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
#147226: Oct 30th 2016 at 8:03:45 AM

On the one hand, that's bad because Clinton won't be able to shake this before next Tuesday. On the other hand, it means that nothing substantive will come out and team Clinton might be able to turn the heat on Conway and keep the swing voters on side and Democrats at the polls.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
kkhohoho (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
Yinyang107 from the True North (Decatroper) Relationship Status: Tongue-tied
#147228: Oct 30th 2016 at 8:40:52 AM

Came across an imgur post I rather like.

"I think using the 2 party system to label yourself republican or democrat makes you close minded, skews reactions, and gets used as an excuse to divide and spread hate rather than voice an opinion.

"There is not 2 blanket ideologies that cover the thoughts and opinions of an entire nation and if you think that way, it's part of the problem. People get so wrapped up in choosing a side that they will drop their own ideals to conform to what their party says. Worse yet, this mindset drives us to have hatred and feuds between one another based on whether we identify as a donkey or an elephant. It's as silly as a gang member starting a fight over someone's color of clothing or hating someone based on their skin color etc.. Say one thing discriminating someone's race or religion and you will be labeled a racist or bigot, but oust someone as a "blanky blank liberal" or "right wing blanky blank" and no one bats an eye at it because "it's just politics" and your just backing your party. It gets to the point that if some one disagrees with a politician or says something bad about them, everyone jumps to the conclusion that "they back the other team's person and they're the enemy!"

What we should be doing is finding common grounds to work toward finding candidates that can better find the middle ground of our country's ideals. It bothers me when I see people that act like it's impossible to align with both parties on different topics. Personally, I think it's those complexities and differences coming together that make us such a great country and when we close ourselves to a "2 way street" way of thinking, we lose that part of us.

So it's clear, I think Hillary is the text book corrupt politician that doesn't deserve to get the power of presidency, while I also believe that Trump is an over privileged ass hat with no filter that has only made it this far because of peoples' disgust for types like Hillary. Having said that, I can find parts of both of their platforms that I agree with and would back, it's just a shame they have to be so far apart on them. We need to start having more open minded talks and meeting other peoples' opinions with an open mind and a goal of finding a common ground, not just figuring out "what side your on" and closing our ears to the rest. If not, we're going to piss and moan and be stuck with 2 more candidates that no one TRULY likes and align with 4 years from now again.

TL:DR Stop letting 2 party thinking close doors to finding common grounds and stop with the blind hate."

TacticalFox88 from USA Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Dating the Doctor
#147229: Oct 30th 2016 at 8:42:27 AM

There's a lot of false equivalence in those three paragraphs.

New Survey coming this weekend!
Draghinazzo (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: I get a feeling so complicated...
#147230: Oct 30th 2016 at 8:45:28 AM

Starts out somewhat reasonable-sounding, but by the last paragraph I kinda zoned out. Pretty textbook case of Golden Mean Fallacy.

edited 30th Oct '16 8:48:05 AM by Draghinazzo

AmbarSonofDeshar Since: Jan, 2010
#147231: Oct 30th 2016 at 8:45:58 AM

So...false equivalency for the win?

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
#147232: Oct 30th 2016 at 9:03:02 AM

Well, that's political imgur on a good day.

Rest of the time it's an unmitigated dumpster fire fueled by unfuckable hate nerds. No, the people posting porn do not make up for it.

I have disagreed with her a lot, but comparing her to republicans and propagandists of dictatorships is really low. - An idiot
LSBK Since: Sep, 2014
#147233: Oct 30th 2016 at 9:10:39 AM

The entire thing came off as overly simplified, but I could at least get where it was coming from until it got to the part of "They're both equally terrible".

Yinyang107 from the True North (Decatroper) Relationship Status: Tongue-tied
#147234: Oct 30th 2016 at 9:18:53 AM

Yeah I ddefinitely don't like the equivalence crap, but he's got a point about conforming your ideals to your party's rather than the other way around.

Zendervai Since: Oct, 2009
#147235: Oct 30th 2016 at 9:23:10 AM

My mom and I were talking about that the other day actually. In Canada, people tend to say "Yeah, I tend to vote Liberal/Conservative/NDP/Bloc Quebecois/etc" while Americans tend to say "Yeah, I am a Democrat/Republican." Like, up here your party isn't usually part of your identity, unless you're actually a politician, but in the US it's a huge deal. The exception is Alberta, pretty much. Because Alberta is getting increasingly similar to Texas over time. It's really weird actually.

The Harper Government (A conservative government) tried to encourage people to make it part of their identity, but it didn't work very well.

edited 30th Oct '16 9:27:04 AM by Zendervai

Grafite Since: Apr, 2016 Relationship Status: Less than three
#147236: Oct 30th 2016 at 9:30:59 AM

Unfortunately, while you can vote for any of the other minor parties, doing so will just give advantage to the candidates you don't want in office. So in that sense, you have to accept the drawbacks of the two big parties and your "preferred" presidential candidate.

Even in the Senate, only Democrats/Republicans have any recognizable presence, so you basically have to identify with one of the parties, which is kind of flawed, in my opinion.

Life is unfair...
TacticalFox88 from USA Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Dating the Doctor
#147237: Oct 30th 2016 at 9:32:31 AM

Party affiliation wasn't a major part of American core identity until the 80s with Reagan planting the seeds of partisanship that Newt ran away with in the '94 midterms and beyond.

New Survey coming this weekend!
Kostya (Unlucky Thirteen)
#147238: Oct 30th 2016 at 9:33:08 AM

It's been pointed out before that if the third parties wanted to be taken seriously they should try to get Senate and House seats. We've had third parties in those spots before. However they tend to ignore the obvious and go for unobtainable goals like the presidency.

AmbarSonofDeshar Since: Jan, 2010
#147239: Oct 30th 2016 at 9:39:07 AM

They should put up sane candidates too.

kkhohoho (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#147240: Oct 30th 2016 at 9:41:54 AM

[up]That's my beef with this whole election. Of the four Presidential candidates this year that are even remotely viable, one is insane, the other is even more insane, another is both insane and idiotic, and the last one is the only one who's actually competent. Guess which is which.tongue

TheWanted Since: Oct, 2013
#147241: Oct 30th 2016 at 9:44:29 AM

Party affilation wasn't serious until that evil Reagan and Newt? Really? That was part of the whole falling out Adams and Jefferson had. That was why the Whig party died and Republicans rose to replace them. There's plenty of examples in American history

[down] Yeah, Trump sure is taking a beating...wait. That's the problem. The views of opposing sides are rapidly becoming to where they think the opposition just must be insane and thus easily dismissed.

edited 30th Oct '16 9:49:25 AM by TheWanted

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#147242: Oct 30th 2016 at 9:45:11 AM

[up][up] And people give the sane one more scrutiny and crap than the others put together.

edited 30th Oct '16 9:45:19 AM by M84

Disgusted, but not surprised
Ramidel Since: Jan, 2001
#147243: Oct 30th 2016 at 9:54:08 AM

[up][up][up]There's also one who's sane, albeit obnoxious and failing Econ 101, and is only viable in Utah (who is still the third-most-viable dude around).

Gilphon (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#147244: Oct 30th 2016 at 9:57:10 AM

Trump really is maniac though. Like, if we can't acknowledge that, we're falling victim to the worst kind of partisanship and false equivalency.

And, I mean, 'insane' isn't something Hillary's accused of usually.

Grafite Since: Apr, 2016 Relationship Status: Less than three
#147245: Oct 30th 2016 at 10:00:17 AM

[up] He could still be the next president according to a newspaper article from my country, that I just read. Apparently, Hillary now only has a 2% advantage over Trump at this point after the recently reopened email investigation.

edited 30th Oct '16 10:03:09 AM by Grafite

Life is unfair...
Ramidel Since: Jan, 2001
#147246: Oct 30th 2016 at 10:02:24 AM

That paper needs to check its sources. Clinton's still hovering at 78.5% per 538. Not as high as she was, but Trump really doesn't have the math on his side.

Yinyang107 from the True North (Decatroper) Relationship Status: Tongue-tied
#147247: Oct 30th 2016 at 10:02:49 AM

Even HRC's detractors generally seem to think of her as hyper-competent, so much that she can cause cancer :p

megarockman from The Sixth Borough (Experienced Trainee)
#147248: Oct 30th 2016 at 10:05:16 AM

[up][up][up]As previously noted here, polls have still been showing a rather large range of results - anywhere from a tie to a double-digit Clinton lead. Any given poll can be cherry-picked to tell a story.

edited 30th Oct '16 10:05:40 AM by megarockman

The damned queen and the relentless knight.
Grafite Since: Apr, 2016 Relationship Status: Less than three
#147249: Oct 30th 2016 at 10:07:33 AM

[up][up][up] It claimed the current ratings are at 47% for Hillary and 45% for Trump. With Johnson and Stein also on the run and who may claim votes from some younger voters, I think the possibility of a Trump presidency isn't as far-fetched as some may believe (still very unlikely).

edited 30th Oct '16 10:07:48 AM by Grafite

Life is unfair...
LSBK Since: Sep, 2014
#147250: Oct 30th 2016 at 10:11:09 AM

[up]Have you been in this thread? At points it seems like people are going to assume he's going to win until it's all over.


Total posts: 417,856
Top