American Politics the 2016 edition

Dean wrote: Well, you had to be smoking some pretty strong sh*t to elect Trump...

No, now we'll be smoking just to cope. 

I'm telling you, what ended up being the difference was a lot of these "protest voters", voting for third party candidates and the like.  It was the difference in a lot of key states.  So, I hope those people are happy now.  You DID make a difference.


Edited by MillsLayne - November 09 2016 at 11:47

Triceratopsoil wrote: Dean wrote: Hang on... just because Clinton failed to beat Trump it does not follow that Sanders was in any way electable. this is true

We've beat enough dead horses in this thread. If it makes you two feel better saying that then please feel free to embrace your versions of the truth, as more important problems will be quickly on hand.

Formentera Lady wrote: Brexit in England, the right-wing parties are getting stronger in Germany, and now Trump... I am a bit a worried, if you ask me. 2016 is not a good year for democracy...

No, it's not a bad day for democracy. It really isn't. It is a bad day for supporters of Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party. It is a very good day for Trumpalot and the Republican Party.

Democracy is about people exercising their votes and free will, about making decisions, about making choices about who they feel will best represent them. The people have chosen, end of. There has not been a bloody revolution in America, but a revolt, led, mainly, by the disaffected, a la Brexit in this country.

Over here, in dear old Blighty, we had our little revolution. Not that our glorious leaders seem to have noticed. There was a news item on Monday. The government have announced that they are to close a load of army barracks and facilities around the country, and centralise much of the estate. A barracks in Brecon and facility in Sennybridge, about an hour from where I live, are to close. The Brecon barracks have been in existence for over 200 years. It is a desperately deprived, rural, area of Wales, and these facilities bring good quality jobs in areas which really need them. My own department is rushing ahead to close every single tax office outside of major cities in Britain.

The June referendum was not merely a vote against Europe (the EU), although that was a part of it. It was also a vote against a system in which many many people feel disaffected as jobs and opportunities fly out of the window in favour of big corporate and establishment interests.

I will say this. Unless there is a change, there will be a forced change from the electorate, and deserved as well.

That is the lesson of Brexit and Trumpalot. People, rightly, feel cheated as they see establishment interests grow rich and powerful at the expense of the ordinary working person. We are, I believe, witnessing the end of the established parties and politicians. That is not a bad thing.

It is called democracy.

Edited by lazland - November 09 2016 at 12:35

Edited by SteveG - November 09 2016 at 13:30

Chelsea Clinton........2020

timothy leary wrote: Chelsea Clinton........2020

No. 

lazland wrote: The June referendum was not merely a vote against Europe (the EU), although that was a part of it. It was also a vote against a system in which many many people feel disaffected as jobs and opportunities fly out of the window in favour of big corporate and establishment interests. I will say this. Unless there is a change, there will be a forced change from the electorate, and deserved as well. That is the lesson of Brexit and Trumpalot. People, rightly, feel cheated as they see establishment interests grow rich and powerful at the expense of the ordinary working person. We are, I believe, witnessing the end of the established parties and politicians. That is not a bad thing. It is called democracy.

Don't know about the end of established parties ~ we'll have new ones but I don't see parties themselves going extinct ~ but most of what you say appears to be the case.   I just thought we'd gotten past an old fat white guy being the best advocate for those concerns.  

brainstormer wrote: Here's some stuff I wrote this morning. Did you see the way he was nice to Hillary after he won? New Yorkers talk tough, but they are really hiding a nice side. They are not passive aggressive like the left (I'm a moderate). Maybe we can learn not to demonize people by their words so much, and communicate more. I am a moderate, but I have to say the left has always demonized normal businessmen and most Christians, and it's time they started to show the love they say they have so much of.  Contempt prior to investigation is a sign of a closed mind.  Trump got along with the SNL crowd for many years and hosted those shows (I'm an SCTV fan more than SNL, so I say this with that caveat).  Please stop demonizing Trump.  Try to read some of his books, like "Think Like a Champion" and you will see a lot of goodness there.  There is an amazing video on line that shows clear examples of Satanism in Madonna, Lady Gaga and other popular singers, most of whom are female.  Have to keep an open mind these days.  We have the worst in the music industry at top and the horrors we see on the news show us what Oscar Wilde said, that life imitates art more than art imitates life. This country started going bad in the 90s thanks to Clinton, and I was for him all those years.  It's the worshipping of the creature over the creator that sadly the Democrats set themselves up for.  What a joke to think life wasn't better before the 90s!  We didn't have so many mass shootings, children killing other children.  Please try to wake up to where this "media" we have has gotten us.  It's not because of a "right wing conspiracy" because the right have lost pretty much on everything since the  90s.  Don't confuse big business with Republicanism.

You almost had me until the pop singers being satanists and the country going bad in the 90s with Clinton.   To think we'd have had less shootings with a second Bush Sr. term or a Gingrich or a Buchanan is ludicrous.  

And all politics is conspiratorial. 

Equality 7-2521 wrote: it was always felt you need to  play lipservice to the idea to carry your core.

That's part of the issue - for decades the republican party has rolled over on every single issue they've pretended to care about.

Well, it's official. Trump wins 306-232. An almost reversal of what everyone expected.