# "President of the United States Donald Trump" still seems vaguely unreal. Anyone else feel this way? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 24, 2016, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-of-the-united-states-donald-trump-still-seems-vaguely-unreal-anyone-else-feel-this-way/772928 "2016-11-24T22:51:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Bumbershoot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbershoot/32/3428_2.png) [@Bumbershoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbershoot)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2016, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-of-the-united-states-donald-trump-still-seems-vaguely-unreal-anyone-else-feel-this-way/772928/61 "2016-11-26T13:59:51Z")
I posted this on Election night and I still feel the same way- Apparently I live in the Bizarro World. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2016, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-of-the-united-states-donald-trump-still-seems-vaguely-unreal-anyone-else-feel-this-way/772928/62 "2016-11-26T16:17:09Z")
> [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](#): > > There’s going to be an aircraft carrier, or a submarine, named after Trump one day… Several Presidents have never had warships named after them. I expect Trump to be one of them. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2016, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-of-the-united-states-donald-trump-still-seems-vaguely-unreal-anyone-else-feel-this-way/772928/63 "2016-11-26T20:29:07Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > I think the very existence of this thread demonstrates what a liberal echo chamber the SDMB really is. Very, very many Americans believe in Donald Trump and the ideology that he campaigned on. The fact that he won the election demonstrates that. Anyone is free to disagree with his philosophy, of course, but to treat it as if it were some sort of alternate reality is a flagrant disregard for the facts. Except one of the most galling things about Trump is that he has no clear ideology or philosophy, aside of course for the enrichment of Donald J. Trump and family. He had not stated plans on out to enact any of the vaguely defined policy statements he made during the campaign, and now that he has won the election he’s reversed himself on even the most straightforward promises, such as appointing a special prosecutor to investigate Hillary Clinton (although now that the Clinton campaign is backing the recount efforts in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, the notoriously vengeful Trump may be rethinking that takeback), reducing support for NATO, or eliminating the federal minimum wage. And while he has disclaimed explicitly racist attitudes and publicly admitted that he believes that climate change could have an anthropomorphic component, he appointed Breitbart chairman and inveterate bigot Steve Bannon as his strategy chief, and professional lobbyist and climate change denier Myron Ebell to his EPA transition team and presumptive director. So, that doesn’t say much to having any consistent ideology. On the issues to which Trump presumably appealed to his lower-to-middle class electorate, e.g. bringing back jobs and erecting protective trade barriers, his rhetoric is not only hollow but actually makes no sense whatsoever, and isn’t even internally consistent (he’s going to bring back cheap overseas manufacturing jobs but not guarantee a minimum wage consistent with the cost of living in the US). What is so astonishing is not that Trump’s bombast was appealing (or more pointedly, just how unpopular his opponent was) but that he was able to stand up in front of the public and spew a complete line of bullshit that almost no one consistently called him out on, all while [even cheating the people who supported him](http://time.com/4424496/usa-freedom-kids-donald-trump-sue-lawsuit/) and overcast by scandals of his [public misogyny](http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/08/politics/trump-on-howard-stern/) and the [Trump University scam](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/19/us/politics/trump-university.html). It is a credible observation that there exists a “liberal echo chamber” here and elsewhere in the country. That chamber, however, happens to be populated by people who would like to think the best of others even if in sometimes misguided and self-involved fashion, and believe that a significant plurality of voters would not vote for someone as self-aggrandizing and openly mendacious as Trump. It is clear that view and the assumptions behind it are not true, which is unfortunate but does suggest that while there are some voters who may enthusiastically embrace Trump’s “ideology” of gilded vainglory, there are many more who are just desperate for someone in political office to take notice of their plight and give them a reason to be hopeful about the future of the country on a personal level. > [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Several Presidents have never had warships named after them. I expect Trump to be one of them. Perhaps we could rename [this one](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/nov/23/us-navys-most-expensive-destroyer-breaks-down-in-panama-canal) after him. Of course, after covering it with gold paint and erecting thirty foot high letters spelling “TRUMP” on both sides of the superstructure it is going to be anything but stealthy, but it might at least pacify his infantile pride. We’ll need to install special handrails for his tiny, toddl…oh, never mind. Those jokes are just too easy. Stranger ---
**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:** [November 26, 2016, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-of-the-united-states-donald-trump-still-seems-vaguely-unreal-anyone-else-feel-this-way/772928/64 "2016-11-26T20:36:33Z")
**Stranger** , I don’t think this is an Elections-type thread, I think it’s a MPSIMS thread about the weirdness or strangeness of President Donald Trump as a name, or something to get accustomed to. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2016, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-of-the-united-states-donald-trump-still-seems-vaguely-unreal-anyone-else-feel-this-way/772928/65 "2016-11-26T21:37:17Z")
Yes, and my point is that nobody should be getting “accustomed to” Donald Trump. He is not normal, as a president, public figure, or even as a person. He is pretty much the antithesis of anyone who has come before him as president, which should be acknowledged regardless of your political affiliation. He’s made a boastful habit of lying about everything to a point that it isn’t possible to discern what positions or beliefs he might actually hold. Whether you identify as liberal, conservative, or anywhere in between, you should be alarmed by Trump’s words and behaviors because it is clear that he doesn’t have the interest and well-being of the nation in his plans regardless of what you think that might be, and has surrounded and affiliated himself with a radical fringe of people who do not espouse any values this nation is built upon. If President Donald Trump seems as unreal as “President Biff Tannen” if fucking should be, because they’re basically the same person, except that Biff Tannen is a fictional asshole while Donald Trump is a real life human-sized hemorrhoid elected to office on purloined slogans and facile promises he has absolutely no intention of keeping. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2016, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-of-the-united-states-donald-trump-still-seems-vaguely-unreal-anyone-else-feel-this-way/772928/66 "2016-11-27T02:10:04Z")
> [@astro](#): > > I wasn’t a huge Hillary fanboy but I voted for her anyway given the choices at hand. Lately in quiet moments while driving or contemplating I find myself saying out loud just to get the feel of it “The President of the United States, Donald Trump” … and I laugh because it just sounds _so weird_ like I’m pitching a joke for a skit or something. I can’t get my head fully around it. And now we’re choosing a cabinet made up of people who were literal punch lines for columnists as examples of ignorant hacks and borderline nuts a few months ago. > > I’m well aware it’s all too real, but somehow it still seems slightly unreal. Anyone else feel this way? Yes. I think it’s proof of the multiple universe interpretation of quantum mechanics. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2016, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-of-the-united-states-donald-trump-still-seems-vaguely-unreal-anyone-else-feel-this-way/772928/67 "2016-11-27T02:13:17Z")
> [@quiltguy](#): > > What’s even MORE sobering is that one day flags will be flown at half mast for this person, on the occasion of his death. Official portraits will hang of he and his good lady wife. I find these and other small “atrocities” to be stomach-churning. Disney will have him in their Hall of Presidents. ---
**Author:** ![CatandMouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c89c15/32.png) [@CatandMouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CatandMouse)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2016, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-of-the-united-states-donald-trump-still-seems-vaguely-unreal-anyone-else-feel-this-way/772928/68 "2016-11-27T03:10:18Z")
I certainly underestimated the stupidity in this country…once again. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2016, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-of-the-united-states-donald-trump-still-seems-vaguely-unreal-anyone-else-feel-this-way/772928/69 "2016-11-27T05:23:11Z")
One thing that’s been going through my mind since Nov. 8th is that scene from the Simpsons episode “Itchy & Scratchy & Marge” where Roger Myers Jr., after being flooded with hate mail, says: **[“Gentlemen…the screwballs have spoken.”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gGJO_JQcsM)** (Funnily enough, that link was published on Nov. 8th, 2016) ---
**Author:** ![Jane\_Smythe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f04885/32.png) [@Jane\_Smythe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jane_Smythe)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2016, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-of-the-united-states-donald-trump-still-seems-vaguely-unreal-anyone-else-feel-this-way/772928/70 "2016-11-27T11:12:17Z")
> [@astro](#): > > I wasn’t a huge Hillary fanboy but I voted for her anyway given the choices at hand. Lately in quiet moments while driving or contemplating I find myself saying out loud just to get the feel of it “The President of the United States, Donald Trump” … and I laugh because it just sounds _so weird_ like I’m pitching a joke for a skit or something. I can’t get my head fully around it. And now we’re choosing a cabinet made up of people who were literal punch lines for columnists as examples of ignorant hacks and borderline nuts a few months ago. > > I’m well aware it’s all too real, but somehow it still seems slightly unreal. Anyone else feel this way? It isn’t ‘vaguely unreal,’ it is pointedly unreal. It is a joke, an ugly, evil joke. It says really, really sad things about America. I left the US 13 1/2 years ago and have no plans to return now, not even for a visit. The idea of being there is sickening. It’s sickening. The very idea of it. It is humiliating for the US, just complete humiliation. ---
**Author:** ![Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uosdwis_R.Dewoh)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2016, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-of-the-united-states-donald-trump-still-seems-vaguely-unreal-anyone-else-feel-this-way/772928/71 "2016-11-27T16:45:32Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Several Presidents have never had warships named after them. I expect Trump to be one of them. Well that’s a shame. I was hoping there would be a Uss Garfield sailing the oceans. The ship’s motto could have been "Grrr, Mondays :(. " ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2016, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-of-the-united-states-donald-trump-still-seems-vaguely-unreal-anyone-else-feel-this-way/772928/72 "2016-11-28T17:09:11Z")
Yeah, it feels really weird. Like saying “President Pauly Shore”. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2016, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-of-the-united-states-donald-trump-still-seems-vaguely-unreal-anyone-else-feel-this-way/772928/73 "2016-11-28T17:34:03Z")
Bite your tongue! Just to say it makes it possible. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Waxwinged](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c2a13f/32.png) [@Waxwinged](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waxwinged)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2016, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-of-the-united-states-donald-trump-still-seems-vaguely-unreal-anyone-else-feel-this-way/772928/74 "2016-11-28T17:56:25Z")
Surreal is the word I’d use, but yup. ---
**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:** [November 28, 2016, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-of-the-united-states-donald-trump-still-seems-vaguely-unreal-anyone-else-feel-this-way/772928/75 "2016-11-28T17:59:58Z")
One thing that makes it less humiliating for the United States is that many foreigners aren’t familiar with Trump and so the idea of Trump being president doesn’t sound as ridiculous to their ears as it does to many American ears. Suppose some Chinese celebrity you had never heard of got elected president of China (yes I know, no democracy there, but you get the point). The name probably wouldn’t seem any different to American ears than would the name of any other generic Chinese politician ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2016, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-of-the-united-states-donald-trump-still-seems-vaguely-unreal-anyone-else-feel-this-way/772928/76 "2016-11-28T19:26:58Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > One thing that makes it less humiliating for the United States is that many foreigners aren’t familiar with Trump and so the idea of Trump being president doesn’t sound as ridiculous to their ears as it does to many American ears. Not true. I lurk on a bunch of foreign chan’s (mostly for the amateur porn) where Trump has been a HUGE topic of conversation ever since the election cycle began. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2016, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-of-the-united-states-donald-trump-still-seems-vaguely-unreal-anyone-else-feel-this-way/772928/77 "2016-11-28T19:30:10Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > Not true. I lurk on a bunch of foreign chan’s (mostly for the amateur porn) where Trump has been a HUGE topic of conversation ever since the election cycle began. And what is the general opinion of Mr. Trump in other countries? ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2016, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-of-the-united-states-donald-trump-still-seems-vaguely-unreal-anyone-else-feel-this-way/772928/78 "2016-11-28T20:11:06Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > And what is the general opinion of Mr. Trump in other countries? How should I know? It’s all in German. 😃 But whenever I was bored enough to run their comments through Google Translate, it seemed like they were generally mocking him, as well as mocking Americans for nominating the doofus in the first place. Like most of America, I don’t think any of them expected him to actually win. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2016, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-of-the-united-states-donald-trump-still-seems-vaguely-unreal-anyone-else-feel-this-way/772928/79 "2016-11-28T21:01:18Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > It does seem jarring. > Typing or writing out names like, > “The Abraham Lincoln administration… **the Ronald Reagan** administration…the Dwight D. Eisenhower…the John F. Kennedy administration…the Donald Trump administration”…what??? Ronald Reagan? The actor? Ha! Then who’s vice-president, Jerry Lewis? I suppose Jane Wyman is the First Lady? And Jack Benny is Secretary of the Treasury! ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2016, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-of-the-united-states-donald-trump-still-seems-vaguely-unreal-anyone-else-feel-this-way/772928/80 "2016-11-28T21:06:48Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Ronald Reagan? The actor? Ha! Then who’s vice-president, Jerry Lewis? I suppose Jane Wyman is the First Lady? And Jack Benny is Secretary of the Treasury! Falling for someone acting presidential is embarrassing, but falling for someone who acts like a loud-mouthed self-serving jackass is downright idiotic. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-of-the-united-states-donald-trump-still-seems-vaguely-unreal-anyone-else-feel-this-way/772928.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-of-the-united-states-donald-trump-still-seems-vaguely-unreal-anyone-else-feel-this-way/772928.md?page=5)