Donald Trump as our 45th President.

[The Ghostbuster]

In one week, Trump will be President of the United States of America. What are your views of this? Personally, I think last year's Republican and Democratic nominees for president were despicable. I voted third party, and do not regret doing so. We are in for an unpredictable 4 years, so fasten your seatbelts.

[bandit957]

The man is a disaster.

[nexus73]

MAGA! 

Rick

[SignGeek101]

I feel like this thread is going to go well...

As for me, well let's just say that I'm quite liberal, and a bit of an enviro nut. Enough said.

[jakeroot]

hahaha there is no fucking way this thread will last till the end of the day.

Ghostbuster, there is a very clear 'no-political-discussion that isn't related to roads' rule here on AARoads, and it's stiffly enforced.

Unrelated, I voted third party.

[US71]

REMINDER: Please keep it civil and try to respect other's opinions.

[bandit957]

Since I know people are asking, I voted for Bernie Sanders in the primary and Jill Stein in the general.

[Jbte]

Trump will take US into a new several economical crisis, worse than 2008. Prepare your... #$$  cough **bills

[Max Rockatansky]

Personally I think most of the talk about the executive branch in general is over blown or over emphasized.  Nobody gets all fired up when the balance of power in Congress changes or a new Supreme Court Justice is affirmed.  Usually I'm more interested in propositions and a Congressional races.  Generally I try to avoid giving my opinion on anyone in politics or talk about parties, I've always found that aspect of political conversation to be counterproductive. 

I say give this maybe a page or two before this gets out of hand, hopefully this stays civilized and/or productive with opinions.  I do agree with the OP that Trump is likely to be more of a wildcard rather than towing the party line.  That might lead to some weird legislation being passed or ending up in a dead-end.

[LM117]

[bandit957]

Personally I think most of the talk about the executive branch in general is over blown or over emphasized.  Nobody gets all fired up when the balance of power in Congress changes or a new Supreme Court Justice is affirmed.  Usually I'm more interested in propositions and a Congressional races.  Generally I try to avoid giving my opinion on anyone in politics or talk about parties, I've always found that aspect of political conversation to be counterproductive.

In recent years, the legislative branch really has had way too much power. Each of the 3 branches of government is supposed to have the same amount of power, but the legislative branch has probably a majority of it.

The legislative branch needs to learn to zip its lip when it's supposed to.

[cjk374]

I'm allergic to politics. It breaks me out in a case of the red ass. 

[hbelkins]

I'm just happy that Hillary lost. Exceedingly happy, in fact. I find nothing to admire or respect in her in any way -- personally, politically or professionally.

I'm not a big Trump fan. I was a supporter of Ted Cruz for the nomination and voted for him in the Kentucky caucus.

I really wanted to write in Cruz in the general election, but Kentucky does not count write-in votes unless the candidate files to run. I was so strongly opposed to Hillary that the only way my vote against her would register would be to vote for Trump. I could not in good conscience vote for any of the third-party candidates on Kentucky's ballot, so I reluctantly voted for Trump.

That said, I do agree with many of his policies. I think we need to get tougher on illegal immigration and deal more strongly with the threat of radical Islamic terrorists. I think he will encourage domestic energy (oil) production, which will be good for several reasons. I am encouraged by his tax proposals, which would reduce individual income taxes across the board and also institute a more reasonable business tax structure. (He also wants to see American dollars stored internationally repatriated to the United States. There's a reason people use offshore bank accounts. They'd keep their money here if our taxes were lower.) I'm in hopes the Iran nuclear deal will be reversed and sanctions restored to keep bomb-making materials out of their hands. I support moving our Israeli embassy to Jerusalem and recognizing it as the capital of Israel, and it's time we started acting like a friend to our only ally and the only democracy in that region of the world. I also want to see Obamacare repealed and the health care business returned to some semblance of the free market.

I'm generally impressed with his nominees so far. I'm not sure about Tillerson as secretary of state, but most of his other picks will be assets to his administration and the country. After the last eight years of Holder and Lynch, it will be good to have someone as attorney general who is actually concerned about enforcing the laws and not pursuing a social agenda.

I disagree with Trump's views on trade and do not want to see consumer prices increase if he institutes tariffs. I don't like the way the Trans-Pacific Partnership was pushed through, but I have no real concerns with the treaty per se. I'm also not convinced of the benefit of renegotiating or scrapping NAFTA.

I do find it funny that the same crowd that is so anxious about angering or alienating Red China seems to oppose having a better relationship with Russia. I also find it interesting that those who got so up in arms about Trump saying "grab her by the pussy" don't seem to care that Bill Clinton sexually abused females beneath him on the organizational chart when he was Arkansas governor, made unwanted sexual advances to many women and actually raped at least one.

Trump is not a perfect person and he's definitely not a perfect politician. He was not in my top five choices for the GOP nomination. But I think he's certainly better than the alternative. The best thing about him is that he is not a politician, isn't bound to any precedents or traditions or "just becauses" or "we've always done it this ways." The system and the establishment needed a good shaking-up.

[J N Winkler]

I did not see that Trump had a platform in the traditional sense:  he would promise one thing at one rally and its opposite at another rally.  Setting to one side all of his controversial rhetoric, I felt it was a complete nonstarter to vote for him because representative democracy equates to popular sovereignty only if the voters can assume that the candidate will try to enact his or her stated platform once elected.

I frankly doubt the Trump administration will be as bad as many people fear.  On the other hand, I am quite sure Trump will disappoint many, if not a majority, of the people who voted for him.

[SignGeek101]

I am quite sure Trump will disappoint many, if not a majority, of the people who voted for him.

I guess the same thing could have been said when Obama was elected...

[mgk920]

Right now, I'm most concerned with the sickening and breathtaking 'scorched Earth' policy that BHO is practicing with executive orders and crushing new regulations during His lame-duck period.     Trump will have a major amount of work to do to undo as much of that damage as he can as soon as he completes reciting his oath of office.  I certainly hope that he'll have a good pen drawn and ready for action even before he begins his inaugural address speech.

Mike

[J N Winkler]

I am quite sure Trump will disappoint many, if not a majority, of the people who voted for him.

I guess the same thing could have been said when Obama was elected...

Yes.  I actually would make a stronger claim:  the proportion of disappointed voters will be higher for Trump than for Obama.

[US 41]

I'm just happy that Hillary lost. Exceedingly happy, in fact. I find nothing to admire or respect in her in any way -- personally, politically or professionally.

I'm not a big Trump fan. I was a supporter of Ted Cruz for the nomination and voted for him in the Kentucky caucus.

I really wanted to write in Cruz in the general election, but Kentucky does not count write-in votes unless the candidate files to run. I was so strongly opposed to Hillary that the only way my vote against her would register would be to vote for Trump. I could not in good conscience vote for any of the third-party candidates on Kentucky's ballot, so I reluctantly voted for Trump.

That said, I do agree with many of his policies. I think we need to get tougher on illegal immigration and deal more strongly with the threat of radical Islamic terrorists. I think he will encourage domestic energy (oil) production, which will be good for several reasons. I am encouraged by his tax proposals, which would reduce individual income taxes across the board and also institute a more reasonable business tax structure. (He also wants to see American dollars stored internationally repatriated to the United States. There's a reason people use offshore bank accounts. They'd keep their money here if our taxes were lower.) I'm in hopes the Iran nuclear deal will be reversed and sanctions restored to keep bomb-making materials out of their hands. I support moving our Israeli embassy to Jerusalem and recognizing it as the capital of Israel, and it's time we started acting like a friend to our only ally and the only democracy in that region of the world. I also want to see Obamacare repealed and the health care business returned to some semblance of the free market.

I'm generally impressed with his nominees so far. I'm not sure about Tillerson as secretary of state, but most of his other picks will be assets to his administration and the country. After the last eight years of Holder and Lynch, it will be good to have someone as attorney general who is actually concerned about enforcing the laws and not pursuing a social agenda.

I disagree with Trump's views on trade and do not want to see consumer prices increase if he institutes tariffs. I don't like the way the Trans-Pacific Partnership was pushed through, but I have no real concerns with the treaty per se. I'm also not convinced of the benefit of renegotiating or scrapping NAFTA.

I do find it funny that the same crowd that is so anxious about angering or alienating Red China seems to oppose having a better relationship with Russia. I also find it interesting that those who got so up in arms about Trump saying "grab her by the pussy" don't seem to care that Bill Clinton sexually abused females beneath him on the organizational chart when he was Arkansas governor, made unwanted sexual advances to many women and actually raped at least one.

Trump is not a perfect person and he's definitely not a perfect politician. He was not in my top five choices for the GOP nomination. But I think he's certainly better than the alternative. The best thing about him is that he is not a politician, isn't bound to any precedents or traditions or "just becauses" or "we've always done it this ways." The system and the establishment needed a good shaking-up.

Wow there is actually someone on this thread that thinks the same way I do.  I couldn't have said this any better myself.

I too was a Cruz supporter and I did vote for Trump in the general election. Like you, Trump was not one of my top choices in the primaries. When he picked Pence as his VP that is when I 100% decided I would vote for him, because I really like Mike Pence and I think he has gone a very good job as our governor here in Indiana. I'm also keeping my fingers crossed that Trump appoints a conservative Supreme Court justice.

I also agree with his stance on immigration. I think if you want to be here you should be here legally. (I feel like that should be common sense, but I guess that concept is hard for some to understand.)

I'm perfectly okay with Trump scrapping TPP, but I think NAFTA should remain. I also think we should have as strong of ties as possible with our two neighboring countries. I do see where he is coming from though on charging a 35% tariff on US companies in Mexico (although I don't totally agree with it). I think free trade with Mexico was meant for products coming from Mexican companies to the US. I don't think it was ever intended for American companies to move down to Nuevo Laredo so they could get cheaper labor and then send their products back here. That said we do need to get rid of some of our regulations so that we can be more competitive with some of these other countries that we're losing jobs to and we should probably lower our corporate income tax because I think we have the highest corporate income tax of any country.

As far as energy goes like I said above I am all for getting rid of some regulations. I'm also pro digging up coal, drilling oil, and building pipelines. I also have zero issues with coal powered power plants.

I will also be happy if they can repeal Obamacare. I'm still a little leary of the word "replace". As long as they make it to where you won't get fined for not having health coverage I will be happy. I don't think you should be forced to buy something. And no, car insurance is not a valid comparison. Not everyone has a car.

  As far as foreign policy goes I hope we do work closer with Russia. I don't see how it's a bad thing if we actually somewhat get along with Russia. I also support working with Russia to fight ISIS. Fighting everyone at the same time is not going to work.
  As far as Israel is concerned they legit are our only reliable ally in the Middle East, and I am all for moving our embassy to Jerusalem. If Trump keeps his word on that I will be extremely pleased. Moving our embassy to Jerusalem is long overdue.
  If we recognize Taiwan as a country then whatever. China can be angry, I really don't think it matters either way.
  Hopefully Trump can scrap the Iran deal too. I still think it's stupid to make deals with countries like that. Iran and North Korea are about as bad as the other in my eye. I would also support going in with Israel and bombing their nuclear facility(s).

I like that Trump actually seems to have some backbone. Most Republicans will not stand up for themselves and Trump just says whatever he wants to say and he won't back down.

I think with Trump there are going to be days where I really like him and then there are going to be days where I'm not going to be happy with him. I do like him a lot better now than what I did 4 months ago. I'm going to keep my fingers crossed and hope that he is a really good president. With all due respect, I don't think he could possibly be any worse than what we've had the past 8 years.

In the campaigning period I got the sense that Trump actually wanted to help make the country "great again" and wants to make our economy better and bring back jobs from third world countries, which is why he appealed to so many. At the very least he had a message. I never could figure out why Hillary Clinton wanted to be president. It didn't seem like she had a message at all (which maybe she accidentally deleted it too, idk).

[corco]

I am still a bit startled by this - mainly because of who Donald Trump is as a person, and am really struggling with how somebody with his blatant lack of character was elected to the White House. (For the record, I wouldn't vote for Bill Clinton again either).

That being said, to quote Hillary, he is our president now and I think we owe him a chance to lead. I will give him the benefit of the doubt until he does something that is truly and demonstrably awful for the country, that go beyond typical Republican party-line items that I generally disagree with.

While I very much disagree with his tactics thus far, and have trouble understanding the rationale behind how he conducts himself, there's no point in worrying about it until we start to see demonstrably negative results. 

I support the sentiment of bringing manufacturing back and even reducing our foreign dependence on resources - but when I drive through Sidney, MT and see literally hundreds of fracking pads that were and are legal under the Obama administration but are abandoned simply due to the quantity of energy available right now, I struggle to understand what the President can actually do to encourage more resource extraction. The only way to make it cheaper to extract, when the pads are already there and the overhead is already invested to make them comply with existing regulations, is to pay the people that work oil rigs less, and I struggle to understand how that solves any issues. Likewise with manufacturing - I love the idea of building more in this country. Sign me up. But realistically, the good middle-class factory jobs from 50 years ago that paid a living income are not going to come back, unless we are prepared to pay significantly more for goods and services. If we want the folks building Nissans at $12/hr non-union rates in Tennessee to move to Michigan and build Chevrolets at $30/hr union rates like they did in the 50s, I'm all for that, but it's going to be expensive. If we want to pay folks $25/hr to go deep into the coal mines in West Virginia to manually mine coal like my great-grandparents did in the 1930s instead of paying those same folks $15/hr to install solar panels, we can probably make that happen as a country, but it's going to be expensive. And I just don't understand how that math works.

And I hope that Trump can prove me wrong. But for the life of me, I just don't see how that will be possible.

[freebrickproductions]

For the record, I ain't a fan of Trump either. Let's hope the US can survive his presidency at least somewhat intact.

[NE2]

Fuck Trump and his supporters. Maybe things will get bad enough IRL that we can ban them from this forum.

[ET21]

SNL will have great material for the next 4 years.

[nexus73]

Fuck Trump and his supporters. Maybe things will get bad enough IRL that we can ban them from this forum.

Party foul...LOL!

Believe it or not, we were having a reasonable polite political discussion until that comment of yours.  Hey, it's okay to be against Trump but at least try to have a good take instead of simply spewing negative emotions.  For better or worse, we have the God Emperor to run the show for a while.

"God Emperor", it is a meme.  See the videos on YouTube.  Some are pretty dang good and feature the heavy metal sound of Sabaton, a Swedish band.  Here is what I think is the best one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBlYlSs2fIU

Love him or hate him, The Donald beat the odds at every turn.  You can't stump the Trump!

Rick

[US 41]

Fuck Trump and his supporters. Maybe things will get bad enough IRL that we can ban them from this forum.

"Take over the world, watch these haters get mad."

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I also just found this video on Youtube. His vocabulary has not changed. Still plenty or disasters, and I'm going to sue. I literally lmfao at the girlfriend comment though.

[wxfree]

I'll give him the benefit of my doubt.