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

AceofSpades Since: Apr, 2009 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
#53976: May 4th 2013 at 1:44:10 PM

The police have a union, though. Or at least they're supposed to.

Greenmantle V from Greater Wessex, Britannia Since: Feb, 2010 Relationship Status: Hiding
V
#53977: May 4th 2013 at 1:49:28 PM

[up] ...and the Police Lobby Government too, no doubt. Are Law Enforcement allowed to go on Strike in the US, though?

Keep Rolling On
AceofSpades Since: Apr, 2009 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
#53978: May 4th 2013 at 1:54:07 PM

I don't know if anyone's tried, but there's a bad situation where the private prison system has become what a large part of our force relies on in order to get enough money to function. And the far right cutting ever more funding to the police as they funnel it all into the military. So... it's got consequences, if they do it. Pretty severe ones, and in several places they're already understaffed.

Ramidel Since: Jan, 2001
#53979: May 4th 2013 at 3:21:03 PM

@Greenmantle: The police are allowed to collectively get sick. You know, weird diseases like the blue flu.

NativeJovian Jupiterian Local from Orlando, FL Since: Mar, 2014 Relationship Status: Maxing my social links
Jupiterian Local
#53980: May 4th 2013 at 4:04:53 PM

[up][up]Uh, correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't really think that police and military are funded from the same place. Military is all federal, and police are primarily at the state and municipal level, so I don't see how you can blame anyone for funneling money earmarked for the police to the military.

Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.
AceofSpades Since: Apr, 2009 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
Kostya (Unlucky Thirteen)
#53983: May 4th 2013 at 9:30:12 PM

I'm pretty sure the Supremacy Clause makes that illegal.

SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#53984: May 4th 2013 at 11:03:35 PM

Persay, it would be irrelevant.

Also, the Steve King news are bad.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
GlennMagusHarvey Since: Jan, 2001
#53985: May 4th 2013 at 11:08:07 PM

^^ I suspect someone people are visiting Fort Sumter for the metaphorical value.

Ramidel Since: Jan, 2001
#53986: May 4th 2013 at 11:22:55 PM

@Ace: They could try arresting people who bought insurance. Or they could do what Kansas is threatening to do on gun control and arrest officers who come to arrest people who refuse to pay the Obamacare fine.

Personally, I'm wondering what happens if Kansas police actually take the law seriously and try to arrest ATF agents. That's just asking for a shooting incident.

AceofSpades Since: Apr, 2009 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
#53987: May 5th 2013 at 12:15:48 AM

I wouldn't want to be the cop that's told to try and subvert federal law like that.

Lanceleoghauni Cyborg Helmsman from Z or R Twice Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: In my bunk
#53988: May 5th 2013 at 6:16:07 AM

nullification as an idea pisses me off.

"our government is the law of the land, unless we don't like it"

it reeks of petulance.

"Coffee! Coffeecoffeecoffee! Coffee! Not as strong as Meth-amphetamine, but it lets you keep your teeth!"
Zendervai Since: Oct, 2009
#53989: May 5th 2013 at 6:52:55 AM

The only reason the states have power is because it's backed by the Federal Government. The states that are doing this stuff are coming off, at least to me, like whiny little kids.

"No, I want it my way! I'm right! I hate you Federal Government Dad!"

SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#53990: May 5th 2013 at 6:56:40 AM

"The only reason the states have power is because it's backed by the Federal Government. "

Huh? Historically, the states came first, then the feds.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Kostya (Unlucky Thirteen)
#53992: May 5th 2013 at 7:13:35 AM

If you want to get technical the federal government is what's keeping the states unified and protected which could be seen as them being necessary for the states to have power.

The way I understood it was that the states came first unless the federal government is granted power in this area due to the constitution. That's the logic behind the supremacy clause.

TheHandle United Earth from Stockholm Since: Jan, 2012 Relationship Status: YOU'RE TEARING ME APART LISA
United Earth
#53993: May 5th 2013 at 7:15:38 AM

Here's a very brief summary of (part of) how the whole thing got started.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
Maka4 Since: Apr, 2011
#53994: May 5th 2013 at 8:07:41 AM

Let's just say that, when the states were granted too much power, everything swiftly turned to shit.

If we let states pick and choose what federal laws do and do not apply, we might as well be the United Nations. Then we can say "good bye America".

edited 5th May '13 8:43:16 AM by Maka4

Kostya (Unlucky Thirteen)
#53995: May 5th 2013 at 8:30:30 AM

[up]That's the entire reason we don't have the Articles of Confederation anymore. It was also a big factor in the Civil War.

TheHandle United Earth from Stockholm Since: Jan, 2012 Relationship Status: YOU'RE TEARING ME APART LISA
United Earth
#53996: May 5th 2013 at 9:45:15 AM

then we can say "good bye America".

Maybe that might be a good thing for everyone? And since there's such a sharp divide between cities and countrysides, why not have city-states, Singapore-style?

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
OhnoaBear I'm back, baby. from Exiting, pursued by a... Since: Jan, 2011
I'm back, baby.
#53997: May 5th 2013 at 9:50:25 AM

Because that is a hilariously huge change and such changes never go smoothly.

"The marvel is not that the Bear posts well, but that the Bear posts at all."
Kostya (Unlucky Thirteen)
#53998: May 5th 2013 at 10:11:05 AM

I'm pretty sure that would crash America's, and by extension the world's, economy. You'd also get into some pretty fierce border/territory wars between the cities and the country and there wouldn't really be anyone to enforce order and make the two sides play nice. We'd also be in danger of terrorist attacks because there wouldn't be a government to defend us.

TheHandle United Earth from Stockholm Since: Jan, 2012 Relationship Status: YOU'RE TEARING ME APART LISA
United Earth
#53999: May 5th 2013 at 10:22:03 AM

Yees, because Hong Kong was at war with China, Singapore is always struggling with her neighbors, and they're both constantly struggling with terrorists. As it turns out, this was not the case. The Government isn't some sort of lynchpin protecting society from collapse, and it's not an absolute guardian against a Hobbes Was Right scenario. It's a consensus reality built on people's need for stability. US States growing truly independent from each other doesn't mean they'll automatically be at each other's throats; that one could have such a low opinion of one's countrymen's common sense strikes me as comical.

I also don't see how it would crash anyone's economy. There is such a thing as trade, you know?

edited 5th May '13 10:23:24 AM by TheHandle

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
Maka4 Since: Apr, 2011
#54000: May 5th 2013 at 10:23:28 AM

Plus, if they're smart, Russia or China or any of the other powers could wait until the dust settled to "keep the peace"... if their countries survived the transition, of course. China's economy is pretty dependent on ours, for example.

America being balkanized would fuck everyone.


Total posts: 417,856
Top