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

DeviantBraeburn Wandering Jew from Dysfunctional California Since: Aug, 2012
Wandering Jew
#55776: Jun 5th 2013 at 10:34:11 AM

Donald Rumsfeld 'can't tell' if Obama 'switched sides' in war on terror

Everything is Possible. But some things are more Probable than others. JEBAGEDDON 2016
Wildcard Since: Jun, 2012
#55777: Jun 5th 2013 at 10:51:34 AM

[up]I hope it's not another one of those "Obama is teh Muslim" things. I'll have to look at the full article later.

Midgetsnowman Since: Jan, 2010
#55778: Jun 5th 2013 at 10:54:36 AM

Rumsfeld never was very good at the war on Terror.

GlennMagusHarvey Since: Jan, 2001
#55779: Jun 5th 2013 at 11:00:13 AM

Glenn Harvey 'can't tell' if Rumsfeld 'switched sides' in war on terror

FTFY

Barkey Since: Feb, 2010 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
#55780: Jun 5th 2013 at 11:03:06 AM

Rumsfeld is also the most hated Secretary of Defense in our nations history by members of the military, just a fun fact.

SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#55781: Jun 5th 2013 at 11:03:27 AM

Interessant. Why?

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Barkey Since: Feb, 2010 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
#55782: Jun 5th 2013 at 11:11:05 AM

His rampant stop-lossing of troops during the war.

Being put on stop loss means that the end of your contract occurs, and they essentially give a federal order that you have to stay until they let you go. Usually it's in the event that your contract is supposed to end, but your unit is going to deploy very soon around that time, so they extend your contract against your will to the end of the deployment. A Stop Loss order can only be given by the Secretary of Defense. Also, he was responsible for the ridiculously unreasonable length of deployments for the Army and Marines, and the short turnover/rest time in between deployments. So not only were we all getting ran ragged, but troops with lots of experience or rare/in-demand job skills were being barred from leaving if they didn't want to sign up for another re-enlistment.

It absolutely destroyed morale amongst the combat arms community(sans special forces) because it meant the idea of "One more deployment and I'm done with this shit..." was quite possibly not true.

edited 5th Jun '13 11:12:04 AM by Barkey

Midgetsnowman Since: Jan, 2010
TheStarshipMaxima NCC - 1701 Since: Jun, 2009
NCC - 1701
#55784: Jun 5th 2013 at 11:13:48 AM

There really isn't anything worse than showing that your word doesn't count for shit.

It was an honor
Midgetsnowman Since: Jan, 2010
#55785: Jun 5th 2013 at 11:17:15 AM

@Starship: sure there is.

Imagine how many kids got told their daddy or mommy was coming home from deployment before Rummy extended their deployment forcefully.

Barkey Since: Feb, 2010 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
#55786: Jun 5th 2013 at 11:17:49 AM

Yeah, I can see why the provision exists, but Rumsfeld abused it.

^^

You get used to the government fucking you over in the military, it just happens regularly. But only a few things are supposed to hold absolutely true and never be broken. One is that you get paid, and the other is that if you hate military life, there's always that golden string of numbers for the end of your contract that you can just hum to yourself and use for hope. I've never been the guy going "Good god I can't wait till my ETS" but I can understand how the people who are feel.

^

It's like this, but replace Disneyland with Going Home, and that dude is actually rumsfeld.

edited 5th Jun '13 11:19:56 AM by Barkey

Mars444 Since: May, 2013
#55788: Jun 5th 2013 at 1:06:14 PM

[up]Dear fucking god the loaded language on that last headline.

Barkey Since: Feb, 2010 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
#55790: Jun 5th 2013 at 2:41:11 PM

I'm trying and failing to understand why Obama gave the position to rice. She doesn't really have any background or qualifications in security administration.

Though to be fair, giving politicians positions that subject matter experts should have is nothing new.

SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#55791: Jun 5th 2013 at 2:43:20 PM

I am pretty sure "National Security Adviser" is moar of a sidejob without much weight.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
TheHandle United Earth from Stockholm Since: Jan, 2012 Relationship Status: YOU'RE TEARING ME APART LISA
United Earth
#55792: Jun 5th 2013 at 2:45:05 PM

The subject matter experts are the civil servants. Politicians are put in charge of stuff they know nothing about so that they let the civil servants run the show, without the politicians interfering with short-sighted, ratings-oriented, ill-thought-out messes.

Ideally, that is.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
Barkey Since: Feb, 2010 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
#55793: Jun 5th 2013 at 3:01:57 PM

Then lets stop paying politicians to run things they don't actually run or know anything about, and just let the civil servants do their job?

I just don't like it when I see politicians in jobs that should require actual knowledge. Go take a 20 year intelligence analyst or a retired colonel or something and give them that job. Not some shithead ambassador.

Midgetsnowman Since: Jan, 2010
#55794: Jun 5th 2013 at 3:10:05 PM

[up]

I agree. But the media would whine about "fairness" if we say, threw everyone off the congress science committee who believed in creatoonism and had no science background.

SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#55795: Jun 5th 2013 at 3:10:36 PM

Or anyone on the environment comittees who are global warming deniers.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
AceofSpades Since: Apr, 2009 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
#55796: Jun 5th 2013 at 4:09:08 PM

She is a former UN Ambassador, so maybe she knows more about national security than she's being given credit for. The article is shaping this as a reflection on his foreign policy, so there's that too. Course, it could be he's doing it to annoy all the Republicans that scuppered her chances at a nomination for whatever it is Kerry's doing now.

A not so subtle "fuck you" in political terms. Being practical, he could be doing it for all of those reasons.

edited 5th Jun '13 4:09:58 PM by AceofSpades

TheStarshipMaxima NCC - 1701 Since: Jun, 2009
NCC - 1701
#55797: Jun 5th 2013 at 4:34:59 PM

To be fair, the FULL quote from Ken Emanuelson was "Well to be perfectly honest, the Republican Party doesn't want black people to vote if they're going to vote Democrat."

I know the Republican Pary is building the next Death Star and plotting to depopulate the Solar System, but it's a bit misleading to make it look like their racists when they, just like the do-no-wrong saintly Democrats, want people voting for them.

I mean....is Toure a racist when he gets on MSNBC and blasts Dr. Ben Carson for supporting the Republicans??

It was an honor
Midgetsnowman Since: Jan, 2010
#55799: Jun 5th 2013 at 4:41:42 PM

[up][up]

Thats still pretty racist.

Just because I dont like white rural morons voting for republicans, dont think I dont want them to vote.

Kostya (Unlucky Thirteen)
#55800: Jun 5th 2013 at 4:48:16 PM

"We don't want you to vote if you're voting for the wrong people."

That's basically what he said. For a party that bent over backwards to justify it's voter suppression efforts by saying it didn't disproportionately target minorities that's a pretty glaring gaffe. The racism inherent in his statement only makes it worse.

edited 5th Jun '13 4:48:34 PM by Kostya


Total posts: 417,856
Top