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

Raptorslash Since: Oct, 2010
#239251: Apr 18th 2018 at 1:16:35 PM

I guess they've been at it for a while, but it's that they're even more brazen and people are catching onto it now - stuff like Last Week Tonight definitely helped make it clear what they're up to.

Fourthspartan56 from Georgia, US Since: Oct, 2016 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#239252: Apr 18th 2018 at 1:53:54 PM

So... Have we discussed the poll showing Democratic challenger Beto O'Rourke within 3% of Sen. Ted Cruz for the November election?
Since this seems to have been ignored I'll comment on it.

That's really big, I think a Blue Texas and taking the Senate are both more than possible at this juncture. It's just incredible.

edited 18th Apr '18 1:54:07 PM by Fourthspartan56

"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang
PhysicalStamina i'm tired, my friend (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Coming soon to theaters
i'm tired, my friend
#239253: Apr 18th 2018 at 2:02:44 PM

This isn't related to anything but I have a question:

What is it with the right-wing's worship of corporations? It's like you criticize something they do (it can even be something as relatively innocuous as a social media relations goof) and they act like you called their mom a slut. They white knight these corporate entities like you hurt their feelings or something. I honestly don't get it.

i'm tired, my friend
Eschaton Since: Jul, 2010
#239254: Apr 18th 2018 at 2:04:34 PM

Because they love money.

It's not complicated.

LSBK Since: Sep, 2014
#239255: Apr 18th 2018 at 2:06:01 PM

It seems a lot of people have an issue (willfully or otherwise) understanding that not all businesses are a like.

Fourthspartan56 from Georgia, US Since: Oct, 2016 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#239256: Apr 18th 2018 at 2:06:16 PM

[up][up][up]Because much of their ideology has been developed by people who were funded by billionaires, like the Mercers or Koch brothers. Thus there is a strong undercurrent of corporatocracy in their ideologies.

Though it's worth mentioning that this is only really popular with their intellectuals and politicians, the average member of their base would be fine with Whites Only Socialism (hence Trump making noise about that during his campaign).

edited 18th Apr '18 2:07:24 PM by Fourthspartan56

"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang
Raptorslash Since: Oct, 2010
#239257: Apr 18th 2018 at 2:14:56 PM

Isn't there also a thing about how some people oppose taxes and regulations because they're looking at it from the perspective that they might become rich, too?

Fourthspartan56 from Georgia, US Since: Oct, 2016 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#239258: Apr 18th 2018 at 2:15:30 PM

[up]Yes, an idea I'm sure the actual rich GOP donors have happily cultivated.

"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang
Wyldchyld (Old as dirt)
#239259: Apr 18th 2018 at 2:38:16 PM

Regarding Comey.

In the interview, he seems to be saying that he believes that if Hillary had won the election and it came out in some way to the American people that he had sat on something instead of revealing it, it would ruin the FBI's reputation and explode her presidency (obviously I'm paraphrasing), an outcome that would have been 'catastrophic' (and that's not paraphrasing, that's the word he uses). That it would have been an even worse option than the bad option he decided to take.

Colbert challenged the inevitability of that scenario, that it was just a maybe scenario versus a definitely scenario. Comey seems to think it was an inevitability.

Given how Hillaryhas been treated for almost forty-five years, it's possible that Comey's got a point.

edited 20th Apr '18 5:56:55 PM by Wyldchyld

If my post doesn't mention a giant flying sperm whale with oversized teeth and lionfish fins for flippers, it just isn't worth reading.
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#239260: Apr 18th 2018 at 2:48:42 PM

Hillary was in a position to have her entire first term (at least until the 2018 midterms gave us a Democratic Congress — maybe) taken up by nonstop obstruction from Republicans determined to prosecute her for breathing. Maybe this would have happened to any Democrat, but Comey was in a unique position to have some influence on her administration, and chose what he saw as the lesser of two evils. He did not realize that he might contribute significantly to her losing the election, because it was widely believed at the time that she'd win.

It's easy to judge from outside, but I don't know what I would have done in his shoes.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Raptorslash Since: Oct, 2010
TheWildWestPyro from Seattle, WA Since: Sep, 2012 Relationship Status: Healthy, deeply-felt respect for this here Shotgun
#239262: Apr 18th 2018 at 2:57:05 PM

[up]

Hopefully one day, he will be mainly remembered for the surprisingly catchy Frogs remix.

edited 18th Apr '18 2:57:28 PM by TheWildWestPyro

MorningStar1337 The Encounter that ended the Dogma from 🤔 Since: Nov, 2012
The Encounter that ended the Dogma
#239263: Apr 18th 2018 at 3:03:15 PM

@239185 It's also very likely that they created the stereotype that the proletariat are lazy (and by extension the bootstrap myth) does give them a convenient excuse to blame the victims (and dogwhistles for them to target certain groups) and the stereotype is a factor in their opposition to higher taxes (for the bourgeois), welfare and UBI.

edited 18th Apr '18 3:10:50 PM by MorningStar1337

archonspeaks Since: Jun, 2013
#239264: Apr 18th 2018 at 3:11:42 PM

[up] The “welfare queen” trope really started with Reagan, who coincidentally is at the heart of many of the other evils of the modern Republican Party. A lot of the bad stuff going on today traces right back to him.

They should have sent a poet.
TheWildWestPyro from Seattle, WA Since: Sep, 2012 Relationship Status: Healthy, deeply-felt respect for this here Shotgun
#239265: Apr 18th 2018 at 3:19:25 PM

[up]

Plus he basically codified neoconservatism as we see it today and the religious right getting back into politics.

And a lot of dirty shit in Nicaragua was reinforced by him.

speedyboris Since: Feb, 2010
#239266: Apr 18th 2018 at 3:21:10 PM

So what do you guys think of the idea that if Pompeo isn't confirmed, it will be the greatest gift that the GOP could get for 2018? The idea being that, a no vote would be spun as "the Democrats want a nuclear-ized North Korea!" or "The Democrats want that position to go unfilled, they don't truly care about Trump filling his vacant cabinet positions like they claim!"

Meanwhile, the base (and Russian trolls, probably) are out in full force, claiming that the recent talks of possibilities of the Korean War officially coming to an end means that Trump was able to do in a little over a year what Obama couldn't do in eight. I wouldn't be surprised if this is one of the reasons why his approval rating hasn't tanked like it should.

And again, the spin practically writes itself: "The left doesn't care about world peace, they just want Trump to fail and are willing to let North Korea keep being belligerent to accomplish it!"

I feel like we're in a no-win situation here.

edited 18th Apr '18 3:23:50 PM by speedyboris

Fourthspartan56 from Georgia, US Since: Oct, 2016 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#239267: Apr 18th 2018 at 3:31:46 PM

I don't see any reason to assume that will be impactful enough to overcome... well anything. It's not like he's massively popular and the trolls would come out either way.

"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang
ironballs16 Since: Jul, 2009 Relationship Status: Owner of a lonely heart
#239268: Apr 18th 2018 at 3:40:52 PM

Fucking hell, Missouri's governor may genuinely be worse than Trump at this point - he's filed for a restraining order against Attorney General Josh Hawley.

According to the filing document, Greitens’ lawyers argue that “Hawley clearly has a personal interest in the resignation, impeachment, and prosecution of Gov. Greitens.”

As evidence of impartiality by Hawley, the request references statements made by Hawley on Fox News, as well as Hawley’s statement following the release of the House special investigative committee’s report.

They ask for a temporary restraining order preventing Hawley from investigating Greitens, the Governor’s Office, or any entities which he has been associated.

edited 18th Apr '18 3:49:14 PM by ironballs16

"Why would I inflict myself on somebody else?"
NativeJovian Jupiterian Local from Orlando, FL Since: Mar, 2014 Relationship Status: Maxing my social links
Jupiterian Local
#239269: Apr 18th 2018 at 3:43:02 PM

Given everything that was said back then (as I remember it), I don't think he put himself in a position where he screwed up and missed the good option, I think circumstances dumped him in a place that had no good options and he was left to choose which bad option he had to pick.
I understand and agree that he did what he thought was the least-bad thing at the time. He thought he was protecting the FBI and, indirectly, Clinton herself, by getting it all out in the open so that no one could say that she was elected under false pretenses. The baked-in assumption here is that Clinton would be elected regardless of whether or not Comey spoke out. Obviously this was untrue.

Here's the problem: even knowing, with the benefit of hindsight, that he cost Clinton the election, he still refuses to admit it was a mistake. He hems and haws about multiple factors and who really knows how much of an effect he had anyway?

It's bullshit. The data is unambiguous. He dropped a classic October Surprise on the Clinton campaign and tanked her numbers less than two weeks before the election. She ultimately lost the electoral college by less than 1% in a handful of key states. No, Comey wasn't the only factor in Clinton's loss, but you can be damn well sure that without Comey, Clinton would have won.

Comey refuses to admit this. Until he does, until he says "I screwed up and I sincerely and humbly apologize to Hillary Clinton and the American people for it", he's nothing more than a sanctimonious asshole high on his own self-righteousness.

It's also important to remember how incredibly unprecedented Comey's comments were. It goes against longstanding tradition, official DOJ policy, and federal law that all say to keep your goddamn nose out of elections, period. Standard procedure for the FBI is to not even confirm that an investigation exists. For Comey to not only speak publicly about it, but to editorialize on Clinton's moral character? It's outrageous. It's unheard of. It's simply not done, and for very good reasons.

Comey tries to claim that he did it because he felt that the American people deserved to know. This falls miserably flat when you know that the FBI was already investigating the Trump campaign for its Russia ties, and he didn't utter so much as a peep about that. I've never heard him offer an explanation for the double standard there.

I can give Comey credit for refusing to be Trump's lapdog, but I have zero respect for him in how he handled the Clinton investigation or its fallout.

edited 18th Apr '18 3:44:09 PM by NativeJovian

Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.
Kaiseror Since: Jul, 2016
#239270: Apr 18th 2018 at 4:32:53 PM

I was think for voting for a texas senator, do I need selective service or will it put me in jury duty?

sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#239271: Apr 18th 2018 at 4:35:55 PM

I think registering to vote makes you eligible for jury duty, but I wouldn't consider that a relevant factor. At age 35 I was called in to jury duty once and rejected.

Selective service (that's the draft right?) is a thing soon as you're 18. I got the card for that long before I ever registered to vote the first time.

In theory all you should need to do is register to vote with whatever procedures your state requires.

edited 18th Apr '18 4:36:46 PM by sgamer82

Kaiseror Since: Jul, 2016
#239272: Apr 18th 2018 at 4:40:48 PM

[up] I'm asking about the selective service thing because I haven't sent the card back yet.

Kakuzan Let memes die. Kill them, if you have to. from Knock knock, open up the door, it's real. Since: Dec, 2014 Relationship Status: Above such petty unnecessities
Let memes die. Kill them, if you have to.
#239273: Apr 18th 2018 at 4:44:39 PM

Is the selective service even used all that often? Isn't it more for emergency reserves?

Don't catch you slippin' now.
GameGuruGG Vampire Hunter from Castlevania (Before Recorded History)
Vampire Hunter
#239274: Apr 18th 2018 at 4:50:25 PM

I think the only mistake Comey made was assuming that Donald Trump had no chance of winning the election which is a mistake a lot of people, including his interviewer Stephan Colbert, made. Wyldchyld is completely correct on how the Republicans would react to finding out that the FBI ensured Clinton's victory by sitting on that information which would exactly be the alternate scenario that Comey feared. The mistake Comey made isn't related to the decision of whether or not he should have released that information because his alternative scenario was basically guaranteed given just how much the Republican Party has it out for Hillary Clinton.

Wizard Needs Food Badly
Larkmarn Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Hello, I love you
#239275: Apr 18th 2018 at 4:55:46 PM

And you know what? Fuck him for it. We give people SO much guff in this topic for assuming HRC was going to win and then going out and not voting. Suddenly I'm seeing people using kid gloves on Comey who made the same mistake, only instead of "not voting," he opted for "rig the election for Trump"? I don't care if it was a "tough decision" for him to meddle in our election and abuse his post. He gets no sympathy.

And really, the "well, the GOP had it out for her so he had to release it before" is bullplop since... Well, the GOP had it out for her. Seriously. It changes nothing other than giving them ammo BEFORE the election rather than after.

edited 18th Apr '18 5:27:48 PM by Larkmarn

Found a Youtube Channel with political stances you want to share? Hop on over to this page and add them.

Total posts: 417,856
Top