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

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#182376: Apr 11th 2017 at 12:39:53 PM

Yes, the Republican governments of many states have intentionally cut photo ID services for inner cities and other places that have concentrations of minorities. At the same time, they pass laws requiring ID to vote. Many of them have been directly observed (in public, no less) saying that the express purpose of these laws is to make it harder for minorities to vote, because they vote Democrat. It's not even a question any more.

Edit: Also note that the lack of ready access to ID does deprive many a poor citizen of those other services you cited as well.

edited 11th Apr '17 12:42:11 PM by Fighteer

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
justhelping Since: Dec, 2016
#182377: Apr 11th 2017 at 12:41:11 PM

[up][up] Wait, that's the reasoning? Because minorities tend to be poorer, it's intentionally and directly racist?

[up] God, republicans are shitheads. Thanks for ruining conservatism for everyone.

edited 11th Apr '17 12:42:12 PM by justhelping

Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#182378: Apr 11th 2017 at 12:41:15 PM

Well, that and when the order went out in the last days of the wars to poison then rivers and go all out, the army disobeyed, because the generals were either smart enough to flee, and those who didn't were smart enough to know that this would lead nowhere at this point.

One also has to know that the bombing of the cities was actually an accident - in that the initial bombing of London was actually the result of the German planes hitting the wrong target but GB couldn't know that so they retaliated by bombing Berlin and after that all bets were off. Bombings beforehand were focussing on military targets only.

math792d Since: Jun, 2011 Relationship Status: Drift compatible
#182379: Apr 11th 2017 at 12:45:34 PM

One also has to know that the bombing of the cities was actually an accident - in that the initial bombing of London was actually the result of the German planes hitting the wrong target but GB couldn't know that so they retaliated by bombing Berlin and after that all bets were off. Bombings beforehand were focussing on military targets only.

That's a bit revisionist - most mainstream historians these days are firmly on the side that it was a deliberate change in doctrine after the drug-addled Austrian corporal realized there was no way he was going to win the Battle of Britain. Trying to terror-bomb the British people into capitulating (coupled with a u-boat campaign to starve them of outside food imports) became codified in German strategy soon after.

Thanks for ruining conservatism for everyone.

Conservatism is generally always pretty morally bankrupt. It's just much, much more overt in, say, the French or American Republicans than it is elsewhere.

re: Spicer. This government is so incompetent they've managed to create some kind of Reverse Godwin's Law. This is Fascist Italy levels of sheer, stubborn, bloody-minded incompetence.

edited 11th Apr '17 12:48:04 PM by math792d

Still not embarrassing enough to stan billionaires or tech companies.
LeGarcon Blowout soon fellow Stalker from Skadovsk Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Gay for Big Boss
Blowout soon fellow Stalker
#182380: Apr 11th 2017 at 12:46:15 PM

It might sound totally reasonable on paper that you'd need a driver's license to vote.

But they're putting in that requirment and then shutting down all the DMVs in a huge area meaning your deeply impoverished black person living in an inner city has to somehow find the time and the money to travel some three hours away two towns over.

That's actually a massive undertaking when you're really poor and working full time and being paid by the hour.

edited 11th Apr '17 12:47:05 PM by LeGarcon

Oh really when?
Krieger22 Causing freakouts over sourcing since 2018 from Malaysia Since: Mar, 2014 Relationship Status: I'm in love with my car
Causing freakouts over sourcing since 2018
#182381: Apr 11th 2017 at 12:47:24 PM

[up][up][up][up]Hasn't stopped you from regurgitating their talking points uncritically non-stop.

Spicer's apparent Holocaust denial: Congratulations, the White House can now be considered low hanging fruit for Shit Wehraboos Say.

edited 11th Apr '17 12:48:07 PM by Krieger22

I have disagreed with her a lot, but comparing her to republicans and propagandists of dictatorships is really low. - An idiot
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?
#182382: Apr 11th 2017 at 12:49:05 PM

The court opinion itself will, well, opine on that, but tis complex. In parts of Europe similar laws apply, but those people have I Ds issued to them practically from birth and trivially acquired.
Stateside, the context is different. The ID laws discriminate as applied. Twas calculated that both minorities and much of the poor (those coincidentally overlap alot) would be restricted from voting if the states raised ID requirements at the polls. (You need an ID for alot, but millions also don't drive, don't have ready access to birth certificates, etc.) This combined with procedures for getting the (often expensive) I Ds, have the very much intended effect of suppressing turnout.

Hasn't stopped you from regurgitating their talking points uncritically non-stop.
IMHO, can't say that's a bad thing—at least interpreted as: questions on things that don't quite fit one's worldview. Plus, twas in a form of a question, on something that looks innocent at first glance.

edited 11th Apr '17 12:56:24 PM by CenturyEye

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
Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#182383: Apr 11th 2017 at 12:51:16 PM

Well, the Germans bombed civilians in other Allied nations well before the Blitz. But that's best suited for other threads.

Anyone think this will hurt Spicer in the long run?

edited 11th Apr '17 12:53:55 PM by Rationalinsanity

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
Krieger22 Causing freakouts over sourcing since 2018 from Malaysia Since: Mar, 2014 Relationship Status: I'm in love with my car
Causing freakouts over sourcing since 2018
#182384: Apr 11th 2017 at 12:53:18 PM

[up]Not much more than anything else that's left his mouth ever since he got hired.

I wonder how many people will have their political careers permanently ended due to working for the Trump administration...

I have disagreed with her a lot, but comparing her to republicans and propagandists of dictatorships is really low. - An idiot
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#182385: Apr 11th 2017 at 12:56:03 PM

Considering that their political careers often start with the Trump administration, I don't really see the issue there. The question is more appropriate for those who had existing careers and rode his coattails out of ideology or opportunism. They will undoubtedly come to regret it, and I could not be sad about it if I tried.

edited 11th Apr '17 12:56:52 PM by Fighteer

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
math792d Since: Jun, 2011 Relationship Status: Drift compatible
#182386: Apr 11th 2017 at 1:01:17 PM

We have to go dumber

Still not embarrassing enough to stan billionaires or tech companies.
sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#182387: Apr 11th 2017 at 1:07:18 PM

Obvious Question: Weren't many of the Jews killed German citizens?

Also appreciating the irony that a Trump mouthpiece is getting in trouble over a Hitler comparison.

edited 11th Apr '17 1:08:15 PM by sgamer82

tclittle Professional Forum Ninja from Somewhere Down in Texas Since: Apr, 2010
Professional Forum Ninja
#182388: Apr 11th 2017 at 1:10:18 PM

This clarification is lose lose for Spencer either way it's taken.

Either he implied he believes German Jews weren't real Germans or is Holocaust denialing.

"We're all paper, we're all scissors, we're all fightin' with our mirrors, scared we'll never find somebody to love."
Ramidel Since: Jan, 2001
#182389: Apr 11th 2017 at 1:22:46 PM

Conservatism is generally always pretty morally bankrupt. It's just much, much more overt in, say, the French or American Republicans than it is elsewhere.

Nah. Conservatism isn't morally bankrupt, but conservative parties have been taken over by morally bankrupt people, and formerly honest conservatives are stuck either defecting to a party that doesn't share their views, or staying and drinking the kool-aid.

There's no place anymore for an Edmund Burke or Robert Taft, and that's not a good thing. Progressives have an unfortunate tendency to sometimes act like the law of gravity doesn't apply (Sanders, I'm looking at you), and they need an opposition both to call them out when they're doing that, and to take the reins when they've gone rectocranial for too long.

BearyScary Since: Sep, 2010 Relationship Status: You spin me right round, baby
#182390: Apr 11th 2017 at 1:22:48 PM

The administration may be looking for a new press secretary soon.

Do not obey in advance.
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#182391: Apr 11th 2017 at 1:23:02 PM

Spicer doesn't know how to stop digging himself deeper. He really is the perfect White House spokesman.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
rikalous World's Cutest Direwolf from Upscale Mordor (Before Recorded History) Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
World's Cutest Direwolf
#182392: Apr 11th 2017 at 1:29:05 PM

Don't you need ID to drive, ride a plane, buy a firearm, join the military, or buy alcohol, or do anything, really? How is this any different from anything else that has an age requirement?
Driving a car, riding a plane, and buying alcohol isn't exercising your right and civic duty, and some asshole with access to guns can do a lot more damage on their own than some asshole with access to one vote.

vandro Shop Owner from The little shop that wasn't Since: Jul, 2009
Shop Owner
#182393: Apr 11th 2017 at 1:33:28 PM

Why does the US not have universal ID again?

LeGarcon Blowout soon fellow Stalker from Skadovsk Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Gay for Big Boss
Blowout soon fellow Stalker
#182394: Apr 11th 2017 at 1:34:32 PM

Because that means poor minorities get to vote.

[down]Also some of that. There were large swathes of the country that thought the social security number system was part of that mess.

edited 11th Apr '17 1:37:22 PM by LeGarcon

Oh really when?
Kostya (Unlucky Thirteen)
#182395: Apr 11th 2017 at 1:36:20 PM

[up][up]Because Mark of the Beast. I'm not even joking.

edit: If we just issued everyone an ID I'm fine with the voter ID laws. We should also automatically register everyone at 18.

edited 11th Apr '17 1:37:08 PM by Kostya

vandro Shop Owner from The little shop that wasn't Since: Jul, 2009
Shop Owner
#182396: Apr 11th 2017 at 1:38:23 PM

Even backwaters in latin america have had universal ID since last century, it makes no sense to me that mass suffrage in the US didn't come with universal ID right off the bat. I am wondering in the historical sense here. What conditions made the mess of a system of today.

[up]I hope to god almighty that's a joke.

edited 11th Apr '17 1:39:09 PM by vandro

Zendervai Since: Oct, 2009
#182397: Apr 11th 2017 at 1:41:36 PM

[up][up]I used to work at a hotel/resort in Niagara Falls, Ontario. You would not believe the number of people who panicked when chip cards came up. Like, you stick the card in the machine instead of swiping. One lady literally screamed at the top of her lungs for 30 seconds straight. No words, just a horror movie scream. These people are so terrified of the "One World Order" that they can't function at all when anything that could be even slightly construed as vaguely resembling the premillennial dispensationalist viewpoint makes them freak out. It was always Americans.

Anyway, I don't know about the rest of Canada, but in Ontario if you don't have a driver's license, you can get an official government ID free by filling out a form at the LCBO (the provincially owned government monopoly liquor stores).

edited 11th Apr '17 1:42:44 PM by Zendervai

CrimsonZephyr Would that it were so simple. from Massachusetts Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
Would that it were so simple.
#182398: Apr 11th 2017 at 1:41:58 PM

"Voter ID" is a shibboleth for keeping the black voters away the polls. Republicans will break the underlying logic of the universe in an attempt to make it seem like a remedy for (negligible, nigh non-existent) voter fraud, but it all boils down to suppressing the vote of people who really want them gone.

"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."
Balmung Since: Oct, 2011
#182399: Apr 11th 2017 at 1:46:56 PM

Because that would defeat the entire purpose of demanding ID - to keep the wrong people from voting.


Total posts: 417,856
Top