US Politics Mega-thread - Page 5743

On October 24 2016 04:30 GreenHorizons wrote:


I'm in southwest WA, but I travel through Tacoma reasonably frequently. We have those intersections stacked with signs like everywhere else, just never see any Hillary signs. It's not just me though, it's similar for folks all over the state, though Seattle isn't completely bare. I don't doubt they exist, it's just nothing like Obama, for example. Hell, I saw more Kerry stuff/supporters way back when+ Show Spoiler +

The presidential election of 2016 has not involved a public policy debate as much as it has chronicled the ongoing struggle of Donald Trump to resemble a sentient and literate human being. As he continues to fail, it becomes increasingly clear that the reality television star, and his group of goblin advisors – Rudy Giuliani, Newt Gingrich, Chris Christie, Steve Bannon – represent the last gasp of the white conservative baby boomer.

Throughout the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s, the straight white male boomer’s story enjoyed cultural hegemony. To live as one of these men was to have an all-access VIP laminate around your neck, and a lifetime permission slip in your pocket. You could view and treat women as toys for your personal amusement, denigrate gay men as freaks fit for the circus, and stratify men of other races into a category of inherent inferiority. Life was good for the white male boomer, but suddenly it all started to end. Uppity blacks started to demand liberty and inclusion. “Nasty” women began to assert themselves as equals, and LGBT people demonstrated themselves to be “normal” folks as capable of achievement and decency as anyone else. Each morning the conservative white boomer wakes up realizing that his story matters a little less than it did the day before.

Faced with the erosion of their cultural power, coinciding with their own mortality, conservative white boomers could adjust and adapt to reality, keeping an open mind to new developments, while welcoming the diversification of American institutions, still cognizant of the amazing run of prosperity and influence they enjoyed. Or they could throw a temper tantrum. Most of them, already detached from the real world, opted for the latter.

The United States currently has the highest standard of living in its history, the longest life expectancy and the most extensive and expansive level of freedom, for all its people, since its foundation as an independent country. Certainly, the persistence of poverty, the draconian “war on drugs,” the garrison quality of the federal budget, and the undue influence of corporate power over political power demand aggressive actions of correction and reform. But they do not culminate in the creation of Dante’s Inferno, especially considering that the United States once enforced Jim Crow, subjugated women into secondary roles and excluded gays from mainstream society. The victories of the left have steadily made America more livable, humane and just. Conservative white boomers, unwilling to look at the totality of progressive change, see only the distance between the authority they currently exert and the authority they once enjoyed. Delusions of grandeur and illusions of the apocalypse cloud their vision.

Barack Obama (in the conservative white boomer view) is not a moderate president who, among his flaws and failures, can claim the accomplishments of presiding over 78 months of consecutive job growth and helping 20 million people acquire health insurance for the first time. He is a black militant usurper of all that is good – a Zulu warrior committed to performing unwanted abortions on every Christian woman. The willingness to address minorities with respectful language is not an enhancement of societal decency and civility; it is “political correctness” gone mad, the suffocation of free speech that will forever end education and destroy the exchange of ideas. The growth in Latino immigrants and other foreign-born citizens is not a continuation of the American tradition of hospitality and diversity; it is an invasion of exotic saboteurs who will demolish America’s economy and cultural norms.

This paranoia is all so silly that it quickly becomes boring, but the more thoughtful citizen cannot ignore it, because it has conquered significant territory in political discourse. Donald Trump, the new god of the white conservative boomer, has based his entire campaign on a forecast of Armageddon. “America is going to hell,” he claims, comparing the United States to the “Third World.” In his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention, he likened the entire country to a “divided crime scene.” Typically, rants such as these are only heard from a megaphone held by a maniac on a street corner. Now it is the heart of the Republican pitch to voters across the country, along with allegations that the election is “rigged,” fears that ISIS will “take over this country,” and warnings that soon America will have a “one-party government.”

One of Trump’s favorite conspiracy theories is that the entire media has collaborated to make a fool out of him, as if he weren’t already succeeding beyond anyone’s wildest dreams in that capacity. Much of the mainstream media, however, has aided and abetted his campaign by repeating the whine of the white boomer as if it were legitimate.

The most compelling evidence that the United States is a “hellhole,” according to the mainstream media, is that only one-third of voters, according to various polls, believe that the country is “on the right track.” Demographic specificity exposes the real anxiety underneath the political pessimism.

The presidential election of 2016 has not involved a public policy debate as much as it has chronicled the ongoing struggle of Donald Trump to resemble a sentient and literate human being. As he continues to fail, it becomes increasingly clear that the reality television star, and his group of goblin advisors – Rudy Giuliani, Newt Gingrich, Chris Christie, Steve Bannon – represent the last gasp of the white conservative baby boomer.

Throughout the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s, the straight white male boomer’s story enjoyed cultural hegemony. To live as one of these men was to have an all-access VIP laminate around your neck, and a lifetime permission slip in your pocket. You could view and treat women as toys for your personal amusement, denigrate gay men as freaks fit for the circus, and stratify men of other races into a category of inherent inferiority. Life was good for the white male boomer, but suddenly it all started to end. Uppity blacks started to demand liberty and inclusion. “Nasty” women began to assert themselves as equals, and LGBT people demonstrated themselves to be “normal” folks as capable of achievement and decency as anyone else. Each morning the conservative white boomer wakes up realizing that his story matters a little less than it did the day before.

Faced with the erosion of their cultural power, coinciding with their own mortality, conservative white boomers could adjust and adapt to reality, keeping an open mind to new developments, while welcoming the diversification of American institutions, still cognizant of the amazing run of prosperity and influence they enjoyed. Or they could throw a temper tantrum. Most of them, already detached from the real world, opted for the latter.

The United States currently has the highest standard of living in its history, the longest life expectancy and the most extensive and expansive level of freedom, for all its people, since its foundation as an independent country. Certainly, the persistence of poverty, the draconian “war on drugs,” the garrison quality of the federal budget, and the undue influence of corporate power over political power demand aggressive actions of correction and reform. But they do not culminate in the creation of Dante’s Inferno, especially considering that the United States once enforced Jim Crow, subjugated women into secondary roles and excluded gays from mainstream society. The victories of the left have steadily made America more livable, humane and just. Conservative white boomers, unwilling to look at the totality of progressive change, see only the distance between the authority they currently exert and the authority they once enjoyed. Delusions of grandeur and illusions of the apocalypse cloud their vision.

Barack Obama (in the conservative white boomer view) is not a moderate president who, among his flaws and failures, can claim the accomplishments of presiding over 78 months of consecutive job growth and helping 20 million people acquire health insurance for the first time. He is a black militant usurper of all that is good – a Zulu warrior committed to performing unwanted abortions on every Christian woman. The willingness to address minorities with respectful language is not an enhancement of societal decency and civility; it is “political correctness” gone mad, the suffocation of free speech that will forever end education and destroy the exchange of ideas. The growth in Latino immigrants and other foreign-born citizens is not a continuation of the American tradition of hospitality and diversity; it is an invasion of exotic saboteurs who will demolish America’s economy and cultural norms.

This paranoia is all so silly that it quickly becomes boring, but the more thoughtful citizen cannot ignore it, because it has conquered significant territory in political discourse. Donald Trump, the new god of the white conservative boomer, has based his entire campaign on a forecast of Armageddon. “America is going to hell,” he claims, comparing the United States to the “Third World.” In his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention, he likened the entire country to a “divided crime scene.” Typically, rants such as these are only heard from a megaphone held by a maniac on a street corner. Now it is the heart of the Republican pitch to voters across the country, along with allegations that the election is “rigged,” fears that ISIS will “take over this country,” and warnings that soon America will have a “one-party government.”

One of Trump’s favorite conspiracy theories is that the entire media has collaborated to make a fool out of him, as if he weren’t already succeeding beyond anyone’s wildest dreams in that capacity. Much of the mainstream media, however, has aided and abetted his campaign by repeating the whine of the white boomer as if it were legitimate.

The most compelling evidence that the United States is a “hellhole,” according to the mainstream media, is that only one-third of voters, according to various polls, believe that the country is “on the right track.” Demographic specificity exposes the real anxiety underneath the political pessimism.

On October 24 2016 05:15 kwizach wrote:

Nonsense. Most obviously want things to improve with regards to what they identify as problems (the income gap, climate change, systemic racism, etc.).

The presidential election of 2016 has not involved a public policy debate as much as it has chronicled the ongoing struggle of Donald Trump to resemble a sentient and literate human being. As he continues to fail, it becomes increasingly clear that the reality television star, and his group of goblin advisors – Rudy Giuliani, Newt Gingrich, Chris Christie, Steve Bannon – represent the last gasp of the white conservative baby boomer.

Throughout the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s, the straight white male boomer’s story enjoyed cultural hegemony. To live as one of these men was to have an all-access VIP laminate around your neck, and a lifetime permission slip in your pocket. You could view and treat women as toys for your personal amusement, denigrate gay men as freaks fit for the circus, and stratify men of other races into a category of inherent inferiority. Life was good for the white male boomer, but suddenly it all started to end. Uppity blacks started to demand liberty and inclusion. “Nasty” women began to assert themselves as equals, and LGBT people demonstrated themselves to be “normal” folks as capable of achievement and decency as anyone else. Each morning the conservative white boomer wakes up realizing that his story matters a little less than it did the day before.

Faced with the erosion of their cultural power, coinciding with their own mortality, conservative white boomers could adjust and adapt to reality, keeping an open mind to new developments, while welcoming the diversification of American institutions, still cognizant of the amazing run of prosperity and influence they enjoyed. Or they could throw a temper tantrum. Most of them, already detached from the real world, opted for the latter.

The United States currently has the highest standard of living in its history, the longest life expectancy and the most extensive and expansive level of freedom, for all its people, since its foundation as an independent country. Certainly, the persistence of poverty, the draconian “war on drugs,” the garrison quality of the federal budget, and the undue influence of corporate power over political power demand aggressive actions of correction and reform. But they do not culminate in the creation of Dante’s Inferno, especially considering that the United States once enforced Jim Crow, subjugated women into secondary roles and excluded gays from mainstream society. The victories of the left have steadily made America more livable, humane and just. Conservative white boomers, unwilling to look at the totality of progressive change, see only the distance between the authority they currently exert and the authority they once enjoyed. Delusions of grandeur and illusions of the apocalypse cloud their vision.

Barack Obama (in the conservative white boomer view) is not a moderate president who, among his flaws and failures, can claim the accomplishments of presiding over 78 months of consecutive job growth and helping 20 million people acquire health insurance for the first time. He is a black militant usurper of all that is good – a Zulu warrior committed to performing unwanted abortions on every Christian woman. The willingness to address minorities with respectful language is not an enhancement of societal decency and civility; it is “political correctness” gone mad, the suffocation of free speech that will forever end education and destroy the exchange of ideas. The growth in Latino immigrants and other foreign-born citizens is not a continuation of the American tradition of hospitality and diversity; it is an invasion of exotic saboteurs who will demolish America’s economy and cultural norms.

This paranoia is all so silly that it quickly becomes boring, but the more thoughtful citizen cannot ignore it, because it has conquered significant territory in political discourse. Donald Trump, the new god of the white conservative boomer, has based his entire campaign on a forecast of Armageddon. “America is going to hell,” he claims, comparing the United States to the “Third World.” In his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention, he likened the entire country to a “divided crime scene.” Typically, rants such as these are only heard from a megaphone held by a maniac on a street corner. Now it is the heart of the Republican pitch to voters across the country, along with allegations that the election is “rigged,” fears that ISIS will “take over this country,” and warnings that soon America will have a “one-party government.”

One of Trump’s favorite conspiracy theories is that the entire media has collaborated to make a fool out of him, as if he weren’t already succeeding beyond anyone’s wildest dreams in that capacity. Much of the mainstream media, however, has aided and abetted his campaign by repeating the whine of the white boomer as if it were legitimate.

The most compelling evidence that the United States is a “hellhole,” according to the mainstream media, is that only one-third of voters, according to various polls, believe that the country is “on the right track.” Demographic specificity exposes the real anxiety underneath the political pessimism.