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| John Nichols speaking and the organizers of the Carl-Schurz-Haus listening |
Actually, you may become president of the United States with only 30% of the popular vote. This hypothetical extreme is possible within the American voting system, where the Electoral College elects the president.
During the presidential election, Trump's campaign managers were clever in concentrating their efforts on four states that traditionally vote Democratic. In the end, Republicans swung Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Was this the result of lazy Democrat voters assuming their State would be safe anyway? I still remember when, the morning after Election Day, the final results for Wisconsin came in and sealed Hillary's fate. Admittedly, the margins in those new swing states were small, but the winner takes it all in the Electoral College.
I know the Electoral College is a historical relic, but my remark in the discussion that it could be reformed did not go down particularly well. Ironically, Donald Trump criticized it in 2012: "The Electoral College is a disaster for a democracy."
I know the Electoral College is a historical relic, but my remark in the discussion that it could be reformed did not go down particularly well. Ironically, Donald Trump criticized it in 2012: "The Electoral College is a disaster for a democracy."
Then in 2016, the college helped him to become president without the majority of the popular vote. This fact and the "alternative news" about the size of the attending crowd during his inauguration are two permanent thorns in Trump's flesh. John prefers the French system, where the people directly elect the president.
In the States, the president chooses cabinet members to be confirmed by the Senate. Donald Trump, an apprentice in governmental affairs himself, recruited mostly friends into key positions from finance and industry, with little or no experience in government administration.
In the States, the president chooses cabinet members to be confirmed by the Senate. Donald Trump, an apprentice in governmental affairs himself, recruited mostly friends into key positions from finance and industry, with little or no experience in government administration.
Red Baron was shocked when he listened to the confirmation hearing in the Senate of incompetent Kathleen Hartnett White, nominee to lead the White House Council on Environmental Quality. She stammered through her hearing, arguing like a pupil not having done the homework. Have a look at the video on YouTube. Are these Trump's apprentices? As on his former TV Show, The Apprentice, many initially hired are already fired or left in anger. I get the impression that the Trump administration is running out of people. By the way, the White House eventually withdrew Kathleen Hartnett White's candidacy.
As a former TV host, Donald Trump knows show business well. While traditional media like newspapers, radio, and TV are in decline, the younger generation gets its information in small bites on the Internet. The classical media are obsessed with Trump's outrageous remarks and aggressive tweets. John rightly said, "Trump's tweets are the headlines of tomorrow's press," and I may add, "By that time, it's already old stuff."
The influence of Facebook, Twitter, and other social media on politics and election results has not been fully understood, but it will grow in the future.
I didn't follow the lively discussions around the oblong table; instead, I focused on the German government's Internet policy. Since 2005, demand for fast Internet in my country has been part of various government programs, but very little has happened regarding broadband expansion. At the end of 2017, industrialized Germany ranked only 32nd among its European neighbors. Note the Silver Medal for Norway! POTUS will love it.
My conspiracy theory goes like this: The decision-makers in Berlin, afraid of showing their incompetence with the Internet, are trying to keep German voters dumb while the latter hang on their slow telephone lines, waiting for their e-mails to be sent.
P.S.: Yesterday, March 9, Daniel Dettling, author of an article in the Badische Zeitung about digital awakening, attested to anxious Germans' angst 4.0. That angst is driven by automation running parallel with millions of jobs lost to machines and algorithms deciding life and death, e.g., autonomous driving. Meanwhile, in Japan, artificial intelligence is guiding people into Society 5.0.
As a former TV host, Donald Trump knows show business well. While traditional media like newspapers, radio, and TV are in decline, the younger generation gets its information in small bites on the Internet. The classical media are obsessed with Trump's outrageous remarks and aggressive tweets. John rightly said, "Trump's tweets are the headlines of tomorrow's press," and I may add, "By that time, it's already old stuff."
The influence of Facebook, Twitter, and other social media on politics and election results has not been fully understood, but it will grow in the future.
I didn't follow the lively discussions around the oblong table; instead, I focused on the German government's Internet policy. Since 2005, demand for fast Internet in my country has been part of various government programs, but very little has happened regarding broadband expansion. At the end of 2017, industrialized Germany ranked only 32nd among its European neighbors. Note the Silver Medal for Norway! POTUS will love it.
My conspiracy theory goes like this: The decision-makers in Berlin, afraid of showing their incompetence with the Internet, are trying to keep German voters dumb while the latter hang on their slow telephone lines, waiting for their e-mails to be sent.
P.S.: Yesterday, March 9, Daniel Dettling, author of an article in the Badische Zeitung about digital awakening, attested to anxious Germans' angst 4.0. That angst is driven by automation running parallel with millions of jobs lost to machines and algorithms deciding life and death, e.g., autonomous driving. Meanwhile, in Japan, artificial intelligence is guiding people into Society 5.0.
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