It’s the morning after. The millions of Americans who were held in contempt for ten years have been made whole. The Hollywood stars, the college professors with one publication to their name, the political establishments of both parties, those who think they are an intellectual elite because they almost read three books in college, they all got mud in their faces, and that’s the sweetest thing. America elected a president who is too rich for the special interests to buy him. The big donors who paid into the Clinton Foundation slush fund lost all their money. F… them!
A thoroughly corrupt candidate with nothing to say aside from repeating claims of twenty years ago was decisively trounced by a political nobody, by a rank outsider. Her main aspiration, she said, was to break a (non-existent) glass ceiling. It’s been many years since anyone objected to the prospect of a female president. Does anyone think that the white blue-collar workers who put Trump over the top would have hesitated for a a second to vote for black, female professor and former Sec. of State Condoleeza Rice because she is black and because she is a woman? Sounds silly just asking the question.
The victory did not put me in a forgiving mood, nevertheless. Behavior is supposed to have consequences. The Republican notables who disparaged and insulted Donald Trump ought to make themselves very small. The whole Democratic Establishment should be forced to act like the loser it is. After all, losing House races and Senate races, and the presidential race, as well as mot governors’ races should make one humble even if one doesn’t want to be. It’s going to be a steep learning curve for the vacuous liberal elite. The big media which so shamelessly sided with Mrs Bill Clinton throughout the campaign ought to be laughed out of the public arena. They did not do themselves any favor in this race, on top of their declining readership.
I hope we will heard from Sen. Bernie Sanders who was cheated of his chance of win the Democrat primary. He has been quiet too long.
The future is fraught with uncertainties – as usual. One thing is sure though: The next Supreme Court appointments will not be the disasters they would have been under a Clinton presidency. She would not doubt have looked for a transgender lesbian member of a racial minority to begin with. A President Trump will appoint Justices who will treat respectfully the Constitution that served us so well for 250 years.
This being said, Mrs Bill Clinton did win the popular vote. This is enough to limit the size of President Trump’s moral mandate. I hope Pres. Trump will act quickly to take advantage of the Republican domination of both houses to repeal the self-destructing Obamacare and to begin a restoration of funds to our armed forces. I hope and think that he will tear up the worthless, and mendacious agreement with Iran – which is not a treaty at all according to the US Constitution. (No Senate approval= no treaty.) The mullahs ougth to be kept wondering what’s next. We know where they live.
Frankly, I never liked Trump much and I said so clearly in previous postings. The big unknown is what is he is going to do about our international trade treaties. They are good for Americans in general but deleterious to many. Something energetic had to be done at the federal level to alleviate all hardships traceable to trade agreements. The views President-elect Trum has expressed on trade treaties are plain wrong. Nearly everything he asserted about immigration is also factually wrong, to begin with.
On a personal note: I told my wife that since Hillary failed to break the glass ceiling, she, my wife had to begin obeying me. I wonder if that’s going to fly!
If you are reading this from overseas, I wonder if you are suprised. If you are, why do you think you were so misled?
Indecent Stories for Decent Women: Fiction by John René Adolph, a Man (2017)
Les pumas de grande banlieue: histoires d'émigration (2014)
I Used to Be French: an Immature Autobiography (2014)
FACTS MATTER 
Wasn’t surprised surprised, but somewhat surprised. Every market out there (gold, equities, betting markets, you name it) was saying Clinton. As to why, my working theory at the moment is that in polls people were saying Clinton (social confirmity or whatever), but then they are in the voting booth alone and can let the inner xenophobe out.
I saw your point about how Trump allegedly would be better for economy, wasn’t entirely convinced though. What is the essence of Trumponomics? Let’s build more (walls, roads, anything else?), deregulate, and do deals? Okay fine. Roads and bridges are way too 30-s. Not that people don’t need them anymore, they do, but better rate of concrete production will hardly bring the economic renaissance he promises.
Deregulation is a tricky animal. Great word to throw around. Less governement, nobody likes goverment, they are entirely comprised of overweight losers and pencilpushers, amirite? Free for all wild west capitalism backfires, and backfires bad. Big pharma hiking the price of drug you need to live up 500% just because you are still going to pay for it. Predatory lenders pushing financially uneducated and vulnerable all these loans with attractive teaser rates. Multi-level marketing schemes conning people into stockpiling on some overpriced crap with some you-will-get-rich-just-from-sitting-on-your-couch mumbo jumbo. And on and on and on. Regulation has to be there, and has to be smart in order to keep up. If anything regulators need bigger budgets to be able to afford smart people that are otherwised lured over to private sector.
And deals, I mean, come on. So he is the smartest guy in the room all of a sudden? Maybe being free from special interest and political commitments will indeed be helpful, I can give him that.
Yet overall, Trump ran as a retrograde, xenophobe, isolationist, and a banal populistm hasn’t he? Most stunning to me was the number of people with college degrees who had voted for the guy.
Oleg: The essence of Trumpeconomics is not original, it’s true and tried: lower taxes and less regulation. The latter is not that hard to implement: Order the relevant bureaucracy to ignore a certain regulation and see what happens. There is more to answer you but I will have to do it later.
I have a doctorate from Stanford. I voted for Trump.
(Continued) You don’t have to be smartest guy in the room to cut taxes and to ignore some regulations. Other than that , your typical European style air of superiority is annoying: WTF do you know that Trump and his advisers don’t know? Please, realize that one can’t really be stupid and make a fortune in real estate, even from a good beginning . You try it sometimes!
The United States does not need an economic renaissance (your choice of word). It just needs to move from an almost French level of economic growth averaging 1.5% per year under Obama to a less than historically normal 3%. At the first level, many people are underemployed and wages stagnate; at 3% employers compete for labor, new businesses are started, and people whistle while walking to work. A person of experience like me could almost guess at the rate of GDP growth by sitting at a cafe.
A response to your critique of capitalism will have to wait. I was raised in France, I watch the French media, every taxi driver in France is trying to tell me the same when I go there. I am a little tired of it. Not your fault, obviously. Here is the short version: 1 How did the Swiss, who have nothing, and deal with difficult terrain become so rich? 2 How can the Chinese of Singapore be ten times richer than the Chinese in China? 3 How come social-democratic Europe invents so little, relying instead on American high tech products as well as on American music. Why are so many French movies so bad, by the way?
It’s good that you are thinking about those things.