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
It doesn't change things that much, but it changes things in a direction that is undesirable, for the reasons I mentioned.
Additionally, instead of going to St Jude's Childrens Hospital as it was claimed, donations were routed into several of Donald Trump's other "charities" along with several of his golf courses. The charity also serves as a means to give lower ranking Trump loyalists a position with some means of access; AP reports that the charities are staffed almost entirely by people within Trump's circle.
Seems that he was also jerking around the IRS, falsifying earnings and donation amounts.
I think one of the most depressing things about all of this is that the bar for republicans has been set comically low.
No matter how bad any republican candidate is from this point on, they can always go back and point out "well at least he's not TRUMP" (as if this was some sort of notable accomplishment) provided his presidency fails as spectacularly as we're expecting.
edited 22nd Dec '16 5:59:21 PM by Draghinazzo
Yeesh, the GOP really is a magnet for awful and amoral people. Like a nightmarish political Katamari.
edited 22nd Dec '16 6:03:13 PM by M84
Disgusted, but not surprised![]()
Well, at least they didn't have anyone outright assassinated... that we know of.
They also aren't involved in paedo rings or slavery rings or snuff films or anything of that sort. I think. The beauty pageants and the pro-wrestling are a Downplayed Trope version, I suppose.
edited 22nd Dec '16 6:08:42 PM by TheHandle
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
Yes, but it's especially hypocritical since the Trump team campaigned on bringing jobs back to the USA.
If you're going to campaign on a populist/protectionist platform, don't also rely on foreign sweatshops to make your products or to provide your steel.
It's not quite the same as buying cheaper clothing and smartphones that are made in sweatshops.
It's staggering just how much projection is on display with all of the Trump team's attacks against their opponents and other people they don't like. So far, they are shaping up to be everything they claimed HRC was, if not worse.
edited 22nd Dec '16 6:19:24 PM by M84
Disgusted, but not surprised
Buy cheap goods made using what is essentially slave labor is our collective sin as a nation, and it's one many, many democratic backers are just as guilty of if not more so. Blame Trump for the ways in which he's pushed the envelope by violating norms in terms of conflicts of interest and otherwise.
@The whole nuclear issue: It seems like it was done in response to Putin making comments about expanding their own arsenal. Trump, correctly or otherwise seems to have taken the statement to be an attempt by Putin to gauge how Trump would respond to nuclear brinkmanship.
edited 22nd Dec '16 6:29:18 PM by CaptainCapsase
Participating in an economy with some questionable elements in it because there is literally no other way for the vast majority of us to get by in life is not the same thing as being directly involved in either running a sweatshop or making sure those sweatshops stay up and running and taking advantage of their workers. This whole "everyone is to blame" is not effective and is so diffuse as to be useless in indicating what the problem is.
I'd say they bear most of the responsibility! They'd have to share it with the companies that use those sweatshops to make their goods.
Again, too diffuse to be useful, and does not actually indicate a way for us to combat the issue. We can't really expect people to stop buying stuff at this point, since a lot of these things are necessities like clothes. Actions other than blaming consumers are more effective.
Also we seem to be veering off.
edited 22nd Dec '16 6:34:31 PM by AceofSpades
![]()
We buy them because they're cheaper and most of us don't have the money to spare. Not everyone has the luxury of only buying Fair Trade coffee or specialty clothing.
When have we intentionally used our political influence to make them not adopt better labor laws? That's a claim I've never heard before.
edited 22nd Dec '16 6:36:36 PM by Kostya
This conversation started out by saying Democrats are to blame for this situation just as much as Trump. You can't say that and then go back and say you're not talking about the government.
It's also not our place to stop American companies from lobbying in other countries. That's the local government's job.
edited 22nd Dec '16 6:42:37 PM by Kostya
