With Trump talking about starting a new nuclear arms race, this may not be a rhetorical question. Discuss. No trolls or Trump supporters.
I’m also putting up a No-Trump-talk thread for those who’d rather talk about anything other than Trump.
Categories
Will Trump kill us all? Friday Night Open Thread
And at least when Wheatley got drunk on usurped power and damn near nuked the facility, it was an accident.
I strongly suspect that Trump’s stupidity is part of his appeal. One of his strongest voting blocks is “people who lost out to international trade.” They voted for him expressly to punish globalists.
Also Wheatley isn’t a proud sexual predator.
10/10 would vote
Are you old enough to remember the way US conservatives acted when France didn’t jump straight on the war with Iraq bandwagon circa 2002? It was very, very easy for the GOP to whip up hatred towards the French. French fries were called freedom fries. French toast became freedom toast. People boycotted French products. It was ridiculous. And the Bush administration are rational and kind compared to what it’s going to look like when Trump moves in. Trump knows there’s likely to be pushback from at least some European governments. If not all of them. He probably won’t actually nuke Europe, but he will whip up his supporters into a nationalist frenzy in the hopes of bullying European nations into complying with him.
As SFHC said, I’m more worried about a conflict, even a potentially nuclear one with China. My only hope is that his rich buddies convince him that war with China would hurt their business interests too much.
I don’t think that Trump will kill us all… quickly. Nuclear war seems unlikely. And like Scildfreja said, there are economic reasons for an arms race, which don’t preclude war, but do offer an alternate motive.
Then again, he and the GOP will likely do a lot to shorten humanity’s overall lifespan by accelerating global warming.
More immediately, I’m worried about what he’ll do to American immigrants/people of colour/any group he decides he doesn’t like now (now = maybe now, and at least 2017-2020).
I think Trump is too inept to kill us all (as usual : the problem isn’t Trump, but the guy he will enable). But the lost 4 years may be the final coffin for climate problems. And another tyrant taking the opportunity of a stupid America to launch a world war is certainly a possibility.
The only nice thing with the current situation is that neither Chineses nor Russian look like they want to invade the world. But they still have plenty opportunity to make the life of both their citizen and their neighbor a living hell.
There is also a non-nil option of a civil war, or at least huge civil troubles, in America, if Trump die suspiciously. Or if he is targeted by an assassination. Or, for opposite reasons, if Trump truly go too far.
All in all, future look incertain at best.
@WWTH
I was around 9 when that happened. I remember being scared shitless because the big-ass country across the ocean that starts all the wars was pissed at us.
I also remember that the Freedom Fries ™ were so goddamn hilarious that I wasn’t scared anymore, just puzzled. The big-ass country that starts all the wars is pissed at us, and all they’re doing is renaming stuff that isn’t even french to begin with.
Now I’m scared again though. As you said :
I expect him to try and bully us into electing Le Pen, who also happens to be Putin’s favorite here. Cue hacks or whatever.
But yeah, if he nukes anyone it’s probably gonna be China. That would be an “unpresidented” catastrophe too, given the population density in the cities he’s most likely to target…
UGH. As if nukes or Trump weren’t bad enough on their own. A combination of both is the last thing this world needs.
In France, I guess François Fillon have real odds of winning against Le Pen. It’s not good or comforting, but I am gonna take any consolation prize
@Ohlmann
UGH.
Not looking forward to that. It’s fucking 2002 all over again. Except this time I honestly ain’t too sure the blatant fascistoid will lose…
I won’t be able to vote though. With all the mess in America, I forgot about the registration clauses here that say you have to re-register before the end of the year prior to the election. Only remembered about that yesterday, and I think it’s too late now…
Stupid system though.
It’s worse than in 2002. At least Chirac was a personal enemy of Le Pen and did genuingly oppose fascism. Fillon have no convictions, he just want power. He will be the french George W. Bush, and that may still be a kind comparison.
And yes, it’s not sure that the Le Pen family will lose. There is just a very real path to victory for their opponent. The only consolation I have is that there isn’t any candidate who feel much better than Fillon anyway.
Semi OT: an article in the Guardian on the history of Political Correctness and how that relates to the rise of Trump and the alt right:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/nov/30/political-correctness-how-the-right-invented-phantom-enemy-donald-trump
Interesting stuff, at least to me.
Given the speculation about inept AI programming, any chance of starting a rumour that President Fart is a badly programmed android planted by the Russians ? I’ve seen netizens who believe weirder stuff.
@Kevin
Take a look at this and revel in the glory that is Chuck Tingle and fake news done right.
Otherwise, well… we haven’t seen his birth certificate, now have we ?
ETA : He’s done it again !
This world yet holds beauty.
Even without Trump’s latest stupidity the US has been planning to spend a lot on nukes. The US arsenal is getting increasingly old, so along with general maintenance(nukes need to be worked on regularly to make sure they will actually operate as designed, as the radioactive elements used slowly decay) plans are in the works for modernising the electronics and other systems of existing warheads, and replacing existing delivery systems. For example a competition for a new ICBM to replace the existing Minuteman missiles has begun. Northrop Grumman won a contract last year to produce a new strategic bomber, the B21 Raider. The goal isn’t to increase the actual numbers, which are limited by various treaties, just to maintain what’s already there.
@Ohlmann
Right. Chirac was a crook but Fillon’s worse.
Meh. Might not be such a bad thing that I can’t vote because of a technicality.
Fuck.
Well if a nuclear war does start, there will be so many bombs bursting that the world will essentially end up looking like an apple core, so at least we won’t suffer.
Remember, Clinton was totes gonna start a war with Russia. She’s a warmonger, unlike Trump. That’s why she shouldn’t have been elected. Also emails
@Joek
???
@Axecalibur
I suppose one might argue that, of the totality of eligible voters, slightly under 50% actually voted, making the most popular vote cast “Meh.”
But you’d have to disregard the widespread disenfranchisement which prevented many people — the overwhelming majority of them black — from voting when they wanted to.
@Falconer
251m adults, 231m eligible voters, 137m voted, 66m for Clinton
of the totality of eligible voters, slightly over 60% actually voted (give or take rounding error)
@Redsilkphoenix: Jetpack Vixen, Agent of the FemiNest Collective: Liked that article. Of course, I’m old enough to remember when we called “political correctness” “common courtesy.” PC is at least less of an oxymoron.
Kevin said :
My first reply was that we haven’t seen his birth certificate, but then I gave this some more thought. Starting a rumor is a bad idea, because even weird and not-really-believable libel is still libel, but it gave me another idea. A weird, dumb, nonsensical idea that I’m still fond of.
Why not petition the White House and demand that Trump release his birth certificate ? Flip his birther bullshit right back at him – the whole thing too, including going on to say that the certificate is fake. Only difference is in the allegation itself – it’s obviously false, so much less harmful than what he did… or is it ? Obama answered the birther shit with a lot of grace, but I got a feeling Trump wouldn’t. The end game is that he’d undermine himself some more with just a bit of encouragement from ridiculous allegations.
I’ve said it before, I’m pretty sure mocking him is one of the best ways to fight back. His ego is a hell of a target, it’s so inflated that you’d have to try pretty hard to miss it.
Well, This turned up on my facebook today
https://www.facebook.com/events/175602602915119/
@Sinkable John
I like this idea!
@Kat
Throwing ideas out there is pretty much the most I can do at this point, being a foreigner. So I’m making sure I get many ideas, the best ideas, they’re tremendous.
The ‘presidential android’ thing was a joke (though such things can develop an alarming life of their own) but I like the idea of turning the whole ‘birther’ thing back on President Fart.
I’ve also encountered a satirical suggestion that Barack Obama being half Kenyan means he’s eligible for elevation to the British House of Lords (it functions as our Senate, more or less) and appointment to the role of Prime Minister. I know he’d never go along with it, but it brings to mind that Winston Churchill was American on his mother’s side.