Comments on: An American Tragedy

By: Gidmejmun

Gidmejmun — Thu, 17 Nov 2016 17:24:00 +0000

It’s not a search for consolation but a statement of fact. The US electorate in its majority has decided NOT to live in Trump’s world but they have been compelled to live in it by the US electoral system.

By: Gidmejmun

Gidmejmun — Wed, 16 Nov 2016 22:27:00 +0000

You’re right, electoral votes not seats.

If representative democracy tries to elect a government that represents the majority of the electorate, whilst respecting and trying to accommodate the minority, then the system is flawed because for the fifth time in its history it elected a government that represents the minority.

By: Gidmejmun

Gidmejmun — Wed, 16 Nov 2016 22:22:00 +0000

And a larger proportion of US voters thought that it was worth giving Clinton a shot, and they did – only to see the smaller proportion have it their way instead.

The latest update published today showed Clinton getting 62,409,031 votes to Trump’s 61,283,176. That makes Clinton’s proportion larger than Trump’s by more than 1.1 million votes.

By: Gidmejmun

Gidmejmun — Tue, 15 Nov 2016 22:39:00 +0000

The US electorate has NOT, in its plurality, decided to live in Trump’s world.

The US electorate, in its plurality — indeed, in its majority — has decided NOT to live in Trump’s world.

It was the US electoral system that confined them to that world in the same way it confined them to Bush’s world in 2000.

On that occasion Al Gore got over 500,000 votes more than Bush. They moaned and whined but I haven’t seen the earth shake with any efforts to change the electoral system in the US.

So, it happened again now, 16 years later, as it was bound to do sometime, although most did not expect it to happen so soon.

This time round Clinton got almost 800,000 more popular votes (last count of a few hours ago) but Trump got 58 seats more.

By: callixtus

callixtus — Tue, 15 Nov 2016 22:06:00 +0000

It seems we have got it all wrong. According to Boris Johnson, that epitome of consistency, Trump is just a liberal guy from New York, and there is every reason to be positive. Pass on the Kool-Aid.

By: Brother_Louis

Brother_Louis — Tue, 15 Nov 2016 20:01:00 +0000

In reply to John Cauchi. Actually I think you'll find the Clintons sold their souls to Wall Street long before Trump was on the scene.

By: John Cauchi

John Cauchi — Tue, 15 Nov 2016 13:32:00 +0000

In reply to Benny Hill.

Trump is in the pockets of the fossil fuel industry (as is most of the Republican party). But this issue is so far-removed from mainstream politics in the US that it comes as no surprise.

It all comes down to being corrupt, and refusing to accept obvious science. In the meantime, Trump was too happy to propose Ben Carson as the secretary on Education. Ben Carson, who says he believes the Pyramids were built by Joseph of the Old Testament to store grain.

Welcome to the age of the glorification of ignorance. Trumptastic!

By: Benny Hill

Benny Hill — Tue, 15 Nov 2016 10:46:00 +0000

If Donald Trump withdraws the US from the Paris Treaty on Climate Change, it could spell disaster. This is what he promised he would do.

Trump believes that climate change is a “Chinese hoax” perpetrated with the intention of hampering US economic growth. His reasoning is both wrong and very dangerous.

While there was in the past a lot of disagreement on whether man-made climate change really existed, it’s now been proven beyond any doubt that greenhouse gas emissions are having an adverse effect on the Earth’s temperatures. Scientists are close to being completely certain that human activity is causing global warming.

I don’t think there remains any space for climate change denialism. Trump’s ideas on this subject could truly make a mark in history.