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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM

SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#106751: Dec 15th 2015 at 3:54:15 AM

Can we talk about something other than the presidential elections? Like, what is Congress doing right now?

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Aszur A nice butterfly from Pagliacci's Since: Apr, 2014 Relationship Status: Don't hug me; I'm scared
A nice butterfly
#106753: Dec 15th 2015 at 6:59:00 AM

I think they mail dick pics too

Congress is like a fraternity

It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes
speedyboris Since: Feb, 2010
#106754: Dec 15th 2015 at 7:04:41 AM

It really is sickening that some have shouted "Sieg heil!" at these Trump events. Apparently they don't care about the old saying, "Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it."

edited 15th Dec '15 7:46:17 AM by speedyboris

Kostya (Unlucky Thirteen)
#106755: Dec 15th 2015 at 7:08:19 AM

[up]The kind of people doing that are well aware of what they're doing. There's a reason some Neo-Nazis use the Confederate flag in place of the Swastika.

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#106756: Dec 15th 2015 at 7:10:16 AM

Trump has energized the neo-Nazi groups within our society. They finally see a public figure espousing their beliefs and not being destroyed for it.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#106757: Dec 15th 2015 at 7:11:31 AM

[up] Or better, from their perspective, not successfully being destroyed over it.

BonsaiForest Since: Jan, 2001
#106758: Dec 15th 2015 at 7:11:59 AM

Here's an editorial from a right-wing source, of how Donald Trump is making the Republican party look like what liberals have claimed it was all about all along.

Kostya (Unlucky Thirteen)
#106759: Dec 15th 2015 at 7:13:19 AM

These idiots still don't get it. This stuff was always there. They just did a better job at hiding it.

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#106760: Dec 15th 2015 at 7:14:41 AM

Yeah, Trump just blew its cover. It was pretty blatant if you knew where to look, though, starting way back with Reagan.

edited 15th Dec '15 7:15:00 AM by Fighteer

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Kostya (Unlucky Thirteen)
#106761: Dec 15th 2015 at 7:16:57 AM

I'd argue that it went back until the Civil Rights movement. Reagan just invented the language of dogwhistling.

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#106762: Dec 15th 2015 at 7:17:54 AM

Well, yeah, that's what I meant. Reagan made it politically acceptable to be a covert racist. Trump has made it politically acceptable (or at least is trying) to be an overt racist.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Kostya (Unlucky Thirteen)
#106763: Dec 15th 2015 at 7:18:49 AM

I thought you were talking about when the racists jumped ship to the Republican party.

Aszur A nice butterfly from Pagliacci's Since: Apr, 2014 Relationship Status: Don't hug me; I'm scared
A nice butterfly
#106764: Dec 15th 2015 at 7:20:04 AM

Not sure they had to "jump" ship at all. Maybe they just hopped in place a bit.

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
#106765: Dec 15th 2015 at 7:20:33 AM

It's sort of cyclical. We were overtly racist (slavery, Jim Crow) up to the 1960s, then we said, "You can't do that anymore." The racists went underground for a few decades, popping back up when Reagan found a politically correct way to express it. As I said way back in my megapost about the Republican Party, our country was founded on racism and it continues to be quite possibly our defining cultural element.

edited 15th Dec '15 7:21:21 AM by Fighteer

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
speedyboris Since: Feb, 2010
#106766: Dec 15th 2015 at 7:37:19 AM

Here's my big concern (among many) about Trump being hypothetically elected: Fear often leads to giving up personal freedoms. If Trump wins, the surveillance state would inevitably expand to Orwellian levels. And before anyone says "The racists don't care, because they just think non-whites will be the ones targeted.", it may start out that way but once you open the Genie bottle it's hard to put it back in. By that I mean, the invasive surveillance would inevitably expand to EVERYONE.

edited 15th Dec '15 8:19:03 AM by speedyboris

Kayeka (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#106767: Dec 15th 2015 at 7:38:31 AM

WARNING: this post contains baseless generalisations.

[up][up]To be fair to Americans, I'd like to point out that Europe has some serious xenophobia issues as well, and is currently seeing a rise of the extreme-right too. It's just slightly less pronounced due to us not having as great a percentage of non-whites/natives.

It's just that kinda age, really. Economy does bad, people want solutions, dumb people that don't understand economics blame minorities and vote en masse, smarter people understand there's no easy solution, get disillusioned and don't vote.

It should be better in a decade or so when everyone's slice of the pie gets bigger again. And then it will start all over.

At least the war that's being fought over it this time manages to be relatively low-key.

edited 15th Dec '15 7:39:56 AM by Kayeka

Aszur A nice butterfly from Pagliacci's Since: Apr, 2014 Relationship Status: Don't hug me; I'm scared
A nice butterfly
#106768: Dec 15th 2015 at 7:38:55 AM

Trump isn't going to be elected :P

I mean, I understan the worry if you lived there but the concern is more about the frenzy he can whip his asshole followers into: Not him getting elected.

It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes
PotatoesRock Since: Oct, 2012
#106769: Dec 15th 2015 at 7:42:38 AM

Can we talk about something other than the presidential elections? Like, what is Congress doing right now?
Such as?

SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#106770: Dec 15th 2015 at 7:44:54 AM

I see an education bill and a highway funding bill in the newspaper and news here. The latter with apparently some budget trickery and some extraneous items.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
probablyinsane Since: Oct, 2011 Relationship Status: I LOVE THIS DOCTOR!
#106771: Dec 15th 2015 at 7:47:51 AM

Nada on Trump getting elected. That fucktwit.

Plants are aliens, and fungi are nanomachines.
BonsaiForest Since: Jan, 2001
#106772: Dec 15th 2015 at 7:57:33 AM

Washington Post tells us that Trump may benefit from an emphasis on terrorism, since he's seen as the "toughest" candidate.

Ideally, I'd like to see Trump become the GOP nominee when terrorism is the big talked-about issue, then have people shift their focus to the economy, get scared of Trump, and nominate and later vote for Sanders. [lol]

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#106773: Dec 15th 2015 at 8:08:35 AM

An acceleration of terrorist attacks in the U.S. could well spur voters to gravitate towards Trump.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Aszur A nice butterfly from Pagliacci's Since: Apr, 2014 Relationship Status: Don't hug me; I'm scared
A nice butterfly
#106774: Dec 15th 2015 at 8:11:14 AM

Daesh does not have the manpower to actually do stuff like what Al Qaeda did. They can, from a distance, spur lone wolves into action and that is the best they can do. And even that, at great cost.

It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes
Keybreak (Long Runner)
#106775: Dec 15th 2015 at 8:18:09 AM

Some days, Trump reminds me of the Westboro Baptist Church...

That maybe they're only extreme fronts to make the right look bad.

edited 15th Dec '15 8:18:31 AM by Keybreak

You gotta believe me when I scare you away, all that I wish for is that you would stay

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