# So, this is what it looks like before the war. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 19, 2016, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-this-is-what-it-looks-like-before-the-war/772407 "2016-11-19T07:25:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-this-is-what-it-looks-like-before-the-war/772407/101 "2016-11-20T09:19:57Z")
My GAWD this is tiring. The man hasn’t been sworn in yet. No one has been confirmed yet. No executive orders have been signed. Nothing has been done. NOTHING HAS BEEN DONE. He has laws he has to follow. His own party is not that fond of him, and he doesn’t have a mandate. His is not TGreat and Powerful Oz. I am tired of hearing what people are convinced he is _going_ to do. Like I said in another thread, we were all pretty sure Hillary was going to win. So our collective predictive powers are somewhat lacking. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-this-is-what-it-looks-like-before-the-war/772407/102 "2016-11-20T09:30:04Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > He has laws he has to follow. No he doesn’t. The Republicans aren’t going to enforce the law, and no one else can. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-this-is-what-it-looks-like-before-the-war/772407/103 "2016-11-20T09:37:48Z")
How about we play this game _ **when he actually does something?** _ ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-this-is-what-it-looks-like-before-the-war/772407/104 "2016-11-20T09:38:57Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > No he doesn’t. The Republicans aren’t going to enforce the law, and no one else can. And what if the Republicans _aren’t_ 100% in lockstep with him? You know, like how they haven’t been his entire campaign? Is Paul Ryan suddenly going to start voting for economic protectionism? Is Rand Paul suddenly going to become an authoritarian? Is the House Freedom Caucus suddenly going to support protections for pre-existing conditions? Are Mitch McConnell, John McCain, Jeff Flake, Orrin Hatch, and Lindsey Graham instantly going to change their minds about preserving the filibuster? Are Nikki Haley and Bobby Jindal suddenly going to be OK with whiteness being a prerequisite for citizenship? Will the Texas Tea Party suddenly decide they were wrong to oppose transgender bathroom rights? ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-this-is-what-it-looks-like-before-the-war/772407/105 "2016-11-20T10:04:56Z")
You wouldn’t take Der Trihs so seriously if you could see the drool meandering down his chin. ---
**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:** [November 20, 2016, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-this-is-what-it-looks-like-before-the-war/772407/106 "2016-11-20T13:08:06Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > My GAWD this is tiring. If you’re tired of it, why don’t you just not keep opening these threads? I mean, I get being mad that Trump won, but no need to punish yourself. I’m actually kinda getting tired of your posts in these threads. They all amount to the same thing, calling us stupid for discussing these things. Fine. You think people are catastrophizing. And they probably are. They’re\* afraid. That’s what people who are afraid do. Chastising them doesn’t help. \*We’re, really. But I’m doing my best not to be. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-this-is-what-it-looks-like-before-the-war/772407/107 "2016-11-20T15:02:46Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > Let’s be clear. Trump ran as a political racist from Day One. He is still talking about _immediately_ deporting or incarcerating 2 million people. Let’s be clear. Trump ran on a platform that included rounding up and running out people who are in this country ILLEGALLY. Pinheaded liberals promptly started chanting “Racist, Racist” when there is absolutely nothing racist about it. Not even in the same zip code with racism. But, what they hey…it’s liberals. Facts and reality are just things to be ignored. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-this-is-what-it-looks-like-before-the-war/772407/108 "2016-11-20T15:32:09Z")
> [@ricksummon](#): > > Come on; that article cites Trump’s tweet of himself _eating a taco salad_ as evidence that Trump isn’t prejudiced against Hispanics. Also, it has no mention of Pence, Bannon, Sessions, or other Trump administration high-ups who have demonstrated prejudice. Also all it talks about is prejudice. It doesn’t talk about how petty, vengeful, disrespectful, unstable, indifferent to the law, etc. Trump is. Lots of us are gearing up for a criminal, scandal ridden regime that is very hostile to the bill of rights. Not to mention privatizing medicare, causing an international incident, causing a recession, etc. Those are also major fears we have. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-this-is-what-it-looks-like-before-the-war/772407/109 "2016-11-20T15:33:40Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Also all it talks about is prejudice. It doesn’t talk about how petty, vengeful, disrespectful, unstable, indifferent to the law, etc. Trump is. > > For a lot of us, those are the dangers we really worry about. The author of that blog has written multiple articles excoriating Trump. He links to articles all about those things in the main article. Those aspects of Trump’s horribleness are not mentioned in this article because that is not what the article is about. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-this-is-what-it-looks-like-before-the-war/772407/110 "2016-11-20T15:35:03Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Let’s be clear. Trump ran on a platform that included rounding up and running out people who are in this country ILLEGALLY. Pinheaded liberals promptly started chanting “Racist, Racist” when there is absolutely nothing racist about it. Not even in the same zip code with racism. > > But, what they hey…it’s liberals. Facts and reality are just things to be ignored. Nice cherry-picking, and not remotely true. Planning to deport illegal immigrants is not racist, and nobody has claimed it to be so. His comments about other cultures and races, on the other hand, are the very definition of racism and bigotry. If this paragraph is TL;DR for your tiny brain, I’ll break it down for you: He’s a racist and a serial liar and so are you. ---
**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:** [November 20, 2016, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-this-is-what-it-looks-like-before-the-war/772407/111 "2016-11-20T15:38:16Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > No he doesn’t. The Republicans aren’t going to enforce the law, and no one else can. I’ve seen some stupid posts on the Dope but that really takes the biscuit. Truly, completely, fuckwittedly stupid. Did you have brain transplant with a slug? ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-this-is-what-it-looks-like-before-the-war/772407/112 "2016-11-20T15:43:28Z")
I’m starting to think that these threads are started by Trump supporters who, by invoking the worst things they can think of, are setting the stage for someone to come back in 2 years and say gee, he really wasn’t that bad after all. And he may not be that bad. We will find out, of course. But this country has weathered everything before, from a brutally violent civil war to a brutally violent civil rights movement. It’s still here. In 4 years everybody will have the chance to consider what has come from this election, and it will still be here then, too. So get a grip, this isn’t 1933 Germany, and it never will be. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-this-is-what-it-looks-like-before-the-war/772407/113 "2016-11-20T17:19:21Z")
> [@OriginalGangster](#): > > Assuming no last minute shenanigans happen (executive order from Obama, Trump decides he ultimately doesn’t want to be president) & the electoral college goes for Trump, we will see the beginning of some right-wing rule in the US. > > Liberal cities will remain liberal though, as they did when Bush was in office. Again, there is no executive order that Obama can issue that will stop Trump from becoming president. What is it with you and executive orders? ---
**Author:** ![slumtrimpet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@slumtrimpet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slumtrimpet)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-this-is-what-it-looks-like-before-the-war/772407/114 "2016-11-20T18:13:53Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > I’m starting to think that these threads are started by Trump supporters who, by invoking the worst things they can think of, are setting the stage for someone to come back in 2 years and say gee, he really wasn’t that bad after all. And he may not be that bad. We will find out, of course. > > But this country has weathered everything before, from a brutally violent civil war to a brutally violent civil rights movement. It’s still here. In 4 years everybody will have the chance to consider what has come from this election, and it will still be here then, too. So get a grip, this isn’t 1933 Germany, and it never will be. You may well be right; the USA has weathered things before but 620,000 people didn’t weather the civil war and there’s [a few people](https://www.splcenter.org/what-we-do/civil-rights-memorial/civil-rights-martyrs) who didn’t survive the civil rights movement either. I also wonder what we’ll be looking back at in four years. ---
**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 20, 2016, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-this-is-what-it-looks-like-before-the-war/772407/115 "2016-11-20T18:21:38Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > If you’re tired of it, why don’t you just not keep opening these threads? I mean, I get being mad that Trump won, but no need to punish yourself. > > I’m actually kinda getting tired of your posts in these threads. They all amount to the same thing, calling us stupid for discussing these things. Fine. You think people are catastrophizing. And they probably are. > > They’re\* afraid. That’s what people who are afraid do. Chastising them doesn’t help. > > \*We’re, really. But I’m doing my best not to be. Hysteria is also contagious. ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-this-is-what-it-looks-like-before-the-war/772407/116 "2016-11-20T19:48:11Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > He doesn’t care if he appoints an anti-Semite, a woman, a gay man, he just cares that those people are considered successful. Well and loyal. Trump seems to be big on the loyalty test so far during transition. I appreciated the link. There was lot’s of good research and nuance lacking in even the major media reports about Trump. Some of it was weaker but still worth every minute I spent on the read. Painting him in more detail instead of cartoon villain terms is useful. I also found myself laughing my ass off repeatedly. My sense of humor tends to inspire comments like “He’s not right” so everyone else should take that with a shaker of salt. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-this-is-what-it-looks-like-before-the-war/772407/117 "2016-11-20T19:59:04Z")
> [@DinoR](#): > > Well and loyal. Trump seems to be big on the loyalty test so far during transition. > > I appreciated the link. There was lot’s of good research and nuance lacking in even the major media reports about Trump. Some of it was weaker but still worth every minute I spent on the read. Painting him in more detail instead of cartoon villain terms is useful. I also found myself laughing my ass off repeatedly. My sense of humor tends to inspire comments like “He’s not right” so everyone else should take that with a shaker of salt. I mean, I’m not saying it should be the last word on the subject of racism in Trump’s campaign, but I thought it was nice to have an article question those assumptions in a pretty intelligent way. I have a pretty warped sense of humor also. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-this-is-what-it-looks-like-before-the-war/772407/118 "2016-11-20T20:18:58Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > So get a grip, this isn’t 1933 Germany, and it never will be. “It can’t happen here.” Well guess what? _It can._ American exceptionalism is nonsense. ---
**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:** [November 20, 2016, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-this-is-what-it-looks-like-before-the-war/772407/119 "2016-11-20T21:37:23Z")
The question is, what will _ **it** _ be? The US does not have serious _liebensraum_ pressure, heavy war reparations to speak of, and is one of _the_ dominant first-world nations. These conditions are not particularly comparable to the Weimar Republic of the early '30s. If oligtocratic oppressiveness were to close in around the country, what form would it take and how much would the populace tolerate? At the moment, the right wing is deeply fragmented, and the left are going to be riding them very hard, allowing zero slack. The situation is pretty complicated. In the end, it is difficult to guess how much the American people will tolerate. A loud right-wing noise machine will almost certain generate a strong backlash, but how resilient will that backlash be? ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-this-is-what-it-looks-like-before-the-war/772407/120 "2016-11-20T21:38:20Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > “It can’t happen here.” > > Well guess what? _It can._ American exceptionalism is nonsense. No, it can’t happen here. What, you think it’s just magic that Hitler was elected? Germany went all in on him after 1933, but there was a long buildup to that. That could never happen here. At all. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-this-is-what-it-looks-like-before-the-war/772407.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-this-is-what-it-looks-like-before-the-war/772407.md?page=7)