The world is officially upside down.

[rowdyhillrambler]

Can someone please make me feel better???

I was listening to NPR, I know leftist liberal media, and they said that D starts getting briefed as POTUS today, including nuclear codes...

Is it as simple as walking into the room dialing 867-5309 and launching war balloons??? Seriously is there a check and balance on that?? He has already said he knows more than the generals, so he us up at 3:00 tweeting, gets pissed and now we are obliterating Trinidad and Tobego because they won't let him build a Casino????

I need to feel better about this, I have an 8 year old gal that I need to calm myself down over.

It can't be that easy???

[monadnocky]

Can someone please make me feel better???
...
It can't be that easy???

Yes, it can. A summary regarding the "gold codes" and nuclear launch initiation:

Gold Codes - Wikipedia

Basically, the President can order a variety of launches (options from a full-out glassing to a limited strike on pre-authorized locations) at any time. The "two-man rule" still applies, in a way, since the other person (most likely the secretary of defense) is required only to verify the order, but cannot veto it. After the order, if it was deemed without merit, the 25th Amendment of of the Constitution could be invoked to declare the President unfit for office, but I doubt this would be done in the moments between the order being given and the beginning of launch.

My understanding is that it is much more difficult for the Russian head of state to do this compared to the American president.

I'm sure others here (Bigbill comes to mind) know a lot more about this than I do.

[Dallas Tex]

Can someone please make me feel better???..........I need to feel better about this, I have an 8 year old gal that I need to calm myself down over.

Both parties build a caricature of the opposing candidate. Absolutely creating a monster that will destroy life as we know it. Its a strategy to win elections, no reason to continue thinking that way after the election is over.

[monadnocky]

Both parties build a caricature of the opposing candidate. Absolutely creating a monster that will destroy life as we know it. Its a strategy to win elections, no reason to continue thinking that way after the election is over.

Yes but this President-elect specifically talked about how much he "loves war" and discussed "bombing the shit out of them" (granted, in a discussion of countering IS) as well as his recklessly tossing around the notion of actually using nuclear weapons. Hyperbole it most likely was, but remember Reagan's quip about "the bombing begins in 10 minutes" (I think that was it?) when he wasn't aware the microphone was keyed? That alone caused real consternation in Moscow. Trump's done a lot to create his own monster.

[vertical_doug]

Can someone please make me feel better???

I was listening to NPR, I know leftist liberal media, and they said that D starts getting briefed as POTUS today, including nuclear codes...

Is it as simple as walking into the room dialing 867-5309 and launching war balloons??? Seriously is there a check and balance on that?? He has already said he knows more than the generals, so he us up at 3:00 tweeting, gets pissed and now we are obliterating Trinidad and Tobego because they won't let him build a Casino????

I need to feel better about this, I have an 8 year old gal that I need to calm myself down over.

It can't be that easy???

Don't worry, if the Democratic caricature of Trump is accurate, he is not smart enough to memorize where on the biscuit the correct codes are as opposed to the false codes. He will not be able to authorize. Sleep easy tonight.

:)

[Dallas Tex]

Don't worry, if the Democratic caricature of Trump is accurate, he is not smart enough to memorize where on the biscuit the correct codes are as opposed to the false codes. He will not be able to authorize. Sleep easy tonight.

:)

Yeah, that same guy just outsmarted the most powerful political infrastructure the world has ever seen as well as all the media & polling industry. He has a tremendous number of flaws that we normally don't see in 'politicians', but I don't think your assessment is accurate.

[Dallas Tex]

, but remember Reagan's quip about "the bombing begins in 10 minutes" (I think that was it?) when he wasn't aware the microphone was keyed? That alone caused real consternation in Moscow. .

Yes I do remember that, what I don't remember is the nuclear war that folks thought Reagan would undoubtedly start. I also remember Reagan's partnership with Gorbachev that produced much freedom & peace.

[dgaddis]

I don't think Trump is stupid (I don't think vertical doug does either if you read his post). I just hope a lot of his talk during the campaign was just playing the chumps to earn their votes. The true reality is no one knows what to expect next.

Also, on the positive side, SNL should be great this week. Dave Chappelle is hosting!!

[j44ke]

As my wife said, if he is truly going to do things that will help rural America recover from the death of industry, then that's great. But if he is just going to enrich himself and his cronies and trash the country like one of his casinos (though I have some theories about Trump and his casinos and whether they were ever intended to be successful,) then chain him to a rock and let vultures eat his liver forever (Prometheus, get it? My wife is a smart cookie.)

My wife, who is sitting on the tarmac in Rome waiting for her plane to finally take off, also just sent me this article, which is why we were talking about this.

How Half Of America Lost Its F**king Mind

[murphy]

Both parties build a caricature of the opposing candidate. Absolutely creating a monster that will destroy life as we know it. Its a strategy to win elections, no reason to continue thinking that way after the election is over.

Except in this case Trump caricatured himself. I can only hope he is not as sexist, racist and bigoted as his speeches, tweets, etc. have made him appear; but that hope is tempered by the fact that we have seen him invite violence, make fun of those with disabilities, and go on tirades against minorities and women so really I am thinking this leopard will not be changing its spots.

[j44ke]

I think Daltex is right on the intelligence thing. There is a difference between being stupid and having no regard for rules or dogma you see as an expression of institutional hypocrisy. That's my theory of Trump and the casinos. He saw that banks would loan someone with no debt a little money, but that if someone had a lot of debt, they would loan them A LOT of money. And they loved casinos, because they saw them as guaranteed money. He saw that localities who would not allow a factory to be built would allow a casino, and even better, they'd basically finance it for him. And he saw that the way the federal government had structured bankruptcy, he could actually MAKE money going bankrupt. Over-simplification but he basically used none or very little of his own money to build these ginormous very expensive casinos that hemorrhaged cash and eventually went bankrupt, after which he could live tax free for a long long time. The one thing that pissed him off was when his creditors put him on an "allowance" and that's the starting point for what so far has culminated in his election as President.

But he's not dumb. He's also definitely NOT conflict averse. If you've ever dealt with a contractor in NYC, they all bank on most of their customers being more conflict averse than they are. They'll call your mother a whore to your face and all sorts of things you'd never imagine in a civilized world, but if you can survive the onslaught, they'll honor the price on the contract as originally negotiated. Otherwise you pay a fee to have it all over and done with and for them to just go away.

[summilux]

I don't think Trump is stupid (I don't think vertical doug does either if you read his post). I just hope a lot of his talk during the campaign was just playing the chumps to earn their votes.

Conrad Black,a (former) Canadian writer and newspaper baron, has been saying all along that Trump is much smarter and better than his public persona. Black writes for the right-of-centre National Post and is one of the billionaire set so his opinions need to be taken with a grain of salt. Trump is also a personal friend of Black. However, Black's political writings are usually well thought out and reasoned. I still feel like I'm watching Alexander burning down Persepolis but Black's column yesterday was optimistic:

Conrad Black: Donald Trump’s assault on both parties will make America better | National Post

[dgaddis]

My wife, who is sitting on the tarmac in Rome waiting for her plane to finally take off, also just sent me this article, which is why we were talking about this.

How Half Of America Lost Its F**king Mind

That article is a great read.

In a city, you can plausibly aspire to start a band, or become an actor, or get a medical degree. You can actually have dreams. In a small town, there may be no venues for performing arts aside from country music bars and churches. There may only be two doctors in town -- aspiring to that job means waiting for one of them to retire or die. You open the classifieds and all of the job listings will be for fast food or convenience stores. The "downtown" is just the corpses of mom and pop stores left shattered in Walmart's blast crater, the "suburbs" are trailer parks. There are parts of these towns that look post-apocalyptic.

I'm telling you, the hopelessness eats you alive.

My wife is from one of those towns. I get it.

[StR]

As my wife said, if he is truly going to do things that will help rural America recover from the death of industry, then that's great.

I am very interested in how and what he will do to change this ...

[monadnocky]

Yes I do remember that, what I don't remember is the nuclear war that folks thought Reagan would undoubtedly start. I also remember Reagan's partnership with Gorbachev that produced much freedom & peace.

I believe that the Reagan-Gorbachev alliance might just have saved the planet, and I think that towards the end of his presidency Reagan was truly interested in banning nuclear arms altogether. But that's not my point, at all. I'm just saying that words have consequences and world leaders need to be mindful of this. "I love war" and similar statements understandably make some of us nervous and tend to put world leaders on edge.

[jclay]

Yes I do remember that, what I don't remember is the nuclear war that folks thought Reagan would undoubtedly start. I also remember Reagan's partnership with Gorbachev that produced much freedom & peace.

Actually, unless this information is false (which doesn't seem to be the case based on what I've read) his wreckless actions damn near did, and it was a Russian who had the intellect and guts to save the day.

Stanislav Petrov - Wikipedia

As to Trump "outsmarting" the Democrats: Demagoguery and playing to the basest fears of a population doesn't require much intellect, less if that's your natural personality as is apparently the case with Trump. No, his route to victory is no positive commentary on him or much of the electorate who supported him. It's a commentary on a fair number of other subject or policy areas, some legitimate, more not.

[mzilliox]

I am very interested in how and what he will do to change this ...

you know, energy and stuff, coal, fracking, pipes, garbage, pollution, the good stuff, oh and jobs or something

[robin3mj]

I am very interested in how and what he will do to change this ...

At least someone is interested. Because damn sure, the Donald isn't.

I'm going to hope he stays relatively boxed in for four years and actually does more good than harm, But there was so little substance in his promises and he has such a long track record of stepping on the regular guy, that it's hard to envision anything else.

[Corso]

People, People, People,

The left is starting to believe it’s own propaganda. They’ve been calling Trump Hitler for so long everyone believes it. Yeah, he’s said stupid things, but why take everything he’s said as Gospel???

How many hollywood millionaires are you going to hold to their “move out of the country” promise?

Van Jones was on CNN doing his best Al Sharpton act, saying his Muslim friends are asking him if they have to leave the country, how can they send their kids to school with burkas, fearing violence, How do we explain this to “OUR CHILDREN”-the lefts all time go to crutch.

The folks protesting are a funny bunch, as when asked, some didn’t vote, Some just want to yell f words, some cry saying Trump is a racist, etc etc. Sad. Move-on -Soros sponsored events, fully anticipated.

Hillary & Obama both are acting civil on this, wouldn’t it makes sense to their followers to act the same?

Colin Kaepernick protested by NOT voting. Yeah, that’s the way to change things.

Why don’t we wait and see what happens before jumping off the bridge.

keepcalmbike.jpeg

[Cookietruck]

Actually, unless this information is false (which doesn't seem to be the case based on what I've read) his wreckless actions damn near did, and it was a Russian who had the intellect and guts to save the day.

Stanislav Petrov - Wikipedia

As to Trump "outsmarting" the Democrats: Demagoguery and playing to the basest fears of a population doesn't require much intellect, less if that's your natural personality as is apparently the case with Trump. No, his route to victory is no positive commentary on him or much of the electorate who supported him. It's a commentary on a fair number of other subject or policy areas, some legitimate, more not.

now that the convo is moving this direction, shall i point this out.
i'm facepalming over here...as i know russia is ecstatic with the results. i mean, trump didn't even know that russia had gone into ukraine...

Report: Trump's team had contacts with Moscow during campaign - POLITICO