America, may I introduce your next President: Louis 14th

[Smiles]

This massive irony does not seem to create much traction within the ranks Mr Trump's True Believers: i.e. him leading a rather large nationalist, nativist, populist, white-only, know-nothing, right wing, redneck, anti-intellectual lower middle class 30%-ers (if not more) of the population. And he ... being a man of significant wealth (in the 10's of billions ~ according to him ~ but it is possibly a typical Trump brag, but he won't show it) with massive homes all over the USofA has no compunction whatsoever in flaunting his good fortune in the noses of his unemployed, lowly employed, trailer-owners from West Virginia or rodeo-riders from the plains of south east Montana.
T'is a conundrum that his loving hoardes do not (or cannot) catch this rather in-yer-face oddity.


But, be that as it may, Trump as usual has no sense of humility regarding his tacky knick knacks at home nor an ability to gently push back from the over-adoration he clearly needs above anything else.
Louis XIV lived an earlier life along the same lines: a massive ego, an over-arching authoritarian . . . and especially (for this observation) a neurotic neediness to surround one's self with nothing-but-tackorama-Rococo when it came to home decoration.




To wit:


Mr Trump in his living room (one of many) with souvenir-wife, cute kid, and a stuffed lion.




http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v18/sawatdeephotos/trumphome1_zpsdmbqrqsd.jpg




Louis XIV and His Royal Hair. Gee, what other person do we know who has a similar hair 'issue'? But, can Donald compete with Louis's legs?




http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v18/sawatdeephotos/Versailles5_zpsu35m84gv.jpg






A certain similarity can hardly be denied when it comes to housing. Granted, Louis has it over Donald in size (though The Donald would probably disagree by showing his hands), but Mar-el-a-Tortilla-Largo-On-Sea would shirley be more comfortable with those breezes coming off the assure ocean.
We'll never know, as Donald, soon to be ensconced in the White House will complain it to be "much too small" (watch those hands Donald) and immediately send a bill to Congress demanding 450 billion dollars to expand the joint. And I mean EXPAND!


Louis's country cottage (circa 1693) just outside filthy old Paris:


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v18/sawatdeephotos/Versailles3_zpsvrq0elvb.jpg


Donald's pied a terre in Floridia (circa unestablished, and possibly for sale as Latino immigrants are starting to get closer)


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v18/sawatdeephotos/trumphomes3_zpsbqjc2aex.jpg[/URL]




Louis's bedroom, within which many secrets have been gossiped about. Louis more than likely had syphilis (but who cares ... 97% of the population of Europe had the clap in the 17th century) and there is some speculation that The Sun KIng was boinking his mother.
But never let it be said that all those STVs and incestations were carried out while slumming in the backwaters of the 2nd Arrondisement .




http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v18/sawatdeephotos/Versailles4_zpshyergjep.jpg




But, as goes Louis, so goes Donald, eventually.
Again, slightly more muted, but not by much, gold-wise. Apparently there are a few gold mining operations in western Namibia which have run out of the stuff ~ throwing 1,675 black guys out of work overnight ~ just from being pledged to this particular boudoir. But as Donald would say, "hardly ostentatious, simply comfortable".
And those black guys? "We're gonna get 'em all a job, that's for sure ~ (but of course, not here at home) ~ and those jobs we get 'em will be AWESOME!"




http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v18/sawatdeephotos/trumphomes4_zpstmssgkhc.jpg




The coup duh grass ~ as with all our homes, especially the ones with rococo touchings (many gay guys love this stuff) ~ is of course, the living room. If Louis XIV had a mirror fetish (and for that matter, a chandelier fetish), Donald steps up to the plate, like a man, and gives what Louis never had ... a room with a view.
Why no view at Versailles you ask? Because Louis was paranoid regarding assassination attempts.
Donald has not yet thought this one out properly, but undoubtedly the Secret Service will be boarding his up.
Come to think of it, that may well be the excuse he uses to slither out of taking the job!


Louis's living room. So nice to have a small breakfast nook where one can view themselves from every conceivable angle.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v18/sawatdeephotos/hall_of_mirrors_zpszjnceiap.jpg


The Donald's living room. As mentioned, it comes with a view of downtown Manhattan, and has an inspired concept which Versailles lacks: a wall of jagged gold built-in back scratchers. How original. Amazing!!
Though a little dangerous I would think, especially if one is drunk and falls hard against the wall ('Wall' ... did I mention 'Wall'?). Could be very bloody.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v18/sawatdeephotos/trumphomes5_zps2mpgyunv.jpg




I wonder what those rodeo cowboys from Montana think about the concept of 'conspicuous consumption' now?

[fountainhall]

Not being American, I have to believe that Americans will get the President they want, even though the thought that Trump might actually ascend the throne is more than somewhat horrifying.

What I totally fail to understand is why he is able to hog the airwaves day after day with his petty tweets and inflammatory rhetoric whilst Clinton should have an armoury full of canon balls to shoot at this direction. But she just keeps on about the same 4 or 5 policy issues she plans to promote. It's so boring!! When has she ever brought an employee or ex-employee from Trump's Las Vegas Hotel to prove that he is a mean old bastard who pays below scale and offers few if any benefits? Trump had the awful Nigel Farange speak at one of his rallies. Why doesn't Clinton fly over Alex Salmond, the ex-Scottish national Party leader, who can spill the beans to the American public about all the shenanigans he got up to, most bordering on the illegal and some probably quite illegal, when trying to build his golf course on Scotland's north-east coast?

She is daily being near-slaughtered for the email scandal - and i do believe it is a scandal. Someone with her intelligence and hugely detailed knowledge of government did not just make a "mistake" by putting servers in her house or at the Clinton Foundation or wherever. Further, with the example of her husband's drip-drip impeachment process behind her, she must be less smart than I think she is if she did not realise full well when the story first broke that unless she fessed up all at the start, it would be yet another slow and increasingly dangerous drip-drip. I have no idea who is advising her, but she needs to do something quick to kill off Trump once and for all.

[Smiles]

" ... I have no idea who is advising her, but she needs to do something quick to kill off Trump once and for all ... "
I think she and her advisors quite a long time ago decided on a policy of not getting down and dirty into the mud where Trump lives. In any other election (i.e. where the opponent is not a raving lunatic) I would think that to be a laudable decision. But in this unusual and wildly interesting election, I think she had better decide to do so ~ pivot that is, into the mud pit.

An interesting article written yesterday in The New Yorker may provide some perspective: http://www.newyorker.com/news/john-cassidy/the-election-is-still-hillary-clintons-to-lose

[scottish-guy]

Flying in Alex Salmond would certainly irritate the aforementioned megalomaniac as apart from any beans he might spill, Alex insists in always calling him Donald TRUMPH (watch any news clip - it HAS to be deliberate).

However AS would have at least 2 problems - he was leading the Scottish Govt when the "shenanigans" were going on and, as was his duty (to promote investment in Scotland), he was seen to be in support of the Trump development at Aberdeen.

Secondly, if AS were to tour America criticising Trump, I would put money on him shutting down his 2 golf resorts in Scotland at the stroke of a pen, and I just know how the consequences of that would be played out in the almost exclusively rabid Brit-Nat press at home

[cdnmatt]

What has media done to the populous to even allow us to get to this stage? Considering current polls, he may actually win.

It was such a relief when Bush left office, and now 8 years later we have Trump of all people in the lead? WTF? I really hope some of the rumors floating around aren't true, such as when he got an intelligence briefing, he asked multiple times, "why can't we just nuke those countries?".

[scottish-guy]

I now accept that Fountainhall is psychic:

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/alex-salmond-says-dealings-donald-8778906

[francois]

Here is an article in the NYTimes on probability of winning the election.

Hillary Clinton has an 85% chance of winning the presidency.
Last updated Wednesday, September 7 at 12:27 AM ET
CHANCE

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/upshot/presidential-polls-forecast.html

[fountainhall]

Given that the NYT is 100% behind Clinton and 100% anti-Trump, anything other than an article with that sort of spin would be unbelievable!

[frequent]

What has media done to the populous to even allow us to get to this stage? Considering current polls, he may actually win.
What about the populace?

[cdnmatt]

Sue me. I made a common typo.

[scottish-guy]

You wouldn't have said that to the fat cunt :D

[TaoR]

One of the key facts to remember about polling is that everyone relies on "likely voters" which are usually defined as people who have voted in the last election (2012).

With voter turnout being 54.9% in the last election, when polling "likely voters" then you are only polling roughly half of the eligible voters.

If we see older whites turnout the same way they did for Ronald Reagan in 1980 and 1984 then forget all the polls...Trump will be our next President.

In 2012 more blacks voted than whites did and that explains why Obama beat Romney. Now Clinton needs that same turnout from Blacks and an increase in hispanic voters....its going to be a very close election.

[francois]

The poll predictions by the NYTimes is a composite of a number of different polls and based on a state by state analysis regarding the projected electoral votes by state. It is necessary to read the article to see how the results were achieved.

[frequent]

Sue me. I made a common typo.
What you did was make a homonym, not a typo

[fountainhall]

Today we have learned of another batch of Clinton campaign emails being released by Wikileaks, many it would seem from the last year or so. Irrespective of what one thinks of wikileaks and how and from whom they obtain their hacked information, I find it utterly extraordinary that many of these were sent after the start of Clinton's Secretary of State email controversy in March last year. Don't any of these people in her campaign learn? Communications made by members of one campaign team will always be of interest to those of the other. Nixon had to resign following the Watergate burglary cover up. Nowadays more sophisticated electronic burglary happens all the time. So why were these people entrusting information that is contrary to the position of their candidate and that could be helpful to the other side to an electronic form of communications proved to be hackable?

[Smiles]

Americans For Trump lining a street, but using a a rather intriguing style of salute.

4082

Another crowd, another time ~ with similarities ~ on the move, without selfies.

4083

[Moses]

https://youtu.be/XqEddipbpkw

[fountainhall]

I find it extraordinary that now that Trump has won the election, supporters of the other party are demonstrating in so many cities. The key issue in the election, as far as I a non-American can determine, was the composition of the Supreme Court. With three members over the age of 75 - 2 being staunch liberals and one existing vacancy, surely those who stayed away from voting for Clinton must have realised that her defeat would mean a right-wing conservative Court for at least a generation or even more. So overturning much liberal legislation was always on the agenda. It seems Trump will stay away from gay marriage - but who really knows? If you make a conscious decision not to exercise your right to vote, then you deserve what's coming to you! Surely these Americans saw what happened with Brexit?

And on the same subject, why did Obama not use his powers of persuasion to ensure that those older liberals on the Court retired so they could have been replaced by younger jurists during the first two years of his first term when confirmation would have virtually sailed through? Obama, for all his popularity, has seen the Democrat majorities decimated almost everywhere. Great legacy that!

[Smiles]

" ... Surely these Americans saw what happened with Brexit? ... "
I doubt that very much. For many many Americans anything to do with things beyond their own home borders is simply not in the equation.
Frankly, I doubt whether a goodly minority even knows which way to point to Canada.

[francois]

Canada, that's where Santa Claus lives? Every kid in USA knows that.
And also the home of Sergeant Preston of the Yukon?

Isn't Canada also the 51st State in the USA?

[Jellybean]

. . . Isn't Canada also the 51st State in the USA?

I was under the impression that that dubious honour had been awarded to the United Kingdom, especially under the premiership of Tony Blair, when some parts of the British press referred to him as George W Bush’s lapdog. Indeed, I recall distinctly that at a summit, [the G8 in St Petersburg] the US President approached the British Prime Minister and addressed him as, “Yo, Blair!”

:rolleyes:

[fountainhall]

I was under the impression that that dubious honour had been awarded to the United Kingdom, especially under the premiership of Tony Blair, when some parts of the British press referred to him as George W Bush’s lapdog.
Yo, Jellybean! You are correct! And Britain's then Ambassador to Washington revealed in the book he wrote after he retired that Blair's instructions to him from the outset were very clear: "Get up Bush's arse and stay there!" I always wonder what that constant irritation in the nether region must have done for Bush's sanity!! :lol:

I reckon Smiles is correct about the effect or otherwise of Brexit. However, did Democrats who did not vote not even consider the huge effect of the issue of the Supreme Court?

[TaoR]

Actually, the Democrats won the popular vote by more than a million votes! The Democrats lost three states by less than 55,000 votes in each case and in two of those states Clinton campaigned little if at all. Had the Democrats won those three states Hillary Clinton would be President.

[Jellybean]

Yo, Jellybean! You are correct . . .

Actually, fountainhall, I rather like being addressed as, ‘Yo, Jellybean!’ So, from here on in dear members, I wish it to be known that this is the correct style to be adopted when addressing me on the forum. Let it be so.

Additionally, I also rather like being told that I am correct. I find it very reassuring.

:D

[loke]

I'm not American but Donald Trump seem's to be my kind of guy. I do not share his racist speeches but a lot of good things will happen in the US thanks to this business man .