Election Thread 2024

[Nobody]

CNN headline this morning:

Trump accuses Democratic lawmakers who urged military to disobey illegal orders of 'seditious behavior, punishable by death

So, will there be hanging, drawing and quartering, electric chairs, firing squads, or what? Inquiring minds want to know.

[Paleophyte]

'Evidence of misconduct' in federal investigation of ex-FBI head James Comey, judge finds

During her amateur hour appearance in front of a grand jury, Lindsey Halligan may have swapped out the charges against Comey. Oops.

[Hydra009]

Victim complex: Ex-Congressional Aide Faked Attack on Herself

A New Jersey woman who worked as a congressional staffer for Rep. Jeff Van Drew, has been charged in connection with staging a fake political attack that included writing and scarring on her body.

An investigation revealed that Greene had paid an artist specializing in scarification to use a scalpel to lacerate parts of her body in a pattern that she directed ahead of the incident, according to the complaint.

Guess the political party.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

The whole point of our New World democracy was to squash that historical truth. We are a failed state already, just limping along on broken legs with a bad concussion. I think all democracies will eventually vote themselves into dictatorships and anarchy once they take state-given rights for granted.

I disagree with the "fail state" thing. If we don't correct the matters we could slide into such, but that's when we find out if democracy actually works. If one of you would be so kind as to burn a copy of the State of the Union Address each year so I can keep up after I kick it, I would appreciate that.

But even if we don't correct a lot of things we can carry on by correcting the worst things. ("worst" being, IMNSHO, political excesses.)

States ebb and flow. Russia has done that for ages. Germany bounces around wildly. Italy ... well, Italy loves wine.

[Hydra009]

States ebb and flow. Russia has done that for ages. Germany bounces around wildly. Italy ... well, Italy loves wine.

That's true.  But the best countries  tend to side with democracy over fascism very consistently or at least only have one or two oopsies and then swear it off after that.  Every slip up runs the risk of more slip ups in the future.  Some countries only have a dictator for a few years.  Some countries have a dictator for a few decades.  And some countries have dictator after dictator.

[Cassia]

I disagree with the "fail state" thing. If we don't correct the matters we could slide into such, but that's when we find out if democracy actually works. If one of you would be so kind as to burn a copy of the State of the Union Address each year so I can keep up after I kick it, I would appreciate that.

But even if we don't correct a lot of things we can carry on by correcting the worst things. ("worst" being, IMNSHO, political excesses.)

States ebb and flow. Russia has done that for ages. Germany bounces around wildly. Italy ... well, Italy loves wine.

We are living off of past glory. I'd give our democracy a D- today. For example:

-A majority of U.S. adults (around 56-60% in recent polls) say laws covering the sale of firearms should be stricter.
-More than six in ten Americans (64% in a 2023 PRRI poll; 63% in a 2024 Pew Research poll) say abortion should be legal in all or most cases.
-Less than one-third of Americans (31%) view tariffs favorably.
-Overall, 69% of Americans say large business and corporations are doing too little to help reduce the effects of global climate change.
-Roughly seven-in-ten U.S. adults (72%) say that there should be limits on the amount of money individuals and organizations can spend on political campaigns.
-Surveys consistently show that 93% to 96% of Americans view Social Security as an important federal program and efforts. Surveys also indicate a large majority of Americans favor increasing taxes on high earners to ensure Social Security remains solvent, rather than cutting benefits.

So, we just don't get what we want.
-----------------------------------------------
We have Christian nationalist preachers speaking in tongues in the white house. We had a violent insurrection, and all the traitors were pardoned. The DOJ and SCOTUS are corrupted ass-kissers.

We have very low rates of vaccination, only 22.8% of adults aged 19 years and older had received all age-appropriate vaccines recommended for them (including the flu shot). The "richest country" has 40 million people who need nutritional help.

We can't even make decent movies or pop music anymore. Our billionaires are fixing to replace workers with AI and somehow expect our consumer economy to succeed. Brilliant.

The US debt-to-GDP ratio is approximately 125% as of late 2025, with the national debt exceeding $38 trillion and the GDP around $30.5 trillion. This ratio has been rising, with projections indicating it could climb further to around 143% by 2030, driven by factors like increased government spending and defense costs. This level of debt is high by historical standards.

U.S. government bonds (and the dollar) have been downgraded by the major rating agencies.

The U.S. has one of the highest incarceration rates in the world, especially among Western democracies, and has the largest total prison population. The U.S. is among the top five, alongside countries like El Salvador, Cuba, Rwanda, and Turkmenistan.

Our suicide rate is high, #31 out of 183 countries.

We could even wear fucking masks during Covid and had nearly the most pathetic outcome of any country. It would be worse if another pandemic started today. We have to print "not for human consumption" on every bottle of laundry detergent. Yeah, our Idiocracy is doing just great.

[Hydra009]

So, we just don't get what we want.

I read a few years back about the stark difference between public polling and actual policy.  The fear back then is that the US was sliding into a "managed democracy" where the wealthy elites, not the hoi polloi, dictate policy.  Because they're the ones funding the politicians' campaigns.

We could even wear fucking masks during Covid and had nearly the most pathetic outcome of any country. It would be worse if another pandemic started today. We have to print "not for human consumption" on every bottle of laundry detergent. Yeah, our Idiocracy is doing just great.

Yeah, that's definitely a very shameful moment.  A pop quiz on science knowledge and consideration for others.  Didn't do so well.  Especially not with a small but wealthy minority urging others to do everything in their power to cause superspreader events while receiving top healthcare themselves and/or thoroughly vaccinated.  Dumb sheep following cruel shepherds.

I read during that time that American culture has very much been geared towards a selfish "I got mine, I don't care about you" perspective in the past couple decades, which is tragic.  Not everyone, but enough to destroy any attempt at containment.

Another example is bizarre self-destructive activity like residents attacking linemen sent to restore power.  That doesn't exactly scream 'healthy society'.

Granted, those are just two events and by and large, Americans generally do conduct themselves in a decent manner.  Yet we risk falling behind other countries who typically conduct themselves much better and don't have those sorts of incidents and rarely have mass shootings - a problem frequently blamed on mental health - suspiciously without a real attempt to improve mental health or any sort of awareness that people in other countries have mental health problems yet not often mass shooting problems.

[Hydra009]

Art imitates life and vice versa:

Let's hope our guys display an equal sense of integrity and morality as they did on screen, or we might get a remake of that entire season.

[Nobody]

Apparently, America has just invaded Mexico!
Well, apparently it was by mistake, but once again America will be a laughing stock.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I humbly submit that I have a Master's in History. Neehner, neehner.

Anyway, "the only thing permanent is change." Back in the '80s the Y-donor watched the news and said "China and Russia will always be communist, I don't know what people are hoping for there." A few days later the Berlin Wall started coming down.

[Cassia]

I humbly submit that I have a Master's in History. Neehner, neehner.

Anyway, "the only thing permanent is change." Back in the '80s the Y-donor watched the news and said "China and Russia will always be communist, I don't know what people are hoping for there." A few days later the Berlin Wall started coming down.

Yes, and empires come and go. We are going, all the indicators are there. Do you predict some great awakening from the American public and our billionaires? Perhaps the billionaires will decide they have done enough damage to a democracy and give up on escaping to Mars and call out our felon dictator for what he really is. They will suddenly champion fair elections and wealth redistribution?

This is a country fighting to retain the immoral, old school, white christian values (that justified chattel slavery) by attacking everything that is progressive, intellectual or rational.

Sure it's take a little while, but these failed past empires like Rome, Spain, Britian, Nazi Germany and the USSR all had internal struggles and infighting that hastened their slide. Can you imagine a more divided country than the US right now?

[Hydra009]

I humbly submit that I have a Master's in History. Neehner, neehner.

Anyway, "the only thing permanent is change." Back in the '80s the Y-donor watched the news and said "China and Russia will always be communist, I don't know what people are hoping for there." A few days later the Berlin Wall started coming down.

I've seen a lot of footage of Russians waving Soviet (and Russian empire) flags, Russian tanks with Soviet flags on top, and a statue of Stalin going up in both in the Moscow subway and occupied Ukraine.  China is still firmly in the grip of the CCP, so reports of the death of authoritarian communism might be somewhat exaggerated.

The good news is that eastern Europe (with the notable exceptions of Belarus and Hungary) has largely recovered from communist/Moscow rule and is forging their own independent path.  Though this is not unchallenged by Moscow, from poisonings to political interference to outright war.

Though I will say that NATO is more powerful than ever and the EU has no shortage of candidates, and there are lots of genuinely good things happening between these countries that often get overlooked in favor of news of the explodey variety.

There's the potential for a bright future in Europe but first the current darkness must be banished.

[Hydra009]

[Nobody]

Genius without restraint is just stupidity with better marketing.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

There are die-hards for any outdated ideology. The Y-donor was a Kluxxer in their twilight. Still some around, of course. Same with Stalinists, and all others.