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

TheyCallMeTomu Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
#33701: Oct 19th 2012 at 12:49:23 PM

Obama had a faux paw on The Daily Show last night! He stood up before Jon finished the outro of the interview, cutting him off! OH NO THE ELECTION IS LOST!

LostAnarchist Violence Is Necessary! from Neo Arcadia Itself Since: Sep, 2011
Violence Is Necessary!
#33702: Oct 19th 2012 at 1:15:53 PM

[up]This election is lost period, if considering everywhere I go, people talk about how great Romney is because he won one measely debate - it's amking me sick and only encouraging me to go underground until the time comes to fight back - the polls I've recovered as of late, are notr helping ease my pain and depression toward this...

I'm going to end up jobless and penniless like so many of my own people, just because I'm black if these corporatists get their hands on my taxes, my resources, my rights (which I fought hard to preserve, and what little I have in the first place) - I'm about to lose it all, because no one can see what a liar Romney is anymore...

edited 19th Oct '12 1:28:41 PM by LostAnarchist

This is where I, the Vampire Mistress, proudly reside: http://liberal.nationstates.net/nation=nova_nacio
AceofSpades Since: Apr, 2009 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
#33703: Oct 19th 2012 at 1:20:16 PM

In general it appears that the edge Romney gained is overrated because Fox News is blowing it out or proportion. There's still a significant problem, but it's very far from a lost cause, LA. Just get out there and vote, and make sure everyone you know votes too.

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#33704: Oct 19th 2012 at 1:21:36 PM

Yes, you do the greatest good by voting and encouraging your friends and relatives to vote. A voice unheard is a voice wasted.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
LostAnarchist Violence Is Necessary! from Neo Arcadia Itself Since: Sep, 2011
Violence Is Necessary!
#33705: Oct 19th 2012 at 1:29:45 PM

[up] I really hope you're right - because all these comments on these sites following these Polls in Romney's favor are making me sick to my stomach... These are people willing to throw their civil rights, minority rights, women's rights, workers' rights, everything away - to put more money in the pockets of corporatists out to do this to us just because we hate their porducts or simply expect better from them than to be treated like slaves...

edited 19th Oct '12 1:31:05 PM by LostAnarchist

This is where I, the Vampire Mistress, proudly reside: http://liberal.nationstates.net/nation=nova_nacio
Trivialis Since: Oct, 2011
#33706: Oct 19th 2012 at 1:30:46 PM

I generally avoid comments on wide-open sites because they are often unruly and don't think about how they're received by other people.

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#33707: Oct 19th 2012 at 1:31:57 PM

Don't pay attention to comments. They are highly non-representative. In a way, they're a kind of self-selection process where only the most GIFT-ed people contribute.

edited 19th Oct '12 1:32:18 PM by Fighteer

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
AceofSpades Since: Apr, 2009 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
#33708: Oct 19th 2012 at 1:32:32 PM

Bit of advice: Comments on the internet are not facts. People of all stripes spew bile on the news sites because they can without reprisal. It is, in fact, the safest place to do so. But people spewing bile on the internet aren't indicative of who's going to win the election. Polls are, as are the debates and other news. So yeah, don't read the comments so you can avoid the negativity.

LooseCannon The Groose Is Loose from Everywhere and Nowhere Since: Jun, 2012
The Groose Is Loose
#33709: Oct 19th 2012 at 1:42:55 PM

Polls aren't all that reliable, anyway. It's easy to fix them in your favor, I'd think.

Burn the land and boil the sea, you can't take the sky from me.
GlennMagusHarvey Since: Jan, 2001
#33710: Oct 19th 2012 at 1:44:45 PM

> Dennis Kucinich

He's not particularly well-liked by liberals either, in part because he's kinda crazy and wanted to do stuff like run for Congress from Washington state after losing a primary in Ohio.

> utility of violent video games besides desensitizing people to death

Uh, fun?

AceofSpades Since: Apr, 2009 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
#33711: Oct 19th 2012 at 1:53:43 PM

Let's not go back to choobeh's derails please. Videogames are entirely unrelated to gun rights. Also unrelated to the elections.

edited 19th Oct '12 2:00:39 PM by AceofSpades

Thorn14 Gunpla is amazing! Since: Aug, 2010
Gunpla is amazing!
#33712: Oct 19th 2012 at 1:58:41 PM

Well thats why I'm trying to find some positives about Romney in case he does win.

Which is looking to be the case now because of one fucking debate.

AceofSpades Since: Apr, 2009 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
#33713: Oct 19th 2012 at 2:01:59 PM

Obama's recovered a bit with this last debate. And apparently there's going to be another one? So yeah, don't freak out just yet.

Also, why bother finding positives about a guy you think will genuinely tank the country? There are no positives to a Romney win, unless you're saying "well he's not all the other crazies that were running."

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#33714: Oct 19th 2012 at 2:06:53 PM

The most positive thing about Romney is that he might sufficiently discredit the GOP while in office that we'd get a Democratic resurgence at the polls in 2016.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Trivialis Since: Oct, 2011
#33715: Oct 19th 2012 at 2:14:28 PM

It's not so much "look for positive" as it's to prepare for the worse. In the case Romney is elected, he is genuinely the president of the United States and he has powers and duties of a head of government. We can't just ignore that and undermine the authority of the president.

Back when Obama became president-elect, I think I remember a few saying "I will not acknowledge his presidency; for me there is no president for the next four years". But I think that's wrong. You can disagree with the man and not respect his being elected, but you need to recognize him as the president. And undoubtedly he will do some positive things if he is elected, even if they're really obvious things.

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#33716: Oct 19th 2012 at 2:29:43 PM

I think Romney will have no choice but to take some actions to improve employment, or he'll end up looking like a hypocrite. He might just coast on Obama's work to restore the economy, although his Tea Party faction will be screaming for him to make good on his "cut taxes" pledge. More to the point, Republicans in Congress, who up until now have been utterly intransigent, will be falling over themselves to get their agendas into law, and it'll be the Democrats' turn to play opposition.

Quite frankly, I see no point in giving Romney and his party the benefit of the doubt. I won't do idiotic things like jump on a birther-equivalent bandwagon, but they have explicitly set out to fuck over women, minorities, and the poor. That deserves no respect in my book. I will acknowledge that he is the President, and I will respect the institution of the office, but he won't get one iota of respect as a person unless he takes a radical turn from where he's currently headed.

edited 19th Oct '12 2:33:54 PM by Fighteer

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Skatepunk Since: Feb, 2011
#33717: Oct 19th 2012 at 2:36:51 PM

Hey, Lost.

If it makes you feel any better, Nate Silver (who has an incredible history of being right) says every time the Gallup poll is an outlier this late in the election means it is usually wrong.

On top of that, Silver points out that the state polls still show Obama not only winning Ohio and Pennsylvania, but kicking ass in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Iowa, and barely leading in Virginia.

He's not screwed yet.

LooseCannon The Groose Is Loose from Everywhere and Nowhere Since: Jun, 2012
The Groose Is Loose
#33718: Oct 19th 2012 at 2:40:53 PM

You could also take Romney's charisma into account. The past two times an incumbent was defeated, his opponent was highly charismatic. Reagan beat Carter, and Clinton beat Bush.

Romney...is not charismatic.

Burn the land and boil the sea, you can't take the sky from me.
Greenmantle V from Greater Wessex, Britannia Since: Feb, 2010 Relationship Status: Hiding
V
#33719: Oct 19th 2012 at 2:42:30 PM

@ Fighteer:

Quite frankly, I see no point in giving Romney and his party the benefit of the doubt. I won't do idiotic things like jump on a birther-equivalent bandwagon, but they have explicitly set out to fuck over women, minorities, and the poor. That deserves no respect in my book. I will acknowledge that he is the President, and I will respect the institution of the office, but he won't get one iota of respect as a person unless he takes a radical turn from where he's currently headed.

You don't support an American-left version of a Right-Wing Militia Fanatic, then, especially if he/she/it condoned or planned to kill Romney? If he wins, it's going to happen...

edited 19th Oct '12 2:43:11 PM by Greenmantle

Keep Rolling On
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#33720: Oct 19th 2012 at 2:44:56 PM

@Greenmantle: Absolutely not, even if there is such a thing. Seems like a rare beast indeed. I do expect "revolution of the masses" noises from the hard left if Romney wins, but that sort of thing only serves to distract people and give them a convenient scapegoat. Violence is not and never will be the answer, unless things get so bad that a full-scale revolution happens. And I don't want to be living in America if it does.

Further, even if I do sympathize with the rationale behind such an act, what would it make me look like to approve of the act itself? Hypocritical in the extreme, that's what.

Sorry, one more thing. Historically, leftists in the United States have accomplished their goals through nonviolence. Violence is an inherently conservative tactic and it must remain that way if we are ever to maintain credibility.

edited 19th Oct '12 2:51:22 PM by Fighteer

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
ohsointocats from The Sand Wastes Since: Oct, 2011 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
#33721: Oct 19th 2012 at 3:31:17 PM

[up]You don't think we will have a worker's revolt?

Greenmantle V from Greater Wessex, Britannia Since: Feb, 2010 Relationship Status: Hiding
V
#33722: Oct 19th 2012 at 3:37:10 PM

[up]

What, an "American Spring"?

Keep Rolling On
SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#33723: Oct 19th 2012 at 3:38:54 PM

I don't think that American history supports the notion of a workers' revolt. That is, unless something very exceptional happens.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Swish Long Live the King Since: Jan, 2001
Long Live the King
#33724: Oct 19th 2012 at 3:41:45 PM

Historically, leftists in the United States have accomplished their goals through nonviolence.

Right. Because unions have been historically non-violent...

edited 19th Oct '12 3:41:53 PM by Swish

DeviantBraeburn Wandering Jew from Dysfunctional California Since: Aug, 2012
Wandering Jew
#33725: Oct 19th 2012 at 4:18:24 PM

You don't support an American-left version of a Right Wing Militia Fanatic, then, especially if he/she/it condoned or planned to kill Romney?

If he wins, it's going to happen.

That would mean President Ryan.

Have fun with that thought.

Man working for firm under contract to Va. GOP charged with voter registration fraud

edited 19th Oct '12 4:32:16 PM by DeviantBraeburn

Everything is Possible. But some things are more Probable than others. JEBAGEDDON 2016

Total posts: 417,856
Top