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

Midgetsnowman Since: Jan, 2010
#36026: Oct 30th 2012 at 3:48:49 PM

[up]

The only way either of them will run in 2016 is if romney loses. Nobody sane runs against the imcumbent,

terlwyth Since: Oct, 2010
#36027: Oct 30th 2012 at 3:50:25 PM

Pretend,but we aren't even in one? Why would you say that? Because we've had two Adamses,Harrisons and Bushes?

[up] So whaddya' call 1968? You know where there were plenty running against Johnson to the point he resigned. It could happen again.

edited 30th Oct '12 3:52:35 PM by terlwyth

Serocco Serocco from Miami, Florida Since: Mar, 2010 Relationship Status: Faithful to 2D
Serocco
#36028: Oct 30th 2012 at 3:52:19 PM

You talk about Jeb Bush running for the presidency. Isn't Jeb Bush the guy who signed the very first Stand Your Ground bill into law as Govenor of Florida?

edited 30th Oct '12 3:53:31 PM by Serocco

In RWBY, every girl is Best Girl.
OrionAurora Constellation from Andromeda Galaxy Since: Mar, 2012 Relationship Status: Abstaining
Constellation
#36029: Oct 30th 2012 at 3:57:42 PM

Sorry if I am butting in the current topic, but what do the polls look like for Obama and Romney? Last time I checked, Obama had a lead over Romney (somewhere around 230ev(D) to 200ev(R)).

We are all made of star stuff. Very, very weird star stuff.
GlennMagusHarvey Since: Jan, 2001
#36030: Oct 30th 2012 at 4:00:21 PM

http://dailycaller.com/2012/10/30/krauthammer-obama-playing-president-for-sandy-not-benghazi/

The facts don't jive with this person's worldview.

So what does he do?

He conjures up a justification to "explain" the facts in a way consistent with his worldview.

TL;DR: When Obama acts presidential (i.e. doing his job), he is merely "acting" presidential, rather than actually presidential.

weaksauce argument is weaksauce

Midgetsnowman Since: Jan, 2010
#36032: Oct 30th 2012 at 4:12:48 PM

[up][up]

Nothing new, really. Republicans have decided to live in a world where if the facts dont agree with them,. the facts are fabricated.

edited 30th Oct '12 4:12:56 PM by Midgetsnowman

OrionAurora Constellation from Andromeda Galaxy Since: Mar, 2012 Relationship Status: Abstaining
Constellation
#36033: Oct 30th 2012 at 4:30:54 PM

@Potatoes: Thanks

We are all made of star stuff. Very, very weird star stuff.
Morven Nemesis from Seattle, WA, USA Since: Jan, 2001
Nemesis
#36034: Oct 30th 2012 at 4:43:14 PM

@Serocco: explain to me what's wrong with Stand Your Ground laws, and why it's relevant.

My general belief is that they're largely meaningless in the first place, and don't deserve much attention pro or con; they play well to those who advocate armed self-defense, but in actuality make very little difference to the legal position. Situations where the use of deadly force is legally justified don't tend to be associated with opportunities to 100% safely retreat from the danger.

A brighter future for a darker age.
TheyCallMeTomu Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
#36035: Oct 30th 2012 at 4:49:26 PM

There are no up to date polls due to the hurricane. All current information is highly suspect.

[up] You don't remember the very publicized case where a man shot a black youth, calling attention to the Stand your ground law?

edited 30th Oct '12 4:50:20 PM by TheyCallMeTomu

PotatoesRock Since: Oct, 2012
#36036: Oct 30th 2012 at 4:50:04 PM

The main reasoning people have against Stand Your Ground laws is Florida's law, which for a month or so, allowed George Zimmerman to remain free for shooting a black teenager who was running home, who looked too black and suspicious to him.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Trayvon_Martin

Basically they're seen as "right to murder" laws backed by gun lobbyists.

Enkufka Wandering Student ಠ_ಠ from Bay of White fish Since: Dec, 2009
Wandering Student ಠ_ಠ
#36037: Oct 30th 2012 at 4:51:46 PM

Basically, Stand Your Ground is an expanded form of the Castle Doctrine, which is that your home is your domain and you have the right to protect it. Stand Your Ground expands that to any public place.

edited 30th Oct '12 4:52:09 PM by Enkufka

Very big Daydream Believer. "That's not knowledge, that's a crapshoot!" -Al Murray "Welcome to QI" -Stephen Fry
DeviantBraeburn Wandering Jew from Dysfunctional California Since: Aug, 2012
Wandering Jew
#36039: Oct 30th 2012 at 4:53:03 PM

Isn't Jeb Bush the guy who signed the very first Stand Your Ground bill into law as Govenor of Florida?

I believe so.

edited 30th Oct '12 4:53:20 PM by DeviantBraeburn

Everything is Possible. But some things are more Probable than others. JEBAGEDDON 2016
SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#36040: Oct 30th 2012 at 4:58:14 PM

Yes, Florida's Stand Your Ground law was signed by Jeb Bush. I see it as yet another "propaganda law" that mostly exists to show off.

On another note: When is campaigning to restart? Seems like Romney is already courting controversy with his FEMA statements.

edited 17th May '13 11:03:30 AM by SeptimusHeap

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
DeviantBraeburn Wandering Jew from Dysfunctional California Since: Aug, 2012
Wandering Jew
#36041: Oct 30th 2012 at 4:59:16 PM

Romney Surrogate Reassures Ohio Voters: Roe v. Wade Safe Under Romney

No one tell Grizzly, it would just depress him.

Everything is Possible. But some things are more Probable than others. JEBAGEDDON 2016
TheyCallMeTomu Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
#36042: Oct 30th 2012 at 5:00:17 PM

You can safely discard anything the Romney campaign says. They've come down on every side of every issue.

Morven Nemesis from Seattle, WA, USA Since: Jan, 2001
Nemesis
#36043: Oct 30th 2012 at 5:03:33 PM

@Tomu: yet Stand Your Ground had absolutely nothing to do with the Trayvon Martin shooting. Neither Zimmerman nor his defense team has raised it as a defense, and I've read a number of legal analyses saying that it's fundamentally irrelevant to it.

The train of thought that associates it strikes me as sloppy. "Stand Your Ground" laws are well-publicized recent laws that (slightly) expand the legal grounds for using lethal force in self-defense. Zimmerman's shooting of Trayvon Martin was a dubious claim of shooting in self-defense — therefore it has to be associated?

A brighter future for a darker age.
Midgetsnowman Since: Jan, 2010
#36044: Oct 30th 2012 at 5:07:38 PM

[up][up][up]

No it wouldnt. grizzly is voting Romney because of Paul Ryan. He's already well aware Romney has about as many solid positions as a one legged man with a cane made of floppy rubber.

DeviantBraeburn Wandering Jew from Dysfunctional California Since: Aug, 2012
Wandering Jew
#36045: Oct 30th 2012 at 5:08:23 PM

[up][up][up]

Well said. Here's a relevant part of Wikipedia's article on the United States Senate election in Massachusetts, 1994 between Ted Kennedy and Mitt Romney that I felt like sharing.

Kennedy's attack ads also focused both on Romney's shifting political views;[6][16] although both Kennedy and Romney supported the abortion rights established under Roe v. Wade, Kennedy accused Romney of being "multiple choice" on the issue, rather than "pro choice."[17] Romney said his stance dated back to his mother, Lenore Romney, and her position during her 1970 U.S. Senate campaign: "My mother and my family have been committed to the belief that we can believe as we want, but we will not force our beliefs on others on that matter. And you will not see me wavering on that."[4] Nevertheless, women's groups and Democrats viewed Romney's position with suspicion.

I wish Ted were still alive today, he'd call Romeny out on his bull.

edited 30th Oct '12 5:09:25 PM by DeviantBraeburn

Everything is Possible. But some things are more Probable than others. JEBAGEDDON 2016
Morven Nemesis from Seattle, WA, USA Since: Jan, 2001
Nemesis
#36046: Oct 30th 2012 at 5:13:07 PM

I found an interesting post on Slacktivist talking about how fundamentalist Protestant opposition to abortion is in fact a very recent phenomenon (post-1970) and was adopted for specifically political ends, those being splitting Catholics off from the Democrats and finding an issue where Democrats could be condemned as evil and opposed to Christianity in a fundamental way.

Prior to 1970 or so, Protestants pointed to Catholic obsession with abortion as another one of those crazy ideas Catholics had that came from the Pope rather than the Bible.

A brighter future for a darker age.
DeviantBraeburn Wandering Jew from Dysfunctional California Since: Aug, 2012
Wandering Jew
#36047: Oct 30th 2012 at 5:16:13 PM

GM calls latest Romney auto ad 'politics at its cynical worst'

edited 30th Oct '12 5:17:43 PM by DeviantBraeburn

Everything is Possible. But some things are more Probable than others. JEBAGEDDON 2016
ohsointocats from The Sand Wastes Since: Oct, 2011 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
#36048: Oct 30th 2012 at 5:21:27 PM

Yes, isn't the whole thing that life begins at conception a part of the catechism rather than a part of the actual bible? You know, that part that Protestants don't believe in?

Morven Nemesis from Seattle, WA, USA Since: Jan, 2001
Nemesis
#36049: Oct 30th 2012 at 5:22:25 PM

@Cats: indeed it is. There's no definite language in the Bible to support it.

A brighter future for a darker age.
Serocco Serocco from Miami, Florida Since: Mar, 2010 Relationship Status: Faithful to 2D
Serocco
#36050: Oct 30th 2012 at 5:22:33 PM

Morven: Yes, because that is what Stand Your Grand is - an excuse to justify murder through self-defense.

In RWBY, every girl is Best Girl.

Total posts: 417,856
Top