28 March, 2024

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Is Trump’s Victory A Harbinger Of Capitalism’s End-Game? Has US Opted For A Mussolini Populist?

By Kumar David

Prof. Kumar David

Prof. Kumar David

Donald Trump has defied forecasters and stormed to victory. It is a repudiation of the Obama legacy, a rejection of the Washington establishment and a mandate for racial prejudice. It is also the beginning of a new period in US foreign policy if he keeps the threats he flung on the campaign trail. The white working and lower middle class vote was a wall Hilary Clinton could not scale. They were angry with Obama, with Washington and with non-whites. Add America’s conservative, reactionary, gun trotting and male chauvinist population segments and you have Trump’s winning formula.

Colic in America will disturb the rest of the world as profoundly as did the decline and fall of Rome bring chaos to medieval Europe. A plunge in America will not usher in a Dark Age, a jihadist catastrophe or global financial chaos, but capitalism as a world system stands confounded. A political and economic mess in America will affect others. Inter-layering and spread of production, trade and political power across the world is more intense now than in Roman times hence the world today has resilience. Well, this is not quite true if you recall that the other great civilisations of the time, Imperial China and Gupta India, hardly noticed events in far way Rome and Constantinople; but that was a differently compartmentalised world. Global dependence is deeper today than millennia ago.

The insurmountable obstacle

The question is what will a Trump presidency look like given his idiosyncratic personality? This is the point of departure of this essay and my conclusions are negative. I wish it were otherwise; I am not a juvenile who delights in human wretchedness because it brings revolution closer. Capitalism when it goes will do so on its own, it does not need a push from me; in any case social revolution is not within the perspective of a short essay such as this.donald-trump

The President Elect – What a pity!

Some things are so difficult to change that one could disagree with Napoleon that “the word impossible is found only in the dictionary of fools” – you can’t bring Queen Victoria back to life! Trumpism (the Trump phenomenon) is an outburst of anguish from a white working class which has lost or is losing its livelihood and is in distress. The underlying and impossible to reverse root cause is that US capitalism is no longer competitive, or to be more precise, US manufacturing and much of the US service sector is no longer competitive in world markets.

Let me invent a simplified explanation. Let’s use MO for value of manufacturing output and BP for the benefit package (wages, social security, welfare, medical benefits and so on). Now let me propose the symbol PP, with apologies to snooty economists, for what I will call productive power, where PP = (MO/BP). Simply put, if PP is high, a country produces lots of output (MO) for relatively small human resource costs (BP); if PP is low, output is not enough relative to wage and benefit costs. True the USA is a high tech country, so its MO per worker is high, but the point is that, relatively, its BP is even higher. To put it another way; American standards of living, life styles and quality of life are too expensive, relative to productivity. If PP(A) of country A is higher than PP(B) of country B, then A’s products are less costly and more competitive than the products of country B, keeping other factors constant.

It’s as simple as this though economists obscure simple things. My case is that the USA is an example of B and examples of A are China and Mexico. US manufacturing and much of the service sector are no longer competitive; the consequence is that both the general rate of profit on capital and the rate of new investments decline, jobs disappear and no amount of quantitative easing or near zero interest rates – no amount of pseudo-Keynesianism or desperate monetarism – will make a difference. Which capitalist is so stupid as to invest his money for the purpose of losing it! This is the sustained experience of the last 8 years (2008 to 2016).

What will come of Trump’s threat to tear up trade pacts and put China and Mexico on ice as trading partners and bring manufacturing back to make America Great Again? Scaremongering that the world is ripping off the US, cheating in trade and stealing its jobs is false and plays to the delusion “nothing is wrong with us, we are victims of cheating by foreigners”. The reality is that PP(USA) is markedly lower than PP(Mexico), PP(China) and others who are routing the US in trade. Technology can be enriched, but China, Taiwan and Korea are not technology laggards and 95% of global trade is not in aerospace or advanced products that need the highest tech. A trade war will impose costs on the American consumer; stores are packed with imported goods for the reason that they are cheap. Is Trump going to replace them with more costly US made goods?

The way to make America competitive is to make big cuts in BP – wages and welfare. How else will he balance the budget and pay for his hare-brained economic programmes? Austerity! But austerity is the opposite of what propelled him to power. It will provoke unrest. In a gun crazed society with 300 million guns for less than 200 million adults and with 300 (FBI estimate) gun trotting restless “sporting” clubs and clans, there is reason for alarm. In the absence of a revolutionary overturn of the economic order, and if reaction to austerity is hostile, what are Trump’s options? Sans hope of competitive and profitable golden-age capitalism, there is little to do but resort to state power to curb dissension. The consequence of repression will be revolt, or more likely, snowballing conflict which will bleed the nation and dismayed capitalism which will trigger return of recession. So is Trump is the Cassandra who will usher in what billionaires have been desperate to avert?

Here is my conclusion. There is nothing Trump can do about a dilemma whose roots lie deep in the laws of the dynamics of capitalism. Social transformation is not on the agenda and biting austerity is not politically feasible since America is not psychologically ready to climb down from its addiction unaffordable life styles. That means crisis! The tragedy is that though there is a large deprived class, ‘average’ America lives beyond its means at the cost of cheap global labour, and topmost America is obscenely rich. My instinct says Trump will turn his back on those forces that propelled him to power. Tax cuts and leaning on the rich will worsen the plight of those lower down.

A negative prognosis

Indisputably, a primary objective has to be to reach the alienated white working class. Though golden-age capitalism cannot be reincarnated there are things that can be done – America’s reserves are immense. Redistribution of lopsided wealth and income will go some way. There is no denying despondency in the American white working class but it would be burying one’s head in the sand to deny that the class is also racist. The working class cannot be written off but the task of salvaging it is doubly urgent; livelihood issues and combatting racism.

This requires a programme of new industries (small high-tech steel mills are already opening up) and investment in the rust-belt states; the US needs an active interventionist state. Does this sound like the anathema of social-democracy rather than progressive market capitalism? Desperate times call for corresponding responses. If the Great Depression drove FDR to the New Deal, the low-key prolonged depression following the Great Recession of 2008-09 should drive a progressive capitalist government to shift into social-democratic gear. But is Trump the animal to do it?

Then there is the formidable task of healing racial dissent. The US is a plural society and a melting plot of emigrants, but here has always been a heavy current of racist and religious intolerance and Trump has exacerbated it with a cacophony of bigoted rhetoric. Subduing cultural hatred is a great deal more difficult than overcoming economic problems – we in Sri Lanka know all about that. It cannot be done by governments alone and cries for the intervention of civil society at large – media, academia, churches and voluntary organisations. Trump is psychologically unsuited to do lead any of this. On this matter I would have had some confidence in Clintonesque liberalism. But working towards a “more perfect union”, a priority task now when the whites are on the brink of ceasing to be an absolute majority, is now buried. This election buries the legacy of America’s first black president.

Another matter of priority is violence; drug related violence, the largest prison population in the world, ‘black lives don’t matter’ police gunfire and the insane 2-nd Amendment. When bigotry is ingrained as with the US Constitution’s 2-nd Amendment, which guarantees Tom Mix style cowboy rights, it is impossible to rescind. Trump beloved of the National Rifle Association is unlikely to do much to ameliorate gun violence and abuse of power by the police.

Finally foreign policy; objectively, Trump has no room for manoeuvre, but plenty of options for fouling up the international scene if he is allowed to. The USA is no longer the world’s unhindered super power and Trump will have his hands tied from day one. The imbroglio in the Middle East, dealing with China in the South China Sea and with Russian interests in Ukraine are matters about which he can blow hot but there will be chaos if he disengages from rationality. There is hardly any flexibility in Syria and Iraq, the relationship with China is important for keeping the lid on North Korea and Russia is needed for pressuring Iran. He will be forced to come in line with the Washington Establishment. If the way he behaved during the campaign is anything to go by, he is a loose cannon and heaven knows what’s in store if he is allowed to run feral free. But Washington won’t let him; otherwise the Chinese will be the big long-run winners on the international scene.

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      srinath.gunaratnam

      “[Edited out]”

      Brilliant.

      Thanks for keeping it brief.

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        Kumar, Bernie Sanders should have won the 2016 US election and made the US and the world a better place!
        But the Washington Democratic Machinery blocked the REAL REVOLUTION in the United States.

        When Bernie was gone the American People had Hobson’s choice, Clinton loves $$$ and so does Trump, there is very little difference between them when it come to protecting corporate Capital.
        What is clear is that the people of the US detest Washington and the Washington Consensus that has beggared most of them and the world for the greed of the global 1 percent.
        Obama and Hilary kept Global Corporate Corruption going while playing identity politics and using minority rights and gender discourse as a cover to entrench US corporate power in the name of globalization.
        Hilary was a Hawk and Obama forced globalization down everyone’s throat with Trade agreements disrespecting local economies and concerns.
        Trump is of course not the solution, but his retreat from the world may be best for everyone. Less US meddling and (proxy) fewer wars with Russia and China.
        Today strategically located Sri Lanka seems to be at risk of a proxy war, with a China backed Mahinda Jarapaksa Red Scarf movement and US-India Ayahapalanaya Ranil-Sira, UNP-SLFP bi-partisan corruption club.

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          Prof. Kumar David

          Donald Trump election win sparks protests in US cities

          Sri Lankans should Priest against Turncoat, Traitor Gon Sirisena, as well, because he is taking Santhosams from the Crooks and Killers to protect them, and against the Independent Commissions and the Judiciary.

          Thousands of demonstrators have taken to the streets of several US cities to protest against the election of Donald Trump.

          Many shouted the slogan “Not my president”. Others burned orange-haired effigies of the businessman.

          Mr Trump will become the 45th US president after securing a surprise victory over Hillary Clinton.

          He is due to meet current White House incumbent Barack Obama for talks aimed at ensuring a smooth transition.

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        Socialism found it demise in the land of its birth – The Soviet Union. Now Capitalism is gasping for breadth it the US – the champion of capitalism.

        The UK has similar pains and may be more developed countries will follow the lead of the US.

        We may on the threshold of a hybrid system, or even a brand new ingenuous system which integrates people, technology and individual motivation. We must not forget that capitalism promoted motivation in individuals to invent and be entrepreneurs to productivity and prosperity.

        Otherwise when robots proliferate in the near future revolutions might be the order of the day for the people to wrest control.

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        Prof. Kumar David

        RE: Is Trump’s Victory A Harbinger Of Capitalism’s End-Game? Has US Opted For A Mussolini Populist?

        Well, Michael Moore has been predicting in July and in October that Trump will win Winner Read below. Didn’t Copernicus , Galileo and Kepler say that about the Sun?

        5 Reasons Why Trump Will Win
        07/23/2016 03:45 pm ET | Updated Oct 10, 2016 ..Michael Moore
        [Edited out]

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      Prof. Kumar David

      RE: Is Trump’s Victory A Harbinger Of Capitalism’s End-Game? Has US Opted For A Mussolini Populist?

      Will it be an environmental disaster and isolationism with less funding for research and development and innovation? Will the US stop the overseas adventures of the Bush Era or increase its adventures?

      Will the sea levels rise and make the Porty City ad Colombo and Jaffna go under water?

      Trump’s election is casting a chill over international climate change negotiations. He has repeatedly called climate change a hoax and has pledged to “cancel” the 2015 Paris Agreement. That landmark deal calls for virtually every country on Earth to control greenhouse gas emissions to restrain human-caused climate change.

      http://cen.acs.org/articles/94/web/2016/11/Election-2016-means-chemistry-enterprise.html?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Newsletter&utm_campaign=CEN

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      Prof. Kumar David

      RE: Is Trump’s Victory A Harbinger Of Capitalism’s End-Game? Has US Opted For A Mussolini Populist?

      ….To Do List for Democrats. and Liberals…The Morning After…..

      Everyone Is Sharing Michael Moore’s 5-Point ‘Morning After To-Do List’
      First, “take over the Democratic Party and return it to the people.”

      11/09/2016 06:43 pm ET

      http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/michael-moore-morning-after-to-do-list_us_5823ab47e4b0aac62489134f

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    Yes American Whites decided to elect Donald Trump. It is a victory for Donald Trump and for White old Americans.The future of America and its place in the world is not decided by the President of America. It is decided by the rest of the world. Donald Trump can bring America to top in the world but that is only possible when the outside world corporate with him. Today the Economic Power and Military power are diversified no one is in a position to be monopolize that power. Donald Trump is a businessmen. He understands the importance of customers and how to keep better relationship with his business partners. He understands the competition and the competitors comparative advantages and disadvantages and importance of negotiations. Negotiations means compromise. If he has to succeed he has to keep the good image of America and his own image in the world. If Donald Trump follows Mahinda strategy, he will have to face the same fate as Mahinda.

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      what is meant by white old Americans? This guy should explain his veiled
      statement.

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        For Donald Trump, every Sri Lankan is a Brown skinned Nigger from South Asia. He will have no love for brown skinned Sri Lankans, and his supporters are white supremacists (old white skinned Americans).

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        The election results showed that White Americans favored Donald Trump and Black favored Hillary. The 24-45 age group favored Hillary but 45+ favored Trump.

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      Very well spoken Ajith! Hats off to you Sir. A lot of arm chair PUNDITHS will never reckon that intellect and intelligence are made from not what text books, social media, lectures, exit polls and dumb statistics impart in becoming an honorary student like Hillary in a prestigious Ivy League school such as Yale. What matters in world politics today is global insight, common sense and being street smart, all qualities that modern day leader hardly get from any Ivy league institution. I am speaking of experience having being a both an academic and researcher myself. Prof David is right in saying that this outcome is disastrous to a constitutional republic such as the USA. Trump although an elitist, an idiosyncratic and abrasive personality is NOT an insider and conniving politician. This was the Trump appeal to the down trodden rural America. However, Trump will be confronted with challenges or learn his lesson as what is not possible to deliver on 99% of his promises because when he tries to revolutionize the establishment, the establishment will devour him as did with the demise of President JFK. this would be a far worse outcome than of our infamous LUNATIC MARA!

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        WalaGemba Raja

        “This was the Trump appeal to the down trodden rural America. However, Trump will be confronted with challenges or learn his lesson as what is not possible to deliver on 99% of his promises because when he tries to revolutionize the establishment, the establishment will devour him as did with the demise of President JFK. this would be a far worse outcome than of our infamous LUNATIC MARA!”

        Thanks for a succinct explanation.

        The core problem America faces is productivity gain, and automation. a Part of the white working class and union households lost jobs is due to imports, and part due to automation.

        Stopping the imports, will certainly lead to some new job creation, but due to automation, not all the lost jobs will be back. The New jobs will be skilled workers. So, overall, the totals will be less and not all the lost jobs will be gained.

        The US GDP Growth will be between 1 and 3% over the foreseeable future, unless some miracle like Cold Fusion us made to work.

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    Trump has shown resilience and leadership winning an election without the support of his own party!

    killary is facing karma..playing the minority vote in the US resulted in a resounding slap by Americans who want their country back. Who can blame them???.. hard working Americans play taxes that go for welfare to immigrants! People had just have had enough

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      Has Trump really Won the Election? Are American Voters as Foolish as Our People who still Support MR?

      Or do they Really Believe that the ability to Amass Wealth, by any Means Possible, is the Best Qualification for an American President?

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        Will Trump’s presidency cause the US to break up into smaller countries?

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    Trump’s victory undoubtedly is a right wing victory mixed with nationalist populism. Of course racism is part of it. It was not at all a surprise to me given too much of idealism, rhetoric, and hypocrisy of the Clinton campaign. In fact, it was my personal fear or prediction. This is the same in the case of many present day elitist liberal/left movements elsewhere. I think globalization, free trade, neo-liberalism and so-called open borders have gone too far, beyond the present day realistic limits. Not that globalization is wrong, but there are realistic limits and negative national repercussions in many instances at present. The lesson is not to be too idealistic and to take a middle path. The international implications of the Trump victory are yet to be seen, but might not be too dramatic (except in the Middle East) as some are fearing.

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      Rejection of Trump by those in the third world who hold ‘pandam’ to the America-led globalist establishment is to be expected. Therefore Davids and L. Fernandos do not surprise us.

      Attempts to denigrate Trumps victory as that of a racist, misogynist bigot is ignorant or dishonest, or both.

      It is natural that the majority of the American middle classes who have lost their livelihoods are whites, and that does not make them racists. The globalists took the manufacturing industry to China and to other sweatshop locations in order to maximize their profits. But they were still exploiting the American ‘market’ for finished goods. This is the simple reason for the creation of millions of rural Americans living on the dole. They were also sick of Clinton woman’s arming of Syrian rebels that gave rise to ISIS.

      They wanted change

      People Like L. Fernando joined the bandwagon of the international affairs intervention racket of these blood suckers, built around the civil society (NGOs) and human rights scams. Not enough space to go into that here.

      Hillary’s behind the scenes mentor was that war criminal Henry Kissinger, and her security chief was going to be Petreas. The only concern of these conspirators is to remove checks on Israeli thuggery in the middle east. Had they won, the no.1 item of their plan was to declare ‘no-fly’ zones in Syria immediately. Russia would not have allowed it, and the world would have been pushed to the brink of war.

      thank God we are saved.

      Your views are stupid.

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      DR LF,

      It is somewhat incorrect to pin everything on white racism! It is also a case of yesterday’s immigrants fearing and rejecting today’s migrants. The sudden increase of latino community in certain states created or unsettled both whites and blacks alike. Similar situation prevailed in the UK during Brexit where many yesterday’s immigrants or second/third generation immigrants rejected the influx of Eastern Europeans! It is a funny old world!

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        B.I.

        How many coconuts did you crack?

        Soma

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            [Edited out]

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              M**********g?

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    Trump cannot do anything drastic away from the establishment who decide on policy matters in USA. Though he has been elected on a nationalist platform like Mahinda, he cannot do all the dirty things done by Mahinda such as murder and corruption. Not only whites but at least 10% of Blacks and a large section of non-Muslim immigrants have voted for Trump. His vision of accommodating Putin is a good one for the future of the world, in order to eliminate Islamic terrorism. USA needs a leader like Trump to bring back the glory lost during the last eight years of Obama’s rule. Whether American establishment will allow him to achieve his objective of containing Muslims and Hispanics, we will have to wait and see. Electing Trump is the wish of majority of Americans and we have to respect it.

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    Trump victory is very massive. It is not recently established. This is not comparable to Obama victory when the all American banks and all manufacturing giants like big three autos failed.

    Racism is always there like ember under ash. This kind of victory can not be explained by putting 65% whites males and females, ignoring all Trump deficiency and voting for him. That is not practical. Women, minorities, beneficiaries of Obama care did not vote wholeheartedly to Hillary.

    It had been along road, but employment level is back at Bill Clinton time. Real income real level may not be at Clinton time. There was no sign of Trump supporters present in the polls. There was no sign of people’s feeling of economic depression either.I do not think the white voters believes that trump is going to bring a better redistribution of income by cutting the corporate tax.

    Economic analysis may not reveal the answer for Donald Trump selection or probably not at all.

    America is not limping economically as campaigned in Trump election campaign. I do not think either Americans believed that though they welcomed to “Make America Great Again”. In fact that is the main explanation.

    American hidden feeling is they have lost their dominance during Obama time. Economy recovered. But desire for dominance is not full filled.

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    Again with all due respects to my Guru, I must point out that all the predictions made by him that Hillary will win has been found wrong. But he can take solace from the fact that only one poll in the US out of 50 or 60 recognized ones has been right in predicting Trump’s win.

    All these predictions have been like the predictions of our Astrologers, charm makers, Baka Pandithayas etc. Once, the highly reputed Scientific American magazine said that the chance of such predictions being correct is slightly less than a dart throwing monkey getting a bulls eye.

    In any case, this is good news for Sri Lankans, irrespective of race, religion or caste. Hillary and her Clinton foundation has been meddling in the internal affairs of our country in a game of ‘Play for Pay’. It is well known that the expatriate Tamils living in the West have been donating massive funds to this organization to get favors.

    It is possible that Hillary tried her best to save the lives of the Tiger leaders and civilians caught up in the final battle, out of humanitarian considerations. But the chance of that being the reason is the same as our dart throwing monkey achieving 3 straight bulls eyes in 2 throws. Now freed from the responsibilities of the Secretary of State, Hillary can divert her attention to the civilians trapped in Mosul amidst bombs being dropped by USAF. I am sure that way she can serve the world better than being the President of the good old US of A.

    Good Luck Hillary. I am sure that one day, you will be a saint like Mother Theresa. Don’t forget that even Angulimala achieved enlightenment – finally. You should do better than that because you never killed people to make finger necklaces. You killed them because they were b…a…d guys. Right?

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      Your rationality in clear thought and expression is being clouded by racism. When you say “It is well known that expatriate Tamils living in the west have been donating massive funds to Clinton foundation to get favours”, you are failing to consider that what will prevent these same people now diverting this massive donation to Trump to get favours. If you think US policy on Srilanka is determined by money given by Tamil expatriates you are displaying your gross ignorance. Did you hear that EU has decided to lift the ban on LTTE, and do not come with your rubbish that EU members have been bribed by Tamil expatriates to get this.

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        I don’t see any thing special about US policy on Sri Lanka. The foreign policy of US and EU in general are determined by the following things.

        1) How strongly you lobby (i.e.) How much yarn you spin.

        2) How much you bribe the officials.

        In both departments you guys excel.

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          Please do not display your ignorance. You have only lived in third grade countries, and have no clue of the western thinking.
          The policies and actions of USA and EU are determined by:
          1. White supremacy – Both Sinhala and Tamils are inferiors.
          2. Military dominance – Either directly or through their agents.
          3. Economic control – To make them leaders in international trade.
          Lobbying or money cannot change it. If Srilanka dances to their tune nothing will happen. If not they have to face the music. Srilanka begging for GSP plus from EU is a good example.

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            Dear Spin doctor, compared to your knowledge and experience in this field I know next to nothing. Sorry if all that spinning of yarn failed to produce any results.

            About the bribes too I may be completely wrong. You Tamils would never part with money even to treat your mothers in their death beds. Even your donkey and monkey Gods come after the money God.

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    A billionaire President is going to represent the blue collar section or the working class section of the US citizens. Majority of this section voted for Trump.

    Too early to predict whether Trump
    will be able to follow his new election manifesto and deliver the goods

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    If you listened to the Trump’s speech, what you have written is garbage. This election result is nothing unusual when you compare with French election, Brexit, Canadian election. All say the same thing. Besides, Major media propaganda and their cooked poll results were useless. IT is the social media that palyed the major role. Even the Facebook behaved like Maor media and became crap.

    If trump walks the talk he will be successful. But, if the system takes over him, He will become another hypocrite who said something and did something.

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    Congradulations Mr. Trump the p*ssy groper! The Trump victory is God’s curse for America for unleashing their wrath, drones and killing machines around the globe. Clear wisdom lost out to stupidity and this stupidity is not in electing Trump but the DNC – Democratic party to have fixed the entire presidential race for Bernie Sanders to lose out at a huge cost of fixing the race to a conniving woman called Hillary Clinton who thinks that money can buy just about anything. What Hilla + REE (pun intended) was able to buy was sheer stupidity and to have no wisdom that the USA is not only racists but sexist and anti- establishment diehards or crack pots who are sick and tired of government duplicity and bungling. Why not cry out U+ASS+A! U+ASS+A!U+ASS+A!!! God did not bless but cursed this country and that is why a pussy grabber called Trump is the new American president to lead a new nation that might as well re-name her country to the Republic of DUCK-DY+NASTY. Heh! Heh! Damn good lessons for MOROCNS who think democracy is the panacea for all ills.

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    As a young student, i had just arrived in the U.S. in 1981 when a movie actor/ex-Governonr became the 40th President of the U.S. The world/people in the U.S. had many reservations about this untested leader. Ronald Reagan went to become the best President in our life time. He made the world a better place for all of us. He had very few convictions (lower taxes, strong defense, and an unwavering commitment to bring down the communism–he got help from Thatcher and Pope John Paul on this aspect) and stuck by those through out his presidency.

    U.S constitution is masterful work put together by the Founders of the U.S. Presidents in this country come and go. Some of them have left their marks here and there, and some more than the others (Washington, Lincoln and Reagan). U.S. stands the giant it is as the beacon of hope for the world. The three branches of the U.S. government cannot be easily manipulated by a President as it has been the case in countries like Sri Lanka lately.

    Trump did this on his own. He doesn’t owe anything to anybody. One can’t become the President of the U.S. with the white vote alone. I know a number of educated, non-whites, women who supported him. He can be his own man and still become a great President if he choose to do so within the framework of the U.S. constitution. I am hoping that he will be that man. I am hopeful for a Trump Presidency having lived through the Reagan era and seen what he accomplished for the U.S. and the world during his presidency.

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      sarath sathkumara

      ” Ronald Reagan went to become the best President in our life time. He made the world a better place for all of us.”

      Could you explain as to how Ronald Reagan became the best President in our life time?

      You should tell us as to how he made world a better place for all of us.

      Please remind me whether I should ask Afghans, Iraqis, Iranians, Nicaraguans, South Americans, South Africans, Angolans, Ethiopians, Mozambican, Namibian, Lebanese, Palestinians, …… about how Ronald Reagan made their world better place.

      “an unwavering commitment to bring down the communism–he got help from Thatcher and Pope John Paul on this aspect)”

      Communism in former Soviet Union rotted within, it didn’t need outside support to kill itself, it committed suicide.

      One more thing, today’s Jihadis are Reagan’s naughty grandchildren.

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    MaRa, his family, and Gota are no different from Donald Trump and his white trash. There are many similarities between Mara and Gota together and Donald R.

    When it comes to soliciting sex from women or womanizing, Mara is no different from Trump. In 1980s, Mara asked for sex from girls of families who lost their young boys due to disposal by Premadasa in return for the services he provided as a Human Rights Lawyer.

    When it comes to inciting religious and ethnic hatred, Gota and Mara are no different from Trump. Gota and Mara are capitalizing on Sinhala Buddhist sentiments to grab and consolidate on power.

    When it comes to using a garrulous mouth, Mara and Trump are no different

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      “Gota and Mara are capitalizing on Sinhala Buddhist sentiments to grab and consolidate on power.”

      Inculcating hatred in the minds of minorities is a better winning strategy.

      Soma

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      Nimal

      I am sorry for you. He should have spared your sister.

      Soma

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    Where is Agnos the Jelly Head, who high fives the 10 star generals. The 10 star generals are probably high five-ing each other, after voting for Trump. Then hitting the bar and laughing at uncle Tom Agnos the Jelly Head who does not even know the meaning of Jelly Head.

    Latino vote: +2%
    African American: +5%
    Women: unchanged

    Yo, the deplorable’s won.

    Agnos, Please understand the dynamics of your adopted country.

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      sbarrkum,

      The Latino vote in NV, AZ and CO should be considered separately from Florida, because the latter are mainly Cuban Americans who have always been Republicans opposed to any rapprochement with Castro. Outside those Cuban Americans, the Latino vote was indeed high.

      Turnout was still less than 60% overall, but in some rural areas, it was higher among pro-Trump white voters. African Americans were not as energetic for Hillary as they were for Obama in the past.

      My state used to be red just a couple of decades ago, then turned purple and now it is becoming solidly blue. Hillary won here by 5%, and the votes of my family counted. That is what matters to me.

      I am not worried about what some bible thumping evangelical ignoramuses in the bible belt or some misguided working class voters in the rust belt did.

      True to your nutty form, you are distorting what I told David Blacker, the Corporal who killed innocent Tamils in the North and for a time was masquerading as ‘Siva Sankaran Sarma’ on CT. I was talking about some Generals who fist bumped me in a technical work environment; they were in the engineering corps and were not into wars or politics. Anyway, plenty of Generals are opposed to Trump; Michael Flynn is one prominent retired General who supported Trump, but Collin Powell supported Hillary and called Flynn nutty.

      Kumar David,

      Trusting internal as well as media polls, Hillary had ignored warnings from her husband and Bernie Sanders about the anti-establishment anger among even unionized workers in the rust belt, who used to be solidly Democratic. She was so certain about WI being solidly blue that she didn’t even visit there after the Democratic convention. This was her fault.

      Anyway, Clinton’s losses in PA, WI and MI were within 1–2%, which might have been avoided if not for Comey’s last minute intervention. As for the charge of racism, former Ku Klux Klan guy David Duke contesting the Senatorial seat in Louisiana, got only 3% of the votes and lost; so, only a very small percentage of the population may be overtly racist, but given the thin margins of victory, that might indeed have been a factor in Trump’s win in those battleground states.

      As I write this, TV shows anti-Trump protests in many cities in the US. He will face resistance from several quarters throughout the next 4 years, even though Republicans now control the House and Senate as well.

      Trump is no Mussolini. Indeed, many doubt he will follow through on any of his bombastic claims. The correct analogy–complete with tawdry sex scandals, corruption, business, politics, TV spectacles, etc. — is with Italy’s Sylvio Berlusconi.

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    Kumar,

    I fully agree with your simplified presentation of competitiveness, the notion that the PP defined as the ratio of MO/BP is what is critical in determining the competitive edge in the global market. I also agree that the manufacturing crisis in the U.S. vis-à-vis China and others stems from the disparity in the PP ratio – with PP being significantly lower in the U.S than in China.

    However, I am not entirely certain that necessarily should lead to the conclusion that “The way to make America competitive is to make big cuts in BP – wages and welfare” with emphasis on “wages and welfare.” I agree that the denominator BP needs to shrink given that the price component in MO is more likely decided in the global market.

    Focusing on BP, there are three observations I would like to make.

    First, the denominator BP is comprised of not just “wages and welfare”, but also includes corporate profits, and it is the profits rather than wages that contribute to bloated BP thus affecting US manufacturing competitiveness. Perhaps you have assumed profits as part the “benefits” as would be the case, for instance, for bonus payments.

    Note that real wage rates have actually remained abnormally muted in the last two decades. Labor use has steadily eroded over that time, as human services got replaced by technology (robots, internet transactions, vending machines, etc). Consequently, the true wage share in manufacturing and services has possibly shrunk, even as the denominator BP has bloated over time. That consideration is also in line with the general observation of sharply rising profit growth and increasing profit-expectations (further encouraged by stock-trading), as well as the phenomenal rise in income disparity between wage earners and top-level management and corporate earnings. Businesses now routinely expect 10% to 15% annual growth, while wage rates continue to stagnate.

    Second, the crowding out of wage income has a very important adverse impact on the demand side that affects the manufacturing sector. The ever decreasing spending money among the lager wage earning population invariably translates to falling consumption demand, and it is the consumption demand that determines whether the sector would grow or shrink – it is not a unilateral production side decision.

    Is it then a surprise that the larger malls and retail stores are increasingly disappearing in all cities in the U.S.? Even if as you say “‘average’ America lives beyond its means” what is more important is “are they in fact increasingly doing so”? Not likely at all. Which direction you are moving in is more important than where you are now.

    Recently someone observed that when Americans went Christmas shopping fifteen years ago, they spread their $250 in purchases among $40 toys, $30 shirts, $25 Christmas groceries, $15 candies, etc, that kept a wide swath of the economy going. Now they go straight to the electronic store and plunk $700 on the latest gadget and there is little left for anything else! Sadly, most of that $700 goes to corporate profits, with little spared for the rest of the economy!

    My point is that the diminished demand as a consequence of rising corporate profits (crowding out wages) is another critical factor why U.S. manufacturing has stalled.

    Third, I think the components within the “Benefits” in BP also need attention. Possibly the single largest and increasing cost in “benefits” is attributable to medical benefits. The increasing healthcare and insurance cost does little to effective “wages and welfare” – rather, it is another component that merely contributes increasingly to the corporate profits of the healthcare, pharmaceutical and insurance companies while the manufacturing concern paying those increases sees its denominator (BP) bloat thus making its PP less competitive in the world market. Anecdotally, even as all states in the U.S. see more and more of their malls (and schools) closing, it is vividly and visibly obvious how health, pharmaceuticals and health insurance companies remain on a prosperous, if not extravagant trend.

    In summary, I feel that while you are on the dot in identifying the denominator BP as the principal culprit, your focus on “wages and welfare” may be misplaced. Pursuing a reduction of “wages and welfare” as you recommend may, in fact, make the manufacturing situation worse (by lowering consumer’s capacity to spend) rather than better.

    PS: Of course, if you had intended that the “welfare” component would include profits, I would still think that it will need to be separated out as “wage-earner welfare” versus “corporate welfare,” so as to pointedly target the truly offending component – and avoid a drone attack on all welfare!.

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    Kumar,

    It does not matter who the Americans choose. The status quo will remain the same. There are other forces who really run the US. The election of a president is only a ball game – a well orchestrated camouflage. The powers that be that is closely allied to the military industrial giants which is closely controlled by the Jewish establishments will ensure that business goes on as usual. Obama promised many things and achieved nothing but hogwash. Trump will go the same way. The white Christians who voted Trump in en masse are headed for disappointment.

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    “[H]e is a loose cannon”
    Do not worry: from now on the scriptwriters will look after HIM.
    (If the US could survive Reagan it should survive anyone, including Hillary C if she was elected. The state is not just the elected government or ‘head of state’, the Marxist within Prof. AKD should know better.)

    If Trump is the US analogue of Mussolini, then who is the equivalent of Adolf? The way the US is moving, can it very nearly be any President endorsed by the Establishment?
    How I wish HC exposed herself well ahead of the Democratic nomination. Then there would have been a real political choice before the voter.

    The point is that the US establishment has been a loose cannon for well nigh three centuries, after the decline of the USSR. Who will control it?

  • 1
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    Economy is in better condition. No war. Obama care is not paid by individuals pockets, though very few are doing it. It is mainly in industrial states where Hilary won, not in the white majority states.

    Hilary is not seen as desirable person. But Trump had been more than that in the polls(They are wrong anyway). Christian Organization has been claiming Trump is an angel came from heaven. But when they were asked about groping, they answered he had taken rebirth from those. But what is American population attachment to religion to create a wave like this? E-mails did not do any damage to US’s security. I do not see any inexcusable damage in that to US. After all these were brought out mainly by American enemies Wikileaks and Russian hackers. They are the friends of Trup. That is a dangerous security problem for US.

    American’s feeling of they are miniscule-d in the world arena is the left out reason for this Trump wave. Russia has set up a base in Syria. Iran was paid for the Pact. Russia has been very active in the Eastern Europe. It shot the Malaysian plane from Ukraine. They want to build new base in Cuba. North Korea is threatening. China and Russia are threatening. Germany taking EU in its pockets. Secretary Kerry’s handling of Lankawe is messy, though that not popular in US. It is the American foreign policy brought down Hillary today. In other words it is being done by one hand, Secretary Kerry.

    It is secretary Kerry defeated the next Democratic Party president, not anybody else.

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    Who would have thought a supermodel from former USSR would talk about cyber bullying to Yankees! yadi yadi ya!

    Give some credit to our reality show star Mr DT. Don’t we love Cinderella stories? We’ll all adapt to 21st century reality show politics sooner than later.

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      She is not from Russia but from the Balkans. SHE IS SLOVENIAN; Slovenia was part of old Yugoslavia. She is a “model” means a gold digger and this will be first first lady in the US to have been a nude model. So unlike the Obamas this will be a tacky vulgar TV reality show like WhiteHouse.

      But Kumar you got it wrong. Hillary won the Popular vote but if she cannot hold WI and MI she deserved to lose. Do not be enamoured by her. Bernie would have defeated Trump. A billionaire who never had to scrape to make ends meet capitalized on a white wave of anger. Add to that the in your face Gay agenda and LGBTQ bathroom messes. White evangelicals came out in massive numbers. Trump won most of the White demographics including WHITE WOMEN. So this election is the exact opposite of Obama’s or Sirisena’s elections. This was an exclusionary election. Numbers are not out yet.

      ONLY 5 times did we in the US have Presidents who lost the popular vote. In recent times that happened in 2000 when Al Gore lost.

      Another stupidity is Hillary’s trying to parcel all Brown Latinos and S.Asians into the same category. Cubans who fled communism are 100% solidly Republican. So are many prosperous non Mexicans. Hispanic Americans who are more American than whites in states like Texas also are Republican and they are usually socially conservative and devout Catholics.

      You are just running your mouth off without deep data that is yet to come. One this is sure; your Hindian Americans like Biswal are fucked. She, incompetent clown Susan Rice, Arrogant Samantha Power, Rivkin, Malinowski are out of jobs come January. WE will have a tough team that will no longer be afraid to call ISIS for what they are. Islamic racist terrorists.

      White middle america was insulted and left behind.

      http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/11/09/behind-trumps-victory-divisions-by-race-gender-education/

      This was a WHITE ELECTION OF A WHITE MAN IN A WHITE MAJORITY COUNTRY. OBAMA FAILED and got egg all over his face now. Hillary was arrogant and crooked. She was so arrogant she did not campaign in Wisconsin. That would have helped her. So when Hindian Keshap starts to bullshit in Jaffna tell him to get the fucka outta here. This was WHITE RACIST vote.

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    Seventy Million Americans are indebted due to cost of Health Care.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_debt

    Health Care in USA is administered by insurance companies who have most congressmen in their pockets.
    Trump will change this – to be like in Canada (Colorado has done this) and UK.

    Trump has excellent advisers including the Pentagon Generals and the cream of bureaucrats.
    He will abolish Corporate Corruption.
    He survived against constant barrage against him by the media.
    The Second Amendment is important – as NRA says, “Guns don’t kill people. People kill people”.

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    Only a simple mind will dismiss Trump’s victory as a right wing, racist, white working class movement or reaction. There were a lot of people fed up with the establishment politics embraced by Obama / Clinton liberals. Fed up with their war mongering and support of terrorist at cost to American lives and America’s prosperity. Fed up with the increasing control of American, especially the Liberal, political establishment by non Americans and foreign interest (as seen in the power held by Huma Abedin and corruption of the Clinton foundation). This is a revolution in this globalised world.

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    Kumar you got it wrong. Hillary won the Popular vote but if she cannot hold WI and MI she deserved to lose. Do not be enamoured by her. Bernie would have defeated Trump. A billionaire who never had to scrape to make ends meet capitalized on a white wave of anger. Add to that the in your face Gay agenda and LGBTQ bathroom messes. White evangelicals came out in massive numbers. Trump won most of the White demographics including WHITE WOMEN. So this election is the exact opposite of Obama’s or Sirisena’s elections. This was an exclusionary election. Numbers are not out yet.

    ONLY 5 times did we in the US have Presidents who lost the popular vote. In recent times that happened in 2000 when Al Gore lost.

    Another stupidity is Hillary’s trying to parcel all Brown Latinos and S.Asians into the same category. Cubans who fled communism are 100% solidly Republican. So are many prosperous non Mexicans. Hispanic Americans who are more American than whites in states like Texas also are Republican and they are usually socially conservative and devout Catholics.

    You are just running your mouth off without deep data that is yet to come. One this is sure; your Hindian Americans like Biswal are fucked. She, incompetent clown Susan Rice, Arrogant Samantha Power, Rivkin, Malinowski are out of jobs come January. WE will have a tough team that will no longer be afraid to call ISIS for what they are. Islamic racist terrorists.

    White middle america was insulted and left behind.

    http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/11/09/behind-trumps-victory-divisions-by-race-gender-education/

    This was a WHITE ELECTION OF A WHITE MAN IN A WHITE MAJORITY COUNTRY. OBAMA FAILED and got egg all over his face now. Hillary was arrogant and crooked. She was so arrogant she did not campaign in Wisconsin. That would have helped her. So when Hindian Keshap starts to bullshit in Jaffna tell him to get the fucka outta here. This was WHITE RACIST vote.

    She is not from Russia but from the Balkans. SHE IS SLOVENIAN; Slovenia was part of old Yugoslavia. She is a “model” means a gold digger and this will be first first lady in the US to have been a nude model. So unlike the Obamas this will be a tacky vulgar TV reality show like WhiteHouse. Her nude photos are widely available on the Internet of things.

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    Where are those racist donkeys who funded Clinton campaign and cracked coconuts?

    Soma

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    Will Trump implement his election promise of stopping Muslims? I hope this will be the beginning of the long road to winding down Islam which is the civilisational responsibility of unbelievers and non Muslims. What stands in the way is their own ethical standards. Slowly but surely phasing out Islam will happen. The challenge is is to do it with least harm to brainwashed victims.

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    Northern PC member M. K. Sivajilingam, who is a relative of LTTE supremo V. Prabhakaran, smashed 1008 coconuts at Nallur Kovil, Jaffna to invoke blessings for Hillary Clinton in her bid to win the Presidency of the US. Sivaji believed and said to media that all the troubles of Tamils will vanish after Hillary’s victory. What an insult to God(s)? What an insult to the democratic decision of the people of the US?
    Hillary Clinton has been known as a pro Tamil US politician and her victory would have been beneficial to SL Tamil politicians and the Tamil diaspora. With Hillary’s defeat the Tamil diaspora and Tamil politicians in SL are now in total disarray. They are in a bitter dilemma and now trying to find a way out of their own mess; i.e. to reach President elect Donald Trump; unfortunately Mr. Trump is fully aware of this undemocratic favor that was extended to Hillary under the name ‘Tamils for Hillary’. As immigrants Tamils have used a democratic election in US to get support for terrorism. I don’t think this would be ignored by the Trump administration that is determined to finish off terror funding and terrorism in the world. A Sri Lankan living in the US told me that Tamils won’t be able to play dubious political games this time, specially with President-elect Donald Trump as they had been doing with Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama.
    Just out of curiosity, I did a bit of internet search: ‘Tamils for Hillary’ is an extended arm planned and implemented by Raj Rajaratnam; a strong Tiger supporter (now is serving a 11-year prison term in a US federal prison for insider trading) with the sole intention of bringing Hillary Clinton to White House in 2008; the movement collected funds, arranged close-door meetings, sent emails to SL Tamils in USA, used twitter, skype, and facebook and all available social media for this purpose. They spent millions of $$$ but failed.
    When Hillary lost the 2008 candidacy the movement’s name was cunningly changed to ‘Tamils for Obama’ and expected to get favors from Hillary once she secured a high position in Obama administration. Obviously they succeeded and their efforts culminated in ‘regime change’ in Sri Lanka. Obama, Hillary, and John Kerry boasted about it and called it ‘Rainbow revolution’.
    In 2015 Tamils for Hillary’ was re-launched to re-continue Tamils’ support for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential bid. Among other things, if you are interested there is an audio recording of her infamous Guardian interview on Tamils for Hillary’s Facebook. On the same Facebook page, a reader questions in Tamil if America actually supports the Tigers and gets the following response: “Hillary supports LTTE.” Apparently Tamils for Hillary has sought her help through ‘Tamils for Hillary’ to get the Tigers de-listed from the State Department’s list of foreign terrorist organizations!
    Luckily Almighty God and all Hindu Gods were not in favor of Hillary Clinton for obvious reasons; who would like to help those who expect to help terrorism? I believe that President-elect Mr. Donald Trump is aware of these hypocrites who went against him during his hard-fought election campaign.

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    are u saying a civil war due to trump?
    also american dollar can pay itself out, as its the world currency now. time will tell.
    but i can say one thing: what goes around comes around.

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    Dr. David,
    How would you explain the following (an excerpt from another Web article):

    “It was a case of ‘Trump vs the Rest’ with all US and western corporate media besides web publications and opinion makers ganging up against him. Even CNN and prestigious publications like The New York Times stood accused of being partial to Clinton. What Trump has won is not an election as such but a propaganda war of Goebbelisian proportion. Not all key Republicans threw their weight behind him; some of them even campaigned hard against him, calling him names. Even international figures such as UNHRC Chief Zeid Hussein, who should not get involved in the political affairs of UN member states, campaigned against him openly. A beleaguered Trump has won against all of them.”

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      RCP Average on the day of election showed 3.2 % for Hillary. This should have generated a Hillary wave. RCP collect more than 10 popular polls and average them. Other than one poll from LA Times/USC Tracking all other polls had predicted on that day more than 3% victory for Hillary. LA Times/USC Tracking had predicted more than 4% victory for Trump when the height of her high polarity during the groping sandal. Other had predicted double digit victory for her. So it is not clear from where LA Times/USC Tracking came out with its number.

      If two companies provide victory for Hillary with 95% accuracy, then the clean error percentage is no longer 5%(.05). It falls down to .05x.05=.0025. So when 9 or 10 polls suggest victory, it is almost a 100% certainty. What happened is a big opening for a deep analysis. It is a big social change of Americans’ openness to one another. What here is, about a 10 or 20 years ago people were not ready to openly talk about sex, American has descended into a new norm of not to talking about politics openly. What kind of correction the polling stations can do for this is, when one refuses to answer to a call question, then they should add a percentage of that calls negatively to the popular opinion. They have to treat those people as not want to get along with the stream.

      When Sandy was destroying the East Coast, American could not predict it and borrowed data from EU. The same way it seems Trump depended on a foreign firm to his analysis rather than the US polling companies. That is not well in Trump’s howling of bringing back jobs to US. But it seems to be have done the job. Hereafter no manufacturing company will ready accept what the US polling companies provide as the data of their product and service. Now, like all other manufacturing jobs, including Ford, which Trump was very critical of, these type of pure US inland jobs too going to leave US.

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    If you have heard Trump say ‘the lives or African Americans are horrible” about the middle cities and the appalling living conditions, and if you believe him, (not only believe his controversial sayings) then you
    may reach the conclusion that he is really trying to help to improve their lives. If that’s Racist so be it.

    Also, his relations with Putin bode well for world peace, and Trump has said he ‘respects China’. But China, is, as some point out, a potential for a future war.

    On the other points I agree with Mr. David: like Obama, Trump may betray his supporters (where does that sound familiar).

    “He will be forced to come in line with the Washington Establishment.”

    “Here is my conclusion. There is nothing Trump can do about a dilemma whose roots lie deep in the laws of the dynamics of capitalism. Social transformation is not on the agenda and biting austerity is not politically feasible since America is not psychologically ready to climb down from its addiction unaffordable life styles. That means crisis!”

    I hope this is not true, but the analysis seems to be the most insightful I have seen in years. That being said, it is a deeply disturbing commentory on the state of Democracy and the futility of the hopes and dreams of
    the common man, whatever his color.

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    Dr.Kumar,
    Do you know smart patriots DJ & his demi God MaRa in desperation have already started to praise Trump ? They may think that Trump won’t interefere in the internal affairs OF SL and will allow MaRa regime to come back soon.

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    Rajapakse got the last laugh. Under Hillary and lesbo lovers and the pathetic liberal lobby Eelam would have been a certainty. Mr. Trump does not know Sirisena, or Ranil or does not care a fuck about Sri Lanka. Biswal will be out of a job and her joy rides to come threaten Sri Lanka are gone. Mangy’s love affair with gay marriage legalizing ends. America First. You third world boys DO NOT come begging to us or try to sell Victoria’s Secret bras to us by undercutting us. Go ahead and smash coconuts Tamil Tigers. Go ahead and make our day. We do not need you or your corrupt inherently nasty nation.

    AMERICA FIRST.

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