The General American Politics Thread

[Patticus]

30 minutes ago, Meta77 said:

Rofl anyone afraid of the kkk is silly. They have been for the past 20 years in my view a joke . Most young people were not even born in their main stray.

Regardless it's over. Pick yourself up and hope for the best honestly

It's a sign of what may be to come: Fringe racists, who once hid their Klan costumes in tacit understanding that their views were anathema to American society, now feel vindicated, justified and part of mainstream society in a way that they haven't in generations. They are walking openly in their outfits. Not everywhere, granted, not yet, but it may only grow from here.

Racial tensions are only going to increase in the US from here on out, and things will only get worse if Trump and the Republicans make good on the deportation squad campaign promise, block Muslims from entering the US en masse, and increase stop and search in African American communities nationwide. With racism and bigotry coming out into the open on the one side, increasingly tense race relations in the middle, and the lives of minorities getting worse on the other side, I fear we are heading for renewed violence.

[Meta77]

Obama started out saying he did not believe  in gay marriage  look where that went. People are way to fearful and I roll my eyes at those same tumblr types that sit and cry every time someone says something mean. It will be fine stop looking at the dark of the moon and hope and see how things play out. No one will be mass deported and black people will be fine  he'll trump has black supporters. The world is not going to end it didn't over night contrary to what the media painted. :). I'm a glass half full type so yea

[KHCast]

5 minutes ago, Meta77 said:

Obama started out saying he did not believe  in gay marriage  look where that went. People are way to fearful and I roll my eyes at those same tumblr types that sit and cry every time someone says something mean. It will be fine stop looking at the dark of the moon and hope and see how things play out. No one will be mass deported and black people will be fine  he'll trump has black supporters. The world is not going to end it didn't over night contrary to what the media painted. :). I'm a glass half full type so yea

Trump isnt the only one to worry about. Trumps got pence, the GOP and a large number of the conservative/republican people that are against lgbt rights. 

[Patticus]

26 minutes ago, Meta77 said:

Obama started out saying he did not believe  in gay marriage  look where that went. People are way to fearful and I roll my eyes at those same tumblr types that sit and cry every time someone says something mean. It will be fine stop looking at the dark of the moon and hope and see how things play out. No one will be mass deported and black people will be fine  he'll trump has black supporters. The world is not going to end it didn't over night contrary to what the media painted. :). I'm a glass half full type so yea

Obama belongs to the party that would inevitably embrace the LGBTQ community first, though - it was only a matter of time before he came around. Pence is a hard-line homophobic bigot and a believer in conversion therapy, and Trump will adopt any view pleasing to his base as long as it doesn't conflict with Brand Trump. He isn't ever coming around.

Mass deportations may or may not happen, depending on how eager he and congress are to enshrine those types of promises in law - which depends on how much of America's sweeping demographic shifts they're cognizant of. Deportations did happen under the now-well-respected Eisenhower, and it resulted in naught but death and misery, so I wouldn't put it past Trump and co to do the same. I don't see them kicking out 11 million people though - it'd have to be a much smaller number to be anywhere near practical; and I still see it resulting in nothing good.
 

Oh motherf-

 

[KHCast]

I am legit curious what your guys thoughts on same sex marriage potentially getting overturned and given back to the states are? You think it should be a states issue, or just a nationally established thing?

[Mando-Whirl-Wind]

31 minutes ago, Patticus said:

Obama belongs to the party that would inevitably embrace the LGBTQ community first, though - it was only a matter of time before he came around. Pence is a hard-line homophobic bigot and a believer in conversion therapy, and Trump will adopt any view pleasing to his base as long as it doesn't conflict with Brand Trump. He isn't ever coming around.

Mass deportations may or may not happen, depending on how eager he and congress are to enshrine those types of promises in law - which depends on how much of America's sweeping demographic shifts they're cognizant of. Deportations did happen under the now-well-respected Eisenhower, and it resulted in naught but death and misery, so I wouldn't put it past Trump and co to do the same. I don't see them kicking out 11 million people though - it'd have to be a much smaller number to be anywhere near practical; and I still see it resulting in nothing good.
 

Oh motherf-

 

Which was completely caused by foreign investors removing their stocks from the US economy causing it to crash, not any actual fault of the republican party

[kboyrulez12345]

So, over 46 % of eligible voters chose not to vote. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VAcF0eJ06y_8T4o2gvIL4YcyQy8pxb1zYkgXF76Uu1s/htmlview 

Sad to say I was one of the ones that believed my vote wouldn't matter and that there was no way Trump was gonna win this.

Needless to say, I'm sorry for that. 

[Candescence]

One major silver lining is that the youth vote (18-25) overwhelmingly supported Clinton.

[-Robin-]

A first step from here is to get mobilization efforts going for electing people in the state legislatures for 2018.

On top of standard governing duties, 2020 is coming up, and so that means a new censure, which means congressional district lines will be redrawn to accommodate for the new populations across the states.

We all know district manipulation is a thing. North Carolina just recently went to court over the NC Republicans' gerrymandering. 32 states, Oklahoma included, charges the state legislature to redraw the lines every decade. Elect representatives that make a campaign promise to redraw the lines fairly to accurately represent the population in 2020, so that districts aren't organized in such haphazard ways that it lessens the impact of the common voter.

 

One of the bigger issues progressives have is a sparse attendance in rural areas. Most are located in the urban areas, due to college campuses and an economy that favors specialized skills and manufacturing for trade. Redrawing lines will help bring these urban hubs closer to the rural areas, where outreach can then be performed to push for progressive ideals, but outreach should be done regardless of district boundaries.

Since the House of Representatives is elected via congressional districts, this hypothetical outreach will both swell up the progressive enthusiasm, as well as get a net gain of progressives in a legislative body that has been notoriously lacking in such people.

The opposite applies to conservatives. Performing outreach to urban areas can net them a greater bulk of people for a popular vote swing.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

1 hour ago, KHCast said:

Trump isnt the only one to worry about. Trumps got pence, the GOP and a large number of the conservative/republican people that are against lgbt rights. 

I'm actually worried even more about Pence in that regard. 

[BlueSky]

Oh heck why my imaginary worst case scenarios must always happen, like Brexit and now this. I was pretty anxious at the time to go to study (when the results weren't yet on), but when I got to there much before lecture started(since the traffic around here is pretty chaotic, there’s now snow for about 30 cm at least) and decided to check on the results… Oh that toilet door was having hard time with me once I got inside. I would’ve gone screaming outside if not wind being blowing so coldly. The feeling of not being able to do anything about the matters that eventually affects you too. At one point I felt a bit ashamed of myself about thinking how possible this scenario could actually be. Well, worry not, that’s not the case anymore. If I die because of Trump, or especially because of him licking someone’s you-know-what, I’m coming to haunt him and his voters all the way there where they are. I’m dead serious. I fear for the worst, and I feel so insecure. Me and my friend are really not into this kind of stuff. It doesn’t help my family’s all “nimby” around here (pretty funny since Trump seems to be kind of “nimby” towards problems his politics might cause even to him), not wanting to talk about it/hear me out or just saying it really doesn’t matter and such. The worst about it is that I feel getting more comfort from a Sonic forum, while sitting all lonely by myself and my laptop, than from my family. This is all just so crazy. And that article about NATO activity didn’t help in any way since I’m pretty certain those guys sent there leave the very moment Trump becomes the president for real. And to think about how strongly I feel about this while living out here I can’t even imagine how all the minority people feel about it. And all the others. Well, Trump-voters, I hope you have fun now since I’m pretty certain it may not last. It comes to an end at least when some different kind of president comes or when the world ends. I just hope he doesn’t get angry enough to use those nukes, I don’t like them at all, and the fact you know something about the basics of them doesn’t really help… And I feel I’m getting a flu on top of it. Oh joy.

So, well. It seems it’s going to be “all hail King Nau- uh I mean President Trol- uh sorry, President Trump”, coming and ruling us all with making our fears bigger than life, just where’s that guy shouting about brick-and-mortar stuff... I just hope we get to the Super Genesis Wave and get all rebooted. I’m still not that sure which one’s worse option; getting vanished from all of existence or to be a part of a nightmarish-looking alien army…  

Well, this is time for “All Hail Shadow”: “There’s nothing left to lose you win.”

And I seriously hope I at least still will be able to get the comics. If not it’s going to be all-European-plus-One-Piece for me at that point…

By the way, has anyone wondered, if he’s not owned by anyone, isn’t it also like he doesn’t own himself, so he could practically do anything without giving it a second thought thus not having any kind of reason or responsibility? And to think him coming “from outside of the politics”, wasn’t he giving financial support to politicians before? Just wondering about that...

[KHCast]

I'm really not looking forward to the death of Obamacare and starting from scratch with literally no plan. 

Also say goodbye very likely to freedom of the press. Trumps made it clear his stance on that. And the Internet in a few years I assume is gonna getting neutered if the house push to crack down on censoring it 

[Tornado]

Yeah, that's something the President can control.

 

[Patticus]

26 minutes ago, Tornado said:

Yeah, that's something the President can control.

He is looking to relax libel laws so that he can become much more litigious with any press outlets that post stories that paint him in a negative light. If he manages to pass that manner of legislation, he could in theory become quite a dangerous threat to press freedom. In practice though, I hope he gets his litigious ass handed to him.

[Apollo Chungus]

I'm not exactly sure what's the best way to word this, I'll be honest, but I may as well give it a go.

I live in Ireland, so I wasn't able to vote for the election and I won't be feeling the effects of whatever happens quite as immediately as y'all on the other side of the pond. But I want to help; I legitimately feel sick to my stomach that people are going to be treated like shit for being different, just because they don't fit within the Republicans' idea of What Should Be. It disgusts me to no end that Trump has plans to cut funding for climate change (especially since the major oil companies decided to give fuck all to support the Paris Agreement). And if things go bad, about 30-odd years will have been wasted in terms of social progress for no adequate reason. And there's nothing I could do to stop it.

Is there anything I can do to help out? And when I say help, I mean really help out. Political activism, essay writing, whatever. I write, compose and make videos, so I could possibly do something there if possible. It doesn't matter what I have to do. I want to help, I want to stand there alongside y'all and fight against this shit, I want to do whatever it takes to ensure we get through this. Please, let me know. It doesn't feel right just doing nothing.

[Nepenthe]

3 hours ago, KHCast said:

I am legit curious what your guys thoughts on same sex marriage potentially getting overturned and given back to the states are? You think it should be a states issue, or just a nationally established thing?

Gay people's biggest concern right now should be random acts of discrimination in public, discrimination based on religious grounds in places where that's still allowed, and discrimination in the workplace and medical industry. For Obergefell to fall, it will be if a case challenging it comes up to the court again after the Republicans have stacked it. It's a long shot, but it's nonetheless possible. For now, you need to worry about the emboldened motherfuckers out here who've been validated and thus are likely to start some shit.

Also, civil rights should be nationally-established things because- clearly- we can't trust bigots in the South and Midwest to give a damn about others over the long term.

17 minutes ago, Apollo Chungus said:

Is there anything I can do to help out? And when I say help, I mean really help out. Political activism, essay writing, whatever. I write, compose and make videos, so I could possibly do something there if possible. It doesn't matter what I have to do. I want to help, I want to stand there alongside y'all and fight against this shit, I want to do whatever it takes to ensure we get through this. Please, let me know. It doesn't feel right just doing nothing.

The best thing you can do outside of your writing and video-making is to contribute towards stopping the spread of right-wing nationalism in your own country. You guys are currently dealing with Brexit, so you need to focus any and all political efforts at home to make sure that Ireland itself weathers the storm, whether or not that be through a referendum or court decision to exclude yourselves from the political fallout, as well as making sure nationalistic Leavers don't have any more room to breathe and be a nuisance to immigrants and Irish minorities than they already have been. Trump and the GOP are a fight for Americans (until they fuck up internationally), but the spread of right-wing nationalism is becoming more and more a global thing that people in their respective countries need to combat at home.

[Patticus]

The electoral map was blue for the 18-25 age group:

The future, at least for a large swathe of this century, belongs to the liberals.

[8ther]

I need someone to talk to, i don't know much about politics and i'm terrified of what could happen with Trump in office and what it could mean for people of my race. Could someone PM me, i have questions?

[Dark Qiviut]

Took what I wrote here and in a Discord chat group and melded them into a blog post on my Tumblr.

[Nepenthe]

7 minutes ago, Patticus said:

The electoral map was blue for the 18-25 age group:

The future, at least for a large swathe of this century, belongs to the liberals.

This would be nice if people could get motivated to fucking vote (I honestly don't get this shit)... or didn't get older and more conservative as time went on.

5 minutes ago, CD Sanic said:

I need someone to talk to, i don't know much about politics and i'm terrified of what could happen with Trump in office and what it could mean for people of my race. Could someone PM me, i have questions?

Sure thing.

[Patticus]

4 minutes ago, Nepenthe said:

This would be nice if people could get motivated to fucking vote (I honestly don't get this shit)... or didn't get older and more conservative as time went on.

All they need is someone to believe in, because Democrats love to be inspired by their candidates. They had that in Obama and Sanders, whose soaring rhetoric lit up their hearts with joy, and they could have had that in Hillary had her life turned out a bit different and she didn't end up obsessed with secrecy and artifice.

Without believable soaring rhetoric from a charismatic candidate, they just don't turn out in the numbers needed to win.

[Nepenthe]

I understand that, but it still pisses me off. We claim to be the side of facts and logic, but then we throw that away based on whether or not we "feel" inspired enough to uphold the institutions of progress and the tenants of our democracy and fight back against white nationalism. And all we have to do to do that is simply standing in a fucking line for a few hours and press some buttons on one single day. It's not like we're asking for them to do a laborious job here. I'm right pissed at my so-called progressive friends right now, especially the ones who didn't vote. All talk and no fucking spine to show for it.

[KHCast]

People want Michelle apparently to run 2020. Can't see that happening, but it would be interesting to see how she could fair compared to Clinton 

[Nepenthe]

Michelle would handily beat anyone and everyone. However, she's not running because she's tired of the political game. Can't blame her one bit.

[Tornado]

2 hours ago, Patticus said:

He is looking to relax libel laws so that he can become much more litigious with any press outlets that post stories that paint him in a negative light.

And in a post-Gawker world, I'm sure there's more to this pursuit than just so Trump can sue people more easily. That's still not "say goodbye to freedom of the press." That's still not "in a few years the Internet is going to get censored according to the wishes of the GOP."

 

 

 

 

I'm going to say something, not as a moderator but as apparently one of the few who seemed to have actually spent the time on real thought into what Trump winning might mean (as opposed to just assuming Hillary didn't even have to show up last night to win, like most of her campaign and several foreign governments seemed to think; though granted I assumed the Democrats would take the Senate). Look at the title of this website in the title bar or your tab or whatever: This is not tumblr.

Don't come in this thread with woe is me stories about how the Republicans cleaning up an election after some catastrophic judgement errors on the DNC's part means that by January 21st your life will be over. Read about what can actually be done with an executive order. Read about the people actually in the Senate right now in both parties, and things that have been filibustered in the past and what topics frequently cause fracturing upon party lines. Don't come into this thread assuming things like Trump is going to be a puppet for the GOP or that Pence will be dictating policy according to the wishes of his GOP masters. Don't come into this thread assuming that just because the Republicans control the Senate and House that they every scary boogeyman pushed around through the election cycle to scare people to vote Democrat is going to come to pass.

 

 

The fact of the matter is that the GOP has spent the last half of a decade fighting itself. They have three major divisions inside and none of them typically want anything to do with one another. They've nominated and won with a presidential candidate who hated them, historically stood for nearly nothing they have since the NeoCon wave and repeatedly told nearly every one of them to basically go fuck themselves over the course of the election. They will not hit the ground with a running tally of all of the things you hold dear to take away. At this point none of the people who are paid to do political analysis as there job even know what Trump will do; nevermind how the GOP will attempt to reconcile with him.

I'm sure Paul Ryan would love if Trump would pack the court with justices who can overturn Roe v Wade and Obergefell and then attempt to strum up some case that they could throw before it to do so; but the probably-former Speaker of the House also may very well be someone whose opinion Trump won't give a shit about after last month. And even among those who would make any of those things an issue, many of the Republicans who will have seats in the legislature after the election probably would like to keep them for more than a term.