In the spirit of Hubski donations, wasoxygen and I have leveled a presidential wager that reads:
- b_b and wasoxygen hereby agree that on January 20, 2017, if Donald J. Trump is sworn in as president of the United States, b_b shall donate twenty (20) United States dollars to Hubski.com, and if any other person is sworn in as president on that day wasoxygen shall donate forty (40) United States dollars to Hubski.com.
I encourage you all to throw down some cash, too. I'll be willing to extend this wager to a limited number of other takers, up to perhaps $100 (total wagered from me).
I'll match b_b if Trump's inaugurated. That way there will be some extra silver lining to his presidency.
The Atlantic has some encouragement for you. The Electoral College Was Meant to Stop Men Like Trump From Being PresidentThe electors, Hamilton believed, would prevent someone with “talents for low intrigue, and the little arts of popularity” from becoming president.
Me too. It wasn't quite clear to me where the phrase originated, but it's right there in Federalist No. 68:The process of election affords a moral certainty, that the office of President will never fall to the lot of any man who is not in an eminent degree endowed with the requisite qualifications. Talents for low intrigue, and the little arts of popularity, may alone suffice to elevate a man to the first honors in a single State; but it will require other talents, and a different kind of merit, to establish him in the esteem and confidence of the whole Union, or of so considerable a portion of it as would be necessary to make him a successful candidate for the distinguished office of President of the United States.
Mostly. But also because there are reports out there of Democratic electors trying to entice Republican electors into voting for an alternate Republican candidate with promises of vote trading. I believe that 37 electors would have to defect to not elect Trump. That is a lot, so I think the odds are very long, but not impossible. Were there to be that many defections, then the House would get to vote, and they can vote for any of the top three vote getters in the Electoral College. My instinct is that one of those vote getters would be a very main stream Republican, probably Mitt Romney or Paul Ryan. In that case, my guess is that Dems would team up with main stream Reps to elect the main stream guy. It's a fantasy, but fuckin' weird shit is happening all over the place this year. kleinbl00
I stand by this. I'm not as confident as to the timeline, however. My magic 8-ball isn't particularly decisive when it comes to Trump. On the other hand: A million dollars a day, bitchez. More than a third of a billion a year. Apparently about half what we're spending on our drone air force.
Trump wants to stay in Trump Towers for weekends. So 104 million dollars guaranteed a year for weekend visits. If he does weekends for four years, 416 million will be spent guarding him. That can be half a billion if you include holidays and other random things such as UN Summits. Making America Great Again by spending money just to guard him in New York city. My what a fiscal policy.
Ooh don't have money to spare but I'm marking for posterity that I don't think Trump will make it to inauguration. It's mostly hope springs eternal in this corner but there are many threads that could come unraveled that make me hopeful.
And boy do those threads keep unraveling. Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Russia, the emolument clause is getting more buttfucked by the day. If shame is still a thing that anyone in the GOP feels, then e won't make it to inauguration. Hell, he even pissed off Breitbart the other day with his reneging on prosecuting Clinton (maybe because someone finally told him that the President isn't an investigator or prosecutor and has no sch powers). Still, fuckin' Breibart hates him now.
Jill Stein just met her funding goal for a recount in battleground states. Will be watching that closely to see where that goes. Five thirty eight didn't think there was enough proof for a statistical anomaly on electronic vs paper ballots but at least an investigation is happening.