Feelings of Lovecraftian doom or optimism?

[In_Loos_Ptokai]

I remember thinking about Trump in 2016, following a brother-in-law's statement of support for Trump, that it wouldn't hurt to give him a chance. Of course, he'd been given plenty of chances before, and blown them consistently - there are not many "businessmen" who can claim to have been bankrupted as a casino owner. I think he's the only one. There's that saying, "He reached rock bottom, then started digging deeper ...", which seems to have been written with Trump in mind. Now, he's living proof of that saying, "Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel", whining and dining at his countrymen's expense. Mostly whining - he's a one-man whinery.

[Pietro_Mercurios]

Back in 2016, a young person I know, left leaning, bit of a Bernie Sanders fan, who was probably spending too much time on the internet, informed me that there was really no difference between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. I said, 'Clinton maybe a politician, but she's a capable one. Trump's a nut case, a multiple bankrupt who always manages to walk away while he stiffs everybody else with the cheque. That's been his MO since his dad subbed him his first million.'

I knew then & there, without a doubt, a week before the 2016 election, that Trump was going to win. ☹

How does anyone in their right mind manage to go bankrupt, running a casino? Atlantic City still hasn't recovered.

[In_Loos_Ptokai]

Well, the recent crisis in Washington DC proved that if ever there was a competent right-winger in US politics who posed an existential threat to US democracy, that person was not Donald J Trump. If he had had the borderline competence of a psychotic like General Pinochet ... if he had had the supreme competence of Validimir Illich Ulyanov aka Lenin, everything would be over bar the Civil War ...

[Pietro_Mercurios]

I've been listening to a lot of old, Goon Show, episodes, recently. I first came across the Goons, when I was very young. Only now, do they start to make sense. Neddie Seagoon (played by Harry Secombe), is vain, greedy, stupid & incredibly naive. Hercules Grytpype-Thynne (Peter Sellers), is a devious, scheming, conman, who, along with his devilish exotic henchman, Count Jim Moriaty (Spike Milligan), is always on the look out for a, 'right & proper Charlie,' to act as the unwitting front & fall guy for their fiendish get-rich-quick, schemes. Usually, it's the very unwitting Neddie Seagoon.

To some extent, Trump is very bigly a right & proper Charlie. As to Gryptype-Thynne & Moriaty's real-life counterparts? Stone, Bannon, Hannity, Carlson... take your pick. 'Moscow' Mitch McConnell? May just turn out to be one of those rubes Trump always expects to pick up the cheque. Wouldn't that be ironic?

[EverKing]

Well, the recent crisis in Washington DC proved that if ever there was a competent right-winger in US politics who posed an existential threat to US democracy, that person was not Donald J Trump. If he had had the borderline competence of a psychotic like General Pinochet ... if he had had the supreme competence of Validimir Illich Ulyanov aka Lenin, everything would be over bar the Civil War ...

The scariest thing that Trump has done to the right is turn them from Religious Conservative Patriots, to Full On Cultists. The right-wingers and Trumpeters I know have come to the point where the idea that Trump IS America has become bigger than the idea of the United States itself.

But, yes, I agree with the assessment of his overall incompetence. If Trump had the psychological stability and mental wherewithal to fully capitalize on his status as a Cult Leader we would be in a far more dangerous place.

[EverKing]

A little humour to kick off the first full day with President Biden: I have decided that, given the new residence of the former President, I will only refer to him now as "Florida Man" and I will assume any headline or story about "Florida Man" is actually about him.

https://www.boredpanda.com/hilarious...-man-headings/

[Kymba334]

A little humour to kick off the first full day with President Biden: I have decided that, given the new residence of the former President, I will only refer to him now as "Florida Man" and I will assume any headline or story about "Florida Man" is actually about him.

https://www.boredpanda.com/hilarious...-man-headings/

Interesting EverKing ...and yet still sort of a horrifying free association kind of deal.

I wonder if "Florida Man" could be also considered as the less pleasant and socially maladjusted distant cousin to the infamous Winnebago Man.

Explanatory Link provided : https://youtu.be/WDQQfBrSUs0

( Alternative Sith Lord version : https://youtu.be/V_Lb7GH6ksw )

[EverKing]

Kymba334 that was pure gold. I don't know how I have not seen it before! Thank you for pointing me in the right direction.

[Heresiologist]

So, it was Florida Man who "trumped" the manatee: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart...-It-180976743/ ?

[Doc]

Florida is unrecognizable to me. Obviously it still deserves all of the “Florida man” jokes, but between their governor and And their Senate delegation, they deserve to be the butt of far worse jokes. I really do wonder how a supposed swing state quickly devolved into a national launching pad for idiocracy.