I've deliberately avoided commenting on America's troubles for a while, God knows we've got enough of our own, what with the Covid situation, Brexit and Boris the Buffoon's rancid Tory government, but...
I've been watching the ongoing crisis in the United States with horror. Interviews with Trump supporters at his recent rallies reveal the ugly backside of American politics. The people crowding together with neither masks nor social distancing to worship at the feet of the foul priest Trump should sicken every decent person in America. The ignorance on display is breathtaking. His supporters spout all kinds of dangerous nonsense, some saying that the pandemic is 'just a hoax designed to destroy America'. (No, pal, it's you that's destroying America.)
The whole Trump cult has brainwashed and hijacked the Republican party, (and a way too large number of 'The American People.') Facts, evidence and science don't mean a thing to these gullible dupes.
It seems we're witnessing the slow death of a once great nation as Trump feeds his ego and leads the country down into the sewer.
Joe Biden may not be the best politician in America but he can't possibly be worse than Trump. Time to vote Trump out of office and hopefully regain some of what has so sadly been lost...
It’s pretty grim, Bill.
By all rights – and all evidence of political polling – Agent Orange should loose in a landslide come 3 November. He doesn’t have the numbers no matter how you look at it.
That said, we know the fix is in. The dismantling of the USPS by his goons to stifle the mail-in vote is ongoing. Sorting machines that were removed were suddenly found to be “damaged” and cannot be reinstalled. Suits by the Administration against many states regarding email voting are happening. Not to mention any meddling by the Russians, which Agent Orange has openly encouraged. So I’m figuring, unless there is a huge turnout this November – problematic given an active pandemic – then anything can happen.
Add to this: the president (lower case “p”) has said that if he looses, he will not accept the vote as legitimate, and intends to stay in power. Forget that the Constitution itself is very clear regarding this.
As the ancient Chinese curse says: “May you live in interesting times.”
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Good advice from Mr and Mrs Wreckless
It's a clusterfuck no matter who the Prez is. The U.S. government is the U.S. government. Whether it's blankets with smallpox given to "Indians", testing nukes with soldiers as guinea pigs, allowing fallout from tests to fall on U.S. cities, giving syphilis to African American soldiers, invading countries that don't need to be invaded, bailing out institutions built on white-collar crime, or a thousand-page long list of corrupt policies and practices, it's failing us horrifically. Thinking the bad behavior is limited to one party is foolish; thinking one person is to blame is stupid, and thinking if he's gone things will be all rosy is depressingly naive. I dislike that fat fuck plenty, but the whole putrid political system is in the gutter; let's not fool ourselves too much about that.
I agree with most of what you've said, and I, personally, don't blame one party or one person. But, the fact that someone as despicable as Trump could get elected as President has caused me to lose a great deal of faith in the American people. I've always said that humans are slow learners. I just never realized how much that is true. I guess I had also fooled myself in thinking more people cared about others.
And, if that's the case, then what's the alternative? Would an anarchist state work? Or a theocracy? An all out dictatorship? Communism? Or is the whole thing so fucked up that mass suicide would be the best way out? Come on, let's have some real answers that make sense, rather than criticism and despair...Surely someone must care.
I have a prefect alternative. Genetic engineering. Alter human nature 😉Chip everyone and program them not to be such arseholes. Make all the politicians get them. Start with them. But seriously, the things I think of won't be allowed to happen, because rich and powerful people don't want to part with wealth and power, and they're the ruling class. I don't know. Our best minds don't know. It's been a dysfunctional house of cards for so long, and doesn't get any better, what can regular people do? Things are so incredibly polarized now, and that's the fault of both political parties, and the news, that there's less and less room for reasonable problem solving. Divide and conquer. Distract and destruct. You Old Worlders have already tried almost everything.... but America won't learn from your lessons ; we aren't allowed to. It's a problem. I'm not here to solve the world's problems. I'm only here to spread around some of what I have, but that's whole other sort of discussion, and forum. Working on the human nature part, one humanoid (me) at a time, one day at a time. The morphogenic fields respond slowly but inexorably.
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What sheltech said maybe true, but you still don't want a madman like that at the helm.
I can't say I'm receptive to sheltech's view after what happened in 2016 (I remember hearing the same kind of thing back then). To quote Noam Chomsky, who's always been one of the biggest critics of both establishment parties:
"Right now, the issue of greatest urgency is to get rid of the malignancy in the White House. If we don't do that, everything else pales into insignificance. To keep this [Trump presidency] for another four years means racing to the abyss - with irreversible tipping points".
When asked, 'What do you make of the boisterous "Never Biden" movement that we see from some on the left?', Chomsky replied:
"It brings up some memories. The early 1930s in Germany, the communist party took the view there was no difference between the social democrats and the Nazis, and therefore weren't going to join with the social democrats to stop the Nazis. We know where that led... Failure to vote for Biden in this election amounts to voting for Trump. So if you decide you want to vote for the organised destruction of human life on earth, then do it openly, but that's the meaning of 'Never Biden'."
I can see Trump winning if enough people descend into nihilism and the "they're all the same" position (which we know was a view/meme that had been engineered by some of the campaigns funded by Robert Mercer, using SCL type targeting technology in the 2016 campaign, and which is presumably still going on). That and all the other influences designed to chip at the edges of voting opposition to Trump.
I agree. At this moment in time, to reject your chance to vote is to simply give Trump a better chance at re-election. Not voting isn't an option for anyone who cares about the future of America, it simply shows that some people no longer care what happens, or don't care about the country, their fellow citizens, or, ultimately, themselves. In that respect I guess you could say, "they'll reap what they sow." Defeatism always ends in defeat. This is how decency dies. No political system is perfect, but some are clearly worse than others. Take the lesser evil and dig yourselves out of the pit that Trump has dug for you. Or reap the consequences.
The Electoral College system unfortunately can crush the sense of moral responsibility and can perpetuate this defeatism, once bitten twice shy
If trump gets voted out, a lot of changes are needed to be made. This system truly doesn't work. Especially for the majority of people.
A truly eye opening interview with investigative journalist Whitney Webb.
I truly hope that this doesn't get any uglier. But the signs are showing we are heading into a very dark period. There must be a better way. if people in charge have a brain, and a heart, a proper, fair deal should be reached. But honestly, I have no idea what trump and his followers want. Is it a wall? No health care for the needy? And that means all of us, if we fall ill. Do you want only certain immigrants to enter the States?
Socialism for the rich and capitalism for the rest?
Bust unions that set a paying job wage?
O, and a lot of guns?
I just don't know or understand what, if anything, is appealing about this guy? If it's the stock market, the stock market isn't the only thing that makes a society, country or state run smoothly. Is he responsible for anything? Being a Jersey Guy, I've honestly been a never trumper since 1980. He ripped a lot of people off. Remember reading many news articles about his misdealings. That alone should make me not vote for him. Now add his personality and his continued lying and God knows what BS,,,, I'm embarrassed for this country and I'll vote for the other guy.
A very sad state of divided states. With all the cheating that he does, I say let him have his way. Let's see what he and his followers want and is it worth all of his nonsense. Apparently, he cannot sit down with people, with a give and take attitude, with fairness, for all. Hopefully no one wants to do business with him. Heeeeehehe, he never pays his bills anyway 😂😦
And yes, absolutely...history is in grave danger of repeating itself...😶
In a few years the Oxford English Dictionary's definition for the word Demagogue will read 1. noun. Donald Trump 2. noun. Boris Johnson. I have some sympathy for those who in frightening times cleave to powerful, dogmatic messages. But there comes a point when the illusion can no longer be maintained. Ask the Wizard of Oz.
For the record, I supported Bernie Sanders. The DNC screwed him over again. Business as usual for the DNC. If they really wanted change, they would support him. Dream on, humanoids .
Tweeted by Bernie Sanders, 13 hours ago:
"This election is between a corrupt president who got $200,000 a year from his dad's empire starting at the age of three and a candidate [Biden] who grew up in a working class family."
Pat Paulsen For President
Edward Snowden
Some recent news stories made me think about this thread:
- Van Morrison has released new songs protesting against coronavirus lockdowns. The BBC reports that in his lyrics, Sir Van claims scientists are "making up crooked facts" to justify measures that "enslave" the population. (Oh jeezus christ!) - QAnon conspiracy theory is gaining ground in the UK, according to a new analysis.
- In 2016, the Trump campaign got hold of psychometric data of tens of millions of Americans, which enabled sophisticated political targeting (via "dark ads" on social media). A new report in The New Yorker claims the same thing is happening again, with a new massively popular mobile app utilised by Trump campaign: "It’s not unlike how Cambridge Analytica was able to harvest the data of nearly ninety million unsuspecting Facebook users, only this time it is one’s friends, family, and acquaintances who are willfully handing over the data".
Also thinking back to 2000 election, when some people were telling me that Gore was really no different than Bush - worse even, because "at least Bush is open about what he really believes, unlike Gore". The same people now tell me that Trump really isn't so bad when you compare him to the awfulness of Bush!!