Follow TV Tropes

Following

The General US Politics Thread

Go To

Nov 2023 Mod notice:


There may be other, more specific, threads about some aspects of US politics, but this one tends to act as a hub for all sorts of related news and information, so it's usually one of the busiest OTC threads.

If you're new to OTC, it's worth reading the Introduction to On-Topic Conversations and the On-Topic Conversations debate guidelines before posting here.

Rumor-based, fear-mongering and/or inflammatory statements that damage the quality of the thread will be thumped. Off-topic posts will also be thumped. Repeat offenders may be suspended.

If time spent moderating this thread remains a distraction from moderation of the wiki itself, the thread will need to be locked. We want to avoid that, so please follow the forum rules when posting here.


In line with the general forum rules, 'gravedancing' is prohibited here. If you're celebrating someone's death or hoping that they die, your post will get thumped. This rule applies regardless of what the person you're discussing has said or done.

Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM

ShinyCottonCandy Industrious Incisors from Sinnoh (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Industrious Incisors
#323826: Aug 14th 2020 at 6:51:01 AM

I think the only thing that create a different perception than [up][up] is that they don’t want to be too obvious (relatively speaking) about it. The Supreme Court conservatives seem to be better than the others about not saying the quiet part aloud.

Edited by ShinyCottonCandy on Aug 14th 2020 at 9:51:40 AM

SoundCloud
Lightysnake Since: May, 2010
#323827: Aug 14th 2020 at 7:05:22 AM

The upside of this whole mail ballot thing...

People now have time to notice the mail has slowed down and to vote in person instead. This could have been a much bigger threat if they waited until late September or October. And Trump's 'genius' has made him happen upon the one type of voter suppression that's gonna hurt Republicans, too. Susan Collins' 'concern' over this is because she's genuinely freaked how it'll affect rural Mainer Republicans

Reflextion from a post-sanity world (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: What's love got to do with it?
#323828: Aug 14th 2020 at 7:10:07 AM

"It'll hurt Republican voters, but it'll hurt Democrat voters more!" has been their strategy ever since they started with the whole voter suppression thing.

Lightysnake Since: May, 2010
#323829: Aug 14th 2020 at 7:19:36 AM

Generally they mediate that, like make gun licenses valid forms of voter ID. No way to get around this one.

TobiasDrake Queen of Good Things, Honest (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
Queen of Good Things, Honest
#323830: Aug 14th 2020 at 7:36:32 AM

Basically Republicans know they don't have a chance in hell if they let Democrats vote, and they've been getting increasingly desperate over the last several years (possibly longer) to keep that from happening.

Voter suppression isn't a recent tactic. Republicans have been relying on voter suppression methods to win elections with a minority of support for decades. This isn't a last gasp of panic from a dying party; it's standard operating practice for a party that firmly believes everyone cheats, that the only thing that matters is winning, and that only the best cheaters win.

Republicans believe in capitalism, not in democracy. They don't want a fair election because the concept of fairness is fundamentally irreconcilable with their worldview. They believe in a meritocratic hierarchy (which is itself a very idealistic view of capitalism) wherein the wealthy and powerful are wealthy and powerful because they are better and more deserving than the common folk. In their eyes, democracy gives the weak, the stupid, and the lazy an inordinate level of power that can be wielded against the mighty, the intelligent, and the deserving.

Kneecapping democracy so that the rich and powerful can continue ruling the country uninhibited by the opinions of the poor and meek is the end-goal. If they could get away with outright abolishing elections, they would. They just can't yet, so they have to settle for cheating at elections instead.

Edited by TobiasDrake on Aug 14th 2020 at 7:43:40 AM

My Tumblr. Currently liveblogging Haruhi Suzumiya and revisiting Danganronpa V3.
Aszur A nice butterfly from Pagliacci's Since: Apr, 2014 Relationship Status: Don't hug me; I'm scared
A nice butterfly
#323831: Aug 14th 2020 at 7:50:18 AM

Tobias stop posting before I do you are leaving me little to say.

It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes
TobiasDrake Queen of Good Things, Honest (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
Queen of Good Things, Honest
#323832: Aug 14th 2020 at 8:41:50 AM

I have completed my period of mourning for Elizabeth Warren's presidential ambitions and may now board the Kamala Harris hype-train.

Trump's trying to raise a birther conspiracy 'cause her parents were immigrants? Daughter of immigrants -> Senator -> Vice Fucking President? That's the American Dream, yo. That's as sacred as apple pie and baseball to this country. Harris train, whoo-whoo!

My Tumblr. Currently liveblogging Haruhi Suzumiya and revisiting Danganronpa V3.
AzurePaladin She/Her Pronouns from Forest of Magic Since: Apr, 2018 Relationship Status: Mu
She/Her Pronouns
#323833: Aug 14th 2020 at 8:45:43 AM

I think I'm going to sit off the Harris train.

Though, fuck Trump and anyone who takes his "birther" claims seriously.

The awful things he says and does are burned into our cultural consciousness like a CRT display left on the same picture too long. -Fighteer
TitanJump Since: Sep, 2013 Relationship Status: Singularity
#323834: Aug 14th 2020 at 8:48:43 AM

[up] I have seen and heard the people who does take it seriously.

Not a trace of independent thought or critical thinking anywhere.

Just mindlessly parroting words from their mouths "because Trump on TV said so!"

(facepalm)

We need a proper education system that's properly funded in America...

Aszur A nice butterfly from Pagliacci's Since: Apr, 2014 Relationship Status: Don't hug me; I'm scared
A nice butterfly
#323835: Aug 14th 2020 at 8:48:51 AM

You guys get trains?

It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes
DrunkenNordmann from Exile Since: May, 2015
#323836: Aug 14th 2020 at 8:50:32 AM

[up][up][up][up] Don't you know? The American Dream is for white people only.

[down] Take a guess why.

Edited by DrunkenNordmann on Aug 14th 2020 at 6:07:11 PM

Welcome to Estalia, gentlemen.
Forenperser Foreign Troper from Germany Since: Mar, 2012
Foreign Troper
#323837: Aug 14th 2020 at 8:54:59 AM

But yet Ted Cruz they kept defending even though he was born outside of the US provable.

Certified: 48.0% West Asian, 6.5% South Asian, 15.8% North/West European, 15.7% English, 7.4% Balkan, 6.6% Scandinavian
PhysicalStamina so i made a new avatar from Who's askin'? Since: Apr, 2012 Relationship Status: It's so nice to be turned on again
so i made a new avatar
#323839: Aug 14th 2020 at 9:55:35 AM

You don't have to apply for absentee ballots if you're already registered, right?

To pity someone is to tell them "I feel bad about being better than you."
RainehDaze Figure of Hourai from Scotland (Ten years in the joint) Relationship Status: Serial head-patter
Figure of Hourai
#323840: Aug 14th 2020 at 9:56:29 AM

I mean... look at the link. It tells you what you need to do depending on where you are.

Avatar Source
PhysicalStamina so i made a new avatar from Who's askin'? Since: Apr, 2012 Relationship Status: It's so nice to be turned on again
so i made a new avatar
#323841: Aug 14th 2020 at 9:59:53 AM

The link makes a distinction ballots and mail-ballot applications, which I'm assuming means "fill this thing out and send it to us if you want to have your ballot mailed", unless it's one of those things that doesn't actually mean what it implies it means because language.

The confusion comes from the fact that for the primary the state just mailed me my ballot. Not an application, but the actual ballot. My question is, is there a different process for primary and general elections?

Edited by PhysicalStamina on Aug 14th 2020 at 1:02:01 PM

To pity someone is to tell them "I feel bad about being better than you."
RainehDaze Figure of Hourai from Scotland (Ten years in the joint) Relationship Status: Serial head-patter
Figure of Hourai
#323842: Aug 14th 2020 at 10:02:53 AM

In states that don't automatically send out ballots for voting by mail, you need to submit an application for the mailed ballot. If it says the application is being sent to everyone, then you'll receive the application form for the actual ballot automatically.

The confusion comes from the fact that for the primary the state just mailed me my ballot. Not an application, but the actual ballot. My question is, is there a different process for primary and general elections?

Every state is different and without knowing what state you're in, nobody can answer that.

Edited by RainehDaze on Aug 14th 2020 at 6:03:29 PM

Avatar Source
nova92 Since: Apr, 2020
#323843: Aug 14th 2020 at 10:05:54 AM

[up][up] Some states mailed primary ballots to all registered voters but won't be doing it for the general. I'd recommend checking, just to be sure.

TitanJump Since: Sep, 2013 Relationship Status: Singularity
#323845: Aug 14th 2020 at 10:19:12 AM

[up] Is the second one a GOP bill, by any chance?

tclittle Professional Forum Ninja from Somewhere Down in Texas Since: Apr, 2010
Professional Forum Ninja
#323846: Aug 14th 2020 at 10:20:25 AM

[up] It's Tennessee.

"We're all paper, we're all scissors, we're all fightin' with our mirrors, scared we'll never find somebody to love."
Parable State of Mind from California (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Holding out for a hero
State of Mind
#323847: Aug 14th 2020 at 10:25:18 AM

Which is a very Republican state, for those unaware. This is a state whose senator ran and won her election entirely on "Build the wall!" despite Tennessee being nowhere near the border.

"What a century this week has been." - Seung Min Kim
nova92 Since: Apr, 2020
#323848: Aug 14th 2020 at 10:26:28 AM

@PhysicalStamina, I think you're in Maryland?

Any voter can request an absentee ballot without an excuse. The state is mailing absentee-ballot applications to all voters; you can also apply for an absentee ballot online here. Election officials must receive your application by Oct. 20.

Looks like you'll be receiving an application but still have to send it in for a ballot.

TitanJump Since: Sep, 2013 Relationship Status: Singularity
#323849: Aug 14th 2020 at 10:31:23 AM

[up][up][up] I am still one of those that hopes deeply there still is a difference between a "true republican"(aka, "the ones that jumped ship, due to having actual morals and standards, before Trump got onboard") and "GOP".

Hence the question.

Edited by TitanJump on Aug 14th 2020 at 7:33:09 PM

NoName999 Since: May, 2011
#323850: Aug 14th 2020 at 10:49:41 AM

There is no difference between them.


Total posts: 417,856
Top