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

LeGarcon Blowout soon fellow Stalker from Skadovsk Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Gay for Big Boss
Blowout soon fellow Stalker
#104076: Oct 29th 2015 at 9:12:36 AM

But whether they're true or not is irrelevant, what matters is if voters think they are.

Facts are subjective in American politics after all.

Oh really when?
Xopher001 Since: Jul, 2012
#104077: Oct 29th 2015 at 9:14:09 AM

Geez, poor Kasich. He sounds like the only sane man in this debate but the moderator keeps cutting him off

Aszur A nice butterfly from Pagliacci's Since: Apr, 2014 Relationship Status: Don't hug me; I'm scared
A nice butterfly
#104078: Oct 29th 2015 at 9:16:35 AM

Yeah that seems like the one, thank you.

I wanted specifically to check if Fiorina's numbers were right since they seemed absolutely batshit insane...and they are basically the first thing debunked in that article, lel.

I wonder if banana slips might make the next Republican debate funnier.

It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes
Keybreak (Long Runner)
#104079: Oct 29th 2015 at 9:17:53 AM

It helps to see it all laid out in black and white.

At the very first question, probably three of those candidates just totally dodged it.

There's something really unlikeable about that.

You gotta believe me when I scare you away, all that I wish for is that you would stay
Xopher001 Since: Jul, 2012
#104080: Oct 29th 2015 at 9:29:54 AM

When Carson is asked about the pharmaceutical companies raising prices ridiculously high, he says its because there's too much government regulation. What??

Why do these people IN the government talk about how the government is this bad entity that's grown too big for its own good? And they keep using really bad debate tactics like ad hominem and the association fallacy...

Aszur A nice butterfly from Pagliacci's Since: Apr, 2014 Relationship Status: Don't hug me; I'm scared
A nice butterfly
#104081: Oct 29th 2015 at 9:32:40 AM

Well, they are all heavy proponents on the state thing. "When I was on my state..." "On Ohio..." "New jersey has.." blah blah blah.

Basically, since they need to prop themselves up, they need to talk well about states and to do that, since their numbers alone wont suffice, they also have to demonize another state, and Washington is the obvious choice because it is the Capital.

It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes
Keybreak (Long Runner)
#104083: Oct 29th 2015 at 9:44:56 AM

The idea is that they'll make it better when they get there.

But doesn't the other party always say that the last president was "the worst they ever had"?

You gotta believe me when I scare you away, all that I wish for is that you would stay
Xopher001 Since: Jul, 2012
#104084: Oct 29th 2015 at 9:49:11 AM

I'm just tired of the GOP using the same tired old, predictable rhetoric. "government is too big", "cut taxes", "job creators", "America is greatest country", "Reagan", etc etc

Protagonist506 from Oregon Since: Dec, 2013 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
#104085: Oct 29th 2015 at 9:52:07 AM

[up]What else would you expect them to say? For example, a person who believes that government should shrink is probably going to spout a lot about how the government's become too big lately. Likewise, a person who wants to cut taxes is going to say that he wants to cut taxes.

edited 29th Oct '15 9:52:33 AM by Protagonist506

Leviticus 19:34
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#104086: Oct 29th 2015 at 9:54:31 AM

But they don't really believe that "government should be small". That's a red herring.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Keybreak (Long Runner)
#104087: Oct 29th 2015 at 9:55:13 AM

They're just kind of buzzphrases that people can all latch on to.

Because it's the basic ideas that bind people. And they like knowing where somebody stands on issues like those.

As for any new issues? Well those will become buzzphrases in the next few years.

You gotta believe me when I scare you away, all that I wish for is that you would stay
JackOLantern1337 Shameful Display from The Most Miserable Province in the Russian Empir Since: Aug, 2014 Relationship Status: 700 wives and 300 concubines
Shameful Display
#104088: Oct 29th 2015 at 10:11:02 AM

US economic growth has slowed

I Bring Doom,and a bit of gloom, but mostly gloom.
AngelusNox Warder of the damned from The guard of the gates of oblivion Since: Dec, 2014 Relationship Status: Married to the job
Warder of the damned
#104090: Oct 29th 2015 at 12:03:40 PM

Doesn't the growth in the north hemisphere also slows when the winter is coming?

Inter arma enim silent leges
Aszur A nice butterfly from Pagliacci's Since: Apr, 2014 Relationship Status: Don't hug me; I'm scared
A nice butterfly
#104091: Oct 29th 2015 at 12:04:26 PM

Nope. It is clearly the end of the world. I hope you guys packed enough cans of tomato soup and dug a bunker deep enough for the apocalypse!

edited 29th Oct '15 12:09:21 PM by Aszur

It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes
Medinoc from France (Before Recorded History)
#104092: Oct 29th 2015 at 12:58:36 PM

Thanks to mass transit, I found some time to read that Republican debate.

I noticed Fiorina hammers a lot on "Big government serves Big Money". Unfortunately, unless we all want to live in plutocracies, we need a counterpower to Big Money, and a small government isn't anymore capable of that than a big one infiltrated by Big Money. The solution is not to shrink the government, it's to heal it by taking big money out of it.

Unfortunately, in the American case I haven't yet seen a better solution than having a Dem presidency outlive a conservative justice and replace him with one that would vote to overturn Citizens United... and for my own country, I don't see any solution at all.

"And as long as a sack of shit is not a good thing to be, chivalry will never die."
Ogodei Fuck you, Fascist sympathizers from The front lines Since: Jan, 2011
Fuck you, Fascist sympathizers
#104093: Oct 29th 2015 at 1:03:50 PM

One thing the candidates all agreed upon: CNBC was too mean to them. Reince Priebus was getting phone calls from campaign managers midway through the debate to tell them that this has to change.

So the field has felt bullied by both Fox News and by CNBC. God knows where they think they can go.

ironballs16 Since: Jul, 2009 Relationship Status: Owner of a lonely heart
#104094: Oct 29th 2015 at 1:40:29 PM

Why do these people IN the government talk about how the government is this bad entity that's grown too big for its own good?

Because they're all devotees to Glorious Ronald Reagan, Blessed Be His Name.

"Why would I inflict myself on somebody else?"
Greenmantle V from Greater Wessex, Britannia Since: Feb, 2010 Relationship Status: Hiding
V
#104095: Oct 29th 2015 at 1:54:48 PM

[up] Even though Regan's positions were probably nearer Obama's than their own...

Keep Rolling On
Aszur A nice butterfly from Pagliacci's Since: Apr, 2014 Relationship Status: Don't hug me; I'm scared
A nice butterfly
#104096: Oct 29th 2015 at 1:56:03 PM

Didn't Reagan basically fuck up the economy for the future

It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes
PotatoesRock Since: Oct, 2012
#104097: Oct 29th 2015 at 2:48:45 PM

[up] Even though Regan's positions were probably nearer Obama's than their own...
Doesn't matter. Reagan's been deified/sanctified by the Republican Party's naval gazers. Basically "What Would Reagan Do". The legend has replaced the truth et al.

And man, the Republicans are getting more and more thin skinned, ain't they.

ILoveDogs Since: May, 2010
#104098: Oct 29th 2015 at 6:36:07 PM

This is almost certainly old news, but I was legitimately unnerved the way Ben Carson talked about how he used to go after people with bats and bricks and knives. I would cast him as a serial killer in a movie, I swear to God.

Ogodei Fuck you, Fascist sympathizers from The front lines Since: Jan, 2011
Fuck you, Fascist sympathizers
#104099: Oct 29th 2015 at 7:32:26 PM

Carson would be seen as a nutcase if it weren't for his nigh-catatonic demeanor.

TheyCallMeTomu Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
#104100: Oct 29th 2015 at 8:35:00 PM

Almost like he was lobotomized, successfully, and that got him to respect the craft of neurosurgery.


Total posts: 417,856
Top