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

TrashJack Confirmed Doomer from beyond the Despair Event Horizon (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
Confirmed Doomer
#241776: May 10th 2018 at 1:12:04 PM

[up] How does anyone make anything non-partisan in our hyper-partisan country (created by the GOP dragging the country further and further into far-right insanity and treating anyone and anything that refuses to budge as an enemy of the state) anymore? And who decides the chairman? What would stop a corrupt, malignant narcissist like Trump from sending us right back to square one?

edited 10th May '18 1:14:31 PM by TrashJack

"Cynic, n. — A blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be." - The Devil's Dictionary
Silasw A procrastination in of itself from A handcart to hell (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
A procrastination in of itself
#241777: May 10th 2018 at 1:48:47 PM

Requiring senate confirmation could be a simple way to reduce the partisanship, you could legaly require them to be an independent, you could require that the chair be agreed unanimously by the other four partisan members, you could change it from a four year fixed term to say 10 years (thus meaning the chair isn’t replaced by every new president), there are plenty of options.

The way to stop another Trump resetting everything is to stop another total system failure, Trump couldn’t do half the shit he’s doing if he didn’t have cable news (including the likes of CNN) backing him up and a hyper partisan congress that will do anything to protect him. Remember he wouldn’t even be president if it wasn’t for those two things, foreign meddling, FBI medling, and the Obama’s administration being convinced that it wasn’t going to happen.

edited 10th May '18 1:49:30 PM by Silasw

“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran
Raptorslash Since: Oct, 2010
#241778: May 10th 2018 at 2:06:58 PM

Trump's relationship with CNN confuses me. He hates them, and openly bashes them in favor of Breitbart and Fox, but as I understand they and other mainstream networks did a lot to help him then and now by not being as harsh on him as they should be.

LSBK Since: Sep, 2014
#241779: May 10th 2018 at 2:11:46 PM

It seems for Trump that anything is "fake" news if bothers to say anything less than praising him 100%.

Also, I get the impression he wouldn't like the idea that the media "helped" him win, because that's implying he didn't win on his own awesomeness. The same reason he's so insistent he actually won the popular vote if you take out all the millions of illegal votes that totally exist.

CrimsonZephyr Would that it were so simple. from Massachusetts Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
Would that it were so simple.
#241780: May 10th 2018 at 2:16:17 PM

Trump's personal narrative is that his campaign was a mighty, unstoppable force that triumphed despite the hordes of brown people directed by the news media trying to stop him.

The truth is that he won narrowly, through highly decisive distributions of votes that are unlikely to be repeated, with the news media giving him millions of dollars in free advertising and downplaying the policy implications — social, political, economic — of his platform, along with Russia bankrolling his campaign in various ways behind the scenes.

His hatred of the news media is entirely consistent with his overall narrative: the media has always been his enemy, never the useful idiots they actually were.

edited 10th May '18 2:17:43 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."
Silasw A procrastination in of itself from A handcart to hell (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
A procrastination in of itself
#241781: May 10th 2018 at 2:18:58 PM

CNN and Trump’s relationship looks from the outside like that of an abusive relationship, with Trump constantly abusing CNN while CNN do everything they can to please him and get him what he wants.

That isn’t the truth of it however, the truth is that while Trump does give zero shits about CNN, CNN doesn’t actully care about Trump, it cares about the views that Trump brings in, if Trump ever become boring that they’d ditch him in a heartbeat, if someone more crazy and interesting came along you bet they’d fight to make them appear on Trump’s level for horse raise railings.

They very much deserve each other, two destructive monsters willing to burn everything else down in the pursuit of profit, CNN and Trump were made for each other.

“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran
pwiegle Cape Malleum Majorem from Nowhere Special Since: Sep, 2015 Relationship Status: Singularity
Cape Malleum Majorem
#241782: May 10th 2018 at 2:58:21 PM

Any publication that doesn't kiss Trump's ass and write glowing reports about him, he badmouths — his usual spiel is that "So-and-So is failing, and nobody reads it." Yeah, right... The only fake news is whatever comes out of Trump's mouth.

As I've said before, the man lives in a State of Denial, and is Divorced From Reality.

This Space Intentionally Left Blank.
speedyboris Since: Feb, 2010
#241783: May 10th 2018 at 3:19:48 PM

"It will be hilarious one day if we learn that getting elected president was all that saved him from bankruptcy."

You joke but I seem to remember reading an article before the election that stated such a thing was actually true. That is, he had a lot (financially) riding on getting elected. I'll see if I can dig that up again.

NativeJovian Jupiterian Local from Orlando, FL Since: Mar, 2014 Relationship Status: Maxing my social links
Jupiterian Local
#241784: May 10th 2018 at 4:23:37 PM

Not on getting elected, but on getting nominated, at least. Indication seems to be that everyone, including his own campaign, including Trump himself, expected him to lose. The plan (again, for basically everyone involved) was to ride the notoriety to bigger, better, more lucrative things. Naturally, Trump would never admit that he lost fairly, so his plan was to rant and rave about how the rigged system stole the election from him.

Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.
SciFiSlasher from Absolutely none of your business. Since: Dec, 2011 Relationship Status: YOU'RE TEARING ME APART LISA
#241785: May 10th 2018 at 4:30:25 PM

Trump administration looks to relax child labor laws.

The Fair Labor Standards Act prohibits anyone under the age of 18 to work in “hazardous occupations.” But President Donald Trump’s Department of Labor is working to relax these protections for young workers, according to draft documents obtained by Bloomberg Law.

...

“When I started doing this kind of work 20 years ago, we were losing 70 kids a year at work, and now we are losing usually 20 or less. We’ve made substantial progress, and I think that the tightened hazardous occupations rules have played a role in the lowered death tolls for teenage workers. So I would not be in favor of relaxing any of these standards; I think it would be a tragic mistake and would lead to the death of teenage workers,” Reid Maki, coordinator of the Child Labor Coalition, told Bloomberg Law.

"Somehow the hated have to walk a tightrope, while those who hate do not."
megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
SciFiSlasher from Absolutely none of your business. Since: Dec, 2011 Relationship Status: YOU'RE TEARING ME APART LISA
#241787: May 10th 2018 at 4:40:11 PM

[up] Yeah, as someone who has actually studied the history of child labor on the U.S., these shitbags can just go fuck themselves.

"Somehow the hated have to walk a tightrope, while those who hate do not."
SciFiSlasher from Absolutely none of your business. Since: Dec, 2011 Relationship Status: YOU'RE TEARING ME APART LISA
#241788: May 10th 2018 at 4:49:37 PM

Also, doublepost, and this one is from the Huff, but I feel like it really deserves its own piece:

Fox Business Guest Defends Torture: It Worked On John McCain.

“The fact is ... it worked on John [Mc Cain],” Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Tom Mc Inerney told FBN’s Charles Payne on Tuesday. “That’s why they call him ‘Songbird John.’”

“The fact is those methods can work and they’re effective as former Vice President [Dick] Cheney said,” Mc Inerney continued. “And if we have to use ’em to save a million American lives, we will do whatever we have to.”

...

Not only are “enhanced interrogation techniques” immoral, according to Mc Cain and many other lawmakers, but they do not extract accurate information.

On Wednesday, Mc Cain urged the Senate to reject President Donald Trump’s nomination of Gina Haspel to head the Central Intelligence Agency, given her reported role in overseeing the torture of an al Qaeda terror suspect in 2002 at a clandestine base in Thailand.

“Like many Americans, I understand the urgency that drove the decision to resort to so-called enhanced interrogation methods after our country was attacked,” Mc Cain said in his statement. “But as I have argued many times, the methods we employ to keep our nation safe must be as right and just as the values we aspire to live up to and promote in the world.

edited 10th May '18 4:50:01 PM by SciFiSlasher

"Somehow the hated have to walk a tightrope, while those who hate do not."
megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#241789: May 10th 2018 at 4:53:02 PM

[up] This is what the party of Lincon and Theodore Roosevelt has come to Folks!

So, once we get Trump out, I feel like we're going to simply be doing a lot of Damage Control.

So what are your top priorities for what can be done to fix the mess that the Republicans have got us into? Nothing crazy, just trying to fix this and ensure that it never happens again?

edited 10th May '18 4:56:42 PM by megaeliz

Kaiseror Since: Jul, 2016
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#241791: May 10th 2018 at 5:02:08 PM

The Democrat's greatest failure is they assume there is a point they can shame a party with no shame.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
PhysicalStamina i'm tired, my friend (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Coming soon to theaters
i'm tired, my friend
#241792: May 10th 2018 at 5:04:16 PM

[up][up][up]Extreme vetting but for people trying to run for president.

i'm tired, my friend
megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#241793: May 10th 2018 at 5:09:32 PM

[up] I was thinking more like what needs done to keep the actual Civil Service from falling apart, and what actual things need to be done.

Like rebuilding the State Department and EPA, reappointing federal prosecutors, investigating public corruption, sending Fruit Baskets to everyone we've pissed off, etc?

edited 10th May '18 5:13:23 PM by megaeliz

Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#241794: May 10th 2018 at 5:23:19 PM

The Republican party is going to impressive lengths to make Neutral Evil a real world phenomena.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#241795: May 10th 2018 at 5:24:55 PM

[up]Extreme vetting but for people trying to run for president.

Trump isn't the problem. He's A problem but he's not THE problem.

The problem is the Lannisters and their allies, not Joffrey.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
PhysicalStamina i'm tired, my friend (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Coming soon to theaters
i'm tired, my friend
#241796: May 10th 2018 at 5:25:03 PM

[up][up][up]The list of things we need to do to fix civil service and repair our standing with the rest of the world is far too long and we would somehow need to do everything on it all at once if we wanna get anywhere near where we were three years ago.

And even if we did them all, it'd all be moot if someone like Trump gets elected again, which brings me back to extreme vetting for would-be presidential candidates.

[up]I don't know what a Lannister is, one. Two, this is bigger than Trump. If someone like him won once, someone like him can win again, and we need to prevent any way we can if we ever wanna repair this country.

edited 10th May '18 5:26:47 PM by PhysicalStamina

i'm tired, my friend
Grafite Since: Apr, 2016 Relationship Status: Less than three
#241797: May 10th 2018 at 5:25:51 PM

@megaeliz: Yeah, those things will surely work when in the following 4 years the Republicans could decide to nominate Alex Jones or Richard Spencer, undoing all of it and again wreaking havoc on previous agreements and alliances with other countries. Sorry for the sarcasm, but that is a cycle I don't want to see happen for even the third time.

edited 10th May '18 5:28:26 PM by Grafite

Life is unfair...
Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#241798: May 10th 2018 at 5:29:48 PM

Remember, there were guys like Trump running a decade ago. They usually lost after winning primaries, were condemned by the party, or were contained to the Reddest of districts. Now, they have nearly taken over the party.

Now you've got open neo-Nazis in the same position. Whose to say where they will be in the GOP by 2030 or so?

edited 10th May '18 5:30:11 PM by Rationalinsanity

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#241799: May 10th 2018 at 5:30:24 PM

The analogy is that on Game Of Thrones/in a Song of Ice and Fire, there's a horrible murderous little 14 year old shit of a king who spends his time doing dramatically evil stuff like cutting out a man's tongue or killing crowds of people for jeering him. Everyone thinks joffrey is the worst king in the world except his family and is glad when he's gone.

HOWEVER, the actual problem was never Joffrey (though he did awful awufl things) but the fact his family propped him up as king along with their horde of cronies. Trump is NOT THE PROBLEM because he's just rubber-stamping endless horrible things created by a much larger, much nastier more corrupt system.

He's not in charge of the Republican party, he's just their figurehead and tool.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
Kaiseror Since: Jul, 2016
#241800: May 10th 2018 at 5:31:26 PM

I wanna say that this administration will teach people to vote for better candidates...but let's face it, no it won't.


Total posts: 417,856
Top