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

IFwanderer use political terms to describe, not insult from Earth Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
use political terms to describe, not insult
#154126: Nov 11th 2016 at 2:46:59 PM

From Unnoun's tumblr post:

who managed to get elected to Congress from Minnesota, about the most whitebread and socially conservative place you can imagine.

and from Wiki on Minnesota:

Minnesota is known for its progressive political orientation and its high rate of civic participation and voter turnout.

And here it shows that Minnesota has gone blue every single election since 1960, so I think the Tumblr post may need some fact checking.

[up]That's OK, the other ideas seem pretty nice.

edited 11th Nov '16 2:47:36 PM by IFwanderer

1 2 We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be. -KV
TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#154127: Nov 11th 2016 at 2:47:45 PM

I mean, it's not like Trump had any respect for Pence's opinion during the debates.

"We haven't talked about that and I COMPLETELY disagree."

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
Reflextion from a post-sanity world (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: What's love got to do with it?
#154128: Nov 11th 2016 at 2:48:16 PM

@ the "Trump getting advice from Obama" thing: The "dream" scenario (IMO, at least) would be Trump having a change of heart sometime in all the transition and pre-inauguration briefings, and proceed to spend the entirety of his term veto'ing every single attempt by the rest of his party to dismantle the eight years worth of progress, because, hey, he doesn't actually want to see the country go to hell, and he sure as hell doesn't want to spend another four years in this constant nightmare, anyways!

And while I'm dreaming, I'd like world peace, free renewable energy, a giant duffelbag full of cash falling out of the sky and landing next to me, and for the local Wawa's to ****ing bring back their English Toffee cappuccino.

EDIT: [nja][nja][nja]

edited 11th Nov '16 2:53:39 PM by Reflextion

Someone did tell me life was going to be this way.
TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#154129: Nov 11th 2016 at 2:51:45 PM

Hell would need to freeze over for Trump to be even a halfway decent President at this point.

...then again, the infernal hockey rink that made it possible for Trump to win the primary has done a surprisingly good job of staying frozen through the general election.

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
xanderiskander Since: Mar, 2012
#154130: Nov 11th 2016 at 2:53:51 PM

Not gonna lie, really hoping for Keith Ellison for DNC chair. I mean, seriously. If there's somebody who knows how to turn red states blue.
I've heard they've already gotten 250,000 signatures. They're looking to double that.

https://go.berniesanders.com/page/share/keith-ellison-dnc-chair?source=em161111

Keith Ellison is intelligent and has a decent track record but other than that what exactly does he have to offer other than ticking off demographic boxes? I'm not sure if the strategy that got him elected to Minnesota can be repeated on a national scale, but for now I think Dean's approach is a lot more pragmatic.
He's has better instincts about the political climate than the current leadership at least. He predicted Trump would win the nomination, and the anchors laughed at him to his face.

https://twitter.com/dorseyshaw/status/796895466675912708

People who don't like Dean don't like him because he's been buddy-buddy with lobbyists and the like since he left the DNC apparently. Though I get that from Shaun King of the NY daily news.

Sharysa Since: Jan, 2001
#154131: Nov 11th 2016 at 2:54:54 PM

Oh lawd help me, one of my old co-workers is irked at all the "negative" posts I've been making and urged me to give Trump a chance. She's a blonde European immigrant and thus couldn't vote, but she clearly is OKAY with Trump if not outright supportive.

I still associate with her on FB is because 1) she's very civil, and 2) she literally said "when will Christians stop being attacked???" like being discriminated against was a thing for her. Yes, she and her son had a hard time under Obamacare, but she was making jokes about Dems being "omg silly cry-babies" with one of her relatives and it popped up on my news feed.

So yeah, she's on the "Innocent Bigot" side of Republicans instead of the "unrepentant racists" one. I explained to her that I, as an Asian-American woman, am terrified for my life and my loved ones' lives, not just throwing a fit because our team lost.

If she doesn't understand the lengthy post I wrote detailing my feelings about Trump's campaign and how it boiled over into a fucking KKK ENDORSEMENT, she's content to scroll past my "negative" statuses and leave me to vent/rage in peace. So there's that.

Also, I heard that the recent "Nazi flag in San Francisco on Trump's election" disaster was because the homeowner put it up as a protest to the Tangerine's supporters, but naturally, nobody read it that way.

His neighbor is a woman whose grandparents were in the Holocaust, and she immediately pointed out that it looked like he was a Nazi supporter regardless of his intent. And then half the people in the entire Bay Area had a Mass "Oh, Crap!" reaction when we saw it on the news because "THERE'S A FUCKING NAZI FLAG IN SAN FRANCISCO!"

You Did Not Think This Through TO THE MAX, poor dude.

hardcorefakes coolest_guy from probably America Since: Oct, 2015 Relationship Status: You cannot grasp the true form
coolest_guy
#154132: Nov 11th 2016 at 2:55:13 PM

[up]x6

Funny how facts turn out that way, in the face of biased narratives....

edited 11th Nov '16 2:55:26 PM by hardcorefakes

CosmicButtMonkey Probably has undiagnosed mild autism from An eternal abyss of apathy Since: Nov, 2016 Relationship Status: I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me
Probably has undiagnosed mild autism
#154133: Nov 11th 2016 at 2:57:24 PM

[up][up][up][up] I think hell is looking like Antarctica at the moment considering the Cubs won the World Series, Brexit, and Trump being president elect

edited 11th Nov '16 2:58:13 PM by CosmicButtMonkey

Beatman1 Since: Feb, 2014 Relationship Status: Gone fishin'
#154134: Nov 11th 2016 at 2:59:30 PM

[up][up]Everyone's biased! That's why half the internet is having you think gay pride centers are being attacked by stormtroopers!

Look, there are things that Trump promised that do make sense. Fixing infrastructure key among them. When he fails to implement any of the policies that I'm sure drove at least 70% of people to vote for him (namely people who are scared and want to make sure they have jobs and food) then he will be considered a complete failure. I just don't trust anyone to get there because everyone is so goddamn angry and fatalist that there is nothing that will create compromise anymore. Nothing.

edited 11th Nov '16 3:00:09 PM by Beatman1

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
#154136: Nov 11th 2016 at 3:00:43 PM

I keep getting comments how a KKK leader donated to Clinton and how the Democrats had a hand in the KKK's foundation as a mean to deflect all that shit coming from the Republicans and Trump's team.

I'd say the irony is lost to them but I know pretty well it is denial and deflecting.

Inter arma enim silent leges
Beatman1 Since: Feb, 2014 Relationship Status: Gone fishin'
#154137: Nov 11th 2016 at 3:01:58 PM

[up][up]Yeah, real lighthearted. You'd swear at this point tanks with Pepe the frog on the side drove into Washington and installed a dictatorship.

Did people react this way to Dubya and his brand of incompetence? People didn't like him...at all, but he wasn't viewed as a dictator.

edited 11th Nov '16 3:02:16 PM by Beatman1

Advarielle Homicidal Editor Since: Aug, 2016
Homicidal Editor
#154138: Nov 11th 2016 at 3:03:52 PM

[up][up][up][up] Yeah, good luck fixing the infrastructure with the method that he said he will use.

Only an experienced editor who has a name possesses the ability to truly understand my work - What 90% of writers I'm in charge of said.
Sharysa Since: Jan, 2001
xanderiskander Since: Mar, 2012
#154140: Nov 11th 2016 at 3:04:25 PM

[up][up][up]Apparently that was Matt Furie the creator of the Pepe character who drew that for them.

edited 11th Nov '16 3:04:55 PM by xanderiskander

TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#154141: Nov 11th 2016 at 3:08:33 PM

Did people react this way to Dubya and his brand of incompetence? People didn't like him...at all, but he wasn't viewed as a dictator.

I vividly remember claims after the 2004 election that Dubya was going to abolish elections, put an end to presidential terms, and establish himself as Pope-King of America.

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
Draghinazzo (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: I get a feeling so complicated...
#154142: Nov 11th 2016 at 3:09:50 PM

Really, because in retrospect and during his presidency he never seemed malicious. Not especially bright or anything, but still just a garden variety conservative politician.

Demonic_Braeburn Yankee Doodle Dandy from Defective California Since: Jan, 2016
Yankee Doodle Dandy
#154143: Nov 11th 2016 at 3:11:31 PM

Missouri voters approved an amendment on Tuesday to require voters to present photo identification at the polls.

California approves statewide plastic bag ban.

Voters in Arizona, Colorado, Maine and Washington all approved minimum wage increase initiatives Tuesday.

In Colorado, Amendment 70, which proposed raising minimum wage from the current $8.31 to $9.30 in 2017 and then increasing it by 90 cents each year until reaching $12.00 in 2020, passed with 54.41 percent of the vote. Maine's Question 4, which raises minimum wage in the state from $7.50 to $12 by 2020 and will continue to adjust minimum wage based on fluctuations in the consumer price index, also passed with 55.53 percent of the vote. Washington's Initiative 1433 also passed with 59.54 percent of the vote, thereby increasing minimum wage from $9.47 to $13.50 by 202.

Any group who acts like morons ironically will eventually find itself swamped by morons who think themselves to be in good company.
IFwanderer use political terms to describe, not insult from Earth Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
use political terms to describe, not insult
#154144: Nov 11th 2016 at 3:12:19 PM

[up]x10 Eh... he was answering to my post saying Minnesota has gone blue every election since 1960 and it wasn't "about the most whitebread and socially conservative place you can imagine", not about something related to protests.

1 2 We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be. -KV
pwiegle Cape Malleum Majorem from Nowhere Special Since: Sep, 2015 Relationship Status: Singularity
Cape Malleum Majorem
#154145: Nov 11th 2016 at 3:31:28 PM

Obama gave Trump some sage advice, and Trump seems to be listening, to his credit. One thing Obama told him was: "Don't let [the press] ask you questions." If it's not an official press conference, he doesn't have to respond to them. So, on his way out, Trump simply waved them off with a casual "No questions."

The press can be really obnoxious, with all their barking and clamoring. And they don't just ask one question at a time; they try to shoehorn in three or four at once. Who the hell can keep up with that?

This Space Intentionally Left Blank.
Elle Since: Jan, 2001
#154146: Nov 11th 2016 at 3:34:32 PM

There were people piulling the Nazi card on W but it was mostly confined to the far left types. The current fear is mainstream and it's based on things Trump has actually said and done.

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
#154147: Nov 11th 2016 at 3:36:53 PM

The Silicon Valley isn't happy with Trump either.

The Economist: Trump and tech - System crash

Silicon Valley is right to be worried about a Trump presidency, but it helped get him elected

“I’D LIKE to wake up now please,” tweeted Sam Altman, who heads Y Combinator, Silicon Valley’s foremost startup school. The sentence neatly encapsulates the mood in the high-tech hub. To many in the technology industry, America under Donald Trump means dystopia. Perhaps no other sector regards his victory with less enthusiasm.

The main reason is that his stated views are antithetical to the beliefs that most entrepreneurs and tech types hold on a range of topics from trade to offshoring to policy on immigration. By one estimate the tech industry gave nearly $8m to Hillary Clinton’s campaign. Silicon Valley also worries that it will lose its direct lines to the administration in Washington. According to the Campaign for Accountability, a transparency group, no fewer than 22 former White House officials have gone to work for Google since Barack Obama moved in. Under Mrs Clinton the door would have kept revolving.

Only one noted Valleyite is likely to have the president’s ear: Peter Thiel, a venture capitalist. He alone supported Mr Trump, speaking at the Republican convention and donating $1.25m to his campaign. He will now be in high demand to help with damage control for the industry.

Mr Trump may limit immigration of the skilled workers and assorted entrepreneurs upon which the tech business relies. He has criticised Apple for having its iPhones assembled in China. He has also lambasted the smartphone-maker for not helping the FBI to crack a device belonging to a terrorist, which suggests he may push for “backdoors” in encryption software for governments to access. And he may go after big tech firms on antitrust grounds (of Amazon, for example, he has said, “If I become president, oh do they have problems”). But if Mr Trump cuts the tax rate firms have to pay if they bring home earnings kept abroad, that would especially benefit tech giants, who sit on much of the more than $2.5trn stashed overseas.

His victory also offers an opportunity for introspection. Silicon Valley treated Mr Thiel shabbily: some called on Facebook to eject him from its board. The industry also indirectly added to populist fury. Its own firms have not created enough well-paid jobs and its algorithms have ushered in an age of anxiety about many more being automated away. And it does nothing to ease resentment of elites. Last year tech firms handed out more stock-based compensation than Wall Street paid in bonuses, and the streets of San Francisco are a Trumpian brew of some of America’s most expensive property and soaring homelessness.

edited 11th Nov '16 3:40:37 PM by AngelusNox

Inter arma enim silent leges
FFShinra Since: Jan, 2001
#154148: Nov 11th 2016 at 3:37:14 PM

I just realized the fictional equivalent of this election: Ryan/Comstock. Which means we become Columbia-Rapture?

AlleyOop Since: Oct, 2010
#154149: Nov 11th 2016 at 3:38:16 PM

@Beatman 1

I'd say they did, though I did go to a very liberal, Michael Moore-loving high school in Massachusetts. For what it's worth my mother is expecting the Trump presidency to be a repeat of the Bush years, and she hates Dubya. She considers him a Jerkass IRL and while he wasn't necessarily directly responsible for a lot of the ills of his administration, he was nevertheless complicit with his cronyism and willful delegating of power to Cheney and his cabinet.

Nevertheless, we survived those years, with our democracy still in place. We're still digging ourselves out of the mess he made, but we survived.

edited 11th Nov '16 3:39:45 PM by AlleyOop

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
#154150: Nov 11th 2016 at 3:43:55 PM

[up][up]He also sounds like a figure from one of Fear Factory's concept albums.

Inter arma enim silent leges

Total posts: 417,856
Top