And experience with different types of political systems and politicians?

n/t

As to Trump, and speaking of GOP politics in general, it seems to me, and to many of my family, that the GOP is basically opposed to the idea of government, treating government and government workers as some sort of enemy force imposed on the American people. Almost as if the GOP represents people who are still fighting against the English occupying army. Your revolution ended 200+ years ago. And your civil war 150 years ago.

By contrast, in the 1960s there was a Provincial Premier of Quebec named Jean Lesage. He answered the question of "what is government" roughly in this way:

The (Quebec) Government is not a stranger among us. It is of us, it comes from us, and exists to link us together. He went on to talk about the proper function of government as doing what individuals cannot.

=============================
That should be obvious, but apparently not to the GOP, especially the Libertarian wing.

This scorched earth policy favored by one US political party serves no purpose.

Whatever happened to civil disagreement?

President Obama wasted 6 years attempting to compromise on issues, but it is obvious that to the current GOP
compromise=surrender.

(to put it politely) Congress, I just don't know.

Makes me admire him all the more.

As for the congressional sheep (no offense to four-legged wooly animals) who don't disavow The Orange One's rants - I just shake my head.

After telling my daughters mother in law visiting from Scotland what I thought about him. Does that count?

Edit: btw this was before he even made it out of the primaries. So he hadn't unleashed the full dipshit in him.

She was worried when she came here I was a trumpite. She says she doesn't know anyone over there who thinks he should be even be allowed in public. Plus a few other choice words about him. She did say if they actually had a vote banning him from Scotland it would be a lot higher then the 2 to 3 vote they had cast against brexit.

What happens here will affect the entire world. Most of the world is far better informed than many US citizens.

I attended a dinner in Interlaken, having flown all night from SFO to Zurich. My group arrived late on December 18, 2000 and we had no idea what had happened while we were inflight or transferring to Interlaken. Our extremely polite Swiss hosts cautiously told us about the Supreme Court decision putting W in the White House. We Americans groaned and said it was a disaster. Our hosts seemed relieved that they could tell us what they really felt.

Is if my wife and I went back over there to visit. (We visited last year.) I'd wear a f@#k trump t-shirt to make sure people there understood I wasn't a trumpite. It would probably be a good idea if someone from here visiting there would do the same. I can't even imagine what they would think about the American people if he were elected.

with a caption reading (something like) "Can 42,000 Million Americans Be This Dumb?"

Ugh...

Australia here, follower of US politics for years.

I thought the Trump candicacy was a scam from the start; unfortunately I attributed more noble reasons to it. During the run-up to the primaries I could not believe that stuff that came out of his mouth and (falsely) assumed he was a cluey businessman with liberal leanings, determined to expose the 'sound bite' politics and rage that has come to typify the Republican platform. I mean, really - no one could be that stupid, could they? I honestly believed this was a ploy to get his name all over the news and at some stage he would withdraw and say, 'Fooled you all.'

As we all know, that is not what happened.

We have the Westminster parliamentary system here, with a few tweaks. Voting is compulsory, well, you are obliged to turn up to the polling booth and have your name crossed off. Thus no need to GOTV. We also have preferential voting which tends to result in the least hated being elected rather than the most popular. No direct elections - the leader of the party with most seats in the House becomes Prime Minister.

This tends to take the edge off outrageous comments, insults and slurs as demonstrated by the bile that flows from Trump's mouth. It also means that overall, I think Aussies are less immersed in the political process/election cycle than the US. This could be a good or bad thing, but it seems to not breed the same polarization and verbal violence that you suffer.

I did, for an extremely short time, flirt with the idea that Trump was a false flag op, designed to turn voters away from the republicans, although never with the idea that this had been set up by the Clintons. The longer he hung in, the more he spoke and tweeted I came to see the serious personal and intellectual deficiences the man has. However, I also believe that there is a vast majority of decent, sane, moderate and sensible Americans who eschew the sound bites and vitriol and will make the choice for Hillary.

This campaign will be talked and written about for years and it will not be complimentary towards Trump or his supporters.

... although I doubt that the USA will ever adopt it. Too many citizens would consider it sacrilege and "against the Constitution, you Commie!"

I know that you weren't making that suggestion. I mostly wanted to give your system a compliment. I think it helps to keep issues at the forefront and not personalities. It also gives people who really KNOW the personalities and skills of fellow party members the choice over the leaders.

I've been a populist for many years, but this article about how American politics used to be managed has made me question that attitude somewhat.

"How American Politics Went Insane"
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/07/how-american-politics-went-insane/485570/

I understand why and how your political system came about; the revolution, the break from the English, the new start....that all contributes to the country you are today.

Spread the word - we're mortified!

I don't know if I count?

But anyway, in the UK, or at least in London where I am, basically everyone is holding their breath hoping the Americans don't f*ck it up and subject everyone to Trump for the next 4 years. The US election is front page news. They are very aware that he might start WWIII or nuke a European country.

How does it appear from the outside looking in?

Do other countries think we're crazy to allow this nutball to get this far? Of course, his Republican competition was all over the map, but really!

Loose cannon doesn't even begin to describe it.

I mean, Britain has just appointed Boris Johnson (who's basically Trump with his hair on backwards) as Foreign Affairs Secretary, which is just incredibly embarrassing. So we don't have THAT much room to talk. However, Boris will not have his hands on the nuclear codes. Of course, I don't expect Trump will ever be within 50 miles of them either.

JOKING!

I view many Trump supporters as USA versions of the "Cockney," not that I really know much about them other than some stereotypes.

"Trump with his hair on backwards"

Thanks for the

It makes a huge difference to the whole world. Everything from the profound effects on the world economy, to little matters like NOT having a fucking fascist in charge of the world's biggest store of WMD! And either collaborating with, or possibly fighting WW3 with, another fucking fascist in charge of WMD, called Putin.

Also, to be utterly selfish, we are currently enduring our own political nightmare - largely self-inflicted but that makes it even worse. It is definitely our worst time since the depths of Thatcherism and probably our worst since WW2. We will depend even more than usual on a sane United States, and at any rate, not on having Trump and Putin running amok together through the entire world.

It would be difficult to cause a self-inflicted economic, social and constitutional disaster worse than we've done to ourselves, but electing Trump would be just that!

We are watching in hope, and in dread.

Oh - right - we allowed GWB to steal two elections. Life has never been the same.

The fact that we allowed Shrub to get close enough to steal the office twice is frightening.

Trump has uncovered an ugly underbelly of American society that alarms a lot of us. Regarding him as a mere buffoon who doesn't stand a chance in the General Election is something we can't afford to do.

In reality the vast majority of American people understand basic decency and he's way below that bar.

and viewed him sheerly for entertainment value. (I don't think Trump was all that serious himself at the outset, but once the ball was rolling his massive ego went out of control.)

Now the monster's out of the box, and all his creepy worshippers are slithering out of the woodwork.

I have news channels on 24/7 because I can't believe what I'm living through.

but I reside on the Prairies, which is generally right-leaning or outright Conservative. There is some support for Trump among Western Canadians, but it's at a far lower rate than I would have expected. Most people I talk to are disgusted by Don the Con's off-the-wall statements, erratic and disrespectful behavior and narcissism. One elderly lady I know who had been openly expressing her admiration for Trump back in the spring has since changed her opinion. After some of the controversial shit he's pulled over the past month or so, I was talking to her and I brought him up. "I see him in a different light," she said, acknowledging she doesn't think highly of him anymore. I sure hope many Americans who initially supported Trump are just like her.