In the early fall of 2016, Election Day was drawing nearer. Hillary Clinton's unending truth troubles, unlikability, and smug, smirking superiority had really started to grate on the public at large. Blustering, bombastic, barnstorming Donald Trump was pulling ever-larger masses of humans to his events and drawing blood in their head-to-head candidate debates.

Little cracks began to appear in Clinton's wall of inevitability. Tiny niggles of doubt would be voiced, almost shamefacedly, that, well, of COURSE, it was going to be Hillary for the win...no way it couldn't...but. Say.

GOD FORBID, the Orange Man managed to convince enough knuckle-dragging Luddites to crawl out of their holes in time to scratch an "X" next to his name, well. None of these Hillary true believers would be hanging around for the destruction sure to follow. No one had any intention of living in a "Planet of the Apes" sequel.

Remember? Many loftily declared they would be moving to Canada - from celebrities to silly South Carolina progs.

In fact, some actually went thanks to "Canadian shared values," unlike "Trump and his supporters." *spits*

Trump-fleeing U.S. couple looks forward to 'mild' winters in new home Halifax

After Donald Trump was elected U.S. president, a lot of Americans vowed to move to Canada. But a South Carolina couple is actually going ahead and doing it.

...Heather told CTV News Channel she and her husband began making plans to leave the day after Trump won. They began with reading up on the logistics of emigrating, then started reading about what Canada and Canadians are like.

...The couple decided that Canadians’ values aligned with their own, unlike those of President Trump, his administration and his supporters.

“You hear the headlines every single day. It feels like we’re not really living in reality; it’s more like a reality TV show,” she said.

“So we would just like to have a better quality of life and we’re a little afraid for the future, and we thought we could find that in Canada.”

Sorry - I have no idea if they stayed and could care less. I sure hope, if they did stay, they've enjoyed Canada's values as embodied by an actual fascist Fidelito dictator and all that comes with him.

*spits*

Now we find ourselves on the cusp of another election with that same Orange Man's shadow looming over the uneasy slumber of every Leftist/Progressive whilst feeding the nightmares that drive Trump Derangement Syndrome fantasies into orbit (See: MSNBC/CNN etc analysis). Unlike this stage in 2016, the danger of a Trump presidency is tangible - they can almost taste it - and that has set off alarm bells that are already clanging so loud in their heads they can scarce function.

But they're functioning well enough to already be in the planning stages for their escape from Orange Man Island. Only it won't be the time-honored orthodox liberal book for the northern border. Gracious, no - how deplorably pedestrian. 

No, my friends, the "In" obsessed, Trump-possessed prog crowd is going? To Italy.

Do they have to ruin everything?

If Trump is reelected, Americans are planning to flee in droves

Late last year, my wife and I closed on a deal for an apartment in a hilltop town in Umbria. Soon after, I posted a question for my fellow participants in a Facebook group called Expats in Italy: "Is it just my imagination, but is there an uptick in Americans, in particular, looking to purchase property in Italy?" As the responses poured in, many of them sounded a distinct thematic note.

...From a woman in Texas: "An insurrection by a narcissist who couldn't accept election loss combined with his gun and abortion policies made moving more of a necessity than just a dream." 

...Not alone, indeed. Granted, my unscientific survey was limited to a self-selected group of people with a declared fancy for one particular foreign country renowned for its artistic and cultural treasures, scrumptious cuisine, and exquisite landscapes. Still, it was striking that the specter of Donald Trump — a looming shadow I hadn't even mentioned in my question — was on so many minds.

...The alarm over Trump's potential triumph in November is far starker than the fears stoked by past presidents. "A Trump dictatorship is increasingly inevitable," a recent Washington Post headline warned. The Atlantic devoted an entire issue to the authoritarian horrors in store for America "If Trump Wins." Every four years or so, Gallup asks Americans ages 15 and up: "Ideally, if you had the opportunity, would you like to move PERMANENTLY to another country?" At the end of George W. Bush's presidency, the number responding "yes" was 11%. During Barack Obama's tenure, it was 10%. During Trump's presidency, it hit 16%. That's some 40 million Americans who wanted to leave their country behind, for good.

OMG, get a grip. This has to be one of the goofiest, whiniest, most self-indulgent things I've ever read.

...A second Trump presidency, Speer [Doris, president of the Association of Americans Resident Overseas] said, could serve as a "catalyst" that further fuels the growing diaspora of Americans living in exile. After November, Europe could well become what Canada was for draft dodgers during the Vietnam War: a political asylum for Americans fed up with their own country. Call them Trump's Exiles.

It's also, for an author who just purchased a home there speaking to supposed experts, remarkably ignorant or glosses over important points about ITALY.

...But a rising tide of conservatism at home is clearly driving more Americans to consider a move abroad. The Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade — one of Trump's signature accomplishments — has aroused widespread anger and discontent. But while America is cracking down on reproductive rights, Europe is expanding them. Abortion is now permitted in nearly all European countries, including Catholic countries such as Portugal, Spain, and Italy. Prompted by tightening US policies, France just enshrined the right to abortion in its constitution — the first country ever to take that landmark step.

Roe v Wade? Catholic countries? Really so different from the US? The new, more liberal Spanish law passed last year says up to 14 weeks. In Italy, abortion is legally permitted in the first 90 days of a pregnancy...and good luck getting one. Why no mention of that as well as neglecting to mention states in the US now set their own laws, and some are very liberal for access?

...Abortion has been legal in Italy for more than 40 years. But most doctors refuse to perform them, making it difficult to find a provider. As in America, women in Italy fear this right will go away.

Again, the abortion "as in America" didn't "go away" - regulation shifted to the states. The author doesn't bother contrasting facts with Roe v Wade fiction because it destroys another whiny justification in his narrative. Easier to toss out country names and hope nobody checks exactly what "permitted" in a European country means comparatively.

You'll never guess what isn't legal in this MAGA-free bastion they're all fantasizing about escaping to. Something which, one would think, would be a complete anathema to the progressive mind?

Gay "marriage." Italy only recognizes same-sex civil unions with "most" of the rights as married couples except parenting (adoptive or step-child) or reproductive rights (like IVF for lesbians). Those restrictions in the US would be considered worthy of street demonstrations and lawsuits, would they not? (Gay "marriage" is only recognized in about 30 countries in the world.)

But TDS-afflicted liberals and progs will flock to Italy because Trump is going to make the US...what? As restrictive and repressive as Italy? 

It's amazing what little details these poseurs are willing to overlook to convince themselves what they're doing is totally cool and rational.

Dolts. Obnoxious, pretentious, drama queen dolts. 

FLEEING MAGA

...John Galey, a semiretired management consultant in California, is moving in the opposite direction. With his passion for Italy, especially its wines, he has visited the country more than a dozen times, and he has long considered owning property there. In a recent email, he told me that his "planning and research would accelerate if Trump wins in November." Even as a self-described "political centrist," he believes that "the consequences of a 'retribution presidency' (plus the ensuing chaos) could be dire for the country."

I can see his point. My wife and I are both Trump decriers, although we didn't begin our Italy property search to find a refuge from MAGA-infused America. But now that we own a place, we see it as something of a respite from Trumpland. And we are learning Italian.

Oddly enough, this piece of drivel was also timely. We've been discussing the possibility of an eventual upheaval in our homestead since we returned from Italy a week ago. Only we're driven by loving our tiny family and wanting to be together in our dotage.

Now, I'm not so sure. As I told our son Ebola when he sent the link along this morning, I don't want any of these people as neighbors. 

OFFS the last thing we want to do is wind up stuck on a hilltop with a bunch of a**hole TDS sufferers, lol. Italy is where we're going to leave them ALL BEHIND, hello.  Your dad's made a damn ham & cheese like he had every morning there for lunch EVERY DAY since he got home and told everyone at work he's seriously thinking of moving. As long as it's not next door to anyone like these whiny bitchez.

I have to listen to enough of their insufferable selves whining and opining every single day in the States.

According to a piece David wrote this morning, it may not do them any good to flee MAGA. Van Jones is saying Europe will be a hellscape because of Trump.

Trump or his TDS sufferers - hellscape in Europe, regardless.

Honestly - they ruin everything.

Stay home, dammit.