Raise the Hammer

I agree that we will do everything he said he would do to a certain degree. As I mentioned, he'll alter the ACA and claim to have repealed it. He will also build the wall - to a fashion - as I can't see Congress approving 12 billion dollars for that. Some Mexicans will get deported, cameras rolling, and he will claim to have cleaned the criminals off the streets.

The one I am really looking forward to is the 20% tariff on imported goods. The US imports 300 billion dollars worth of goods from Mexico annually so that's a 60 billion price tag for the American people! To import mostly their own stuff! That's how 'the Mexican's will pay'? At this point we might see the cooler heads in Congress prevail and the whole idea will be scrapped.

Still, I have to say I kind of like the fact that Trump is there. I don't like him as a leader but you can't deny he has stirred up the silt. People are actually paying attention again. Obama had this effect of lulling us all to sleep as he drifted through his last four years. While we were busy nodding off he increased the NSA's already criminal power of surveillance. And, he must have just forgotten about all those poor (presumed innocent?) folks in Guantanamo that he had promised to release eight years ago due to the awkward fact that they haven't been charged with any crime.

I read an article in the Spec that has been circulating the web about how the novel 1984 is now in great demand, far greater than it was when the US had a president with a quick wit and an easy smile. It would appear that Obama used his people skills to do some people management on a large scale. Tell a few jokes, shoot some hoops, roll up your sleeves and read to children (on camera of course or else it doesn't count). All the while your phone conversations are being recorded and deposited in a massive data bank.

The core message of 1984 is that the totalitarian goal is to completely remove the ability of the individual to understand that they are oppressed. This might sound paranoid but whenever you feel that all is right in the world is probably when you should be the most worried.

Comment edited by ergopepsi on 2017-01-30 23:20:49