General US Politics

[Lord Raven]

54 minutes ago, Radiant head said:

australia is actually why i don't think compulsory voting would improve things that much.  

though don't think it would put us on route to labor camps lmao 

I mean, when our midterms have 15-30% attendance and our presidential elections have like 50-60% for a massive, multi-faceted nation that's where the issue lies

[Life]

On ‎5‎/‎4‎/‎2017 at 2:32 AM, Lord Raven said:

I mean you were pretty pro-Trump, don't even hide it. You just flip-flop to save face. I can dig up quotes pretty easily that show anywhere from mild approval to major approval, including one where you're sucking him off like you were sucking off Nixon only a few pages ago.

You're confusing "OK, I might actually be able to support this dude" with a full-throated blowjob. You probably meant Reagan, by the way.

Am I never allowed to change my opinion on someone?

On ‎5‎/‎4‎/‎2017 at 6:16 AM, Mortarion said:

To start with, yeah. I remember he did a complete about-face after the whole 'grab'em by the pussy' thing happened and then he became 'never Hillary'. Still extremely pro-Trump before that though.

False. I wanted Fiorina, Cruz and Rand (basically in that order). Nice try, though.

Edited May 6, 2017 by Comrade

[Lord Raven]

52 minutes ago, Comrade said:

You're confusing "OK, I might actually be able to support this dude" with a full-throated blowjob. You probably meant Reagan, by the way.

Am I never allowed to change my opinion on someone?

False. I wanted Fiorina, Cruz and Rand (basically in that order). Nice try, though.

When? I don't remember any of this.

Also, it was definitely close to a full throated blowjob - "I want Trump to win because he's anti-PC in every way, I hate transpeople, I'm sick of being called intolerant, and because he's a middle finger to the establishment."

Or maybe we'd know more if you a) were clear on your stances, b) didn't flip-flop week to week, c) responded to people who respond to you, and d) read what you were responding to most of the time. As far as I know, you blew him like you blew Reagan a few pages ago, and that means you were far beyond "Never Hillary" at many points.

[eclipse]

On 5/4/2017 at 0:43 PM, Slumber said:

I hope this bullshit sends a message to people on the left/people who are in the middle:

Vote, you fuckers. And not just for president.

You already learned how shitty our president can be when you don't vote, now you are learning how shitty the other branches of the government can be.

Every two years. Go vote. Seriously, it takes like, 30 minutes tops.

I did.  It made not a lick of difference - there was no way my state would veer from its party line.

[Time the Crestfallen]

6 hours ago, eclipse said:

I did.  It made not a lick of difference - there was no way my state would veer from its party line.

And what's going to be done about it? People made a big fucking thing over how stupid the electoral college is (which, in it's current form, it absolutely is) and basically don't give a shit any more. It's gets extremely frustrating when rather than doing anything about the US' messed-up election process, 40-50% of the population don't give a shit cause they don't vote, and the other 50-60% just go 'eh, what can you do?' and continue to eat shit.

Edited May 6, 2017 by Mortarion

[eclipse]

1 minute ago, Mortarion said:

And what's going to be done about it? People made a big fucking thing over how stupid the electoral college is (which, in it's current form, it absolutely is) and basically don't give a shit any more. It's gets extremely frustrating when rather than doing anything about the US' messed-up election process, 40-50% of the population don't give a shit cause they don't vote, and the other 50-60% just go 'eh, what can you do?' and continue to eat shit.

It's to show that blaming the individual voters is a bad tactic.  Those that didn't vote aren't going to suddenly feel the weight of their civic responsibility.

[Skynstein]

A bit unrelated, but Marine Le Pen's mission is one of the hardest in the world... Her political platform is closed borders and abandonment of the Euro. In France. No wonder she keeps losing. :D

[Time the Crestfallen]

http://edition.cnn.com/2017/05/04/politics/trump-us-australia-health-care/

Seems strange, considering that Trump's healthcare plan is almost nothing like ours.

EDIT:

@Cerberus87 I just looked it up and nice. Glad she didn't win.

Edited May 8, 2017 by Mortarion

[Skynstein]

28 minutes ago, Mortarion said:

http://edition.cnn.com/2017/05/04/politics/trump-us-australia-health-care/

Seems strange, considering that Trump's healthcare plan is almost nothing like ours.

EDIT:

@Cerberus87 I was under the impression that Le Pen was one of the favourites to win, although I haven't really heard anything about the French election in months.
 

She would make it to the second round but she's never winning because people will vote the other candidate just to make her lose. She'd lose against anyone, even Mélenchon, who is far-left and arguably a similar disaster.

[Phoenix Wright]

On 5/6/2017 at 1:39 AM, eclipse said:

It's to show that blaming the individual voters is a bad tactic.  Those that didn't vote aren't going to suddenly feel the weight of their civic responsibility.

both parties should be blamed, but naturally we need to find the balance of blame such that political efficacy can be restored and that congress feels a fire under their ass. right now we've got maybe 20% of the american populace (probably much lower) that thinks their vote does anything (ie, those that vote in local/county/state elections), which is a disaster for democracy. 

your particular outlook is alarming because it assumes we should absolve voters of all transgressions. this is simply not true. each and every citizen's lack of being informed is an additional way to limit your own power. if people actually cared, things would be far different than they are today. far different. 

of course your (royal you) vote doesn't matter in the general election--it's statistically logical. it's you v. millions of voters. the best way to influence change is locally and letting that ripple out. letting congress know they have a population that is serious about their elections is an invaluable tool. it will improve our situation greater than i think i could ever imagine.

i mean let's be real: if i were a senator, why in the fuck would i care (instead of pretend) what people think if i knew they weren't going to try to do anything to keep me in line? but if my constituents were active at even a local level, i'd think long and hard before i make a decision that works for me and not those i represent. 

[eclipse]

7 hours ago, Phoenix Wright said:

both parties should be blamed, but naturally we need to find the balance of blame such that political efficacy can be restored and that congress feels a fire under their ass. right now we've got maybe 20% of the american populace (probably much lower) that thinks their vote does anything (ie, those that vote in local/county/state elections), which is a disaster for democracy. 

your particular outlook is alarming because it assumes we should absolve voters of all transgressions. this is simply not true. each and every citizen's lack of being informed is an additional way to limit your own power. if people actually cared, things would be far different than they are today. far different. 

of course your (royal you) vote doesn't matter in the general election--it's statistically logical. it's you v. millions of voters. the best way to influence change is locally and letting that ripple out. letting congress know they have a population that is serious about their elections is an invaluable tool. it will improve our situation greater than i think i could ever imagine.

i mean let's be real: if i were a senator, why in the fuck would i care (instead of pretend) what people think if i knew they weren't going to try to do anything to keep me in line? but if my constituents were active at even a local level, i'd think long and hard before i make a decision that works for me and not those i represent. 

I'm looking at it from the point of view of someone that doesn't care.  You don't make people care by berating them.  IMO the best way is to point out HOW the local races affect them.  "Oh, the fire department's blaring their sirens at midnight?  Note the days and times, then let your local representative know!"  If politicians aren't seen as some sort of nebulous "other" that's not a part of their lives, I think people will be more likely to pay attention to what's going on.

[Phoenix Wright]

i was also looking at it from that perspective.

[Etrurian emperor]

Wow...Trump firing James Comey after he sabotaged Clinton mere days before the election to boost Trump sounds incredibly ungrateful of him. I mean, its good to know the man who may have forced the world to endure a Trump presidency is out of a job but with Trump being the one to fire him it sounds kind of tacky. 

[Tryhard]

an innocent person does not fire the person investigating them - as used to justify it before "nothing to hide, nothing to fear", right?

not sure how history will judge Comey but I have a feeling this will bite Trump in the ass

[Zapp Branniglenn]

What a day. The best hot take I've seen of this incident is the Richard Nixon Library tweeting this. Okay United States of Meme-rica, I'll admit you can tell a joke once in a while.

So, do you think Comey would testify as a private citizen with what he found out? I like a good revenge story.

[eclipse]

5 hours ago, Tryhard said:

an innocent person does not fire the person investigating them - as used to justify it before "nothing to hide, nothing to fear", right?

not sure how history will judge Comey but I have a feeling this will bite Trump in the ass

You mean like how every other idiotic move has bitten Trump in the ass so far?

I agree with the sentiment, and hope that you're correct.  Hell, I hope the investigation gets bigger.

[Time the Crestfallen]

58 minutes ago, eclipse said:

You mean like how every other idiotic move has bitten Trump in the ass so far?

If things continue at this rate, we'll have to take the title of Teflon President off of Reagan.

[Tryhard]

2 hours ago, eclipse said:

You mean like how every other idiotic move has bitten Trump in the ass so far?

I agree with the sentiment, and hope that you're correct.  Hell, I hope the investigation gets bigger.

It's a good thing I never said that it would before.

I'm not expecting impeachment, but it should simply state beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is corrupt if it wasn't already known (especially since they don't even have a replacement for Comey). It's the equivalent of you removing evidence after you broke something as a child and expecting to not get caught. You're right in the regard that if Obama or whoever else did the same thing what would happen - because it's obstruction of justice.

The only ones that should be left are the apologist sycophants that are never going to consider any bad things about Trump.

Edited May 10, 2017 by Tryhard

[Thane]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this what Nixon did? Of all the things Trump has said and done, this seems to be pretty up there.

[Augestein]

16 hours ago, Thane said:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this what Nixon did? Of all the things Trump has said and done, this seems to be pretty up there.

Yes. It was.

[Time the Crestfallen]

Wew lads

This has been an eventful few weeks.

Edited May 16, 2017 by Mortarion

[Thane]

6 hours ago, Mortarion said:

Wew lads

This has been an eventful few weeks.

Is there any proof of this, and if so, what are the consequences? 

It seems like there's something new every week with that bloke in charge. It's shocking that his support is still as high as it is; how do people defend this?

[Lord Raven]

His support is high among republicans and low among democrats. His national approval rating is something like 39-40%.

Republican voters generally don't give a shit, otherwise they'd vote something other than a Republican into office.

[Skynstein]

How are the rules in America? This early into Trump's term, in the unlikely event that he's impeached, Mike Pence would take over, right?

I saw some people speculating that Pence is a fallback plan because he's a template Republican. However, this is extremely unlikely to happen unless Trump does some seriously whacked crap and there's strong evidence against him.

 

[Tryhard]

7 hours ago, Thane said:

Is there any proof of this, and if so, what are the consequences? 

It seems like there's something new every week with that bloke in charge. It's shocking that his support is still as high as it is; how do people defend this?

It had been corroborated with other news sites shortly after, but Trump himself basically admitted it earlier today in an attempt to defend himself, contradicting what McMaster said.

http://uk.businessinsider.com/trump-says-wanted-to-share-with-russia-2017-5?r=US&IR=T

"As President I wanted to share with Russia (at an openly scheduled W.H. meeting) which I have the absolute right to do, facts pertaining to terrorism and airline flight safety," Trump tweeted. "Humanitarian reasons, plus I want Russia to greatly step up their fight against ISIS & terrorism."

Quite a few people apparently didn't get the memo, still calling it "fake news" even though Trump has already said this and condemned the leakers. How they could hold two contradictory positions is baffling.

The president tried to move the focus to government leaks, tweeting, "I have been asking Director Comey & others, from the beginning of my administration, to find the LEAKERS in the intelligence community."

The other defense from his supporters is pretty much what Trump said, in that he is not breaking any laws by disclosing that, and he's correct (as far as I know), but it's on the same level as his supporters being content that he can technically start a nuclear war, it doesn't mean it's a good idea.

And, lest we forget, if Obama or Clinton did this, there would be calls for their heads on a pike from conservatives, never mind impeachment.

Edited May 16, 2017 by Tryhard