Originally Posted by
Cows getting bigger
Lone wolf, you are correct I'm not American and I'm proud of that.
I agree that Americans weren't presented with an outstanding choice but they actually voted for Clinton, by about 3M votes. It's only the stupidity of your electoral system (ours isn't perfect either, by a long shot) that got him to the White House. Now, is it too much to expect that most sane president-elects would recognise this fact and present a balanced set of policies? Right now, Trump appears to react to the last thing that he has heard and the Tweets and instant response - my teenage daughter behaves like that. Is this really the way America now wants to do business?
You are again unfamiliar with the system, so you denigrate it. Pay attention. Neither won a majority, it was as with Bill Clinton, victory by a plurality and the electoral votes. I find that a nice irony on Hillary: she got into the White House by being associated with Bill through a victory via plurality and that association allowed her to enter the political system via the Senatorial gift wrap in 2000. So the plurality that was to her benefit now works against her.
Also, it is well to understand that about 1/3 of the population who are eligible to vote didn't vote. So with 2/3 eligible voting, even a 50/50 split decided by a thin margin is still a majority of Americans NOT voting for the eventual winner. (And about 6 million didn't vote for either ...) The Electoral College helps to mitigate that kind of problem. We get a decision. (Among other things). Once again, words have meanings. The
Majority of Americans did NOT vote for Hillary Clinton. (Nor for the Donald!)
Our system works well enough for us, and has done since about 1789 ... back when a lot of you were still bowing to kings and queens.
Trump? He'll either grow into the job, as his predecessor did, or he won't. That it really bothers a lot of foreigners is mostly amusing, given the amount of international whinging that gets tossed our way. That it bothers a lot of Americans who aren't on the extreme right, or the extreme left, is less amusing. Me, I am not amused, and am still looking at the confirmation battle in the Senate over cabinet appointments. Once his team is set, I'll see how whether or not optimism, pessimism, or just more drinking will be in order.
As above to Langly, the checks and balances will be put to work. I'd suggest you buy some pop corn and enjoy the show.
So, what does all of the above have to do with
military aviation? The theme seems to be "stop overpaying for overpriced aircraft." That resonates with a lot of citizens, and would probably resonate with a lot of foreign folks who are strapped into the F-35 program, which was born during Bill Clinton's administration. How is that relevant? In a time of very austere DoD budgeting, the "one size fits all" solution for the follow on jet to the F-18, F-16, F-15 was believed to be "cheaper."
We see how that has worked out, eh?