Discussion For those who enjoy mocking politicians...

[Inferdan]

Donald Trump is the Annoying Orange's cousin, except he isn't funny at all, so it's hard to believe they're related

 

[mediocre]

Trump isn't really a politician though. Just a corrupt individual. I'm not a fan of him but it's amazing to me how many people in America say he is corrupt yet they continually vote for corrupt politicians. It's strange to me.
I know this is a joke thread but I had to say that.. I guess the joke is how corrupt the American political system is :)

 

[Brick In The Wall]

Corruption and politics are synonymous with one another. We fall for the same "hope and change" rhetoric hook line and sinker everytime

 

[mediocre]

Corruption and politics are synonymous with one another. We fall for the same "hope and change" rhetoric hook line and sinker everytime

I know right?! Obama is the perfect example.. they say a lot of things that sound like they are for the working person but when they get in there they work for the corporations... yes we can.. turned into no we can't and I don't think so

 

[GoodPersonEffed]

it's amazing to me how many people in America say he is corrupt yet they continually vote for corrupt politicians.

That's because they're the only option. I stopped voting in national elections after Gore lost the electoral college to Bush. My vote doesn't mean shit, it's hype that it does. I didn't tell people for years I'd quit voting because it's such an emotionally charged topic of mythical status in the U.S. Then Russell Brand said something that helped me say what I felt but couldn't articulate: "I don't vote because I don't participate in the illusion."

I know right?! Obama is the perfect example.. they say a lot of things that sound like they are for the working person but when they get in there they work for the corporations... yes we can.. turned into no we can't and I don't think so

When he was running, there was so much hype. I was in community theater at the time and most of my friends were gay, and they were on such a high, as were most younger liberals, which was also part of his inspirational platform -- he'd been a community organizer, and he had a lot of younger volunteers and employees on his campaign. I sat back and waited to see if the results matched the hype, and therefore was not let down when it became clear to me that, yes, we can but no, he didn't. None of them do.

 

[mediocre]

That's because they're the only option. I stopped voting in national elections after Gore lost the electoral college to Bush. My vote doesn't mean shit, it's hype that it does. I didn't tell people for years I'd quit voting because it's such an emotionally charged topic of mythical status in the U.S. Then Russell Brand said something that helped me say what I felt but couldn't articulate: "I don't vote because I don't participate in the illusion."



When he was running, there was so much hype. I was in community theater at the time and most of my friends were gay, and they were on such a high, as were most younger liberals, which was also part of his inspirational platform -- he'd been a community organizer, and he had a lot of younger volunteers and employees on his campaign. I sat back and waited to see if the results matched the hype, and therefore was not let down when it became clear to me that, yes, we can but no, he didn't. None of them do.

See that's another thing I don't get about Obama and others like Hillary Clinton.. they didn't support gay rights/gay marriage until it was politically safe to do so. Others did it decades before when it was unpopular. Yet they are heralded as people who have always fought for gay rights, which is simply not true if you look at their history.

 

[Sensei]

It's been three and a half years by now, but I honestly still can't believe that he's been elected president and is in command of the next largest nuclear arsenal in the world.

 

[Worthless_nobody]

I came to this thread expecting to read a debate. Thanks for the laugh much better.. brightened my shit day a bit! I call him the orange monster all the time.

 

[Inferdan]

I always like how my random threads create some interesting discussions. I completely agree with everything mentioned here, no need to go into specifics. Corruption is threaded into everything, especially into the positions in power, and many suffer from it...

I came to this thread expecting to read a debate. Thanks for the laugh much better.. brightened my shit day a bit! I call him the orange monster all the time.

Hehe, the orange monster...I like it
Glad it made your day better :) hopefully you smile again sometime soon. Many many hugs

 

[Meditation guide]

they work for the corporations

Yes so much better now that they work just for themselves to line their own pockets. At least Obama didn't cause people to laugh at him at the U.N. or was shown climbing up to the plane with long toilet paper trailing from his shoe. Or pay off porn stars hoping they would keep quiet. Or get impeached for extorting Ukraine to help him win the election by withholding military supplies congress had approved.
Or have at least 7 employees, members of his cabinet, and associates get convicted of multiple crimes. Or give his children and relatives jobs where they could go to various countries demanding financing and bailouts for their failing real estate ventures, and Chinese copyrights and trademarks others can't get. Or suggest people with the corona virus inject themselves with disinfectant. Or say he wanted to buy Greenland from Denmark and then cut off communications with them when they said it's not for sale. Or separate children from their parents and lock them in cages, never to find or see their parents again and send his wife to visit them with a jacket that says on it "I REALLY DON'T CARE DO YOU?"

 

[so tired or manic]

there is no hope in politics. Bernie bringing on an aspect of universal healthcare would have done wonders. it wasn't even universal healthcare, just a fraction of it.

insulin prices keep rising, I'm not allowed good electronics to make life drastically easier. trans people didn't exist, but weren't allowed to be in the military at the same time. my healthcare is at risk and has no hope of ever being better.

but the way politics work, if you have opposing opinions, you're pulled before you reach the voting stage.

 

[Deleted member 17949]

At this point idk if people even care about policy and quality of life or if they just love arguing and trying to support the 'better' candidate.

 

[mediocre]

Yes so much better now that they work just for themselves to line their own pockets. At least Obama didn't cause people to laugh at him at the U.N. or was shown climbing up to the plane with long toilet paper trailing from his shoe. Or pay off porn stars hoping they would keep quiet. Or get impeached for extorting Ukraine to help him win the election by withholding military supplies congress had approved.
Or have at least 7 employees, members of his cabinet, and associates get convicted of multiple crimes. Or give his children and relatives jobs where they could go to various countries demanding financing and bailouts for their failing real estate ventures, and Chinese copyrights and trademarks others can't get. Or suggest people with the corona virus inject themselves with disinfectant. Or say he wanted to buy Greenland from Denmark and then cut off communications with them when they said it's not for sale. Or separate children from their parents and lock them in cages, never to find or see their parents again and send his wife to visit them with a jacket that says on it "I REALLY DON'T CARE DO YOU?"

You don't think politicians lined their own pockets before Trump came along?! If not I don't know what to say to you. It seems a lot of people just turn.a blind eye to as long as their president isn't a laughing stock.

there is no hope in politics. Bernie bringing on an aspect of universal healthcare would have done wonders. it wasn't even universal healthcare, just a fraction of it.

insulin prices keep rising, I'm not allowed good electronics to make life drastically easier. trans people didn't exist, but weren't allowed to be in the military at the same time. my healthcare is at risk and has no hope of ever being better.

but the way politics work, if you have opposing opinions, you're pulled before you reach the voting stage.

I didn't agree with Bernie on everything but I thought he was the most coherent and consistent of all of the dem candidates. He can speak in sentences! Don't we long for those days?! Unfortunately whether it's Biden and Trump that wins we are still going to have a bumbling fool in the White House they can't string a sentence together.

 

[Meditation guide]

You don't think politicians lined their own pockets before Trump came along?!

They didn't direct the military to stay at resorts they owned. They didn't have a luxury hotel across from the White House that foreign dictatorships rented rooms from to the tune of a million dollars at a time and not even use the rooms. They didn't have their daughter go to China and get usually impossible to get trademarks and copyrights. They didn't have their son in law go to Saudi Arabia and get a $10,000,000 bailout for a failed condo building in New York. Nor do they have loans from Russia that financed a string of resorts and golf courses since they couldn't get any other loans due to having 5 bankruptcies.

Nor did they take the fight to keep their tax returns secret all the way to the Supreme Court. They all publicly showed their tax returns.

 

[Wisdom3_1-9]

That's because they're the only option. I stopped voting in national elections after Gore lost the electoral college to Bush. My vote doesn't mean shit, it's hype that it does.

Not that I don't understand your position, but it's why we're in this current situation. More than 100 million people didn't vote in the last election. That's more than either candidate got. I recognize people are (rightfully) disgruntled with flawed political and electoral systems, but to disengage from the situation doesn't help.

I'm not delusional to think any one candidate, whether I love them (Obama) or am fine with them (Biden) will pass every test I have in my mind for them. I know that to achieve at the top levels, there is definitely some "selling out," some corruption, some abandoning of values, some betrayals of principles, some bargaining, and some cheating. All of our political legends have a bad side. We lionize them years after, but they were imperfect.

I'm also not delusional to think that all options are the same. I so many people didn't vote in 2016 because they didn't want to choose "a lesser of two evils." Hell, I think it's always a choice between the lesser of two evils. If Clinton had won the election, do you think we would have children in cages, impeachment hearings, threats of nuclear war, a horribly botched pandemic response, and the re-emergence of overt white supremacists?

See that's another thing I don't get about Obama and others like Hillary Clinton.. they didn't support gay rights/gay marriage until it was politically safe to do so. Others did it decades before when it was unpopular. Yet they are heralded as people who have always fought for gay rights, which is simply not true if you look at their history.

As a member of the LGBTQ community, this bothers me too. They are lauded as heroes for their pro-LGBTQ stance, but they took a long time to come around. I think it's one of two things. Either they changed their positions because it was more politically astute at the time, or (and this is what I think most probable) they always held those positions, but could never publicly support them because of political backlash. On the one hand, that's cowardly. On the other, it's a sly political move. Play the part until you are in a position where you can bring about change. Politics can be a game, and it's good to have people who know how to play it well.

I didn't agree with Bernie on everything but I thought he was the most coherent and consistent of all of the dem candidates. He can speak in sentences! Don't we long for those days?! Unfortunately whether it's Biden and Trump that wins we are still going to have a bumbling fool in the White House they can't string a sentence together.

I'm not crazy about Biden either. Of all the people running for the Democratic nomination, he was probably my sixth or seventh choice. But again, let's not delude ourselves into thinking that we have two candidates who are essentially the same. Biden is a gaffe-machine, but he's not cold-hearted, vindictive, racist, intentionally divisive, petty, or (as) egomaniacal as the incumbent. He won't flip the corporate oligarchy that exists, but he won't actively try to destroy the few in-roads that have been made in recent years, such as healthcare and voting and civil rights. He'll surround himself with competent people, put qualified and reasonable judges on the Supreme Court, and pick a woman of color to be VP.

Hearing language that equates him with that orange monster makes my blood boil.

 

[Meditation guide]

He'll surround himself with competent people,

And he will probably have a plan to halt the corona virus unlike what we have now which is nothing being done at all. I doubt he will be telling people to inject disinfectant or take hydroxychloroquin as a cure. I'm sure he won't be whining at a covid press conference that people like Dr. Fauci and don't like him and asking why that is.

Biden won't be calling the virus a "hoax". He won't be saying it will magically disappear. He won't be withholding Federal assistance from states of the opposing political party.

 

[XYZ]

I know hate coz I carry it in my heart. That man is so full of hate towards his fellow Americans, it's actually hard to watch. I don't usually read his tweets but I happened to see a few in relation to Black Lives Matter and this one made me puke. Calling the people you are supposed to represent "lowlifes" and threatening them is so hateful. How does a man like that get to be the leader of the Free World?

 

[mediocre]

I'm not crazy about Biden either. Of all the people running for the Democratic nomination, he was probably my sixth or seventh choice. But again, let's not delude ourselves into thinking that we have two candidates who are essentially the same. Biden is a gaffe-machine, but he's not cold-hearted, vindictive, racist, intentionally divisive, petty, or (as) egomaniacal as the incumbent. He won't flip the corporate oligarchy that exists, but he won't actively try to destroy the few in-roads that have been made in recent years, such as healthcare and voting and civil rights. He'll surround himself with competent people, put qualified and reasonable judges on the Supreme Court, and pick a woman of color to be VP.

Hearing language that equates him with that orange monster makes my blood boil.

I agree with a lot of what you say I wasn't making a comparison at all in fact I don't think there is one. However just because Biden doesn't have Trumps personality doesn't make me like him or trust him any better. Not that I have a dog in this race anyway I'm not even from America. I just follow the politics because I find it interesting. I agree with you that he won't destroy any of the in-roads that have been made but on the other hand I don't think he'll do enough to make real change. He will just be a run-of-the-mill president. But I guess that's what most people want? to get back to business as usual?

about picking a woman of color for VP... just wondering why that's considered the most important thing above all else? surely her voting record would be more important? Who do you think it's going to be?

They didn't direct the military to stay at resorts they owned. They didn't have a luxury hotel across from the White House that foreign dictatorships rented rooms from to the tune of a million dollars at a time and not even use the rooms. They didn't have their daughter go to China and get usually impossible to get trademarks and copyrights. They didn't have their son in law go to Saudi Arabia and get a $10,000,000 bailout for a failed condo building in New York. Nor do they have loans from Russia that financed a string of resorts and golf courses since they couldn't get any other loans due to having 5 bankruptcies.

Nor did they take the fight to keep their tax returns secret all the way to the Supreme Court. They all publicly showed their tax returns.

I'm not disagreeing with you on any of that and I'm not making comparisons. He is clearly corrupt with a capital C. I never said he wasn't. Just saying pay for play politics is a thing too and there is a lot of corruption in politics that a lot of people and the media turn a blind eye too. I feel like they get away with far too much.

 

[Meditation guide]

How does a man like that get to be the leader of the Free World?

His supporters hate groups of people and Trump encourages them. Trump divides the U.S. into those who hate certain types or nationalities, and the rest of us. It comes down to people coming out from hiding about the prejudices they have. Trump says its ok to hate. He wants us all fighting with each other. It is part of his illness. Such a complete narcissist loves to see people hating and fighting. They love to sow discord. And of course he takes orders from a certain someone who also wants the U.S. to be fighting with ourselves.

 

[Wisdom3_1-9]

about picking a woman of color for VP... just wondering why that's considered the most important thing above all else? surely her voting record would be more important? Who do you think it's going to be?

I think it's important because it's beneficial for government to represent the people they serve. Biden is an old white man. Having a VP who can represent the views of women and minorities is a plus. Her ability to serve as president should be the top consideration, but there are several people who have the qualifications to be his #2. His commitment to select a woman, and likely a woman of color, is a testament to his desire to have diverse voices at the table, something sorely lacking in the current administration.

As for who I think it will be?
1) Kamala Harris
2) Karen Bass
3) Susan Rice - she'd actually be my top pick, but I feel like Republicans will hold the Benghazi mess over her

How does a man like that get to be the leader of the Free World?

I don't think he is. I think the other Western powers have abandoned him because he's such a disgrace. Losing the US from the alliance of liberal states has weakened the free world, which has enabled Russia and China to emerge as stronger powers and players once again. Angela Merkl is really the leader of the free world, if you ask me. And her tenure probably won't be much longer. Her, Macron, Trudeau, and others of that guild seem poised to fall soon. We'll be left with Boris Johnson. God help us.

 

[GoodPersonEffed]

Not that I don't understand your position, but it's why we're in this current situation. More than 100 million people didn't vote in the last election. That's more than either candidate got. I recognize people are (rightfully) disgruntled with flawed political and electoral systems, but to disengage from the situation doesn't help.

The reason why we're in this current situation is the electoral college, not people who didn't vote. Hillary won the popular vote.

It's true that disengaging by not voting does not help change a flawed system, but nor does engaging by voting. Both are functions within the system that do not alter how the system functions. In fact, if everyone engages, the illegitimate power of the system is reified; if everyone disengages, it makes an impact like a nationwide protest, but the electoral college still goes on, the system doesn't even stop as if it were a car and individual votes were gas. The electoral college is the gas.

Finally, as far as helping, I'm not going to take on that false personal burden based on nationalistic myths. This might as well be about blaming me for not playing the slots because I realized they take more from me than they give in return and I'm done making the personal investment. I'm not responsible for the well-being of the casino that gives no shits about mine, nor for all the other gamblers. I'm not going to invest my efforts of intellect and emotion on voting for shitty people in what's ultimately a rigged system.

I'm also not delusional to think that all options are the same. I so many people didn't vote in 2016 because they didn't want to choose "a lesser of two evils." Hell, I think it's always a choice between the lesser of two evils. If Clinton had won the election, do you think we would have children in cages, impeachment hearings, threats of nuclear war, a horribly botched pandemic response, and the re-emergence of overt white supremacists?

I choose to not engage with the evil at all. That has served my well-being.

Just as I have the right to vote, I also have the right to not vote, and I exercise it. Some people may say that I give up my voice, but it's an illusion that I have one in presidential elections, and if anything, not voting is using my voice in a critical rather than participatory way -- I don't sing in the choir, I stand outside of it. Some may say if I don't vote then I don't have a right to bitch, but that's an emotional argument and not a constitutional one. I am a citizen, therefore I have a right to free speech and to complain about the system that has power over me rather than serves the best interests of the citizens. It is a system of taxation without representation -- ironic much? Corporations pay less and less taxes and gain more and more voice by representation via the investments of lobbying and backroom deals.

 

[xaea13]

Trump impressions are overrated. Dave Rubin is the most fun to mock (sorry if you're a Rubin fan, I just can't with that guy.)

 

[Joey]

The reason why we're in this current situation is the electoral college, not people who didn't vote. Hillary won the popular vote.

It's true that disengaging by not voting does not help change a flawed system, but nor does engaging by voting. Both are functions within the system that do not alter how the system functions. In fact, if everyone engages, the illegitimate power of the system is reified; if everyone disengages, it makes an impact like a nationwide protest, but the electoral college still goes on, the system doesn't even stop as if it were a car and individual votes were gas. The electoral college is the gas.

Finally, as far as helping, I'm not going to take on that false personal burden based on nationalistic myths. This might as well be about blaming me for not playing the slots because I realized they take more from me than they give in return and I'm done making the personal investment. I'm not responsible for the well-being of the casino that gives no shits about mine, nor for all the other gamblers. I'm not going to invest my efforts of intellect and emotion on voting for shitty people in what's ultimately a rigged system.




I choose to not engage with the evil at all. That has served my well-being.

Just as I have the right to vote, I also have the right to not vote, and I exercise it. Some people may say that I give up my voice, but it's an illusion that I have one in presidential elections, and if anything, not voting is using my voice in a critical rather than participatory way -- I don't sing in the choir, I stand outside of it. Some may say if I don't vote then I don't have a right to bitch, but that's an emotional argument and not a constitutional one. I am a citizen, therefore I have a right to free speech and to complain about the system that has power over me rather than serves the best interests of the citizens. It is a system of taxation without representation -- ironic much? Corporations pay less and less taxes and gain more and more voice by representation via the investments of lobbying and backroom deals.

My words exactly

 

[xaea13]

The reason why we're in this current situation is the electoral college, not people who didn't vote. Hillary won the popular vote.

It's true that disengaging by not voting does not help change a flawed system, but nor does engaging by voting. Both are functions within the system that do not alter how the system functions. In fact, if everyone engages, the illegitimate power of the system is reified; if everyone disengages, it makes an impact like a nationwide protest, but the electoral college still goes on, the system doesn't even stop as if it were a car and individual votes were gas. The electoral college is the gas.

Finally, as far as helping, I'm not going to take on that false personal burden based on nationalistic myths. This might as well be about blaming me for not playing the slots because I realized they take more from me than they give in return and I'm done making the personal investment. I'm not responsible for the well-being of the casino that gives no shits about mine, nor for all the other gamblers. I'm not going to invest my efforts of intellect and emotion on voting for shitty people in what's ultimately a rigged system.




I choose to not engage with the evil at all. That has served my well-being.

Just as I have the right to vote, I also have the right to not vote, and I exercise it. Some people may say that I give up my voice, but it's an illusion that I have one in presidential elections, and if anything, not voting is using my voice in a critical rather than participatory way -- I don't sing in the choir, I stand outside of it. Some may say if I don't vote then I don't have a right to bitch, but that's an emotional argument and not a constitutional one. I am a citizen, therefore I have a right to free speech and to complain about the system that has power over me rather than serves the best interests of the citizens. It is a system of taxation without representation -- ironic much? Corporations pay less and less taxes and gain more and more voice by representation via the investments of lobbying and backroom deals.

My dude, your 3rd eye is wide open asf
Noam Chomsky said something to the effect of "the American system of democracy is envy of dictators around the world." A monolithic system with 2 parties that are beholden to the same industries and offer the illusion of choice, with a corporate media arm serving as their propaganda wing to keep them in the public's good graces.



I am 99% confident that Annoying Orange will be out of power by November. His political instincts have dried up and he's botched the COVID response in every imaginable way. He literally couldn't respond to Chris Wallace's questions and the insider reports are all saying that Trump is panicking. Doesn't help that his strategists seem to be running him into the ground - if I ran his campaign I'd just plead with him to promote masks more and push for recurring stimulus checks. That could've gotten him reelected and actually made the situation a lot better.
As much as I hate Biden and his own corruption, he'd still be an improvement over this mess.

Ok, why am I posting political takes on a dark web suicide forum again? btw, if you're a Trump supporter, I have nothing against you and I support your right to vote. My complaint is solely with those in power.