[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by Ducay

Dumb you say? The man is one of the smartest and most successful people on the planet and soon to be leader of the free world.

Trump is a fool. He is a narcissist and a sociopath. He thinks he's this tremendously smart person but he lacks every indicator of high intelligence. Trump has one of the most limited vocabularies you'll ever hear. He is intellectually dishonest and is not curious about matters unrelated to his ego or his fortune. He doesn't read (he has people read for him!), he doesn't challenge what he thinks he already knows, and he does not take counsel of others who he do not think the sun rises and sets on his bloated ass.

Where Trump excels is in his emotional intelligence. He has used this ability to built this cult of personality which surrounds him and to support it through the media. He learned in the 70s and 80s to bully the tabloids in New York to build an reputation of being successful, but he's just lived off of his father's success. The one thing he is good at is building a brand, even if every one of those products is complete garbage. Trump is the east coast Kardasians.

Take a retrospective on most "dumb" things he has said or done to date, and you'll note it was generally all well calculated and let to his ultimate success with the American public.

You just don't understand the stupidity of the average American. They are so uninformed and ignorant of the world around them that a guy like Trump makes them feel better about themselves. That is why reality TV is so popular down here. It gives the average Joe a chance to see "famous people" doing stupid stuff that even they wouldn't do. Its kind of like the halo effect. People feel better about themselves when they see powerful people doing and saying stupid things. Trump was popular because he was a reality star who did and said plenty of stupid things. He's the President Comacho the reality set have been waiting for.

He has huge support for his mandate.

On what planet? His electoral college victory is one of the polisci books, and is going to be studied for years. The states that carried him to victory he won by less than 1% of votes cast. To make matters worse, his electoral college victory wasn't even that large. His 306 electoral college votes lags behind Obama's 332 and 365. They aren't even close to Reagan's 525 and 489, Nixon's 520, Johnson's 486, Eisenhower's 457 or 442. Electorally, this was a below average win, and he did so by the slimmest of margins in the states that swing the college. When you add in that he lost the popular vote by the margin he did, the largest loss by anyone who won the electoral college, his mandate does not exist. Trump is in the same boat as John Quincy Adams, Rutherford B. Hayes, Benjamin Harrison and George W. Bush, guys who became president because of the electoral college. To put it into terms that the reality TV set will understand, Trump is the winner of the Biggest Loser. What is interesting about the guys he's lumped in with? They are a who's who of the worst presidents in American history.

Repubs control all the levels because the American people voted that they want them to have control. This isn't some scheme against the Dems, they had their chance, and the American public did not care for what they were currently selling.

To quote your hero, WRONG. They control all three branches because the system is broken and the Republicans broke it. They have gerrymandered states so districts are stacked in their favor. They have run voter suppression campaigns with the greatest level of success because the courts are stacked with their judges. They own the judiciary because they refuse to convene the confirmation hearing on the judge the sitting president has appointed. They have used dirty tricks, unethical practices, and thumbed their nose at the constitution when they see fit, just so they can retain power.

He won't be a liability to the country because he is president for one reason, to cement his legacy of success. He cares too much about what people think of him, he wants to be loved.

He's already screwed there. He has the lowest approval rating of any president-elect. There has been a steady drain of support from his base because of his pivots and people are not happy with his selections for his cabinet. He is going to be a disaster because he's in a position that requires intelligence and understanding. He won't be able to charm his way through meetings or bull#### foreign leaders. Worst of all, he won't understand half the #### the Republicans in congress are going to pull on him. He's hit an iceberg before leaving dry dock.