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

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?
#183926: Apr 20th 2017 at 9:08:22 AM

There's every reason to primary Gabbard. She's in a deep blue state that is basically incapable of going Republican. There is no reason to keep her around. She can be safely targeted without costing the party a seat. So they should do it.
That may be true in the context of Hawaii alone (and desirable for humanity in general), but that'll require spending resources to unseat a Dem in a blue state that could be going to unseat a GOP seat holder elsewhere. Furthermore, it'll be all too easy for such a fight to tear open the old "DNC conspiracy" wounds and cause a schism at a critical time. Lastly, it'll put Dems in red states/blue dogs on notice to conform or be abandoned (or switch parties). That won't be the actual reason, but nuance is not in vogue these days. Gabbard's pretend support is still useful if it translates into actual votes and if she can be censored foreign policy or leadership roles.

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
CrimsonZephyr Would that it were so simple. from Massachusetts Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
Would that it were so simple.
#183927: Apr 20th 2017 at 9:09:26 AM

No Democrat should need to seek Bernie's blessing to secure their legitimacy. If Bernie wants anything close to that privilege, he first needs to start calling himself a Democrat. He's such a Fair-Weather Friend, it's honestly offensive. He's perfectly willing to use the Democratic infrastructure, but he won't do anything for the party unless it's for his own acolyte.

Honestly, this entire experience of seeing throngs of brainless first-time voters queuing up for a demagogue makes me more receptive of a party list system.

edited 20th Apr '17 9:11:00 AM by CrimsonZephyr

"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."
MorningStar1337 The Encounter that ended the Dogma from 🤔 Since: Nov, 2012
The Encounter that ended the Dogma
#183928: Apr 20th 2017 at 9:11:13 AM

[up] Frankly, I suspect Double Agent or Unwitting Pawn might be more appropriate for him.

edited 20th Apr '17 9:11:33 AM by MorningStar1337

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#183929: Apr 20th 2017 at 9:14:28 AM

Sanders wants the Democratic Party to win...on his terms. He wants his ideology to be the Democratic Party's ideology. He won't join the party for real unless it's willing to make itself into the Party of Sanders. And because he's over 70 and spent too many years as an outsider, he's trying to rush things.

edited 20th Apr '17 9:15:15 AM by M84

Disgusted, but not surprised
TacticalFox88 from USA Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Dating the Doctor
#183930: Apr 20th 2017 at 9:14:41 AM

[up][up]Considering his Campaign Manager worked for a corrupt Ukranian Oligarch backed by the Russian Government...

That's not too much of a stretch.

edited 20th Apr '17 9:14:55 AM by TacticalFox88

New Survey coming this weekend!
CrimsonZephyr Would that it were so simple. from Massachusetts Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
Would that it were so simple.
#183931: Apr 20th 2017 at 9:14:49 AM

I think my opinion of him soured irrevocably when he was filmed glowering, red-faced during the Convention. Just that alone was enough to convince me this guy would burn down the kingdom if he wasn't given the crown.

The Democratic Party isn't the party of Obama, Hillary, or Bernie (especially not Bernie). It's the party of all Democrats, and no one has the right to appoint themselves the gatekeeper.

edited 20th Apr '17 9:16:09 AM by CrimsonZephyr

"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."
CaptainCapsase from Orbiting Sagittarius A* Since: Jan, 2015
#183932: Apr 20th 2017 at 9:15:54 AM

@Ambar: Considering the democrats already tried that and it didn't work, your assumption that she would fall apart if challenged is objectively false.

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#183933: Apr 20th 2017 at 9:17:11 AM

[up] TBF, he was talking about having her face an actual progressive as opposed to just any other Democrat.

Disgusted, but not surprised
AmbarSonofDeshar Since: Jan, 2010
#183934: Apr 20th 2017 at 9:19:52 AM

And given how little effort was put into that primary challenge it proves exactly nothing. Let's send some actual money and a real candidate there and see what happens.

edited 20th Apr '17 9:22:14 AM by AmbarSonofDeshar

SophiaLonesoul Since: Apr, 2012
#183935: Apr 20th 2017 at 9:21:00 AM

I remain completely perplexed about why Sanders is so loved in the first place. He is a rich white man who had the means to not have to work until his 40s, and brags about stealing electricity from a neighbour. Claims to understand the plight of the working class yet never had to really worry about facing any of the problems of actual poverty. Why does everyone seem to think that he speaks for them when he can't really have an idea about the hardships they've been through? He has appropriated the struggles of the genuinely poor without actually doing anything to help them. Renaming post-offices doesn't put food on the table. Speaking of which I really hope that the neighbour that he was stealing electricity from didn't have to go hungry to pay for Bernie's power usage.

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#183936: Apr 20th 2017 at 9:23:52 AM

[up]"Free college", "single-payer", etc.

He made a bunch of promises he probably wouldn't have been able to fulfill and stirred up anti-establishment feelings. Populism 101.

edited 20th Apr '17 9:24:21 AM by M84

Disgusted, but not surprised
KarkatTheDalek Not as angry as the name would suggest. from Somwhere in Time/Space Since: Mar, 2012 Relationship Status: You're a beautiful woman, probably
Not as angry as the name would suggest.
#183937: Apr 20th 2017 at 9:24:16 AM

I think my opinion of him soured irrevocably when he was filmed glowering, red-faced during the Convention. Just that alone was enough to convince me this guy would burn down the kingdom if he wasn't given the crown.

I mean, he wanted to be President, what did you expect? And it's not like he tried to do what Cruz did and refuse to endorse the party's candidate.

edited 20th Apr '17 9:26:42 AM by KarkatTheDalek

Oh God! Natural light!
Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#183938: Apr 20th 2017 at 9:26:07 AM

I agree that investing in Gabbards downfall isn't worth it. But if she goes for a Senate seat (Or gods forbid, the Oval Office) no expense should be spared stopping her at the primary level.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#183939: Apr 20th 2017 at 9:27:22 AM

[up] Ideally, an actually progressive Democrat would take it upon themselves to primary her, citing her many flaws.

Disgusted, but not surprised
CaptainCapsase from Orbiting Sagittarius A* Since: Jan, 2015
#183940: Apr 20th 2017 at 9:27:34 AM

[up][up][up] It's also likely he did it without any promises of a Cabinet position and a guarantee no major democrat would oppose him in a future run, which is what it took to get Clinton to back down from her scorched Earth strategy after it was clear Obama was going to win in 2008.

@M84: Sanders policies were more or less sensible, if moderately unpolished. The issue would've been actually implementing them, but if you cynically dismiss single payer healthcare and he like as politically impossible, it's a self fulfilling prophecy. Wheeling and dealing with the economic elite only gets you so far; without massive popular mobilization to force the hands of those holding societies purse strings, every step forwards will come with two steps backwards in tax concessions, deregulation, and privatization.

edited 20th Apr '17 9:32:01 AM by CaptainCapsase

megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#183941: Apr 20th 2017 at 9:29:35 AM

Can we please stop retrying the 2016 election? As much as I hate to say it, the election is over, we have to deal with the consequences now instead of wondering what would have happened.

edited 20th Apr '17 9:31:45 AM by megaeliz

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#183942: Apr 20th 2017 at 9:32:30 AM

[up] We'd like to, except the loser of the DNC primaries keeps trying to influence the Democratic Party. Which wouldn't be an issue if he didn't keep doing and saying questionable things.

In playing this more public and involved role in the Democratic Party (despite not being a Democrat), he has opened himself to more scrutiny.

[up][up] The struggle to get single-payer through and working would have made the ACA look like child's play. Free college would have required a massive overhaul of our education and financial aid, and it would have required improvement of K~12 education. And all of this probably would have meant higher taxes.

And I didn't say impossible — just improbable.

edited 20th Apr '17 9:35:49 AM by M84

Disgusted, but not surprised
megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#183943: Apr 20th 2017 at 9:34:06 AM

sorry to double post, but new topic.

A politico poll amount Trump supporters, shows that they don't think he is infallible after all.

http://trib.al/hDbI94w

megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#183944: Apr 20th 2017 at 9:34:45 AM

sorry actual double post.

edited 20th Apr '17 9:35:10 AM by megaeliz

TacticalFox88 from USA Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Dating the Doctor
#183945: Apr 20th 2017 at 9:34:47 AM

You know WHY we have to keep mentioning the 2016 election/primary?

Because Sanders. Does. Not. Know. How. to. Shut. The. FUCK. UP.

He constantly shits on Democrats when we're trying to put the pieces back together and hold on to what little protections we have for women, Muslims, and POC.

We're supposed to just bow our heads and ignore him, for the sake of not opening bad wounds, when the motherfucker keeps stabbing us?

Fuck that.

New Survey coming this weekend!
megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#183946: Apr 20th 2017 at 9:37:16 AM

But you have been repeating the same things over and over.

You have made a comment to that effect I don't know how many times now. Again nothing against any of you personally, just trying to stop this from getting out of hand,

Guys, you are focusing on the wrong places. If you want to see where the real movers and shakers are, then look to the people. We are finally taking our politics into our own hands, holding congress accountable and demanding that they listen to us.

edited 20th Apr '17 9:41:05 AM by megaeliz

AmbarSonofDeshar Since: Jan, 2010
#183947: Apr 20th 2017 at 9:40:08 AM

Washington Post on the "Unity Tour" and failings thereof.

@megaeliz

At this point it isn't retrying the election. Sanders has chosen to take an incredibly public role in the party, and has used that role to...repeatedly criticize the party and demand that his version of liberalism be accepted as the only one. We're not talking about shit he said in the primary, we're talking about shit he said last week. Or shit he said yesterday.

edited 20th Apr '17 9:40:21 AM by AmbarSonofDeshar

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#183948: Apr 20th 2017 at 9:40:17 AM

[up][up] The problem is that Sanders keeps doing and saying stupid things that make it hard to believe he really supports the Democratic Party. It only seems like we've been saying this non-stop recently because his two recent gaffes were so close to each other.

edited 20th Apr '17 9:40:27 AM by M84

Disgusted, but not surprised
AmbarSonofDeshar Since: Jan, 2010
#183949: Apr 20th 2017 at 9:42:06 AM

This is one step away from telling us that we complain too much about Trump. When someone is out there being an active problem they need to be dealt with.

MorningStar1337 The Encounter that ended the Dogma from 🤔 Since: Nov, 2012
The Encounter that ended the Dogma
#183950: Apr 20th 2017 at 9:42:57 AM

Okay then I have a question that went unanswered the a few pages ago. This time I'll be more blunt.

Why don't we primary the Keystone of the in progress Keystone Army? Why don't we try to kick Sanders off whatever position he's in? Is it an attempt to gain the support of a fickle public of young adults?

edited 20th Apr '17 9:43:28 AM by MorningStar1337


Total posts: 417,856
Top