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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhat has surprised you most about the Trump Presidency?
I am surprised at the resilience of his support. I really thought when people see for themselves who Trump is - his rating would be in the 20's.
I am surprised the Orange bastard is still president.. and sad that our country has so many racists.
rurallib
(62,406 posts)have never seen such a bunch of cowards in congress before.
olegramps
(8,200 posts)Keep him around with the hope that people will finally wise up that he is a charlatan and conman. But I won't hold my breath. A quick glance at his supporters dispels any hope for a quick recovery. They are as low class as he is regardless of how much money they have. Most are just ignorant useful idiots of the sort that Jones convinced to kill themselves. That is just how damn stupid they are and will gladly vote their own destruction as the wealthy laugh themselves sick at the fools.
Demovictory9
(32,445 posts)he's turning back the clock like no one else. and he's not afraid to show that he's a bigot thug
lostnfound
(16,170 posts)JHan
(10,173 posts)I expected the worst and we haven't reached the bottom yet with him.
And I expected his support would never dip below 30%.
Agree
zentrum
(9,865 posts)onecaliberal
(32,813 posts)Hekate
(90,627 posts)Autumn
(45,041 posts)NewJeffCT
(56,828 posts)I think the Obama economy has kept him as high as he's been, plus his ability to reach his followers directly via Twitter.
Arkansas Granny
(31,513 posts)that Trump alone is responsible for the growing economy. They argue that the economy was in terrible shape when Trump took office and he singlehandedly turned it around.
All hail the mighty Trump.
Johnny2X2X
(19,024 posts)And Obama brought us to here and Trump sold the farm to boost it even more. We're on borrowed time for a recession though.
Once the inevitable recession begins his support will plummet. We're over a decade without a recession, we're due for one no matter who is in charge.
Rural_Progressive
(1,105 posts)they've been propping it up for the whole time Donnie O's been in office. People have been afraid to rock the boat and screw up their pension checks, dividend checks, 401ks, etc.
The problem with propping up an economy is it just falls that much harder and further when the artificial supports are pulled. We'll see if they can get it leveled out before the midterms or that could be it for the GOP.
Iliyah
(25,111 posts)the party of treason. That the USA's citizens that screamed the loudest on freedom and flag actually believes the opposite.
Arkansas Granny
(31,513 posts)have fallen all over themselves to get on board the Trump Train. Im especially surprised at those who came out as vehemently opposed to him during the primaries.
FiveGoodMen
(20,018 posts)violetpastille
(1,483 posts)You have pretty much crystallized it for me.
LastLiberal in PalmSprings
(12,578 posts)Destroying all the institutions -- domestic and globally -- which have served our country for decades is the act of an evil man. I have never known a man who makes everything about himself, nor one who lies with every breath.
Like I said, evil. I had expected ignorant and misguided, but this is willful chaos he is creating just because that's how he likes his life.
SharonAnn
(13,772 posts)gratuitous
(82,849 posts)A toss up between the naked corruption of the administration and the supine response to that corruption by congressional Republicans. I thought the administration would at least try to be more discreet, and that the Republicans in Congress would at least pretend to be appalled.
The_Counsel
(1,660 posts)n/t
thegoose
(3,115 posts)By Dumpster and the rest of the filthy party. And people just accept it. It makes me crazy!
Arkansas Granny
(31,513 posts)the day of the inauguration I was shocked that 1. we were talking size of crowd, and 2 they were spreading obvious lies.
spanone
(135,816 posts)C_U_L8R
(44,997 posts)She's out there spreading the Trumpstain gospel... racist bullshit and all.
My brothers and sisters are all scratching our heads wondering what went wrong.
Sunny Daze
(209 posts)he is still getting away with every single lie he spews and crime hes committed. Most of all that so many people I thought of as normal before all this are in reality hatefilled racists is the biggest surprise. Ive given up thinking, Just wait until they hear what he has done this time! Now they will see what hes like. They just turn everything right around and blame the democrats EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.
In It to Win It
(8,231 posts)That this is what the Republican Party has turned to. All these people that said they wont support trump kissed the ring when he won.
IADEMO2004
(5,554 posts)Total submission to the orange creature.
Greybnk48
(10,167 posts)I'm also shocked by his racism, and savage, callous cruelty toward people in need like Puerto Rico.
Edited to add: And the lying!!
Mike Nelson
(9,951 posts)
resilience of his support among the Deplorables. They believe Obama wasn't born in the US. They believe Clinton is a murderer... But I am surprised that many Republicans are going along for the ride. They are going to crash.
In It to Win It
(8,231 posts)The guy lies more than any other politician and yet yet they call Hillary a liar.
malchickiwick
(1,474 posts)quislings.
I assumed that some of these GOP leaders cared about their legacies and how they will be remembered in our history books. But no. They seem not to care that they will make Benedict Arnold and Joe McCarthy look like veritable saints next to them.
FiveGoodMen
(20,018 posts)If we don't stop these Nazis soon, they'll be able to write any "history", giving them any "legacy" that they want.
No one will be able to prove that they're lying.
It will not be safe to try to prove that.
Funtatlaguy
(10,870 posts)Achilleaze
(15,543 posts)corporate media does not serve the citizens of the USA. They are - especially TV - a disgrace.
corporate media, corporate culture shapers, corporate this, that etc., ad nauseum.
redstatebluegirl
(12,265 posts)The Republicans are terrified of a twitter storm to the point they will do anything he wants.
Boomerproud
(7,951 posts)To turn everything on its head.
ProudLib72
(17,984 posts)So surprised that there seem to be absolutely zero checks on presidential power. I never realized how flimsy our governmental institutions always were.
Le Gaucher
(1,547 posts)Guy Whitey Corngood
(26,500 posts)to give a fuck. It's just depressing.
Runningdawg
(4,516 posts)I thought we would be seeing multiple protest across the country every single day. In cities AND smaller towns. I expected to see more than just a few senators and people from the administration getting hassled in public. I expected the decent people to hold media to a higher standard. I expected to see people continue to protest at his rallies. But here we are....
egduj
(805 posts)magicarpet
(14,144 posts).... and then elected in the general.
Power 2 the People
(2,437 posts)But:
"We don't need someone who can think. We need someone with enough digits to hold a pen." - Grover Norquist
It ended up being the Republican dream come true. Their monstrous media machine has anointed him "the chosen one."
sarisataka
(18,570 posts)I figured he might but heads with Congressional Republicans more, but they seem happy to hang on his coattails
woodsprite
(11,910 posts)and our institutions, and how not a single GOP congressman or cabinet member feels one bit of responsibility, sense of duty, self-respect, or obligation to our country and the American people.
I question whether we'll ever recover.
JudyM
(29,225 posts)TNLib
(1,819 posts)and tied themselves so close to Trumpism. It's like watching the Titanic go down.
Bluepinky
(2,268 posts)They will apparently accept and believe anything as long as they think theyre benefiting financially.
One of my colleagues at work told me how shes getting more money each week since the tax cuts passed (which Im sure isnt true). She and others like her can accept any atrocity Trump causes, as long as they think theyre helped by it. Who cares about anyone else, they sure dont.
NanceGreggs
(27,813 posts)... who always put party above country, are willing to put Trump above party.
I really thought they'd be more aware of their own undoing at the hands of an idiot.
skypilot
(8,852 posts)...that the Republicans finally dared to dust off George W. and trot him out to stump for Kavanaugh.
procon
(15,805 posts)Of our society. Everything that was ever known as acceptable, civilised behavior has been replaced by barbarians who enjoy cruelty and raging vulgarity. I shouldn't be surprised that so many conservatives, who once preached about their superior family values and godliness, support this opposite behavior now.
raccoon
(31,107 posts)1930s Germany, doesnt it?
raccoon
(31,107 posts)TwistOneUp
(1,020 posts)The Genealogist
(4,723 posts)His destroying the nation, alienating allies, acting crudely, all the kind of thing I expected. What surprises me is that there is a huge swath of people in this country who just don't care. Politics is boring. Politicians are all the same. People who care more about the Kardashians or their trendy TV shows than they do about their country. It isnt effecting them yet ways they notice, so why bother. How someone can watch this trainwreck and be so apathetic really suprises me.
SeattleVet
(5,477 posts)essentially, they are both really only famous for being rich and famous.
The Genealogist
(4,723 posts)I have seen only snippets of reality shows, but as I understand them, the whole point is to get awful, fake people on TV to stab each other on the back, and gossip about each other. You're supposed to cheer for your favorite backstabber. I feel like much of American society has descended to this kind of base behavior. Strength is equated with being the loudest and most hateful, decency is weakness.
SeattleVet
(5,477 posts)Then when he went on to blast through the rest of the repuke field, I was totally puzzled at how this dolt did it.
Thee I was completely floored when he was declared the winner in the general election.
Having lived in NYC during the 80's, I had seen what a complete bullshitting asshole he was, close-up, and (wrongly) assumed that everyone else could see it, too, since he had always been so blatant about showing how much of a clueless, entitled turd he was.
Now I'm mostly surprised that Mueller hasn't already finished his work and issued a complete, airtight damning report laying out every illegal act that the asshole's campaign and administration has done.
LuckyLib
(6,819 posts)he said New Yorkers know a con when they see one. He couldnt get the time of day from financial houses and vendors who knew what a sleazy liar he was. He turned to Russians desperate to park their money.
Kaleva
(36,294 posts)get the red out
(13,461 posts)Conspiracy theories from RW hate radio that were generally just alluded to in Congress and the Senate are now stated as FACT! The crazy "paid protesters" crap is an example. In the age of Trump, trying to sound somewhat sane when in official mode is no longer even desirable.
lancelyons
(988 posts)The idea that you can repeat a lie enough and it becomes a truth is apparently real.
lsewpershad
(2,620 posts)that his heart attack has not happened yet. All that hate
bitterness and anger must be painful.
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,661 posts)(often all of those things at the same time) and millions of people are convinced he's wonderful.
Poiuyt
(18,122 posts)Instead, it's gotten worse.
Sneederbunk
(14,289 posts)In It to Win It
(8,231 posts)Is Special Advisor to the President
A HERETIC I AM
(24,365 posts)Scary, isn't it?
Mosby
(16,297 posts)It's like a third of the country have lost their minds.
Their deep hatred for liberals has blinded and brainwashed them.
FM123
(10,053 posts)I expected the anger.
I never expected how painful it would be to have him in the White House ruining our country. Every. Single. Day.
Cousin Dupree
(1,866 posts)k8conant
(3,030 posts)I also thought he would keep on being a clown and a lout instead of the devil incarnate.
yurbud
(39,405 posts)although I think that is because they see him as a useful idiot with the accent on idiot. He's too unreliable to be called useful.
Different Drummer
(7,612 posts)I'd have thought people would have had better sense than to make such a bizarre notion a reality. I guess I overestimated the intelligence of the American citizenry.
ellie
(6,929 posts)I thought I was pissed during Shrub but I find myself screaming at the TV. Also, I hate my repukes more. They get no quarter from me.
Turin_C3PO
(13,952 posts)Not much has surprised me regarding Trump or his base of deplorables. I guess Im a little surprised that congress has been so compliant. I thought some Republicans would push back.
RobinA
(9,888 posts)to him as President and candidate. I am surprised by the number of people who support him. Including several members of my own family. I was one who said he could never get elected.
Le Gaucher
(1,547 posts)RobinA
(9,888 posts)I predicted that Bush Jr would never get past the primary I gave up betting on how much the GOP voter would overlook. However, even given my schooling that time, Trump, or rather his voters, blindsided me.
Response to Le Gaucher (Original post)
Name removed Message auto-removed
In It to Win It
(8,231 posts)Every. Fucking. Day.
Trump does something stupid
Trump says something stupid
Trump rallies in West Virginia
Trump reversed something
Trump says Democrats are evil
Trump denies something he said
Trump rallies in West Virginia
Trump spews out meaningless words that makes no sense
Trump says fuck our allies
Trump gives a bailout to farmers
Trump is the President of the United States
Trump rallies in West Virginia
TRUMP GETS TO APPOINT ANOTHER SUPREME COURT JUSTICE!!!
What the hell did we do?!?!??
I need a competent boring president; one that I dont have to monitor all the time.
Leith
(7,808 posts)It is how former fervent anti-chump rethugs have one little meeting with him and turn into rah-rah chump boosters. For example, Lindsey Graham was anti until he played golf with the orange one. Now Lindsey is the most vocal chimp in the herd. Ted Cruz is another - never mind insulting his wife and father, he supports his pRez.
wtf is wrong with them?!
Arazi
(6,829 posts)erpowers
(9,350 posts)I am most surprised by how right Hilary Clinton and the Democrats have been about Donald Trump and the results of his policies. The Democrats were just about 100% right about the results of the tax cuts. I did not expect the Democrats to be so right about the tax cuts. Just about everything Hilary Clinton said about Donald Trump's presidency has been proven right. She has been so right about Donald Trump's presidency that I am wondering if she was getting intelligence reports about him during the campaign. I do not think she, or President Obama did anything wrong during the election. I think former Presidents get daily briefings. So, maybe President Clinton was getting daily intelligence briefing that contained information about Donald Trump.
Freethinker65
(10,009 posts)To destroy so much that was good about my country so fast
LAS14
(13,781 posts)Polybius
(15,372 posts)Last edited Wed Oct 10, 2018, 12:42 AM - Edit history (1)
With his narcissist personality, I thought it would be a given.
Poiuyt
(18,122 posts)In fact, I'll be surprised if he doesn't
Polybius
(15,372 posts)Until that time, hes not getting any. With that being said, unlike some here, I still put little Bush as the worst President ever. Trump can still beat him out, but Im putting him at 2 for now.
Poiuyt
(18,122 posts)For Trump to beat him out for that position, he would need to do something that damages the US on the world stage in a concrete way. Right now, it's mostly our reputation that's been hit. I think it will take a few years to see what damage can be blamed on his policies like tariffs, environment, deregulation, withdrawing from Iran and Paris Climate agreements, etc.
I will say that Trump will be considered the most corrupt and unethical president in US history.
Cha
(297,091 posts)Arazi
(6,829 posts)Grassy Knoll
(10,118 posts)Total Garbage Brains In America-Astounding, The Hate For Opposing Views-My Way Or The Highway Fucks
No Way For America To Survive Without Another Civil War, And It Seems That's What They Want, Bring It!!
Meowmee
(5,164 posts)It is the media still going along with normalization of all of this in a large way. They attack and then they take 5 steps back. Im just terrified this is never going to end, that no one and nothing is going to challenge and fight to stop this illegetimate pos and his band of crooks and traitors and succeed. The corruption is so widespread, that was another surprise, the whole Russia involvement not just in his businesses but in much of the R party.
Totally Tunsie
(10,885 posts)There's no much rage in so many people. It's very frightening. I see it everyday in stores, on the road, and certainly on the TV news. People are surly and quick to flare.
I'm surprised that the RepubliCONS just line up behind him and support him, no matter how outlandish his positions might be.
I'm surprised at just how ignorant and hateful he and his family really are.
I'm tired of the sound of his voice, especially when they show clips of his endless self-serving rallies. I hate that he spews his lies to his audience and projects the characteristics of the crazed right onto the Democrats, such as tonight's claim that the Dems are too dangerous to govern, when the opposite is the truth.
I'm amazed that no one has made a serious attempt at harming him, and I'm embarrassed that I wouldn't care.
I'm stunned at how much he enrages me.
soryang
(3,299 posts)For whatever reason, he is following the South Korean lead, in spite of the almost universal hostility of US defense establishment insiders, the national security echo chamber, and the fierce opposition in the press. This South Korean administration is probably the most progressive South Korean administration in history.
LibDemAlways
(15,139 posts)that he holds those stupid rallies. He truly thinks a US President is only President of those who voted for him and everybody else can go to hell. History will not be kind.
Le Gaucher
(1,547 posts)LibDemAlways
(15,139 posts)the weight of the responsibility generally makes an impact. When he met with Obama after the election, he seemed somewhat subdued and when asked by an interviewer if he would continue to tweet, he said he might not. I took those as indications that maybe he would treat the job with at least a small amount of respect. Obviously, he's incapable of same. He's just a big unruly bully in a china shop - smashing everything he sees because he can, and his mindless followers cheer him every step of the way.
Buckeyeblue
(5,499 posts)I know he loves the attention but it seems like he would have lost interest in being president by now. He could have proclaimed the system broken beyond repair and gone off to create his own tv network.
But as we find out more and more about his dependance on Russia, I don't think he has a choice. Maybe his life, or his lifestyle, depends upon him staying president for two terms.
Otherwise, I think he would have moved on.
Jim Lane
(11,175 posts)I never bought the "brilliant deal-maker" hype. Nevertheless, he did come to the White House with many years of experience in managing the money that daddy left him. I knew that he'd appoint right-wing ideologues, but I just assumed that he'd appoint right-wing ideologues with at least some minimal degree of competence.
The EPA is one example. It was obvious that he'd appoint an industry tool who would attack environmental protections. The surprise was that the tool he picked, Pruitt, turned out to be such a blunderer that he had to resign -- not for any of his myriad policy deficiencies, but for his bungling and corruption. And he's not an outlier. That's on top of all the posts that haven't even been filled.
This might count as a pleasant surprise. Someone like Pence probably wouldn't have made these mistakes, and would arguably have done even more damage.
zentrum
(9,865 posts).....his method of chaos, of exhausting us--- is working.
I'm surprised that we aren't having nation-wide strikes every day about Me Too, climate change, loss of health care, student debt, his racism, his cruelty to children and on and on and on.....
I'm surprised that our outrage isn't producing more actions.
Not only pointing fingers. I include myself in this.
Ms. Toad
(34,059 posts)Just a simple example - I have never, ever, wished someone would just die. I don't know that I actually wish he would die, but it's close enough that I might as well. I want him gone in a way that it is impossible for me to ever have to see or hear him again, and the only "gone" I know of where that is possible is dead.
The fact that he could change something so fundamental in who I am, even if it is only temporary, shocks me to my core. And I don't know how to deal with it.
Turin_C3PO
(13,952 posts)I want him gone in whatever way possible. And I say that with some disappointment in myself for thinking that way. But it is what it is.
riverwalker
(8,694 posts)Terrifies me.
fallout87
(819 posts)I mean, WTF?
sellitman
(11,606 posts)I could fill pages...
Hekate
(90,627 posts)...and jammed it into every small crack in our system of government and just started to tear it apart.
SMC22307
(8,090 posts)I detest them, but I'll give them credit -- they know what to do with power when they get it. And they are ALWAYS thinking of the long game...
raging moderate
(4,297 posts)At least, at this point, atomic bombs have not exploded anywhere yet. I am profoundly grateful to the many unseen heroes who must have worked miracles to prevent this.
Things are not as bad as I had feared they would be.
DFW
(54,330 posts)They were pretty low to begin with, but sure enough, the damage wrought in less than two years is greater than I would have thought possible in four.
That, and the fact that he has brought out the absolute worst in so many US citizens. Anyone who harbored a latent potential for meanness and hate has been able to let the worst in them explode in all its ugly glory--and find plenty of company to boot. What we thought might become the shining city on the hill turns out to be mud village down on the flats like all the rest, just a little bigger and meaner. There are still pockets of good, but even as a majority, they do not dominate.
A-Schwarzenegger
(15,596 posts)Skruffy
(48 posts)and the harm he causes us all, even the world, that the Republican party has so solidly tied themselves to Trump. And his supporters.
I would never have thought that he could be all this, and have rallied the Republican Party to stand right next to him in the stupid, criminal, perverted of all this man is.
Yes, there has always been the element in the Republican Party, but never so in the face, obvious. Though, denying the SC pick was clear, and people bought that one.
Raine
(30,540 posts)and over him gets bigger and bigger with no end in sight..
Vinca
(50,255 posts)I thought once installed he might ease back on the raving lunatic schtick. If anything, he's gotten worse. Guess it's not a schtick. He's nuts.
Dorian Gray
(13,488 posts)That he was even more stupid than I thought?
Seriously, though, I agree with you. The resiliency of his supporters. And the moral and ethical twisting people do to justify their support of the evil that's being perpetrated.
afp2
(2 posts)The top military brass has not executed a coup yet???????
rtracey
(2,062 posts)His supporters has not moved much... mostly 30% for the term so far....meaning 70% non or not sure of support. I think the fact that he is an arrogant, narcissistic, sociopathic liar and the House, Senate and Supreme Court are buying into his bullshit. He claims to want to drain the swamp, but he is the swamp. I am hopeful the democrats and independents will turn out to show this clown we mean business. These elected officials have seem to forgotten that the word ELECTED is in their title.... they work for US, not the opposite, and its time we show them who is the boss and who needs to listen..... the government has seem to forgotten all of that.
nini
(16,672 posts)Weve been building up to this for 40 years. They've got what they wanted - no checks and balances. They'll destroy everything achieved since FDR.
Initech
(100,059 posts)Gothmog
(145,079 posts)Trump is one of the most racist assholes in the history of the US
Turbineguy
(37,312 posts)he was right about something.
Unfortunately, I can't remember the details. But chances are, he was parroting what somebody else told him.
CentralMass
(15,265 posts)Kurt V.
(5,624 posts)were closet racist.