Who's in Peter's file? Moneybags Thiel hits up Silicon Valley brains to join his Trump think tank Billionaire contrarian and Donald Trump fancier Peter Thiel is reportedly having little success trying to get Silicon Valley to choke down its values and join a tech transition team designed to help the president-elect get up to speed. According to the Washington Post, the blood-guzzling billionaire has been touring the Bay …
I can't imagine that the (t)rump won't treat everyone working for him and for all his crony capitalist corporations to be subject to His Whims.
50% (I wish) of all potential contributors to the (t)rump brain drain would be women. Another larger percentage would be non-(t)rump colored/tainted.
Why would anyone with another hue other than OutragedWhite want to work for such a moran? Why would the very rich Indian entrepreneurs court His Rectal Lowness?
Oh, I forget. $$$$ trumps integrity.
The Islamophobia goes down very well with the BJP / Hindu nationalist Hindutva movement (Modi, the current President, arose from this movement) leading to surreal scenes like this image (DO click through, it has to be seen to be believed)
http://scroll.in/article/809924/photos-when-the-hindu-sena-threw-a-birthday-bash-for-donald-trump
It's well known that the US has the best Government money can buy.
The tech sector will pitch in with the appropriate 'campaign contributions" when the time comes, that's how it works and everyone knows it.
To be fair to Donald, he didn't create those conditions but I have no doubt at all that he will be happy to profit from them.
It's not actually Peter Thiel that worries me, it's The Donald's appalling children circling around like a couple of well-groomed vultures.
It's well known that the US has the best Government money can buy.
I'm afraid your comment has just been comprehensively falsified by events in the real world. Trump won with an extremely low marketing spend -- he was massively outspent by Clinton. AFAIK he took no campaign contributions from other businesses or corporations -- the vast majority of which want as little to do with him as possible. The claim that he was independent of the wealthy establishment because he has his own money was one of the features of his campaign.
(Obviously that doesn't mean he's anything but a bellend of galactic magnitude.)
@ Tom Paine
It wasn't Donald's election spending I was thinking of, more the way industry lobby groups use their money to get the legislation they want.
You elected Trump. By not voting, or not voting Hillary, or not engaging with Hillary to bring her closer to the electorate, or not engaging with the electorate to bring them closer to Hillary.. or not selecting Sanders instead of Hillary.
Whatever.
It. Does. Not. Matter.
You elected Trump and now you have to deal with a world where he will be spending the next 4-24 years wandering around the world pissing on the furniture and dry-humping the neighbour's leg.
One way of living in this new, wonderful, fucking world you have wrought is protest. Lean against it. Shout out against it. Do everything you can to resist.
By all means do this. Please.
But someone SOMEWHERE has to bite the bullet and engage with the new administration - guide it so that where resistance doesn't stop it, trusted counsel steers it to a safer option or lesser evil. Whether Baron von Legohair's Band of Mercenary Valley Girls is the right team to join to find a place of meaningful influence - I do not know. I suspect not.
What I do know is that simply standing outside the tent pointing, accusingly, at the stream of pee pouring out is not going to work. That battle has been lost. Now is the time for intelligent people to engage - not just to grasp at whatever whisps of influence might become available but to demonstrate to the electorate that intelligence is a force for good, not just a contrarian political viewpoint...
4 years from now when he is voted out, or 8 when his term limit expires, or 16 when his "Putinized" term limit expires, or 24 when his passing due to old age causes power to be handed over to Eternally Blessed Dear Leader Barron, you probably want to be able to say that you tried to make things better rather than that you spent the declining years of your nation sneering anonymously and in hushed tones.
Job description: The successful applicant will receive no power or authority whatsoever but will be blamed for everything. Pay will be HUGE ... delayed ... withheld.
That sort of job goes to someone who is either a drooling incompetent or has seen an opportunity for corruption. The drooling incompetent will do less damage.
/quote/
You elected Trump. By not voting, or not voting Hillary, or not engaging with Hillary to bring her closer to the electorate, or not engaging with the electorate to bring them closer to Hillary.. or not selecting Sanders instead of Hillary.
[snip]
One way of living in this new, wonderful, fucking world you have wrought is protest. Lean against it. Shout out against it. Do everything you can to resist.
By all means do this. Please.
\quote\
First, learn how a democratic republic works then STFU and FOAD.
Your candidate didn't win and throwing a temper tantrum like a whiny little bitch isn't going to change that so get over it.
Am I a Trump supporter? NO
I wanted change so voted for a third party candidate.
From my perspective the only difference between a dem and a rep is which side of their mouth they are lying out of.
Lets look at our choices this go round-
Hillary Clinton (DEM): lying, scandal-ridden political whore
Donald Trump (REP): loud mouthed egotistical narcissistic orangutan
If these are the best the two parties can do it's time for them to go the way of the dodo.
Also on the ballot were-
Jill stein- green party nut job that thought vandalizing private property was more important than campaigning.
Gary Johnson (LIB)- two term ex-governor with sitting governor as running mate.
Honorable mention Bernie Sanders- country could not afford him and his entitlement bs.
Didn't really expect the candidate I voted for to win but couldn't in good consciounce(sp?) vote for any of the others.
That being said, I don't believe Trump is going to herald the apocalypse like many predict.
Why, because anything coming out of a candidate's mouth on the campaign trail is most likely a lie.They are stumping for votes and will say/do anything to get them.Plus the office of president is more a scapegoat for congress than anything else.
And, does anyone really believe all those corporate muppets up on the hill and their masters are going to let him upset the apple cart overly much?
I suspect his first visit to the white house entailed a meeting with those who really run this country- no I don't know who they are- and they explained in detail what he can or will do and what he won't do. Been some major flip flops on his part already.
So you chose to STFU and FOAD by not participating in any meaningful way? Well done. You may yet work out how a democratic republic works and how this one is neither democratic nor a republic.
In the meantime, feel free to spend the next 4+ years telling folks how none of this is your fault because you chose not to choose or to make your choice worthwhile. Alternatively you can get off your backside by either resisting (and maybe effecting change through the advancement of your personal political viewpoint) or helping the new administration work. If you really want Gary Johnson (or equivalent) to be president then you need to be starting the groundwork for the next election now - not pouting about how everyone is so mean and evil. You can bet even Trump's "bedfellows" are planning how to play him, or play off him, to ensure that their position is enhanced regardless of his success.
I think you will find all of the above is part of a functioning democratic republic...
Yes Trump will change. And the more diverse voices he has around him the less damage he might do. Engage or, as you say, STFU and FOAD.
Also, try reading the original post.
It most certainly is a republic- designed from the ground up as one.
From merriam-webster:
Full Definition of republic
1
a (1) : a government having a chief of state who is not a monarch and who in modern times is usually a president (2) : a political unit (as a nation) having such a form of government b (1) : a government in which supreme power resides in a body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by elected officers and representatives responsible to them and governing according to law (2) : a political unit (as a nation) having such a form of government
Umm, I did participate in a meaningful way. I voted for change.
Electing members of the same parties that have been lining their own pockets to the detriment of this country for decades is not going to bring change. Not my fault if others haven't/can't figure that out.
I do quite a bit for advancing my agenda but I generally try to do it in an adult reasoned manner at the grass roots level.
I also let my elected officials know my views (mail, petitions, etc) though I doubt they listen/care thus no incumbent has ever gotten my vote and rarely do I vote for members of the major parties unless there is no third party candidate.
This is the part of your post that set me off:
One way of living in this new, wonderful, fucking world you have wrought is protest. Lean against it. Shout out against it. Do everything you can to resist.
What do you think all these acts of civil unrest including vandalism of private/public property and disruption of traffic you appear to be advocating are going to accomplish?
Gonna force them to hold new elections? I think not
Gonna bring more people to your views? unlikely
What it does do is distract law enforcement from doing their job, hinders emergency vehicles from getting to their destinations and generally pisses off that part of the general public that can't afford to lose hours of work cause they need to pay their bills and the small businesses that can't afford the damages and loss of business.
Also costs the tax payers a crap load more due to need to pay officer's overtime and fix infrastructure damaged by "protesters".
I have no problems with peaceful protests but that is not the case currently and is not what you appear to be advocating.
What the current protests do look like is a bunch of children that didn't get their way and are throwing a collective temper tantrum. Perception is everything.
I did read the original post-several times- before replying. I seen nothing to moderate the statement I refer to above. The first paragraph- a flawed premise imo- plus the extraneous swearing made it come off in my eyes as another diatribe by a rabid Hillary supporter who didn't get its way. I replied in kind.
You are right in that Trump is in there now so that is what we'll have to deal with but again, the current form of protest is not helping or going to help.
If I misread/misinterpreted anything I would humbly apologise upon clarification.
I wrote a longer post with clever turns of phrase and compelling argument.
Then i tried to delete a word.
And the browser went back a page and all was lost.
I will take this opportunity to be more succinct and less driven to argue narrow point and will summarise as follows:
1. I think we have both misinterpreted each other (nb. I was not advocating violent protest. Action and engagement do not have to be physical. Also i am not advocating FOR hillary. I am saying that everyone has some responsibility for Trump and some responsibility for what happens next and at the next election
2. I think we agree on some things (I would counter, though, that a dysfunctional electoral system undermines the concept of a republic)
3. I apologise for the following:
- misjudging your personal engagement/values
- causing offence with facetiousness/vulgarity
- being unclear because of verbiage
Beyond that, I am comfortable with the original post
Bummer about the lost post. Hate when that happens.
Going to keep this really short as is past my bed time.
Re 1. Agreed.
Re 2. If we agreed on everything we wouldn't have had this debate and the world would be really boring.
Only way we're going to change the electoral system is to get rid of the parties that benefit from its dysfunction.
Re 3. Thank you.
And I apologise for going off half-cocked and for language and insinuations unbecoming of an allegedly intelligent adult.
Hmm, mutual understanding through reasoned discourse. There may be hope for this country yet. ;-)
Oh, one other thing. If Gary Johnson had pulled in 5% of the vote his party would have been eligible for monies from the presidential campaign fund next election just like the major parties. Would help get them the exposure they have lacked in election campaigns up to now.
I'll bite anyway.
This is a UK-based web site - we had no "guy" in the race. The article is reporting verifiable facts: that Thiel has tried and failed to get Silicon Valley support for the incoming President. It is well known that Trump is unpopular in California, so is not surprising, but it is genuinely of interest to a tech audience.
Who cares? If you think that Trump cannot affect the tech industry (positively or negatively), then perhaps no-one should. Perhaps the office of POTUS is impotent, just bread and circuses to keep ordinary Americans distracted. That would be sad (but would explain a lot).
Who cares?
You missed the correct reason for care. Trump is known to:
1. Be extremely vindictive
2. Hold grudges and collect on them
Carefully follow the incidents with Alicia Machado as a fine example of Trump at his very best.
Anybody having any ideas that the states that voted blue and the tech industry (mostly in these states) will not be used as a scapegoat du jour is seriously deluded. This by the way concerns us as a non-US audience of a non-US site as non-USA employees of USA corps will be some of the first collateral damage in this rather inevitable clash.
All through Obabma's presidency he's been blocked and campaigned against by his opponents. Why would you think the same won't happen to Trump? Democracy doesn't stop after an election and people who are opposed to racism and sexism (snowflakes) aren't going to change their minds because of the president.
Get used to it.
Mr.Thiel, if you're reading this, I'd like to be part of your think tank.
My credentials? Well I own a computer. And I've never lost an election. Nigel Farage can't even say that and your boss wants him to be an ambassador. So I'm immediately the better candidate. Actually, I should have the ambassador's job too, in case the think tank job fails.
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