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

Luigisan98 A wandering user from Venezuelan Muscat Since: Oct, 2013 Relationship Status: I <3 love!
A wandering user
#191501: Jun 2nd 2017 at 6:42:58 AM

[up] Hey, the difference between a GOP and Liberal president is as noticeable as day and night, of course it can be fixed.

The only good fanboy, is a redeemed fanboy.
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#191502: Jun 2nd 2017 at 6:45:54 AM

[up] https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13103447000A18674100&page=7658#191447

It's not that easy. It took Obama a lot of time to repair the damage Bush did (as much as it was possible, we are still dealing with the consequences of Bush's misguided politics). If the world can't trust that not every four or eight years someone utterly incompetent or utterly insane sits in the White House and above all if it can't trust that the congress keeps the president in check if he gets off the rail, it can't trust the US in general. As I mentioned above, if the chancellor in Germany behaved this way, he or she would be out of office in a minute. Trump is, at the end of the day, just a symptom, he is not the underlying illness, and unless the US cleans house, thoroughly, I don't see it gaining new ground with its allies anytime soon.

Also, what [down] said.

edited 2nd Jun '17 6:48:23 AM by M84

Disgusted, but not surprised
Clarste One Winged Egret Since: Jun, 2009 Relationship Status: Non-Canon
One Winged Egret
#191503: Jun 2nd 2017 at 6:45:59 AM

There's no point in making agreements with a schizophrenic country that can change its mind on a dime every four years. If you can't trust presidents to uphold agreements made by their predecessors, then you can't trust them with anything, no matter who the sitting president currently is.

Luigisan98 A wandering user from Venezuelan Muscat Since: Oct, 2013 Relationship Status: I <3 love!
A wandering user
#191504: Jun 2nd 2017 at 6:48:09 AM

[up][up] The world was almost ravaged by WWII, and yet look at it now, especially Germany.

[up] Unless Trump can ensure a change of politics in the future of the US.

The only good fanboy, is a redeemed fanboy.
Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#191505: Jun 2nd 2017 at 6:48:48 AM

He is the worst. He managed to squander the power the US has within a week. That is hard to beat.

It is kind of sad that Trump supporters actually believe that his behaviour is a sign of strength and that it in any way evokes respect. Or even fear. Nobody really respects Putin on a moral level, but they respect his abilities enough to fear him and while it is apparently enough for Russia, it is still a sad variation of respect. But Trump doesn't even have that. The world is laughing about him and by extension the US. Sure, they also scramble to counteract his destructive behaviour, but those countries, which have integrity know that even Trump would have a hard time to convince his generals to throw a bomb on, let's say, Europe, and those who don't know that they just have to throw money at him to get what they want. I don't think that the US ever had a president that weak.

[up] Germany spend 45 years as an occupied country, constantly eating crow while rebuilding from the ground up and to this day, it has to go the extra-length about more or less every issue. This attitude did win Germany a lot of friends over time, but I doubt that the US would be able to re-enact it. Plus, to this day Germany is called a Nazi state everytime someone is dissatisfied with its politic. There are some which are convinced that the EU is a scheme to create a fourth Reich.

edited 2nd Jun '17 6:52:39 AM by Swanpride

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#191506: Jun 2nd 2017 at 6:49:10 AM

[up][up] And HOW long did that take? How much did Germany have to do? How much cleanup did they have to do in-house to ensure "never again"? And guess what? A lot of assholes still hold WWII against them and deride the EU as the Fourth Reich.

[up]He's a weak bullying coward, and his more gullible fanbase are the kind of people who mistake assholery for strength.

edited 2nd Jun '17 6:51:15 AM by M84

Disgusted, but not surprised
Luigisan98 A wandering user from Venezuelan Muscat Since: Oct, 2013 Relationship Status: I <3 love!
A wandering user
#191507: Jun 2nd 2017 at 6:52:10 AM

[up] Yeah, I knew it took like almost a decade or two for the damage to be mostly fixed, but it's the minority that it's stuck complaining and and unable to forgive.

[up][up] Anyone can have a chance to be fixed. The USA is no exception.

edited 2nd Jun '17 6:53:34 AM by Luigisan98

The only good fanboy, is a redeemed fanboy.
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#191508: Jun 2nd 2017 at 6:53:02 AM

[up] It took several decades, as Swanpride just mentioned. Fixing a bridge after you've burnt it is not easy. And while it's hopefully a minority, it's not exactly fringe.

edited 2nd Jun '17 6:53:49 AM by M84

Disgusted, but not surprised
Clarste One Winged Egret Since: Jun, 2009 Relationship Status: Non-Canon
One Winged Egret
#191509: Jun 2nd 2017 at 6:53:05 AM

A decade? Ha...

Zendervai Since: Oct, 2009
#191510: Jun 2nd 2017 at 6:53:15 AM

Well, people do kind of fear Trump, but it isn't the type of fear they want. There's a difference between the scary teacher you obey because you fear the consequences of disobeying, and the fear you feel from an idiot with a rifle. You obey the teacher, you try to stop the idiot with a gun.

The type of fear Trump inspires is the type that makes people want to stop him at any costs because the consequences of following him are worse than defying him.

edited 2nd Jun '17 6:53:33 AM by Zendervai

Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#191511: Jun 2nd 2017 at 6:54:08 AM

[up][up][up][up] A decade? The first time people started to really realize that Germany might not THAT bad of a country was in 2006. It took half a century and a World Cup just to change the basic attitude.

edited 2nd Jun '17 6:54:29 AM by Swanpride

Luigisan98 A wandering user from Venezuelan Muscat Since: Oct, 2013 Relationship Status: I <3 love!
A wandering user
#191512: Jun 2nd 2017 at 6:54:57 AM

[up][up][up][up] I'm AWARE of that.

[up] I bet that was most of the minorities thoughts at the time.

edited 2nd Jun '17 6:55:41 AM by Luigisan98

The only good fanboy, is a redeemed fanboy.
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#191513: Jun 2nd 2017 at 6:56:13 AM

[up] You sure don't seem like it. You keep treating these concerns with the same Pollyanna routine. You are even dismissive of the very real struggles Germany had to go through to repair their reputation.

edited 2nd Jun '17 6:56:33 AM by M84

Disgusted, but not surprised
Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#191514: Jun 2nd 2017 at 6:57:46 AM

[up][up] It really wasn't. When I was a child, I loved travelling the US because it was one of the few places in the world where people were actually happy to see a German instead of happy to see Deutschmark.

edited 2nd Jun '17 6:57:56 AM by Swanpride

Luigisan98 A wandering user from Venezuelan Muscat Since: Oct, 2013 Relationship Status: I <3 love!
A wandering user
#191515: Jun 2nd 2017 at 6:57:50 AM

[up][up] I know what they went through...I may not have told my statements correctly which makes me look dismissive yet my point stands, if Germany can be forigven, so can be the US. Longer or short, it can happen no matter what it takes.

edited 2nd Jun '17 6:58:06 AM by Luigisan98

The only good fanboy, is a redeemed fanboy.
Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#191516: Jun 2nd 2017 at 6:58:57 AM

[up] Sure, but the more damage the US does the more time it will take. It might not happen during your life-time.

Luigisan98 A wandering user from Venezuelan Muscat Since: Oct, 2013 Relationship Status: I <3 love!
A wandering user
#191517: Jun 2nd 2017 at 7:00:29 AM

[up] And what about when some people in some nations will be happy to see an American instead of happy of seeing a dollar?

The only good fanboy, is a redeemed fanboy.
megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#191518: Jun 2nd 2017 at 7:01:19 AM

Has anyone seen this? It's older, but still relevant.

The day in the life of Joe Republican

Joe gets up at 6 a.m. and fills his coffeepot with water to prepare his morning coffee. The water is clean and good because some tree-hugging liberal fought for minimum water-quality standards. With his first swallow of coffee, he takes his daily medication. His medications are safe to take because some stupid commie liberal fought to insure their safety and that they work as advertised.

http://m.dailykos.com/story/2012/5/21/1093478/-A-Day-in-the-Life-of-Joe-Republican

edited 2nd Jun '17 7:06:09 AM by megaeliz

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#191519: Jun 2nd 2017 at 7:01:29 AM

[up][up] There's a reason tourism to the USA is suffering.

[up] Basically, "Fuck you, got mine".

edited 2nd Jun '17 7:06:16 AM by M84

Disgusted, but not surprised
Draghinazzo (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: I get a feeling so complicated...
#191520: Jun 2nd 2017 at 7:02:06 AM

It's a bit strange for me to hear about how conservatives (well, more like reactionaries really, but whatever) are apparently "satisfied" with how Trump's performed so far, because he's absolutely sucked at getting ANYTHING from the Republican agenda done. The travel ban was a bust, the health care reform was hated by everyone, the rest of the world doesn't trust the US anymore (which isn't exactly a good thing on multiple levels), and he consistently disrespects the presidency with his insipid tweets, grandstanding and boorish behavior.

By any reasonable standard he isn't a good president. He shouldn't have this much trouble getting anything done when the Republican party controls all branches of the government. There's having a different opinion and then there's just denial.

edited 2nd Jun '17 7:02:46 AM by Draghinazzo

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#191521: Jun 2nd 2017 at 7:03:09 AM

[up] It's not really about anything real for those particular people. It's all about having their "fuck liberals, fuck minorities, etc." mindset validated and enabled. For a certain part of his base, it's all about the bigoted xenophobic nationalism.

edited 2nd Jun '17 7:04:47 AM by M84

Disgusted, but not surprised
Zendervai Since: Oct, 2009
#191522: Jun 2nd 2017 at 7:04:23 AM

Considering that the "satisfied" group probably contains the entirety of the group that were convinced Michelle Obama is a man and that you can tell by "just looking" (because that doesn't sound completely racist)...I don't have much hope for their limited brain cells.

megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#191523: Jun 2nd 2017 at 7:11:19 AM

And the I found the flip side to that little story, which feels even more relevant

Joe Conservative wakes up in the morning and goes to the bathroom. He flushes his toilet and brushes his teeth, mindful that each flush & brush costs him about 43 cents to his privatized water provider. His wacky, liberal neighbor keeps badgering the company to disclose how clean and safe their water is, but no one ever finds out. Just to be safe, Joe Conservative boils his drinking water.

Joe steps outside and coughs–the pollution is especially bad today, but the smokiest cars are the cheapest ones, so everyone buys ‘em. Joe Conservative checks to make sure he has enough toll money for the 3 different private roads he must drive to work. There is no public transportation, so traffic is backed up and his 10 mile commute takes an hour.

On the way, he drops his 12 year old daughter off at the clothing factory she works at. Paying for kids to go to private school until they’re 18 is a luxury, and Joe needs the extra income coming in. Times are hard and there’re no social safety nets.

He gets to work 5 minutes late and misses the call for Christian prayer, and is immediately docked by his employer. He is not feeling well today, but has no health insurance, since neither his employer nor his government provide it, and paying for it himself is really expensive, since he has a precondition. He just hopes for the best.

Joe’s workday is 12 hours long, because there is no regulation over working hours, and Joe will lose his job if he complains or unionizes. Today is an especially bad day. Joe’s manager demands that he work until midnight, a 16 hour day. Joe does, knowing that he’ll lose his job if he does not.

Finally, after midnight, Joe gets to pick up his daughter and go home. His daughter shows him the deep cut she got on the industrial sewing machine today. Joe is outraged and asks why she doesn’t have metal mesh gloves or other protection. She says the company will not provide it and she’ll have to pay for it out of her own pocket. Joe looks at the wound and decides they’ll use an over the counter disinfectant and bandages until it heals. She’ll have a scar, but getting stitches at the emergency room is expensive.

His daughter also complains that the manager made suggestive overtures towards her. Joe counsels her to be a “good girl” and not rock the boat, or she’ll get fired and they’ll be out the income.

His daughter says she can’t wait until she’s 18 so she can vote for change or go to the Iraq War.

They get home and there’s a message from his elderly father who can’t afford to pay his medical or heating bills. Joe can hear him coughing and shivering.

Joe turns on the radio and the top story is a proposal in Congress to raise the voting age to 25. A rare liberal opinionator states that it’s an attempt to keep power out of the hands of working class Americans. The conservative host immediately quashes him, calling him “a utopian idealist,” and agreeing that people aren’t mature enough to make good choices until they’re at least 25.

Joe chuckles at the wine-swilling, cheese eating liberal egghead and thinks, “Thank God I live in America where I have freedom!”

https://www.thomhartmann.com/blog/2008/05/day-life-true-conservative

Luigisan98 A wandering user from Venezuelan Muscat Since: Oct, 2013 Relationship Status: I <3 love!
A wandering user
#191524: Jun 2nd 2017 at 7:21:51 AM

[up] Doe Joe even know the definition of freedom?

The only good fanboy, is a redeemed fanboy.
Medinoc from France (Before Recorded History)
#191525: Jun 2nd 2017 at 7:33:06 AM

What is it with "conservatives" and cheese?

"And as long as a sack of shit is not a good thing to be, chivalry will never die."

Total posts: 417,856
Top