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On Nov 9, tens of millions of Americans will awaken to the realization that someone they loathe will be the 45th president of the United States due to the bitter political divide in the country. How c

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It doesn't have to unify. It is not unified. It is a plutocracy anyway. Not a democracy. It is run by the rich for the rich. And their factions fight it out. And all the while the rest are fed a steady diet of ideology which they sup up like it is the very juices of life. If this election proves anything it is that the people are "a bewildered herd".

9 ( +13 / -4 )

Fix the extreme inequality

That's it. This is what Sanders wanted to do, and why he really was the best option. Trump wants to rig the country further towards the 1%. Hillary wants to keep it where it's at. Sanders wanted to fix it.

Hopefully the US can find someone with the same principles before the next election, and hopefully the RNC can fix it's rigged primary system (because it actually was rigged against Sanders).

8 ( +15 / -7 )

The US is rarely if ever unified and that's not necessarily a bad thing. What will happen? We will do what we always do; we'll get up,and get on with our lives. I have a feeling that whoever is elected will be a one-termer anyway.

6 ( +8 / -2 )

Fix the extreme inequality, which continues to grow. That's the key reason for the problem in the first place.

5 ( +11 / -6 )

Is this election far more divisive than others in recent history? I think people have short memories. George W. Bush's re-election campaign vs. John Kerry in 2004 was brutal, particularly due to the adamant pro- and anti- Bush stances of many Americans at that time, following the September 11 attacks and subsequent wars in the Middle East.

If anything, the current election is more emotional but far less informed or articulate for the people. It's been blood-thirsty cheap shot after low blow after cheap shot, with lots of very vague and sweeping generalizations. The overall discussion about this election has been a big step back in standards, from both the people and the media.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

How can the U.S. unify after such a vitriolic campaign?

Reflect on the crash and burn of Donald Trump.

3 ( +7 / -4 )

It can't. It shouldn't. It won't. The diversity of irreconcilable views is what the US is made of.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

The harsh truth about any democracy is that people always deserve the leaders they choose.

None of the current candidates have the leadership qualities and charisma of some of their predecessor Presidents. Present candidates don't even come close to Obama's oratory skills, leadership skills and knowledge about global politics. From the preliminary debates it was more about personal bickering rather than debate on US stand on various policies. Thats certainly not a healthy sign for any nation.

There is bound to be chaos in US irrespective of the election results. In other words there is not much difference between US election and election in any third world democratic nation this time around. Changing times.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

The harsh truth about any democracy is that people always deserve the leaders they choose.

Not really. If democracies were truly open, then anyone could theoretically run, and the best candidates would end up being the final choices. This would be an ideal situation, and the people would end up with the leader they deserve as you say. But the reality is that there are vested interests, existing parties, and requirements of money, that limit the people who end up as candidates.

Democracy as an ideal is as attractive as Communism as an ideal. In reality though, neither ends up being ideal.

2 ( +7 / -5 )

Original Wing - You make a good point. However, I think this campaign has been more brutal than the 2004 campaign. I do agree that one was bad but this is worse.

Here, neither party has put forth a very good candidate and both candidates are divisive and abrasive in their own ways.

On the other hand it benefits the politically connected and the rich when the populace is divided and cannot unite against some of the institutions in government that work against the interest of the masses.

@anotherexpat - Yes the country is made up (and should be) of a diversity of views, however this has devolved into something unhealthy.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Choosing between Hillary and Trump are like choosing between death by hanging or firing squad. Regardless of who wins, the country as a whole will lose. But the people have themselves to blame, it is because of their ambivalence that a country with the world's best and brightest can choose only between a used car salesman writ large, and one of the most corrupt and dishonest politicians of our generation. .

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Considering what we have seen with the election campaign, the US guys at the office are now debating when the US will break up. They seem to think the US has another 10 to 15 years at most. They are all permanent residents of Japan now and one naturalized, so they are not really worried for themselves, but only about their families in the US.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

We can only hope that President Clinton or President Trump will be different from candidate Clinton and candidate Trump.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

I am avidly against Trump, however @dcog9065 - Can you please advise me what kind of treason his supporters have committed?

@CH3CH0 - In spite of the fact I find Trump a dangerous candidate I have met many Trump supporters who have been able to articulate their reasons for supporting him. Many want to work, or are working and are successful. Several I have met can discuss quite complicated topics. I disagree with them but I listen to their arguments and their points. I have yet to be convinced I should vote for Trump, however I think that is quite an over-generalization.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

With Clinton we can choose from multiple screw ups and deceptions!

You can find these with any politician from either party.

The problem is that politicians have set themselves up to be the ultimate middle men (or women). They make sure that no transaction of any type for any amount of money cannot occur without their permission or influence. And like any other middleman, they get to keep a large percentage of the money which changes hands.

Everyone wants a strong government which enforces the laws, promotes the welfare of the people, and provides a high quality of life. But for the government do be able to do these things (most of which could be done by the people without the assistance of the government), we must give the state the power to coerce the money it needs to pay for these things. The problem is that those politicians who spend the money are no less weak, ambitious, or greedy than anyone else, and they use the power they have to enrich themselves.

The Clinton foundation is a $2 billion organization which has made Bill and Hillary immensely rich. The Clinton foundation provides no goods or services which any Americans need. Founded as a charity, so as to avoid taxes, and to allow tax exemptions for donors, it is an amazing scheme by which wealthy individuals and nation states can pay in order to get a piece of the American taxpayer funded pie. Like most charities, the money which is spent to help others is quite small, the lion's share of the money is paid out to the executives and employees in the foundation, and these jobs can be traded in exchange for large tax exempt donations.

What I dislike about Hillary and Bill is that they are blatantly corrupt, and have actually done very little to disguise the fact. They peddle influence to the highest bidder, and always have. Every politician does the same thing, but never with such sophistication or on as large a scale as the Clintons.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

The American conservatives have used a slash and burn, scorched earth policy to gain control of government.

I do not know how we recover from this assault by the uneducated right-wing of America.

0 ( +5 / -5 )

Unified? No country is unified.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The “division” must be pretty convenient for those who exploit the situation behind the curtain since they can let the pathetic go for each others’ throats while they can keep their profits, averting the real issues from their eyes.

If the candidates were serious about the real issues and had will to actually tackle with them, they must have been talking of concrete policies they are going to do rather than just empty rhetoric in trying to take advantage of each other.

I had already seen enough share of people raving about various types of idiotic nationalism (be it anti-Muslim, Black Lives Matter movement or anti-Korean/Chinese feeling, etc) either in English or Japanese. However, the underlining theme seems to remain quite similar among different countries.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

it's interesting isn't it, how the people who support clinton the most, are the ones being the most discriminatory, prejudiced and despicable in their actions.

these same people bash trump for saying things like control immigration and reduce dependence on china.

your ways are comical to me.

It can't be unified after a campaign like this. Trumpettes need to be mocked and shamed for the rest of their lives

0 ( +3 / -3 )

This election has been different. There will be no unity afterwards. This has been a choice of the lesser of two evils.

After the Obama-Rommey election we were resigned to the fact Obama won and moved on from there.

This time there is nothing of the sort. The winner will be despised and hated by the other side. Either way the average American loses this election.

Caesar has spoken....and voted.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

I will be glad to know we will no longer have to put up with never ending articles about Hillary and Donald here on JT.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

How can the U.S. unify after such a vitriolic campaign?

If Trump wins, I think the US (and the world) will get a watered down version of Trump the candidate. There's no way he can actually do the things he says he wants to do when he's President.

If Hillary wins, nothing will change.

Either way, they will unify in some sort of compromised change with Trump, or sit around and change nothing with Hillary.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Reduce the power of the Federal government and give more power back to the states and to the people so that Washington politicians will matter less.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

I don't know if anything can cause Americans to unify, but the trend toward disunification would slow way down if news organizations quit pretending they were social media organizations and remembered their job is to be journalists. A competent investigation of Trump's background could have gotten him laughed off the stage well before the Republican primary, but that never happened because the drama of a tight election grabs more eyeballs than competent governance. Yeah, I'm sure all the ad revenue that came from covering infantile spats how how big candidates say their genitals are or how attractive their wives are was great, but fat lot of good it will do you if your shoddy coverage elects a would-be authoritarian whose first order of business is to shut down any news organization that reports what he doesn't like.

Maybe next year remember you have journalistic gonads at some point before October.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

It probably doesn't matter, I'm not fond od either canident

0 ( +0 / -0 )

With Clinton we can choose from multiple screw ups and deceptions! Lying to the country about Benghazi Voter fraud committed by her own party The smearing of other candidates by her cronies Using and deleting thousands of emails on a non secure server Allowing the US constitution to be abused by having the NSA spy illegally on her fellow Americans The Clinton Foundation by accepting donations from foreign powers has allowed her to be influenced by foreign interests Massive donations from private financial companies such as Goldman Sachs point to vested interests being able to influence her judgement. And anyone that collapses and has to sleep most of the time and refuses to release her medical records has to be under scrutiny as to their ability to lead the US

Being under investigation by the FBI should also show the American a people that Clinton is not to be trusted as leader of the US!

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Looks like Trump will get the nomination so let's see him working hard for America going forward......

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Cannot.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

It can't be unified after a campaign like this. Trumpettes need to be mocked and shamed for the rest of their lives

It wont be unified as long as people with this attitude exist.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

@notagain. This is relative. The US is as un unified as I have ever seen (and I'm old)

The divide these days is deep and dangerous

@himajin. Agree. 100%

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Trumpettes need to be mocked and shamed for the rest of their lives to ensure this treason never occurs again. The Trumpette needs to learn his place

This and the upvotes for it reflect why the country can't unite. This sort of fascism is on the rise in the US, and may well end in real bloodshed and tragedy.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

Nationalism and fascism rise when a country is sinking. That is the meaning of the Trump surge in this election.(fascism=blame all your problems on someone else)

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

WAR!

It has always unified Americans, and since America is almost constantly at war, just bring on another one and watch everybody jump up and down, enlist, and then get stuck for another 15 years or so with lots of dead and maimed young people, and billions wasted on other lands and the people that hate us anyway.

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

It can't be unified after a campaign like this. Trumpettes need to be mocked and shamed for the rest of their lives to ensure this treason never occurs again. The Trumpette needs to learn his place

-2 ( +3 / -5 )

This sort of fascism is on the rise in the US

It's not facism, but rather disgust at the behavior and obstructionism of the Republican party over the past eight years.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

After the Obama-Rommey election we were resigned to the fact Obama won and moved on from there.

But that wasn't the case - the Republicans went on to obstruction rather than opposition. They shut down the government. And when they didn't get their way with everything, they started looking forward to the next election. The smears against Hillary began. Years of Benghazi investigations. Years of email investigations. Years of smearing her reputation. And it's still going on.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

it's interesting isn't it, how the people who support clinton the most, are the ones being the most discriminatory

@James Burke: I proudly admit that I'm discriminatory towards the Trumpette, a class so low that they can only be enemies of America who are deliberately trying to ruin it due to their unsatisfactory lives. Their shocking negativity and pessimism is a grave insult to all American history and the damage they have done to their own country is irreparable.

I will admit this discrimination, however I don't expect the Trumpette to admit to their own discriminatory views and bigotry due to their quality being too poor

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

How can the U.S. unify after such a vitriolic campaign?

That's easy: respect the results of the election(s). Let the winning party rule in accordance with our laws.

We Dems will win the Presidency tomorrow and the Senate. That means HRC will nominate a liberal Supreme Court justice, and the Democratic Senate will confirm that justice. But the disgusting Republicans believe, and this is the problem, that no liberal can legitimately sit replace the vacancy left by Scalia.

All this blather about unity is crap. The Republicans have not been playing by the rules. They need to bow to our laws. The need to respect our traditions.

Unity will come when the Republicans admit they've lost!

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

When whom wins attempts to change the 2nd amendment and they will, that when 100 of millions of American will unite. Did you realise if the Afro, latino Americans and others race minority fraction join together under one Party, they will become the Majority at 60%. What remains is the 40 % white voters. If Hill,s wins she has stated that she will start degrading the 2nd and this will set of events. What happen if Trump win and go ahead with his rhetoric ? I assume that the Majority 60% will join forces. This will prompt the Reps to start degrading the 2nd also. So this election and what happen after is very very important for the future of America and the West.

-5 ( +0 / -5 )

There was a very interesting article in a Japanese magazine that profiles Trump supporters. According to the article,

1 They are not in healthy economic conditions and they think someone will come from somewhere to save them.

2 They loathe to make any efforts to help themselves.

3 They have been deceived several times in their life. They are very incredulous, but at the same time, they are prone to deception.

4 They do not want to be seen unintelligent. So, they cannot talk about complicated topics, such as politics, with the people who may disagree with them. This, in turn, makes their view very biased.

I think it is an insightful analysis.

My bet is that US will commit mass suicide by voting Trump.

-12 ( +1 / -13 )

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