[FRIAM] And so it begins: the dark times

Sat Jan 21 19:22:12 EST 2017

Make no mistake, Jochen, there were many men marching in the crowds. 

The angry white men are generally older, high school graduates or less, though not necessarily in poverty, who see the world around them changing, and imagine that Trump can turn back the clock: coal mines will reopen, old-time factories, too, and they needn’t even think about watching their mouths around women or minorities.

But also, plenty of women voted for Trump. The New York Times interviewed some of them. Their answers were appalling: “You’ve got to look behind the words and find what’s in his heart.” Or, “I’m looking for the good in him.” As if he were a juvenile delinquent eligible for foster care, not a candidate for president. 

We talked in this group about Type 1 thinking (slow, analytical) and Type 2 (impulsive, spontaneous). Voters for Trump have admired him because “he says what he thinks,” whereas Clinton was measured and thoughtful, which these people took to be “phony.”

It’s certainly a civil war between the Type 1 and the Type 2 thinkers.

> On Jan 21, 2017, at 2:52 PM, Jochen Fromm <jofr at cas-group.net> wrote:
> 
> I have watched the large demonstrations of the women's march today on CNN, it is pretty impressive. Finally some protests, why did it take so long? It looks like there is still some hope.
> 
> It feels a bit like an American Civil War, not between south and north, between Confederate and United States, but between angry white males represented by Donald Trump and peaceful women represented by Hillary Clinton.
> 
> In Europe we had at least two traumatic periods of war: the 30 years war from 1618-1648 between catholic and protestant states, and the 30 years from the beginning of WW I in 1914/15 until the end of WW II 1945 between various forms of *-isms (fascism in Italy and nazism in Germany vs communism in Russia and capitalism in the rest of the world). Every time Germany was in ruins afterwards.
> 
> If America should slide into authoritarianism like Turkey and all the *-stan countries such as Turkmenistan or Kazakhstan it will not end well. 
> 
> -J
> 
> 
> -------- Original message --------
> From: Steven A Smith <sasmyth at swcp.com>
> Date: 1/21/17 21:53 (GMT+01:00)
> To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <friam at redfish.com>
> Subject: Re: [FRIAM] And so it begins: the dark times
> 
> Jochen, et al -
> 
> I have to say I accept or agree with the idea of a sitting President (or any high official) having close access to their most trusted advisors, whether they are family or friends.  It is only natural IMO and in principle will allow them to do a better job.  I understand the anti-nepotism rules to avoid there being any "profiting" which is moot among the uber-wealthy such as Trump and Kushner.   I understand restricting cabinet and other "conserved" positions such as the one Bobby Kennedy held from 60-6-4 as Attorney General.  We deserve a broader base of perspective than that of a "dynasty"... 
> All that said, Kushner (or Ivanka or ???) in the White House is disturbing for the conflict of interest reasons.  If Trump pretends he (and he alone, because HE is so mighty and great) could run both Trump Inc. and Trump USA at the same time, he is admitting to an intended conflict of interest (or complete unawareness of the basic meaning of the term?).   If he claims handing his day-to-day in Trump Inc off to Ivanka and Kushner and ???  waives the conflict of interest, he is mistaken, and by installing Kushner IN the White-House makes that conflict explicit again.  Nothing I would not expect from him.   
> 
> - Steve
> 
> On 1/21/17 9:23 AM, Eric Charles wrote:
>> Actually Jochen, this one is squarely on the Clintons. When Bill appointed Hillary to a White House task force back in the early 1990s, this went through the court system. The judges in that case ruled that the law applied to Cabinet appointments and paid positions within the larger government, but not to White House staff. Kushner will similarly be in a unpaid position. 
>> 
>> “We doubt that Congress intended to include the White House or the Executive Office of the President” D.C. Circuit Judge Laurence Silberman wrote in the 1993 decision, <http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/01/09/hillary-clinton-helped-pave-way-for-jared-kushner-in-the-white-house.html> “So, for example, a President would be barred from appointing his brother as Attorney General, but perhaps not as a White House special assistant.”
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> -----------
>> Eric P. Charles, Ph.D.
>> Supervisory Survey Statistician
>> U.S. Marine Corps
>> 
>> On Sat, Jan 21, 2017 at 4:57 AM, Jochen Fromm <jofr at cas-group.net <mailto:jofr at cas-group.net>> wrote:
>> First it was not clear what *-ism mix it will be - authoritarianism, nepotism, cronyism, nationalism or a mixture of it. Sarah Kendzior and Paul Krugman predict we will end up in an authoritarian dictatorship. What do you think, which *-ism will it be?
>> 
>> Maybe you could say the new minority president teaches nationalism, practices nepotism and cronyism and leads inevitably to authoritarianism. Will he be allowed to break the law? Isn't hiring of Jared Kushner already illegal?
>> 
>> The law clearly says: "A public official may not appoint, employ, promote [..] in or to a civilian position in the agency in which he is serving or over which he exercises jurisdiction or control any individual who is a relative of the public official."
>> https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/5/3110 <https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/5/3110>
>> 
>> -J.
>> 
>> 
>> 
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