American Politics Discussion

[Dr. Gonzo]

Just now, Spike said:

But Biden is still president, and it’s not like they weren’t doing these things regardless.

Lebanon's not seen the same scale of bombing that Gaza has. Iran's oil facilities weren't bombed, nor were their nuclear facilities. The West Bank annexation thing specifically came up in the context of "now Trump is going to be president again, this is the time for the annexation." So yeah, they weren't doing those things with Biden as president.

The next ambassador to Israel doesn't believe that the West Bank settlements are illegal or that Palestinians have any legitimate claim to the territory.

[Spike]

17 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Lebanon's not seen the same scale of bombing that Gaza has. Iran's oil facilities weren't bombed, nor were their nuclear facilities. The West Bank annexation thing specifically came up in the context of "now Trump is going to be president again, this is the time for the annexation." So yeah, they weren't doing those things with Biden as president.

The next ambassador to Israel doesn't believe that the West Bank settlements are illegal or that Palestinians have any legitimate claim to the territory.

Not but they are getting attacked, as the war slowly escalated? These things are occurring, and more frequently, I feel like this was an inevitability. 

[Dr. Gonzo]

43 minutes ago, Spike said:

Not but they are getting attacked, as the war slowly escalated? These things are occurring, and more frequently, I feel like this was an inevitability. 

I don’t think they’ve continued the escalation in Lebanon & their response to Iran I think was pretty mild, because like Iran they’d telegraphed the attack in advance.

I think there’s a big difference in policy when you account for the zealots who think a holy war is necessary vs. US politicians supporting Israel because it’s their empire’s foothold in the region.

[Spike]

4 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

I don’t think they’ve continued the escalation in Lebanon & their response to Iran I think was pretty mild, because like Iran they’d telegraphed the attack in advance.

I think there’s a big difference in policy when you account for the zealots who think a holy war is necessary vs. US politicians supporting Israel because it’s their empire’s foothold in the region.

IDK mate the zealotry is just different flavours but it’s there on both sides. I think you just find the religious side more distasteful but to me I see the same rabid bollocks just in different phrasing.

[Dr. Gonzo]

19 minutes ago, Spike said:

IDK mate the zealotry is just different flavours but it’s there on both sides. I think you just find the religious side more distasteful but to me I see the same rabid bollocks just in different phrasing.

Ok but if the current secretary of state’s position is there should be a ceasefire in Gaza & Marco Rubio, the incoming secretary of state’s position is there should not be a ceasefire in Gaza… is that the same? Is one position not better for the people in Gaza?

I find the religious side more distasteful because it is more distasteful. It’s a more extreme stance based on faith, with even less regard than the other side for human life.

[Dr. Gonzo]

Lol he's appointed an alleged paedophile to be attorney general.

[Spike]

24 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Ok but if the current secretary of state’s position is there should be a ceasefire in Gaza & Marco Rubio, the incoming secretary of state’s position is there should not be a ceasefire in Gaza… is that the same? Is one position not better for the people in Gaza?

I find the religious side more distasteful because it is more distasteful. It’s a more extreme stance based on faith, with even less regard than the other side for human life.

But mate that’s the democrats thing. They do that with everything, they intentionally take positions that can’t be fulfilled, nor do they try. They do it with everything, student debt,  enshrining abortion, ceasefire, etc, and it always gets worse under them despite their ‘stance’

Edited November 13 by Spike

[Dr. Gonzo]

7 minutes ago, Spike said:

But mate that’s the democrats thing. They do that with everything, they intentionally take positions that can’t be fulfilled, nor do they try. They do it with everything, student debt,  enshrining abortion, ceasefire, etc, and it always gets worse under them despite their ‘stance’

Well now things will get far worse by people who are promising to make things far worse. But at least they told the US that petrol and eggs will be cheaper.

Should be fun to track the price of eggs and petrol in the US each week of Trump's presidency though.

[Spike]

2 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Well now things will get far worse by people who are promising to make things far worse. But at least they told the US that petrol and eggs will be cheaper.

Should be fun to track the price of eggs and petrol in the US each week of Trump's presidency though.

The republicans will say things will get worse and they do.

The democrats will say things will get better, do nothing after they stack the debate with conservative democrats that block everything; and when things get worse; ‘We tried!’. They get all the benefits of promising a solution, and all the benefits of not delivering. 
 

You know this is true deep down.

[Dr. Gonzo]

1 minute ago, Spike said:

The republicans will say things will get worse and they do.

The democrats will say things will get better, do nothing after they stack the debate with conservative democrats that block everything; and when things get worse; ‘We tried!’. They get all the benefits of promising a solution, and all the benefits of not delivering. 
 

You know this is true deep down.

Tbf I don't think I've lived in the US while a democrat president has had both the house and congress. I do remember under Obama, basically anything he wanted to do was blocked so he had to resort to executive orders to get anything accomplished - but nothing truly meaningful because there's limits to what executive orders can do. Basically was the same under Biden, who actually had the US economy recovering from the pandemic better than... any other country's economy, despite this.

So deep down, I know that while democrats (who are not a left wing party, by any stretch of imagination) are centrists that have been obstructed the entire time I've lived in the US - and the republicans are regressive turds that are very good at appealing to the idiotic American electorate.

The US will get the government it deserves, the rest of the world will have to deal with the consequences of the US getting what it deserves though.

[Machado]

Is Musk the most powerful man in the planet at this point? Not sure what his end goal is but there's something eerie about him.

Having government influence in the world's most powerful country, owning Neuralink, SpaceX, Twitter, and being the world's richest man is a crazy combination of agency in many fronts.

[Spike]

27 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Tbf I don't think I've lived in the US while a democrat president has had both the house and congress. I do remember under Obama, basically anything he wanted to do was blocked so he had to resort to executive orders to get anything accomplished - but nothing truly meaningful because there's limits to what executive orders can do. Basically was the same under Biden, who actually had the US economy recovering from the pandemic better than... any other country's economy, despite this.

So deep down, I know that while democrats (who are not a left wing party, by any stretch of imagination) are centrists that have been obstructed the entire time I've lived in the US - and the republicans are regressive turds that are very good at appealing to the idiotic American electorate.

The US will get the government it deserves, the rest of the world will have to deal with the consequences of the US getting what it deserves though.

That Joe Mamchin guy is a notorious democrat obstructionist 

[6666]

24 minutes ago, Spike said:

The republicans will say things will get worse and they do.

The democrats will say things will get better, do nothing after they stack the debate with conservative democrats that block everything; and when things get worse; ‘We tried!’. They get all the benefits of promising a solution, and all the benefits of not delivering. 
 

You know this is true deep down.

The rhetoric is different, the coverage is different, the results are the same.

US foreign policy is a fucking disaster whether it's the donkey or elephant in charge.

To have thousands and thousands of people die only to hear "yeah, things might get bad if the Democrats don't win" was always going to be frustrating for a lot of voters. Not sure if defending countries committing atrocities or attacking and shaming protesters really convinced anyone that they're that different when it comes to foreign policy. The Republicans are just openly proud of being violent dickheads.

[Devil-Dick Willie]

12 minutes ago, Machado said:

Is Musk the most powerful man in the planet at this point? Not sure what his end goal is but there's something eerie about him.

Having government influence in the world's most powerful country, owning Neuralink, SpaceX, Twitter, and being the world's richest man is a crazy combination of agency in many fronts.

Especially for a moron who stumbled into that kind of power. 
Owning X would be one of the all time greatest Ls in history... Had the Dems won the election. No one, including Trump, needed that Republican win more than Elon and his overleveraged business empire. If the Dems won and Tesla shares gone in the other direction that man was bankrupt (in the billionaire sense anyway, I know it's hardly the same for them)

[Dr. Gonzo]

Just now, Spike said:

That Joe Mamchin guy is a notorious democrat obstructionist 

He voted with democrats 85% of the time. Now that he's been replaced with a republican, how often do you think his replacement will vote for the centrist party as opposed to the right wing party?

[Dr. Gonzo]

15 minutes ago, Machado said:

Is Musk the most powerful man in the planet at this point? Not sure what his end goal is but there's something eerie about him.

Having government influence in the world's most powerful country, owning Neuralink, SpaceX, Twitter, and being the world's richest man is a crazy combination of agency in many fronts.

He must be and if he's not - he's got to be up there.

[6666]

16 minutes ago, Machado said:

Is Musk the most powerful man in the planet at this point? Not sure what his end goal is but there's something eerie about him.

Having government influence in the world's most powerful country, owning Neuralink, SpaceX, Twitter, and being the world's richest man is a crazy combination of agency in many fronts.

Dogecoin to replace the dollar.

[Spike]

5 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

He voted with democrats 85% of the time. Now that he's been replaced with a republican, how often do you think his replacement will vote for the centrist party as opposed to the right wing party?

But that’s not really the point though?

Manchin is a strategic obstructionist that helps the democrats not pass through their major stances like abortion 

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/biden-congress-votes/joe-manchin/

 

 

[Dr. Gonzo]

2 minutes ago, Spike said:

But that’s not really the point though?

Manchin is a strategic obstructionist that helps the democrats not pass through their major stances like abortion 

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/biden-congress-votes/joe-manchin/

 

 

Was he a strategic obstructionist or is that just the only sort of democrat that has a chance of winning a senate seat from the moron voters of West Virginia? It's one of the most conservative states in the US - it's crazy it had a democratic senator for so long. I think things will be worse off without a democrat senator from that hellhole tbh.

[Gunnersaurus]

1 hour ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Lol he's appointed an alleged paedophile to be attorney general.

At this point it's not surprising. Just had a quick read about him. Is that the 17 year old you are talking about? 

Pedophile is pre pubity I think so it's actually sex with a minor and obviously in the UK she would be above the age of consent but it's still terrible. He looks like a right dodgy cunt been investigated for trafficking as well. 

America is a strange country 

 

 

Edited November 13 by Gunnersaurus

[Dr. Gonzo]

42 minutes ago, Gunnersaurus said:

At this point it's not surprising. Just had a quick read about him. Is that the 17 year old you are talking about? 

Pedophile is pre pubity I think so it's actually sex with a minor and obviously in the UK she would be above the age of consent but it's still terrible. He looks like a right dodgy cunt been investigated for trafficking as well. 

America is a strange country 

I think he's been accused of sex with multiple young women (under the age of consent in the US, which is 18). I know there's a distinction between the different categories of nonce... but I don't really care I'm just gonna lump them all in as pedos.

Yeah, America's a strange country for sure.

[Gunnersaurus]

17 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

I think he's been accused of sex with multiple young women (under the age of consent in the US, which is 18). I know there's a distinction between the different categories of nonce... but I don't really care I'm just gonna lump them all in as pedos.

Yeah, America's a strange country for sure.

I read when the fbi were investigating him for trafficking he wanted to defund them. Nothing corrupt about that at all!!

In your experience how many trump voters know he is a cunt but vote for him because they see him as the less bad option and how many generally don't see anything bad about him? In the UK most of us vote for people we think are cunts but we think they are not as bad as the other one. But America doesn't seem that way 

Edited November 13 by Gunnersaurus

[Spike]

26 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Was he a strategic obstructionist or is that just the only sort of democrat that has a chance of winning a senate seat from the moron voters of West Virginia? It's one of the most conservative states in the US - it's crazy it had a democratic senator for so long. I think things will be worse off without a democrat senator from that hellhole tbh.

I dunno mate, anti abortion, pro coal, anti environment, he is pretty shit house 

[Dr. Gonzo]

7 minutes ago, Gunnersaurus said:

I read when the fbi were investigating him for trafficking he wanted to defund them. Nothing corrupt about that at all!!

In your experience how many trump voters know he is a cunt but vote for him because they see him as the less bad option and how many generally don't see anything bad about him? In the UK most of is vote for people we think are cunts but we think they not as bad as the other one. But America doesn't seem that way 

I know very few Trump voters, tbh. I'm in coastal California, so I'm in a bit of a bubble. The people I know that did vote for Trump really don't follow politics all that closely and believe a lot of shit they see on social media and distrust regular news (whether it's online, tv, newspaper, books). It's maybe 3-4 people; they all said the biggest issue for them was inflation and the cost of living. I tried explaining to them that Trump's proposed policies, namely the tariffs, are only going to increase both of those. They didn't care - they just saw things get more expensive once Biden was president and remember pre-pandemic prices and want a return to that.

I'm pretty sure everyone around the world wants a return to the cost of living pre-pandemic... but hey... it is what it is.

@Spike, @Coma, & @Cicero might be able to give you a different perspective. Although Spike's in Chicago, so he might be in even more of a bubble than I am in San Diego - although idk too much about where he's living in Chicago so no idea if that's true or not. I'm pretty sure Coma's from a swing state or a state that could potentially be a swing state if there's the right issues on a ballot - so he might have a more accurate answer on the pulse of America. And idk where Cicero is at, but he's been pretty good at giving a pulse on some things in the US. He's not been very active lately though.

[Tommy]

1 hour ago, Machado said:

Is Musk the most powerful man in the planet at this point?

*Aliens invade*
"Let us speak to your most powerful man" 

Us: