TVTropes Now available in the app store!
Open

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

Zendervai Since: Oct, 2009
#177051: Mar 6th 2017 at 8:41:43 AM

We know the NSA really was trawling through a ton of data...but they don't appear to have targeted anyone specific. It's why the NSA doesn't seem to have any results in recent years, because they have so much data to dig through.

math792d Since: Jun, 2011 Relationship Status: Drift compatible
#177052: Mar 6th 2017 at 8:43:39 AM

[up] It's almost like mass surveillance is completely useless and only serves to drive a wedge between the government and the people.

Still not embarrassing enough to stan billionaires or tech companies.
AngelusNox Warder of the damned from The guard of the gates of oblivion Since: Dec, 2014 Relationship Status: Married to the job
Warder of the damned
#177053: Mar 6th 2017 at 8:45:04 AM

We all know who is behind everything!

note 

edited 6th Mar '17 8:45:16 AM by AngelusNox

Inter arma enim silent leges
Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#177054: Mar 6th 2017 at 8:49:29 AM

The NSA might have collected info fron a lot of people, but there isn't enough money and skilled manpower in the world for them to analyze everything. Seriously, a super Stasi would be cripplingly expensive.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#177055: Mar 6th 2017 at 8:49:33 AM

Mass surveillance is casting a dragnet through public and private communications in order to find those few needles that may indicate a terror attack or other malicious intent. It's not inherently "evil" — there's no shadowy cabal of sinister figures who've decided they must know everything about everyone in order to maintain some dystopian control over society. Or at least, not yet anyway. Rather, it's a natural outcome of a focus on security over privacy that's been growing since long before Obama was elected. The largest jump in domestic surveillance in recent memory came under Bush II, remember? The dude that signed the PATRIOT act?

Anyway, Trump's not talking about mass data collection. He's talking about Obama specifically and intentionally targeting him, which is the sign of a man who has retreated from reality so much that he leaps at the slightest chance to blame other people for his failings.

For those convinced that the NSA is part of some sinister conspiracy, I give you the perfect solution.

edited 6th Mar '17 8:50:52 AM by Fighteer

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
3of4 Just a harmless giant from a foreign land. from Five Seconds in the Future. Since: Jan, 2010 Relationship Status: GAR for Archer
Just a harmless giant from a foreign land.
#177057: Mar 6th 2017 at 8:54:30 AM

[up]Remind me to never recommend a new show to you ever tongue

"You can reply to this Message!"
Elle Since: Jan, 2001
#177058: Mar 6th 2017 at 9:04:26 AM

Bush II started the mass surveillance push but Obama shares blame for backing it's continuation.

I don't know anything about financial institutions being specifically targeted though. If it's true, I missed it.

NativeJovian Jupiterian Local from Orlando, FL Since: Mar, 2014 Relationship Status: Maxing my social links
Jupiterian Local
#177059: Mar 6th 2017 at 9:13:50 AM

For the record, what the NSA was doing was not wiretapping. They were collecting metadata, meaning information about the call (which number called which number, when, how long the call lasted, etc), not actually tapping calls. This means that they never had any information on what was being said.

eg, they could say "Hm, Alice called Bob six times last week, and Bob is on an FBI watchlist for terrorist activities, maybe we should look into Alice too", they couldn't say "Alice called Bob and discussed plans for a terrorist attack! Quick, dispatch the black ops team!"

Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.
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?
#177060: Mar 6th 2017 at 9:22:05 AM

State Department staffers have one question: Where’s Rex? Tillerson appears to be passing up another opportunity to establish himself as the Trump administration’s diplomatic face.

The State Department resumes its formal press briefing on Monday — an event that offers Secretary of State Rex Tillerson an ideal setting to assert to the world that America remains a diplomatic force and reassure his jittery employees that their work matters to the new administration.

But Tillerson is not expected to show up, according to acting spokesman Mark Toner.

America’s chief diplomat so far appears allergic to the spotlight. His aloof approach to his job is eroding confidence in him at the State Department, multiple sources told POLITICO, where staffers are upset about President Donald Trump’s mixed foreign policy messages and his plans to significantly cut the agency’s budget.

Tillerson’s relative silence has been further compounded by the fact that the State Department’s traditional daily press briefing has been on hiatus since Trump took office.

The briefing is monitored carefully by other governments seeking a sense of U.S. foreign policy priorities. The long silence has irritated American diplomats who have watched other foreign ministry spokesmen, including those representing U.S. rivals such as Russia, try to seize control of narratives without State being able to respond.

The department spokesman’s role is expected to eventually go to a political appointee. Bloomberg News reported over the weekend that Fox News anchor Heather Nauert has been selected for the job. State officials did not respond when asked to confirm the story.

State sources say, however, that career staffers seem to have a shrinking amount of access to the secretary. Seventh-floor offices near Tillerson that used to belong to career employees — including that of the State Department counselor, a position Tillerson may not fill — have been emptied and retrofitted with cubicles expected to go to political appointees.

So far, it appears the White House has tremendous sway over who surrounds Tillerson. Trump vetoed Tillerson’s choice for deputy secretary of state, former George W. Bush administration official Elliott Abrams, because of his past criticism of the president.

When Tillerson does speak publicly, he usually sticks to a script and ignores questions. On Thursday, during an appearance alongside Yukiya Amano, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Tillerson smiled but said nothing as NBC’s Andrea Mitchell lobbed several questions at him before being escorted out of the room, a moment caught on a widely circulated video.

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
HextarVigar That guy from The Big House Since: Feb, 2015
That guy
#177061: Mar 6th 2017 at 10:30:47 AM

I don't think Trump is listening in on phone calls.

I'm sure someone would have mentioned hearing wet grunting noises if he had been.

Your momma's so dumb she thinks oral sex means talking dirty.
sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#177062: Mar 6th 2017 at 10:31:32 AM

A CNN headline on tv just now

"Trump (Without Evidence) Accuses Obama of Wiretapping"

speedyboris Since: Feb, 2010
#177063: Mar 6th 2017 at 10:48:09 AM

I read more than one opinion piece over the weekend which said that this is the kind of thing dictators do: Order an investigation into something they have zero evidence of.

sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#177064: Mar 6th 2017 at 10:51:10 AM

Any idea what the appropriate response is to make the absurdity of it all clear? I have the feeling actually investigating would not work out well and confirming Obama did nothing of the sort would be worse, assuming that's an option regardless of the truth.

FluffyMcChicken My Hair Provides Affordable Healthcare from where the floating lights gleam Since: Jun, 2014 Relationship Status: In another castle
My Hair Provides Affordable Healthcare
#177065: Mar 6th 2017 at 10:56:06 AM

[up] It's ploy to distract the television news networks from some more nefarious shit. This seems to be timed along with the reinstatement of the travel ban.

Gilphon (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#177066: Mar 6th 2017 at 10:58:43 AM

Up here in Canuckialand, it was reported as 'Trump abruptly tweeted out an accusation against Obama. He didn't have any evidence to back him up. He's probably trying to throw up a smokescreen to distract from other stuff, like Russia. Speaking of Russia, here's a recap on that in case you haven't heard about what been going on with that lately.'

edited 6th Mar '17 11:00:02 AM by Gilphon

DeMarquis (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#177067: Mar 6th 2017 at 11:39:24 AM

There are times when you just step back and let an opponent hang themselves.

I'm done trying to sound smart. "Clear" is the new smart.
Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#177068: Mar 6th 2017 at 11:46:14 AM

So, a Canadian citizen with no criminal record, no duel citizenship, and no other issues, was turned away from the US border and told she needed an immigrant visa (which are only required for those planning on moving to the US or marrying an American). No other reason was provided. One of the border officers basically said "'I know you may feel like you've been Trumped," Canada and the US are supposed to have an agreement where short term travel only requires a passport and a border check, but we've all seen just what Trump's word is worth.

Canadians have previously been subjected to religious and political tests since the rise of the Orange House.

But I'm sure that race was never a factor in this case.

Hey, if Trump kills his own nation's tourism industry, maybe Canada (and Mexico/the Caribbean) will get boost.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/canadian-denied-entry-us-immigrant-visa-1.4011202

edited 6th Mar '17 11:47:38 AM by Rationalinsanity

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
HextarVigar That guy from The Big House Since: Feb, 2015
That guy
#177069: Mar 6th 2017 at 11:58:21 AM

Well, that's what she gets for being brown...

Your momma's so dumb she thinks oral sex means talking dirty.
TacticalFox88 from USA Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Dating the Doctor
#177070: Mar 6th 2017 at 12:13:47 PM

Ben Carson: Slaves immigrated to America dreaming of 'prosperity and happiness'

What the actual fuck.

No seriously. What the FUCK

New Survey coming this weekend!
HextarVigar That guy from The Big House Since: Feb, 2015
That guy
#177071: Mar 6th 2017 at 12:17:44 PM

Oh golly.

America, never stop being this funny.

The fact that a black guy is saying this is just the icing.

edited 6th Mar '17 12:19:42 PM by HextarVigar

Your momma's so dumb she thinks oral sex means talking dirty.
SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#177072: Mar 6th 2017 at 12:19:30 PM

Oy.

Not surprised, though. Watching Clarence Thomas and Ben Carson gives off the impression that right-wing African Americans tend to be complete and utter idiots. These two certainly are.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Zendervai Since: Oct, 2009
#177073: Mar 6th 2017 at 12:23:09 PM

I think Carson genuinely meets one of the definitions of insanity. Not the one about repeating over and over, but the one where you can tell someone's insane if their statements and actions completely fail to line up with reality. And Carson hasn't had a completely sane action or statement in years now.

Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#177074: Mar 6th 2017 at 12:26:05 PM

In a sane world/country; that type of comment would get you booted out of the public sphere faster than you could say "foot in mouth".

But the world has gone mad.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
kkhohoho (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#177075: Mar 6th 2017 at 12:31:00 PM

[up]Honestly, part of me's starting to wonder if The Joker had an actual damn point. And I don't know about you, but I'm certainly seeing the funny side.tongue


Total posts: 417,856
Top