# I Predicted Trump's Rise Nearly Five Years Ago **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [February 27, 2016, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-predicted-trumps-rise-nearly-five-years-ago/747294 "2016-02-27T15:07:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-predicted-trumps-rise-nearly-five-years-ago/747294/21 "2016-03-11T01:56:30Z")
> [@Hyperelastic](#): > > No, no and yes . . . :dubious: You say “yes” to “Operation Wetback 2”? > [@Hyperelastic](#): > > . . . but the president has less power over these things than you imagine. 90% of what the federal government does is determined by bureaucrats and judges who are accountable to nobody. > > This Trump-as-monster stuff is being handed around by the GOP like cherry popsicles, and you saps are licking up every last drop. That’s as much to say that it doesn’t much matter who’s POTUS. Nonsense. Of course the president’s power is limited – but still vast. Haven’t we learned from the W years that having the wrong man in the WH can be extremely dangerous and destructive? ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-predicted-trumps-rise-nearly-five-years-ago/747294/22 "2016-03-11T05:57:53Z")
> [@Lakai](#): > > The voters are not dumber, just angrier. Wages have been stagnant for the middle class since the 1980s. They’ve been electing politicians for four decades who have accomplished nothing. They have a valid right to be angry, and sometimes anger can lead smart people to do stupid things. Lakai nailed it right here. WAGES HAVE BEEN STAGNANT FOR THE MIDDLE CLASS SINCE THE 1980s. The middle class voters are stinking MAD. they see their dreams failing. They are not sure what’s causing the problem, so they fall for Der Donald’s demagoguery. A lot of them might vote for Bernie if Der Donald was not around, because they know damn well the Powers That Be are not getting the job done for them. Bernie just happens to have a lot of the right answers, but Der Donald’s fans are unlikely to go for him when they have Donald the Demagogue to assure them that they can Make America Great Again. The obvious thing is to improve the lot of the middle class (and the poor as well, but things tend to improve for the poor if thing improve for the middle class). But the Washington power elite, Democrat and Republican, has no clue and no interest in that regard. Times are great for the One Percent! ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2016, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-predicted-trumps-rise-nearly-five-years-ago/747294/23 "2016-03-12T15:01:07Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > :dubious: You say “yes” to “Operation Wetback 2”? Absolutely. It’s really hard for unskilled Americans to make a living today, so we need to make sure that the limited jobs available go to the people who are here legally. That includes American-born Latinos. Welfare ruins the character and most of them don’t want it. I’ll be happy to pay $0.10 more for a head of lettuce if it means lettuce pickers don’t have to live in tin shacks with no toilets. I understand this would create hardship for many illegal aliens, but they know better than anyone that they’re breaking the law. ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2016, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-predicted-trumps-rise-nearly-five-years-ago/747294/24 "2016-03-12T15:10:08Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > It is not his politics, it is that he is politically (as distinct from electorally) ignorant, he is utterly unqualified to be POTUS, he would be a blundering incompetent in the job, he is too arrogant to listen much to better-informed advisers I think he’ll be all too competent for some people’s tastes. He’s had to deal with governments his entire career. Arrogance is only a problem if you don’t like the guy’s intentions. For people who liked Obama’s intentions, this was not a problem: > [@](#): > > “I think that I’m a better speechwriter than my speechwriters,” Mr. Obama told Patrick Gaspard, his political director, at the start of the 2008 campaign, according to The New Yorker. “I know more about policies on any particular issue than my policy directors. And I’ll tell you right now that I’m going to think I’m a better political director than my political director.” ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-predicted-trumps-rise-nearly-five-years-ago/747294/25 "2016-03-18T21:28:14Z")
> [@Hyperelastic](#): > > It’s time for another prediction. I predict that if Trump continues to win primaries, you are going to start hearing economic-apocalypse talk… [Today…](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/to-defend-our-democracy-against-trump-the-gop-must-aim-for-a-brokered-convention/2016/03/16/074399d4-eb9c-11e5-bc08-3e03a5b41910_story.html) [QUOTE=The Washington Post] His proposed tariff on Chinese imports could spark a trade war and global depression. [/QUOTE] Honest, I didn’t pay them to say this. They came up with it themselves. Soon they will prophesy that a Trump presidency would result in a black rainbow that will suck all the oxygen out of the atmosphere, leaving only anaerobic bacteria to rule over a devastated planet. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-predicted-trumps-rise-nearly-five-years-ago/747294/26 "2016-03-18T22:39:07Z")
> [@Hyperelastic](#): > > … > Soon they will prophesy that a Trump presidency would result in a black rainbow that will suck all the oxygen out of the atmosphere, leaving only anaerobic bacteria to rule over a devastated planet. You’ve been on a roll for 5 years now and today’s the day you choose to jump the shark? Why oh Savant to Defeat all Lesser Savants? Why today do you leave us with no navigator to the future? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2016, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-predicted-trumps-rise-nearly-five-years-ago/747294/27 "2016-03-19T00:08:47Z")
> [@Hyperelastic](#): > > [Today…](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/to-defend-our-democracy-against-trump-the-gop-must-aim-for-a-brokered-convention/2016/03/16/074399d4-eb9c-11e5-bc08-3e03a5b41910_story.html) > > Honest, I didn’t pay them to say this. They came up with it themselves. Hours before your prediction was posted: > **[Trump trade plans could cause global recession: Experts](https://www.cnbc.com/2016/03/10/trump-trade-plans-could-cause-global-recession-experts.html)** > > Even those saying GOP front-runner Donald Trump has rightly diagnosed a problem with U.S. trade policies are wary of his prescriptions. > [@Hyperelastic](#): > > Soon they will prophesy that a Trump presidency would result in a black rainbow that will suck all the oxygen out of the atmosphere, leaving only anaerobic bacteria to rule over a devastated planet. Mmm, one of the predictions of the theories about human induced climate change is that there would be a reduction of atmospheric oxygen if the CO2 that is being added to the atmosphere comes from us burning fossil fuels. [And that is that was found years ago](https://www.skepticalscience.com/its-not-us.htm), of course that points to what we need to do, we need to control our emissions. **But it will be much harder to do when almost 100% of Trump & company do not know or do not believe in even the basics of the science.** > **[As Election Year Unfolds, Climate Concern Rises](https://thinc.blog/2016/03/17/as-election-year-unfolds-climate-concern-rises/)** > > Gallup: Americans are taking global warming more seriously than at any time in the past eight years, according to several measures in Gallup’s annual environment poll. Most emblematic is the … Trump changed the question a woman from the conservation league made to Trump regarding what he would do about air pollution that is affecting our health and changing our climate; Trump turned to ask to his town meeting audience if they believe in global warming. Only one raised his hand. And later trump dismissed the one making the question. Unfortunately, pretending that global warming is not there is not an option because most Americans do see that there is a problem here. It is even sadder when one takes into account that most professional climate change deniers do accept that global warming is happening, what they deny is the human factor in the current warming and how bad the changes can get. > **[As Election Year Unfolds, Climate Concern Rises](https://thinc.blog/2016/03/17/as-election-year-unfolds-climate-concern-rises/)** > > Gallup: Americans are taking global warming more seriously than at any time in the past eight years, according to several measures in Gallup’s annual environment poll. Most emblematic is the … ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2016, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-predicted-trumps-rise-nearly-five-years-ago/747294/28 "2016-03-19T04:16:12Z")
I have never once had to listen to anything remotely Republican based to hate Trump. I thought Trump was a shitty person back before he was even running. He was the character that it was fun to hate on the Apprentice. The first thing is that he’s an asshole. The second is that he’s always playing himself–which means not any good. Not just a single charming comment like Obama, but it’s all he does. When you have to say “I’m a smart person,” you’ve just admitted to not being very smart. He’s extremely pro-violence. He can’t take criticism. He is a textbook narcissist–and, no, not everyone before him has been, since not everyone before him has been obsessed with proving they are good. He’s also not just rich but a big businessman. And he acts like an 80s villain. When you think business is the problem, you don’t want a businessman. And then there’s what he’s actually said. He came up with a tax plan that everyone on both sides agrees will cost us 10s of trillions of dollars. And he wants a wall that he’s somehow going to force Mexico to pay for. One sovereign country is going to force another sovereign country to pay–one that has a whole lot less money than we do. And then there’s what he said about Muslims and and not allowing them to come to our country. Not just refugees, which is already inhumane, but Muslims in general. Because he buys into the whole Muslim==terrorist idea. And don’t forget his idea to upend freedom of the press so people can’t print negative things about him: I could go on and on about everything he’s done to show he is not just a bad candidate, but blatantly evil. As in, I question the ability of anyone who supports him to make moral choices in general. It has jack shit to do with anything the Republicans have said. Trump is the guy who would be the cartoonishly evil villain in an 80s movie. And yet people are supporting him. They’re supporting evil so bad that we make fun of them in movies. Trump is the kind of guy you elect if you want to give up on democracy and have a dictator. ---
**Author:** ![Esox\_Lucius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@Esox\_Lucius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esox_Lucius)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2016, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-predicted-trumps-rise-nearly-five-years-ago/747294/29 "2016-03-19T06:08:15Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Trump is the kind of guy you elect if you want to give up on democracy and have a dictator. To update the old saying, “When fascism comes to America, it will come wearing a trucker’s cap that says Make America Great Again”. ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2016, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-predicted-trumps-rise-nearly-five-years-ago/747294/30 "2016-03-20T12:32:26Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I could go on and on about everything he’s done to show he is not just a bad candidate, but blatantly evil. As in, I question the ability of anyone who supports him to make moral choices in general. LOL blatantly evll ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-predicted-trumps-rise-nearly-five-years-ago/747294/31 "2016-04-01T21:56:50Z")
Coming soon: The Trump equivalent of Obama’s “Rev. Wright” speech, except it won’t be a speech and it will involve women. Trump and Obama have tangled in this arena before and Obama pwned him. Trump was beating on the birth certificate thing long after people decided there was nothing to it. Obama let him rave on because he knew it was firing up his (Obama’s) base. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2016, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-predicted-trumps-rise-nearly-five-years-ago/747294/32 "2016-04-02T00:32:34Z")
> [@Hyperelastic](#): > > I think he’ll be all too competent for some people’s tastes. He’s had to deal with governments his entire career. But he has never in his life worked for one, not even in a civil-service job or a military uniform. It is a completely different kind of job, and **not** one where a businessman’s skills or mentality are qualifications, or valuable, or even tolerable. ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2016, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-predicted-trumps-rise-nearly-five-years-ago/747294/33 "2016-04-02T15:15:28Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > But he has never in his life worked for one, not even in a civil-service job or a military uniform. It is a completely different kind of job, and **not** one where a businessman’s skills or mentality are qualifications, or valuable, or even tolerable. All he has to do is change his objective from making money to being popular. The strategy is different, but the tactics are identical. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2016, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-predicted-trumps-rise-nearly-five-years-ago/747294/34 "2016-04-02T18:58:45Z")
> [@Hyperelastic](#): > > One thing that ought to be a clue to Democrats is that nobody hates Trump more than the GOP. Generally speaking, if there’s a position that both the GOP and the DNC agree on, it would have to be something as patently obvious and unarguable as “Is water wet?” or “Is gravity a real thing?” Or, “Trump would be a disaster as president.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-predicted-trumps-rise-nearly-five-years-ago/747294.md?page=1)