It would be announced when the new president makes his post election victory speech and might go something like this:
"My first act in office is to create a new cabinet position, the "Loyal Opposition Liaison". This post will be offered to my opponent who've I've just defeated in this election. The reason I'm doing this is because I want to represent the interests of all Americans to the best of my abilities and who better to give me insight into their needs and aspirations than the person who represented them in this election? This will be an advisory position, you will give input to policy decisions and be treated with the respect and dignity deserving of somebody who had millions of Americans vote for them for president.
As president I of course will have final say in decisions that my distinguished adversary will be consulted on, but I promise you that whenever possible, I will attempt to make these decisions such that they have a positive impact on the opposition party voters that make up such a large percentage of this great country. They are Americans too and deserve to be heard. I will make it my duty to serve them and this cabinet officer will be very helpful in assisting me in doing this.
If my opponent turns down this position, which would be odd because they will be turning down an opportunity to be in the Whitehouse every day assisting in molding public policy, I will offer it to their VP candidate. If they turn it down I will turn to opposition party congress members until I find the right person for the job."-- doctorremulac3, Nov 09 2016 http://izquotes.com...-johnson-241192.jpg [pertinax, Nov 09 2016] Faggot https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faggot"Faggot or fagot, branch or twig, or bundle of these". Not any other sort of faggot. [8th of 7, Nov 09 2016] Damnatio memoriae https://en.wikipedi...i/Damnatio_memoriaeLatin phrase literally meaning "condemnation of memory" [8th of 7, Nov 09 2016] Suggesting politics be civil might be a little like suggesting this. https://www.youtube...watch?v=RN7kVYz7GS8 [doctorremulac3, Nov 09 2016] New word to describe annual general meeting of Retard Trump supporters: scumvention.-- xenzag, Nov 09 2016 {stands clear of the tent-flap}-- pertinax, Nov 09 2016 //New word to describe annual general meeting of Retard Trump supporters: scumvention.//
Yes, they're all doodoo heads, but the idea was to have the losing candidate be given a position on the winning candidate's cabinet. In this case Hillary would be hired by Trump to assist wherever possible in formulating policy.
This would be good no?-- doctorremulac3, Nov 09 2016 Sounds good on paper, but LOL would take on a whole new meaning.-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Nov 09 2016 Hmm. Good point, that would take away some of the dignity from the post.
How about "Opposition Liaison Secretary"?
OLS?-- doctorremulac3, Nov 09 2016 Sounds good and all, but wasn't there a good reason why we walked away from having the veep as the runner-up candidate many years ago?-- RayfordSteele, Nov 09 2016 Well, this would be a pretty "soft" position, their power would be whatever the president gave them. I think other suggestions put them into congress with actual votes.
I think that even if you look at it cynically, from the president's point of view, if he can get something done without getting the opposition's panties in a bunch vs getting it done while fomenting hatred and friction, hey. That sounds like the easier path.
And the loser would be an absolute fool not to take this position.
I'd make it interesting, a 2 hour meeting every week with published transcripts where appropriate. Give 'em the Monday morning first thing slot.-- doctorremulac3, Nov 09 2016 I think the Monday morning first thing slot would be reserved for national security briefings.
I like this concept in general. Comes with a few snags though. And doesn't the Congressional Minority leader sort of land here?
If the President ran as a moderate, then what's the position of the opposition liaison?-- RayfordSteele, Nov 09 2016 Given that Trump essentially stood on the platform of "not being one of them", it wouldn't really make much sense to invite "one of them" into a privileged position of office immediately after being elected.-- DrBob, Nov 09 2016 Well, details would need to be ironed out but the basic idea is handing an olive branch to the newly disenfranchised electorate.
I'm trying to keep this kind of generic. If I never hear the names Trump or Clinton again I'd be perfectly fine with that.-- doctorremulac3, Nov 09 2016 //Didn't this already happen with Trump asking for support and Hillary offering it ?//
Well, sort of. So why not make it official?
On the other hand, maybe politics is like football. You don't want people getting along. Let folks get their "them vs us" hate on.-- doctorremulac3, Nov 09 2016 //If I never hear the names (redacted with extreme predudice) or (deleted, emptied the trash bin, and formatted the hard drive) again I'd be perfectly fine with that.//
Seconded.-- RayfordSteele, Nov 09 2016 // If I never hear the names Trump or Clinton again I'd be perfectly fine with that. //
Aw nooooo, if Hilary is subject to damnatio memoriae, how will we know when and where the witch-burning is to be held ? We will pay top dollar (or chicken, on the assumption that the USA will have reverted to barter by then) for fireside seats.
Can we bring our own kindling and faggots* ?
*<link>-- 8th of 7, Nov 09 2016 Dunno if it's still like this, but in Bristol the Brain's Faggot factory was across the road from the morgue...not that I'm saying anything y'r honour..-- not_morrison_rm, Nov 09 2016 // This would be good no? // Do you think you would have suggested this idea if Hillary had won?-- lurch, Nov 09 2016 Like I said, generic and applicable to all situations.
I've always been uncomfortable with the idea that government typically leaves half its customer's pissed off.
If you look at government as a service like any other, and you should, a service that has a 50% satisfaction rate would be shut down. Government has a monopoly on, well, government, so your choices are like it or lump it. I think if we're clever we can do a workaround that keeps everybody at least a little bit happier, but I'm not sure that's what people want.
It might be like suggesting that football should be played with hugs instead of tackles like that South Park episode. (see link)
I think people like the friction, maybe I do too, but I would like to see something productive done at the end of the day. Just kicking each other in the nuts is fun at first but it gets old after a while.-- doctorremulac3, Nov 09 2016 Half of the problem is that stupid people cannot be satisfied or cured, because what ails them is different than their self-diagnosis, and thus they blame the powers that be for their condition.-- RayfordSteele, Nov 10 2016 random, halfbakery