I don’t want to hear Trump’s racism (or Lepage’s!) anymore. I don’t want to hear about ISIS, bathroom laws, or how many post offices Hillary and Bernie renamed, or any of the other red herrings politicians put out. When are we going to focus on the real issues our country is facing, and stop wasting time with stupid bullshit?
Fixing things like education and infrastructure might not be flashy and exciting, but they are a politician’s job.
Because substantive issues require thinking, and are not compatible with easy answers. Bullshit issues motivate the base because they appeal to fear, anger and hatred, which don’t require thoughtful consideration. People can just go with their gut without feeling stupid.
There are 2 of those that are “real issues” for every American - Trump’s racism and ISIS - and the bathroom laws are important for a significant percentage of the population.
So they may not be the issues you wish them to focus on, but they are, in fact, real issues that need discussing.
I would ask why you think some of these are “stupid non-issues”, but I doubt you’ll be back to the thread to even see this.
But I’ll try… Do you believe ISIS is a stupid non-issue?
But more importantly, what’s this about Bernie renaming post offices? To what? Does “posta bulegoa” reveal that he’s a Basque Separatist? Or did that old Jewish guy want “פּאָסטן אָפיס”?
I think Trump and Lepage say racist things on purpose to distract us from the real issues. Lepage doesn’t know what he’s doing and I don’t think Trump does either. The bluster about building a wall, or asking citizens to murder drug dealers is proof of this IMO. Neither of these two thugs has ever come up with a real solution to anything.
Education & infrastructure are complicated. And they might require money–supplied by* taxes.*…
Better talk about problems that are more distant (ISIS) or nonexistent (Transsexual Molesters In The Ladies Room).
Yes. It is not our job to police the world. We have tried and failed too many times in the Middle East, and the only things those wars accomplished was trillions of dollars in debt, and millions of dead people. Now we want to keep it going because a couple journalists were murdered two years ago? As I’ve mentioned before, cracking down on drunk drivers will save far more lives than a vague “War On Terror”.
The importance of an issue is not, as people would like to believe, the stature of the issue’s relevance to the nation and the world at large. During a campaign, the importance of an issue is directly proportional to the ability to draw voters to the polls.
Thus, British Exit from EU, South East China ocean disputes, carbon pollutant limits are all hugely important for America and the world, but do squat to draw people to the polls. But tell them men are going to attack your women in bathrooms, or your religion will be asked to not lie to people, or you’re getting a 1 cent tax on your cigarettes and people howl with anger and rush to the polls. That’s why politicians spend more time on bullshit than the real issues.
I might urge a different term than “stupid non-issues” to describe some of those mentioned, but I strongly agree that they are nowhere near the top of the list of the most important issues facing our country over anything approaching the long run.
We have significant portion of our population who have no realistic possibility of leading a middle class life - the jobs just aren’t there for the uneducated, unintelligent, and/or unskilled. The gulf between the rich and the poor is widening. Cities and states are going bankrupt, and our infrastructure is crumbling. There has to be a better way to provide minimum education, nutrition, and health care to those who need it. Social Security and Medicare need revision. Various macro energy and environmental issues, rather than an isolated pipeline. I could name several more issues that i think are the most important structural issues that I wish my leaders to address.
But as others have mentioned, those issues are complicated. And to propose solutions would risk alienating certain segments of the electorate. You cannot solve difficult problems by pleasing EVERYBODY. You can’t explain them in soundbites. And you have to pay for them. The primary focus of most politicians is raising funds to be re-elected. Short-term goals. Why risk alienating voters over longterm proposals?
Meanwhile, the 24-hr news cycle demands apparent conflict and drama, rather than in-depth debate and analysis. And we voters have ever shrinking attention spans.
For years Republicans have exploited single-issue voters. Want to pick up some easy votes? Condemn abortion. Want to get a bigger turnout of your base? Put anti-SSM proposals on the ballot. Make people think they’ll lose their guns if they vote for a Democrat. All these things are easy, governing is hard. Solving problems requires thinking of a solution, which one party is incapable of doing since their mantra is “no new taxes for anything at any time.”
When did Lepage and Trump ask citizens to murder drug dealers? I missed that one.
Lepage did in January.
I missed that one, I admit.
Now for Trump ?
Trump was the one who blustered about building a wall.
Bread…and circuses…
The thing is, there is the stuff they talk about when they are campaigning, which is basically sound bites and red meat for their bases, designed to touch on things their various base wants to hear and stuff that they can be seen to be strong on. Then there is all the day to day stuff, like education and infrastructure, both of which politicians ACTUALLY do stuff about already in the give and take of actual, real world politics. But that stuff is boring and convoluted in how it’s actually able to be addressed, and it’s not something they are going to campaign on in a realistic way.
Education and infrastructure spending are more state and local issues than national ones. Plus, if there were issues with either that could be fixed with more spending, they would be fixed already.
Obama was elected in part on the idea that there were a whole bunch of shovel-ready infrastructure projects that would increase employment and pay for themselves. There aren’t, and it isn’t as simple as that anyway.
We are going to spend a lot on education and infrastructure anyway. The teachers’ unions and the trade group for civil engineers whose name I misremember want us to spend a lot more. But they say that no matter what.
Regards,
Shodan
Not only is spending way down, but it’s down while our infrastructure is crumbling, in the tail end of a depression based on lack of demand, and almost impossible to raise because, well, take a guess.
Gee, the shovel ready infrastructure project I get benefit from on the way to work disagrees with you. Clearly the ones that were done employed people, right? I don’t understand the paying for themselves part.
And as mentioned we could use more infrastructure projects at the low interest rates we have today, but thanks to Obama cutting unemployment is not that big an issue now.
This is a perfect explanation.
Politicians only want two things:
- to be re-elected
- to make loads of money (even after they retire)
Stating simple issues that get voters to the polls does this.
Well, boffking, I grew up in Northern New England in a small town and live in a neighboring state.
I know one of Lepage’s current themes is to lower the cost of energy in Maine. He wants to bring in more pipelines to upgrade the Nat Gas capacity while many oppose him and want to rely on alternative energy sources. Is that a stupid non-issue ?
If your one of the beautiful people along the coast I am sure you’re against it. After all you can afford the energy you need, it does not pinch your budget, it doesn’t affect your job, and certainly you want to feel good about yourself supporting environmental causes.
On the other hand you working in the interior where the winters are tough, and paying the fuel bill is a major concern perhaps it is much more of an important issue. Up there paying the fuel bill is a much higher % of your yearly budget. Bringing the price down for fuel would be welcomed. Also if you work in a factory and they have lower fuel costs they might stay around longer and you get to be keeping your job and not have that worry.
Seems to me that Lepage, for all his faults, is tackling an important issue, and tackling an issue that hits the little guy a lot harder than the rest of you think. In this case he has the interest of the average family in his mind more than you are willing to admit.