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

SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#119876: Apr 23rd 2016 at 1:21:11 PM

That's a very loose usage of "lunatic", I think...

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
smokeycut Since: Mar, 2013
#119877: Apr 23rd 2016 at 1:23:48 PM

Committing genocide tends to put someone in the "lunatic" corner.

KarkatTheDalek Not as angry as the name would suggest. from Somwhere in Time/Space Since: Mar, 2012 Relationship Status: You're a beautiful woman, probably
Not as angry as the name would suggest.
#119878: Apr 23rd 2016 at 1:25:29 PM

[up] That was the general thrust of my argument, yes. I don't really see how Bachmann would fit the definition any better, if we're going to argue it.

Oh God! Natural light!
AdricDePsycho Rock on, Gold Dust Woman from Never Going Back Again Since: Oct, 2014 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Rock on, Gold Dust Woman
#119879: Apr 23rd 2016 at 1:28:03 PM

Well it's possible that Jackson suffered from lead poisoning brought about by the large amounts of bullets lodged in his body from dueling. Such poisoning leads to mental instability.

Have you any dreams you'd like to sell?
SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#119880: Apr 23rd 2016 at 1:34:06 PM

Except that you don't need to be a lunatic to commit genocide. Sane people can do it too.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
KarkatTheDalek Not as angry as the name would suggest. from Somwhere in Time/Space Since: Mar, 2012 Relationship Status: You're a beautiful woman, probably
Not as angry as the name would suggest.
#119881: Apr 23rd 2016 at 1:38:11 PM

Well, no, of course not.

Really, this whole thing was mostly just a joke after Michelle Bachmann was brought up.

Oh God! Natural light!
JackOLantern1337 Shameful Display from The Most Miserable Province in the Russian Empir Since: Aug, 2014 Relationship Status: 700 wives and 300 concubines
Shameful Display
#119882: Apr 23rd 2016 at 1:38:19 PM

[up][up][up][up] Then just about every US President between the founding of the Republic and the 1900's, the end date really depends on if you consider encouraging Indians to integrate, to be genocide.

I Bring Doom,and a bit of gloom, but mostly gloom.
CaptainCapsase from Orbiting Sagittarius A* Since: Jan, 2015
#119883: Apr 23rd 2016 at 1:39:07 PM

@smokeycut: The Indian removal Act would be better classified as ethnic cleansing (not that it's much better) as opposed to outright genocide, given that it's goal was forced migration rather than the outright extermination of the indigenous people of the region, and that wasn't terribly uncommon in the early modern period, though it admittedly became less frequent in European wars towards the tail end of the era.

Genocide in the modern sense only really began happening in the 20th century, presumably because, prior to industrialization, it simply wasn't feasible to systematically eradicate large populations.

[up] Genocide specifically requires the attempted extermination of populations; forced migration and assimilation policies thus don't count, as vile as the former in particular is.

edited 23rd Apr '16 1:42:29 PM by CaptainCapsase

RavenWilder Since: Apr, 2009
#119884: Apr 23rd 2016 at 1:50:49 PM

My favorite piece of Michelle Bachman lunacy? She pledged that, if she became President, she would make Iraq reimburse the U.S. for all the money it spent fighting the Iraq War, since the war was fought for their liberation, afterall, so they should be the ones paying for it.

Even Trump's make-Mexico-build-a-border-wall plan isn't quite as insane as that.

KarkatTheDalek Not as angry as the name would suggest. from Somwhere in Time/Space Since: Mar, 2012 Relationship Status: You're a beautiful woman, probably
Not as angry as the name would suggest.
#119885: Apr 23rd 2016 at 2:45:39 PM
LeGarcon Blowout soon fellow Stalker from Skadovsk Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Gay for Big Boss
Blowout soon fellow Stalker
#119886: Apr 23rd 2016 at 2:49:53 PM

FOX is running a bit on how the governor of Virginia is restoring the voting rights to some 200,000 ex felons. They're of course saying he's a Hilary shill and how felons don't deserve to vote and how this is dangerous and so on.

Oh really when?
CaptainCapsase from Orbiting Sagittarius A* Since: Jan, 2015
#119887: Apr 23rd 2016 at 2:57:02 PM

[up] I mean, I can almost guarantee this wouldn't be happening if those felons were predicted to vote Republican for whatever reason. That's the same reason Puerto Rico and DC will never become states as long the GOP remains in power in congress.

edited 23rd Apr '16 2:59:29 PM by CaptainCapsase

desdendelle Hooded Crow from Land of Milk and Honey (Sergeant) Relationship Status: Hiding
CaptainCapsase from Orbiting Sagittarius A* Since: Jan, 2015
#119889: Apr 23rd 2016 at 3:01:59 PM

[up] Felons can't vote in the United States by default, and any prisoner cannot vote in elections while serving their sentence, regardless of the severity of their crime.

edited 23rd Apr '16 3:02:54 PM by CaptainCapsase

SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#119890: Apr 23rd 2016 at 3:02:19 PM

The vast majority of the US in fact, if memory serves only Maine and Vermont do allow felons to vote.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
LeGarcon Blowout soon fellow Stalker from Skadovsk Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Gay for Big Boss
Blowout soon fellow Stalker
#119891: Apr 23rd 2016 at 3:04:08 PM

That's just the tip of the iceberg. The Republicans regularly pour a lot of legislation and money into making sure the poor and minorities can't vote.

Oh really when?
desdendelle Hooded Crow from Land of Milk and Honey (Sergeant) Relationship Status: Hiding
Hooded Crow
#119892: Apr 23rd 2016 at 3:04:51 PM

... That's crazy. *shakes head* In a democracy, being a felon doesn't make you right-less. I mean, even in here felons can vote.

On empty crossroads, seek the eclipse -- for when Sol and Lua align, the lost shall find their way home.
vandro Shop Owner from The little shop that wasn't Since: Jul, 2009
Shop Owner
#119893: Apr 23rd 2016 at 3:06:59 PM

I might get hit for this but...Why are felons to be given the ability to vote? They acted against the interest of the people in the first place.

LeGarcon Blowout soon fellow Stalker from Skadovsk Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Gay for Big Boss
Blowout soon fellow Stalker
#119894: Apr 23rd 2016 at 3:08:02 PM

Because voting is an intrinsic right of any American citizen and nothing can strip them of that.

[down]Also that, most of them got busted for small amount of weed or are victims of the three strikes laws. Laws deliberately made to target the poor and minorities.

edited 23rd Apr '16 3:09:58 PM by LeGarcon

Oh really when?
CaptainCapsase from Orbiting Sagittarius A* Since: Jan, 2015
#119895: Apr 23rd 2016 at 3:08:16 PM

[up][up] Well, in the United States in particular, a huge number of felons are completely non-violent offenders who were arrested for being caught with drugs, even something relatively harmless like marijuana.

Allowing any citizen, regardless of their legal status to vote also acts as a precaution against using the criminal justice system to suppress certain groups of voters by attaching felony charges to crimes a particular demographic is more likely to be convicted of.

One of the major consequences of the war on crime/drugs for example, was the disenfranchisement of a huge portion of the African American population. That this demographic typically votes democrat and the war on crime was started under a Republican administration is no coincidence.

edited 23rd Apr '16 3:13:04 PM by CaptainCapsase

ILoveDogs Since: May, 2010
#119896: Apr 23rd 2016 at 3:11:20 PM

It's a shame that there's likely nothing that will ever be done, bar a massive purge of all Republicans.

vandro Shop Owner from The little shop that wasn't Since: Jul, 2009
Shop Owner
#119897: Apr 23rd 2016 at 3:13:09 PM

It's just a case of different values, then. My personal intuition is that voting is a duty, not a right. But even my country gives felons the right to vote.

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
#119898: Apr 23rd 2016 at 3:14:32 PM

Just asking, they can't vote while serving their sentence or they can't vote even after serving the sentence? There is a big difference there.

[down]Well then, there shouldn't be any good reason to keep people from voting after they served their sentence.

edited 23rd Apr '16 3:15:34 PM by AngelusNox

Inter arma enim silent leges
CaptainCapsase from Orbiting Sagittarius A* Since: Jan, 2015
#119899: Apr 23rd 2016 at 3:14:33 PM

[up][up][up] Right now the GOP is on the path to an epic implosion once millennials become the majority of the voting population; in the American sense of the term (support for regressive social policies, hegemonic imperialist foreign policies, and neoliberal economic policies), people most certainly do not become more conservative as they age; at most they become more comfortable with the status quo, but that's usually after a generation has accomplished a decent amount of change.

[up] Both, and the former even applies to people convicted of non-felony crimes.

edited 23rd Apr '16 3:17:46 PM by CaptainCapsase

Kostya (Unlucky Thirteen)
#119900: Apr 23rd 2016 at 3:15:04 PM

I'm fine with certain felons not having the right to vote but drug offenses are a stupid reason to take away someone's voting rights.


Total posts: 417,856
Top