To all my very dear American friends....

[Gee Whillickers]

WTF?!?!?

[JamesSavik]

My analysis: people were voting AGAINST Hillary Clinton. Not necessarily FOR Donald Trump.

[bi_janus]

Tracy Chapman once wrote in a song ("Talkin' Bout a Revolution"), "Poor people gonna rise up and get their share." After eight years with an African-American president, white, largely racist, sexist, xenophobic, and homophobic white men were the ones who rose up. Make America great again as it was when all the groups they disdain knew their places.

[Nick Deverill]

If, and it's a pretty big if, he does not moderate himself and just be another president, there must be a good chance he won't serve a full term. It only takes one crackpot with a rifle, and there is a bit more than one in the USA.

For some reason, it won't let me embed it, but this YouTube video says everything that's needed in 1 minute 57 seconds.

https://youtu.be/Qy9_lfjQopU

[Cole Parker]

I think what we just did was in line with the Brexit vote. There were so many disgruntled Americans that were blaming their dissatisfactions on the government—which had been dysfunctional for years— didn't like how we handled immigration and health care, and thought minority groups were getting ahead of them. Those thoughts prevailed in England, and they prevailed here.

I get the impression those who voted for Brexit a few months ago might not vote the same way now that they've seen what repercussions their votes have wrought. I hope a Trump presidency doesn't encourage the same feelings here. The fact is, we don't know what was campaign rhetoric and what will actually be attempted by the new administration. He obviously cannot do everything he said he would. It'll be interesting to see what he attempts.

C

[dude]

Sad result for Americans, (so-called) Republican White House, Republican House of Representatives, Republican Senate and you can bet Scalia's replacement will be a former Trump bankruptcy or divorce lawyer... in any case he'll be white, male and a couple of clicks to the right of Attila the Hun. And do you think Ruth Bader Ginzburg will stick around long?

Note to Colin & Doug: I'll be loading up the U-Haul in January and drop by to pick you guys up on the way to Vancouver!

[Nigel Gordon]

Note to Colin & Doug: I'll be loading up the U-Haul in January and drop by to pick you guys up on the way to Vancouver!

Hope you make it before the Canadians get round to building a wall!!!

[Rutabaga]

My analysis: people were voting AGAINST Hillary Clinton. Not necessarily FOR Donald Trump.

I heard a news commentator last night say that people were "voting against Washington" and that sounds right to me.

R

[Gee Whillickers]

Hope you make it before the Canadians get round to building a wall!!!

You know you folks down there crashed the Canada Immigration website after the results were announced. Crashed it hard.

No, that's not a joke.

[Gee Whillickers]

It'll be interesting to see what he attempts.

Ah yes, as the ancient Chinese fortune/curse goes:

May you live in interesting times.

Things just got real, real interesting!

Sheesh.

[dude]

You know you folks down there crashed the Canada Immigration website after the results were announced. Crashed it hard.

No, that's not a joke.

That's right... was reported on CBSN last night!

[Pedro]

Note to Colin & Doug: I'll be loading up the U-Haul in January and drop by to pick you guys up on the way to Vancouver!

You may not need the U-haul. I gather there is a move for California to cede from the Union.

http://www.ksat.com/news/elections/as-a-trump-presidency-awaits-some-toy-with-idea-of-a-califrexit

Would Oregon and Washinton State follow suit? You could join Canada without moving. Close off the passes in the Rockies and you've even got your bit of the wall that Nigel suggested.

[ChrisR]

You may not need the U-haul. I gather there is a move for California to cede from the Union.

I've heard the same thing, but it's the other forty-nine states who are doing the voting!

[Pedro]

Seriously though. I think amongst other reasons both Brexit and the U.S. vote went the way they did because the electorate are fed up with career politicians who have never had a proper job (straight from student debating soc to research assistant to party candidate) and have no concept of the challenges most of us face.

For my money nobody should be allowed to stand for national (and state for readers across the pond) office unless they have had a non political job for at least five years.

[ChrisR]

Don't abandon quite ALL hope just yet. Until the Electoral College officially votes and the certified votes are accepted, it's still an election blowing in the wind. And it seems that there's no legal guidance on what to do if the Electoral College makes oddball moves!

In the Electoral College: Instructions for State Officials there is a clear statement that says:

There is no Constitutional provision or Federal law
requiring electors to vote in accordance with the
popular vote in their States. However, some
States have such requirements.

https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral- college/resources/state-officials-instructions.pdf

Could there yet be hope?

[Cole Parker]

There's been questions about this before, but not in my lifetime has the president elect not been accepted by the electoral college.

C

[E.J.]

One of the reasons the E.C. was created was to be a last line of defence against the masses electing someone like trump. Let's hope the electors paid attention in history class.

[Gee Whillickers]

I haven't set foot on US soil for four years now, and my gut feelings about the mood and sentiment of average folks comes primarily from social media and other similar sources.

This often gives a skewed and biased viewpoint, very different from working with and talking to average folks living their lives in an environment.

So, how delicate are things? What is the general sentiment? Is it closer to 'grumble, hold on, and ride it out for four years (or at least two while waiting for mid-terms)', or is it more 'buy bulletproof windows and siding for the house, and set up the living room artillery a bit more to the left for better sightlines. Get ready, here we go....'

Our current PM, Justin Trudeau, was very careful to not make inflammatory statements about either Clinton or Trump during the US election, unlike the leaders of many countries. However other MPs were not so careful. I have little doubt there will be repercussions.

The US is Canada's largest trading partner. And Canada is the US's largest trading partner. The economic impact on this country tends to be felt rather quickly when significant things happen in the US.

Social impact isn't far behind, and often ahead. Southern British Columbia was changed forever during the Vietnam era. A huge portion of US draft dodgers settled and made their lives in the Nelson, BC area. Many of them are still there, now retired.

Their politics and and personalities made the Nelson area what it is today, quirky and different, and really quite fascinating.

[Cole Parker]

Gee, I've seen absolutely no difference in the area where I live since the election. No protesters. No graffiti. No suicides. I understand that there are protests going on somewhere, but not here. I've noticed no changes at all.

Of course, he won't be in office till January. And it's my opinion, and only that, that he'll be a lot more moderate that he was on the campaign trail. He divided the country with his rhetoric in order to get elected, and it worked, somehow. But I don't expect him to continue that tone in his presidency. Everything he's said since then has been ameliorative.

We'll just have to wait and see. But rioting and bombast and hatred? No, I've seen none of it.

C

[Chris James]

​Trump has said he loves ignorant people...well, they all voted for him. With several days of interviews posted online, the answer most Trump supporters gave for their vote follow the absurd Make America Great Again line. When asked just when America stopped being great you can see the line goes back to the first Obama election.

In time this electorate will see that Obama was not responsible for the gridlock in Washington, that came from a Republican Congress. And now that the Republicans have a majority in both houses of Congress I don't expect things to get any better. They plan to kill the Affordable Care Act which will impact the ignorant first, but they probably don't see that coming. Welfare programs of all stripes will end up on the chopping block. The nice thing about that is that churches will be forced to support the needy instead of spending their money on lawyers to try and kill gay rights.

I imagine the first six months for the new crew at the White House will be messy since it seems they had little preplanning for a transition. With our new president having the attention span of the average 3rd grader I wonder how much they will accomplish of this huge list of changes Trump bragged about making. But then if you look at the list of people he has lined up to run his administration it will be a wonder if anything works. The list is filled with misfits and clowns...I mean, Sarah Palin...oh please, not her again.

Not to mention that while this new president is supposed to be focused on running the country instead of his mouth, Trump will be facing courtroom drama for bilking thousands with his university scam. In fact this whole presidency feels like a scam, and the mostly white male voters were too ignorant to see that. Perhaps we can go back to the idea of outsourcing our government to India. For a few billion a month we could get a fully staffed government, and lots of free curry.

​Just had to add this snippit I saw online: The Secret Service has denied that the code name for Trump will be Pussy Grabber.

[Joe]

So, I cannot help but wonder, are we supposed to pay for the Canadian Wall as the Mexicans are expected to pay for the American Wall?

[Cole Parker]

Is the Canadian dollar still worth 70-cents American?

C

[colinian]

According to Google a few minutes ago: 1 Canadian Dollar equals 0.74 US Dollars (or, 74 US cents, which is the same thing).

We just got home from Thanksgiving dinner at Doug's folks' house.

Ate too much, but it was too good to not eat too much.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone who celebrated it today.

Colin

[Merkin]

However, a Canadian Loonie is not equivalent to a U.S. loony. A U.S. loony is someone who voted for Trump.

[Cole Parker]

Excellent point, James. Or, one who stayed home, expecting a Hillary landslide.

C