I voted that Trump will win. Because I think you really are fucked as a country. There are enough idiots, deplorables, white supremacists, indifferent, those who want to see things burn, and the just downright fucking nuts people out there. But primarily? The indifferent.
Your country is going to be doomed by those who don’t give a shit. Those who just want to get some McRibs and watch cat videos rather than voting.
ETA: Apologies if I am posting too many times in this thread, and have gone over my quota. And sorry if I have insulted any indifferent cat-video-watching, McRib eating dopers out there, who are now all butt-hurt.
The one that will be dragged down by the complete shit-show that is happening in the USA. Caused by idiots who felt like they were not getting their fair share from the powers that be, so the voted in an incompetent clown, who has caused their lives to be measurably worse due to trade wars with China, and appointing incompetent keptocrats to screw up any systems that were actually working. But they don’t give a shit because a) the clown is funny, and b) they can continue to blame brown people for their problems.
This country is in very serious trouble, with or without Trump in office. As many of us have said in a number of threads over the past several years, Trump is both a symptom of the dysfunction we’re seeing, and also an accelerant. We’re getting dangerously close to being stuck in an adverse political feedback loop in which we vote for people who break our faith in the ability to govern democratically and consequently vote for even more extreme candidates. We can pat ourselves on the back for having Biden as the front-runner for now, but take one good look at the Democratic field and you’ll see there are a lot of people who have absolutely no business being on that debate stage, and yet they’re there, and some of them are actually being discussed as serious candidates. And then consider the fact that we have really capable and demonstrably competent public servants with a long career of political achievements, and they’re stuck at the bottom of the polls running virtual zombie campaigns. In short, qualifications seem to matter less and less these days, and it’s increasingly true for both parties. We’re using the political system not to select a proper candidate but to vent our frustrations, and that rarely ends well.
Hey, I don’t disagree. I’m just wondering which of your terms includes the greedy fucks focussing on their short term gains, and thinking they have an inherent right to be subsidized by the rest of the world?
I think a lot of what has been posted about the US terns towards the alarmist - in terms of the speed and depth of it’s imminent decline. But I think it pretty clear - and fucking amazing - that the US has been at a tipping point these past 20 years or so - and has consistently made the wrong decisions, assuring its decline from the previous position as world leader. Sure, a lot of it may have been inevitable, as Asian markets grow. But to so consistently squander advantages, decline to adapt, and strengthen our competitors is impressive.
No, we won’t be in hell tomorrow, but we sure are climbing into the handbasket. Empires do not die overnight. But we should appreciate that we are alive at a time that we willingly topped the crest and precipitated our own decline.
I think some of problem is that Republicans have been effective at hacking our system. They won Citizens United. They gerrymandered the shit out of congressional districts in 2010. And they have also now developed and fine-tuned a voter suppression apparatus.
Even so, I think that a more curious electorate and passionate could overcome some of these obstacles. To my surprise and relief, we did just that in 2018. But where democrats and progressives have failed is in sustaining that energy. 2020 will be the real test to see whether we’ve learned our lesson.
I’m an impatient sort and I’m getting a little tired of Dems giving so little attention to election reform. Which could be the key that unlocks many of their other problems. If they ever get even a brief window where they own the White House and majorities in both houses of Congress, they need to enact smart, fair reforms that will end gerrymandering and enhance representation.
They have already passed quite a few bills but Mitch wont let them see the floor of the senate. What more do you want them to do, other than put a hit out on the Senate Majority Leader? So, the Dems are giving election reform as much attention as they possibly can.
I hope you’re right. Maybe it’s the news sources that I use but these efforts appear to be somewhat under publicized. Fairly representative election systems will be a key decision point for the next generations of voters, imho. They will see and understand that one party is actively opposed to better elections for strictly partisan purposes and they will see that as yet another reason to see that party off.
And even if a Democratic president is elected, if the Dems don’t keep the House and take the Senate it will be this all day every day for the next four years.
I live in northwestern Minnesota, right next to Fargo, and there is a TV station that airs a right wing show right after the local news. They do talk to Democratic politicians at times, and recently they had Senator Tina Smith (Al Franken‘s replacement) on. Her focus in the 90 seconds they gave her was on exactly this: voting protection. The right wing asshat host didn’t even try to tear down what she said but just said “thanks for sharing your views” and ended the program. I thought she did an effective job, and I hope it will continue.
Congress or SCOTUS could end the new rash of Jim Crow laws, however. In fact they were almost gone until SCOTUS ruled they didnt have to oversee them anymore. Jim crow laws are perhaps the GOPs best tool for winning, the GOP NEEDS voter suppression or they will be wiped out.
The new voter suppression laws in the Southern states , mostly based upon racism. In fact in at least one case- explicitly and admittedly based upon stopping black voters.