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General politics thread (was: General U.S. politics thread)
Comments
Oh, any by the way. Let's stop talking about the minutiae of silly political infighting, some people have real problems. Ones that actually are brought up in press an ocean away.
http://www.mercurynews.com/animal-life/ci_29197607/warning-issued-after-squirrel-attacks-8-people-novato?source=pkg
http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2015/12/13/1413566/-The-Voting-Rights-Act-at-50-Seven-reforms-to-protect-and-expand-voting-rights
>assuming minorities will vote progressive
I agree with you. The $20 fee isn't really necessary -- people already understand voting as a civic duty and an important thing.
The main barrier to voting is lack of convenience, not lack of desire.
Prepaid return envelope delivered with ballot by mail will be a major step in the right direction.
@ obnoxious clods being jerks to other people
Also, someone should have pried the literal physical copies of Bjerke's documents from his warm, iving hands. Then placed the Constitution on a table, calmly. And placed the New Testament on another table, again calmly.
Then taken out copies of various versions of the Bible, and the Book of Mormon, and the Quran, and various other religious texts, and them placed them side by side next to Bjerke's copy of the New Testament.
And said, "This is how it should be."
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/armed-pathetic-and-hungry-how-the-oregon-militants-revolutionary-plan-went-sideways-20160105
http://deadstate.org/oregon-militiamen-turn-on-each-other-as-member-blows-groups-donations-on-booze-at-a-bar/
Seems to me that said feds gave a quantity of fucks that is fewer than the temperature in Fahrenheit. Possibly Celsius.
The internet turns out to be an excellent source for really shitty puns.
Wrong ways:
* I am focused on serving in my capacity as [current position].
* I am not currently interested in running.
* I am not running.
* "The polling was amazing, but we came to the conclusion that we're just not seeing the money to do it."
* I don't think I'll run.
* I'm not interested in running.
* I have no plans to run.
* etc.
Right way:
* I don't want to run, I really don't want to run, and if you stick me on the ballot I will find every way I can to take myself off the ballot just so that I don't win, fuck you, go fuck off.
undertale's sans and john mccain look alike
wth is going on with your primaries murica
the popcorn industry is especially pleased with their offerings this year
Republican debates in a nutshell
(also, Robotnik, who "loves this show", is a Trump voter.)
Imagine that the United States runs on a train system. This is a metaphor for several things rolled into one, but bear with me.
This train system, as of right now, is an institution. It is something that many people use. However, it is also not working very well, or at least people feel it isn't working very well. The trains don't run on time, there aren't enough trains, and for some people, the fares seem to be rather expensive and possibly rising too. As a result, people regularly complain about the system, and some people are questioning the fundamentals of the system itself, and whether we should have one at all.
On the Democratic side:
Enter Hillary Clinton. She pledges to fix the system, to make it work more efficiently, to operate more trains, to improve their timeliness. She may very well be able to do at least some of these things, but the problem is, these aren't new complaints, and people are getting fed up with it. She and people like her are able to fix some of these things, but the progress is slow and boring.
Enter Bernie Sanders. He says that the system is run corruptly and/or generally mismanaged, and in ways that don't serve the people. He promises to thoroughly reform the system to put the people's needs first, rather than the needs of the system's owners/leadership.
Meanwhile, the Republican establishment started by recognizing that the system needs to be fixed. The trains need to run on time and there need to be more trains and the fares need to come down, yes. But they, too, quickly discovered that progress is slow and boring.
Somewhere along the way, some Republicans came up with the crazy idea that it might be a better idea to get rid of the system altogether. And then some other Republicans realized this could be a useful campaigning tool. So then Republicans started campaign on the basis that the system is itself a problem. People complained about the system, and Republicans have responded by saying that the system is the problem itself -- life was better before the system was in place, and there are various people taking advantage of the system nowadays, either for personal gain or for malice against the rest of us. So their argument is that the best idea is to get rid of it.
Now the problem is that people actually find this system very useful, for entirely mundane and practical reasons, so the talk about getting rid of the system ends up being largely just talk, to appeal to the people who are really pissed at the system, validating their anger and encouraging it. At the end of the day, when it comes to making policy, they can't get rid of the system, because people actually find it useful and regularly use it in their lives. Moderate Republicans know this. Savvy Republicans do the moderate position while maintaining the rhetoric of campaigning against the system itself.
Problem is, those angry people, they weren't told that their anger was misplaced and they should prefer reform rather than scrapping. They were told that their anger was well-founded and valid, and the system should be scrapped anyway. And they're not going away.
Enter extreme Republicans such as the Tea Partiers. Rather than seeing opposition to the system as just a campaigning idea, they actually believe it's a good policy idea. The complaints and anger have gone on long enough that they feel they need to upend the system to get some substantial change. Because they actually believe their campaign rhetoric, they're better at appealing to the angry people. The angry people are further validated, so they continue and further increase their anger, channeled toward opposing the system by their politician allies. The more they perceive politicians as being two-faced jerks who appease their anger with token changes and then keep the system in place, the angrier they become. And the angrier they become, the more justified they feel they are in their anger, as well as the more desperate they feel. There is a vicious cycle that occurs here, where their politicians further validate these opinions by letting them fester and campaigning on them. But there is one thread of practicality -- albeit one that is becoming thinner as the years go by -- in this which is that there is still a recognition that this system needs to continue to exist because there are other people who depend on and make use of it for their entirely legitimate day-to-day purposes.
Enter Donald Trump. He does not care about the system at all. What does he say? He says we should completely scrap the system. He does not hesitate at all when he speaks of destroying the system. He says he will make something better to take its place.
The people who have been so angry at the system look to him, and see that he is validating their anger without reservation at all, unlike other politicians. They call him a truth-teller and bluntly honest because of this. He seems more genuine, because in a way, he is more genuine -- he only cares to fan the flames.
Everyone else looks on in horror as Trump speaks of policy goals that involve destroying the system altogether -- the system that these people make use of and depend on for their lives.
The truly principled ones recognize Trump as being a pied piper. They see that he has little intention to actually fix anything, and does not mind destroying everything. But his supporters are too consumed by anger to realize this.
So here's the lay of the land right now:
* Clinton: "Let's fix the system.
* Sanders: "Let's fix the system really thoroughly."
* Republican establishment: "The system sucks, so let's phase it out gently."
* Tea-partiers: "The system sucks, so let's trash it, NOW. Stop being so damn slow and screw you for sabotaging us."
* Trump: "I'm gonna fuck all this shit up real good. Now you watch me do it."
well i'm pretty sure it's america's own fault for coming up with this whole "genuine seeming person"="this is the kind of politician anyone at all wants" nonsenseWhen one is being threatened with violence, the latter seems perfectly reasonable.
Kinda makes me think of Sans from Undertale.