US Politics Mega-thread - Page 6212

On November 13 2016 04:48 Buckyman wrote:


As an additional punishment for using certain crimes to deter people from exercising certain rights (e.g. petition, association, worship, voting) irrespective of how the rights were being exercised.

On November 13 2016 01:05 Doodsmack wrote:
Wonder how the BernieBros and activists who supported Bernie and did not vote for Hillary feel now that a leadership team is taking effect. Guy who worked for AG Alberto Gonzales during the firing of US Attorneys is part of it. Now this is where they have meetings for the media with a "Make America Safe Again" slogan on a TV. Trump is the "Law and Order" candidate. US Attorneys, I'm going to take an educated guess are heavily involved in setting prosecution priorities. Trump has also talked about purging Obama's appointees. How is that social justice coming along?

On November 13 2016 06:40 yrba1 wrote:
What are the chances that Trump appoints Steve Bannon for White House Chief of Staff? Certainly hope he keeps the bigoted section out of our government.

On November 13 2016 06:39 GreenHorizons wrote:


I feel vindicated personally, and no, I did not vote for Clinton (or Trump). Racists didn't carry Trump to the presidency, the Democrat establishment did. They did everything they possibly could for a Trump win. They even intentionally elevated him during the primaries.

As for which voters, it was white females that Hillary most took for granted (and didn't vote for her, but did vote Trump). Many of those women and white males, voted Obama in 08 and 12, which is one reason Hillary presumed they would vote for her (that was stupid).

The general cloud of racism, misogyny, othering, etc... that's always hung over our country just made people comfortable enough to rationalize, justify, and/or ignore Trump's bigoted rhetoric. That's not to say some racists weren't excited (and this does impact turnout) for a Trump win, but they wouldn't have mattered had Dem's just put up a candidate that wasn't so terrible for this cycle.

As for how social justice is going, groups are seeing sign-ups come in faster than they did all election, Hillary supporters have been coming in and apologizing and figuring out how we can get back to working together, and lots of other great stuff is already happening. Unfortunately part of why that is, is increasing stories about people taking a Trump win as a license to be assholes.

I feel like Hillary supporters should be over blaming anyone but themselves and their candidate at this point.

On November 13 2016 03:43 Doodsmack wrote:


The ones who, unlike us, do care, are intolerant and therefore racist.

And yes, there's more to it than "all new immigrants are Democrats". Show them that Republican policies work, unlike trickle down and ME invasions, and you could earn some votes.

On November 13 2016 07:31 hunts wrote:


Then you have no room to complain if trump makes your life and the lives of those around you worse, because you didn't vote.

On November 13 2016 07:31 hunts wrote:


Then you have no room to complain if trump makes your life and the lives of those around you worse, because you didn't vote.

On November 13 2016 07:38 Doodsmack wrote:


Yeah true. He's making the calculation that the DNC and Hillary supporter's actions outweigh in importance the Donald Trump presidency.

On November 13 2016 07:45 GreenHorizons wrote:





I voted, it just wasn't for either of them. Not that it mattered anyway, she won my state. So I'm the wrong person to come at to try to shame or say I don't have a right to complain. If anyone, it's Hillary supporters who shouldn't be complaining, their candidate intentionally elevated Trump.

On November 13 2016 07:51 hunts wrote:


IT doesn't matter that she won washington. You didn't vote for a candidate that had a chance to win, so you don't get to complain about the outcome, it's that simple. You stayed out of the election by not voting for a candidate that had a chance to win.

On November 13 2016 07:31 hunts wrote:


Then you have no room to complain if trump makes your life and the lives of those around you worse, because you didn't vote.

On November 13 2016 07:39 FueledUpAndReadyToGo wrote:
How is it acceptable that Trumps children will run his companies ánd are on the executive commision of the policy transition team? Besides Roman Empire-like family involvement isn't this a totally unacceptable conflict of interests?

What So Many People Don’t Get About the U.S. Working Class

-snip-

Understand That Working Class Means Middle Class, Not Poor

The terminology here can be confusing. When progressives talk about the working class, typically they mean the poor. But the poor, in the bottom 30% of American families, are very different from Americans who are literally in the middle: the middle 50% of families whose median income was $64,000 in 2008. That is the true “middle class,” and they call themselves either “middle class” or “working class.”

“The thing that really gets me is that Democrats try to offer policies (paid sick leave! minimum wage!) that would help the working class,” a friend just wrote me. A few days’ paid leave ain’t gonna support a family. Neither is minimum wage. WWC men aren’t interested in working at McDonald’s for $15 per hour instead of $9.50. What they want is what my father-in-law had: steady, stable, full-time jobs that deliver a solid middle-class life to the 75% of Americans who don’t have a college degree. Trump promises that. I doubt he’ll deliver, but at least he understands what they need.

Understand Working-Class Resentment of the Poor

Remember when President Obama sold Obamacare by pointing out that it delivered health care to 20 million people? Just another program that taxed the middle class to help the poor, said the WWC, and in some cases that’s proved true: The poor got health insurance while some Americans just a notch richer saw their premiums rise.

Progressives have lavished attention on the poor for over a century. That (combined with other factors) led to social programs targeting them. Means-tested programs that help the poor but exclude the middle may keep costs and tax rates lower, but they are a recipe for class conflict. Example: 28.3% of poor families receive child-care subsidies, which are largely nonexistent for the middle class. So my sister-in-law worked full-time for Head Start, providing free child care for poor women while earning so little that she almost couldn’t pay for her own. She resented this, especially the fact that some of the kids’ moms did not work. One arrived late one day to pick up her child, carrying shopping bags from Macy’s. My sister-in-law was livid.

-snip-

Understand How Class Divisions Have Translated into Geography

The best advice I’ve seen so far for Democrats is the recommendation that hipsters move to Iowa. Class conflict now closely tracks the urban-rural divide. In the huge red plains between the thin blue coasts, shockingly high numbers of working-class men are unemployed or on disability, fueling a wave of despair deaths in the form of the opioid epidemic.

Vast rural areas are withering away, leaving trails of pain. When did you hear any American politician talk about that? Never.

-snip-

On November 13 2016 07:51 hunts wrote:


IT doesn't matter that she won washington. You didn't vote for a candidate that had a chance to win, so you don't get to complain about the outcome, it's that simple. You stayed out of the election by not voting for a candidate that had a chance to win.