# Note to all the other boiling frogs... **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [July 23, 2016, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/note-to-all-the-other-boiling-frogs/760707 "2016-07-23T20:15:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2016, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/note-to-all-the-other-boiling-frogs/760707/101 "2016-07-26T22:23:30Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > You first have to win championships to be considered the incredible team you refer to, but to use your own analogy Trump started out a year ago exactly as an ‘underdog no-hoper’ and look what he’s accomplished. Unless you’re claiming that a year ago exactly Trump was **not** smart, clever, devious etc., no, that doesn’t work. If Superman is super, even if everyone believe that he is not, it’s not impressive for him to fly, because he’s still Superman. And certainly, if Lois Lane or someone else who knows his secret identity and his powers sees him fly, knowing he is super, again, so what? That’s who he is. You believe Trump is an Incredible Person, to sum up your list of fine qualities. It is no accomplishment for an Incredible Person to do Incredible Things. That is what we expect of them. It’s the baseline. Let me put it this way instead; I would generally assume you would not consider me personally to be on Trump’s level. Let’s say\* I \*had managed to become the Republican nominee, putting aside my legal inability to take up the Presidency for the moment. Would you consider that more, less, or equal to Trump’s accomplishment in doing so as a person with all those fine qualities? ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2016, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/note-to-all-the-other-boiling-frogs/760707/102 "2016-07-26T22:25:25Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > You first have to win championships to be considered the incredible team you refer to, but to use your own analogy Trump started out a year ago exactly as an ‘underdog no-hoper’ and look what he’s accomplished. He came in as an inexperienced non-politician and blew 15 seasoned politicos out of the water, played the press like violins, hardly spent any money, overcame numerous concerted attempts by the Republican establishment to deny him the nomination, and has now found himself the Republican nominee for president with ever increasing poll numbers over Hillary Clinton. > > And yet to this day many people are unwilling to give him credit for any of these accomplishments. They say he lucked into it, or he’s only where he is because of angry old white guys, or because a lot people in the U.S. want to go back to the racism of the 50s, etc., etc. All of which is b.s. > > So it’s more like he’s Superman in certain ways but people don’t know it yet. > > They’re finding it out though. I think you’re selling him short, **SA**. You haven’t mentioned his super strength and x-ray vision, nor his all-controlling power over time and space. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2016, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/note-to-all-the-other-boiling-frogs/760707/103 "2016-07-26T22:26:43Z")
> [@sleestak](#): > > Her offence was vastly different and there were vastly different policies in place when Clinton set up her servers. If you do not understand the differences between what others did and what Clinton did, you ought to educate yourself. Right, right, but the FBI didn’t believe that it rose to the level of criminal activity. So it’s just a case of bad judgement, which is a conclusion that I reached long ago. > [@sleestak](#): > > Additionally, the fact that people in the past behaved in unethical ways does not excuse unethical Clinton’s unethical behavior. If anything, it makes it worse as she should have known there would be problems with her actions. Thanks for reminding us of something we probably learned in grade school. > [@sleestak](#): > > Of course, the only thing that matters is the letter behind the name. If Clinton had (R) then it would be the Democrats freaking out about the email server. I didn’t care about Karl Rove, Colin Powell, or Condi Rice’s misuse of emails – I viewed it as a mistake. That’s where it ended, and that’s where it should have ended. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2016, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/note-to-all-the-other-boiling-frogs/760707/104 "2016-07-26T22:44:05Z")
> [@Johnny\_Ace](#): > > He didn’t luck into it, he successfully sold snake oil to a substantial portion of the electorate who were willing to buy in the first place, which is basically what he’s been doing for 50 years. Doesn’t make him an admirable human being in any way, shape, or form, nor does it make him a good (let alone the best) candidate for President. > > But please, continue to tell us how deluded and misplacedly confident in the outcome we are. _“Never, ever, ever underestimate Trump”_ ~Harry Reid I’ve said before and I’ll say again, I’m not voting for Trump. He’s said some things I find troubling plus I have no idea what he’d actually do once in office. But you guys are badly underestimating him and you don’t even know it. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2016, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/note-to-all-the-other-boiling-frogs/760707/105 "2016-07-26T22:56:09Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > _“Never, ever, ever underestimate Trump”_ > > ~Harry Reid > > I’ve said before and I’ll say again, I’m not voting for Trump. He’s said some things I find troubling plus I have no idea what he’d actually do once in office. > > But you guys are badly underestimating him and you don’t even know it. I think you are too – you do recognize that he can melt your brain with his mind, right? ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2016, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/note-to-all-the-other-boiling-frogs/760707/106 "2016-07-26T22:58:25Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > There are none so blind as those who will not see. There are none so blind as those who will not see, and so vote for their own demise. Like the frogs in the warming water. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/note-to-all-the-other-boiling-frogs/760707/107 "2016-07-27T01:14:59Z")
I have absolutely no idea why you all keep engaging him. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/note-to-all-the-other-boiling-frogs/760707/108 "2016-07-27T01:29:07Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > For me, it’s about throwing investment bankers into prison when they commit felonies. I think it’s a terrible mistake to create a class of businesses that are “too big to fail”, and thusly “too big to prosecute”. That kind of shit’s gonna come back to haunt us someday … If you’re worried about banks being too big to fail, then you need government regulation that makes it illegal for banks to get that big. Throwing people in jail isn’t going to accomplish that. You’re never going to hear “more government regulation” escape from Trump’s mouth, so it would seem you’re making a serious miscalculation. > [@](#): > > The reasons are as varied as my friends, and covers the whole spectrum of ideas … but with each of them, ONE thing stands out as a good idea. I’d wager that all these alleged “good ideas” are just as mistaken as the one you’ve presented. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/note-to-all-the-other-boiling-frogs/760707/109 "2016-07-27T01:50:03Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > He came in as an inexperienced non-politician and and will depart as an inexperienced non-politician. It doesn’t appear he’s learned anything except that part of the American electorate is more wildly delusional, racist, and xenophobic than any of us imagined. > [@](#): > > blew 15 seasoned politicos out of the water, Come now. Winning the Republican field this year was like being the valedictorian of summer school. His strongest competition was a guy that everyone loathed. > [@](#): > > played the press like violins, whatever that means. > [@](#): > > hardly spent any money, has hardly raised any money > [@](#): > > overcame numerous concerted attempts by the Republican establishment to deny him the nomination, If you mean at the last possible minute one or two people started muttering about changing the rules, sure. > [@](#): > > and has now found himself the Republican nominee for president Hey look! A fact! > [@](#): > > with ever increasing poll numbers over Hillary Clinton. Due to the convention bump, which happens to every candidate every year. > [@](#): > > And yet to this day many people are unwilling to give him credit for any of these accomplishments. They say he lucked into it, or he’s only where he is because of angry old white guys, or because a lot people in the U.S. want to go back to the racism of the 50s, etc., etc. All of which is b.s. I will tell you exactly what he gets credit for. He took a calculated risk that he could succeed by carrying a bombastic message to the lowest common denominator. However, he doesn’t deserve much credit for that gamble because he had little money on the line and nothing to lose by going sleazy and racist. As for his media game, I do believe he had a good analytics game to figure out what people wanted to hear and give them more of it. But here again the credit is tarnished by the fact that he has no foundation, so he’s freer to change his message with the winds. In short, you are mistaken if you think having a good amateur game translates to being able to survive in the pros. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/note-to-all-the-other-boiling-frogs/760707/110 "2016-07-27T03:12:04Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > blew 15 seasoned politicos out of the water It’s precisely because there were 15 others that Trump won. They all split the vote among themselves. Had Trump been running against a field of only 1 or 2 other Republicans, he would be a distant also-ran. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/note-to-all-the-other-boiling-frogs/760707/111 "2016-07-27T03:52:48Z")
> [@mascaroni](#): > > And piano tuners. > > You went eight years a (missed) heartbeat from President Quayle. It’ll turn out alright in the end… Four, actually. Quayle was [Bush](https://www.gop.com/george-hw-bush-socks/)’s VP. You are probably thinking of Dick Strangelove, who was, admittedly, at least as disturbing, albeit for different reasons. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/note-to-all-the-other-boiling-frogs/760707/112 "2016-07-27T04:11:06Z")
Yeah, it’s pretty outrageous. If America shits the bed in front of the whole world by electing him, it’s going to take a long time to live down the humiliation. I thought it was embarrassing to have Dubya as president, but compared to Trump (the #whinylittlebitch), he is a candidate for Mt. Rushmore. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/note-to-all-the-other-boiling-frogs/760707/113 "2016-07-27T04:37:54Z")
I wouldn’t worry about that, other countries are well on their way to following suit. Their politicians may be more polished than Trump, but they speak the same language. Boris Johnson is a step away from PM and there are more where that came from. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/note-to-all-the-other-boiling-frogs/760707/114 "2016-07-27T05:23:43Z")
How quintessentially adaheric. Even the National Respew, in an editorial found here[,](http://www.nationalreview.com/article/437195/boris-johnson-donald-trump-similarities-differences) does not feel that that guy is very much similar to Boris Johnson. Boris is, after all, an asshole with character, or at least personality, neither of which are in evidence in that guy. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/note-to-all-the-other-boiling-frogs/760707/115 "2016-07-27T05:26:06Z")
The politics is all similar though. The US has actually been late to the right-wing nationalist party. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/note-to-all-the-other-boiling-frogs/760707/116 "2016-07-27T05:41:18Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > The politics is all similar though. The US has actually been late to the right-wing nationalist party. Which President or Prime Minister are you thinking of? ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/note-to-all-the-other-boiling-frogs/760707/117 "2016-07-27T05:44:07Z")
Poland’s leadership is right-wing nationalist, Austria briefly had such a government. Britain is very, very close with Johnson just a step away from the PM’s office now. right-wing parties are on the rise pretty much everywhere in Europe. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/note-to-all-the-other-boiling-frogs/760707/118 "2016-07-27T09:02:37Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Britain is very, very close with Johnson just a step away from the PM’s office now. Johnson is nowhere near the idiot that Trump is; don’t confuse playing the buffoon with being a buffoon. And he is nowhere near a step away from No. 10. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/note-to-all-the-other-boiling-frogs/760707/119 "2016-07-27T09:42:07Z")
Really? He was the favorite to be PM when Cameron resigned. And you think a smart right-wing nationalist is a good thing? ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/note-to-all-the-other-boiling-frogs/760707/120 "2016-07-27T10:38:18Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Johnson is nowhere near the idiot that Trump is; don’t confuse playing the buffoon with being a buffoon. And he is nowhere near a step away from No. 10. Agree on both points. > [@adaher](#): > > Really? He was the favorite to be PM when Cameron resigned. And you think a smart right-wing nationalist is a good thing? He was the favorite for about five minutes. As previously noted, Boris’s plan was to head a Leave campaign that would narrowly lose, then ride the discontent of the Leavers into Number 10. He was utterly unprepared for winning - and for the consequences of winning - and thus floundered spectacularly afterwards. Gove’s betrayal was merely the _coup de gras_; he was already floundering at that point. Mind you, it was a pretty clever strategy - and the fact that he’s capable of such a strategy sets him apart from Trump - but as other leaders have discovered there are perils inherent in leading angry mobs. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/note-to-all-the-other-boiling-frogs/760707.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/note-to-all-the-other-boiling-frogs/760707.md?page=7)