June 30, 2015 was a Tuesday. Just before 7:00 AM Eastern time, I created a post, one of many thousands upon thousands I've made in my years here. As with virtually all of my posts, its greatest chance was obscurity, being read by some and then forgotten over time. There was no way for me to know at the time, that the post I'm referring to would garner millions of page views and become the starting point of the most remarkable and unlikely political journey of our lifetime.

I'm referring, of course, to what SIGforum members affectionately refer to as The Ass Clown Thread.

It's obvious by the thread title alone that I (and many others) did not take Donald Trump seriously in his political ambitions. No one could fault us for this. In American culture up to 2015, Donald Trump- a Queens real estate developer- might be considered a playboy and a raconteur, and most definitely a TV celebrity, with The Apprentice and countless cameo appearances, but he was never a politician, never held or even ran for public office.

Given all of this, very few people took the man seriously as a candidate for the presidency. If you read the Ass Clown thread, you will see that in the first fifty or sixty pages, I was certain this was merely a stunt, and even if he was serious, he had no chance.

The thread shows that as the summer wore on and we entered the Fall of the year, it became clear not only that Trump was serious, but that he was emerging as the leading choice for the Republican nomination.

Once onboard the Trump Train, I have never wavered.

Once President Trump was sworn into office, I created a new thread, The Trump Presidency and created a new thread for each year of his administration.

The thread for the final year of his administration for his first term, The Trump Presidency : Year IV ran for five years, covering the last year and the four years he was out of office, and now we have the current thread, The Trump Presidency : Year V

These six threads, from June 30, 2015 until today, represent a decade-long record of running commentary and linked news articles, with no break.

Combined, these six threads total:

Twenty million page views

Eighty-two thousand replies

Remarkable

Who could have known that exactly ten years after my throw-away post about a clownish TV celebrity, he would have just completed the most remarkable week (so far) of his presidency? It's astonishing.

Long after we're all gone from this existence, some researcher may find this record of commentary, and using AI for collation and interpretation, get a real glimpse of what it was like for Americans to witness history in the making.

And we're not through yet. God Bless President Trump and the United States of America.

____________________________________________________

"I am your retribution." - Donald Trump, speech at CPAC, March 4, 2023

Truly an astonishing ten years.

I was just reflecting on this myself.

Very Cool that you have preserved this timeline. Something special and unique.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
...God Bless President Trump and the United States of America.

Amen!

Thank you.

Without a doubt the greatest President in my lifetime. And Donald Trump is easily the most transformative POTUS in modern history.

I agree. Donald Trump is the greatest president in my lifetime.
And I also think the Trump threads will be a valuable insight for future generations.
We are so lucky to have him.

Hear, hear!!!

May God continue to watch over our President and preserve our union.

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:
Truly an astonishing ten years.

I was just reflecting on this myself.

Truly astonishing is right!

I'm probably not among the many who think of Trump as a TV personality, because I never once watched his show. I think of him as a real estate investor and a master at negotiation. And with that, he makes a perfect President and I say that with complete conviction. I truly believe that he is the greatest President this country has ever seen. Yes, he surpassed President Reagan in my opinion and I believe he is looking down at this time and agrees with me on this.

God Bless America!

^^^^^^^^ What Johnny eagles said

As soon as he said he was thinking of running I said good. And said he will win.
Thank God he did and he along with George Washington will be one and two in my book. George being one. With a couple others right behind them.

For the most part I stay out of political threads.

I have voted for him three times, and would do so again.

I’m pretty happy with what he has done.

I cannot fathom the alternative.

Those threads are indeed an encyclopedia of the daily life of the POTUS and those that believe in his mission. It will absolutely be a reference guide for years to come.

Thanks Para for creating the first entry.

The wife and I were talking about this just this morning. Trump is on a road which very well may lead to being the most effective President in our history.

Six months into his second term, we're on page 266 for posts on that thread. Year two total was a bit over 300 pages. He's hit the ground running, for sure, this time around. Maybe he will have his likeness cut out at Mount Rushmore (in the future), and that's not a joke.

I am fortunate to have met Donald J Trump, during the 2024 Campaign...Twice!! I got to have two brief conversations with him. He signed my campaign issued MAGA Hat and gave me an 'Atta-Boy' on my left shoulder, something I'll always remember. I both of my interactions with the man, he was gracious and generous with his time, and I found him to be extremely genuine. I was present at the NH State House when he filed his paperwork with the NH Attorney General's office for the 2024 NH Presidential Primary. I also got to attend two Trump Rallies during the 2024 Campaign. It's been a quite a ride on the Trump Train these last ten years, and I'm definitely NOT tired of all the winning!

Donald Trump is without a doubt, THE Greatest AND Most Consequential President of my lifetime!

These Trump threads have been quite informative and I have visited the current ones most days. It's hard to imagine where'd the country would be now w/o him and his very capable secretaries and staff.

He's the man of our time, stepping up when his country needs him the most. He will be the Man of the Century.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
...God Bless President Trump and the United States of America.

Another Amen.

Truly it's been quite the ride. As you can see linked below, the Trump 2000 campaign was great to watch, but people weren't ready for him yet.

What a remarkable journey.
My Wife and I drove to one of Trumps first rally's in Iowa. I was stunned to see all the people that came to see him. We sat on the stage behind him. when the rally was over we made our way to the exit he would be using to leave the stage. We had no problem getting right next to the isle as he walked by. At the time he only had his own personal security, they were impressive in the way they operated, you could tell this was not there first rodeo.

We then thought we might get to see him again and went to a isle that led to the parking lot.
We were surprised to see Trump walking down that isle alone with no security around him. We stood by the rope that ran along the isle and watched as he walked by only a arm length away, and walked to the car that was waiting for him. I wanted to say something to him but could not think of anything of substance to say.

What struck me most was Trumps demeanor.
He did nothing but walk by but I could feel that this person was special. He had the look and over whelming confidence of a extremely successful Billionaire with the confidence and presence to match. A truly humbling experience for me. I would not want to take him on, he was VERY intimidating.

I then saw him at a rally in Wisconsin. By this time he was much more established as a candidate. We waited hours in a hot stuffy room waiting for him to show up. Many people left because of the heat but the place was still packed inside and out.

The third rally we went to was in Chicago. I don't know who planned that rally but I would hope they got fired for picking a rally on the UIC campus in the UIC pavilion. The crowd outside was filled with thousands of anti Trump UIC students. The rally never happened as it was canceled for security reasons.

I'm so happy to have seen him up close, he is probably the number one political person of this century maybe for several centuries. I look at it like having the opportunity to have met George Washington.