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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.

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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

ryanasaurus0077 Since: Jul, 2009
#337326: Nov 3rd 2020 at 8:29:29 PM

EDIT: Whoops, wrong thread. Guess that's what happens when you watch two closely related threads simultaneously.

Edited by ryanasaurus0077 on Nov 3rd 2020 at 11:30:09 AM

RAlexa21th Zettai Ryouiki Enjoyer from California (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: I <3 love!
Zettai Ryouiki Enjoyer
#337327: Nov 3rd 2020 at 8:37:27 PM

I'm sharing a country with millions of people including my family members who think my rights and lives either should be taken away or sacrificed for their gains, so it does make me less lively and spirited as I'd like.

Continue writing our story of peace.
HailMuffins Since: May, 2016 Relationship Status: Shipping fictional characters
#337328: Nov 3rd 2020 at 8:45:53 PM

I got into politics because everyone needs to write an essay for a national exam if we're to get into college, and the subjects often relates to major political events.

US Politics specifically I got into last year when I started visiting this particular thread.

CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#337329: Nov 3rd 2020 at 8:48:29 PM

Trump did not invent the Far Right gaining ascendancy in the past 20 decades.

He's not even the GOP candidate. He conquered the GOP.

He is the TEA PARTY candidate.

And the Trumpeteers will become the Tea Party again.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
rmctagg09 The Wanderer from Brooklyn, NY (Before Recorded History) Relationship Status: I won't say I'm in love
The Wanderer
#337330: Nov 4th 2020 at 1:28:17 AM

I've been into politics since I was about 10 or 11, I've mulled over a lot if I would've been as interested if the War on Terror hadn't been a thing during my formative years or not.

The 2004 election was the one I really started paying attention to.

Edited by rmctagg09 on Nov 4th 2020 at 4:28:48 AM

Hugging a Vanillite will give you frostbite.
Ominae Since: Jul, 2010
#337331: Nov 4th 2020 at 1:37:06 AM

As of today, the US is out of the Paris climate agreement.

Draghinazzo (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: I get a feeling so complicated...
#337332: Nov 4th 2020 at 1:56:19 AM

I only really started paying attention to US politics in a big way around 2016. The closest was me hanging around a different forum in 2008 during mccain vs obama, but i wasn't really looking at the nitty gritty nor did i stay up to watch election night, i found out obama won when my history teacher talked about obama winning the day after the election.

Alycus Since: Apr, 2018
#337333: Nov 4th 2020 at 2:10:21 AM

Being on the other side of the world from the US, I mostly only knew who the presidents were and that there was an election every 4 years. It was during the Obama era I started learning more about the Senate and House, and under Trump that I gained a deeper understanding of more details, like which states are red, blue or purple, the reasons thereof, demographic changes, structural and social challenges etc.

Believe me, I don't study US politics for the sake of feeling superior. I think knowing it well is a big boost to one's political knowledge, and many lessons can be learned and applied to other countries and areas where democracy is fragile and authoritarianism is a real threat. And the wealth of non-censored materials about American society makes it easy to find something to read (though of course still subject to Sturgeon's Law).

minseok42 A Self-inflicted Disaster from A Six-Tatami Room (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
A Self-inflicted Disaster
#337334: Nov 4th 2020 at 2:13:11 AM

I live on the other side of the world from the US, and I started following US politics when I lived in the US during my middle school years. I saw Obama beat Mc Cain. I stay interested in US politics as they affect my country tremondusly.

"Enshittification truly is how platforms die"-Cory Doctorow
PresidentStalkeyes Eats moldy bread and flies into windows from United Kingdom of England-land Since: Feb, 2016 Relationship Status: Do you like me? (Yes ⎕ Definitely ⎕ Absolutely!!! ⎕)
Eats moldy bread and flies into windows
#337335: Nov 4th 2020 at 2:21:25 AM

I studied politics and international relations back at uni, so I've always been somewhat into it, but at the time I was more into foreign affairs in an academic way. Like many people, I don't think I really got, like, emotionally invested in political things until the one-two punch of Brexit and Trump. I've always considered Britain and America to have a kind of symbiotic relationship, almost, which made itself especially apparent then.

I guess I wasn't completely uninvested before then; when I was a kid during the Bush years (which for us were the Blair years, but I don't really remember him too well, beyond his guest appearance on The Simpsons), I liked to make fun of him, but I didn't really understand what was going on, I just sorta knew that Bush wasn't a very cool guy because he was starting pointless wars. And yet now I quote him whenever I need a cheap laugh, because after all, he had the greatest proofreaders in America- in the world! :V

Edited by PresidentStalkeyes on Nov 4th 2020 at 10:22:21 AM

Those sell-by-dates won't stop me because I can't read!
Iaculus Pronounced YAK-you-luss from England Since: May, 2010
Pronounced YAK-you-luss
#337336: Nov 4th 2020 at 4:15:09 AM

Two important pieces of data. First, turnout was record-breakingly high and both candidates increased their vote-share, which means that this wasn't down to apathy - both Trump and Biden successfully inspired their bases and encouraged non-voters to vote. Second, Trump is down with white men and up with everyone else of every gender and ethnicity, suggesting a significant failure of the Democratic campaign in maintaining its usually-solid outreach to ethnic minorities and a small but significant success in legitimising Trump outside his core demographic.

What's precedent ever done for us?
DrunkenNordmann from Exile Since: May, 2015
#337337: Nov 4th 2020 at 4:18:00 AM

[up] How?

We learn from history that we do not learn from history
tclittle Professional Forum Ninja from Somewhere Down in Texas Since: Apr, 2010
Professional Forum Ninja
#337338: Nov 4th 2020 at 4:19:11 AM

[up][up],[up] The second link is from exit polls, which skew conservative.

Edited by tclittle on Nov 4th 2020 at 6:19:32 AM

"We're all paper, we're all scissors, we're all fightin' with our mirrors, scared we'll never find somebody to love."
Wyldchyld (Old as dirt)
#337339: Nov 4th 2020 at 4:20:35 AM

[up][up] I warned about a big disinformation campaign a few months ago. We will need to wait for post-election analysis for what role that played, if any.

[up] Plus that and [down]that. We need to wait for post-election analysis in general, I think.

Edited by Wyldchyld on Nov 4th 2020 at 12:24:02 PM

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.
SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#337340: Nov 4th 2020 at 4:22:36 AM

OTOH I've seen vote counts in Southern Florida and Southern Texas which saw a noticeable increase in Latino Trump voters without a change in the amount of Latino Democratic voters.

This election the strong partisan bias in voting technique (Democrats voting early and/or by mail, Republicans in-person) has thrown exit polls into disarray and while pollsters have tried to correct for this bias the folks at 538.com have suggested that they be ignored completely.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Iaculus Pronounced YAK-you-luss from England Since: May, 2010
Pronounced YAK-you-luss
#337341: Nov 4th 2020 at 4:27:23 AM

It can be argued that by triangulating towards the right, the Democrats helped legitimise and normalise Trump and the Republicans' behaviour. It didn't drive their own support down, but it did make people more comfortable with the less apologetic and more visibly powerful of the two candidates driving a broadly similar platform.

If neither candidate is offering universal healthcare during a lethal pandemic, for instance, then everyone's out for themselves, and you might as well vote for the one with armed militias prepared to defend the winners against the losers.

What's precedent ever done for us?
Wyldchyld (Old as dirt)
#337342: Nov 4th 2020 at 4:28:53 AM

Without factual analysis, that is just speculation. We're thin on facts right now.

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.
Memers Since: Aug, 2013
#337343: Nov 4th 2020 at 5:40:01 AM

From 538

Here’s a little news item I missed yesterday — somebody hacked the voter registration records of Florida’s governor. Actually, “hacked” may be a strong word because the 20-year-old who was implicated in the crime told police that he did so by just going to the Secretary of State website and then using publicly available information from De Santis’s Wikipedia page to gain access to the voter registration record and change the governor’s address. Michael Jordan and Le Bron James’s voter registration records were also accessed — by different people than De Santis’s — but nobody seems to have changed any of their data. What this is showing, though, is that there are some holes in election security. Attackers may not be able to access or change actual votes, but they can mess with the registrations, and that can still be used to disrupt an election or reduce trust in results.

A kid used Wikipedia to change De Santis’s address.

minseok42 A Self-inflicted Disaster from A Six-Tatami Room (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
A Self-inflicted Disaster
#337344: Nov 4th 2020 at 6:24:23 AM

[up]The Password Is Always "Swordfish"

"Enshittification truly is how platforms die"-Cory Doctorow
SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#337345: Nov 4th 2020 at 6:28:16 AM

Csonidering that DeSantis is the governor who a few months ago claimed that coronavirus is no threat to children or athletic people, I have to wonder if a poor password choice on his part was the actual problem.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Redmess Redmess from Netherlands Since: Feb, 2014
Redmess
#337346: Nov 4th 2020 at 6:37:09 AM

Trump's password for Twitter was something like MAGA 2020, so I wouldn't be surprised.

Hope shines brightest in the darkest times
BonsaiForest Since: Jan, 2001
#337347: Nov 4th 2020 at 6:41:50 AM

[up]The jury's out on that one. I think it wasn't proven that was actually true.

Redmess Redmess from Netherlands Since: Feb, 2014
Redmess
#337348: Nov 4th 2020 at 7:13:42 AM

I think it rings true enough for Trump to be plausible. We know Trump is terrible about phone security as it is, and has a poor memory in general, let alone for passwords, so he would pick something easy to memorize (and I wouldn't be surprised if he reuses passwords too), and it would likely be something memorable to him, like his slogan.

Hope shines brightest in the darkest times
Kayeka (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#337349: Nov 4th 2020 at 7:19:01 AM

Saw a guy pick a fight with store staff over their covid policy. Dude was wearing a MAGA hat. In Amsterdam.

Fuck this ridiculous cult.

Bur from Flyover Country (Living Relic) Relationship Status: Having tea with Cthulhu

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