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

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#189676: May 18th 2017 at 9:15:43 AM

I'm still wondering if Trump is gonna sneak in the Internet copyright bullshit from TPP into the new NAFTA.

Disgusted, but not surprised
CenturyEye Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign? from I don't know where the Yith sent me this time... Since: Jan, 2017 Relationship Status: Having tea with Cthulhu
Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?
#189677: May 18th 2017 at 9:17:07 AM

I don't remember who posted that they visited Europe often but: US and EU reject expanding laptop ban to flights from Europe

US and EU officials have decided against a ban on laptops and tablets in cabin baggage on flights from Europe.

But after a four-hour meeting in Brussels to discuss the threats to aviation security, officials said other measures were still being considered.

US officials had previously said they were looking into extending to Europe a ban on electronics on flights from eight mostly Muslim countries.

The measure was introduced over fears a bomb could be concealed in a device.

The meeting was requested by EU officials after recent reports suggested US authorities had new information regarding laptop parts being turned into explosives.

Details of a specific threat have not been made public.

Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives
sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#189678: May 18th 2017 at 9:18:49 AM

2/ Flynn stopped a military plan Turkey didn’t like while being paid $500,000 as its lobbyist.

https://t.co/P0OPJVO9yq

Is there any expectation of Flynn getting out from under this with his freedom?


5/ Sean Spicer is no longer expected to do a daily, on-camera briefing. 😢

https://t.co/hGBsBgjjBI

Wonder if Spicer is relieved at this


6/ NATO critic Stephen Miller is writing Trump’s NATO speech.

https://t.co/aNxpCZ752l

Once again Trump seems to pick the people most diametrically opposed to their functions...

edited 18th May '17 9:25:45 AM by sgamer82

SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#189679: May 18th 2017 at 9:50:37 AM

Whether someone can plead the 5th in front of a Congressional subpoena would be a question of whether the whole house voted on it, I believe.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
AmbarSonofDeshar Since: Jan, 2010
#189680: May 18th 2017 at 10:06:14 AM

If anyone was wondering how FOX has reacted to the Comey memo but doesn't want to visit FOX, here's Trevor Noah's summation.

CenturyEye Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign? from I don't know where the Yith sent me this time... Since: Jan, 2017 Relationship Status: Having tea with Cthulhu
Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?
#189681: May 18th 2017 at 10:08:33 AM

That's only been sorta tested but 5th amendment privilege for Congress didn't work for the DC Circuit. Congressional investigation proceedings are outside guarantees of due process clause of Fifth Amendment and confrontation right guaranteed in criminal proceedings by the Sixth Amendment. United States v. Fort

edited 18th May '17 10:10:28 AM by CenturyEye

Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives
carbon-mantis Collector Of Fine Oddities from Trumpland Since: Mar, 2010 Relationship Status: Married to my murderer
Collector Of Fine Oddities
#189682: May 18th 2017 at 10:29:23 AM

Pence is forming his own PAC independent of Trump.

Prepping for a "just in case" scenario.

TheWanderer Student of Story from Somewhere in New England (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
Zendervai Since: Oct, 2009
#189684: May 18th 2017 at 11:35:31 AM

So, Trump's already thrown a fit on his visit to Israel. He's refused to visit Masada, an ancient fortress on top of a mountain built by Herod the Great, because Israel refuses to allow helicopters to land there. I've actually been to Masada. There's a cable car from the museum there that he could have taken, but no, apparently walking through an air conditioned museum would be too much. He'll be giving the speech in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, where, joke's on him, a majority of the museum is outdoors.

Too bad he didn't go up Masada. He probably would have shriveled up from the heat. Because, holy crap, the combination of the immense heat, the lack of any real shade and the honest to god salt wind blowing from the Dead Sea really close by makes the place frigging awful when it's sunny. There's a reason there's like 50 water fountains up there. That was the day the tour bus overheated four times.

edited 18th May '17 11:37:25 AM by Zendervai

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#189685: May 18th 2017 at 11:40:37 AM

[up] ...Guess the next POTUS will have to send a fruit basket to Israel too.

Disgusted, but not surprised
sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#189686: May 18th 2017 at 11:44:29 AM

[up] didn't spilling their Intel secrets already necessitate that?

JBC31187 Since: Jan, 2015
#189687: May 18th 2017 at 11:49:51 AM

I guess one of the more... interesting... facets of this horror is seeing how little the modern US Republican party cares about. For example, their relationship with Israel. Just as how I assumed that outright attacking Jewish people was still taboo in America, I also thought that while the Republicans were simply using Israel to attack Obama, and were ultimately detrimental to Israel as a country, they'd at least try to maintain a decent relationship.

NoName999 Since: May, 2011
#189688: May 18th 2017 at 11:52:24 AM

Oh the GOP doesn't give a shit about Israel. They only support Israel because they think doing so will mean Jesus will come back faster and thus, he can condemn the Jews to Hell.

kkhohoho (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#189689: May 18th 2017 at 11:54:27 AM

The only thing the GOP cares about is lining their own pockets. That and fucking over arabs and black people. Other than that, they couldn't give a shit.

edited 18th May '17 11:55:03 AM by kkhohoho

JBC31187 Since: Jan, 2015
#189690: May 18th 2017 at 11:56:10 AM

Yeah, I know, but I figured they'd at least play the long game and try to maintain appearances.

AceofSpades Since: Apr, 2009 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
#189691: May 18th 2017 at 11:58:14 AM

It's kind of hard to maintain appearances when the current face of your party possesses nearly no self control whatsoever. The GOP can be as dignified as they want to be, but it hardly matters as long as Trump is their mascot.

TacticalFox88 from USA Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Dating the Doctor
#189692: May 18th 2017 at 12:17:33 PM

The only thing consistent about the GOP is their hatred of minorities. Even lining their pockets take a backseat to that basic fact.

New Survey coming this weekend!
MadSkillz Destroyer of Worlds Since: Mar, 2013 Relationship Status: I only want you gone
Destroyer of Worlds
#189693: May 18th 2017 at 12:20:01 PM

NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump's loyal backers say they don't know, don't believe or don't care about the explosive revelations that forced the Justice Department to appoint a special counsel to investigate possible collusion between Russia and the Republican campaign.

From the quiet streets of New York's working-class Staten Island to small-town Denison, Iowa, and even smaller Rutledge, Georgia, Trump may be as popular today as when he was elected. Voters are standing with a president who tweeted on Thursday that he is the target of "the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history!"

The tumult that began last week with the firing of FBI Director James Comey has consumed Washington, roiling the White House and putting congressional Republicans on the defensive.

Not so in Trump strongholds.

"I tuned it out," said 44-year-old Michele Velardi, a mother of three sons, during a break from her job at a Staten Island hair salon. "I didn't want to be depressed. I don't want to feel that he's not doing what he said, so I just choose to not listen."

A few blocks away, die-hard Trump supporter Joseph Amodeo, 19, incorrectly praised the president for raising New York's minimum wage, something enacted by Democrats in the Legislature. The college student had little understanding of the Trump administration's deepening political struggles, but he offered a stern message to Trump's critics.

"If you're wishing for him to fail, you're basically wishing for the pilot of the plane to crash," Amodeo said. "You just gotta stick by him and hopefully he does things that benefit everyone."

Such support isn't necessarily representative of voters nationwide.

A Quinnipiac University poll showed that 61 percent of those in the United States believe Trump is dishonest. Wall Street soured on the new administration — for a day at least — as the stock market on Wednesday had its worst day of the Trump presidency. And in Washington, some Democrats raised the prospect of impeachment amid reports that Trump asked Comey to end the investigation of Trump's first national security adviser, Michael Flynn.

Yet there was little evidence of significant cracks among Trump's most passionate supporters.

In Denison, Iowa, 60-year-old Mark Feller said he would support Trump's 2020 re-election without question, despite concerns over what Feller described as chaos in the Oval Office. The furniture dealer doesn't believe reports that the president asked Comey to back off his investigation before firing him.

"If it were true, it would bother me. But I don't think it's true," Feller said.

In a rural area outside Des Moines, Iowa, John Strathman said he would give Trump a passing, albeit unimpressive, grade at the four-month mark in his presidency. He would like see Trump become "more polished at the art of politics." But the 65-year-old retired Defense Department employee's decision on whether to continue supporting Trump has little to do with the Russia scandal riling Washington.

He wants to see Trump follow through on his conservative policy promises.

"If he doesn't govern like a conservative and looks more like a Democrat, then I'll have to re-evaluate," Strathman said.

In Rutledge, Georgia, a town of about 800 people in a county that gave Trump nearly 70 percent of the vote, Doug Foy suggested Trump shouldn't presume the support is unshakable, even if he's not turning his back on the president yet. In particular, Foy, 53, who runs a tree removal service, would be concerned if Trump pressured Comey to drop the investigation.

"I'm not a politician, so I don't know just what they should do," he said. "I don't know if they should pursue impeachment or anything like that."

But his son, 27-year-old Robbie Foy, said he hasn't paid close attention to the news in recent days. He's not backing off his initial reasons for supporting the president. Chief among them: his sustained disdain for Trump's opponent, Democrat Hillary Clinton.

"Trump's not in it for the money. He's got plenty of money," the younger Foy said. Clinton, he added, "was in it for herself."

For many of the Trump faithful, even six months from the 2016 election, their fierce opposition to Clinton remains fresh. Trump isn't perfect, they say, but he's far better than what the alternative would have been.

The attitude was prevalent on the streets of Staten Island, where Trump beat Clinton last fall by nearly 17 percentage points. That's even as Clinton defeated Trump in the state of New York by 22 points.

State Assemblyman Ron Castorina, who represents Staten Island, refers to his community as "Trump Country." He blamed Trump's problems on what he calls irresponsible media coverage that's "damaging the country as a whole."

Trump supporters like him, he says, aren't giving up on their president.

"Not only have I not heard of anyone turning their backs, I've seen people become more in solidarity with the president because they feel he's getting a raw deal," Castorina said.

Indeed, inside Staten Island's Cabinet Plant, store co-owner Paul Lopa, 41, said there's "nothing right now big enough" that could shake his support in Trump.

"I think he's going more and more into the right direction," Lopa said.

Down the street, Andrew Ottrando, a 56-year-old truck driver, said, "The Comey stuff is a joke."

Could anything persuade him to abandon Trump?

"If he gases his own people, yeah I would be against him," Ottrando said, saying afterward that he was only joking.

I feel like these guys would start shooting if Trump was impeached

Medinoc from France (Before Recorded History)
#189694: May 18th 2017 at 12:20:09 PM

[up][up]I'd say it depends whether you're talking about their voters or their congressmen, but the Freedom Caucus is essentially the former become the latter...

edited 18th May '17 12:20:34 PM by Medinoc

"And as long as a sack of shit is not a good thing to be, chivalry will never die."
NoName999 Since: May, 2011
#189695: May 18th 2017 at 12:23:32 PM

Trump Loyalists Pay Little Attention to Revelations Rocking DC

NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump's loyal backers say they don't know, don't believe or don't care about the explosive revelations that forced the Justice Department to appoint a special counsel to investigate possible collusion between Russia and the Republican campaign.

From the quiet streets of New York's working-class Staten Island to small-town Denison, Iowa, and even smaller Rutledge, Georgia, Trump may be as popular today as when he was elected. Voters are standing with a president who tweeted on Thursday that he is the target of "the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history!"

The tumult that began last week with the firing of FBI Director James Comey has consumed Washington, roiling the White House and putting congressional Republicans on the defensive.

Not so in Trump strongholds.

"I tuned it out," said 44-year-old Michele Velardi, a mother of three sons, during a break from her job at a Staten Island hair salon. "I didn't want to be depressed. I don't want to feel that he's not doing what he said, so I just choose to not listen."

A few blocks away, die-hard Trump supporter Joseph Amodeo, 19, incorrectly praised the president for raising New York's minimum wage, something enacted by Democrats in the Legislature. The college student had little understanding of the Trump administration's deepening political struggles, but he offered a stern message to Trump's critics.

"If you're wishing for him to fail, you're basically wishing for the pilot of the plane to crash," Amodeo said. "You just gotta stick by him and hopefully he does things that benefit everyone."

Such support isn't necessarily representative of voters nationwide.

A Quinnipiac University poll showed that 61 percent of those in the United States believe Trump is dishonest. Wall Street soured on the new administration — for a day at least — as the stock market on Wednesday had its worst day of the Trump presidency. And in Washington, some Democrats raised the prospect of impeachment amid reports that Trump asked Comey to end the investigation of Trump's first national security adviser, Michael Flynn.

'''Yet there was little evidence of significant cracks among Trump's most passionate supporters.

In Denison, Iowa, 60-year-old Mark Feller said he would support Trump's 2020 re-election without question, despite concerns over what Feller described as chaos in the Oval Office. The furniture dealer doesn't believe reports that the president asked Comey to back off his investigation before firing him.

"If it were true, it would bother me. But I don't think it's true," Feller said.'''

In a rural area outside Des Moines, Iowa, John Strathman said he would give Trump a passing, albeit unimpressive, grade at the four-month mark in his presidency. He would like see Trump become "more polished at the art of politics." But the 65-year-old retired Defense Department employee's decision on whether to continue supporting Trump has little to do with the Russia scandal riling Washington.

He wants to see Trump follow through on his conservative policy promises.

"If he doesn't govern like a conservative and looks more like a Democrat, then I'll have to re-evaluate," Strathman said.

In Rutledge, Georgia, a town of about 800 people in a county that gave Trump nearly 70 percent of the vote, Doug Foy suggested Trump shouldn't presume the support is unshakable, even if he's not turning his back on the president yet. In particular, Foy, 53, who runs a tree removal service, would be concerned if Trump pressured Comey to drop the investigation.

"I'm not a politician, so I don't know just what they should do," he said. "I don't know if they should pursue impeachment or anything like that."

'''But his son, 27-year-old Robbie Foy, said he hasn't paid close attention to the news in recent days. He's not backing off his initial reasons for supporting the president. Chief among them: his sustained disdain for Trump's opponent, Democrat Hillary Clinton.

"Trump's not in it for the money. He's got plenty of money," the younger Foy said. Clinton, he added, "was in it for herself."'''

For many of the Trump faithful, even six months from the 2016 election, their fierce opposition to Clinton remains fresh. Trump isn't perfect, they say, but he's far better than what the alternative would have been.

The attitude was prevalent on the streets of Staten Island, where Trump beat Clinton last fall by nearly 17 percentage points. That's even as Clinton defeated Trump in the state of New York by 22 points.

State Assemblyman Ron Castorina, who represents Staten Island, refers to his community as "Trump Country." He blamed Trump's problems on what he calls irresponsible media coverage that's "damaging the country as a whole."

Trump supporters like him, he says, aren't giving up on their president.

"Not only have I not heard of anyone turning their backs, I've seen people become more in solidarity with the president because they feel he's getting a raw deal," Castorina said.

Indeed, inside Staten Island's Cabinet Plant, store co-owner Paul Lopa, 41, said there's "nothing right now big enough" that could shake his support in Trump.

"I think he's going more and more into the right direction," Lopa said.

Down the street, Andrew Ottrando, a 56-year-old truck driver, said, "The Comey stuff is a joke."

Could anything persuade him to abandon Trump?

"If he gases his own people, yeah I would be against him," Ottrando said, saying afterward that he was only joking.

Bunch of lemmings. And should I be concerned that I can't tell if he was joking that Trump will gas people or joking that he would oppose gassing (most likely not white) people?

[up][up]surprised[nja]

edited 18th May '17 12:24:10 PM by NoName999

Elle Since: Jan, 2001
#189696: May 18th 2017 at 12:24:46 PM

No, I don't actually think even most of the GOP is that anti-Semetic - Donald is an outlier here. But besides common foes in the Middle East the Christians haven't wanted Muslims controlling Jeruselum since the Crusades and when it came to the founding of modern Israel they were more willing to back the Jewish claim to control of the city, especially after the beating they took from the Holocaust.

In a lot of sects, modern thinking is that Jews are seen as Christians in potentia and recognize the common heritage. This is less recognized of Muslims. Most Christians don't know that Jesus is considered a prophet in Islam.

Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#189697: May 18th 2017 at 12:44:58 PM

Apparently former Senator Joe Lieberman is Trump's likely pick for FBI Director.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
TacticalFox88 from USA Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Dating the Doctor
#189698: May 18th 2017 at 12:46:35 PM

Trump wants Flynn Back. No, Seriousy

But Trump doesn’t just hope that Flynn will beat the rap. Several sources close to Flynn and to the administration tell The Daily Beast that Trump has expressed his hopes that a resolution of the FBI’s investigation in Flynn’s favor might allow Flynn to rejoin the White House in some capacity—a scenario some of Trump’s closest advisers in and outside the West Wing have assured him absolutely should not happen.

Those sources said Trump didn’t believe Flynn should be under investigation in the first place.

New Survey coming this weekend!
LSBK Since: Sep, 2014
#189699: May 18th 2017 at 12:46:56 PM

That article didn't really say anything new. Everyone already knew that there's a subsection of voters/the population who will back Trump no matter what he does.

They're not a majority of either the general population or voters, and likely aren't even a majority of Republicans.

edited 18th May '17 12:47:29 PM by LSBK

CrimsonZephyr Would that it were so simple. from Massachusetts Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
Would that it were so simple.
#189700: May 18th 2017 at 12:55:32 PM

Apparently former Senator Joe Lieberman is Trump's likely pick for FBI Director.

Me: "lolwut?"

Also me: "Oh my fucking god, not him again."

edited 18th May '17 12:55:47 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."

Total posts: 417,856
Top