I've posted before that during the summer before Trump was elected...

[LuckyCharms]

I told someone "If he somehow gets elected, it's going to be bad".

Never in my wildest fears did I think it would get this bad. In a way, those of us who have at least half a brain cell to work with...are cursed.

Most of us knew that something very dark existed with this guy. Even though we may not have been able to define it at the time, we knew it was there.

Even today as I type this, a good portion of the people in this country do not see it. It is obvious that they will support him to the bitter end, no matter what he does.

Trump will be gone someday, hopefully soon. But his jacked up supporters will still be here, and this is the thing that makes me glad I am age 60, rather than 20. It's going to take a long time to get back to your standard old everyday garden variety racism and hatred, rather than this version of it on steroids, speed, and alcohol.

[sfwriter]

1. It has gone better than I expected.

This is just my opinion though.

We've had no serious military crisis like the Crimea or the rise of ISIS. The economy accelerated instead of stagnating. Inflation has been low. Gas prices fell. Trump and the Republican controlled congress were largely ineffectual. Institutions have done a surprisingly good job of protecting Mueller and diluting Trump.

I think that changes starting now. The sugar-high of the tax cut is over. Our pullout from Syria prefigures Turkish genocide and a likely resurgent ISIS. A bear market looms. Trump is expelling the moderating forces around him. I expect Russia to make a big move while Trump is still in power, and I'm pretty sure the Russians know just how much trouble he is in. So I expect their move soon.

Trumps every enterprise ends in bankruptcy after his whining and flailing "leadership." That's what I expect now. More departures, more excuses. I even think he will walk away at some point. It will get much worse first.

[unblock]

2. The silver lining, in fact, is just how bad he is.

First, he's so inept at actually getting things done that he's doing less damage than he would if he were actually competent. Still plenty of damage, but less than there might have been.

Second, he's so unsubtle and obvious that it damages the republican brand. For decades, they've been able to wink wink to the bigots and still pretend they weren't bigots. That thin veneer of deniability is gone thanks to Donnie and his supporters' unhinged rhetoric.

Third, the bureaucracy and even some republicans in political positions are at least somewhat trying to rein him in. That would be unthinkable for republicans with a halfway decent president.

Finally, we can hope that he's so widely recognized as a terrible president that he and his policies and his tactics and the entire Republican Party will be thoroughly discredited for decades....

[Arkansas Granny]

3. Trump is the reason I always want each party to nominate their best and brightest.

That way, regardless who is elected, we have a chance of getting someone in office who will not do too much damage. I don't believe any of the other 2016 Republican hopefuls would have been as harmful to the country as Trump has.

I truly thought GWB was the worst they could do.

I was wrong.

[SWBTATTReg]

4. Good points made in prior posts. Sadly too, I think people vote emotionally and ignore ...

direct facts and not vote on actual reality of feasible positions by candidates (rump has lots of things feasible but not realistic, HRC opposite, in other words, something advocated was actually feasible and doable. rump is total opposite. Governed by the mob.

[2naSalit]

5. Oh, it's pretty much what I figured would happen...nt