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's a reminder to make sure you're registered to vote, CC. And we've had to deal with people panicking in this thread before; this is not the place for us to soothe you. None of us here are your therapist and we don't want a thread taken up with you freaking out, or your apologies for it.
Also, what were you going to do if you missed the deadline and realized you weren't registered? Because that's superfucking unhelpful. Reminder; if you find yourself panicking, step away from the keyboard. And don't complain when people remind us the deadlines exist.
You're right, though I believe they were implicitly sorting the pessimists under the category of "People who panic for one reason or another".
"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji YangMike Huckabee's response to Taylor Swift coming out as a Democrat, has caused a reaction among supporters of Taylor Swift.
Unfortunately for him...
Taylor Swift's Instagram Post Has Caused A Massive Spike In Voter Registration
"We are up to 65,000 registrations in a single 24-hour period since T. Swift's post," said Kamari Guthrie, director of communications for Vote.org.
For context, 190,178 new voters were registered nationwide in the entire month of September, while 56,669 were registered in August.
In Swift’s home state of Tennessee, where she voiced support for two Democratic candidates running in this year's midterms, voter registrations have also jumped.
"Vote.org saw [Tennessee] registrations spike specifically since Taylor's post," Guthrie said. The organization has received 5,183 in the state so far this month — at least 2,144 of which were in the last 36 hours, she said, up from 2,811 new Tennessee voter registrations for the entire month of September and just 951 in August.
Guthrie said the site had also seen a big jump in the number of visitors since Swift's post, with 155,940 unique visitors in the last 24 hours — second only to the number of people who visited on National Voter Registration Day on Sept. 25 when there were 304,942 unique visitors. (The average daily user count for the site is 14,078 in 2018.)
"Thank God for Taylor Swift," said Guthrie.
And Trump clearly feels he hasn't hit his pettiness quota:
Trump Likes Taylor Swift's 'Music About 25 Percent Less Now' After Her Democratic Endorsement
“Let’s say that I like Taylor’s music about 25 percent less now,” Trump said of the typically apolitical pop star in footage shared by ABC News.
Edited by Wyldchyld on Oct 9th 2018 at 11:14:34 AM
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.I'm usually one of then first ones telling people when they're not being helpful. Granted, I do that less now but that's because I post less these days. (Because boy howdy is talking about nothing about how everything is bad forever really bad for everyone's morale.) And "but someone else does it too!" is not a great rebuttal, CC. It's a deflection, and again, not helpful.
And my advice will always be "step away from the keyboard" because going with the knee jerk reaction is usually the unhealthiest option. Do something else for a few minutes, let that feeling process until you can think more rationally.
The uptick in voter registration was being noted yesterday. Whether or not we think it's fair that celebrities have such influence over their fans, it's an influence that we have to acknowledge in this social media world. And in this case, it seems to be working in the Democrat's favor. Actually, a lot of the more vocal and social media savvy celebrities tend to be on the left. Maybe that's why Republicans try to dismiss them. (Not to say that there aren't celebrities on the Right, but they don't seem to capitalize quite as hugely on their social media.)
Edited by AceofSpades on Oct 9th 2018 at 5:17:18 AM
Edited by TheWildWestPyro on Oct 10th 2018 at 1:49:54 AM
Not everyone is as optimistic as most of the people in here, and the natural response for many people is to panic when they hear of horrible news that they have very little control over. You can keep telling people to stop panicking and vote, but a single vote means very in the grand scheme of American politics, dominated as it is by powerful moneyed interests and the disproportionate influence of white, rural voters.
Maybe things will turn out okay, maybe minds are starting to change, maybe soon there will be a movement to save our livelihoods, save our rights, save out planet.Everyone here knows me as a pessimist, but I haven't completely lost hope things can change, I still plan to vote this November, despite the fact that it'll likely not have any impact due to my living in an extremely conservative county in Colorado. But to belittle someone whose despairing, whose panicking about whether or not they'll even be able to survive in not-so-distant future, that is cruel.
You don't have to respond to panicking posts, if you really hate them so much report it to a mod and let them remove it. It happens to me all them time, and you know what, I'm fine with that. Sometimes when you lack a social support system that you can talk about these things with, crying out into the internet, even if it just lasts a moment, is the best comfort you can find.
And you're immediately wrong, not panicking and seeing the potential for things to get better is not optimism it's realism. I would say that most of us are probably realists who believe in making the world a better place then optimists who think that it will all work out in the end.
Furthermore talking about whether a single vote counts is completely missing the point, single actions never matter by their own merits. They universally have value as components of collective action, every single endeavor in human history that meant anything involved the contributions of many people. And elections are no different.
The fact that our system is imperfect changes none of this.
"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji YangA single vote may seem like it means little but it’s part of a bigger impact, win or lose it has an impact, especially on a local level it can and will decide elections, the impact of that small local election (wher one vote matters so very much) can down the road have a huge impact, a win at a small local election can help build a base to have an impact at state elections, that can impact into statewide election which can snowball into national elections.
That one vote can help launch a political career or kill one early one, it can help provide hope to others that they can have an impact, it can change the minds of strategists and financial backers.
Your one vote does a lot more than give a single person a single vote for a single race.
Hell if all that isn’t enough, talk to people you know, talk to three people you know and see if you can convince them to vote a particular way, see if you can get them to each talk to two more people.
That’s ten votes.
If you feel able to get in contact with a local campaign, just put letters in envelopes for them if that’s all you can that, because than you’re freeing up others to go out and directly engage with voters, you’re a part of every vote they win over.
If you’re in a positon where you can then go out and campaign, even if it’s just once, even if it’s just the final get out the vote for the election itself, that’s an impact, that matters.
Shit if you live in a deep red area where the democrats have no chance see about building that chance, help shape local policy, if you feel able to maybe stand as a paper candidate (a candidate who will certainly loose but ensures that the other side don’t get in unopposed).
Take that energy, take that fear and channel it into writing an email to your local DNC asking how you can help in some small little way.
We want change, we want this to end, so be part of that change, even if you can only be a tiny part.
Edited by Silasw on Oct 9th 2018 at 11:03:49 AM
“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ CyranA belief that this world is as bad as it could be or that evil will ultimately prevail over good.
"But things are bad for me" doesn't justify pessimism, because pessimism by definition is ignoring any potential positive outcomes or upsides. Looking at something and going "well, this could also be good for the Republicans" is quite different from "well this means that it's certain the Republicans will have a crushing blow because look a poll changed for two days".
And this is the problem with pessimism, it's just not reasonable.
It's one thing to acknowledge the fact that failure can happen, that's perfectly rational.
But assuming that things must go wrong because at some point in the past they did is frankly ignorant and counterproductive. As long as there is life there is a chance for things to get better (or worse) and there is no benefit to assuming otherwise.
(I'm not contradicting you, just adding onto your point)
Edited by Fourthspartan56 on Oct 9th 2018 at 7:04:56 AM
"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji YangAlso, can we file that thing about not paying the paid protesters thing under projection given that Trump stiffed the company that provided the cheering crowd for his campaign launch
?
I knew they loved projection but I still get somewhat surprised at the sheer inevitability of the hypocrisy.
Honestly, with that in mind, it makes pizzagate much less stupidly hilarious and more just... uncomfortable.
"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji YangSo I posted a CNN poll
a page ago and it turns out that there was something pretty fucking major in it that I completely missed.
Men support the Republican candidates by 5 points (50% support 45% oppose) while women support Republican candidates by -30 points (33% support 63% oppose). Now I'm not sure the exact electoral consequences if they vote this way come midterms but considering that I'm fairly certain that suburban women are crucial to Republican chances in the midterms I think this could prove seriously devastating for them if true.
If this is accurate... then oh my. Things could get interesting.
"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji YangRemember that little panic some people had a bit ago when the Democrat's chance of taking the House fell five points in two days?
Though it’s worth pointing out that turnout may matter a lot, if Democrat men turnout more than Republican men than things can change, recent events do have a gender divide but it’s nothing compared to the partisan divide.
A democrat voting man is more likely to have believed Ford that a Republican voting women, it’s down to party more than gender.
“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ CyranEdited by MarqFJA on Oct 9th 2018 at 3:44:57 PM
Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.

It's as if the concept of time passing is alien to you, Cooking Cat. Instead of posting like you're panicking, why don't you just check out what your deadline is and make sure you're registered? Because that's the actually productive response here, not you complaining about reminders.
Anyway, I saw an interview with the oh so famous Governor Sandberg, and his opinion seems to be that there's something else going on with Haley's resignation that might pop up later to surprise us. I guess he'd know, given his history. But the idea that she thinks she should get a better paying job to pay for her kid's college is actually a pretty simple one. Which would make her the person to leave for the most normal reason in like, the entire administration. And speculation that the timing is to distance herself from the image of someone trying to leave a tarnished image of the White House should things in fact go in the Democrat's favor after the midterms.