The State of Global Politics Today

[Shoblongoo]

New piece out today from FreedomHouse.  Most accurate + concise summary of global politics I've seen to date. Excellent work and definitely worth a read:

https://freedomhouse.org/report/free...acy-in-retreat

..basic overview for those who don't want to read the whole thing...

CONCLUSION:   "Democracy in Retreat"
"In 2018, Freedom in the World recorded the 13th consecutive year of decline in global freedom. The reversal has spanned a variety of countries in every region, from long-standing democracies like the United States to consolidated authoritarian regimes like China and Russia. The overall losses are still shallow compared with the gains of the late 20th century, but the pattern is consistent and ominous. Democracy is in retreat.

 

THE WAVE OF DEMOCRATIZATION ROLLS BACK
"The reversals may be a result of the euphoric expansion of the 1990s and early 2000s. As that momentum has worn off, many countries have struggled to accommodate the political swings and contentious debates intrinsic to democracy. Rapidly erected democratic institutions have come under sustained attack in nations that remain economically fragile or are still riven by deep-seated class or ethnic conflicts. Of the 23 countries that suffered a negative status change over the past 13 years (moving from Free to Partly Free, or Partly Free to Not Free), almost two-thirds (61 percent) had earned a positive status change after 1988."

AN EBB TIDE IN ESTABLISHED DEMOCRACIES
"The crisis is linked to a changing balance of power at the global level (i.e. the rise of India and China and reorienting of global power towards East Asia) ...These developments have contributed to increasing anger and anxiety in Europe and the United States over economic inequality and loss of personal status. The center of the political spectrum, which dominated politics in the established democracies as the changes unfolded, failed to adequately address the disruption and dislocation they caused. This created political opportunities for new competitors on the left and right, who were able to cast existing elites as complicit in or benefiting from the erosion of citizens’ living standards and national traditions."

"So far it has been antiliberal populist movements of the far right—those that emphasize national sovereignty, are hostile to immigration, and reject constitutional checks on the will of the majority—that have been most effective at seizing the open political space."

"These movements damage democracies internally through their dismissive attitude toward core civil and political rights, and they weaken the cause of democracy around the world with their unilateralist reflexes."

ATTACKS ON DEMOCRACY IN THE UNITED STATES

"The great challenges facing US democracy did not commence with the inauguration of President Donald Trump. Intensifying political polarization, declining economic mobility, the outsized influence of special interests, and the diminished influence of fact-based reporting in favor of bellicose partisan media were all problems afflicting the health of American democracy well before 2017."

"At the midpoint of his term, however, there remains little question that President Trump exerts an influence on American politics that is straining our core values and testing the stability of our constitutional system. No president in living memory has shown less respect for its tenets, norms, and principles. Trump has assailed essential institutions and traditions including the separation of powers, a free press, an independent judiciary, the impartial delivery of justice, safeguards against corruption, and most disturbingly, the legitimacy of elections. Congress, a coequal branch of government, has too frequently failed to push back against these attacks with meaningful oversight and other defenses."

"The president’s rhetoric is echoed in countries with weaker defenses against attacks on their democratic institutions, where the violation of norms is often followed by systemic changes that intensify repression and entrench authoritarian governance. For example, Cambodian strongman Hun Sen consolidated one-party rule in sham elections last summer after banning the main opposition party and shutting down independent media. He acknowledged that he and President Trump shared a point of view about journalists, saying, “Donald Trump understands they are an anarchic group.” Poland’s president, whose party has sought to annihilate judicial independence and assert control over the press, similarly thanked Trump for fighting “fake news.”

"As the United States ceases its global advocacy of freedom and justice, and the president casts doubt on the importance of basic democratic values for our own society, more nations turn to China, a rising alternative to US leadership. The Chinese Communist Party has welcomed this trend, offering its authoritarian system as a model for developing nations."

____________________

Much, much more in the link that I didn't hit upon for the sake of not making this post too insanely long. Very informative piece. Highly recommend reading in full.
Questions for Discussion
1) Do you agree or disagree with this summary of the state of global politics in 2019?

2) If you disagree: what do you think this piece got wrong and whats your alternative read on the situation?

3) If you agree: do you think this lurch away from Democracy is temporary, short-cycle development and something that's going to reverse in the next decade or so? Or do you anticipate this is going to be a more long-term, far-reaching historical development and that the era of "democratic norms" is drawing to a close?

Edited November 27, 2019 by Parrhesia

[Azure the Scale Tipper]

Can I bring one more discussion question here? Because I want he question of what we do to help answered. Especially since we have 2020 looming over us as we speaking. At least, I can feel it.

[Etrurian emperor]

Yeah I'd say democracy is in retreat. We already got eastern Europe falling back into pseudo dictatorships with their peers in western European countries having been strong political forces for a while now. And with the current nonsense in France Macron might not be elected which could lead to Le Pen getting elected. President Le Pen could then kill off the EU and European countries will have to bow down quite deeply to countries that don't exactly like democracy. 

In the new world things aren't much better. Trump may be a nitwit but his populist successor might not be. One day America might have a demagogue with the base rallying skills of Trump but without his incompetence. Have fun with that. 

And a little down south Brazil elected someone who's openly nostalgic about dictatorship and torture. How nice

And we got plenty of countries with similar situation. Turkey seems to degrade into a mess akin to their middle eastern neighbors, we got the Philippines and the trend likely isn't stopping anytime soon. 

[Shoblongoo]

9 minutes ago, Azure the Scale Tipper said:

Can I bring one more discussion question here? Because I want he question of what we do to help answered. Especially since we have 2020 looming over us as we speaking. At least, I can feel it.

I thought about asking that and didn't because if the article is true, then "what to do?" is self-evident. 

You oppose antiliberal populist movements at every turn. 
 

[Tryhard]

at first I thought the whole 13th year of declining freedom was a little strange because I honestly thought that despite bad current events the world was still overall improving with time as we have throughout human history

but then I remember all the Patriot Act and all that other nonsense and perhaps I realised I was mistaken.

as shitshow as the events of brexit are and teresa may wanting to ban porn or some dumb shit, we still rank highly in terms of personal freedom according to this source surprisingly.

[Shoblongoo]

5 minutes ago, Tryhard said:

at first I thought the whole 13th year of declining freedom was a little strange because I honestly thought that despite bad current events the world was still overall improving with time as we have throughout human history

but then I remember all the Patriot Act and all that other nonsense and perhaps I realised I was mistaken.

as shitshow as the events of brexit are and teresa may wanting to ban porn or some dumb shit, we still rank highly in terms of personal freedom according to this source surprisingly.

In the long arc of history--it is.

More people are more prosperous and more humane today then they were 50 years ago.

More people were more prosperous and more humane 50 years ago then they were 100 years ago.

More people were more prosperous and more humane 100 years ago then they were 500 years ago.

...and so on and so forth...

Which is why I pose a question: should we really be afraid this is the end of an era and the beginning of a long-term Age of Regression? Or is this just a short-cycle backswing thats going to be reversed in 10 or 20 years by the next generation? (pure speculation, of course, but we can look to historical trends and context for some clues)

 

Edited February 5, 2019 by Shoblongoo

[Azure the Scale Tipper]

8 minutes ago, Shoblongoo said:

I thought about asking that and didn't because if the article is true, then "what to do?" is self-evident. 

You oppose antiliberal populist movements at every turn. 
 

Well, be sure to know that I will, and I will come to you if I have any other thoughts, questions, or insight.

[Tryhard]

20 minutes ago, Shoblongoo said:

Which is why I pose a question: should we really be afraid this is the end of an era and the beginning of a long-term Age of Regression? Or is this just a short-cycle backswing thats going to be reversed in 10 or 20 years by the next generation? (pure speculation, of course, but we can look to historical trends and context for some clues)

The pendulum will always swing. Think about how you could barely find any Conservatives that weren't opposed to gay marriage, or homosexuality in general in the past. There are still those that argue against it, but they are routinely dismissed and now the rest have realised that the prior position is indefensible (funnily enough, elected Republican still go on this even when it becomes less popular). Think about how many Conservatives in the US supported Bush and then pretended that they didn't when Iraq and Afghanistan became horror stories and he crashed the economy.

I consider it inevitable that marijuana legislation and acknowledging transgender peoples existences, etc etc. will become indefensible positions in the same way in future. In some ways, the former is very much mainstream now. Perhaps even that small one-issue voter thing known as abortion.

While things look bleak right now - and that's the time when the far-right fester best, I believe it will become evident how shit they are when people see what they really believe.

Edited February 5, 2019 by Tryhard

[Johann]

I agree with the article's presentation of the situation, and I think it's a temporary situation since there's always going to be a mounting criticism to this sort of unsustainable power structure. Some parts of the world, particularly those with volatile economies and fragile governments, are going to have a much more intense and prolonged struggle, I think.

Side note @Shoblongoo I was thinking of making a thread for showcasing and discussing leftist Youtuber works, which are often created in critical response to the alt-right movement and their videos, or otherwise making a case for left-aligned positions. Whatcha think?

[Zapp Branniglenn]

I've been participating in elections for six year now and it will be eight in 2020, but one thing I've always feared is partisan politics. It should be no secret at this point that the western world has become more polarized in political spectrums. They draw maps of red and blue states the way we drew maps of Europe 50-70 years ago to illustrate the Iron Curtain. It's sensationalist and petty to treat the world as "Us versus them" at every turn and I think if I always vote in line with the democratic side I am engaging in this hateful view of the world. Of course I'm not so naive as to think my votes ought to go toward third party options - it's a crapshoot in this current political climate and indeed in our two-party system (a system that ought to be maintained, not destroyed, in my opinion). That's why I always support moderate candidates where possible because they stress bi-partisan cooperation and policy making. I'm just worried our party will nominate somebody that isn't as moderate as Hilary Clinton or even Obama. This country doesn't need more shocks to the system as "reprisal" for its populist movements and I suspect the same case can be made for other democratic nations in 2019. Stop worrying about who your enemies are, worry about how to clean up the mess. Especially since 2020 is such an important election year not just for the White House but for Congressional elections and redistricting.

Edited February 5, 2019 by Glennstavos

[Time the Crestfallen]

Yeah, Global Politics is in pretty dire straits right now. However, generally speaking I see it as the last dying gasp of a certain kind of politics that is fading into irrelevancy. Obviously some countries are going to have a longer, more painful time of it than others but I still think that overall the world is trending towards things that people with these beliefs don't like and it terrifies them.

Trump and Brexit are the go-to examples for me; both cruising into relevance on the backs of right-wing populism largely fuelled on xenophobia and a desire to return to some idyllic, prelapsarian time where everything was perfect and to the supporters of these things the world seemed to be their oyster, and over the course of their lifespans both have been catastrophic failures that can only be supported if you live in an entirely separate reality where statistics and facts don't matter.

[Jotari]

You know, all things considered, I think the 2010s might be the most boring decade of history in the history of, well history. Think about, all over the world, what really happened. Bit of trouble in the middle east (nothing new there), North Korea got nukes, Brexit, Russia did some seizing of Crimea (which actually didn't end up being all that eventful) and that's it. Not to trivialize all that, but compared to other decades it's been rather uneventful really. Maybe freedoms dying just because less is happening.

[eclipse]

. . .I can't even read the first post.

[XRay]

On 2/5/2019 at 9:17 AM, Shoblongoo said:

1) Do you agree or disagree with this summary of the state of global politics in 2019?

I agree for the most part, with some nitpicks.

On 2/5/2019 at 9:17 AM, Shoblongoo said:

2) If you disagree: what do you think this piece got wrong and whats your alternative read on the situation?

"It is in keeping with our mission, and given the irreplaceable role of the United States as a champion of global freedom, it is a priority we cannot afford to ignore."

Labeling ourselves as THE champion of freedom is nice and all, but it sounds self-patronizing and more importantly it feels so heavy for one nation to bear. What about Europe? Why are they not co-champions like peanut butter to our jelly? I know it is easier said than done, but just drop the national sovereignty of each country already and unify into a single state to help us spread freedom and democracy. A centralized Europe Union will be able to more effectively combat authoritarian trends than a patchwork of separate states.

Hell, it would be even nicer if we can just combine into one peanut-butter and jelly sandwich and invite other democracies to merge with us. A leader cannot fuck up NATO if NATO is one nation.

"The resulting damage to the liberal international order—a system of alliances, norms, and institutions built up under Trump’s predecessors to ensure peace and prosperity after World War II—will not be easily repaired after he leaves office."

Maybe I am just a little more optimistic in this regard, while I agree that the damage to liberal international order is not easily repaired, I have faith that the order is strong enough to endure stuff like this and it feels like this sentence paints a more dire situation than it is. From how I see it, the far right in the United States is a dying animal scoring its last strike. Once Texas turns blue in about maybe 20 years or so, I think the United States will be in a much better position to confront authoritarian governments.

On 2/5/2019 at 9:17 AM, Shoblongoo said:

3) If you agree: do you think this lurch away from Democracy is temporary, short-cycle development and something that's going to reverse in the next decade or so? Or do you anticipate this is going to be a more long-term, far-reaching historical development and that the era of "democratic norms" is drawing to a close?

On 2/5/2019 at 11:00 AM, Shoblongoo said:

Which is why I pose a question: should we really be afraid this is the end of an era and the beginning of a long-term Age of Regression? Or is this just a short-cycle backswing thats going to be reversed in 10 or 20 years by the next generation? (pure speculation, of course, but we can look to historical trends and context for some clues)

In the long term view, this seems temporary.

In the short term, while I think countries with developed economies would be fine, I feel less confident about developing countries since their democratic institutions do not seem as robust. I am not too worried about NATO falling apart, but I am worried about nations like Brazil descending into dictatorship. Even though Poland's situation looks dire, I think Poland and our close allies in general will eventually pull through.

On 2/5/2019 at 10:42 AM, liamloetzwright@gmail.com said:

Can I bring one more discussion question here? Because I want he question of what we do to help answered. Especially since we have 2020 looming over us as we speaking. At least, I can feel it.

23 hours ago, Shoblongoo said:

I thought about asking that and didn't because if the article is true, then "what to do?" is self-evident. 

You oppose antiliberal populist movements at every turn. 
 

While it seems obvious, I think it helps to iterate what specific things we should do. I think putting it into words and being specific makes us more likely to achieve our goals.

I am going to start with something simple, like voting. Midterms are over, but there might be smaller annual voting ballots for more local stuff. Talk to your friends and family about voting too. If you have the energy and time, sit them down to research and vote together. And this is not just limited to government stuff either. If you are lucky to be a stockholder, see if you have any voting rights and vote on corporate policy! If you are blessed with kids, join the PTA and make your voice heard. Remember the CYL event from Heroes we were all hyped about? If you play other gacha games, bug their developers to include some kind of voting too! The more we spread democratic practices and the more we practice it in daily life, the more engaged we will be when more serious stuff comes up.

Other than voting, I guess it helps to fact check your sources and correct your friends and family if you hear them say something questionable. Fact checking is not hard either since you can rely on sites like politifact.com and factcheck.org.

23 hours ago, Johann said:

Some parts of the world, particularly those with volatile economies and fragile governments, are going to have a much more intense and prolonged struggle, I think.

22 hours ago, Time the Crestfallen said:

Yeah, Global Politics is in pretty dire straits right now. However, generally speaking I see it as the last dying gasp of a certain kind of politics that is fading into irrelevancy. Obviously some countries are going to have a longer, more painful time of it than others but I still think that overall the world is trending towards things that people with these beliefs don't like and it terrifies them.

Yeah, while I am not too worried about the people already living in developed countries, I am a lot more concerned about people in developing countries.

[Shoblongoo]

5 hours ago, Jotari said:

You know, all things considered, I think the 2010s might be the most boring decade of history in the history of, well history. Think about, all over the world, what really happened. Bit of trouble in the middle east (nothing new there), North Korea got nukes, Brexit, Russia did some seizing of Crimea (which actually didn't end up being all that eventful) and that's it. Not to trivialize all that, but compared to other decades it's been rather uneventful really. Maybe freedoms dying just because less is happening.

...I would describe the past 10 years as anything but boring...

We are living in consequential times my friend.

On 2/5/2019 at 2:10 PM, Tryhard said:

The pendulum will always swing. Think about how you could barely find any Conservatives that weren't opposed to gay marriage, or homosexuality in general in the past. There are still those that argue against it, but they are routinely dismissed and now the rest have realised that the prior position is indefensible (funnily enough, elected Republican still go on this even when it becomes less popular). Think about how many Conservatives in the US supported Bush and then pretended that they didn't when Iraq and Afghanistan became horror stories and he crashed the economy.

I consider it inevitable that marijuana legislation and acknowledging transgender peoples existences, etc etc. will become indefensible positions in the same way in future. In some ways, the former is very much mainstream now. Perhaps even that small one-issue voter thing known as abortion.

While things look bleak right now - and that's the time when the far-right fester best, I believe it will become evident how shit they are when people see what they really believe.

It does--but it swings in short cycles and long cycles.

Progressive reform vs. Conservative Stagnation???

...yeah...thats something that seems to go back-and-forth every 20 years or so...I've talked about that before...

Reorientation of the global-balance-of-power around a new hegemon???

Thatssssss something that takes a lot longer to cycle out;  i.e.

16th Century = The Age of Spanish Hegemony
18th Century = The Age of British Hegemony
20th Century = The Age of American Hegemony 
____________

I think we're living right now at the intersection of two historic upheavals.

One is that ~20 year, short cycle swing between progressive reform and conservative stagnation: the 1990s and the 2000s were a period of monumental liberalization. The internet and wireless communication became a thing. Global interconnectedness rose to unprecedented levels; globalism and multinationalism became the new entrenched norm. Nationalism waned. Porn went mainstream--social attitudes towards sex and obscenity and alternative lifestyles softened.  Church influence waned. Racism and homophobia became dirty words. 

...and now we're on the backswing with the reaction to all those changes...old forces previously sent into retreat are reasserting themselves and staking out their turf again... 

That's one element of it.  We're seeing a bit of that everywhere: its universal blowback against the rapid globalization of the prior 2 decades, and the social anxieties of displacement and loss-of-culture born therefrom.

That should be going away soon.

But then at the same time this is going on you have the long cycle: the steady sense for decades now that America is a superpower in decline. The rise of other powers. The accelerated decline under Trump, and the reorienting of world influence around powers that shun the 20th century development model of free elections and open markets and democratic institutions + present  a more command-and-control authoritarian path forward for developing nations.

...And at the intersection of the short-cycle backswing carrying established democracies to a more withdrawn, isolationist place while a new authoritarian model is on the rise...  

Thats where I'm not sure if we're looking at something that goes away in a few years, or the new norm of the 21st century.

17 minutes ago, XRay said:

"It is in keeping with our mission, and given the irreplaceable role of the United States as a champion of global freedom, it is a priority we cannot afford to ignore."

Labeling ourselves as THE champion of freedom is nice and all, but it sounds self-patronizing and more importantly it feels so heavy for one nation to bear.

I think they mean that in the sense that America is and for the past 100 years or so has been the hegemon. 

THE premier superpower who's power and influence sets the general direction of world events.

When America ceases being the hegemon, there would be a new premier superpower who's power and influence sets the general direction of world events.

If there is a replacement power waiting in the wings that would promulgate roughly the same international norms, this is of small consequence.

If, however, the presumed replacement power would promulgate new norms that would radically alter established international norms in favor of global freedom, then America's role as "champion of global freedom" is, in the most literal sense of the word, irreplaceable.

It being the case that the next presumed hegemon when American hegemony fails is China,  I believe the term "irreplaceable champion of global freedom" is used correctly here. 

 

On 2/5/2019 at 4:03 PM, Johann said:

Side note @Shoblongoo I was thinking of making a thread for showcasing and discussing leftist Youtuber works, which are often created in critical response to the alt-right movement and their videos, or otherwise making a case for left-aligned positions. Whatcha think?

  I think people getting their "information" from youtube channels and internet videos is part of the problem, tbh.


 

Edited February 6, 2019 by Shoblongoo

[ConquestVeteran]

I have to disagree with the article's piece on Trump. He has made some questionable decisions, but it's quite clear that he does have our nation's best interests at heart, and isn't the corrupt scumbag that the Democratic Party makes him out to be.

[XRay]

48 minutes ago, Shoblongoo said:

It being the case that the next presumed hegemon when American hegemony fails is China,  I believe the term "irreplaceable champion of global freedom" is used correctly here. 

That is what I fear the most. I would not really mind Europe, India, or Brazil surpassing the United States, but China would be utterly unacceptable. The only current policy I can agree with Trump on is his trade war against China, but I feel sorely disappointed when he managed to fail even that front by delaying the tariff hikes. If anything the tariffs should be higher and automatically adjusted to match how much they devalue their currency. As a nation, I think we can handle the trade disruption and downturns much better than they can.

If Trump really wants to heal the divide in this country over night, I think the best course of action is to recognize Taiwan and declare a resumption of the Cold War against communism. Nothing unifies a people more than a common enemy.

Edited February 6, 2019 by XRay

[Etrurian emperor]

47 minutes ago, ConquestVeteran said:

I have to disagree with the article's piece on Trump. He has made some questionable decisions, but it's quite clear that he does have our nation's best interests at heart, and isn't the corrupt scumbag that the Democratic Party makes him out to be.

Can you elaborate on that? I recall Trump already having a shady history long before he ran for president. Trying to alienate America from its allies right before America has to defend its hegemony against China doesn't really seem like having the nation's best interest at heart. Being a populist makes it even less likely as their entire trick hinges on buying their way to power at the cost of the national interest. 

Edited February 6, 2019 by Etrurian emperor

[ConquestVeteran]

9 minutes ago, Etrurian emperor said:

Can you elaborate on that? I recall Trump already having a shady history long before he ran for president. Trying to alienate America from its allies right before America has to defend its hegemony against China doesn't really seem like having the best interest at heart. Being a populist makes it even less likely as their entire trick hinges on buying their way to power at the cost of the national interest. 

Trump has done a lot of good for our country and for other countries. He's managed to establish talks with Kim Jong-un, something that hasn't (to my knowledge) occurred in any of our recent presidencies. He's created jobs for hundreds of thousands of Americans. He's made it clear that he values our security as a nation, and has been taking great steps to make sure that illegals aren't stealing our jobs, and are kept out of our country. 

That's just my view on the president. If I've made any factual errors, please correct me.

Edited February 6, 2019 by ConquestVeteran

[eclipse]

1 hour ago, ConquestVeteran said:

He's created jobs for hundreds of thousands of Americans. He's made it clear that he values our security as a nation, and has been taking great steps to make sure that illegals aren't stealing our jobs, and are kept out of our country.

Can you source this?

(don't know enough about N. Korea to say whether this is true or false, nor am I interested enough to look it up)

[Johann]

3 hours ago, Shoblongoo said:

I think people getting their "information" from youtube channels and internet videos is part of the problem, tbh.

I totally understand why you'd think that given how bad the conservative side is, and that Youtube isn't necessarily vetted for quality. Yet, there are some stand-out creators on Youtube who have produced incredibly well-researched videos that provide better analysis, insight, and critique than most articles in major publications.

[Dr. Tarrasque]

3 hours ago, ConquestVeteran said:

Trump has done a lot of good for our country and for other countries. He's managed to establish talks with Kim Jong-un, something that hasn't (to my knowledge) occurred in any of our recent presidencies.

That Obama wished to do as well but everyone on the right and the establishment in general were just ready to vilify him at every turn for it. No matter how much progress Trump or Pompeo say they've been making with North Korea, the intelligence agencies all run by Trump appointees will contradict him if it's a lie because it sure as hell is

 

3 hours ago, ConquestVeteran said:

He's created jobs for hundreds of thousands of Americans.

While true, the majority of it is as a result the economy he inherited from Obama as the guy's only been in power for 2 years and it hasn't been that much time to truly see the effects of his policies plus, barring the recent 300k, his numbers have been lower than Obama on his way out which is more indicative of how less effective he is for the country and further backs up the notion that he's just riding the Obama economy. The 300k number is rather interesting as it defies expectations but it'd probably best for analysts to look into the matter and see how this ended up happening. Nevertheless, good for the country. 

What we do know though is that he's walking the same path as W Bush in terms of economic policies like lowering taxes on the rich. Another thing we do know is that he's fucked the middle class and now they have to pay more taxes because several exemptions they used are now gone or more difficult to obtain. 

 

3 hours ago, ConquestVeteran said:

He's made it clear that he values our security as a nation

No he hasn't, he's most likely done the opposite. He's empowered white supremacists, lunatic bigots and right extremists so effectively that apparently, right-wingers were the ones that committed every 2018 extremist murder, nothing's been done about gun control so we're pretty much still averaging mass shootings at a rate of 1 per day each year (not too long ago there was 6 cases in the span of 4 days that mainstream media didn't cover), it isn't difficult to find news of his supporters assaulting people who are just going about their day like Jussie Smollett and the "MAGA COUNTRY" incident, a 91-year-old man who's here legally beaten to near death and several of the mass shooters or people who intended to kill others that were reported on the news were Trump supporters/right-wing:

On 10/24/2018 at 5:45 PM, Dr. Tarrasque said:

Personally, I'm not surprised in the slightest if it is a Trump fan that's behind this. It's literally what the orange turd has been fostering throughout his presidency. The parkland shooter was a trump fan, Gazette shooter was a Trump fan, Santa Fe shooter was a Trump fan, Austin bomber appeared to be right-wing, right-wing terrorism has been surging under Trump.

What Trump has truly done is appealed to bigots and racists in the country who suddenly think that now that Obama's gone and Trump is in charge, they can go out and act like non-whites are lesser beings while right-wing nuts will immediately think that any terrorist act done by a white individual is just something fake or staged like the Las Vegas shooter. It isn't difficult to pull up cases where Trump supporters have gotten arrested for their bigotry these days.

Not to mention the blunders he's made regarding Puerto Rico like taking money that was allocated to be spent for relief there and re-allocating it to ICE, something that we don't need and a haven for rapists.

Then's there the shutdown that went on for a month that was causing problems for investigations and a recent report from his own administration that doesn't even mention the wall as necessary

It's also safe to say he's empowering dictators affecting the politics of other countries by acting as an example of how horrible Democratic elections can be when you have a party like today's GOP in control.

3 hours ago, ConquestVeteran said:

and has been taking great steps to make sure that illegals aren't stealing our jobs, and are kept out of our country. 

That's just my view on the president. If I've made any factual errors, please correct me.

No he hasn't. He is among the rich folks who hire undocumented workers and falsify documents to keep them. His properties have only recently started firing undocumented workers because he's been caught and that makes him look bad with his base. He's been hurting small businesses with his changes to LEGAL immigration and the policy he made to separate kids from their parents at the border was nothing but a monstrous abuse of executive power as he's essentially kidnapping children of people who are seeking asylum when they're able to do so at the border. The administration had a court order to return those kids back to their parents, there's still many that haven't been returned and the administration is essentially saying they're no longer interested because they view it as impossible. Additionally, illegal immigrants end up taking jobs that Americans don't want but you don't have to take that from me, hear it from Trump supporters who voted for him. The a lot of the illegal immigration in the country are actually people that come in legally but just overstay their visas. They still pay taxes (probably more than Trump percentage-wise) and chip in to Social Security and Medicare while being unable to reap benefits of citizenship.

Your view of this orange turd appears to be grounded in a fantasy. You should consider looking at different sources for information but you're also free to continue being fooled by this conman.

 

Edited February 7, 2019 by Dr. Tarrasque

[Tryhard]

I probably shouldn't even but.

4 hours ago, ConquestVeteran said:

 He's created jobs for hundreds of thousands of Americans.

You could say this about any US president, and in fact in terms of pure job creation statistics, aside from like George Dubya, Trump ranks pretty poorly in terms of % increase.

If we wanted to praise a president for job creation, then we would have to say Bill Clinton was the best. And I don't even like Bill Clinton.

Also let's keep in mind that the number of outsourced jobs for his first two years for Trump is higher than the average of outsourced jobs under Obama despite Trump routinely stating he was against outsourcing deals. More jobs are being outsourced under his presidency - those jobs aren't going to American workers.

https://inhomelandsecurity.com/outsourcing-trump-administration/

4 hours ago, ConquestVeteran said:

He's made it clear that he values our security as a nation, and has been taking great steps to make sure that illegals aren't stealing our jobs, and are kept out of our country. 

He's a guy that's employed illegal immigrants himself as already stated. If Trump really wanted to stop this fear that people have of illegal immigrants 'stealing' jobs then he would crack down on the corporations and businesses that employ illegal immigrants on purpose. But he's not going to do that, because it isn't actually about fixing the so-called problem that he has, it's about having a scapegoat. Most sources report a net loss of illegal immigrants back to Mexico as opposed to years under Dubya. Let's also keep in mind that Obama was no slouch in deporting illegal immigrants as well. Actually, as figures stand Obama has deported more people than Trump if you want to tout that as some sort of badge.

https://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2017/apr/26/ron-kind/yes-experiencing-net-outflow-illegal-undocumented-/

That, and he's been huffing and puffing about this wall that he had two full years to get funding for under Republican dominance that Mexico was going to pay for anyway. And yet he could not do it, and now is framing it to blame the Democrats somehow. I think a wall is ineffective and pointless but if this was something he was actually trying to do from his own point of view don't you think he would show more urgency?

This is without going into the whole 'security' thing or arguing if illegal immigrants are still beneficial for the US economy or not. For the former, illegal immigrants are less likely to commit crimes compared to the general US population. If you want to reduce the US violent crime rate, you might have to look elsewhere, and it may not be pleasant. So I'm unsure what security we are talking about, or if this is referring to something else.

 

I'll give Trump credit if he pulls troops out of Syria and Afghanistan and actually means it. But I don't think he actually will. He's got John Bolton as national security advisor.

Edited February 7, 2019 by Tryhard

[Jotari]

6 hours ago, Shoblongoo said:

...I would describe the past 10 years as anything but boring...

We are living in consequential times my friend.
 

Yeah but we've always been living in consequential times. I'm talking relatively speaking, that being said I do think things could absolutely blow up in the next decade with something major happening that was set up this decade. But this decade alone (at least so far) seems like there's less to it than previously.

5 hours ago, XRay said:

If Trump really wants to heal the divide in this country over night, I think the best course of action is to recognize Taiwan and declare a resumption of the Cold War against communism. Nothing unifies a people more than a common enemy.

He's kind of done that already by pulling out of the missile treaty with Russia, granted not a cold war against communism, but one of the main things that ended the tension of the Cold War has just been nullified.

Edited February 7, 2019 by Jotari

[XRay]

8 minutes ago, Jotari said:

He's kind of done that already by pulling out of the missile treaty with Russia, granted not a cold war against communism, but one of the main things that ended the tension of the Cold War has just been nullified.

Yeah, but that was a move that lawmakers forced him to do. If he actually supported it, I imagine he would be boasting about it a lot more and throw insults at Putin instead of being pretty mum about it.