So, what now?

Last updated on: November 9, 2016 at 7:21 am by Jane the Actuary

So, what now? 2016-11-09T07:21:27-06:00 Jane the Actuary

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump

Let’s start by saying that I did not expect last night’s results. I think I’m still in shock, really. We watched the election results, switching alternately between CNN & Fox News, while I simultaneously checked my twitter feed (I had to switch to cellular when the wifi stopped working), up until a bit past 11:00, when Michigan and Pennsylvania were still undecided, and when there were a few scenarios in which Trump and Clinton would end up with a tie. (Utah, I’m very disappointed in you! McMullin finished with little more than 20%.)

To be sure, my preferred blogger for checking what the extreme right is saying, was, up until yesterday morning when I last checked, touting the small number of polls that showed Trump on top, and claiming all the others were wrong. But I considered that to be nonsense. After all, Republicans in 2012 were full of reasons why the pollsters were adjusting their polls wrongly and Romney really had a better chance than they showed.

Ah, Romney. A good, competent man, who was mocked for identifying Russia as a threat, who was deemed a threat to women and workers and all that is good, for nonsense “transgressions” like the “binders full of women” comment. And this is where that got us: voters tuning out media warnings about Trump as an unacceptable choice, because they’d heard it all before, in a boy-who-cried-wolf fashion.

But, still: Trump took Ohio and Florida. I expected that. Trump took Pennsylvania. I did not expect that. Trump appears to have taken Michigan, though the vote count isn’t complete — and in both PA and MI I had expected that Clinton’s lead was too strong for Trump to have any chance. CNN is also reporting that Clinton has a razor-thin popular vote margin.

Now, to be sure, I had hoped that Trump would finish respectably, with a showing in the mid-200s, not out of support for the guy, but because it seemed to me that a Clinton blow-out would leave us in a worse position in terms of long-term national reconciliation. So in the early part of the night, when Trump picked up states, I was relieved that he was climbing successfully to that benchmark — and then he blew past it.

So, indeed, what next? Let’s start with the remote, but not completely impossible events over the next couple of months.

By CNN’s count, we need 10 faithless electors to prevent Trump from getting an absolute majority, and throwing the decision to the house. Not likely, but, eh, I’m putting this out there anyway.
Trump, who has no doubt himself woken up with a bit of a shock, realizes that he doesn’t actually want to be president; all he really wanted was to have been elected president but has no desire at all for all the hard work that comes with the job. He resigns and hands the seat over to Pence.
Something in Trump’s past, say, the Trump University lawsuit, comes back in an ugly way, or else Trump makes a major misstep almost immediately after taking office — something that doesn’t destroy the world economy, but pisses the House off, and he’s impeached.

OK, fine, none of these are going to happen.

Instead, everyone who had all those nice words to say about reconciliation and bipartisanship, when it looked like Clinton was going to win, has to find a way to make it work, to keep the U.S., and the world, functioning in some reasonable way for the next four years. After all, for all that Clinton called Trump supporters a “basket of deplorables,” most of them are good, decent people, and many of them even opposed Trump personally but chose him in a lesser-of-two-evils fashion, or feared the generational impact of a Clinton-appointed Supreme Court.

from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump

Uncategorized

Donald Trump

Election 2016

Previous Post

November 8, 2016

Yes, Trump had a closing argument, too

Next Post

November 9, 2016 Live by the [identity politics], die by the [identity politics]

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Actuarial/Retirement Issues Politics Uncategorized

Select a Month September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 December 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 August 2021 June 2021 April 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which book of the Bible contains the most chapters of any prophetic book?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Daniel Jeremiah Isaiah Ezekiel