The Politics Megathread

[Zephyrus]

No one wanted, no one asked for it, but here it is: The Politics Megathread!

Talk about anything related to politics here, both US-based and international. I'll come right out and say that I'm most definitely *not* a Trump supporter, so you're probably going to see a lot of articles and discussion from me that closely scrutinizes the Trump administration's actions.

Before you get to posting, please keep in mind Rule 1: Be Civil. Because of the volatile nature of politics, it's important that we all respect opposing viewpoints.

 

[Zephyrus]

Sorry for the double post, but wanted to keep the OP separate from this:

When President Donald Trump unveils his second Supreme Court pick Monday night with the prime-time flourish of a reality show star, he will lay a momentous marker in modern political history.

"An exceptional person will be chosen!" Trump tweeted on Sunday, showing his glee at making a selection that will put him in the national spotlight he craves with a cherished win decades in the making for his Republican supporters.

Trump's pick will cement a 5-4 majority on the court for conservatives who could quite possibly dominate for a generation and, combined with his aggressive efforts to appoint judges to other federal courts across the country, ensure that the imprint of his contentious presidency will endure long after he has left office.

In many ways, Trump's pick will further empower the conservative backlash against progressive victories of the Obama era, on issues like gay rights, immigration and health care legislation that set a torch under his shock general election campaign. Some of those victories were made possible by the swing vote of Anthony Kennedy, whose retirement handed Trump a golden ideological opening.

Liberal horror and conservative delight about the implications of the pick have crystalized into a debate about the newly constituted court's potential to overturn Roe v Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that upheld a legal right to an abortion.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/09/politics/trump-supreme-court-pick-for-the-ages/index.html

What do you think? Who will Trump pick? I'm personally leaning towards Brett Kavanaugh. Amy Barret is also apparently near the top of the list but I hope she doesn't make it to SCOTUS. I believe she'll do her damndest to disregard separation of church and state.

 

[VawX]

I seriously know almost nothing about US politics as I'm not from US myself, but international sites like Reddit and news sites sure exposed me to a lot of US politics mmm...
Most if not all news I read about Trump seems quite negative and one the that's not just seems pretty biased mmm...

Now, I want to ask, since Trump become president, what action did Trump do that generally viewed as good things mmm...~?

 

[Alraisen]

I'm not going to take myself as a good viewpoint for politics. And of course I respect everyone's opinion.
But opinions are not truth. The truth is not an opinion, and the possibility that someone doesn't know it doesn't make it any less true. It's another point entirely that reality can be seen from so many fucking perspectives that you can take that truth to better suit your interests (and that's when opinions should and must be considered).
But after all this years, to not take in consideration that MK Ultra was a real program carried out by CIA on the 50's (supposedly publicly discovered and halted in the 70's), that some of the most powerful politicians and personalities make some weird kind of cult every year at Bohemian Grove, that Pizzagate is such a clusterfuck of evidence of something really weird is going on, that the first person to win the EU "Carlomagno" prize was a jewish man who said jew people should rule a Europe that was a mix of any other "inferior race" (Praktischer Idealismus, 1925, though I think it's very difficult to find the book, dunno if US will have it differently), and more incidentally, that Kubrick movies such as Eyes Wide Shut that noticeably point to other conspiracies, along with the very important and official CIA document sent to important figures at the time so that they could discredit anyone who said the official account of Kennedy's assassination was unbeliebable and which "coined" the "Conspiracy theorists" (I haven't find any proof that makes it clear it was the first time it was used, but it does appear, and you can easily find it on the Internet)... to not take in consideration this, it to discuss a 50% of the question.
Which doesn't mean it's not necessary, but more like understanding what the fuck this is would be like opening a window to a house up until then looked upon blindly.
I say this as truly an ignorant, and I sadly don't find myself to answer any doubts raised by this post, but my point maintains: it is necessary to understand the matter discussed before discussing it. It's also to vent a bit, though.

 

[Thoraxe41]

@VawX

A study was done and apparently 95% of new about trump from MSM was negative. The one good thing they had to say was the bombing of the Syrian airbase after a chemical attack.

Honestly it is hard to get unbiased news about him since most MSM hates him so much it's not even funny anymore. But if you look hard enough he's doing an alright job so far. Economically they have improved under his watch. Taxes where lowered for people and for businesses to competitive levels. GDP is up, unemployment is down. His things like immigration, travel ban, WALL, etc are of course hotly debated items but that's more of a left/right belief issue that happens all the time everywhere.

I would recommend since you browse reddit, not to use r/politics. Even with moderate users it's known as a super toxic leftist circle jerk.

 

[Archomp]

As a non-burgerlanders, the main thing I want to say is; Thanks to Trump walking out of the Iran deal, gas price is hiking.
Thanks... Just... thanks... Can't this wait for another ten/five years? Ye, I get Iran deal isn't doing US any good-
But pretty sure electric cars would be more rampant by then and US might have better nuclear deterrent then, so the impact is dampen a bit more.
I got nothing against mr potus, never watch his TV show or follow his kardashian-life, but I seriously doubt his dealing/negotiating tactic tho.
Also, if I was living in the US, between Clinton and Trump, I guess... I'd rather vote the orange than the witch ?. And this is coming from a slightly progressive middle-leaning guy.

 

[Zephyrus]

Relitigating the 2016 primaries does no one any good.

In summer of 2019, I expect Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders to announce their intent to run and be the primary contenders to beat. Supposedly Mueller's investigation (part of it anyway) will be wrapping up near the end of this year so we'll see if that has any impact on midterms, but I prefer to look ahead. A little over a year away from primary declarations. If Democrats take the House and Senate, 2020 could be a *very* good year for us.

 

[Letheliah]

@Zephyrus you might be my favorite person on this forum, i didn't even know I needed a politics thread until I saw this. Bless! <3

 

[Letheliah]

So I honestly don't know what I want to bitch about first when it comes to politics; the Irish referendum to repeal abortion a couple months back is pretty dope as [foreign to the US] news goes, and today even there's news of indictments in the Mueller Investigation (though it's still rather low on the radar for Americans, which is sad considering it's still a political scandal whatever your political alignment).
And it's kind of made me realize, I have no fucking idea what the investigation is attempting to prove. Like, was it only just Russia attempting to sway voters? Did they actively have a hand in hacking and switching votes? Are they trying to prove Russia bribed the Nazi Cheeto into doing things for them? I honestly have no idea.

Also here's a cute comic that I feel sums up the problem with civil political discourse nowadays; literally so many people do not understand the world and lifestyles other people live in and then refuse to listen when said people try to explain what that world is like.
Existential Comics: Wittgenstein's Lion

Spoiler

 

[tfwnowaifu]

>Bernie Sanders
You mean the socialist who owns an Audi R8 and three holiday homes?

 

[Narf]

@tfwnowaifu
Socialism does not equal communism. Communism is a form of socialism, but not its only one. Many forms of socialism, including the "democratic socialism" Sanders himself defined his policies as, do not judge unequal wealth as a bad thing. The goal is equal chances, not equal outcome. Plus a social security net that makes sure that nobody falls below a certain living standard and has to live in the streets begging for food every day.

So yeah. Sanders can totally be a socialist and at the same time be wealthy.

 

[Zephyrus]

I tend to agree. I see nothing wrong with Sanders having nice things. Just because he has nice things doesn't mean he doesn't practice what he preaches. I don't think someone fighting against income inequality necessarily has to be a beggar.

 

[Zephyrus]

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/07/23/trump-iran-threat-twitter-735617

President Donald Trump late Sunday evening issued a booming warning to President Hassan Rouhani of Iran rendered in caps lock — tweeting that the Middle Eastern leader "WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES" if he threatens the United States.

"To Iranian President Rouhani: NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE," the president wrote online.

"WE ARE NO LONGER A COUNTRY THAT WILL STAND FOR YOUR DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE & DEATH. BE CAUTIOUS!" he added.

The post appeared to be in response to comments Rouhani made earlier in the day in which he cautioned Trump about the devastation of a U.S.-Iran wartime conflict and threatened the president not to interfere with Tehran's government.

Looks like WWIII's back on the menu, boys!

Seriously, I wish we could go back to the days before Twitter diplomacy. If Trump actually worked hard at being president like he does when he tweets, we might actually not be in the darkest timeline.

 

[Teasday]

The consequences will never be the same

 

[Alraisen]

@Zephyrus Really, who the fuck would be on board for a World War III, for God's sake? Nobody, we would exterminate ourselves.
As Samuel P. Huntington put it, wars in the traditional sense are located in the outskirts of civilization: Syria, Crimea, whatever poor country to gulp down the mad desire of power of the powers that be in the US (China is more prevalent in the economic sense for now).
Keep calm, there are few chances WWIII is on the agenda of any country. Besides, anybody's easier to take control of when in fear.

 

[truelico]

https://twitter.com/Ha_Matar/status/1028330548530475008

Now: a rare site in Tel Aviv. Tens of thousands of Arabs and Jews marching together against the Jewish Nation State Law and for full civil equality. Quite uncommon to see so many Jews marching in an event organized by Arab leadership

Solidarity like this is nice to see. Let's hope democracy and peace can come to the region.

 

[Arantir]

i could see that this thread gonna set itself on fire in the foreseeable future.

 

[Alraisen]

@Arantir Looking forward to it.

 

[DemonHide]

An incompetent President is more likely to leave the nation in the hands of the cabinet and congress - One step closer to the people (barring that the cabinet's such a mire that you need gaiters just to walk in). That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it can be.

The problem is that we (the U.S.A) have an idiot for President. He's more likely to do things himself rather than delegate, and fuck it up royally for everybody. That's the crux of the issue, notwithstanding that our moron-in-chief stands for everything and nothing when it's convenient.

My 2¢ on the current presidency. Not a fan of Obama, Bush (Jr., Sr.) or any Clinton in office either.

 

[truelico]

It's simple, the office of presidency should be abolished. If somebody competent gets it, they use it for their own benefit, screwing over people across the world, and if somebody incompetent gets it, same applies only in a less controlled manner. All power to the people ♥♥♥