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

sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#129051: Jul 6th 2016 at 3:06:57 PM

I saw a notification, but no article yet, that Loretta Lynch is closing the email investigation without criminal charges. Not unexpected but now it's official. Asking the way I can't across this:

Feds open civil rights investigation in Louisiana shooting: http://bigstory.ap.org/7c05717141d74ef58d9bd9b1775a8494&utm_source=android_app&utm_medium=copy_to_clipboard&utm_campaign=share

Don't know if that particular detail was linked earlier but it seems things are moving fast

edited 6th Jul '16 3:07:58 PM by sgamer82

majoraoftime (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#129052: Jul 6th 2016 at 3:42:09 PM

I actually sort of agree with Tactical Fox on this one. Vocational school and trades should be emphasized for people who can't or don't want to attend university.

smokeycut Since: Mar, 2013
#129053: Jul 6th 2016 at 3:44:55 PM

But that isn't a reason to not make university affordable to people with low income.

edited 6th Jul '16 3:45:06 PM by smokeycut

pwiegle Cape Malleum Majorem from Nowhere Special Since: Sep, 2015 Relationship Status: Singularity
Cape Malleum Majorem
#129054: Jul 6th 2016 at 4:01:49 PM

One problem with higher education in the US is that most people go about it all wrong, or do it for the wrong reasons. First they decide what college or university they want to go to (or make up a list of ranked choices.) Then, once they get in, they fart around for a year or two before deciding on a major. Or else they go just for the sake of having a prestigious school listed on their resume, even if they didn't learn anything useful there.

I used to hang out in the bars of a college town, and I noticed that most of the college girls I talked to wanted to become marine biologists. Why? Because they think whales are pretty and dolphins are cute, and they have this mistaken notion that marine biologists get to hang out on the beach all day long. Never once did it enter their mind that they might end up studying something gross like sea slugs, or tracking salmon migration patterns in the Bering Sea in January.

But then they found out how much work is involved in actually getting a degree in Marine Biology — to understand biology, you need to know chemistry; to understand chemistry, you need to know math. And, like the talking Barbie doll says: "Math is hard!"

So they decide they didn't really want to be some stupid old Marine Biologist anyway, and switch to a major that has the fewest prerequisites: Psychology or Law. The net result is that we end up with a lot of people with fairly useless college degrees, and not enough actual work for them to do out in the real world with it, while being overqualified for menial jobs that they consider beneath them.

TL/DR: going to college purely for the sake of having gone to college is not always a good thing.

edited 6th Jul '16 4:30:56 PM by pwiegle

This Space Intentionally Left Blank.
AceofSpades Since: Apr, 2009 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
#129055: Jul 6th 2016 at 4:25:32 PM

@Majoraoftime: I've already said why that particular point is fucking stupid though:

1) It's not actually at all helpful. It's a complete non-argument when it comes to the problem of just how expensive college is and how the people who go get saddled with debt.

2) As far as I'm concerned trade and vocational schools basically are college. The narrowness of their focus doesn't change the fact that they're facilities for secondary education designed to prepare young people for the wider world and for future employment. They should qualify for all the same aid programs (And I kind of think that they do, but I don't know if most trade schools are privatized or public.) and should also be considered in plans to make college more affordable for prospective students.

The problem being discussed here isn't whether or not college is the best path to someone's future, it's the fact that the monetary barrier is getting ridiculously fucking high and what can be done to lessen the burden on the people who choose to go, particularly those of lesser means than the rich. Tactical's inclusion of the idea that college isn't the best path for some people just distract from the point of the article, which was to make education more affordable.

edited 6th Jul '16 4:25:58 PM by AceofSpades

ironballs16 Since: Jul, 2009 Relationship Status: Owner of a lonely heart
#129056: Jul 6th 2016 at 4:27:02 PM

Not entirely political, but Gretchen Carlson is suing Roger Ailes (Fox News' head honcho) over "a pervasive practice of sexual harassment" that ended with her being fired.

As the Facebook friend that I first heard this story pointed out, the irony here is particularly thick as Carlson has a history of marginalizing exactly what she's now pursuing a lawsuit over - and Fox as a whole is using the "This is just a revenge for firing her" excuse that others have had to face.

"Why would I inflict myself on somebody else?"
Ogodei Fuck you, Fascist sympathizers from The front lines Since: Jan, 2011
Fuck you, Fascist sympathizers
#129057: Jul 6th 2016 at 4:27:40 PM

The prestigious school is actually more useful than "having something useful there," at least out of undergrad. Credentialing is huge because of networking and word of mouth.

ILoveDogs Since: May, 2010
#129058: Jul 6th 2016 at 4:34:38 PM

[up][up] Ironic, yes, but we should still respect her.

Also, apparently Trump is having a goddamn meltdown, calling people who criticized the "sheriff's star" the real anti-Semites; doubling down on his praise of Hussein; and going after the media again.

Again, it's only twelve days away, but can he even make it to the convention?

CaptainCapsase from Orbiting Sagittarius A* Since: Jan, 2015
#129059: Jul 6th 2016 at 4:41:18 PM

So what happens if midway through the election he reveals (or more likely, arbitrarily decides in an effort to save face), that it was all just an elaborate introduction to his new reality TV show and bows out, leaving the GOP in turmoil?

smokeycut Since: Mar, 2013
#129060: Jul 6th 2016 at 4:43:54 PM

Nah, he's in this for real. Trump's ego is the size of Jupiter, and being president would inflate it even more. He wants this for real, but he's practically breaking down because of the stress of campaigning, dealing with criticism now that the other Republicans are out, and the fact that he's not prepared for this at all. I've seen tons of Hillary ads, and none for Trump. He's got his rallies and word of mouth, and that's about it.

Ssj3Gojira Arashi Shigehito from The Event Horizon Since: May, 2011 Relationship Status: Maxing my social links
Arashi Shigehito
#129061: Jul 6th 2016 at 4:43:59 PM

Well that would mean that Trump played over half the country for fools, and would also leave the impression that he's one of the smartest people on the continent for being able to play us all like a fiddle for over a year now.

Let's see if you can get past my Beelzemon. Mephiles, WARP SHINKA!
TheHandle United Earth from Stockholm Since: Jan, 2012 Relationship Status: YOU'RE TEARING ME APART LISA
United Earth
#129062: Jul 6th 2016 at 4:47:19 PM

For a certain value of smart.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
pwiegle Cape Malleum Majorem from Nowhere Special Since: Sep, 2015 Relationship Status: Singularity
Cape Malleum Majorem
#129063: Jul 6th 2016 at 4:50:56 PM

If he can't handle the stress of a campaign, he certainly wouldn't be able to handle the stress of being President for four years.

This Space Intentionally Left Blank.
CaptainCapsase from Orbiting Sagittarius A* Since: Jan, 2015
#129064: Jul 6th 2016 at 4:53:52 PM

@smokey: I know he wants it for real, but I can imagine him trying to save face by pretending it was all just an elaborate prank or something stupid like that.

edited 6th Jul '16 4:54:49 PM by CaptainCapsase

AceofSpades Since: Apr, 2009 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
#129065: Jul 6th 2016 at 4:54:53 PM

My question is what happens to him after? Because if he loses this (And I know we're mostly in agreement that he will) he's lost a whole lot of business deals because no company wants to deal with his brand anymore.

CaptainCapsase from Orbiting Sagittarius A* Since: Jan, 2015
#129066: Jul 6th 2016 at 4:55:45 PM

[up] He takes up a career as a rightwing media wingnut Just as Planned like Palin did?

LeGarcon Blowout soon fellow Stalker from Skadovsk Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Gay for Big Boss
Blowout soon fellow Stalker
#129067: Jul 6th 2016 at 4:55:46 PM

He doesn't have enough money to fund his campaign, he'll probably go under completely.

Oh really when?
CaptainCapsase from Orbiting Sagittarius A* Since: Jan, 2015
#129068: Jul 6th 2016 at 4:58:53 PM

[up] Which is presumably why he's seemingly not willing to pick up the bill, and barely even has a campaign?

edited 6th Jul '16 5:00:36 PM by CaptainCapsase

GameGuruGG Vampire Hunter from Castlevania (Before Recorded History)
Vampire Hunter
#129069: Jul 6th 2016 at 5:09:04 PM

Sorry, but given Trump's ego, he is in it to win it. The issue is that Trump never expected to get this far. The primaries were a moratorium on the Establishment on both parties. The outsider Trump decimated the Republican field which consisted of their rising stars. Meanwhile, the outsider Sanders was narrowly beaten by Clinton. Clinton will win, but not because people actually want her as President, but because a majority of the voting population will see her as a better choice than Trump and a majority of registered Democrats see her as better than Sanders.

Wizard Needs Food Badly
Zendervai Since: Oct, 2009
#129070: Jul 6th 2016 at 5:09:40 PM

The problem for him there, is that if his campaign fails due to lack of money, that will flat out prove that he is not worth the amount he says he is.

At the very least, it'll destroy quite a bit of confidence because, remember how he started this whole thing? He said he would self-fund the campaign. People still remember that, even though Trump is trying to sweep it under the rug.

AmbarSonofDeshar Since: Jan, 2010
#129071: Jul 6th 2016 at 5:12:31 PM

Meanwhile, the outsider Sanders was narrowly beaten by Clinton.

I keep seeing comments to this effect. Sanders lost to Clinton by a lot more than Clinton lost to Obama, yet nobody ever seems to talk about Obama "narrowly beating" Clinton.

CaptainCapsase from Orbiting Sagittarius A* Since: Jan, 2015
#129072: Jul 6th 2016 at 5:14:10 PM

[up] Clinton versus Obama came down to the wire like very few previous primaries did. We don't talk about that because it happened eight years ago.

LSBK Since: Sep, 2014
#129073: Jul 6th 2016 at 5:14:58 PM

It was like a 55-45 split. It's not overwhelming like was originally predicted but it's certainly not a narrow victory, either.

TheHandle United Earth from Stockholm Since: Jan, 2012 Relationship Status: YOU'RE TEARING ME APART LISA
United Earth
#129074: Jul 6th 2016 at 5:15:00 PM

Obama's election was wrapped in messianic myth.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
smokeycut Since: Mar, 2013
#129075: Jul 6th 2016 at 5:15:16 PM

Yeah, I don't mean this as a knock to Sanders, but if it was narrow, the super delegates could have been removed and Sanders would win. If you remove them, Hillary still has more votes, which means it isn't really narrow.


Total posts: 417,856
Top