Fasten your seat belts . . .

. . . and adopt the crash position because this could be a very bumpy ride with 'Flight Captain' Trump at the controls!  In such a potentially hazardous situation, my Catholic friends would no doubt urge me to make confession and thereby cleanse my soul.  Well, to hell with that, I'm not telling you lot all my dirty secrets!  However, I will own up to one thing.  You will have noticed, I'm sure, after reading this blog that I am a man with opinions and moreover, a man never afraid to make forecasts.  The fact that most of them turn out to be wrong I simply put down to the vagaries of life and the failure of the people concerned to pay close attention to my opinions!

But today the reign of His Imperial Majesty, 'Donald the Trump', commences and, despite wracking what passes for my brains backwards and forwards - and sideways - the fact is that I haven't a clue as to what the outcome will be.  Except that it will be "yuuuuge"!  Most politicians cover their actions by carefully constructed speeches filled with sonorous and elliptical phrases [see Obama, passim] which provide them with the necessary wriggle-room for when things go wrong - which they usually do.  But with 'Donald the Trump' no such careful parsing is required, he simply, as my dear old Mum used to say, opens his mouth and lets his belly rumble!  How much of it is meant, or indeed, how much of it is even possible, is beyond my ability to discern even if quite a lot of it sounds very admirable.

But perhaps, just maybe, 'Donald the Trump' is 'cleverer than a really clever thing'.  Perhaps his constant and apparently uncontrollable 'stream of consciousness' is as deliberate and careful as the sly constructions of the wily politician.  If in the future he is caught out in an obvious contradiction, he will simply turn to his 'Tweet-machine' and say, "Well you didn't really believe all that stuff, did you?"  Even so, a man may hope, may he not?  If he just follows through on two or three of the things he has promised then his reign will qualify as "A Good Thing".

Here's hoping!

 

 

Comments

[Whitewall]

We are truly in a "who knows" period. Were I Mr. Trump, I would make careful notes about how far toward insurrection the opposition is willing to go to maintain a corrupt status quo. I would also make note of them assaulting my family in public. He must remember who elected him and why. He should also be thankful for his enemies.

[Bob]

People over there who don't follow American politics closely, and people over here who believe in Trump, have no idea what a house of cards is under construction. W Bush was so bad he gave us our first black president. It's not unreasonable to expect the president following Trump to be an ethnic minority lesbian socialist.

[David Duff]

And, Bob, Obama was so bad he gave you Trump!

[Cuffleyburgers]

Bob - I'll give you Bush (43) was a poor president, who looked more like a puppet of vested interests than his own man. But he left office and maintained a dignified silence.

the fact that he was followed by a man of mixed race for me was a very good thing. It looked like an opportunity for America to fix its race problem once and for all.

unfortunately Obama has been a disastrous president, possibly the worst in history, and race relations are far worse than before he came on the scene, and he is largely to blame.

And his stroppy determination to continue to play after leaving office is unworthy of anybody who aspires to be a statesman.

He is a disgrace.

Nobody can know at this stage what Trump will be like, but he cannot ever be as bad as we know Clinton would have been. So thank god she lost.

[Bob]

David, Clinton was so bad she gave us Trump. Obama has one of the highest approval ratings for an outgoing president in history. Concurrently, Trump has one of the lowest for an incoming president. But, you know, all the polls are rigged against him by the media, who are bad people.

Cuffleyburgers, Trump generally ran on promises to represent The Common Working Man. So far his actions belie anything of the sort. We can't know the details of what Trump will do, but a general outline is emerging. While Obama made racial tensions here more visible, he certainly did not make them worse. Look up American slavery, Jim Crow and the 1960's Civil Rights Movement just for starters.

A note to those who insist people can't be psychoanalyzed without it being in person: That notion would not be agreed to by the "profilers" working in law enforcement and intelligence.

[Whitewall]

What a speech! It was muscular, blunt and straight forward populist. It was not a conservative speech either. It was pure Trump. Both parties are put on notice.

[Backofanenvelope]

While I watched the inauguration I surfed the net, I came across the headline "O'bama pardons "sideshow Bob". Surely not "our" Bob. Relax, it was some other Bob. Not being American I didn't understand the allusion.

I thought Mrs Trump has good taste in top coats.

[Michael Adams]

So, Not Hillary has taken the oath of Office, to defend the Constitution of the United States, without purpose of evasion. After the ceremonies were completed, a nice soprano sang The Star Spangled Banner, and Mrs. Trump was seen to move her lips with the words, whether singing or simply mouthing the words, of course, I could not know. I give few people enough credit to learn the Anthem for propaganda purposes, so I am much heartened that this lady born abroad has learned "Our Song" hers and mine, too. When people have taken the Oath of Citizenship, it is customary to say, "Welcome Home."

We have a President who loves out country, along with his patriotic wife. I hope that these tears of joy do not foul up my keyboard.

Will hard times come again? In the immortal words of Sarah Palin,"You betcha!" But, for the next four years, we shall face them with a man in charge who loves his country, and does not hate us. We can, with God's help, triumph.

[David Duff]

BOE, you are entirely right, I thought Mrs. Trump looked exceedingly elegant.

[JK]

http://www.theroot.com/here-s-what-the-vibe-was-like-at-president-trump-s-inau-1791434132

(I'll admit to "certain" misgivings generally concerning the forthcoming tweets, that "Debbie Weaselman-Schwartz, The Podesta Group, Donna Brazile and the rest of the DNC be; declared a Terrorist Organization: is, "a little bit over the top."

And I'll further admit to a further inclusion to the DSM of - what yesterday was "PPTDS (Pre-President Trump Derangement Syndrome)" which has now become "PTSD (Post Trumpatic Sad Democrats)" is probably, just like all the rest of the DMS' shit

http://duffandnonsense.typepad.com/duff_nonsense/2012/07/whats-in-a-name-loadsa-money.html

Is, pretty much, about the same thing as former-President Obama North Korea-like *accepting on behalf of himself a military medalo* which (according to the recently former President's LGBWTFBBQ's Recommending Committee [with the voluntary abstentions of the Nobel Peace Price nominating 'whos&dos] doing, pretty close to ... about the same North Korea thang.*

Hmmm

I've shuffled away my notes. Sincere apologies. As I can:

http://www.theroot.com/here-s-what-the-vibe-was-like-at-president-trump-s-inau-1791434132

& for those unfamiliar with the DSM;

http://duffandnonsense.typepad.com/duff_nonsense/2012/07/whats-in-a-name-loadsa-money.html

***

Trust the "Experts" of course.

________

I've got to take a coupla weeks off my D&N Friends. I can't help it. I'll be back Bob. Prepare youself.

[David Duff]

Dammit, JK, you have been awol for too long, get your arse back here soonest - we miss you - Andra especially!

[TheBigHenry]

JK, Am I still in charge while you're awol?

BoE, I bet she tastes fine with or without a topcoat :)

Michael Adams, I heartily concur with your sentiments.