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

DrunkenNordmann from Exile Since: May, 2015
#104751: Nov 10th 2015 at 7:42:57 PM

Why does Trump even get traction with right-wing votes for proposing to build a wall? I mean, the Chinese built a wall and the East Germans built one. So proposing to build a wall is commie-talk, meaning Trump is, in fact, a communist.

edited 10th Nov '15 7:46:27 PM by DrunkenNordmann

We learn from history that we do not learn from history
Hodor2 Since: Jan, 2015
#104752: Nov 10th 2015 at 7:48:13 PM

Ah, but Trump's Wall will be built the American Way- By underpaid Mexican laborers.

FFShinra Since: Jan, 2001
#104753: Nov 10th 2015 at 8:09:00 PM

I hate seeing Kasich get booed but his curmudgeoness is getting in his own way.

TheWanderer Student of Story from Somewhere in New England (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
Student of Story
#104754: Nov 10th 2015 at 8:19:46 PM

So I'm not watching, (saving my sanity), but the "highlights" according to what I've heard so far are Rand Paul fact checking Trump when the moderators had basically refused to do so, Trump proclaiming that he loves free trade despite earlier saying that he'd slap 20% tariffs on imports, Cruz saying he'd eliminate 5 government agencies but only being able to name 4, (Rick Perry says hi) and Christie managed to say back to back that the Federal Reserve is propping up the economy to save Obama's approval rating and then say right after that that the Federal Reserve is hurting the economy. (Which one is it, Christie?)

Any other particularly notable examples of Republican stupidity?

Edited to add: Oh, and Trump's backing Putin's intervention in Syria, and how he knows Putin well from one time they went on 60 Minutes the same night. I looked into his eyes and saw he's a good man all over again?

edited 10th Nov '15 8:35:39 PM by TheWanderer

| Wandering, but not lost. | If people bring so much courage to this world...◊ |
FFShinra Since: Jan, 2001
#104755: Nov 10th 2015 at 8:39:08 PM

Putin's eyes are powerful things. They hypnotize people into liking him....

Silasw A procrastination in of itself from A handcart to hell (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
A procrastination in of itself
#104756: Nov 11th 2015 at 1:55:03 AM

Putin is secretly Hypo Toad, it all makes sense now!

“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran
Medinoc from France (Before Recorded History)
#104757: Nov 11th 2015 at 3:43:34 AM

@Drunken Nordmann: The East German wall was to keep people in, not out. So totally not the same thing.

"And as long as a sack of shit is not a good thing to be, chivalry will never die."
PrinceConor I will finish what you started. from Earth Since: Apr, 2013 Relationship Status: Non-Canon
I will finish what you started.
#104758: Nov 11th 2015 at 9:53:24 AM

Alright people, case study. Who would you support? FL State House District 63, represented by Shawn Harrison, Republican, here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shawn_Harrison_(politician)#/search. His first challenger, Equality Florida statewide business organizer and Democrat Mike Reedy, here: https://www.facebook.com/ReedyForFlorida/. His second challenger, Tampa City Councilwoman Lisa Montelione, here: http://www.tampagov.net/city-council/about-us/lisa-j-montelione. Now, keep in mind Reedy has been in this race for months. Lisa just got in yesterday. Under Florida law, she must resign her seat to run. She will have to also move, since she does not live in District 63, but rather just outside. District 7 however does overlap significantly with District 63. She is well known, but the last election she technically ran was earlier this year, when she was re-elected to a second term unopposed. She hasn't run a truly competitive race in 4 1/2 years. Also, state house is very much different from city council. Keep in mind as well, though, that Mike Reedy has shown a lot of establishment support and a lot of spirited popular support but has not raised a great amount of money as opposed to Rep. Harrison. This is probably what drew Lisa into the race. Now, I know both Mike and Lisa personally. I worked with Lisa, and Mike is my friend. I am torn. Lisa was a shock yesterday. Who would you support? Is Lisa an opportunist quitter? Is Mike a neophyte? I looks forward to your answers! Here are Mike's fundraising numbers: http://dos.elections.myflorida.com/cgi-bin/TreSel.exe Here are Harrison's: http://dos.elections.myflorida.com/cgi-bin/TreSel.exe Here is Lisa's page, but keep in mind she has no money yet and will to report until the end of the month, and perhaps not until end of December: http://dos.elections.myflorida.com/candidates/CanDetail.asp?account=65023

edited 11th Nov '15 9:53:41 AM by PrinceConor

anyone know why asscaps has that particular name?
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#104759: Nov 11th 2015 at 9:57:52 AM

I don't think we can offer you any specific political advice; that's not what this forum is for.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
PrinceConor I will finish what you started. from Earth Since: Apr, 2013 Relationship Status: Non-Canon
I will finish what you started.
#104760: Nov 11th 2015 at 9:59:40 AM

I was hoping to simply spark intellectual discussion about a specific case study. Not looking for advice.

anyone know why asscaps has that particular name?
Aszur A nice butterfly from Pagliacci's Since: Apr, 2014 Relationship Status: Don't hug me; I'm scared
A nice butterfly
#104761: Nov 11th 2015 at 10:02:08 AM

Vote for the one with the funniest name

Democracy in action, people.

It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#104762: Nov 11th 2015 at 11:07:21 AM

[up][up] In local politics, look for the candidate with the R to be bankrolled by business and compare their rival to Obama, and the candidate with the D to be running on a populist platform and not really be able to communicate it well to the people, who are only interested in 15 second sound bites.

If the D and the R are both business candidates, then pick the D because that makes the national political map look bluer, even if they aren't that different. If the D is a populist candidate, pick them but they probably won't win without major support from the national party apparatus. If there are two people running as D's, then they'll split the vote and the R will be a shoo-in.

If there's one you prefer solidly over the other due to their politics, fine, vote for that one, but we can't afford to think at the local level in politics anymore.

edited 11th Nov '15 11:08:05 AM by Fighteer

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Xopher001 Since: Jul, 2012
#104763: Nov 11th 2015 at 11:12:05 AM

Do you guys think the Republican candidates have been getting more media attention overall than the democrats? And if so is that good or bad? I mean you know that proverb

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#104764: Nov 11th 2015 at 11:20:31 AM

No such thing as bad publicity? I think that the polarization of national politics means that there is only a narrow band of voters that you can persuade to change sides* — most people are solidly D or R. Rather than targeting this hypothetical middle, you need to do two things: persuade your side's voters to come to the polls, and convince the opponent's voters to stay home.

To that end, the relative coverage that the Democrats and Republicans get in the media now is largely unimportant to the 2016 elections. It only matters in terms of the visibility of each candidate in their respective primary and how their message resonates with primary voters. Broad themes of the campaign will emerge, of course — Republicans are already dedicating attack ads and Fox News time to tearing down Hillary Clinton — but she's weathered these assaults with aplomb so far.

Whoever emerges victorious from each will have six months, give or take, to compete with their rival for national attention, and that's when it'll really matter.

* Worth noting is that I have talked to a lot of people who consider themselves politically neutral or unaffiliated, but that's mainly because they are uneducated on the details of each candidate's and each party's platform. When you ask such people questions about national issues that are not associated with any party, they will blind-pick the Democratic position almost every time and refuse to believe that the Republican position is genuine.

If our campaign process were actually dedicated to educating voters on the issues, we might get better results, but an entire party apparatus (not to mention the media in general) remains solidly opposed to that, so here we are.

edited 11th Nov '15 11:44:49 AM by Fighteer

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#104765: Nov 11th 2015 at 12:45:08 PM

Double Post: The Daily Show with Trevor Noah is sponsoring a petition on Change.org to demand that the Jeb! campaign release their unwilling captive from the inhumane conditions of his presidential run. I signed, because I think it is hilarious.

Next up, I imagine they might start taking up a collection to feed Bobby Jindal's staffers. "For just $50 a day, you can provide a poor campaign intern with all the coffee and cheap food he needs to keep up the struggle to get Jindal to 1% in the polls."

edited 11th Nov '15 12:47:13 PM by Fighteer

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
FalseDichotomy from Your mind :o Since: Oct, 2015 Relationship Status: Tsundere'ing
#104766: Nov 11th 2015 at 1:30:26 PM

[up] Apparently Rubio's already thought of that:

Protagonist506 from Oregon Since: Dec, 2013 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#104768: Nov 11th 2015 at 2:25:52 PM

I thought I remembered that idea coming from one of the political humorists.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
BlueNinja0 The Mod with the Migraine from Taking a left at Albuquerque Since: Dec, 2010 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
The Mod with the Migraine
#104769: Nov 11th 2015 at 3:09:58 PM

The East German wall was to keep people in, not out. So totally not the same thing.
But we are trying to keep people in - in Mexico. tongue

That’s the epitome of privilege right there, not considering armed nazis a threat to your life. - Silasw
TheyCallMeTomu Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
#104770: Nov 11th 2015 at 3:18:34 PM

So that's why Mexico is the ones who have to build the wall!

Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#104771: Nov 11th 2015 at 4:33:33 PM

So Trump is now promising to create a "deportation force" to deport 11 million illegal immigrants... Can we start using the term "Ethnic Cleansing" for his platform now?

http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/11/politics/donald-trump-deportation-force-debate-immigration/index.html

If this lunatic somehow wins...Mexico and Canada are going to have a refugee crisis to rival Europe's on their hands.tongue

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#104772: Nov 11th 2015 at 4:35:10 PM

Nah, people will keep trying to cross over even as we're shoveling them back. Mexico simply can't care for all of them.

edited 11th Nov '15 4:35:22 PM by Fighteer

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#104773: Nov 11th 2015 at 4:38:33 PM

Do most of them still come by land? I thought a lot of them came by boat or air, mostly legally and then over staying their visas?

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
Cid El Cid Since: Jul, 2015 Relationship Status: Hiding
El Cid
#104774: Nov 11th 2015 at 4:54:08 PM

As far as I know, most of the immigrants go through the desert. So yeah, the main issue comes by those crossing by land.

Now, I believe this is the case because the Mexicans who want to go over there are too poor and too uneducated to actually get a passport or a Visa.

I'm basing this on the fact that our news are constantly reporting about those who died on the Sonora Desert, while crossing the Río Bravo or those who died while aboard "The Beast".

And just for the record, Mexico could take care of all the people who flee the country. But it won't. Because reasons.

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#104775: Nov 11th 2015 at 5:04:48 PM

[up] What's your rationale for that last statement? And paid human smuggling is the largest source of cross-border traffic.

edited 11th Nov '15 5:04:58 PM by Fighteer

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

Total posts: 417,856
Top