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

AmbarSonofDeshar Since: Jan, 2010
#133351: Jul 29th 2016 at 9:41:58 AM

[up]They stand for the same things they've stood for the last thirty years and more.

Ekuran Since: Feb, 2010 Relationship Status: watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ
#133352: Jul 29th 2016 at 9:49:21 AM

Eh, it's gotten more leftist since the Reagan through Bush the Second years. It's only in the last 10-15 or so years that we saw most of the top Dem brass openly endorse gay marriage, for example.

edited 29th Jul '16 9:50:29 AM by Ekuran

majoraoftime (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#133353: Jul 29th 2016 at 9:50:35 AM

[up][up] Yep.

What this amounts to, at bottom, is a party that wants to carry on—a party that, per its platform, sees protecting our values as its core commitment moving forward. “The basic message is continuing on the path from 2008,” Marcus Stevenson, a Sanders delegate from Utah told me. “It’s not a rah rah thing, but it’s the safe way. They’re saying we’re on right path, it’s been positive, it’s a good direction. Nothing dramatic will change, but it’s fine. It’s the path we’re on.”

It is. It is a path that had led to marriage equality, and to the Affordable Care Act, and to a nuclear deal with Iran. But it is the path that has lead to the drone war, too. The path that has led to crackdowns on whistleblowers, to millions of deportations, to wage stagnation, to increasing disparities between our wealthy and our poor.

It is a path that the Democratic Party wagers most Americans can live with, its successes celebrated, and its failure justified by the realities of politics and the demands of expediency. That is good enough, for now.

smokeycut Since: Mar, 2013
#133354: Jul 29th 2016 at 9:53:10 AM

Even those negatives are being combated though. Hillary's platform includes immigration reform, so people can become citizens.

Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#133355: Jul 29th 2016 at 9:58:58 AM

And a good portion of those negatives are partially because the Republicans have all but shut down Congress.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
CaptainCapsase from Orbiting Sagittarius A* Since: Jan, 2015
#133356: Jul 29th 2016 at 10:04:47 AM

Ekuran: It's gotten more liberal certainly. Leftist though? That's usually associated in my experience with left wing economics, and in that regard the democrats and the GOP are still parties dominated by neoliberal economics. That's begun to recede since 2008, and at least the democrats never really bough into the idiotic austerity policies that's tearing Europe apart.

SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#133357: Jul 29th 2016 at 10:11:10 AM

I just wish that folks don't call things "left" because they are good and "right" when they aren't.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
AlleyOop Since: Oct, 2010
#133358: Jul 29th 2016 at 10:14:06 AM

The kinds of people who engage in that kind of behavior usually use words like "progressive" instead of left and right.

BrainSewage from that one place Since: Jan, 2001
#133359: Jul 29th 2016 at 10:15:55 AM

Re: third parties

I think people's main motivation for voting third party this time is that they think it will send some kind of message to the Democratic Party (i.e., "support an actual progressive or you'll lose").

Since my 90s history is rusty, can someone remind me how effective this was when Ross Perot ran? Did his sizeable share of the votes actually accomplish anything with the relevant parties?

How dare you disrupt the sanctity of my soliloquy?
SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#133360: Jul 29th 2016 at 10:17:24 AM

Other than causing Bill Clinton to carry some states that he usually wouldn't carry, none.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
BrainSewage from that one place Since: Jan, 2001
#133361: Jul 29th 2016 at 10:22:43 AM

[up] Thanks. In that case, I'd say that's a pretty convincing argument against doing it this time, then.

How dare you disrupt the sanctity of my soliloquy?
smokeycut Since: Mar, 2013
#133362: Jul 29th 2016 at 10:27:17 AM

Yeah, third parties will never win at the top. The problem is that people think "if I vote for a third party in the presidential election, that party will become a main party!"

But third parties won't win that vote. It's smarter to help them in local elections and to vote them into office as governors or mayors.

Also related to voting, a lot of people say they won't bother voting in a "safe state", which isn't smart. Yeah, New York is "safe", but if all the left wing voters stay home because it's safe, the Republicans might take the state. And on the flipside, if more Democrats in Texas tried voting, they may actually be able to turn their state into a swing state.

Voter apathy is never good. The more people vote, regardless of state, the better.

PhiSat Planeswalker from Everywhere and Nowhere Since: Jan, 2011
Planeswalker
#133363: Jul 29th 2016 at 10:28:59 AM

The problem is there's so much apathy about this election in general. People hate both options so they don't want to vote.

Oissu!
Zendervai Since: Oct, 2009
#133364: Jul 29th 2016 at 10:31:17 AM

And, of course, you get theoretically safe states like Alabama and North Carolina that are getting increasingly angry at their Republican leaders, where getting out and voting Democrat might actually do something.

megarockman from The Sixth Borough (Experienced Trainee)
#133365: Jul 29th 2016 at 10:32:05 AM

North Carolina isn't really that safe for Republicans any more - it did vote for Obama (just) in 2008.

The damned queen and the relentless knight.
LSBK Since: Sep, 2014
#133366: Jul 29th 2016 at 10:35:11 AM

It also only barely went Republican in 2012 and is a swing state again this year.

Zendervai Since: Oct, 2009
#133367: Jul 29th 2016 at 10:37:47 AM

Okay, I got the wrong impression I guess. My parents own a vacation rental near Wilmington and I guess the neighborhood is mostly Republican, maybe?

megarockman from The Sixth Borough (Experienced Trainee)
#133368: Jul 29th 2016 at 10:38:43 AM

Actually, probably yeah - my understanding is that the new Democrat support is focused in the Research Triangle.

The damned queen and the relentless knight.
LeGarcon Blowout soon fellow Stalker from Skadovsk Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Gay for Big Boss
Blowout soon fellow Stalker
#133369: Jul 29th 2016 at 10:39:59 AM

Where abouts in Wilmington? That's where I live.

Once you're like properly downtown North Carolina is actually fairly blue. Outside of that it's pretty damn red.

Oh really when?
Zendervai Since: Oct, 2009
#133370: Jul 29th 2016 at 10:41:58 AM

Topsail Island. The closest actual town (not Surf City) is the rather offputtingly named Sneads Ferry.

ironballs16 Since: Jul, 2009 Relationship Status: Owner of a lonely heart
#133371: Jul 29th 2016 at 10:42:13 AM

On-topic, I recall seeing a survey where 56% of Clinton's prospective are doing so because they don't want Trump to win, while 52% of Trump's prospective voters are doing so because they don't want Clinton to win. Definitely a Lesser of Two Evils election this year, and I can't recall it ever being that bad.

And in other news, Jim Inhofe, in spite of 14 consecutive "hottest on record" months for global temperatures, continues to say global warming doesn't exist and that, in fact, children are being brainwashed into thinking it's real.

"Why would I inflict myself on somebody else?"
LeGarcon Blowout soon fellow Stalker from Skadovsk Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Gay for Big Boss
Blowout soon fellow Stalker
#133372: Jul 29th 2016 at 10:43:56 AM

[up][up]Wow I actually work there. Topsail Island and Surf City aren't too right wing. I actually know the Mayor personally and he's a cool dude.

edited 29th Jul '16 10:44:26 AM by LeGarcon

Oh really when?
Zendervai Since: Oct, 2009
#133373: Jul 29th 2016 at 10:46:06 AM

Okay, it might just be the neighbors then.

[up][up] Yeah, that guy's an idiot. The global weather patterns are all over the place and the jetstream isn't following the normal patterns at all this year.

megarockman from The Sixth Borough (Experienced Trainee)
#133374: Jul 29th 2016 at 10:48:36 AM

Speaking of North Carolina, US Fourth Circuit strikes down NC voter ID law as discriminatory. Note, link is New York Times so you may have paywall issues.

The damned queen and the relentless knight.
Kostya (Unlucky Thirteen)
#133375: Jul 29th 2016 at 10:50:26 AM

Why haven't we gotten a Supreme Court challenge on these ID laws yet?


Total posts: 417,856
Top