It’s easy to make a fearless election forecast when the stats are already showing a “>95%” lean towards a particular candidate. As of this writing a kick-ass New York Times up-to-the-second election results monitoring board is showing a needle that has gone squarely into the “very likely” field in a speedometer-type widget labelled “Chances of Winning Presidency – Trump”.
So Trumpocalypse is at hand. I heard that passenger jets will start dropping from the sky by the hundreds the minute after Donald Trump is proclaimed US President. Did Accenture come up with a Trumpocalypse Consulting Service in the lead up to US Election Day 2016? If not, too bad. They could’ve made a lot more money than they did during the Y2K panic attack that gripped the world back in the late 1990s.
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One questions why, in the age of ubiquitous technology, did America’s finest “experts” grossly underestimate Trump’s popularity. I think this reveals the big irony of social media and its much-touted ability to collect data that could be used to gauge the pulse of the land. While social media provided an awesome platform on which it became easy for hipsters to come together to both cheer on Clinton and demonise Trump, it also gave those cheerleaders a tool to shout down those who begged to differ to them. So, it seems, a whole swathe of people who harboured plans to vote for Trump held their tongue in polite company while the “decent” crowd, over tweets and Facebook posts, took their socially-safe position and incessantly crowed in unison about the noble liberal ideals they insisted were at stake in this year’s elections. In the process they encased themselves in a fatal echo chamber where they further inbred their mutual high-fiving shoutouts and isolated themselves from the real world beyond social media.
And therein lies the problem in driving something underground using the sheer weight of a sentiment erroneously perceived to be the “righteous” one. You lose the ability to track something that’s gone under the radar under the sheer weight of a demonisation campaign coming from the so-called “decent” community. America’s liberal encampments at its hippest coastal cities were basically battling an ill-understood foe — one that was both invisible and had shape-shifting abilities lurking in the shadows watching and gathering low-hanging intel from the tweets and Facebook posts gleefully fielded by the latte-sipping classes.
So here’s what really happened: Hipsters and their propensity for self-righteous chatter had overstepped the line and crossed into ill-thought-out condescencion towards people who harboured conservative and politically-incorrect views. The conservatives and un-PCs were driven underground where they regrouped and waited. They may have even convinced a critical mass of Americans who would normally not have gone out and voted to do so this year. Criticise the latter for being dumb and ill-bred, but the collective outcome of what may seem at first to be an anger-driven, disorganised, and chaotic coming-together under the Trump banner turned out to be an unprecedented emergent intelligence capable of acing an important election in the planet’s mightiest nation.
The hipsters lost yet another continent to the conservatives.
Poor Hillary Clinton. She should’ve taken election winning lessons from Philippine “vice president” Leni Robredo.
benign0 is the Webmaster of GetRealPhilippines.com.
Agreed.
Having engaged with casual and ordinary Americans regarding their choice prior election day, it’s easy to say that common sense is the key on who to vote, actually.
Well, common sense is not so common nowadays.
As someone who disagrees with Marcos and Trump, you hit the fucking nail on the head.
“Extrajudicial killings” have been going on since Humabon(?) ordered Magellan to whack Lapu-Lapu. People did nothing to combat it, and it came to the point where it became official policy. People had 30 years to prosecute Marcos for his millions, but did jack fucking shit because they rested on their laurels after the “people power” revolution.
That’s what America basically did after the 1960s and the civil rights legislation and even Barack Obama’s election in 2008.
If you want to combat these wrongs, you drag it out into the open and smother it good. You never leave it to fester. That’s the real comparison between Trump and Hitler, and if there’s one thing history does well, it’s repeating itself.
One thing I find unlikely to happen with Trump though is World War III, something that was quite likely to happen under Clinton.
Realistically, I agree (and I’m a Green Party voter – and we didn’t spoil Hillary this year). More like his scandals are going to catch up with him and his flipflops will have him humiliated in the global spotlight.
It’ll be better entertainment than his reality shows.
Trump voters, the 49%, are not into social media. They are white, poor and uneducated but passionate to get their mojo back. They are the disenfranchised descendants of white slaves of the 17th century. DNC rigged in the wrong candidate. Bernie has the millenials, who are now too depressed to even get up and vote.
Have you browsed the comment section of any politically inclined article anywhere on the internet recently?
Hillary is mainstream elitist. Trump is a fuckhead. Love that he won just to piss off the mainstream of everything. But more than anything can’t wait until your retard narcissist President gives it to Trump and the retard narcissist President of the US decides to say fuck you back in a big way.
You know what’s hilarious?
He already did!
But I smell his impeachment in a year or 2 from now. How ironic.
http://www.ndtv.com/world-news/prediction-professor-who-called-donald-trumps-big-win-also-made-another-forecast-trump-will-be-impea-1624509
Here is a secret. Let get real, 47.8% to 47.4% is not something people should be talking or trying to analyze. That means Trump won by 0.4% of the population that voted. The voter turnout this election was lower than the last two elections, because most people did not like either candidate.
Exactly. Far from being an actual endorsement of Trump, the point of this article is really that these so called activists failed to reach out to enough of these 0.4% or the lack of turnout to matter. Specifically, because of the American electoral college mechanics, they didn’t reach out to the valuable Rust Belt states where Trump appealed more to disenfranchised voters to Hillary.
Duterte didn’t even get a real 50% majority either, but it’s the same point. These activists should not be surprised at the outcome, but they are and that’s why they need to “get real.”
I’ve been a long time lurker from Nairobi,Kenya and Hillary died on 91116 according to ABC. “Almost immediately the info was erased from the web. We were told she had lunch at her daughters but her handlers made a major boo boo. They not only changed her jacket but had her lose at least 20 pounds!”
http://karanjazplace.blogspot.co.ke/2016/11/dead-hillary-cgiclone-campaign-stumbles.html
The truth about Marcos gold should’ve told you in this world things are seldom as they seem.
Bleeding heart liberal hipsters will have to seriously reevaluate themselves and their attitudes so they can figure out “what went wrong.” They were so convinced in their own self-righteousness that they dare not listen to those who dissent.
Many striking parallels can be had with the elitist, bleeding heart liberals in this country. At least, maybe their liberal counterparts in this country will leave the lawfully elected government of this country alone for once.
We will be reevaluating ourselves, alright — but not because we’re wrong. We just chose a vessel marred by twenty years of mostly manufactured scandals, by secretive supporters who knew their preferred candidate was full of shit but didn’t give two shits, and by the appeal of a candidate who may have been a dirty-handed small-minded bigot narciccist, but who at least knew jack and shit about politics in an era where politics is the enemy rather than the ally of good reaponsible governance.
Should there still be a United States of America in 2020, I hope the American people get past their disastrous toddler years, sober the fuck up, see for themaelves that their Chakravartin is a turdblossom wbo just enabled reactionary passions among others, and vote Democrat — preferably Gabbard or Warren.
well there is if the American voters are smart & will vote this guy in 2020:
forgot the URL link:
https://youtu.be/u9x92nwGf_M
Another clueless article about the USA written by someone that has never lived there and thinks that everything is on the up and up. The reason the pollsters got it wrong was because they were paid to get it wrong in an effort to get TRUMP supporters to not bother voting because it was a lost cause.
The DEEP STATE realized they probably could not get away with rigging the machines ,so they did everything else they could,including publishing fake poll results.
The NY TIMES is no longer a respected journal, it is merely the propaganda arm of the Neo-con warmongers. The one’sTRUMP has promised to get rid of.
Hi Sidney, I agree with your assertion that mainstream media (which include the pollsters) served as an active agent on behalf of the self-proclaimed elites of the country. However, I wholeheartedly agree with benign0’s article.
If you would challenge or even slightly question the PC groupthink that happens on FB, you would not only get shouted down in social media, but also shunned in real life. My voting for Trump became the only way I could not only express my own ideas, but also fight against the insidious social control that has increased so much during the Obama years.
Even now, there are people who have unfriended me on FB for my choice. What does it say about them if they placed their ideology above actual human relationships?
That’s the same question being asked by a lot of racial minorities and LGBT people who didn’t want to see Trump come to power.
In a way, that’s something I’d like to ask you though – how did “insidious social control” increase during the Obama years? If you’re worried about “PC Groupthink” on FB, then it seems you’ve just been hanging out on the wrong Pages.
I agree wholeheartedly with the article too, but in the sense that the establishment figured that the left-wing anti-establishment candidate Bernie Sanders was more of a threat than Trump. Considering the way the stock markets actually climbed after the election and the way Trump wants to fill up his cabinet with bankers and executives, the establishment ended up winning in the end.
What ideas do you have that were so repressed you can only express them by voting for Trump — and not, say, Johnson or Stein or McMullin?
Leni Rob redo, the Fake Vice President, who won thru the HOCUS PCOS and SMARTMAGIC, cannot give Hilary Clinton a lesson…Leni Robredo is too dumb to give a lesson !
“We have to bind the wounds of division”, from Pres. Elect Donald J. Trump.
The pollsters in the U.S. were wrong. The political pundits forecasting a Hilary Clinton victory, were wrong. The HOCUS PCOS and the SMARTMAGIC machines were working right.
Trump did the right thing. He brought his messages to the grass root level of Americans. The Trump campaign was a “movement for change”.
Americans were tired of the “same old” kinds of politics.
The Republican Party controls both the Houses in the Congress and in the Senate. They control also the executive branch…it was a landslide victory for the Republican Party !
What will the Trump and Pence administration bring to America and to the world…
It is unpredictable…Trump phenomena is very unpredictable. That even political pundits and exit polls cannot understand !
No YELLOWS in both PH and US as leaders. Yellows in PH are in panic as they now have uncertain support when their Yellow White Boss lost.
I really start to doubt the definition of democracy.
The way I understand the numbers presented, the Democrats got a little over 59 million votes, while the Republicans got a little under 59 million votes.
The total population is approx: 324,720,800.
I cant foresee the future with Trump as president yet. I need to hear and see his plan/policy first and how he wants to achieve those plans and how fast and at what prize/cost. Only then we can project something of who (the white angry men who feels left out?) will benefit (in good way) from it.
If this becomes a trend (post-Brexit) then next year, France may follow (with Marine Le Pen) and maybe even my own country (with Geert Wilders).
@Robert Haighton:
The U.S. use the Electoral Votes system, to elect their President and Vice President…these electoral votes are people, who will elect the President and Vice President…representatives from every State of the Union.
An elected President and Vice President need 270 Electoral votes to win. Trump got 290 electoral votes. Hilary Clinton got 218 electoral votes.
Hilary Clinton won the popular votes; that is; more people voted for her than Trump.Although, by only a small margin… However, she lost in the electoral votes…
This system of voting was designed by the Founding Fathers of America. It is in their U.S. Constitution…the government of the U.S., is a Federal System of government…Trump represented change !
I don’t believe that Pres. Elect Trump will abandon his responsibility to the European Union…
Hyden,
thnks for elaborating. I knew and know the US system. Maybe the more important question is why did they ‘design’ it that way? And why was it never updated/upgraded?
Personally, I am not afraid and scared about the relation Trump – EU. But it can lead to major changes, especially when it comes to NATO/OTAN.
He rightfully said, that all NATO members should and must pay their member fee. He also said that he (the USA army/navy etc) wont come and help/intervene all the time (in the future). Again, he is right and correct about that. Each EU-country should and must have a good and big enough defense system/mechanism in such a way that one member can solve its own problem. Especially now that EU – as an entity – is also under scrutiny.
The poorer EU-members (mostly on the eastern flank) will then come in reach/influence of Russia again (the old Warsaw pact again?)
(all the above is subject to if if if).
@Robert Haighton:
The American Founding Fathers designed the electoral system that way. No leader changed it…it remains , since the founding of America. This is what the American people wanted !
Pres. Elect Trumps, wants the rich NATO members to share in the expenses of the defense of Europe…poorer countries may be exempted on the dues. The U.S. will NEVER abandon its duty, to defend Europe. Because , it is written in the Treaty of European nations, with the United States.
Pres. Elect Trump, wants a better relations with Russia, like in the Reagan – Gorbachev era…This is to prevent conflicts and wars.
ISIS should go…the Middle East countries that are very rich, must pay for their defense dues, also !
Hyden,
On a tweet written on Wednesday 7 november 2012, Trump himself said that the current system was not fair (‘The electoral college is a disaster for a democracy’; @realDonaldTrump).
It was designed back then bec the ‘founding fathers’ had not much confidence in the voters to determine who the best president would/could be. So they put a ‘layer’ between it.
Here are a few other comments (Twitter) re the system:
– ‘The US electoral system is as broken as our first past the post parliamentary one, every vote should count’
– ‘hillary won the popular vote!!!! isn’t that how every other election in the US is determined?! the electoral system needs to go!!’
My view is bit more negative re NATO/EU/Europe/USA.
I think Trump wants to pull out more US army personnell from abroad so that he can save money in favor of his infrastructure project.
Furthermore, if he does what he once said he would do, then he will end TTIP and probably also PETA (trade agreements between Canada, Mexico and USA).
He also said that he wants to end the liberal laws like abortion and same-sex marriage. With congress and the senate being Republican now, that seems easy to do.
Everyone loses their class when they travel through hell, but only a few will regain it if they remain humble and accept the part they played in their own misery.
@Robert Haighton:
It remains to be seen…political rhetoric, during election, should not be taken as facts…these statements were not written in stone !
Trump is a businessman. He is a Realist. It remains to be seen, what he will do ! Do not be frightened. We are in good hands !
Hyden,
Trump also said that he would lower the income tax and corporate tax to (If I am not mistaken) 15%.
Sounds good, right?
But who do you think will benefit most from that? Right, the elite and the upper class.
@Robert Haighton:
We wait and see , what he will do…if he follows the “trickle down economics” or “Reaganomics” of the late Pres. Reagan !
We don’t know , what Trump will do !
Oh — ain’t it a good hat to hang on when you’re voting for as blank a slate as possible?
It’s not self righteous to call a bigot a bigot. For me this was white nationalists in their minds taking back their country from gays, hispanics, muslims and all the others. Like when you turn over the rock and discover all the bugs underneath.
Finally white men are gonna have a seat at the table.
This is like the previous 43 administrations never happened, and Obama the first president of the American republic.
I blame Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party leadership. It’s their fault, 100% their fault!
Posting here again, and a week after being President-Elect, Donald Trump is truly a genius and badass at the same time. USA should thank themselves for making the critical, good call on this one.
– Got calls from various foreign leaders seeking better relations w/ his admin
– Fills his transition team with lobbyists, then fires them all along Chris Christie; a tactic to verify who’s REALLY on his side
I’m not a Trumptard, but his calculated actions prove his
On the other hand, a couple of Hillary-related issues (or others would call it “conspiracy theories”) are getting steam within social media and Reddit, and being smokescreened by “the powers that be”:
1) Julian Assange‘s status, along with Wikileaks’ supposedly “phase three” revelations; and
2) Pizzagate (Google about this and you will be really shocked how morbid and widescale is this.)
In my opinion this is just the tip of the iceberg, come to think of it if Hillary did won, and how these affects the Philippines as well, via Liberal Party’s connections and their pro-Hillary stance, ans Soros.
* I’m not a Trumptard, but his calculated actions prove he’s a few moves ahead in their political chess.