Geoff > Status Update
Geoff
added a status update
Since it seems as likely as not that in a week DONALD FUCKING TRUMP is going to be declared commander-in-chief of the most powerful army humanity has ever known, I ask the good people of the world, what are you stocking your bomb shelters with? Also, half of America? Fuck you. I'm not one of you and I don't like you - stay away from me and my family you scary idiots.
— Nov 02, 2016 04:39AM
252 likes · Like flag
Comments Showing 1-50 of 4,673 (4673 new)
Me too. I actually think he's going to win. It's really really tough to try to envision that future.
But the bomb shelter thing - it's not a joke. This man has the temper and fragile ego of a four year old and has openly expressed a nonchalance about dropping the bomb. I want to grab America by the shoulder, look them in the eye, and say "This is real. This is really happening."
Actually, none of what I wrote is an exaggeration - if you vote for Trump, it is a character judgement on you and I don't want to know you or have you in my life. If you vote for Trump I think you are potentially dangerous. Your concerns about globalization and the failures of democratic capitalism are 100% valid - but Trump is not the answer. A nationalistic fascist is never the answer. If you can vote for him knowing all we do about him, you are dangerous and a danger to my freedom, and what comes in the future is on you.
Yeah - Nick's reasoning on voting for Trump - i.e. the Supreme Court issue - is about the only logical reason for doing so I have heard. If one is religious, for example, and such things are of paramount importance, Trump is the only option. There is also the comfort of knowing that everything happens according to God's plan. I am very frightened that Trump will win. Frightened for my brothers and sisters that are minorities, whether because of race, sexuality, creed or whatever. I am frightened that the long overdue advances of the last few years will be undone. I am frightened of the legitimacy a Trump win gives those whose hearts are filled with hatred. I am frightened of the laws, whether to do with privacy, finance, freedom of the press, or abortion that will come into force during a Trump presidency.
You should be frightened. These are real, actual threats. This is not a video game or a reality show. I sometimes wonder if people can tell the difference any longer.How in good god's name could Trump get the religious vote? Ethically, morally, he's about the most anti-Christian candidate imaginable! Abortion voters? How many abortions do you think Trump has paid for in his life, if that kind of thing matters to you as a voter? I'd wager it's double digits.
Oh but to the original question, how amI stocking my bomb shelter? Books, synthesizers (powered by bike-pedaled generator of course duh), spaghetti-o's, and wines from the Rhone Valley.
Mine would need to take into account entertaining a 5 year old - so would likely include piles of lego, his box of dinosaurs and a stack of kids books. Oh and all his important stuffed toys. So there would probably be just about enough space for me and the mrs and a large bottle of whisky...
Sounds about right. Oh man, your kid's formative years are going to be during the reign of Trump the first! On behalf of all decent Americans, I offer my apologies and condolences.
Don, I don't know who you are, but if you are a Trump supporter, I'm clearly not in the mood. A fair warning, if you're here to engage in reasoned debate, you're in the wrong place. And by that, I mean Earth in 2016.
Yup. My attitude towards any Trump voter is the same as my attitude towards anyone who voted "leave" in the Brexit vote: "fuck you you ginormous asshat"
Fantastic Don. The sun continues to shine.
I seem unusually calm about the recent election. Nearly all of the reliable polls show Hillary ahead most or nearly all of the time in many of the key states (New Hampshire, Virginia, Colorado, Pennsylvania, North Carolina), and some internal polls have shown mass defection from the Republicans in Florida (though I'm not sure about that). The tracking polls, which are still going, have been far off from the rest of the pack. Hillary will very likely win. Sam Wang of the PEC says she has a 99% chance, and Nate Silver at Five Thirty Eight, who's been the most volatile of the poll analysts this season, has her at 70-75%. Still a bit risky for me, of course.
Dems taking the Senate is probable, but not certain. If they get 50+, it means she'll have a chance at Supreme Court nominees and performing some of basic functions of government. It's less likely the Dems will flip the house, and we owe that to the 2010 redistricting, but it is still possible in a wave election.
HIllary will probably win. What I'm thinking about is how to put 'Trumpism' back in the box - address the economic concerns of rural and middle America, and have his successors in 2020 and after not repeat his worst campaign tactics - racial stereotyping, not acknowledging the legitimacy of the democratic process, whatever. I've heard one (one) NeverTrump Republican strategist hope for an 'épuration sauvage' of the Trump surrogates from the party leadership. We'll see.
In Denver, I've yet to meet a person who is voting Trump. I did see a hobo wearing a MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN shirt.
Also, Jeff, as to your original question: Moby-Dick, Ulysses, that three-part Eleanor Roosevelt biography. That'll show me.
I'd also consider the brexit factor - right wing populism may defy the pollsters. I think Geoff's right, it's a coin flip right now. With rather a lot riding on it.
I noted Nate Silver has been unusually pessimistic compared to everyone else in the election. The tracking polls have given consistently unreliable data. Here's the NYT on the LA Times Poll:http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/13/ups...
And Brexit was possible with the data and within the margin of error in the polls. More likely than what even Nate is saying now.
But a lot is riding on this of course. Just the fact that Trump got this far means something is wrong. And of course, all of the polls could be off because turnout is up so much this year. Rural whites, women, hispanics....
I have tried very hard not to let anxiety get to me, and to avoid complacency. Voting and volunteering helps. Vote.
Wait, this turned into a serious discussion. WTF. ;)
Geoff, do you see Trump signs in your neighborhood? :/
I honestly don't know how to interpret polls though, they are so volatile. The most distressing thing to me is that someone like trump could be getting 40+ percent of the population. Something has gone terribly wrong indeed. (Psst I think know what it is, too : it starts with a Glo- and ends with a -bal Free Market Capitalism...)
Howl, I live a mile or so from the DC border in Montgomery Co. MD, so, no. But that's anecdotal evidence. Just cuz it's snowing in my backyard don't mean the polar ice caps ain't melting.
I'm feeling good about Trump losing. That said, I told my wife the other day: "If Trump wins Tuesday night, first thing we're doing Wednesday is going to buy a gun." I can't trust that the rule of law will remain fully intact under his reign. And I'm serious about that. If he gets elected, that opens the door to "mob rules".
Well he's openly courting civil unrest on Election Day. So yeah, arm up, good people of the Earth.
Ja, I was just wondering if these 'fuck you' people are your neighbours. My sister lives in Newtown, PA and she says all her neighbours have Trump signs, even though they seem nice, educated people. She's shit-scared.
Yeah, I don't know if I could handle that. I go to parent's house in Southern MD and it's all kindsa Trump Pence signage making me wretch as I drive. Make America Great Again barns are a thing.
The Guardian had a thing on 'meet the Trump supporters'. It wasn't all hillbillies. There were doctors, lawyers, professionals.
Oh I know. The hillbilly vote an election won't decide. There's educated urban folks votin' Trump Pence. They get the middle finger extra hard!
Hilary will win. Not by a landslide as my dad so confidently predicts, because let's face it, there are lots of bigots in the States, but she'll definitely win. She knows what she's doing. With the help of the media, she can scare enough people to vote for her. Either way it'll be a bit of a shit show. This election has divided people far too much. As a US citizen who doesn't live in the states, I was initially going to vote for Sanders as a gift of sorts to myself for turning eighteen. Sadly that didn't happen so I'm abstaining this election. You're choosing between cat shit and dog shit. No thanks.
That's how I feel. All of this hype about the possibility of him winning is just to scare people to vote. Let's not be gullible.
Given how close the polls are I wouldn't be at all surprised to see some kind of mess like this: http://www.politico.com/magazine/stor... (or similar to 2000). If it's up to electoral college, I'd expect Clinton to carry it as one of their own. Otherwise, well...Jonathan & Geoff, at the risk of being annoying, I have to say that if I were either of you, whilst I'd be concerned for others, I'd be way less worried than either of you are on a personal level, as healthy, well qualified white guys with (I'd guess) good CVs and social connections, including relatives who'd let you stay.
Will - that guy knows what he's talking about.
Some of the things I've started doing in anticipation of Brexit price rises (but really should have ages ago): freezing a lot more food, buying ready frozen food, practising sewing and how to make stuff out of old stuff, using handkerchiefs instead of tissues, not expecting to buy new clothes for a while, using tablet more for browsing so laptop (needed for typing stuff) hopefully lasts longer, stopping tumble drying.
I would love to be able to grow veg on a useful scale but not feasible right now.
I just wanted to second that Will made a great post. I can't vouch as much for personal survival skills, but I'd agree more about the electoral college, and to add another point:The economic recovery is stronger in the U.S. than it is for parts of western Europe, but it's very uneven. Urban residents are doing better. Minorities are doing better. But for rural residents, or residents in the Midwest where jobs were around one factory in town, and so on? Those jobs aren't coming back. Heroin addiction is a big problem, and drug addiction deaths are the biggest cause of accidental death, surpassing car accidents and gunfire. Something needs to be done for them, of course. Job retraining, vocational work, infrastructure building - all of that is important, and their grievances are real. Still, I try to be empathetic, but I cannot stand by when they start calling my mother racial slurs and me a 'f-ggot'. It's easy to wave aside all of the economic anxiety arguments, but it definitely creates an argument where fear is nurtured and exploited by certain media and political elements.
I live in a very comfortable place. Low crime, higher incomes, high rate of college education. I do not worry about money very often. My parents don't live in a nice place - higher crime, lower incomes, less college education. When I drive over to visit them, I see less Hillary and more Trump signs.
Antonomasia wrote: "Jonathan & Geoff, at the risk of being annoying, I have to say.."Absolutely - I am fine, and am privileged enough to be able to adapt to whatever happens - but, without getting too "we are the world" about it, not only are there many people in my life who I know and love who are minorities and live in the US, but I am empathetic enough to be genuinely and seriously upset by the impact a Trump win would have on millions and millions of others.
For example, I am firmly pro-choice and, despite not having a womb myself, the idea of any movement back from where we are on that today (which is inevitable if Trump wins) makes me furious.
But, with regard to everything else said on this excellent thread, I think what will be interesting (if, as I hope, Hillary wins) is how the nation deals with the legacy of the last few months - in particular it (as do we in the UK) need to look very carefully at those who have been left behind by the last few decades of technological advancement and associated reduction in many traditional jobs etc etc, and why we have all been content simply to ignore/dismiss them for so long.
those who have been left behind by the last few decades of technological advancement and associated reduction in many traditional jobs etc etc, and why we have all been content simply to ignore/dismiss them for so long. There is plenty in the manifesto on Hillary's website suggesting her team are serious about addressing this - I was surprised how much. But of course, there's always a gulf between pledges and practice, even more in a system where the winner may have to deal with a legislature with an opposing majority.
Huge figure of Trump to be burned as a Guy, and in quite a conservative, Brexit-backing area: http://www.itv.com/news/2016-11-02/do...Most of the rest of the world considers Britain idiotic for the Brexit vote (including some Trump supporters), and thinks America idiotic for the amount of support Trump gets (including some Brexiters).
Geoff wrote: "I honestly don't know how to interpret polls though, they are so volatile. The most distressing thing to me is that someone like trump could be getting 40+ percent of the population. Something has ..."Perhaps this will be of some consolation: ~120mil votes will be cast, if we suppose Trump does only get 40%, that is 48mil for Trump. The population of the USA is 320mil. which totals only 15% of the country voted for him.
No real way to determine if that 40% really measures up to scale across the entire population (to include those who don't participate in the election), but I would venture to say, it's much reduced among the general populace due to disinterest, ignorance to position, etc.
Further consolation, an earlier comment references our nation's inability to navigate the difference of Reality and reality TV--I tend to agree. Keep in mind, Trump is, perhaps, as common a household name as Clinton, whose name has some additional baggage. When uninformed people look at this thing, popularity/name recognition is important, and, perhaps too optimistically, am hoping that a decent chunk of that Trump support comes from a place of simple, ignorant name-recognition in people who really liked The Apprentice.
Geoff, you don't think your reaction to all Trump supporters (if not Trump himself) is a little extreme?The polarization of the electorate is part of what's brought us to this pass.
Anyway, I've been friends with child molesters and other convicted felons before. I don't think I personally know any Trump supporters (other than maybe relatives I haven't spoken to in years), but would not be opposed on principle to welcoming one into my life.
Probably a philosophical question worth tomes of expansion:Who is stupider: A person who is voting for Donald Trump because they liked The Apprentice or a person who is voting for Donald Trump because they think he's the man for the job?
Maybe we do need to make America Great again? What triggered the original Enlightenment?
I reckoned it's partly theatrical hyperbole as a way of venting. This is a literature site after all. I can't imagine Geoff actually rants at or avoids at anyone he espies wearing a Trump badge whilst commuting.I have to listen and talk quite often to Brexit supporters and be neutral and amicable, but it does get a little wearing sometimes. For me, saying anything more extreme here would probably only increase my frustration, but for others it might be a useful way of letting off steam.
David wrote: "Geoff, you don't think your reaction to all Trump supporters (if not Trump himself) is a little extreme?The polarization of the electorate is part of what's brought us to this pass.
Anyway, I've..."
Yeah it was kinda extreme. Sorry guys. I took a nap on the bus and feel a lot better now.
In fact, gimme a sec (cough cough) - think I'll vote for that cute lil' guy.
On a more serious note - I genuinely think he might actually win. Which is insane.