America - The Official Thread
- Thread starter ///M-Spec
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- a baby, candy, it's like taking.
- TexRex72
I haven't seen SCTV in ages. First thing that comes to mind is The Nutty Lab Assistant. Actually, I think of it whenever I head "Jack and Diane."
Definitely missing John Candy right now. I may end up watching Spaceballs tonight rather than this weekend.
But SCTV... Shouldn't this be in the Canada thread? /s
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"yet another in a long line of attacks on the civil service and circumvention of the laws passed by Congress to protect certain career federal employees from partisan, political interference."
Danoff
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He's just draining the swamp... the swamp being... people who aren't constantly jerked around by the whims of politicians?
It looks like this was preventing him from installing cronies... ie: making a swamp.
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- TenEightyOne
- TenEightyOne
Trump is immune from Coronavirus. He has a warp-speed vaccine. He's better. America is now doing the best and he's been congratulated by many heads of countries. Covid is going away.
Nuts.
Nuts.
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And everyone who wants to stay locked up and not catch a deadly disease must have made a large pile of money somehow
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- TenEightyOne
- TenEightyOne
500 kids in "facilities", coyotes brought them over.
Obama built their cages, so it's his fault.
Obama built their cages, so it's his fault.
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- Blitzbay
- Blitzbay
Thanks Obama!
Keef
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Who all here is/was/isn't sure anymore if they're libertarian? @Danoff and @Omnis for sure. Definitely some other very smart people. Let's all put our thinking caps on for a second.
What are we gonna do when the Republican party trips over itself so hard that it accidentally leads to a Democratic trifecta which then admits new Democratic states to the union which then allows Democratic leadership to persist for actual decades unchallenged. Are we "libertarians" all going to have a fit and flip sides again? We'll be careening toward a single-party government which we're all terrified of.
Screw Biden's policies or the Democratic party as it exists today - if they do things right they could cement their leadership so what I want to know is what will our politics look like 15, 20 years from now? Who will be in charge and what will they have accomplished for and/or stolen from the people?
What are we gonna do when the Republican party trips over itself so hard that it accidentally leads to a Democratic trifecta which then admits new Democratic states to the union which then allows Democratic leadership to persist for actual decades unchallenged. Are we "libertarians" all going to have a fit and flip sides again? We'll be careening toward a single-party government which we're all terrified of.
Screw Biden's policies or the Democratic party as it exists today - if they do things right they could cement their leadership so what I want to know is what will our politics look like 15, 20 years from now? Who will be in charge and what will they have accomplished for and/or stolen from the people?
Danoff
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The Trump administration, and Trump voters, have positioned the nation to do exactly what I feared they would do (and posted about it I think as far back as 2016), they've set up a huge swing toward the left. They've made socialism a more palatable topic in the country, they've made universal healthcare a more palatable topic in the country, and I do think we're going to see the left try to cement their power if Biden wins and the Senate flips. Biden has said that he intends to govern for all, not just the people that support him. If he's elected I think we can only hope he lives up to that.
Socialist policies, universal healthcare, wealth taxes, these are my usual soap boxes to rail against. But something has happened this last 4 years that's even more concerning, and will cause even more lasting damage to the US - Trump's all out attack on the bill of rights and the last remaining checks against the executive. That's far more concerning to me than whatever taxes or policies or economic damage comes as a result of shifting to the left. I just don't know if it ever gets repaired. I definitely don't think the nation can survive another 4 years of it.
I'm not actually sure that the country, in its previous form, has survived the Trump administration. We'll find out if Biden takes over whether he can try to restore the executive, but it would require a lot of restraint on the part of the democrats. My concern is that they'll charge right through the gaping hole that Trump has left behind, and we'll become Europe.
But Europe is suddenly not looking as bad as it used to. Because our current trajectory is to become China.
Libertarianism I think had a shot in 2016. We needed people to be so disgusted with Hillary and Trump that they voted for a Republican Governor from the south named Gary Johnson. People refused, and I think that was the final nail in the coffin for Libertarians in the US.
I do honestly believe that the cause is dead. I'll continue to champion it, but I don't see any traction going forward.
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- Bratvegas
- GTP_Liquid
I'm reasonably sure that it's a supposed projection of power.
Check out any side-quarter view of him in front of journalists:
To make himself look "bigger" which, considering his mass, isn't that diffiult anyway but obviously it's supposed to be an impressive, masculine projection of strength.
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- Simcoeace
Geezus. What am I going to do now? 
I predicted back in 2016 that a Trump nomination & a Trump presidency would destroy the Republican party. It's been a slow-motion train-wreck, but I think we're getting there. If the Democrats take back the senate I think there's going to be a bloodbath in GOP circles. However, it's quite possible that the GOP could rebuild & the Republican party could re-emerge as something more resembling a European Centre-Right party, rather than a Lunatic Authoritarian party. The question is, what is going to happen to the Trump cult? Also, don't discount the Democrats ability to screw everything up.
As I've said before, I just don't see how a Libertarian party fits into the American political landscape with the system being the way it is.
Also ... it struck me that the last couple of decades have seen the emergence of a number of Randian super heroes - men like Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg & Elon Musk. I'm not sure the immense wealth, power & influence wielded by these men is in any way an improvement on government wealth, power & influence.
Joey D
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I can agree with this. The Libertarian Party as it is currently doesn't have a ton of traction and most of that comes from lack of exposure. It's why I really wanted Justin Amash to run this year with Jorgensen as his running mate. He's an already established politician and his name is way more recognizable than Jorgensen's name. While he stood zero chance of winning, I think he probably had the best chance to get the 5% vote. He would've also pulled Republicans from West Michigan who hate Trump but will vote still for him because he's not a Democrat. It could've easily tipped Michigan more in favour of Biden too, which would also be a help.
Really, Libertarians need to make a stronger push at the local and state level. The Libertarian candidate for governor in Utah is doing no campaigning at all. He's on Twitter and that's about it. I even donate to the Utah Libertarian Party and didn't even get a mailing about his campaign or an e-mail for that matter. I could see plenty of states in the Intermountain West area being pretty pro-Libertarian if a candidate actually got their name out there. Utah is sort of a wild card, but I could see states like Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana embracing the party since they're pretty pro-leave-me-the-hell-alone.
I'm still going to continue to champion the cause because it's important to me, but I'm going to have a realistic outlook on it and say that we're still a long way from even securing more than one seat in Congress.
I guess my biggest hope right now is that the Republican party splinters into factions and one of those factions join with the Libertarians. While it's not ideal, I'd rather have a Libertarian Republican in office than a White America Jesus Loving Trump supporter any day.
Danoff
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I don't think so. I think it's unpopular.
I thought that there was a big bloc of voters within the republicans, and within the democrats, that wanted limited government. But actually the US is primarily made up of Authoritarians and Socialists. At least that's how it seems at the moment. I'm not sure there are many voters that actually want what the libertarians stand for.
Joey D
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This is purely anecdotal, but I've had conversations (albeit on social media) with people that I know who think Libertarians are somehow Trump supporters. I'm sure the party is unpopular, but I think there's a pretty big chunk of people that don't even know what the party's platform even is. Granted when I've explained to folks that Trump is pretty much the opposite of a Libertarian, they don't seem to buy it since Trump is constantly touting how libertarian he is.
I think if more people understood what third-parties offered instead of relying on whatever the established politicians and media tell them, they'd be more popular. I mean even with the Green Party I've had people tell me they're only platform is to get rid of cars and factories while turning America into a free love, hippy paradise. Sure, that's part of their platform, but if you look at the bigger picture they're probably more in line with someone like Bernie Sanders.
I know it's wishful thinking to get people to explore other options, but I'm just going sit over here on Fantasy Island and hope I'm not interrupted by a short man informing me that an aircraft is nearby.
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- Neomone
If the Democrats became entirely dominant purely through the most people wanting them to be in power, then you would assume that the Republicans would remould themselves into Democrat-lite. If they don't then presumably some other party would, because assuming that the Democrats don't take the opportunity to completely rig the system and render it literally impossible for anyone else to compete, you can always make at least one party that will be moderately competitive by copying 90% of the policies and then finding a few key areas where there isn't widespread agreement to differentiate yourself.
Perhaps something like a Libertarian party could fill the spot of a Republican party if the circumstances were right. I'm not super familiar, but it seems like there's some overlap there where traditional conservatives might prefer a Libertarian candidate to a Democratic one. At least if they were willing to look at policy rather than get caught up on the names of things.
