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

ironballs16 Since: Jul, 2009 Relationship Status: Owner of a lonely heart
#333951: Oct 15th 2020 at 11:10:31 PM

USA Today is also covering the own-goal from the Trump/Pence campaign advisor with that Insult Backfire.

And from the article, I never saw this before, but Mr. Rogers' widow actually openly insulted Trump a month ago, calling him a horrible person, a pathological liar, and "If he does [tell the truth], it’s just a fluke, I think. But the fact [is] that I can’t believe anything he says, not even the simplest thing.”

Edited by ironballs16 on Oct 15th 2020 at 2:14:10 PM

"Why would I inflict myself on somebody else?"
Ayasugi Since: Oct, 2010
#333952: Oct 15th 2020 at 11:15:12 PM

I predict a resurgence of the "Fred Rogers was a sniper in the Vietnam War" conspiracy theories.

CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#333953: Oct 15th 2020 at 11:18:27 PM

Which isn't true but....why would that be a problem?

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
Wispy Since: Feb, 2017
#333954: Oct 15th 2020 at 11:29:36 PM

Conservatives hate Mr. Rogers as they think that kindness is a weakness.

I have seen them try to call him a pedo and a brainwashing liberal several times.

Draghinazzo (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: I get a feeling so complicated...
#333955: Oct 15th 2020 at 11:33:53 PM

"Any man who legitimately cares about the emotional well-being and development of children is automatically a pedophile" is basically what that sounds like.

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#333956: Oct 15th 2020 at 11:36:01 PM

The idea is that they can't imagine a grown man actually giving a shit about kids who aren't his (not that a lot of them care about their own kids either). So they assume there are ulterior motives instead.

A lot of them have trouble with the whole "empathy" thing in general.

Edited by M84 on Oct 16th 2020 at 2:36:59 AM

Disgusted, but not surprised
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#333957: Oct 15th 2020 at 11:37:39 PM

Or it's just slander and libel by a bunch of ass...

Ahem.

Sorry, Fred, jerks.

Edited by CharlesPhipps on Oct 15th 2020 at 11:37:53 AM

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
Voltron64 Since: Jul, 2016
#333958: Oct 16th 2020 at 12:00:40 AM

[up][up] Whole lot of them are likely in need of intensive and I do mean intensive therapy.

Are just someone to call out their crap to the point their defense mechanisms are shattered beyond repair.

devak They call me.... Prophet Since: Jul, 2019 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
They call me.... Prophet
#333959: Oct 16th 2020 at 12:00:56 AM

The goal is to "own the libs". If liberals like something (say, democracy) then it's bad and you should hate it. It doesnt matter if it's actually good (e.g COVID relief) or bad. In fact, if it's bad, it's likely something you should hate despite them doing it too. ("Cancel culture? Cancel them! Censorship? Censor them!")

Edited by devak on Oct 16th 2020 at 9:01:21 PM

Voltron64 Since: Jul, 2016
#333960: Oct 16th 2020 at 12:15:50 AM

[up] They are just very unhappy people with loads of self-loathing, aren't they?

Silasw A procrastination in of itself from A handcart to hell (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
A procrastination in of itself
#333961: Oct 16th 2020 at 12:56:43 AM

I wouldn’t be surprised if they bought up Mr Rodgers brief bit of heavy political activism, where he shared a paddling pool with a black man to protest the existence of segregated swimming pools.

“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#333962: Oct 16th 2020 at 1:04:00 AM

There's no "d" in the last name. That's something the original tweet from that Trump campaign person got wrong.

Disgusted, but not surprised
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#333963: Oct 16th 2020 at 1:25:25 AM

The goal is to "own the libs". If liberals like something (say, democracy) then it's bad and you should hate it. It doesnt matter if it's actually good (e.g COVID relief) or bad. In fact, if it's bad, it's likely something you should hate despite them doing it too. ("Cancel culture? Cancel them! Censorship? Censor them!")

The most simple explanation of the lunacy in our country is that rich people pay the Republican politicians to peddle white supremacy, religiously motivated hate against easy targets (gays, "baby killers", trans, "criminals", welfare queens, or caravans of refugees), and so on in order to create voter blocks that will allow them to carry out their financial agenda.

The train crash of the Modern Era seems to be partially due to the fact that increasingly Democrats are less involved in these things themselves. Bipartianship began and ended in political corruption. It also was a lot earlier than people gave credit for as I'm fully of the mind the Businessman's Plot was a real thing.

There have always been politicians who have no use for democracy in America.

The transparency of reporting due to the nature of the internet and increasing exposure of corruption meant they've had to double down, triple down, and go nuts with their narrative due to the eyes of the world being on them at all times.

Edited by CharlesPhipps on Oct 16th 2020 at 1:27:08 AM

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
Xopher001 Since: Jul, 2012
#333964: Oct 16th 2020 at 1:58:56 AM

There was actually an interesting video about one of the influencers in the alt-right I watched yesterday. One of the big points they made was that there is a psychological trick. If you tell someone that something as a fact and ask them to explain why it is so, they will still stand by their explanation even after they are told that the starting premise was a lie. A lot of the narratives peddled by Q Anon that have no basis in reality can be explained by this phenomenon. It's literally doublethink.

Edited by Xopher001 on Oct 16th 2020 at 12:02:00 PM

sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#333965: Oct 16th 2020 at 5:18:48 AM

And from the article, I never saw this before, but Mr. Rogers' widow actually openly insulted Trump a month ago, calling him a horrible person, a pathological liar, and "If he does [tell the truth], it’s just a fluke, I think. But the fact [is] that I can’t believe anything he says, not even the simplest thing.”
When I mentioned something similar recently, I described it as "If Donald Trump tells you the sky is blue, look up and double check because it's probably nighttime."

[down] That is fair.

Edited by sgamer82 on Oct 16th 2020 at 5:54:49 AM

DrunkenNordmann from Exile Since: May, 2015
#333966: Oct 16th 2020 at 5:41:15 AM

[up] If Donald Trump said the sky was blue, I'd be worried he managed to set the atmosphere ablaze.

Edited by DrunkenNordmann on Oct 16th 2020 at 5:35:02 PM

We learn from history that we do not learn from history
MorningStar1337 The Encounter that ended the Dogma from 🤔 Since: Nov, 2012
The Encounter that ended the Dogma
#333967: Oct 16th 2020 at 6:38:49 AM

Which means we can add "Trump insisting the sky is blue" to the Signs of the End Timestongue

nova92 Since: Apr, 2020
#333968: Oct 16th 2020 at 6:48:01 AM

Washington Post: Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) wrote in Ronald Reagan on his ballot (i.e. didn't vote for Trump). He's allegedly looking at running for President in 2024 and has been talking to moderate Republicans.

Xopher001 Since: Jul, 2012
#333969: Oct 16th 2020 at 6:52:10 AM

Would it really kill these guys to vote for Biden? Also shows where this guys politics are at. there was actually a referendum on the Maryland ballot for a state amendment which was really just a disguised austerity measure that would let him limit the state's proposed budget

Edited by Xopher001 on Oct 16th 2020 at 4:54:37 PM

sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#333970: Oct 16th 2020 at 6:53:47 AM

It'd be like that RWBY Chibi parody of the Grinch where the guy's heart growing three sizes results in a heart attack.

nova92 Since: Apr, 2020
#333971: Oct 16th 2020 at 7:23:20 AM

In a similar vein from The Atlantic: What George W. Bush Plans to Do About Trump

Answer? Nothing.

The "moderate" Republican Governors (Scott, Baker, Hogan) and Bush are complete clowns. They're basically on par with Susan Collins, performatively "concerned" about Trump, but will do zilch to actually stop him. Hogan, this year, had to activate his state's National Guard because the federal government might try to steal the state's pandemic supplies! And yet the strongest response he can muster is a wasted write-in vote.

According to the Atlantic article, "He [Bush] knows American democracy is under threat." And he, all of them, are willing to sit back and watch it happen.

TitanJump Since: Sep, 2013 Relationship Status: Singularity
#333972: Oct 16th 2020 at 7:37:07 AM

[up] Reminds me of this.

"The static witness of an abuse is just as guilty as the abuser itself"

And Donald Trump alongside the GOP has been abusing America for four and more years already...

SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#333973: Oct 16th 2020 at 8:09:42 AM

Rural jails are becoming large COVID epicentres in the US.

Also, apparently Chris Christie got some brain damage from his COVID-19 case: Christie reveals he spent 7 days in ICU and admits he was 'wrong' to not wear a mask. I thought that Christie was the kind of person that would rather die than admit being wrong about anything.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
luisedgarf from Mexico Since: May, 2009 Relationship Status: I won't say I'm in love
#333974: Oct 16th 2020 at 8:11:57 AM

Regarding Q Anon, seriously guys, of all the stupid things I have evert heard in my life, Q Anon is maybe the most dumbest, stupidiest and outright batshit insane one I ever heard.

And the worst part of this is the fact there's people not only in the Anglosphere, but in other countries who are falling on that shit.

sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#333975: Oct 16th 2020 at 8:20:40 AM

[up][up] The prospect of that actually happening seems to have changed his tune.


Total posts: 417,856
Top