The US Election.

Scary day for the whole world.

I am with you Wyllow3. A very worrying future.

As the real experiences of the dangers of populism are lost from living memory, they are more likely to recur.

Mamie - you are so, so right.

Once the euphoria has worn off - Trump will not be gracious in victory, and a world dominated by eruptive, egotistical leaders will not be the safe place that JudyBloom believes it's going to be.

Agree with you 100% Dickens.
I would add, I'm pretty sure that Mr Trump would not have been gracious in defeat, either. He doesn't really do gracious.

Trump doesn’t need to do gracious. For some unfathomable reason he is well beyond having to conform to normal societal behaviour. He is the top dog? Keep whimpering…. But it won’t help.

Is neutering an option?

Mamie this is exactly what the presenter of The rest is History said overnight.
He was talking with Scaramouche, Stuart and Campbell on the overnight "America Decides" livestream of The Rest is Politics.
They agreed we aren't sufficiently close to Hitler to see it.

I don't usually listen to The Rest is History but he was very interesting so I may in future.

NotSpaghetti

Mamie this is exactly what the presenter of The rest is History said overnight.
He was talking with Scaramouche, Stuart and Campbell on the overnight "America Decides" livestream of The Rest is Politics.
They agreed we aren't sufficiently close to Hitler to see it.

I don't usually listen to The Rest is History but he was very interesting so I may in future.

In good company then!
It is so sad to see, especially as the generation who fought against it die off. You can see the way fake news, misinformation, othering and hate speech are all gaining traction.

Galaxy

I worry for democracy.
Er this was democracy.

Hitler was democratically elected.

Looking at our own relationship with the USA - that 'special' friendship, I wonder how it will develop and how future trade deals will pan out.

Bearing in mind this statement from Trump after talking to Theresa May during his visit in 2018.

"I would have done [Brexit] much differently. I actually told Theresa May how to do it but she didn't agree, she didn't listen to me. She wanted to go a different route. I would actually say that she probably went the opposite way. And that is fine."

Does anyone think that with "America First" and Trump's apparent belief in his own omnipotence that the average citizen in the UK is going to benefit from a future trade deal(s) - apart from some possible cheap (in the truest sense of the word) imports?

Now we've left the EU, we cannot afford politically or economically to alienate the US. Mr Chalk (Starmer) and Mr Cheese (Trump) are not going to have the cosy relationship that would've prevailed under Boris Johnson.

Although I still believe Starmer is well-intentioned, I also think he's following down the path of Tory economics. He's not a rebel, he's a bit of a diplomat - as can be witnessed in his tying himself up in knots when attempting to appease both women and transwomen, at the same time. Our NHS has some lucrative pickings... I just wonder how much of a match Starmer is to Trump who values the $ above everything else - so much so that he has said he would encourage Russia to ‘do whatever the hell they want’ to any NATO country that doesn’t pay enough.

We may no longer be in the EU but we are still part of Europe and NATO.

Apparently, Putin is not planning to congratulate Trump on his victory any time soon. But who knows what will happen if Trump - as he said he would - ends the war with Ukraine in a day.

These are just musings between my OH and me over a late breakfast.

How long will 'democracy' last with the deadly alliance of Kim-Jong-un, Xi Jinping, Putin and Trump- with the few rising fascists in Europe.

Never, ever, has it been more important for Europe to be strong and stand together, with the UK.

Oh and those polls! Forecasting totally awry. Pretty embarrassing really. All that money, all this predictions. Might as well have tried reading the tea leaves. Cheaper and just as reliable.

Rory Stewart had a bet on Kamala Harris, and was still predicting a win for the Democrats last night…

ronib

Trump doesn’t need to do gracious. For some unfathomable reason he is well beyond having to conform to normal societal behaviour. He is the top dog? Keep whimpering…. But it won’t help.

For some unfathomable reason he is well beyond having to conform to normal societal behaviour.

Not unfathomable at all. 'Normal societal behaviour' is in the eye of the beholder. Trump's earnest dedicated-followers do not demand Trump follows a code that they themselves don't accept.

The rest of the world is diplomatic, 'tolerating' Trump's loutish rhetoric in order to try to prevent catastrophe. In the same way you deal with a toddler having a tantrum.

In spite of Trump's victory - the whimpering Democrats were a credible threat at one point and I really don't think they'll run away with their tail between their legs now.

It appears you are suggesting those opposed to Trump just lie down and roll over to the Top Dog?

It's not easy to quell the rise of the popular Right, admittedly, but neither is it easy to stifle those who are, or feel, oppressed by it. Those who feel oppressed by either the Right or the Left - they riot. As we've seen. They don't just go away.

What it comes down to is this - either you stand against those things that you believe are wrong, or immoral, or you appease the 'Great Dictator' for fear of reprisals.

How you view that is of course up to you.

And the thing to understand about Top Dogs is that they wither with age and time. There is rumour that only half of Trump's cabinet officials endorsed his campaign. If there has to be a Top Dog, it follows that one must eventually replace it with another.

Trump does not have age on his side. Neither did Biden, and it showed. It's showing with Trump, too.

Oreo

I said from the start that DT would win, all the fault of Biden who should have graciously withdrawn so much earlier so that the Democrats had time to choose a suitable candidate.He didn’t and they had to panic into choosing KH.

I agree. Didn’t he say that he would stand down after one term in office and then back tracked on it? Much as I like and respect Harris she would not have been chosen if they’d had more time.

No. She would not have been their choice.
Now they have more time.
🤞someone excellent will come along.

I'm just confused why anyone thought it was going to be close?
Harris was known to be the worst VP ever, so how on earth did anyone think she'd be remotely competent as President?

All the euphoria and staggering fund raising once Biden had been ‘persuaded’ to step down (much to Dr Jill Biden’s fury) was utter relief he’d gone. All the whoopin’ and a hollerin’ for Kamala Harris was a groundswell of opinion that now they Democrats could really get behind someone who wasn’t Biden. Support from Oprah, Beyoncé, Swift even, couldn’t sustain the momentum.

It was touted as ‘too close to call’ by pollsters.
It ended up a landslide victory for Trump.

NotSpaghetti

No. She would not have been their choice.
Now they have more time.
🤞someone excellent will come along.

Do you think that, generally speaking, America is still, basically, a Patriarchy?

And that KH, being a woman, was at a disadvantage from, as Americans say - the get-go? Apart from the actual politics?

I read somewhere, and don't know if it was true then, or is still true now, that the only country without a male-majority governing parliament, is, interestingly - Rwanda.

The relationship between Musk and Trump is going to be interesting. Two narcissists who both think the are going to rule America.

MayBee70

The relationship between Musk and Trump is going to be interesting. Two narcissists who both think the are going to rule America.

... I wonder if Musk will eventually...

No, I don't even want to go there.

Well, he’s got the money but is he an American born citizen?

He was born in South Africa and lived for a while in Canada before moving to the US. Hopefully, unless Trump changes the rules he's not eligible to stand for president. He did become an American citizen in 2002 but he would need to have been born in the US to stand.

FriedGreenTomatoes2

Oh and those polls! Forecasting totally awry. Pretty embarrassing really. All that money, all this predictions. Might as well have tried reading the tea leaves. Cheaper and just as reliable.

What pleasure do you derive from this, I can't help wondering?

KH wasn't great. Biden was an absolute disaster.

But Trump?

There are no words.

Oreo

Well, he’s got the money but is he an American born citizen?

No, South African.

No, he worked illegally in USA.
www.forbes.com/sites/stuartanderson/2024/10/27/what-elon-musk-working-illegally-says-about-the-immigration-system/
I think he’s actually a Vulcan.🖖