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

speedyboris Since: Feb, 2010
#247901: Jun 29th 2018 at 3:36:47 PM

Six months after our TAX CUTS, more than 6 MILLION workers have received bonuses, pay raises, and retirement account contributions. #Tax Cutsand Jobs Act
I am not one of those 6 million, and I'd be willing to wager there are a lot in my boat.

PhysicalStamina i'm tired, my friend (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Coming soon to theaters
i'm tired, my friend
#247902: Jun 29th 2018 at 3:37:04 PM

[up][up]There's an extension on Chrome called Video Blocker that lets you block whatever you don't want to see on youtube.

Edited by PhysicalStamina on Jun 29th 2018 at 6:36:56 AM

i'm tired, my friend
tsstevens Reading tropes such as You Know What You Did from Reading tropes such as Righting Great Wrongs Since: Oct, 2010 Relationship Status: She's holding a very large knife
Reading tropes such as You Know What You Did
#247903: Jun 29th 2018 at 3:37:18 PM

I've been hearing a lot about Trump and watching a lot about Trump and his loyalists. Before I take the gloves off and fire a bunch of videos that show just how dangerously unstable he is, a serious question.

In your view or if there is evidence of it is there evidence that show were Trump given the choice of winning the next election without getting rid of foreigners; or enacting gun control, and losing it if it meant he can push a foreigner ban and allow free range guns, which option he would choose?

What about the Republicans? It is well known Trump demands blind loyalty. Would the party choose to lose and keep Trump or oust him and win?

Currently reading up My Rule Fu Is Stronger than Yours
kkhohoho (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#247904: Jun 29th 2018 at 3:50:45 PM

[up]

Before I take the gloves off and fire a bunch of videos that show just how dangerously unstable he is...

Dude, everyone in here knows how unstable he is. No need to preach to the choir.

Clarste One Winged Egret Since: Jun, 2009 Relationship Status: Non-Canon
One Winged Egret
#247905: Jun 29th 2018 at 3:59:43 PM

I think the Republican party would prefer to keep winning, with or without Trump. Currently he happens to be their ticket to winning though, so they'd never dream of going against him. Trump is more popular with their base than the Republican Congress is.

He's also serving their agenda 100% so yeah, there's no reason for them to consider ousting him. Why would they?

Edited by Clarste on Jun 29th 2018 at 4:00:54 AM

Ramidel Since: Jan, 2001
#247906: Jun 29th 2018 at 4:01:29 PM

New Atheists have a right to preach (ironic term) because if they believe they know the truth of the universe then they have the right to preach that. The same for people who believe in their own faith or belief about the universe. Humans should always seek the truth and build their beliefs around that.

Then we need to amend the First Amendment to forbid public proselytization by any religion.

Not going to happen? Damn.

Fourthspartan56 from Georgia, US Since: Oct, 2016 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#247907: Jun 29th 2018 at 4:12:15 PM

[up]New Atheism isn't a religion. It's not even a subset of Atheism. It's a social movement.

Also I don't think any New Atheists are in street corners preaching about the falseness of religion tongue

Edited by Fourthspartan56 on Jun 29th 2018 at 4:12:16 AM

"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang
Protagonist506 from Oregon Since: Dec, 2013 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
#247908: Jun 29th 2018 at 4:32:23 PM

[up]They do have billboards and such. Technically not a religion, but they are a "position on religion" or a "religious demographic" (in this case, the demographic of not having one).

Leviticus 19:34
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
#247909: Jun 29th 2018 at 4:38:19 PM

For a movement that was born from discussing how idolatry and dogmatic thinking were inherently negative traits perpetuated by religion, the New Atheism suffers a massive case of irony when they worship dipshits and assume their truth is the only one that matters.

Inter arma enim silent leges
daltar (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#247910: Jun 29th 2018 at 4:50:24 PM

Welp.

Trump got prank called on Air Force One by a comedian pretending to be a Senator

They called him back after he tried to make contact and they had a conversation for a while. So much for the current White House tight security.

Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#247911: Jun 29th 2018 at 4:51:47 PM

US Ambassador to Estonia has quit over Trump undermining the Transatlantic alliance.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/29/politics/us-ambassador-estonia-resign-trump/index.html

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
Fourthspartan56 from Georgia, US Since: Oct, 2016 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#247912: Jun 29th 2018 at 5:52:55 PM

They do have billboards and such. Technically not a religion, but they are a "position on religion" or a "religious demographic" (in this case, the demographic of not having one).
Fair. I didn't think of billboards.

Then I amend my statement, New Atheism does technically publicly preach.

"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
#247913: Jun 29th 2018 at 6:00:59 PM

[up]

Still not as bad as the fucking "Prosperity Gospel" organizations. Just had to deliver two letters from "St. Matthew's Churches" today, and I feel dirty for doing so. But, sanctity of the mail and all that.

"Why would I inflict myself on somebody else?"
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
#247914: Jun 29th 2018 at 6:07:28 PM

You’ll find plenty of new atheists on the internet street corners of social media, just not physical ones.

“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran
Imca (Veteran)
Raptorslash Since: Oct, 2010
#247916: Jun 29th 2018 at 6:17:30 PM

I associate New Atheism online with people like Thunderf00t and TJ Kincaid, both of whom are misogynistic and right-wing.

[up] Yeah - is American Atheists a New Atheist group?

Edited by Raptorslash on Jun 29th 2018 at 9:37:41 AM

SciFiSlasher from Absolutely none of your business. Since: Dec, 2011 Relationship Status: YOU'RE TEARING ME APART LISA
#247917: Jun 29th 2018 at 6:42:42 PM

This hasn't been posted yet, right?

Trump tightens the screws on Iran’s oil.

In what may be the supreme irony of Trump’s corrosive unilateralism, a president who has vilified his predecessor’s legacy and sought to undo its vestiges as expeditiously as possible has adopted precisely the same logic on the Middle East to produce its mirror image as policy. Both administrations identified Iran as the alpha and the omega for advancing regional security, and concluded that a shrewd American gambit—the nuclear deal for Obama, regime change for team Trump—could deliver the most bang for the buck. Those who have lamented Obama’s restraint in the Middle East will now have another taste of its antithesis: the purposeful American disruption of the status quo underpinned by the assumption that things can only get better. Unfortunately, that rarely holds true in the Middle East. Iran, and the world, are in for a bumpy ride.

US expects all countries to eliminate Iranian oil imports, official says.

"We view this as one of our top national security priorities," the official told reporters on a conference call. "I would be hesitant to say, 'zero waivers ever,' (but) I think the predisposition would be no, we're not granting waivers." This latest messaging from the administration suggests the Trump administration is holding a hard line with its international allies as it withdraws from the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement under which Iran rolled back its nuclear program in exchange for broad sanctions relief.

"Somehow the hated have to walk a tightrope, while those who hate do not."
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#247918: Jun 29th 2018 at 6:57:51 PM

Mind you, how much money has Sam Harris made from Mindfulness?

I.e. Buddhism stripped of all religious elements and sold for cash?

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
archonspeaks Since: Jun, 2013
#247919: Jun 29th 2018 at 7:11:34 PM

[up][up] I always think it's a shame we've had such an antagonistic relationship with the Iranians. Compared to other Middle Eastern nations their culture is much more sympathetic to Western values, they could have been up there with the Jordanians as one of our strongest allies in the region. They're also pretty populous and a military power in the area, if we had brought them onto our side they could have done a lot towards keeping order in the region.

They should have sent a poet.
AmbarSonofDeshar Since: Jan, 2010
#247920: Jun 29th 2018 at 7:17:47 PM

Those are precisely the reasons we have an antagonistic relationship with the Iranians: we helped keep the Shah in power so we'd have a reliable ally in the region. Unfortunately, that bought us a whole lot of resentment in the long run.

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
#247921: Jun 29th 2018 at 7:20:38 PM

Iran hasn’t forgiven the US for installing a brutal dictatorship and the US hasn’t forgiven Iran for overthrowing said dictatorship, the bad blood from that simply can’t be ignored. Especially when combined with things like Iran’s hatred of Israel, the US’s shooting down of a civilian airliner, Iran’s alliance with some of the region’s most brutal dictators, the US supplying arms to Saddam when he attacked Iran, Iran’s opposition to Saudi Arabia, the US’s constant searching for excuses to invade and false WMD claims, ect...

“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#247922: Jun 29th 2018 at 7:31:33 PM

Didn't we support Saddam during the Iran-Iraq War, which was one of the most bloody and devastating conflicts in the region's history? One which people refused to believe the body counts and atrocities of because they were so high?

And yes, said reason being the Middle East?

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
archonspeaks Since: Jun, 2013
#247923: Jun 29th 2018 at 7:33:44 PM

[up][up][up] Yeah, that was our original mistake and we've been screwed with them ever since. Like I said, it's really too bad.

They should have sent a poet.
PhysicalStamina i'm tired, my friend (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Coming soon to theaters
i'm tired, my friend
#247924: Jun 29th 2018 at 7:36:17 PM

So... call me alarmist or whatever, are we still going to have allies (that aren't dictatorships) by 2020?

Cuz with the way Trump has been shitting on everyone we're supposed to be allied with and everything he'll undoubtedly be pulling between now and then, I'm finding it hard to believe they'll want anything to do with us even if we do flip the House (and possibly Senate) and elect a Dem president.

i'm tired, my friend
Wyldchyld (Old as dirt)
#247925: Jun 29th 2018 at 7:38:37 PM

The irony is that if Trump does take the US out of the WTO, the sole reason for why Iran isn't a WTO member will be eliminated. Iran has spent the past sixteen years trying to join the WTO but keeps being vetoed by the US.

If the US leaves, the dominant power in the WTO will be the EU bloc. It has become increasingly difficult for new members to join the WTO in recent years as the EU and US has diverged more and more over what pre-requisites they expect potential members to achieve. With the US gone, the EU will be calling the shots on what it expects from current and new members. I mention this solely because of the irony facing the hard Brexiteers, who want a no-deal Brexit so that the UK defaults to WTO rules: if the US leaves the WTO then the UK will be beholden to the requirements of the remaining WTO power — in other words, crashing out of the EU and reverting to US-free WTO rules will leave the UK beholden to.... EU rules.

It's like a decade of austerity has made everyone take a crazy pill, and it's having different side-effects depending on how fast-acting it is.

[up]Oh, don't worry. The current UK government and hard Brexiteers are determined to follow Trump wherever he leads, no matter how badly he treats them.... but I'm not sure that's the kind of ally you're hoping for.

Edited by Wyldchyld on Jun 29th 2018 at 3:46:54 PM

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.

Total posts: 417,856
Top