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

Ultimatum Disasturbator from the Amiga Forest (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Disasturbator
#282126: Jun 4th 2019 at 1:50:39 PM

talk is cheap,actions speak louder then words ectra

have a listen and have a link to my discord server
TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#282127: Jun 4th 2019 at 1:52:43 PM

The tariffs are extremely unpopular, especially with the business owners impacted by them. Many of whom are, as Charles noted, financial backers for these Republicans. Trump pissed off the wealthy with this move.

It's also a great point for them to take a stand on, politically. Trump's election was rooted in the idea that Republicans could rein in his more ridiculous ideas. This has not historically proven to be the case; the last two and a half years have been a complete shitshow in that and many other regards. But here, Trump's basically handed them a golden opportunity to stand up to him on something that their constituents don't support.

The press, meanwhile, loves a defection story. If this actually happens, the Republicans who made it happen will be all over the news - while the Democrats whose much larger number of guaranteed votes against Trump actually made it possible go ignored.

So I wouldn't be surprised if we see a spike in public confidence towards Republicans over this. It's a solid propaganda opportunity for them to go on FOX News and go, "See? We're keeping Trump in check, just like we said we would. Vote Republican 2020!"

Edited by TobiasDrake on Jun 4th 2019 at 2:53:25 AM

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
Grafite Since: Apr, 2016 Relationship Status: Less than three
#282128: Jun 4th 2019 at 1:53:12 PM

So the war in Yemen, with all the children killed by a dictatorial regime, which doesn't serve the US in any way (apart from arms sales cash obviously) doesn't warrant a veto override, yet tariffs do... The GOP gets no points from me on this after that.

Life is unfair...
TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#282129: Jun 4th 2019 at 1:57:06 PM

Also, if anybody is planning on trying to primary Trump, standing up to him on the tariffs gives that person a chance to get their name in the papers and make a big splash about reclaiming the Republican party.

Primarying a sitting President is a tricky thing to do, given that you'd need to make a name for yourself opposing him on stuff without pissing off the constituency that elected him. You're trying to court them to your side, after all. But since everyone hates the tariffs, it's a great place to get in front of a podium and go "This f*cking guy, amirite?" without shooting your own platform in the foot.

Edited by TobiasDrake on Jun 4th 2019 at 2:57:40 AM

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
Oruka Since: Dec, 2018
#282130: Jun 4th 2019 at 1:58:33 PM

We award then no points, and may God hace mercy on their soul.

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.
#282131: Jun 4th 2019 at 2:20:42 PM

I'm not commending the GOP for this, but I assume the Butthurt from the Orange House over this will be...spectacular.

"You can reply to this Message!"
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#282132: Jun 4th 2019 at 2:34:21 PM

Is the War in Yemen something to blame on the Republicans? It was ongoing in the Obama years.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
Protagonist506 from Oregon Since: Dec, 2013 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
#282133: Jun 4th 2019 at 2:38:15 PM

I don't much about the situation, but to be fair, ending a war is harder than starting one. You can't just start a war, then have the next president end it right away.

Leviticus 19:34
Fourthspartan56 from Georgia, US Since: Oct, 2016 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#282134: Jun 4th 2019 at 2:39:12 PM

Is the War in Yemen something to blame on the Republicans? It was ongoing in the Obama years.

Congress wanted to end our support for it, so unless you can provide some evidence that we supported it during Obama's administration then yes Trump vetoing it absolutely makes them responsible.

Edited by Fourthspartan56 on Jun 4th 2019 at 2:39:47 AM

"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang
Ultimatum Disasturbator from the Amiga Forest (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Disasturbator
#282135: Jun 4th 2019 at 2:39:17 PM

They might not have started it but they haven't exactly helped the situation,they're reacting because it concerns wealth,something they care deeply about more the n anything else

have a listen and have a link to my discord server
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#282136: Jun 4th 2019 at 2:40:41 PM

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudi_Arabian-led_intervention_in_Yemen#United_States

Our support was there from the very beginning.

Not to mention Obama was bombing the shit out of the place beforehand.

Some choice bits:

In March 2015, President Barack Obama declared that he had authorized US forces to provide logistical and intelligence support to the Saudis in their military intervention in Yemen, establishing a "Joint Planning Cell" with Saudi Arabia.[363] This includes aerial refueling permitting coalition aircraft more loitering time over Yemen, and permitting some coalition members to home base aircraft rather than relocate them to Saudi Arabia.[74]

US supported the intervention by "providing intelligence sharing, targeting assistance, advisory and logistical support to the military intervention", according to the state department.[364] In April 2015, the US expanded its intelligence-sharing with the coalition.[365] Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken said: "As part of that effort, we have expedited weapons deliveries, we have increased our intelligence sharing, and we have established a joint coordination planning cell in the Saudi operation centre."[366] Human Rights Watch (HRW) said that evidence shows that SA had been using US-supplied cluster bombs outlawed in much of the world.[367] According to Anthony Cordesman, the US government does not want "the strategic Bab-el-Mandeb strait" to be threatened.[368]

The US Navy has actively participated in the Saudi-led naval blockade,[370] which humanitarian organizations argue has been the main contributing factor to the outbreak of famine in Yemen.[371]

On 30 June an HRW report stated that US-made bombs were being used in attacks indiscriminately targeting civilians and violating the laws of war. The report photographed "the remnants of an MK-83 air-dropped 1,000-pound bomb made in the US".[298]

US Representative Ted Lieu has been publicly raising concerns over US support for Saudi-led war in Yemen. In March 2016, he sent a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of Defense Ash Carter. He wrote in the letter that the "apparent indiscriminate airstrikes on civilian targets in Yemen seem to suggest that either the coalition is grossly negligent in its targeting or is intentionally targeting innocent civilians".[304] Following American concern about civilian casualties in the Saudi-led war in Yemen, the US military involvement is mostly ineffective due to coalition's airstrikes targeting civilian and hospitals.[372]

In 2015 the United States deployed The Green Berets to assist the Saudi Arabian military with missile interception.[373]

Edited by CharlesPhipps on Jun 4th 2019 at 2:43:12 AM

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
Fourthspartan56 from Georgia, US Since: Oct, 2016 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#282137: Jun 4th 2019 at 2:43:28 PM

You originally wondered if Trump can be blamed for our continued support.

The answer, of course, is yes.

Congress wanted to end our support the war in Yemen, Trump stopped it. Ergo, he is responsible.

"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#282138: Jun 4th 2019 at 2:44:33 PM

I'm saying that the Yemen war is a nightmare the Democrats also need to be severely criticized for.

I criticized it before Trump.

Edited by CharlesPhipps on Jun 4th 2019 at 2:46:07 AM

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
NickTheSwing Since: Aug, 2009
#282139: Jun 4th 2019 at 2:52:36 PM

http://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/if-dems-try-to-impeach-trump-theyll-get-a-fight-from-bikers-and-gun-toting-bible-clinging-smelly-walmart-patriots-says-todd-starnes/

Todd Starnes being a total psycho again.

And...look at how he describes his own allies. "bikers" "smelly" "Walmart Patriots". You can veritably smell the Toffee-like disdain he has for his own people. He sees his own people as basically building blocks for his own hateful ends.

Todd Starnes: Thank you for the case, Ms. Davis...you fat sack of garbage.

Edited by NickTheSwing on Jun 4th 2019 at 2:56:24 AM

Reflextion from a post-sanity world (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: What's love got to do with it?
#282140: Jun 4th 2019 at 3:24:23 PM

[up] Well, he's not wrong in how he describes those.

Edited by Reflextion on Jun 4th 2019 at 6:24:50 AM

Someone did tell me life was going to be this way.
HailMuffins Since: May, 2016 Relationship Status: Shipping fictional characters
tclittle Professional Forum Ninja from Somewhere Down in Texas Since: Apr, 2010
Professional Forum Ninja
#282142: Jun 4th 2019 at 3:38:17 PM

Happy 100th anniversary of the passing of the 19th amendment to the Constitution, aka the one which gave women the right to vote.

"We're all paper, we're all scissors, we're all fightin' with our mirrors, scared we'll never find somebody to love."
wisewillow She/her Since: May, 2011
Ramidel Since: Jan, 2001
#282144: Jun 4th 2019 at 4:41:37 PM

That was unhelpful, wisewillow.

Ultimatum Disasturbator from the Amiga Forest (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Disasturbator
#282145: Jun 4th 2019 at 4:45:06 PM

Well,she's right,historically women of colour didn't receive the right to vote until much later on,it's still a milestone though

In the UK they only granted voting rights to women over a certain age

have a listen and have a link to my discord server
nombretomado (Season 1) Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
#282146: Jun 4th 2019 at 4:45:40 PM

It is accurate. The 19th Amendment is nothing to sneeze at, and the anniversary is worth celebrating, but it certainly didn't make it legal for all women.

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.
#282147: Jun 4th 2019 at 4:47:00 PM

This is rather new territory for me - am I to understand that women of color were legally barred from voting across the U.S. until the 60's?

Oh God! Natural light!
sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#282148: Jun 4th 2019 at 4:48:15 PM

I don't know about "legally" but it wouldn't shock me otherwise

megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#282149: Jun 4th 2019 at 4:54:34 PM

[up] from the NPS Website:

During the 19th and 20th centuries, Black women played an active role in the struggle for universal suffrage. They participated in political meetings and organized political societies. African American women attended political conventions at their local churches where they planned strategies to gain the right to vote. In the late 1800s, more Black women worked for churches, newspapers, secondary schools, and colleges, which gave them a larger platform to promote their ideas.

But in spite of their hard work, many people didn’t listen to them. Black men and white women usually led civil rights organizations and set the agenda. They often excluded Black women from their organizations and activities. For example, the National American Woman Suffrage Association prevented Black women from attending their conventions. Black women had to march separately from white women in suffrage parades. In addition, when Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony wrote the History of Woman Suffrage in the 1880s, they featured white suffragists while ignoring the contributions of African American suffragists. Though Black women are less well remembered, they played an important role in getting the Fifteenth and Nineteenth Amendments passed.

Black women found themselves pulled in two directions. Black men wanted their support in fighting racial discrimination and prejudice, while white women wanted them to help change the inferior status of women in American society. Both groups ignored the unique challenges that African American women faced. Black reformers like Mary Church Terrell, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, and Harriet Tubman understood that both their race and their sex affected their rights and opportunities.

Because of their unique position, Black women tended to focus on human rights and universal suffrage, rather than suffrage solely for African Americans or for women. Many Black suffragists weighed in on the debate over the Fifteenth Amendment, which would enfranchise Black men but not Black women. Mary Ann Shadd Cary spoke in support of the Fifteenth Amendment but was also critical of it as it did not give women the right to vote. Sojourner Truth argued that Black women would continue to face discrimination and prejudice unless their voices were uplifted like those of Black men.

In 1913, Ida B. Wells founded the Alpha Suffrage Club of Chicago. In Boston, Black reformers like Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin and Charlotte Forten Grimke founded the National Association of Colored Women (NACW) in 1869. During their meetings at the Charles Street Meeting House, members discussed ways of attaining civil rights and women’s suffrage. The NACW’s motto, “Lifting as we climb,” reflected the organization’s goal to “uplift” the status of Black women.

After the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified in 1920, Black women voted in elections and held political offices. However, many states passed laws that discriminated against African Americans and limited their freedoms. Black women continued to fight for their rights. Educator and political advisor Mary Mc Leod Bethune formed the National Council of Negro Women in 1935 to pursue civil rights. Tens of thousands of African Americans worked over several decades to secure suffrage, which occurred when the Voting Rights Act passed in 1965. This Act represents more than a century of work by Black women to make voting easier and more equitable.

So yes, it technically made it legal for all woman to vote.

Edited by megaeliz on Jun 4th 2019 at 7:57:24 AM

PushoverMediaCritic I'm sorry Tien, but I must go all out. from the Italy of America Since: Jul, 2015 Relationship Status: watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ
I'm sorry Tien, but I must go all out.
#282150: Jun 4th 2019 at 5:07:50 PM

Intersectionality is a hell of a thing.


Total posts: 417,856
Top