The popular vote in the US has now passed the 2 million mark in favour of the vanquished Hillary Clinton but it counts for nothing, for the Electoral College is the critical and only factor in choosing a President. That such a plurality exists for the loser in the contest is curious to say the least and raises the issue of legitimacy for the new regime. If it does not bother the President-Elect (and surely it does, given his ludicrous tweets) then it may sit at the back of voters' minds.

I have spoken of Trump as being more approximate to a medieval Pope than a modern President and I suspect that this will play out in various ways over the next four years. The allusion extends to the notion of a monarch in general, with courtiers and layers of yes-people waiting on the new King, with all the intrigues and shifting for influence that that entails. Traditionally courts have been hotbeds of favour and disfavour and the jostling for the ear of the King will be interesting, and the outcomes, hugely important.

Meanwhile, here is a great article from Slate's Will Saletan on how to manipulate Trump once he is President for the purposes of ameliorating the potential worst excesses.


http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2016/11/how_to_manipulate_donald_trump.html