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

Gilphon (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#334301: Oct 19th 2020 at 9:47:11 AM

Because they tend to start going by different names, and therefore need to change their signatures, so the signature on older documents won't match.

Is what I think the reason is.

AlleyOop Since: Oct, 2010
#334302: Oct 19th 2020 at 9:47:25 AM

Deadname issues. [nja]

Edited by AlleyOop on Oct 19th 2020 at 12:47:44 PM

speedyboris Since: Feb, 2010
#334303: Oct 19th 2020 at 9:50:59 AM

Have a headline that could have come straight from The Onion:

Trump: Biden will "listen to the scientists" if elected

Sigh. Y'know, when it was announced that Trump got the virus and was hospitalized for a few days, I was holding out some faint hope that maybe he'd, I dunno, learn something from the experience and reverse his position that the virus isn't a big deal. But no, he even managed to screw that up. Can't do a 180 to his mask-hating base, after all. Double down on everything. Don't show any weakness. Manly men aren't afraid of a measly virus. BLAGH.

Speaking of which... shouldn't his steroid "high" have worn off by now? Honest question. I don't know how long the effects last.

Edited by speedyboris on Oct 19th 2020 at 9:53:06 AM

tclittle Professional Forum Ninja from Somewhere Down in Texas Since: Apr, 2010
Professional Forum Ninja
#334304: Oct 19th 2020 at 9:51:27 AM

Mediaite: Fox News passed on the Hunter Biden laptop story when Guiliani gave it to them until they could verify the sources or the emails were better vetted.

"We're all paper, we're all scissors, we're all fightin' with our mirrors, scared we'll never find somebody to love."
RainehDaze Nero Fangirl (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
SatoshiBakura (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#334306: Oct 19th 2020 at 10:12:25 AM

[up][up][up] Theoretically, but remember that they pumped full of more steroids than is healthy. I’m pretty sure he’s somehow less mentally functional than he was before.

Besides, the Herman Cain timeline gives him until next week probably.

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#334307: Oct 19th 2020 at 10:32:47 AM

I saw ads last week claiming Blacks support Trump because he "freed the prisoners" — referring to high incarceration rates for people of color. I am not aware of any such program initiated by anyone in the administration or in this Congress, so what in the world is it talking about? I mean, other than blatantly lying, but there's usually at least some story or mangled fact behind these claims.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
ShinyCottonCandy Everyone's friend Malamar from Lumiose City (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Everyone's friend Malamar
#334308: Oct 19th 2020 at 10:36:19 AM

[up]Prisoners of political correctness, perhaps? That's the kind of stupid that would sound perfectly in character for his base.

My musician page
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
#334309: Oct 19th 2020 at 10:36:23 AM

Polls underestimate red support in the Midwest, in general. Not an opinion, that's a fact

For anyone curious this isn’t a fact, it’s a lie. Polls underestimated Republicans in the Midwest in 2016, in 2012 Obama did better than his polls in the same states. He beat the RCP average in Michigan by 5 points, Pennsylvania by 1.6 points, Iowa by 3.4 points and Wisconsin by 2.7 points.

Polling errors happen, but they’re far from consistent year after year, in large part because pollsters look at their errors and act upon them, often over-correcting.

[up][up] There was a prisoner reform bill he signed, it might be a reference to that.

Edited by Silasw on Oct 19th 2020 at 5:37:13 PM

“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran
Forenperser Foreign Troper from Germany Since: Mar, 2012
Foreign Troper
#334310: Oct 19th 2020 at 10:41:55 AM

Maybe it also refers to that dumb 'Blexit / Leave the plantation.' movement.

Certified: 48.0% West Asian, 6.5% South Asian, 15.8% North/West European, 15.7% English, 7.4% Balkan, 6.6% Scandinavian
speedyboris Since: Feb, 2010
#334311: Oct 19th 2020 at 10:51:24 AM

[up]x2 Yeah he's referring to the First Step Act.

Edited by speedyboris on Oct 19th 2020 at 10:51:37 AM

ironballs16 Since: Jul, 2009 Relationship Status: Owner of a lonely heart
#334312: Oct 19th 2020 at 10:54:31 AM

Plus, he has overtly pardoned quite a few high-profile cases - though that's partially because he crows about how magnanimous he is for doing so.

"Why would I inflict myself on somebody else?"
Medinoc from France (Before Recorded History)
#334313: Oct 19th 2020 at 10:54:32 AM

"turkeys voting for christmas" also came to mind for me when I saw the list of veteran military endorsement, given that the GOP consistently guts the VA...

"And as long as a sack of shit is not a good thing to be, chivalry will never die."
Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#334314: Oct 19th 2020 at 10:56:15 AM

[up][up]And later complained that he only did that because he was told it would boost his poll numbers, and was pissed off when it didn't.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
PhysicalStamina i'm tired, my friend (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Coming soon to theaters
i'm tired, my friend
#334315: Oct 19th 2020 at 10:57:14 AM

Turns out the bill might've been a Sleeper Hit for Trump.

i'm tired, my friend
Galadriel Since: Feb, 2015
#334316: Oct 19th 2020 at 11:17:35 AM

As far as polling goes, it’s possible the 538 average could be underestimating Biden by a percentage point or two. There’s a deep blue concentration of a lot of polls above the average line, and that’s been the case since late August. Then there’s a much less concentrated smattering of polls below the average line.

The discrepancy between state polls and national polls does concern me, though. Biden’s gain of about 2.5 percentage points during October should also be visible in a notable number of state polling averages if it’s real, but for the most part the state polls aren’t showing it.

Parable Since: Aug, 2009
#334317: Oct 19th 2020 at 11:23:54 AM

On their podcast the 538 crew frequently mention that they think the +10% Biden has in the polls will translate to +8% in the actual election.

MichaelKatsuro Since: Apr, 2011
#334318: Oct 19th 2020 at 11:25:17 AM

Is it just me, or is it absurd that we're trying to sort of decode the polls? I mean, that shows just how unreliable those things are. We keep saying that if the polls say this then the truth is probably that... None of us think there's any point in just trusting what the polls say.

Parable Since: Aug, 2009
#334319: Oct 19th 2020 at 11:29:59 AM

What it shows is that we have 2016 trauma. The polls in various races since then have been more or less on the mark, but the last presidental election will make us paranoid until the cows come home.

Edited by Parable on Oct 19th 2020 at 11:30:23 AM

NoName999 Since: May, 2011
#334320: Oct 19th 2020 at 11:31:54 AM

Is it just me, or is it absurd that we're trying to sort of decode the polls? I mean, that shows just how unreliable those things are.

God, I still wish statistics was mandatory in high school.

Aszur A nice butterfly from Pagliacci's Since: Apr, 2014 Relationship Status: Don't hug me; I'm scared
A nice butterfly
#334321: Oct 19th 2020 at 11:32:15 AM

Polls are never intended or presented to be a statement of absolute truth. Polls at best allow us a prediction of possibility.

They are meant to be inductive, not deductive.

Edited by Aszur on Oct 19th 2020 at 12:32:36 PM

It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes
Hodor2 Since: Jan, 2015
#334322: Oct 19th 2020 at 11:34:46 AM

Obviously, the polls are wrong if they show Biden winning but right if they show Trump winning.

Edit - To give context, although as far as I can tell, none of the tropers contesting polls want Trump to win, they all are operating on the assumption (based on 2016 trauma) that if there is an error in the polls, it has to be an error in Trump's favor.

Edited by Hodor2 on Oct 19th 2020 at 1:36:10 PM

Fourthspartan56 from Georgia, US Since: Oct, 2016 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#334323: Oct 19th 2020 at 11:34:54 AM

None of us think there's any point in just trusting what the polls say.

No. I don't distrust the polls. Quite the opposite, the majority of the arguments in favor of distrusting them I've seen have been various shades of unconvincing.

Edited by Fourthspartan56 on Oct 19th 2020 at 11:35:03 AM

"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#334324: Oct 19th 2020 at 11:36:51 AM

The issue here isn't either the tendency to ignore polls in favor of gut feelings or the tendency to slavishly adhere to them as Truth. It's the tendency to, as said above, read every gain for Biden as illusory and every gain for Trump as evidence that he's going to win.

It's just a slight variation of doomsaying.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
ironballs16 Since: Jul, 2009 Relationship Status: Owner of a lonely heart
#334325: Oct 19th 2020 at 11:36:54 AM

What it shows is that we have 2016 trauma. The polls in various races since then have been more or less on the mark, but the last presidental election will make us paranoid until the cows come home.

I'd argue it's Properly Paranoid, as part of Clinton's loss in 2016 (as well as Brexit's passing around the same time, while we're at it) was complacency - people "knew" that such a thing couldn't happen, and so were more comfortable either sitting out of the vote or lodging a protest vote, secure in the knowledge that other voters would override them anyway. And I'd prefer hypervigilance in this case, as it equates to getting Sweet-Potato Hitler out of office.

"Why would I inflict myself on somebody else?"

Total posts: 417,856
Top