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

Proglottid Since: Mar, 2010
#174001: Feb 12th 2017 at 12:37:23 PM

US Presidency: So easy a caveman IS doing it

AmbarSonofDeshar Since: Jan, 2010
#174002: Feb 12th 2017 at 12:46:23 PM

@Ace of Spades

Weaver's trying to dick over gay couples and is prepared to make life just slightly more difficult for straight couples in order to do it.

Wyldchyld (Old as dirt)
#174003: Feb 12th 2017 at 12:48:54 PM

[up][up] But according to Donald today, it takes smarts to be a president. I'll quote the tweet, so people don't have to click the link.

I know Mark Cuban well. He backed me big-time but I wasn't interested in taking all of his calls.He's not smart enough to run for president!

edited 12th Feb '17 12:49:33 PM by Wyldchyld

If my post doesn't mention a giant flying sperm whale with oversized teeth and lionfish fins for flippers, it just isn't worth reading.
pwiegle Cape Malleum Majorem from Nowhere Special Since: Sep, 2015 Relationship Status: Singularity
Cape Malleum Majorem
#174004: Feb 12th 2017 at 12:52:08 PM

And then there are some people who are smart enough NOT to run for President. (Colin Powell, Elizabeth Warren, etc.)

This Space Intentionally Left Blank.
CenturyEye Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign? from I don't know where the Yith sent me this time... Since: Jan, 2017 Relationship Status: Having tea with Cthulhu
Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?
#174005: Feb 12th 2017 at 12:54:12 PM

The people smart enough not to run may well be the very people you want in the job. Case in point—those examples.

Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#174006: Feb 12th 2017 at 12:55:12 PM

I admit, while I have some misgivings about both of them, I wouldn't have felt so worried about a Warren vs. Powell race.

Disgusted, but not surprised
Draghinazzo (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: I get a feeling so complicated...
#174007: Feb 12th 2017 at 12:59:20 PM

Every comparison with Trump turns into Insult to Rocks because there's nothing redeemable about him at all.

Even actual dictators usually have something that's at least vaguely respectable in comparison to him, like having actual ideals, not being a stupid boor, and being more competent.

Trump might as well be a comedy act because of how cartoonishly terrible he actually is. He feels like something you'd see in the Simspons or something.

TheWanderer Student of Story from Somewhere in New England (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
Student of Story
#174008: Feb 12th 2017 at 1:17:24 PM

By internet time, this is from forever and a day ago, but I want to do a response.

Welp, I am disappoint.

As someone who recognizes that the concept of rights is the single most significant development in the field of Human society and civilization in the last 400 years, I have to figure people have got to have some pretty good fucking reasons for throwing them out- even in the case of Nazis.

Is it really just, "Fuck Nazis?" for you? Not even a, "If these people don't believe in the rights of non-whites, then there's no reason why I should believe in their rights"?

~Gault

How about this for you: Naziism is, by its very nature, destructive to the principles of democracy. Democracy is a means of social organization meant to ensure that the rights, freedoms, and safety of its citizens are protected as best as possible. Naziism of its own nature espouses limiting or forcibly stripping the rights of a democracy's citizens, often for simply being born to a particular group. (Wrong skin tone, wrong orientation, parents are the wrong religion, etc.)

Naziism is thus a direct threat to liberal, functional democracy. Naziism and Nazis rely on a larger society either tolerating them or being ignorant of them and their agenda until they can take over the society, warp it until the society becomes a copy of Naziism's horrifically perverted philosophy, then spread. And Nazis who do take over a society in turn try to use the state's near monopoly on violence against the state's own citizens, which I think everyone here can agree is not okay.

Naziism is little different than a parasite or a virus, and should be treated like it. One shouldn't question ridding a democracy of Nazis any more than one questions whether to give medical treatment to a person with a virus, or to get rid of the bacterial or parasitic infection someone may have. As far as I'm concerned, personally, Spencer and his like are actually a step or two below an infection of Ascaris lumbricoides. (Note: Do not use google image search for that unless you are sure you have the stomach for it.) A democracy refusing to tolerate Nazis is just a sign that the democracy in question is committed to remaining a democracy.

Nazis have no place in the marketplace of ideas, either. The marketplace of ideas tossed them out after 1945, and nothing about their actions or words indicate they've changed anything to merit a second opportunity. And as the past couple of decades have taught us, it only takes a few people being committed to an evil, insane, unconscionable philosophy or cause in order to shake the world to its knees or cause massive harm to people. So Nazis fearfully hiding in the corners and shadows of a society that despises them and refuses to give them an opportunity to spread their particular brain plague is exactly where they should be. If they come out of that corner, (as they have) I have no objection to shining a light on them and stepping on them like roaches.

So on the question of whether one should punch a Nazi, it depends, as one philosopher has said on the subject, of how you define should. Legally? No you should not, due to everything from practical reasons (getting yourself in legal trouble, injuring yourself in the process, putting yourself in harm's way and the cross hairs of vengeful Nazis) to philosophical ones. (The greater breakdown of society and mutual erosion of public safety.) Ethically? Fuck yes, you should.

And my personal advice if you do decide to punch a Nazi: keep your wrist straight behind your fist so the transfer of energy goes straight through instead of messing up your wrist. If you go for the face, only aim for the nose, and keep your thumb outside of your fist. (Or use a forearm or an elbow.) Otherwise go for the solar plexus, that spot right around/underneath where the ribs meet. Much safer for your hand/arm, and may be more reliable than a head shot, especially if you come anywhere close to landing it right.

TLDR: fuck Nazis.

(Partially inspired by posts like this among many others that I'm having trouble finding at the moment.)

edited 12th Feb '17 1:19:12 PM by TheWanderer

| Wandering, but not lost. | If people bring so much courage to this world...◊ |
TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#174009: Feb 12th 2017 at 1:29:28 PM

Nazis have been one of the most Acceptable Targets for so long that I'll be honest, I never actually thought I'd see the day when we would seriously be debating the ethics of shutting them down.

Every time that conversation topic crops up, I feel like I've stepped into a parallel universe. What's next? People defending zombies?

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
Draghinazzo (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: I get a feeling so complicated...
#174010: Feb 12th 2017 at 1:36:25 PM

I would compare it to a lot of people who employ the trite centrism we've discussed multiple times in the sense that I feel most of them are trying to be principled and avoid being slanted, which in a vacuum is fine but you should know when to toss the assumption that everyone is magically right about something just because.

Eagal Since: Apr, 2012
#174011: Feb 12th 2017 at 1:38:33 PM

The Differently Alive deserve just as much respect as the next man. Such vitalist remarks reflect on the one who made them.

Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#174012: Feb 12th 2017 at 1:44:10 PM

[up][up][up]Seriously, a few generations ago the definition of a patriotic American man was one who volunteered to shoot Nazis (the ideal woman made the bullet).

edited 12th Feb '17 1:44:24 PM by Rationalinsanity

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
NativeJovian Jupiterian Local from Orlando, FL Since: Mar, 2014 Relationship Status: Maxing my social links
Jupiterian Local
#174013: Feb 12th 2017 at 2:04:02 PM

People like to twist the whole "tolerance of others" thing around to mean "people preaching tolerance can't criticize anything without being hypocritical, because criticism is intolerant".

The problem is that encouraging tolerance means refusing to tolerate intolerance. It's not hypocrisy, it's just unintuitive. If you want people to be tolerant, you must stamp out intolerance.

Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.
Eagal Since: Apr, 2012
#174014: Feb 12th 2017 at 2:15:55 PM

What about intolerance of intolerance?

TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#174015: Feb 12th 2017 at 2:17:35 PM

Double negative makes a positive. Intolerance of intolerance is tolerance.

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
Gilphon (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#174016: Feb 12th 2017 at 2:23:25 PM

Or, more precisely, it's tolerance of tolerance.

DingoWalley1 Asgore Adopts Noelle Since: Feb, 2014 Relationship Status: Can't buy me love
BearyScary Since: Sep, 2010 Relationship Status: You spin me right round, baby
#174018: Feb 12th 2017 at 2:38:24 PM

I dunno, I think Mark Cuban could be smart enough to run for President. Why the hell not, at this point? tongue

Do not obey in advance.
sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#174019: Feb 12th 2017 at 2:50:16 PM

The GOP Twitter is celebrating Lincoln's Birthday with what appears to be a false quote.

The quote:

And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.

DingoWalley1 Asgore Adopts Noelle Since: Feb, 2014 Relationship Status: Can't buy me love
Asgore Adopts Noelle
#174020: Feb 12th 2017 at 2:53:19 PM

[up] Man, the Republican Party really is in dire straights at this point, isn't it? I mean, how in the world do you screw up a Tweet of all freakin' things?!

Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#174021: Feb 12th 2017 at 3:02:11 PM

Trump manages to do it daily...

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
RBluefish Since: Nov, 2013
#174022: Feb 12th 2017 at 3:09:51 PM

What about intolerance of intolerance?

Not this shit again.note 

"Those damn liberals say that everyone should be tolerated - so why isn't it okay for me to hate black people? Where's the tolerance?"

That is the argument.

"We'll take the next chance, and the next, until we win, or the chances are spent."
CaptainCapsase from Orbiting Sagittarius A* Since: Jan, 2015
#174023: Feb 12th 2017 at 3:18:25 PM

There a difference between tolerating intolerance and physically assaulting people for holding intolerant beliefs; vigilante justice is toxic to the rule of law, and while it may seem fine when exceptions are being made for people whose beliefs you find abhorrent, legitimizing that sort of behavior is dangerous.

@TobiasDrake: That's not what's being debated, we're debating whether it is acceptable to assault someone simply for being a white supremacist without them having committed a crime.

edited 12th Feb '17 3:21:24 PM by CaptainCapsase

math792d Since: Jun, 2011 Relationship Status: Drift compatible
#174024: Feb 12th 2017 at 3:26:06 PM

vigilante justice is toxic to the rule of law, and while it may seem fine when exceptions are being made for people whose beliefs you find abhorrent, legitimizing that sort of behavior is dangerous.

While an extreme example, I'm sure the Polish people who had to endure six years of German occupation don't give a fig about the rule of law when people are killing people or forcing them into labor camps.

Respect for the rule of law only extends insofar as the rule of law protects people equally. If the law's unjust, unfair, or protects a group of people with outright murderous beliefs at the expense of the very real, very vulnerable populations these people target, rule of law becomes a tool entirely for the powerful to keep and maintain power.

We have seen a tip towards the favoritism of white supremacist dickwaffles at the expense of other people under this administration. We're going to see far more of it. Punching a white supremacist in the face, making sure to reinforce the fact that even if the highest office in the country is peddling the same bullshit, this shit is not acceptable, is an unfortunate act, but it's also an act of very explicit defiance when the rule of law is going to fuck you in favor of the guy who thinks Jews aren't people.

edited 12th Feb '17 3:27:28 PM by math792d

Still not embarrassing enough to stan billionaires or tech companies.
Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#174025: Feb 12th 2017 at 3:26:55 PM

I'd be cautious before equating the actions of a guerilla movement to those of a few individuals who live in a country where rule of law is still present.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.

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