The Uncertainty Principle

The Uncertainty Principle, as conceptualized by Werner Heisenberg, states that one cannot know both the position and momentum of a subatomic particle simultaneously. It's impossible due to quantum mechanics but this is not about the esteemed W. Heisenberg and his principle but rather about the Donald, who became president by threading the needle of the Electoral College in miraculous fashion to deny Hillary Clinton the job even though she won the popular vote by nearly 3 million.

What lies ahead for America evokes the Uncertainty Principle in ways that truly boggle the mind.

Donald Trump won the Republican nomination because more people voted for him than voted for anyone else. Donald Trump won the presidential election because enough people voted for him in enough states to hit the tripwire on one of the oldest booby traps in American politics. And it worked precisely as it was meant to work, although it produced exactly the opposite of the result it was meant to produce.

I have no idea what to expect now, except the results likely will range from the marginally unpleasant to the completely catastrophic. The list of possible horribles is well-known by now. If the president-elect does what he's said he will do, 20 million Americans will lose their health insurance. The Ryan budget will sail through both houses of Congress and the president will sign it without reading it. At the very best, federal regulations meant to protect the public from everything from financial swindles to poisoned water to bad tuna fish will be handed to people opposed to the very existence of those regulations. It will be James Watt and Elaine Chao multiplied by 10. The lessons learned from the war in Iraq and from the recession of 2008 will be swiftly unlearned and forgotten. The elite political media will adjust. And I will not mention the future of the Supreme Court, because that's too self-evidently awful for words. - Charles P. Pierce

In Pierce's excellent analysis is a quote by the esteemed Dr. Gonzo regarding Nixon but is all the more relevant seeing the apoplectic state America finds herself in as we lurch further into 2017.

This may be the year when we finally come face to face with ourselves; finally just lay back and say it—that we are really just a nation of 220 million used car salesmen with all the money we need to buy guns, and no qualms at all about killing anybody else in the world who tries to make us uncomfortable. The tragedy of all this is that George McGovern, for all his mistakes... understands what a fantastic monument to all the best instincts of the human race this country might have been, if we could have kept it out of the hands of greedy little hustlers like Richard Nixon. McGovern made some stupid mistakes, but in context they seem almost frivolous compared to the things Richard Nixon does every day of his life, on purpose... Jesus! Where will it end? How low do you have to stoop in this country to be President? - Hunter Thompson

Sound familiar but his take on Hillary is just as prescient as seen in a BRT piece tiled Hunter Thompson was Right. Check it out. The Gonzo man rates two 10s on this election from hell.