American Politics Thread

Am I the only one who finds the state of American politics to be an extremely pathetic affair?

I mean, come the fuck on. It's basically a big popularity contest, effectively summing up to two retards trapped in a perpetual slapfight. Only a minority actually cares about policy, while the rest of the population is content with sitting on its ass and letting those in charge act upon their own beliefs.

Take a look at it, seriously. Take a look at all the Glen Becks, Bill O'Riellies, all the Christine O'Donnells, all the George Bushes. It's pathetic. The population that was reduced to little more than insignificant plebs still supports the government that fucked it over in the first place. The government that, over a mere eight years, got them into two wars, caused a worldwide economic collapse, and put the economy in a state where even the slightest fluctuations can topple it even further, caused numerous bank meltdowns, and made the 5 richest percent of the population even richer while taxing the poor more. They rant about "Communism" and "Moral decay" as though they have any understanding at all of what they're talking about, but they don't. It doesn't even matter which party is elected, it's always going to be the same stagnant, moronic shithole.

AMERICA! FUCK YEA!

Yea, the politics suck and we know it, thats why we have shows like The Colbert Report.

The Colbert Report and The Daily Show don't help at all.

Disst wrote: I mean, come the fuck on. It's basically a big popularity contest, effectively summing up to two retards trapped in a perpetual slapfight..

Welcome to politics.
If you want to compare, we have to most difficult political system in the world
Country has 3 political sides, with a dozen or so parties. All fighting for the majority of the votes. It IS a popularity contest, they try to make the other look bad, so they look better and get the big cash bonus in the end.
Politics sucks, regardless of country

The problem is that nobody gives a shit about policies. It's all just "x is a y!" and "Well, z is an n!" They utterly lack substance. At least some other federal governments have some god damned integrity, and elections won't immediately dissolve into insult fights.

Agreed. The people that are apathetic to politics do not deserve the rights this country affords them. It's disheartening man. I marched in 2003 with 300,000 other men and women in New York to protest the war in Iraq and it didn't do a thing.

Disst wrote: The problem is that nobody gives a shit about policies. It's all just "x is a y!" and "Well, z is an n!" They utterly lack substance. At least some other federal governments have some god damned integrity, and elections won't immediately dissolve into insult fights.

That's when the faeries pop out of the ground & grant them anmisty over all of pickle land! *POOF* Everything fixed!

Considering you're Canadian, we can trust you're 110% non-offensive, all knowing and superior ideology. All Canadians know everything and are perfect. It's required to leave school & become a citizen. You're mud slinging isn't any different then anywhere else, but damn it, you're CANADIAN and you're RIGHT! The solution to the US's problems isn't to deal with them! Better health care? Send our med students to Canada & have them get grants from the Canadian Govt & then come BACK to the US to work! Would save billions on medical costs! Better environmental concerns? Send the trash to the neighbor to the south & pay them to deal with it! Better illegal immigration control? Don't allow anyone in w/o permission (if they try, body cavity search them & strip down the car for safety), deny foreign students entry unless they are just like other Canadians, deny workers from outside the country entry unless they promis not to steal Canadian jobs, refuse all elderly citizenship because they're useless to the economy. Give nobody a reason to sneak in! Save energy? Send all the citizens to other countries for vacations, holidays, events, etc. so another country emits evil carbon as to not harm Canada's mountains and forests! Make TV safe for our children? Control all media outlets & tell them what they can/can't air, just be sure the porn's on after 10 (because kids don't see TV's after 10, it's a scientific impossibility). Make the country safe? Have fast empty space that isn't worth anything & no military to defend it with! Best national security policy is to shut all the lights off @ night & hope the thieves don't notice your house vs the larger ones with the lights on.

Canada: THE example for the rest of the world on how to complain about everybody else because, damn it, WE'RE CANADIAN AND DIDN'T NEED TO FIGHT IN A WORTHLESS WAR FOR OUR FREEDOM!

ptc5010 wrote: Agreed. The people that are apathetic to politics do not deserve the rights this country affords them. It's disheartening man. I marched in 2003 with 300,000 other men and women in New York to protest the war in Iraq and it didn't do a thing.

Got someone elected who said he'd end the war, torture, possibly illegal spying of citizens, etc. The most disappointing thing about the current US admin is that every wrong, immoral & evil thing the previous one did wasn't undone, it was enhanced even more under the cover of the world economic bust. All for our "safety, security and well being".

Edited by: TheHappyFriar

I like how instead of addressing any of your own problems, you just attack Canada. A true American worthy of your politics

Cryrid wrote: I like how instead of addressing any of your own problems, you just attack Canada. A true American worthy of your politics

So ... what? Canadians can talk about the U.S., but the Americans can't talk about Canada?

Of course America has fucking problems, we all know that!

However, our fucking problems are our own! I have no idea why foreigners should give two shits about it.

If you wanna talk about bullshit, what's bullshit is other countries criticizing internal political actions of a country they don't even live in!

Seriously, If i lived in the U.K. or Canada ... I wouldn't even bother to learn who the American president it ...

I don't give two shits about internal politics for other countries ... why should they give two shits about ours.

What's even worse is that other countries have EVEN MORE fucked up political systems than ours ... the only reason people take note of ours is because of our "4th branch" of government (the media) that points out every single thing they disapprove of or want to criticize.

Edited by: Assaultman67

America is a major economic and military power. If shit hits the fan there, we feel the splatter over here. Of course we watch what's going on in the USA.

TheHappyFriar wrote:

Disst wrote: The problem is that nobody gives a shit about policies. It's all just "x is a y!" and "Well, z is an n!" They utterly lack substance. At least some other federal governments have some god damned integrity, and elections won't immediately dissolve into insult fights.

Considering you're Canadian, we can trust you're 110% non-offensive, all knowing and superior ideology. All Canadians know everything and are perfect. It's required to leave school & become a citizen. You're mud slinging isn't any different then anywhere else, but damn it, you're CANADIAN and you're RIGHT! The solution to the US's problems isn't to deal with them! Better health care? Send our med students to Canada & have them get grants from the Canadian Govt & then come BACK to the US to work! Would save billions on medical costs! Better environmental concerns? Send the trash to the neighbor to the south & pay them to deal with it! Better illegal immigration control? Don't allow anyone in w/o permission (if they try, body cavity search them & strip down the car for safety), deny foreign students entry unless they are just like other Canadians, deny workers from outside the country entry unless they promis not to steal Canadian jobs, refuse all elderly citizenship because they're useless to the economy. Give nobody a reason to sneak in! Save energy? Send all the citizens to other countries for vacations, holidays, events, etc. so another country emits evil carbon as to not harm Canada's mountains and forests! Make TV safe for our children? Control all media outlets & tell them what they can/can't air, just be sure the porn's on after 10 (because kids don't see TV's after 10, it's a scientific impossibility). Make the country safe? Have fast empty space that isn't worth anything & no military to defend it with! Best national security policy is to shut all the lights off @ night & hope the thieves don't notice your house vs the larger ones with the lights on.

Canada: THE example for the rest of the world on how to complain about everybody else because, damn it, WE'RE CANADIAN AND DIDN'T NEED TO FIGHT IN A WORTHLESS WAR FOR OUR FREEDOM!

Way to prove that you can't even interpret the English language correctly. And that you know absolutely nothing about Canadian politics.

Case in point, the Tea Party has an actual god damned influence. If the people knew anything about politics, the Tea Party would be a half-dozen hicks plotting mail bombings in their basements.

They don't seem to realize that if you want government services, you have to pay taxes.

However, our fucking problems are our own! I have no idea why foreigners should give two shits about it.

Like Gibb said, unfortunately your shit tends to affects all of us. I'm not sure if other continents are like this as well, but as your direct neighbour your 'news' is everywhere on tv and bigger sites; through my lack of interest I could tell you more about Palin and O'Donnell than I could local candidates. If you lived in the UK or Canada you'd hear more about places like Delaware and things like the American Constitution than you would care to, but come the elections you'd be keeping an eye on things as you have to live with it for the next 4 years too.

Gibberstein wrote: America is a major economic and military power. If shit hits the fan there, we feel the splatter over here. Of course we watch what's going on in the USA.

Oh sorry about us being a superpower ... Its interesting that people from other countries bitch about our lack of benefits such as goverment sponsored healthcare and then can turn around and bitch about how our economic decisions, such as sponsoring goverment healthcare, affects them.

Cryrid wrote:

However, our fucking problems are our own! I have no idea why foreigners should give two shits about it.

Like Gibb said, unfortunately your shit tends to affects all of us...

Foreign policies affect the US population as well ... However, there is usually nothing U.S. citizens can do about it. Therefore, no one here cares.

Really, the only reason you guys "care" is because of our extremely loud and obnoxious media coverage of our countries politics.

Edited by: Assaultman67

Assaultman67 wrote: Foreign policies affect the US population as well ... However, there is usually nothing U.S. citizens can do about it. Therefore, no one here cares.

That is a fucking awful way of going about politics. They don't even care about their own government.

. Its interesting that people from other countries bitch about our lack of benefits such as goverment sponsored healthcare and then can turn around and bitch about how our economic decisions, such as sponsoring goverment healthcare, affects them.

Strawman; I don't think any non-American citizens were bitching about your lack of healthcare benefits here. I've heard American's who weren't covered complain about it on other sites, but none in this thread. Disst was ranting about wars, an economic collapse, and the fact that people are elected based on mud-slinging (and IMO, money). A few people were sane enough to address his opinions as his own and to do so in a more civil manner, others had to jump to their keyboards with foaming mouth and blind fury.

Really, the only reason you guys "care" is because of our extremely loud and obnoxious media coverage of our countries politics.

Extremely loud and obnoxious things are indeed annoying. But no, policies that are put in place can indeed affect other countries. This may be the hardest part to understand, but I'll try and make it simple. There are several billion people in the world, not just you. There are 190something countries in the world, not just America. You may be an apathetic individual when it comes to thinking/caring about anything that isn't you, that doesn't mean every one else is. You may not be affected by what country x does, that doesn't mean someone in country y is affected by what country z does. That's the world for ya. Some people care about the things that are going to affect their future, including but not limited to global politics and whether or not we end up with someone like Obama or Palin taking the lead of a country.

Foreign policies affect the US population as well ... However, there is usually nothing U.S. citizens can do about it. Therefore, no one here cares.

That depends who they vote for?

And again, I know Americans who do care about foreign politics so... perhaps if you and Disst stop pretending to speak for 300million+ people, you could have a pleasant exchange that doesn't read like offended sailors .

Edited by: Cryrid

Cryrid wrote:

. Its interesting that people from other countries bitch about our lack of benefits such as goverment sponsored healthcare and then can turn around and bitch about how our economic decisions, such as sponsoring goverment healthcare, affects them.

Sounds a lot like a strawman; I don't think any non-American citizens were bitching about your lack of healthcare benefits here. I've heard American's who weren't covered complain about it on other sites, but none in this thread.

Really, the only reason you guys "care" is because of our extremely loud and obnoxious media coverage of our countries politics.

Extremely loud and obnoxious things are indeed annoying. Especially load and obnoxious neighbors who fear just about everything. But no, policies that are put in place can indeed affect other countries. You may be an apathetic individual when it comes to thinking/caring about anything that isn't you, that doesn't mean every one else is.... that's the world for ya.

Foreign policies affect the US population as well ... However, there is usually nothing U.S. citizens can do about it

That depends who they vote for?

Oh yeah,also,remember how they fucked up in our country installing a presidential dictatorship,how they fucked up central america,how they fucked up Chile (well,they are getting out of the dirt right now)....
Also,they try to "export" their democracy (I cant vote for a green party,neither for a socialist,where is the democracy in that?) and condemn communist countries,but they also tortured,destroyed and made people suffer.....

Them damn rich people, they cause this recession! How dare those evil bastards create jobs for us Americans. Well, you know what? I know a solution to this problem folks and it's very simple. Lets tax the hell out of them! That way they will outsource even more jobs to China and India because we know that benefits America as a whole!

This is a reply to the first post.

Edited by: Rawket

Rawket wrote: Them damn rich people, they cause this recession! How dare those evil bastards create jobs for us Americans. Well, you know what? I know a solution to this problem folks and it's very simple. Lets tax the hell out of them! That way they will outsource even more jobs to China and India because we know that benefits America as a whole!

This is a reply to the first post.

Or why dont just start investing in green shit (like you could have started 10 years ago and this stupid nonsense war could have been avoided) instead of going for ultra military shit that allows you to spy on everybody,oh,I forgot,guess who is going for green shit now? China (Tbe new york herald or wahtever).That's it,you're not thinking into the future then shit will start hitting the fan.

Rawket wrote: Them damn rich people, they cause this recession! How dare those evil bastards create jobs for us Americans. Well, you know what? I know a solution to this problem folks and it's very simple. Lets tax the hell out of them! That way they will outsource even more jobs to China and India because we know that benefits America as a whole!

This is a reply to the first post.

You clearly have not been paying attention.

Ecoautoninja.com

Forbes.com

The "Trickle down effect" is the biggest load of shit I have ever seen.

(Suaer, Disst, I'm not sure if you've seen some of his posts in other threads or comments throughout Moddb, but try not to take Rawket as being serious. He's really just out to get his kicks by being an extreme version of Beck for the enjoyment of reading your replies)

Which is ironic because Beck is an extreme republican and republicans have been known to grant large tax cuts to the rich.

Cryrid wrote: ...
Extremely loud and obnoxious things are indeed annoying. But no, policies that are put in place can indeed affect other countries. This may be the hardest part to understand, but I'll try and make it simple. There are several billion people in the world, not just you. There are 190something countries in the world, not just America. You may be an apathetic individual when it comes to thinking/caring about anything that isn't you, that doesn't mean every one else is. You may not be affected by what country x does, that doesn't mean someone in country y is affected by what country z does. That's the world for ya. Some people care about the things that are going to affect their future, including but not limited to global politics and whether or not we end up with someone like Obama or Palin taking the lead of a country...

Tell me, What is the political climate in Japan? Oh, you don't know? ... How about China?

They're the 2nd and 3rd largest economies in the world.

Seriously, the only reason you guys "care" about our economy is because our media is loud and obnoxious. You're told you need to care, therefore you do care.

Tell me, What is the political climate in Japan? Oh, you don't know? ... How about China?

You're right. I guess people never protest things that the Chinese government does like their censorship of media and oh wait. They do. And there was absolutely no interest in Iran's 2009 elections or anything whatsoever. Zilch.

Again with your pluralities. "You guys" as "if" you're "trying" to "sum up" what an "entire world's" relationship to "America" is because you can't "fathom" the country actually having some "influence" beyond its borders. "Quotations". Do you think foreign companies/sources are giving political donations because your news is loud and obnoxious? I mean there's apparently no other reason to care about what happens in there. India's media must have been reporting on the previously mentioned tax-break-for-outsourcing bill because they were annoyed with American media, not because your Republicans and Democrats were about to severely influence their IT-BPO sector or anything. Have you even left the states or are you just assuming what your life would be like if you lived in the UK? Wanna know why we don't hear about places like Japan often? Maybe because they don't elect/consider electing idiots who put bans on stem cell research, negate your rights based on who you pray to, or set up blogs to stalk homosexuals. Maybe its because they don't have completely unqualified attention-whoring quacks coming dangerously close to running their country. Maybe they're a little more right in the head there that they don't use guns as political imagery. Maybe I personally don't hear of Asian countries as often as America because sometimes I go to Maine for groceries whereas China would cost me a few tanks of gas and at least 1 ocean. I can certainly tell you I'm not worried about the next few generations of Japanese students lacking in education. And yeah, it doesn't help that instead of getting news that actually focuses on actual news around the world (the only exception seeming to be some kind of disaster that can milk ratings for a week), we get talking points about who is a witch, imaginary death panels to scare old people, and front-page articles about bacon-flavored soda or Snookie.

Beyond that, perhaps you missed the point where I claimed to have a lack of interest even in local politics at times. Care isn't an accurate word for this, rather "worried". None of the candidates ran on anything that worried me. There are other countries out that have their stuff in order and as a result don't tend to worry me. The thought of someone like Palin coming within heartbeats of running America, that worries me. You're our principal trading partner, our economies are quite integrated. You do have the ability to worry other nations.

Edited by: Cryrid

It seems that our politics have turned into something of a monster, I see conservative and liberal(and others) opinions injected into just about everything. It's why I found I slept better at night being an Independent and having my own mixed views rather than that of a party and being able to think freely rather running with a pack(and no I will NEVER run for any office). It's just business as usual with a world that never will be perfect!
Also I don't get why people just can't stand anything about America. Maybe I'm being close minded or just haven't seen enough to understand why.

"Also I don't get why people just can't stand anything about America. Maybe I'm being close minded or just haven't seen enough to understand why."

Its maybe because Americans with their Monroe Doctrine didn't help Venezuelans (whatever),Argentinians,Brazilians,etc.

Its maybe because your industries and corporations fucked up half world

Its maybe because your politicians turned South and Central America upside-down...

Razor wrote: Also I don't get why people just can't stand anything about America

Most people probably find that something is wrong, but generally they don't know what the real cause is, so they blame it on the closest thing that they can relate to. Thing is, there's tons of stuff that people complain about America that can be found in nearly every other country in some way or another. Such as the popularity contests that includes slap fights between politicians which Disst mentioned. I bet the politicians are even more sick of it than most of us, they are however doing it because the citizen of the country forces that upon them.

Such as if the crowd is being ignorant, that makes them a lot easier to manipulate into believing things since the crowd generally don't know how things work, but the suggestions sound good, and the philosophy behind it is good...although the idea in practice can be horrible. Rethorics combined with "Härskarteknikerna" (couldn't find the international term, a flaw with Swedish) is enough to control crowds when it comes to voting as it has been seen in America, and as well as most democratic countries.

Although I have to state, I know almost just as little of politics as most ignorant people, and others in this thread...since I put that time and effort into programming, game design and school. But most parties here in Sweden don't really offer that much to the public, only small stuff such as grades should start 2 years earlier, people should work 5 years longer. The rest is staying behind closed doors...the interesting parts sadly enough, and each time we get to see behind the "closed doors" through TV, they jump to topics that are relevant to those who watch TV, and the popularity contest is on again because of us watching.

Other things can be how corporations are handled, there's several in America, but also in the rest of the world that does exactly the same thing. So when people complain about corporations in United States, they should be well aware that the same thing happens everywhere.

But one question, why do you people have to turn such a topic into such a slap fight, in the same way as politicians do - but without any rethoric? It's far from a touchy topic in my opinion, and I bet a lot of children would say how silly it really is for mature people to act in that way.

Edited by: Siphonen