Here, have some hypothetical scenarios to distract from what is either a massive outburst or a joke that I'm not getting.
1. Trumpest Quo - This outcome might lead to civil war with more reliability than the actual collapse scenarios. I'm not sure if there's any data on how bitterly mainstream society can be divided before murdering the other side becomes mainstream itself, but the trend for America has gone really far already. Four years of drawing the final line in the sand might be too much on top of that, frankly.
2. Trump Tumbling Down - No telling on this one, really. People who like Trump often do so irrespective of material analysis, but most of that was also with him not being President. It'd be a severe buck of history for low competence to be normalized, though.
3. Trumpin' Up - This is probably my worst fear, much in the way that in X-Men the worst thing is not the dramatic end of the world in Days of Future Past but the cheerful passe acceptance by the general bulk of humanity that
of course mutant babies should be exterminated.
4. Mellow Yellow Trump - I don't know man, Trump never stopped being aggressive in business literally ever, and that was over many decades. I can't see him making an experience gain of that nature.
5. Trump Autonomy - This one is off, as Trump is the kind of guy who's the most nosy fuckin know-it-all boss ever. He could be cordoned into this position Cheney-style, but there would be constant resistance, and knowing Trump that could take the form of him getting on TV and going all Novo Terra Ordem on his own staff. A dangerous game, to be sure. Without knowing what's going through Pence's sick little mind I am left to only wonder.
6. Every Man A Trump - I think this one is thankfully a bit hyperbolic. You have to get in the door to manage this kind of thing against people, and Trump has already aggravated the hell out of left and center. Not to mention it requires Trump having political capital over the Congressional Republicans, which would take Trump beguiling actual politicians instead of the general public.
7. Fiscally Liberal, Socially Trump - Yet it also seems a bit hyperbolic that a failed pivot would be accompanied by impeachment attempts. I'm not convinced impeachment causes are very predictable, they seem to historically be related to altogether unforseen consequences, be that cigar sucking or hotel windows. This one I'd rate higher if Trump shits the bed attempting the pivot hard enough that the House goes supermajority Dem in 2018 or something.
8. Trump Is Fake News - I have to wonder here if, should Trump's fundamental attractions collapse, all of the existing scandals will suddenly whip back around and crush him since people will be more willing to listen. I give this scenario "Most Likely To End With Trump Imprisoned" since his Presidential protections will eventually end with or without impeachment.
9. Trumphanding For Mangas - If Dubya is any indication people will freak the fuck out if this happens. I mean, the left will already freak out, but with the right also freaking out it'll amplify. In fact, it would be in the form of the freakout wave that Trump rode in to the White House, but loosed of any human control or order. Hello burning summer...but then, maybe it'll be an avenue for automation politics to go mainstream.
10. World War Trump - Here's where I have a massive disagreement with Nate Nitrogen. A lot of comparisons have been drawn between 2000 and 2016, but I think they couldn't have been more different. 2000 was a very popular election, lots of people were in the "I'd be happy with Bush but I'd also be happy with Gore" bracket (and god, that seems like an almost unimaginable position today). Conversely, as we all remember, 2016 is the most unpopular election with the possible exception of the one right before the Civil War. Because of this, I don't see people's love of Trump shooting up just because of a terrorist attack, it'd have to exceed 9/11 at the least for that. Most people who are primarily swayed by terrorism are already Trump supporters, in fact it is not impossible that a major attack could make people hate Trump more, if from his failure to defend the US or just because of the hate in the air.
11. But He Made The Trump Run On Time - Chilling, but unlike the Frum scenario I see no mechanism here. Trump doesn't have Reichstag Act potential, from where I'm standing.
12. We Don't Need No Trump Let This Motherfucker Burn - This is the most plausible "oh fuck" scenario by far. I want to say it would end with the next President looking up the list of Obama and Pre-Obama functionaries and bribing them to come back to their jobs, but it is a never before seen thing. Like it says in the article, I'm torn between the danger here and the absolute need to undermine Trump - though I suspect in due time he'll have reduced everything under him to loyalists and empty chairs anyway.
13. Trump To The Left, Trump To The Right - The difference here being Ahnold is at worst a mild scumbag, while Trump is...uh...much worse. I think Trump's machismo is very genuine and gripped tightly, a guy like Schwarzenegger obviously has no need of such things beyond an image. It helped him get elected and then he got rid of it when his movie glamor wasn't helping anymore, I'm not convinced especially with recent events that Trump even has a public face. He's as much the Trump we see when he's signing orders as he is when peeping on naked 15-year olds.
14. Much Ado About Trump - More likely than I'd like to think, at least in the sense that Trump will be looked back on as the quintuple-hot wings that cleared out the entire American political system and put the future back on track from decades of laurel-resting neoliberalism.
I did most of this for the Trump puns don't tell anybody especially not Neon or LW