protect what we have." as opposed to: "What we have isn't working, let's fix it!" - Not surprisingly through history these two arguments take turns in power and often each party trades the arguments lol.

Things like open borders, the ideas that will help keep the establishment strong will ensure that the people with the power back that side to protect their power. And yet it draws a line in the sand.

I'm sad to say Obama's duties and his support for the Establishment just landed him on that side of the line. Being linked to the Establishment (and their face Clinton) as he was, the people who liked him still ended up having to vote against him. He asked people not to vote for Trump. He asked people to put Hillary in office. And the people responded.

But then... Brexit I'm sure was just as much of a shock for that part of the world as well. It really is the groundswell of discontent for the Establishment.

In time, if the populist fails to fix things... fails to make everything perfect, the Establishment candidate will say: "Let's go back to what worked. Let's get ourselves back on track!"

There is a dark foreshadowing that if the populist begins to make too much of an impact, they can be assassinated by the Establishment. Rome has seen this... America has seen this... history is full of examples.  For the establishment, the only thing better than the death of the individual who came to power to oppose them, is to watch that individual fail. If that individual fails, the Establishment can make a point. If that individual succeeds, the Establishment is proven not to be the only 'sane' option. That's why you find assassinations at particular times.

You wait too long... you get a Caesar. Caesar was assassinated when the corrupt senators saw he was able to do what he promised. When they saw the people would not turn against him, they killed him. Waiting this long meant the people were left with an image of a hero. Caesar was almost considered divine. The nation was swept up in uproar at his death. Now... had he been assassinated earlier, before he'd accomplished what he did, the corrupt senators would have likely gotten off easier. Caesar kept a link with the people, he used his writing and his great oratory to show the people he was taking them into a new era. So when he was killed, the people saw what had been robbed of them. Taking credit for killing a tyrant is something men could be praised for. But the senators really misread how loved Caesar was. They saw him as a tyrant, the people saw Caesar as a great leader.

History was to decide who was right.

Wow this was longer than I thought it would be.

- Kristen -

(Yes, the tab for the image on this video is a little over the top, but again, it's the discussion behind it that's of value).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtRj6x1jHuU

"There was supposed to be some sort of greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles... uh, to get to our base."

"Problem is, that's not what happened. And we should know, CBS news accompanied the first lady, and daughter Chelsea on that trip."

Hehe... just ugh.

[CrownedSun]

Wow, Kristen, thanks for sharing that.

That was a very interesting writing bit and I can see the parallels pretty easily.