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

Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#144776: Oct 18th 2016 at 9:29:48 AM

Trump's entire brand is looking less interesting to consumers, which is hurting him politically and could harm his business empire.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/18/opinions/trump-brand-becoming-boring-sable-johnson/index.html

Essentially, he's getting stale and everyone other than his hardcore support base is starting to view him as more trouble than he's worth.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#144777: Oct 18th 2016 at 9:34:28 AM

Trump is making cow-eyes at Putin, speculating about a meeting post-election but pre-swearing in, and saying Hillary and the Democrats have been too tough on the Russian strongman. In this, he continues to go against the GOP party line, including that of his own running mate, and is defying the information in his own national security briefings, during which the Russian attempts to interfere with our election were discussed.

edited 18th Oct '16 9:35:20 AM by Fighteer

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
ironballs16 Since: Jul, 2009 Relationship Status: Owner of a lonely heart
#144778: Oct 18th 2016 at 9:36:14 AM

RE: Emancipation Proclamation

One thing to keep in mind was that the wording included the fact that it was an Executive Order, and thus might have offended "Small Government" sensibilities based on that aspect more than freeing the slaves.

The similar question regarding desegregating the military, however, is fair game - http://www.snopes.com/trump-supporters-pro-slavery/

"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
#144779: Oct 18th 2016 at 9:55:59 AM

[up][up]Man he really does wanna sell us out to the Russians doesn't he?

Oh really when?
BestOf FABRICATI DIEM, PVNC! from Finland Since: Oct, 2010 Relationship Status: Falling within your bell curve
FABRICATI DIEM, PVNC!
#144780: Oct 18th 2016 at 10:16:01 AM

Just to give you guys a light respite from the fact your society is so full of Trumpist idiots:

There's a pretty visible and relatively well supported (I mean, it's basically tiny in terms of membership but a lot of people lean a bit toward them without actually outright supporting them) movement in Finland against immigration - refugees, in particular. Most refugees come here via Russia, and recently they've been mostly from Iraq. (We also get refugees from Somalia and Syria and so on - they usually manage to get smuggles to Russia and cross the border to Finland from there.)

A recent demonstration held by one anti-immigration group had a demonstration with a sign saying they want the Russian border to be opened so that Putin can come in and purge Finland - presumably of people who support refugees.

So, you know, Trump's supporters probably aren't alone at the peak of anti-immigrant idiocy in the world. There are probably plenty of people around the world competing for the top spot in that category.

Quod gratis asseritur, gratis negatur.
Draghinazzo (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: I get a feeling so complicated...
#144781: Oct 18th 2016 at 10:55:42 AM

Why exactly is Trump so invested in Russia and Putin anyways?

Krieger22 Causing freakouts over sourcing since 2018 from Malaysia Since: Mar, 2014 Relationship Status: I'm in love with my car
Causing freakouts over sourcing since 2018
#144782: Oct 18th 2016 at 11:01:33 AM

[up][up]Yeah, I know one of those Finns. Thinks that whichever bored asshole starting car fires in Malmo, Sweden is going to hop the border any day now. Oh, and it's got to be an immigrant since a meme told him so. Well, half the morons who played that racing game have now thrown their lot in with the alt-right...

[up]Probably a result of his Russian ventures. It's pretty hard to do big property investments in Moscow without involving an oligarch or two, and Putin has ties to those.

I have disagreed with her a lot, but comparing her to republicans and propagandists of dictatorships is really low. - An idiot
Greenmantle V from Greater Wessex, Britannia Since: Feb, 2010 Relationship Status: Hiding
V
#144783: Oct 18th 2016 at 11:09:42 AM

[up][up], [up] And more than likely related to his fetish for Eastern European women.

Keep Rolling On
SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#144784: Oct 18th 2016 at 11:26:33 AM

And for strongman politicians à la Putin or Duterte.

"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
#144786: Oct 18th 2016 at 11:55:25 AM

“You start whining before the game is even over? If whenever things are going badly for you, and you lose, you start blaming somebody else? Then you don’t have what it takes to be in this job.”

Man I love our President.

Oh really when?
Draghinazzo (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: I get a feeling so complicated...
#144787: Oct 18th 2016 at 12:02:46 PM

Trump isn't really qualified for anything, frankly. He's good at selling himself but I think that there's a limit to that especially when you act like an asshole.

Pretty sure his brand is irreparably damaged after these scandals.

LeGarcon Blowout soon fellow Stalker from Skadovsk Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Gay for Big Boss
Blowout soon fellow Stalker
#144788: Oct 18th 2016 at 12:05:38 PM

To be honest, it kinda bothers me that it's this scandal that's bringing him down and not the fact that he's a neo nazi.

Oh really when?
BonsaiForest Since: Jan, 2001
#144789: Oct 18th 2016 at 12:09:16 PM

A tech site's take on how hacking and video searching and posting will change future elections permanently.

Increasingly, videos like Trump's are being indexed, digitized and archived in a way that makes them easier to be found, and now — take a breath — your social media, email, and increasingly videos of you (often recorded by people you don't know) are going through an even more robust process.

As you watch Billy Bush lose his job and likely his career, he could be the canary in a coal mine. What I'm suggesting is that there's an increasing likelihood that what happened to him, as well as to Trump and Clinton, could happen to you or your kids in the not-too-distant future.

Social Media already starts out being public, and there is already an initiative in place to make scanning social media accounts a requirement for entry into the U.S. It is certain that social media is being scanned regularly — and with vast improvements in facial recognition, pictures and videos taken by our friends, family and strangers are being scanned and, increasingly, connected to us.

What many do not realize is that it isn't only new stuff that is being digitized — it is old stuff as well. So there is an increasing chance that — as in Trump's case — something you did years ago eventually will be connected to your name.

It kind of makes me wonder what will happen in the next major election, because we are just at the tip of the iceberg now. It is very likely that in the next eight years, and certainly in the next 18, much of our past lives will be available to anyone who wants to do the research — whether we like it or not.

So, regardless of whether it is right, it likely will be untenable for folks running for office to have two opposing opinions (with the private opinion being the real one) because this common dishonesty simply won't remain private. Email really never has been secure. I was auditing it back when it was first created in the 1980s, which suggests there always are eyes on email, and what you write could — and likely will — be used against you.

Given the lack of honesty, almost to an extreme level, it is also clear that this election is fueling ever-more-powerful real time fact checking. Given that the fact checkers currently have no controls placed on them, I expect some abuse. However, the ability to maintain lies for even a few minutes soon may be obsolete, as more and more folks learn to live-search information on candidates' comments during their speeches and debates.

It wouldn't surprise me if in future debates, some streaming services run fact-checked responses in real time right next to video of the candidate talking.

The part I highlighted in purple is something I very much disagree with. Considering how much misinformation is out there, and how many people get harassed sometimes over shit that didn't even happen, and considering how much people believe stupid conspiracy theories about their least favorite candidate, I don't buy that.

speedyboris Since: Feb, 2010
#144790: Oct 18th 2016 at 12:28:34 PM

[up] Well, they're sadly correct. It's why I could never run for office. Somebody would drudge up something I said ten years ago, when I held much different views than I do now (i.e. right wing), and claim, "See? See? They claim ____ but years ago he said ____, so how can we trust him?!"

Unfortunately, there's really no easy solution to this. Educating the public that, yes, sometimes people change their minds or don't associate with the same people now as from their past, is virtually impossible, especially now with info bubbles. And for the young child wanting to run for office someday, what are you supposed to do? Teach them that you can never change your views or associate with anybody, because that person might be used against them someday? Yeah, that won't warp them at all.

edited 18th Oct '16 12:29:08 PM by speedyboris

nervmeister Since: Oct, 2010
#144791: Oct 18th 2016 at 12:32:25 PM

To be honest, it kinda bothers me that it's this scandal that's bringing him down and not the fact that he's a neo nazi.
Scandals overall are less divorced from day-to-day living than open neo-nazis.

Bat178 Since: May, 2011
#144792: Oct 18th 2016 at 12:33:44 PM

[up][up][up] There's a reason I don't use social media.

edited 18th Oct '16 12:33:55 PM by Bat178

Greenmantle V from Greater Wessex, Britannia Since: Feb, 2010 Relationship Status: Hiding
PhysicalStamina i'm tired, my friend (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Coming soon to theaters
i'm tired, my friend
#144794: Oct 18th 2016 at 12:41:55 PM

Social media is basically anti-social media at this point

i'm tired, my friend
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#144795: Oct 18th 2016 at 12:47:19 PM

Eh. I use social media to a moderate degree, and at this point the cat's pretty much out of the bag as far as anything I might have said or believed in the past. You can't stuff it back in. Someone doing any degree of diligence could easily link me to my entire posting history here on TV Tropes and then selectively use things I've written against me.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
NoName999 Since: May, 2011
#144796: Oct 18th 2016 at 12:47:28 PM

I know humanity is fucking stupid and everything, but unless your past views were literal baby eating, I'm sure people will give someone the benefit of the doubt that someone can change their mind when they growing up.

I mean it's not like you flip flopped in an hour like Romney once did

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#144797: Oct 18th 2016 at 12:50:04 PM

The problem is that these sorts of attacks — dredging up past statements and quoting them out of context — are demonstrably effective in character assassination. People don't react to the carefully researched facts and context underlying the case; they react viscerally to the first, worst impression.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
CrimsonZephyr Would that it were so simple. from Massachusetts Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
Would that it were so simple.
#144798: Oct 18th 2016 at 12:51:06 PM

538 has Democrats up in must-win Senate contests almost across the board in polls-plus: Nevada, Missouri, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, and even North Carolina.

edited 18th Oct '16 12:51:18 PM by CrimsonZephyr

"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."
FluffyMcChicken My Hair Provides Affordable Healthcare from where the floating lights gleam Since: Jun, 2014 Relationship Status: In another castle
My Hair Provides Affordable Healthcare
#144799: Oct 18th 2016 at 12:51:26 PM

[up][up] and Re:online activity of political candidates

This actually might directly correlate with the oft-mentioned emphasis by both parties on their candidates' ideological purity and "honesty".

I can see a Catch-22 as well: candidates who have online footprints to be scrutinized will have even their Halloween costumes or reenactment uniforms scrutinized for "suspicious" leanings, while those that abstain from online activity will be deemed as archaic, anti-social, or "crooked and shady because they're clearly trying to hide their past".

edited 18th Oct '16 12:53:18 PM by FluffyMcChicken

speedyboris Since: Feb, 2010
#144800: Oct 18th 2016 at 12:56:35 PM

[up]x8 Ah, but you ARE on TV Tropes. It may not be Facebook or Twitter but it's still social media.


Total posts: 417,856
Top