POTUS 2016

[Deathy]

@[HP] This is gold.

No need for satire these days.

[-HP-]

On 5/10/2017 at 10:52 AM, Deathy said:

@[HP] This is gold.

No need for satire these days.

[Sprony]

[-HP-]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/at-this-point-in-presidency-obamas-biggest-scandal-was-using-dijon-mustard_us_593c0450e4b0b13f2c6af2f1?section=us_politics

rotfl!!

At this rate, Trump wont last until the end of the year.Everybodies talking impreachment.

[FrieChamp]

On 2017-6-11 at 0:39 AM, [HP] said:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/at-this-point-in-presidency-obamas-biggest-scandal-was-using-dijon-mustard_us_593c0450e4b0b13f2c6af2f1?section=us_politics

rotfl!!

At this rate, Trump wont last until the end of the year.Everybodies talking impreachment.

From what I've been hearing, most journalists and academics agree that impeachment is unlikely - especially by a Republican congress.

 

[Bastion]

12 minutes ago, FrieChamp said:

From what I've been hearing, most journalists and academics agree that impeachment is unlikely - especially by a Republican congress.

 

Guess they're just willing to tank their own reputation and future election hopes for four years of tax cuts.

[Sigma]

5 hours ago, Bastion said:

Guess they're just willing to tank their own reputation and future election hopes for four years of tax cuts.

You underestimate the unwillingness of many hard Republicans (*note I did not say Conservative) to vote for a non-Republican.

[Sprony]

What the fuck is wrong with Americans? Seriously.....

https://www.vox.com/first-person/2017/7/7/15934752/health-insurance-heterotaxy-twitter

In short, mother posts a hospital bill (which is insanely high, but that's another story) and get's flooded with threats and comments that her son is better off dead, that natural selection should run it's course and she was even offered a bullet to 'take care' of things. As someone who grew up with universal healthcare, in a country were we actually value people's lives, this kind of outrage is simply unfathomable and goes far beyond politics. We're talking about being a decent human being here. I'm not saying all Americans are like this of course, but your healthcare system and apparently a large part of your fellow country men and women are completely fucked up.

[dux]

Quote

There was even a percentage of the comments dedicated to the belief that I was a foreigner or, worse, a terrorist, which is when I started asking news outlets to use my full name: Alison, not Ali, since people seemed unable to believe that I was, in fact, a white chick from New Jersey.

[grapen]

Xenophobia in a country built by immigrants is just about one of the most ironic things ever.

[-HP-]

 

[Sigma]

I know right now in the world it's the "bash America show"... but do keep in mind that the USA is the premier world superpower (regardless of our feckless president). The economy is still moving, Americans are still consuming, the population is adopting renewables at increasing rates (regardless of politics). If there is one thing I have figure out over this past year, its that Americans "care" about politics, but at the end of the day don't give 2 s***s and will carry on with their lives. This is basically the 1980's all over again (war on drugs, welfare queens, illegal immigration, voter fraud, oil/gas glut (post crises)). So long as the world treats the USA like North Korea (oh look, its crazy uncle Kim/Trump), then in 3.5 years (or less depending on congressional midterms - although I have little hope for the Democratic party as an organization) you should see a resurgence of American leadership in the world again. In fact, this is what the world leaders appear to be banking on anyway (with exception to Russia and China of course). Also, the rule of the internet is that the internet trolls.

I believe what is being seen is a reaction to a demagogue, not to a country itself. Then again... I am biased.

[-HP-]

1 hour ago, Sigma said:

I know right now in the world it's the "bash America show"... but do keep in mind that the USA is the premier world superpower (regardless of our feckless president). The economy is still moving, Americans are still consuming, the population is adopting renewables at increasing rates (regardless of politics). If there is one thing I have figure out over this past year, its that Americans "care" about politics, but at the end of the day don't give 2 s***s and will carry on with their lives. This is basically the 1980's all over again (war on drugs, welfare queens, illegal immigration, voter fraud, oil/gas glut (post crises)). So long as the world treats the USA like North Korea (oh look, its crazy uncle Kim/Trump), then in 3.5 years (or less depending on congressional midterms - although I have little hope for the Democratic party as an organization) you should see a resurgence of American leadership in the world again. In fact, this is what the world leaders appear to be banking on anyway (with exception to Russia and China of course). Also, the rule of the internet is that the internet trolls.

I believe what is being seen is a reaction to a demagogue, not to a country itself. Then again... I am biased.

I could not agree more!

[Sprony]

On 7/11/2017 at 4:59 PM, Sigma said:

I know right now in the world it's the "bash America show"... but do keep in mind that the USA is the premier world superpower (regardless of our feckless president). The economy is still moving, Americans are still consuming, the population is adopting renewables at increasing rates (regardless of politics). If there is one thing I have figure out over this past year, its that Americans "care" about politics, but at the end of the day don't give 2 s***s and will carry on with their lives. This is basically the 1980's all over again (war on drugs, welfare queens, illegal immigration, voter fraud, oil/gas glut (post crises)). So long as the world treats the USA like North Korea (oh look, its crazy uncle Kim/Trump), then in 3.5 years (or less depending on congressional midterms - although I have little hope for the Democratic party as an organization) you should see a resurgence of American leadership in the world again. In fact, this is what the world leaders appear to be banking on anyway (with exception to Russia and China of course). Also, the rule of the internet is that the internet trolls.

I believe what is being seen is a reaction to a demagogue, not to a country itself. Then again... I am biased.

I agree about the resurgence but I don't believe the world wants to be bashing on America. Most of us rely on your country for either aide, economic stability or military support. It's just that Trump is jeopardizing all of that and we have a hard time understanding that's what's happening in America right now, is actually possible. If our Prime Minister only did a fraction of what Trump pulled so far, he would be in jail. That's another thing. All this craziness has exposed America in way that we outsiders have never seen before. Not on this scale anyway. We're are seeing the deep-seated rot of how your wealthy fuck over the poor, how your systems like healthcare are deliberately inadequate and how the voices of the people can be suppressed as in a dictatorship. But most of all, it has shown us that you have a lot of scary people living in your country. As an American, I would be more worried about these brainwashed right wing religious zealots than terrorists.

[Sigma]

On 7/15/2017 at 0:28 AM, Sprony said:

I agree about the resurgence but I don't believe the world wants to be bashing on America. Most of us rely on your country for either aide, economic stability or military support. It's just that Trump is jeopardizing all of that and we have a hard time understanding that's what's happening in America right now, is actually possible. If our Prime Minister only did a fraction of what Trump pulled so far, he would be in jail. That's another thing. All this craziness has exposed America in way that we outsiders have never seen before. Not on this scale anyway. We're are seeing the deep-seated rot of how your wealthy fuck over the poor, how your systems like healthcare are deliberately inadequate and how the voices of the people can be suppressed as in a dictatorship. But most of all, it has shown us that you have a lot of scary people living in your country. As an American, I would be more worried about these brainwashed right wing religious zealots than terrorists.

This is a little out of order as a response, could be worded more clearly and better, etc etc. . . so please bare with me. I havn't had enough coffee yet.

I understand that it's scary to look at from the outside-in, particularly when many nations are highly dependent on the influence/exports of the USA (ranging from medical/food aide, to economic aid, to military support, to research). While Trump is still in position, I would argue that he is not in power. Power implies the ability to execute the threatened action (I use this phrase because Trump is more combative than compromising). Trump does not have the power to execute many actions he has threatened. In order to execute any reduction of funds, manpower, aid, or alter the law Trump must go through the US Congress. As we have seen, while right-wing politicians may control Congress, they are severely fractured. Any action Congress takes is subject to the review of SCOTUS (Supreme Court). Thus SCOTUS is the last remaining true vestige of American governance at the highest executive levels (ignoring the Joint Chiefs of Staff, state governments, local governments, and media). Furthermore, this is not the first time a demagogue has been POTUS. Throughout my nation's history, we have had many Presidents that acted more like petulant children than "Presidential." In fact, I would argue that part of the reason Trump is so disconcerting to many people is that he comes immediately after the exception to this rule (Pres. Obama), rather than the standard. It is simply more easy to highlight these attitudes in modern times due to the expansion of media access and internet access throughout the world than before.

It is important to point out that the United States does not solely operate on a Federal (national) government level. The vast majority of government and economic actions are taken at the state and local levels due to the structure of government in the US. Case in point, I am sitting in my office working on local government matters at this moment that impact more than 23,000 people on a daily basis (on break so no jokes).

Are you correct in identifying religious zealots as the primary threat (physically) to the United States as a whole? To an extent, yes. Do I think religious zealots have the capacity to execute mass murder in the name of God, yes. However, it is insufficient to refer to these person as simply "religious zealots". They are terrorists. Terrorism is defined as the use of violence or the threat of violence to achieve a political goal. These persons clearly fit this role. What is more scary, is that for the last 40 years there has been a generation of religious zealots raised by parents who told them their goals were to gain entry into the local and state levels of government (the largest sectors). Because of this, currently, the right-wing zealots have access to a larger share of the American political machine than at any other time in history. However, and this is crucial, MANY of the people at these levels of government are smart enough to know how to control these citizens reasonably while moving forwards with governing in a responsible fashion. Thus, I am less concerned about these persons influence, as throughout our nation's history, we have always had factions rise and fall due to the rise and fall of counter-factions. Furthermore, the USA is still very much dealing with ramifications and attitude changes that other countries are only beginning to deal with (Muslim immigration to non-Muslim countries that are predominantly racially Caucasian, some form of Christianity as the major religion, and has a national language as the official language). Similarly, the USA is only beginning to put to bed many issues that other countries have taken care of a long time ago (national health care systems, racial tensions are still being felt with the magnitude of the 1960's Civil Rights era; case in point there are public schools that did not desegregate until the late 1980's, and economic stresses).

Second to last point, another important one, is that there has been (and remains) a very concerted effort by federal law enforcement agencies to remain completely politically neutral. The appointment of Special Counsel Robert Muller comes with it the inherent task of searching out criminal activity. The title of Special Counsel legally assumes that there has been criminal conduct. That is huge! However, in order to conduct an appropriate investigation that is verifiable and does not suffer from evidentiary insufficiency or mistakes will take TIME.

The last thing I would point out, is that despite all of the issues the USA has (there are many), and while it may look insane to non-Americans, by the very geography (seriously, we are huge - there is a reason train travel, access to internet, access to water, and public transportation are insufficient in this country) we have huge swaths of population requiring extraneous efforts to meet their needs. No other country has ever, or will ever (short of ancient Rome at its height - which is still not an appropriate comparison but its the closest there is; unless there is a sudden geopolitical landscape shift) take-on and accomplish the same relative levels of pure activity in the areas of infrastructure, healthcare, food generation and distribution, or education than the US.

TLDR: In short, its the local people are the key to the USA - not its national politics. Local people will always talk with other locals, thereby ensuring the "thought bubbles" are broken. Just takes time, so please bare with us as we sort this situation out. It will get better.

Edited July 17, 2017 by Sigma