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

Memers Since: Aug, 2013
#113001: Feb 23rd 2016 at 9:44:29 PM

[up] If only it didn't come with the insanity and racist shit.

edited 23rd Feb '16 9:55:31 PM by Memers

SantosLHalper Since: Aug, 2009
#113002: Feb 23rd 2016 at 10:39:25 PM

If Drones came out during the Bush years, would the right care so much about them?

Protagonist506 from Oregon Since: Dec, 2013 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
#113003: Feb 23rd 2016 at 10:57:31 PM

[up]IIRC, they actually did.

So far, I actually haven't seen many people on the right talk that much about them (what I have seen is mostly neutral). Personally, I'm a Republican, and I'm all for drones. Though some of that is just me being a sci-fi fanboy who thinks a robot army would be awesome.

Leviticus 19:34
LeGarcon Blowout soon fellow Stalker from Skadovsk Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Gay for Big Boss
Blowout soon fellow Stalker
#113004: Feb 23rd 2016 at 11:01:22 PM

Drones are nice, just gut the CIA and don't let them have the keys to any.

Oh really when?
TerminusEst from the Land of Winter and Stars Since: Feb, 2010
#113005: Feb 23rd 2016 at 11:02:40 PM

[up][up][up]

Pretty sure the CIA drone program in Afghanistan existed back then. Or at least one of the drone bases did.

[up]

Have you read "Way of the Knife"? Haven't got my hands on it on this side of the planet, but it tells the story of the post-Cold War intelligence gathering CIA, and its development into the more paramilitary force we see today.

edited 23rd Feb '16 11:04:07 PM by TerminusEst

Si Vis Pacem, Para Perkele
AceofSpades Since: Apr, 2009 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
#113006: Feb 23rd 2016 at 11:12:35 PM

Drones came out during the Bush era, but didn't see as much use until Obama was president, when the technology took off and was proven. That's at least the gist is what I understand.

PotatoesRock Since: Oct, 2012
#113007: Feb 23rd 2016 at 11:24:24 PM

Yeah, they only became a issue with Obama, significantly.

So, same old same old Presidenting While Black And Democrat.

If Dubya does it, it's good for America. If Obama does it, it becomes a problem.

Politico: The Republican Party Decides!

Fearful of counterattacks, rich conservatives and their allies are mostly holding their fire.

(The Nation)  Why Today’s GOP Crackup Is the Final Unraveling of Nixon’s ‘Southern Strategy’

edited 24th Feb '16 2:07:26 AM by PotatoesRock

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
#113008: Feb 24th 2016 at 4:04:32 AM

I don't belive that the Republicans have made that much noise against drones, it's manly been the left protesting them. As for a "robot army" that isn't what drones are, it's what the technophobic idiots on the left think drones are, but it's not what they actually are.

Basically the right doesn't care much about drones, it's the left that does.

edited 24th Feb '16 4:05:18 AM by Silasw

“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran
TerminusEst from the Land of Winter and Stars Since: Feb, 2010
#113009: Feb 24th 2016 at 4:08:44 AM

[up]

Really the biggest worry that seems to come from the "killer robot"-crowd, is the fear of making them autonomous. Which is something no sensible military would do.

Si Vis Pacem, Para Perkele
FieldMarshalFry Field Marshal of Cracked from World Internet War 1 Since: Oct, 2015 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
Field Marshal of Cracked
#113011: Feb 24th 2016 at 6:04:51 AM

[up][up]and that is already illegal, there has to be an operator

advancing the front into TV Tropes
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#113012: Feb 24th 2016 at 6:10:57 AM

Drone autonomy is likely to be more along the lines of automatic navigation and image recognition software that can guide a vehicle to its target and identify threats, but they will still require a human operator to confirm a shoot/no-shoot order. Making those operators accountable is the most pressing issue. There is a certain dehumanizing/desensitizing effect that can occur when one's targets are at the other end of what amounts to a super-realistic (and rather boring) video game.

edited 24th Feb '16 6:12:54 AM by Fighteer

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Greenmantle V from Greater Wessex, Britannia Since: Feb, 2010 Relationship Status: Hiding
V
#113013: Feb 24th 2016 at 6:18:37 AM

Drones came out during the Bush era

Which Bush? Modern drones actually first saw action during the era of George HW Bush, during the first Gulf War.

Keep Rolling On
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
#113014: Feb 24th 2016 at 6:52:57 AM

Cruz vows to eliminate Celiac disease in the military by dismissing it as a liberal conspiracy.

Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz on Tuesday pledged to not provide gluten-free meals to the military if elected president.

Appealing to military voters in South Carolina, Cruz said in a speech aboard the USS Yorktown that he'd wipe out cases of "political correctness" in order to spend resources on building a stronger military. Cases of "political correctness" include equipping the military with dietary options for those who suffer from gastrointestinal disorders like celiac disease, he suggested.

“That’s why the last thing any commander should need to worry about is the grades he is getting from some plush-bottomed Pentagon bureaucrat for political correctness or social experiments — or providing gluten-free MR Es," Cruz said, according to CNN, referring to ready-to-eat-meals.

So. Celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder in which the ingestion of gluten leads to damage in the small intestine and makes a person intolerant to gluten, is a real, existing condition.

An estimated one out of every 100 people are affected by celiac disease. Some of those people are in the military, likely diagnosed after joining.

When left untreated, the disorder can contribute to a host of other health problems, according to the Celiac Disease Foundation, including Type I diabetes, anemia, infertility and miscarriage, migraines, intestinal cancers, and neurological conditions like epilepsy.

So what happens in the short term, when someone with a gluten sensitivity eats the stuff? According to published personal accounts, really bad things.

"If I eat gluten by accident, I get very sick, and have even ended up in the hospital, dangerously dehydrated from vomiting and diarrhea," Joanna Schroeder, who was diagnosed with celiac in 1996, wrote last year in Good Housekeeping. A spokesman for the Department of Defense told Time that gluten-free meal offerings differ between military branches.

For one percent of the population, the decision to go gluten-free is made out of anything but political correctness. It is for survival. To support a robust military, Cruz might want to reconsider what he intends to serve the people who serve our country. They deserve to have all they need to thrive, themselves.

That’s the epitome of privilege right there, not considering armed nazis a threat to your life. - Silasw
Euodiachloris Since: Oct, 2010
speedyboris Since: Feb, 2010
#113016: Feb 24th 2016 at 7:04:42 AM

I honestly think Ted Cruz is evil. Like, I'm not even being facetious. I really think he has no heart.

Aszur A nice butterfly from Pagliacci's Since: Apr, 2014 Relationship Status: Don't hug me; I'm scared
A nice butterfly
#113017: Feb 24th 2016 at 7:12:59 AM

No heart, no brain, and he should be sent shoeless back to Cuba

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
TheWanderer Student of Story from Somewhere in New England (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
Student of Story
#113019: Feb 24th 2016 at 7:26:18 AM

Cruz is a nasty customer all around, that's for sure.

I don't belive that the Republicans have made that much noise against drones, it's manly been the left protesting them. As for a "robot army" that isn't what drones are, it's what the technophobic idiots on the left think drones are, but it's not what they actually are.

The left wasn't happy about the drone use under Bush, in part because of the way that the CIA, who was the chief user at the time, employed them. There are still some grumblings, but time seems to have ground them down, as has the fact that the military has shown some restraint with it since taking it over. Plus, it's no longer the new and scary thing, because lets face it, every new thing will get extra backlash from some quarters simply for being new.

Libertarians and anti-government types, on the other hand, do still loathe drones. See Rand Paul's various speeches and dramatic gestures against them, for example.

edited 24th Feb '16 7:28:26 AM by TheWanderer

| Wandering, but not lost. | If people bring so much courage to this world...◊ |
Aszur A nice butterfly from Pagliacci's Since: Apr, 2014 Relationship Status: Don't hug me; I'm scared
A nice butterfly
#113020: Feb 24th 2016 at 7:26:30 AM

Right I just mix up the ones who are from canada or cuba or whatever parents sort of thing.

Basically, All of those goddamn racists are all the fucking same and I hate them

It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes
Aszur A nice butterfly from Pagliacci's Since: Apr, 2014 Relationship Status: Don't hug me; I'm scared
A nice butterfly
#113022: Feb 24th 2016 at 7:40:43 AM

But. those are the republican inscribed latinos, are they not?

It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes
SolipsistOwl Since: Jan, 2016
#113023: Feb 24th 2016 at 7:46:55 AM

Trump won 46 percent of the Latino GOP caucusgoers, although they only made up 9 percent of the total vote.

Trump triumphs with Hispanics and five other takeaways from Nevada

Know-age Since: May, 2010
#113024: Feb 24th 2016 at 7:48:18 AM

With the Hispanics who're registered as GOP, lmao.

Aszur A nice butterfly from Pagliacci's Since: Apr, 2014 Relationship Status: Don't hug me; I'm scared
A nice butterfly
#113025: Feb 24th 2016 at 7:49:36 AM

Yeah I do not see how that is surprising. From what I understand, and correct me if I am wrong, caucusgoers are already people inscribed in the party, are already likely to follow the trend of the majority of the party, and are as much of a reflection of what is to be expected in the general election as oil mixes with water.

Basically, if there was a latino caucusgoer within the GOP, he was already likely to vote for what most of the GOP caucus voters were voting for, so what is the surprise here?

edited 24th Feb '16 7:49:56 AM by Aszur

It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes

Total posts: 417,856
Top