# Thoughts about the election that don't seem to belong anywhere else **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 14, 2016, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-about-the-election-that-dont-seem-to-belong-anywhere-else/772002 "2016-11-14T20:57:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 16
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2016, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-about-the-election-that-dont-seem-to-belong-anywhere-else/772002/301 "2016-12-28T04:52:54Z")
Hillary’s gone, man. We’re talking about Trump’s hypocrisy now. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2016, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-about-the-election-that-dont-seem-to-belong-anywhere-else/772002/302 "2016-12-28T07:03:10Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Looks like Arnold Schwarzenegger is taking over _Celebrity Apprentice_. > > I’d infinitely prefer President Ahnold to Trump; he may be Republican but he’s a pragmatist above all. I might have even voted for him. Alas, it’s never to be… I agree. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2016, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-about-the-election-that-dont-seem-to-belong-anywhere-else/772002/303 "2016-12-28T07:26:41Z")
> [@Pashnish\_Ewing](#): > > I’m sure some of it is still the shock and disappointment, and, yes, the horror of how he ran his campaign. But I was wrong about President Clinton and it is _just_ possible I may have been _somewhat_ wrong about President Trump. Probably not, but I’m going to keep expectations low and hope for the best. Well, maybe it’s easier in Harlem. I live in the Central US, in a region that really is sot of propped up by federal spending. I have family & neighbors who will be wrecked directly (as entitlement recipients) or indirectly (as healthcare workers) by the final end of the Great Society. At least one factory in my hometown has a history of poisoning groundwater that people drank from. I don’t know, there may not even be an EPA in two years. And the state government is apparently run by the–i’ll call them the TEA Party, I suppose; they don’t deserve to be called Republicans nor conservatives–too. My Congressman doesn’t even live within 50 miles of my hometown. But I guess things are OK on Manhattan Island. Probably lots of opportunities you take for granted that people out here never see. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2016, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-about-the-election-that-dont-seem-to-belong-anywhere-else/772002/304 "2016-12-28T11:53:44Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > … > > I live in the Central US, in a region that really is sot of propped up by federal spending. I have family & neighbors who will be wrecked directly (as entitlement recipients) or indirectly (**as healthcare workers)** by the final end of the Great Society. > > … My bold. I wonder if the rabid “repeal Obamacare/destroy the safety net” congressmen think about all the jobs that will be lost when social service organizations lose funding through drastic Medicaid cuts. I worked for decades raising private funds for social service and medical programs for the poor. It’s a sector employing thousands of people. As a preview, the evil Republican legislature in Texas is planning to defund all Planned Parenthood programs-- mammograms, std testing, birth control. So women won’t be able to get those services, but employees won’t be needed to dispense them either, will they? A friend runs an agency on the east coast that works with the indigent mentally ill. She says if Medicaid is drastically cut, they’ll have to close. There isn’t enough private funding to pick up the slack. Are the Mitch McConnells and Paul Ryans of the world even capable of looking at the big picture? I know Trump isn’t. And do any of them care? That’s easy: **no**. On principle ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2016, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-about-the-election-that-dont-seem-to-belong-anywhere-else/772002/305 "2016-12-28T15:13:06Z")
Trump promised to release his tax returns once the audit was completed. Surely, the audit for his recent returns will end during the course of the next four years, so is anyone going to press him to release these? ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2016, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-about-the-election-that-dont-seem-to-belong-anywhere-else/772002/306 "2016-12-28T15:54:43Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > Trump promised to release his tax returns once the audit was completed. Surely, the audit for his recent returns will end during the course of the next four years, so is anyone going to press him to release these? Well, no Republicans will. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2016, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-about-the-election-that-dont-seem-to-belong-anywhere-else/772002/307 "2016-12-28T17:21:27Z")
If he’s always scamming, then he’s always getting audited. He can postpone the day of reckoning as long as he wants to by simply doing what he always does. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2016, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-about-the-election-that-dont-seem-to-belong-anywhere-else/772002/308 "2016-12-28T21:07:34Z")
> [@a poster](#): > > Speaking of the inauguration…So the Trump team can’t find any acts to play the event, to the glee of my fellow liberals and progressives, but personally I think having civilian entertainers at a presidential inauguration is stupid and unnecessary. Let the Marine band play, swear the president in, give the speech and let’s get on with running the country. If this is one of the norms that President Trump smashes, I say good riddance. This sort of doublethink is not good for mental health: Trump may end up with only the Marine band NOT because he’s a Norm-Smashing Hero, _but because he can’t get any entertainers to play for him even by offering ambassador posts to any talent bookers who could come through with willing entertainers._ Pretending he didn’t actually want such entertainers–pretending he’ll end up without any due to a high-minded desire to Smash Norms–is to break your brain. > [@](#): > > Donald Trump is still having difficulty finding musicians to play at his inauguration. According to two talent bookers who spoke anonymously to the Wrap, Trump’s Presidential Inaugural Committee offered to reward them with ambassador positions if they could procure top singers to perform. > > One talent manager described being offered “access to the administration” if he could lure major talent. “They said they were in the process of ‘figuring out posts, ambassadorships, and commissions’ if that was of any interest,” he said. > > Another source also described receiving a “serious” ambassadorship offer, and that he was so shocked at the proposal that he almost dropped the phone. “Never in a million years have I heard something so crazy,” he said. Both declined the offers. > **[Trump’s Team Offered Ambassadorships in Exchange for Inauguration Singers](https://www.thecut.com/2016/12/trumps-team-offered-ambassadorships-for-inauguration-talent.html)** > > Trump is having trouble finding singers to perform at his inauguration. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2016, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-about-the-election-that-dont-seem-to-belong-anywhere-else/772002/309 "2016-12-28T22:34:52Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > …Trump may end up with only the Marine band NOT because he’s a Norm-Smashing Hero, _but because he can’t get any entertainers to play for him even by offering ambassador posts to any talent bookers who could come through with willing entertainers._ > > … He needs to up the ante by offering them Cabinet positions… no, wait! He should offer them seats on the Supreme Court! ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2016, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-about-the-election-that-dont-seem-to-belong-anywhere-else/772002/310 "2016-12-28T22:49:17Z")
ThelmaLou, we all need to be careful with what we post … … the odds of our giving him ideas he hasn’t yet thought of are FAR TOO HIGH. ^\_~ ---
**Author:** ![Pearl\_Clutching\_Provocateur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pearl\_Clutching\_Provocateur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pearl_Clutching_Provocateur)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2016, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-about-the-election-that-dont-seem-to-belong-anywhere-else/772002/311 "2016-12-28T23:06:56Z")
Who needs Mount Rushmore? Donald Trump rooster statue takes China by storm > **[Donald Trump rooster statue takes China by storm | CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2016/12/28/asia/donald-trump-rooster/)** > > What do you get when you cross the year of the rooster with the year of Trump? ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2016, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-about-the-election-that-dont-seem-to-belong-anywhere-else/772002/312 "2016-12-29T02:31:36Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > … > I wonder if the rabid “repeal Obamacare/destroy the safety net” congressmen think about all the jobs that will be lost when social service organizations lose funding through drastic Medicaid cuts. I worked for decades raising private funds for social service and medical programs for the poor. It’s a sector employing thousands of people. > > … More on this: > [@](#): > > …Since the election, hospitals have been among the loudest voices against wholesale repeal of the health law. In a letter to Mr. Trump and congressional leaders this month, the two biggest hospital trade groups warned of “an unprecedented public health crisis” and said hospitals stood to lose $165 billion through 2026 if more than 20 million people lose the insurance they gained under the law. They predicted widespread layoffs, cuts in outpatient care and services for the mentally ill, and even hospital closings… [Source](http://nyti.ms/2iD4iLA) “Job creators”? Yeah, sure. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2016, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-about-the-election-that-dont-seem-to-belong-anywhere-else/772002/313 "2016-12-29T02:31:56Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > Well, maybe it’s easier in Harlem. > > I live in the Central US, in a region that really is sot of propped up by federal spending. I have family & neighbors who will be wrecked directly (as entitlement recipients) or indirectly (as healthcare workers) by the final end of the Great Society. Yes, well, that is one region of the country that voted Trump in. When the Republicans’ policies finally kick them squarely in the nuts, will they recognize what is happening? Even a little? Or, led by the right-wing propaganda that passes for thought in these kinds of places, will they find a way to delude themselves into believing it is those evil libruls ruining everything? ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2016, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-about-the-election-that-dont-seem-to-belong-anywhere-else/772002/314 "2016-12-29T02:34:50Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > Yes, well, that is one region of the country that voted Trump in. When the Republicans’ policies finally kick them squarely in the nuts, will they recognize what is happening? Even a little? Or, led by the right-wing propaganda that passes for thought in these kinds of places, will they find a way to delude themselves into believing it is those evil libruls ruining everything? The latter. If they can believe that Hillary ran a sex slave ring out if a pizza parlor, they can believe anything. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Pashnish\_Ewing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8797f3/32.png) [@Pashnish\_Ewing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pashnish_Ewing)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2016, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-about-the-election-that-dont-seem-to-belong-anywhere-else/772002/315 "2016-12-29T16:25:21Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > This sort of doublethink is not good for mental health: Trump may end up with only the Marine band NOT because he’s a Norm-Smashing Hero, _but because he can’t get any entertainers to play for him even by offering ambassador posts to any talent bookers who could come through with willing entertainers._ > > Pretending he didn’t actually want such entertainers–pretending he’ll end up without any due to a high-minded desire to Smash Norms–is to break your brain. > [Trump’s Team Offered Ambassadorships for Inauguration Talent](http://nymag.com/thecut/2016/12/trumps-team-offered-ambassadorships-for-inauguration-talent.html) Doublethink? I don’t care _why_ there won’t be any entertainment. I also think Trump ran a despicable campaign, and I support anyone who doesn’t want to participate in the inauguration. And, yes, I think it is stupid to have entertainers performing there in the first place, and I hope the absence becomes a tradition. I’m sorry for any negative mental health issues this may cause. Sincerely, a poster ---
**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:** [December 30, 2016, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-about-the-election-that-dont-seem-to-belong-anywhere-else/772002/316 "2016-12-30T04:19:16Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > Trump may end up with only the Marine band NOT because he’s a Norm-Smashing Hero, _but because he can’t get any entertainers to play for him even by offering ambassador posts to any talent bookers who could come through with willing entertainers._ Ted Nugent would be a natural. He thinks along the same lines as Trump… _“Well, I make the pussy purr with the stroke of my hand…”_ Or maybe he can’t play the guitar anymore over that pot belly. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2017, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-about-the-election-that-dont-seem-to-belong-anywhere-else/772002/317 "2017-01-02T20:23:45Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > Hillary’s gone, man. > > We’re talking about Trump’s hypocrisy now. Yes she is [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/12/28/lets-all-over-analyze-this-photo-of-hillary-clinton-alone-looking-forlorn/?utm\_term=.cb5683b21255](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/12/28/lets-all-over-analyze-this-photo-of-hillary-clinton-alone-looking-forlorn/?utm_term=.cb5683b21255) ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-about-the-election-that-dont-seem-to-belong-anywhere-else/772002/318 "2017-01-03T00:39:06Z")
Food for thought… > [@](#): > > Nearly two-thirds of current House Republicans have never served with a Republican president and their entire time in Washington has been spent fighting the executive branch. > > As a result, Republicans have had the luxury of being able to argue for positions that appealed to their conservative base but that they knew would not become law because Senate Democrats would block them or because the president would veto them. Now, if they can assemble the votes, their ideas will become law — with all the attendant consequences. > … > Forged by the Tea Party revolt that restored Republicans to control of the House in the 2010 elections, and in the Senate in 2014, this party is much more conservative with a membership that tends to see government as an impediment to be leveled, not as a force to be shaped to their views to the benefit of their constituents. Eight years of railing against the Obama administration has infused them and their constituents with a hostility and disregard for the government that Republicans must now lead rather than ridicule. > … > [Cite](http://nyti.ms/2hKJBzu) There’s not enough beer and popcorn to get us through the next four years. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-about-the-election-that-dont-seem-to-belong-anywhere-else/772002/319 "2017-01-03T01:15:13Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Food for thought… > There’s not enough beer and popcorn to get us through the next four years. I’d pick MREs and a backup generator ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-about-the-election-that-dont-seem-to-belong-anywhere-else/772002/320 "2017-01-03T01:23:56Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > I’d pick MREs and a backup generator Maybe a still? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-about-the-election-that-dont-seem-to-belong-anywhere-else/772002.md?page=15) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-about-the-election-that-dont-seem-to-belong-anywhere-else/772002.md?page=17)