American Politics the 2016 edition

Oh, yes, that sentence. I was the target of that and I'd forgotten all about it.

Of course I'd be insulted, triggered, and offended by it, but I can't be arsed.

^ Actually he's hilarious tonight, and I rarely watch him.

Gamemako wrote: lazland wrote: 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.... A healthy democracy must be distinguished from mob rule by its rationality and adherence to fundamental process rules. Unlike Brexit, the disaffected in the United States have willfully bucked both. Absent those foundational principles, democracy can quickly collapse into tyranny. This election has been my greatest fears of our current political dysfunction made manifest. Our politics have becoming increasingly defined by group membership rather than by fundamental policy discussion. Both major parties are guilty, with Democrats ploying for various minority interests and Republicans deploying the reviled Southern Strategy (also known as having gone nuclear and lived in the fallout until their children grew an extra limb and began to froth at the mouth). Finally, with this election, we have seen the white majority wholly reject policy discussion or rationality to vote like a minority. The center is now fully vacated; no candidate can win on the strength of his or her political ideas. I try to avoid histrionic nonsense in political discussion, but unless this takes a complete U-turn in 4 years, I fear this could be the death knell of American democracy. That's not to say Trump is the cause, or that Trump has to go. He could have a well-established political platform worthy of dispassionate debate and a healthy respect for the democratic process by that point. He would not be the first outsider to develop such perspective on the job. However, a repeat of 2016 would be to normalize ethnic tribalism led by anti-democratic enforcers as the driving force in our politics, and descent into minority-dominant dictatorship would be a real risk. This is a classic scenario which has resulted in many enduring authoritarian regimes, especially in the Middle East. Triceratopsoil wrote: That's part of the issue - for decades the republican party has rolled over on every single issue they've pretended to care about. That is the nature of governance: to compromise on a workable set of policies, not to bludgeon others with your dogma.

Well that's the best post I've seen here so far; I have no idea how this could be considered a success for democracy. Sure, it was (probably,) technically not rigged but this shows more than ever that a democratic system that isn't maintained properly and doesn't give a gerbil's ass about cooperation can show its ugly rear when those voting with no clue but the candidates' actual political vision and don't know how to check their sources or how to think forward for more than two years at best, and I think npj's itchy question about education is actually justified for this one time.

Be happy! The proggiest of all candidates won! Old school and his fans are white males XD

Jokes aside, even though I don't share his views, I kinda respect the man . He had the media against him, he was bashed all the time. CBS, CNN, you name it, everyone wanted his head.(paid) Celebrities and politicians despised him. Washington and New York, the rich and powerful, voted unanimously against him. This was a most rare case of people standing up against the media, Hollywood,celebs, the Bushes and the Clintons. A single man vs. the establishment, against rigged polls and heavy fire. It was something to behold and I'm totally for it.

Would I have voted for him? NO, I'm a libertarian. But I'm happy Hillary lost, since she represents the worst side of America: a populist not unlike the presidents we have in South America, a warmonger, a liar, a brainwasher, a positive racist, a beacon of censorship (political correctness). Those kids crying in her bunker, all feelings no brain, reminded me of the peronist we have in Argentina.

If Trump lowers the taxes and stops the killing machine, if he lowers the spending and the need for foreign oil, I'm all for him. He's unpredictable, though, and might screw up big time... but that's way better than someone whose disastrous plan we all know.

HackettFan wrote: The Doctor wrote: And we voted Trump, because the American working class is tired of. People. Like. You.  We voted in our best interests.  To stop the working class being thrown under the SJW bus. Why do you assume "social justice warriors" (whoever this may be) are not themselves working class? Do you view it as okay to insult elites (whoever they may be)?

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A LIBERAL WITH A JOB.

Anyone thinking the Republican House & Senate plus a President who has repeatedly focused on lining his own pockets, employed cheap foreign labor is going to do anything for the American working man is fooling themselves badly. This will be more of the same from the Republicans, lining the pockets of their Koch paymasters. Trickle down economics? Laughable. The Republicans have controlled both houses & local government for years and done nothing for the working man.

Edited by Nogbad_The_Bad - November 10 2016 at 05:59

brainstormer wrote: Here's some stuff I wrote this morning..... This country started going bad in the 90s thanks to Clinton, and I was for him all those years.

From what I've heard, the democrats could have beaten Trump by sending anyone in, including Crusty the Clown. Anyone except Hillary Clinton. God only knows what possessed them.

They've had a black president, but the time is just not right yet for a woman president; enough is enough. So they decided to go with the mentally deficient option, presumably to mirror the majority of the population, QED.


Edited by npjnpj - November 10 2016 at 06:59

zappaholic wrote: THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A LIBERAL WITH A JOB.

To Lazland, who said this is not a loss for democracy: