For posterity

Politics & Elections
1

In the other thread someone said they were “scared shitless” of Trump.

Not just disagreeing with the policy. Not just appointing Conservative SC justices (since any Republican President would be expected to do that). No, something that is specifically Trump that scares you “shitless”. That’s pretty strong.

I’d like to ask - those who are scared that much, please post what you expect Trump will do that causes you to be “scared shitless”. So in a couple of years we can look back and see if any of your fears came true.

2

So far, almost all of his appointments are people who are against the aims of the agency they were nominated to lead.
Couple of examples:

Trump ran on saving jobs yet his nominee for Labor is a man who wants to replace employees with robots, is against any minimum wage, is against overtime pay and is against family leave.

His nominee for EPA is a climate denier.

3

He has a temper problem. He can’t stop talking on Twitter. So the big fear is that he will cause a diplomatic incident, and thus incite some sort of military action.

He is also just unintelligent in general, yet has a problem listening to others. And he doesn’t even care about the wellbeing of others. So a bit other fear is that he makes some sort of huge blunder with horrible consequences–consequences that, even if he recognized, he wouldn’t really care about.

Then there’s just the fear that, since he’s got at least two White Supremacists in his cabinet, he’s gonna wind up doing things that help them. Because the ones he picked were the ones that actually were, unlike most people, able to convince him.

He also is very gullible, and believes conspiracy theories, while eschewing intelligence briefings. So he’s likely to do something against a fake threat, perhaps even one created by a nefarious actor. He already believes a ton of fake news.

And, no, I’m not going to be more specific, since these threads are always about pointing and laughing at people who get things wrong. And that’s not remotely constructive or useful. The point is just to explain the fears to people who don’t get why having an abusive narcissistic idiot with White Nationalist friends might result in a dangerous presidency.

None of this may happen. That doesn’t make the fear any less real or less rational.

4

His nominee for Sec Ed has spent her entire career OUTSIDE of public education and has actively lobbied for its destruction, with horrible results in her home state.

5

Oh, forgot that one. There are so many that you lose some.

To fit the OP, I’ll add a prediction in there: that those so appointed will undermine those agencies purpose, and make things worse in these departments.

And, no, this isn’t typical Republican, because usually a Republican President would have had to become more centrist. But Trump is not an ideologue. He just rewards the people who he feels helped him. More narcissism and corruption.

Of course, it doesn’t help that a lot of qualified people don’t want to serve under him.

6

See, that’s pretty mild. Is that enough to “scare you shitless”?

7

First of all, do you consider yourself “scared shitless”?

Secondly: If so, what specific things do you expect to happen?

For example: I [running coach] expect the MW will be eliminated.
The OP can correct me if I’m wrong, but I think that was what he or she was getting at.

8

I’m not “scared shitless,” but I’m very concerned (and extremely disappointed by the voters who elected him). Trump, himself, isn’t so bad, since he has no core values, no agenda, and no competence. (compare to Cruz or Walker for a better example of “scared shitless”). However, Trump doesn’t care enough to keep people with terrible values and agendas out of government and will be happy to let them have their way with us. Same with Putin, who will be able to do terrible things without fear of any consequence from the US.

9

But that’s not what I was asking.

Maybe I should provide context:

Dewey Finn: “Personally, I would not be unhappy if they elected Hillary Clinton, followed immediately by a Constitutional Amendment to remove the Electoral College.”

Me: "I would not be unhappy if a 1000lb meteorite of gold gently touched down in my backyard.

Has about the same chance of happening. Why do people even entertain such fantasies?"

Dewey Finn: “Because the reality of Trump taking office scares me shitless.”

Me: “That’s an interesting explanation. Now you can empathize with the birther movement. They entertained their fantasies because the reality of Obama taking office scared them.”

Amateur Barbarian: "Right, he was going to make us a Muslim nation and take away all the guns. Now I remember.

We’re afraid of Trump because of what he has said he believes and will do - and is, so far, doing - not what we’re making up about him. I think pretty soon even the dimmest “Not Hillary” voter will start to understand that."

10

I never said I was scared shitless. I do see, in this example, a continuous attempt at weakening protections for labor.

Another example: Recently, the National Labor Review Board voted against a Trump hotel in a union recognition dispute.
Guess who appoints the NLRB?

11

OK, good to establish that. The OP was asking “if you are scared shitless…”, so I think it makes sense to clarify if you (the generic you) are in that category or not.

I’m not scared shitless either, but I think you’re probably right on that.

12

Well shit, what would scare you shitless? A guy with a gun in your face? I mean, maybe “shitless” is a bad term. After all, the sense of impending dread you get when you know that over the next four years, your quality of life is going to suffer immensely is a very different feeling then the pants-shitting terror you experience when, say, a man points a gun at you and starts screaming obscenities at you.

Maybe we need a better term, I dunno.

But don’t you find it scary that Trump’s Israeli Ambassador has no experience in government, but wants to completely overturn the USA’s policy on Israel and Palestine in a radical way that is likely to cause a lot more resentment and bloodshed in the middle east?
Don’t you find it scary that Trump’s energy secretary wanted to eliminate the post he now possesses a mere 4 years ago?
Don’t you find it worrisome at all that Trump’s pick for head of the EPA has spent much of his career fighting against environmental protections, and rejects that global warming exists?

None of this shit is a gun in my face. Friedman might mean a gun in my Israeli friends’s face at some point down the line. Pruitt will probably mean a lot more coughing and wheezing, and a lot more flooding. At some point. Eventually. Maybe in 20-30 years. Not exactly shitting my pants. More just filled with existential dread. Not sure why that’s the most meaningful distinction, though.

13

  • Denying the reality of Climate change, and pushing the world over the tipping point of no return. It’s just possible that we may have been able to ameliorate some of the worst problems to come if the US had taken a leadership role. Now we’re screwed.

  • By appointing known enemies/incompetents to be in charge of agencies, Trump will effectively destroy certain parts of government. I’m sure this is part of the plan, and is actually applauded by those who want to destroy government - both the “libertarian, every man for himself” types, as well as those who see the money that can be made.

  • In this vein, the worst scenario would be; 1. Moving Social Security to a privately run model, where corporations can “manage” accounts, and skim 2 - 3% per year off the top. Billions of people’s retirement dollars funnelled into private company hands.

  1. Reduction or elimination of public schools. Private schools and corporations can skim the profits off of the education system’s tax dollars. Much money to be made for a few people in this area.
  2. Destruction of the EPA and all environmental regulations. Corporations can simply do what they please and we’ll be back to the era of rivers catching fire, the Great Lakes being dead zones, and lead and other heavy metal contamination wherever the companies choose to dump it.
  3. Elimination of Obamacare with nothing to replace it except for “you can’t afford insurance, so tough shit, it’s all your fault for being poor or sick”
14

Here’s the worst case scenario I’m worried about.

There’s a international crisis. Given Trump’s performance as President-Elect, I think we can take that as a given.

It’s the White House situation room. Advisers are putting forth different plans on how we can extract ourselves from the crisis.

Trump interrupts and presents his own idea of how we should respond. The other people in the room are aghast and point out this plan will just aggravate the situation and provoke the other side into making a bigger response.

Trump chuckles and says, “Don’t worry. It was just like the time the chairman of NBC wanted to cancel my show. You show somebody you’re not going to put up with their nonsense and they back down and then you make your deal.”

Having received their orders, the people in the room have no choice other than to say, “Yes, Mr President.”

A few hours later, the reports are coming in. Thousands of American troops are dead and the enemy is crossing the border without opposition. One city has been destroyed and the enemy has stated that if Americans resist, they will order a general launch of their nuclear arsenal.

In the situation room, the advisers turn to Donald Trump and ask, “Mr President, what do we do now?”

And President Trump sits there, for the first time looking older than his years, and quietly whispers, “I don’t know what to do…”

To answer the OP’s question, am I certain something like this will happen? No. But do I think it’s a realistic possibility? Yes, I do.

I’m really hoping you can re-open this thread in two years and laugh at my fears.

15

OK, I’ll bite. I’m not scared so much of any specific thing that I expect him to do, I’m scared that we are about to hand over an incredibly complex system to someone who has literally no idea how any of it works. It’s like putting someone who has never driven before behind the wheel of a truck that is going 70 miles an hour on a busy highway. It might work out by sheer dumb luck, but I wouldn’t bet on it – particularly if the amateur truck driver has a dangerous level of overconfidence in his own abilities, and refuses to take advice from people who do know how things work.

16

I’m pretty freakin scared of a negative feedback loop of rage in the voting public, where there is no logic, or wisdom, and all ills are blamed on the non-authoritarians not in power. Never goes well.

Supreme court appointments, regulating agencies being dismantled, are sources of fear.

Non globalists should be scared of consolidation of power in oligarchs across borders, exxon, russia, etc. I’m really shocked that there is no pushback from the right on this. This will be corruption on steroids. The dude pretty much said he wanted to do it, and they voted for him anyway.

And finally don the con is a vengeful petty person who wants to use his power to exact retribution on people. Can there be any doubt?

17

You were going so well until the last moment. He will never say “I don’t know” about anything.

Did you ever see “White Heat” with Jimmy Cagney?

Am I wrong?

18

With an ordinary Republican, I’d be afraid of us getting into another damnfool war in Syria or Iran or someplace. With Trump, I’m afraid that he’ll nuke Mexico.

With an ordinary Republican, I’d be afraid that he’d nominate one or two Supreme Court justices to fill vacancies. With Trump, I’m afraid that he’ll nominate a dozen or so, without vacancies.

With an ordinary Republican, I’d be afraid that they’d yammer on about how non-Christians and immigrant workers aren’t real Americans, and worsen the general hostility. With Trump, I’m afraid that they’ll be rounded up and deported en masse (even the citizens) or interred.

19

Appointing hundreds of lower-level federal judges, to fill the posts that the Senate refused to act on when Obama nominated people to fill the vacancies.

Trump is going to influence the course of American jurisprudence for the next fifty years, and not for the better. The country is going to be harmed, and democracy itself will be undermined, via gerrymandering and voter disenfranchisement laws, which Trump’s choice of judges will uphold as legal.

20

That would be true with any Republican President. The whole point of the OP is for you to post something that you predict Trump (specifically Trump, not just any Republican) will do that “scares you shitless”. Then we can revisit the thread in a couple of years and see if your fears were realized. You know, like Chronos’ “nuke Mexico” thing. Or deporting/interring US citizens en masse.