2016 Presidential Election Thread

Was Charlie mean to you in the comment section, Harper? Lest the typing confuse my tone, it's one of concern.

I've also seen Charlie exhibit behavior I find worrisome, and I stopped going to his website because of it.

 

Honestly, I was trying to add a little levity because I had just read through some of the posts on that Antonio Yague thread and anyone interested can read through and see that you came across quite uncharitable to several of the members.

 

Happy to hear you've stopped. Charlie rails against his critics; so do his followers, here and elsewhere.

 

How long would you like to keep this going, Carol?

 

For the record, I don't agree on this statement. Once again going back to the Antonio Yague thread, you appeared to pounce.

I am done because expecting you to apologize to anyone is a waste of my time.

 

I am sorry to be part of hijacking this thread. The thread is about the Presidential Election, not Antonio Yague, me or anyone else. The election is an important topic.

As for your demand for an apology, Carol, I take that in the spirit in which it was intended.

 

On a positive election note: Trump's win has apparently led to foreign money markets betting on a stronger US dollar. Along with the news about Carrier staying in Indiana, economic indicators are looking good for the average American. Finally.

Trump-fueled dollar rally set to continue in the year ahead: Reuters poll

(Reuters) - The U.S. dollar rally is likely to continue into the coming year on expectations that President-elect Donald Trump's proposed reflationary economic policies will force the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates more quickly, according to a Reuters poll.


Most foreign exchange strategists also say risks to forecasts for the dollar to gain against every major currency are skewed to the upside. They see nearly one chance in three the euro will reach or fall below parity in the year ahead.


"(The dollar) continues to reign supreme on the back of bets of improving growth and the inflation outlook in the U.S. after Trump's win," said Valentin Marinov, head of G10 FX strategy at CA-CIB. "Investors continue to adjust their long-term rate hike expectations, anticipating a more aggressive monetary tightening cycle."


In the months before the Nov. 8 election in the United States, most FX strategists polled by Reuters said the dollar would decline 2 to 3 percent immediately after a Trump victory. Instead, it rallied almost 4 percent to near a 14-year peak last week after being down about 1 percent for the year until then.


Expectations that tax cuts, infrastructure spending and reduced regulation will elevate inflation and lead to swifter rate rises have also pushed U.S. Treasury bond yields sharply higher.


The latest poll, taken this week of 65 strategists, forecasts the dollar index, which measures the currency's value against a basket of six major currencies (DXY) <=USD>, will rise a further 2 percent by the end of next year, after surging almost 40 percent over the last five years or so.


A majority of analysts who answered an extra question, 38 of 52, said risks to their predictions were skewed to the upside, echoing trader long positions.


The remaining 14 cited U.S. trade protectionism concerns and the inevitable drag a stronger dollar will have on exports and the broader economy.


"Further sustained gains would depend on U.S. data and the willingness of the Fed to tolerate persistent tightening in U.S. financial conditions, however," added CA-CIB's Marinov...

http://www.investing.com/news/econo...ntinue-in-the-year-ahead:-reuters-poll-444910

 

More good news from the Trump Transition via The Washington Post:

Trump has chosen retired Marine Gen. James Mattis for secretary of defense

President-elect Donald Trump has chosen retired Marine Gen. James N. Mattis to be secretary of defense, according to people familiar with the decision, nominating a former senior military officer who led operations across the Middle East to run the Pentagon less than four years after he hung up his uniform.


To take the job, Mattis will need Congress to pass new legislation to bypass a federal law stating that defense secretaries must not have been on active duty in the previous seven years. Congress has granted a similar exception just once, when Gen. George C. Marshall was appointed to the job in 1950.


An announcement is likely by early next week, according to the people familiar with the choice.


[How Trump naming Mattis as Pentagon chief would break with 65 years of U.S. history]


Mattis, 66, retired as the chief of U.S. Central Command in spring 2013 after serving more than four decades in the Marine Corps. He is known as one of the most influential military leaders of his generation, serving as a strategic thinker while occasionally drawing rebukes for his aggressive talk. Since retiring, he has served as a consultant and as a visiting fellow with the Hoover Institution, a think tank at Stanford University.

View Graphic
Here are the people whose names have been floated for Trump’s Cabinet
Like Trump, Mattis favors a tougher stance against U.S. adversaries abroad, especially Iran. The general, speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in April, said that while security discussions often focus on terrorist groups such as the Islamic State or al-Qaeda, the Iranian regime is “the single most enduring threat to stability and peace in the Middle East.”

[What Trump may not know about the generals he’s eyeing for top positions]

Mattis said the next president “is going to inherit a mess” and argued that the nuclear deal signed by the Obama administration last year may slow Iran’s ambitions to get a nuclear weapon but will not stop them.


“In terms of strengthening America’s global standing among European and Mideastern nations alike, the sense is that America has become somewhat irrelevant in the Middle East, and we certainly have the least influence in 40 years,” Mattis said.

But Mattis may break with Trump’s practice of calling out allies for not doing enough to build stability. In the same event, Mattis said he was troubled by President Obama’s remarks in a March interview with the Atlantic that there were “free riders” accepting U.S. help without reciprocating. He added that he read the Atlantic story after printing it out and briefly thought he had accidentally mixed it with a news clip that highlighted Trump’s views.

“The president-elect is smart to think about putting someone as respected as Jim Mattis in this role,” said a former senior Pentagon official. “He’s a warrior, scholar and straight shooter — literally and figuratively. He speaks truth to everyone and would certainly speak truth to this new commander in chief”...


https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...cec35b1ad25_story.html?utm_term=.6dfed8eaa9a9

 

This is great news!! Pray God that he is confirmed as he is respected by most all of the branches of the military.

 

WOW!!!!

Trump promises "era of peace" during victory tour in Ohio:

"Donald Trump promised a 'new era of peace' during the first stop of his 'Thank You' tour in Cincinnati, Ohio, vowing that the US will stop trying to overthrow world governments and will cooperate with countries fighting terrorism.

The president-elect also promised to cooperate with any country interested in destroying Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL)..." https://www.rt.com/usa/368951-trump-us-toppling-regimes-isis/

This is remarkable given that many feel theTriumph is right around the corner as we approach 2017.

 

Mattis is the real deal: he's incredibly smart, hates being politically correct, is loved by the troops, feared by the enemy (hence his nickname "Chaos") and also understands that war is the last resort but if we must wage war on an enemy it should be waged to win not to serve foreign interests or the interests of what Ike termed "the military-industrial complex."

I love this interview:

 

Mattis is the real deal and Trump is proving all the NeverTrumpers wrong about their fear he was a wolf in sheep's clothing, but regarding the era of peace comment:

"For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief at night.

When people are saying, “Peace and security,” then sudden disaster comes upon them, like labor pains upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape."

 

It's a mess he has inherited. And he knows what's ahead. But he's ready for it.

 

There we go again: like during the elections. He lost nothing of his energy ! God bless him ! And, yes, I know the prophecies for the future, but I just need at this moment, like anyone else, someone that sounds good and positif to this world.

 

The "peace and security" quote is a reference to the fact that the wicked try and construct their own utopian reality by setting themselves up as gods thereby bringing God's Just Wrath upon themselves.

The "era of peace" is a reference to the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart. I just found it interesting that Trump would, wittingly or unwittingly, use those words. The fact that it is made by a man that I believe is an archetype of the Great Monarch and made in such close proximity to the 100th Anniversary of Fatima, is just something that I found interesting. Perhaps it means nothing.

 

Prayers offered up before the election had an effect. More prayers are needed to support the president-elect and ensure a smooth transition. The recount effort in three states is not bearing fruit. I'm tired of people raining on the parade. We should enjoy whatever victories come our way.

 

A rather entertaining way to present the various Trump prophecies all wrapped into one video:

https://allsoulsaremine.wordpress.c...ies-rolled-into-one-excellent-video/#comments

 

I'm quoting myself, because Zerohedge has a report that 'Stein drops PA recount'. The question now is what will she do with all the money donated to her? Indeed, there are reports she is still asking for more. I wish I could get money as easily as that...she collected far more in a few days for this nonsense than she managed for her entire electoral campaign. Strange.

 

Jill Stein Drops Pennsylvania Recount Effort

http://www.newsmax.com/Politics/recount-dropped-pennsylvania-green-party/2016/12/03/id/762028/

 

It ain't over till it's over, apparently. Let's hope the federal court drives a stake through this:

Stein switches tactics in Pennsylvania recount drive


View photos
Former Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein dropped a request for a state court vote recount in Pennsylvania because petitioners could not afford the $1mn bond required (AFP Photo/JUSTIN SULLIVAN)

Washington (AFP) - Former Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein switched tactics in her campaign to force a recount in Pennsylvania, one of three battleground states won by Donald Trump where she has challenged the results.

The party dropped a bid to pursue the recount in a state court, citing difficulties raising a million dollar bond demanded by the tribunal. It said it would instead press on in federal court and file suit Monday.

That was also Stein's deadline for raising the bond money.

"Make no mistake -— the Stein campaign will continue to fight for a statewide recount in Pennsylvania," attorney Jonathan Abady said in a statement.

"Over the past several days, it has become clear that the barriers to verifying the vote in Pennsylvania are so pervasive and that the state court system is so ill-equipped to address this problem that we must seek federal court intervention," Abady said.

"Petitioners are regular citizens of ordinary means. They cannot afford to post the $1,000,000 bond required by the court," read a filing submitted earlier in the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, announcing the state court drive was being dropped.

Stein plans to hold a rally on Monday across the street from Trump Tower in New York "vowing to fight tooth and nail to verify the accuracy, security and fairness of the vote," a statement read.

On Twitter, she added: "How odd is it that we must jump through bureaucratic hoops and raise millions of dollars so we can trust our election results? #Recount2016.

"#Recount2016 is so expensive because of elected leaders who have refused to invest in a 21st-century voting system," she said.

Stein's fundraising efforts for recounts in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin have brought in nearly $7 million so far, according to her website. In all three traditionally Democratic-leaning states, Trump only narrowly defeated Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.

Her recount request in Pennsylvania was complicated by opposition from Trump. Michigan's attorney general filed suit to halt Stein's recounts efforts in that state. And in Wisconsin, Trump supporters tried to stop the recount but it is underway.

Stein's campaign has cited unspecified "anomalies" as grounds to mount a challenge in all three Rust Belt states.

The move came amid stepped-up calls from some of the president-elect's leftist opponents to challenge the results of the November 8 election, which followed a bitter campaign that included persistent charges of Russian hacking and allegations by Trump of fraud.

Although experts say there is virtually no chance of overturning the result, the demands could reignite debate over the legitimacy of Trump's election, already fueled by Clinton's lead in the popular vote which now stands at around 2.5 million.

Trump has stated without offering evidence that "millions" of people voted illegally and that were it not for this he would have won the popular vote as well.