Don't blame me, I voted for the other guy. (Politics General)

I log in to look at images through my filters, then log out when I’m done. I don’t mean to sockpuppet.

@Background Pony #8C5F
So be it. Then continue to post as you are, from this point forward, and do not try to present yourself as more than 1 person in this thread. If you accidentally post in here as yourself, please immediately report the post and ask to have it deleted. Just remember if you break rules in here anonymously, your profile is what we will ban.

OK, thanks.

A CNN poll has found that only 33% of Americans have a favorable opinion of the Democratic Party, the lowest since CNN began polling it in 1992. 58% of Dems and Dem-leaning independents say the party needs “major changes” or even complete reformation, up from 34% at the end of 2022.

Gotta say, I’m one of that majority that disapproves. The GOP is evil, but the Dems are absolutely not the opposition party qualified to counter their crap. They need to fully clean house of aging, Cold War-brained leadership that sleepwalked us into this mess. Schumer, Pelosi, Hoyer, Clyburn, Biden, Obama, Harris, the Clinton Dynasty, all need to be kicked to the curb alongside their army of consultants and media nepo-babies.

Otherwise Dems will just be controlled opposition in a Russia-like dictatorship.

Also, sorry for causing trouble.

Dems need leadership, someone who takes charge and makes things happen. I am sure Biden is a very nice man and all but he was often veeery slow and timid. Trump kicks down the door and starts making demands, things start happening, fast and not always for the better, but they happen and he seems to get his way faster in situations where the US has leverage. It’s fine to speak softly but you also need that giant effing stick sometimes.

That’s exactly what I mean. I hate rules and regulations (as they are currenlty implemented) because they are too often used to keep me and the other “little guys” down while doing nothing to keep a check and balance on the elite entrusted to make and enforce them. Don’t ask me for a solution, at least at this time, because I don’t have the perfect solution.

I’m sorry I can’t fucking word it correctly. Public education sucks, and it’s just getting worse with each generation. I have no hope for this country, this planet, or the human race.

Completely agree with you on this one.

@BlitztheDragon
For me, I think this PEW poll says all that needs to be said about things like whether Americans have favorable or unfavorable views of the existing parties in the USA:

• 65% say they always or often feel exhausted when thinking about politics - regardless of the party.
• 55% always or often feel angry when thinking about politics - regardless of the party.
• And only 10% are always or often hopeful about politics - regardless of the party.

When asked to describe politics and politicians in the US with one word, “divisive”, “corrupt, “self-centered”, and even “fucked”, “shit”, and “dumpster fire” beat out “good”.

People may have complaints about the Democrat party in the USA - and a lot of those complaints are 100% valid.

But don’t over look how much Americans absolutely HATE the entire fucking system. Someone being a Democrat or a Republican doesn’t even really matter for most Americans.

It’s like showing up on the front stoop and proudly declaring yourself “a GOOD zombie”. No one gives a shit - good or bad, you’re still a zombie.

In fact - here’s an older poll that showed that 37% of Americans think a ZOMBIE would do a better job leading the country than any politician.

Which … I suppose … is kind of where we’re ending up. More and more, the United States is ending up with brainless and soulless sycophants haunting the most powerful positions in government. You say “elderly individuals with recent cognitive changes that may be impacting their ability to drive a car” and I say “demented shambling corpses who shouldn’t be trusted with deciding how the government runs, much less being given access to the fucking launch codes.”

Oh! But the shambling hulk with the keys to the launch codes is a DEMOCRAT! Or they’re a REPUBLICAN! So that makes it better? Right?

Focusing on this party or that party ignores that most Americans hate all of the politicians.

On top of them being loathsome and reprehensible in general, don’t forget that 37% of the Senate, and 87 of the House, are, or are over, 70. Maybe more - I didn’t check their birthdays. The number of them that are 68 or 69 is just as bad, and the best data I could find was from 2023. So now it probably is even worse.

So between a third or maybe more of the people in the highest positions of power in the US government are old enough to be on social security, and are at or near an age where normally family members would start worrying about them having car keys.

And all of them are people who MOST of the country hate - regardless of what party they are in.

Is the Democrat party broken? Sure. Republicans? Also, yes. The Greens and the Vermont Progressives and the Libertarians and the No Labels and the Constitution party? The Socialists and the Workers and the Alliance and Natural Law and Solidarity parties?

They’re all filled with politicians. All of them. And the system is rigged perfectly so those decrepit shambling husks of people - the most powerful of whom were BORN BEFORE OR DURING THE KOREAN WAR - will never have to worry about anyone taking away their precious power.

Doesn’t matter what party they are in. The whole system needs a good flush.

But - that’s just me.

There. I had an opinion here.

#inb4 someone calls me a blue pilled liberal. Again.

@Ciaran
Without term limits or a mandatory retirement age, there’s no fixing the problem. Open seats get filled by relatively young faces, but incumbents are nearly impossible to dislodge. People may hate the old farts in Congress, but not enough to risk voting out their own old fart and losing the seniority that comes with it.

BTW, here’s a synopsis of the current Congress. The one Zoomer in the House is my own Congressman, so that’s fun.

In more news of the stupid, Melania has now announced her own shitcoin, just days after Trump did his.

A day after Trump announced his, it doubled in price. Now that Melania has announced hers, Trump’s coin dropped in value by half in mere hours.

A reminder on why it’s a bad idea that Trump wants to make crypto an official federal backed legal tender.

–

Private security has risen to become the 10th fastest growing job now thanks to what is being called the “Luigi Effect”. CEOs and other social parasites are now lighting up security hotlines to hire new bodyguards.

America’s elites are literally spending million if not tens of millions to protect themselves rather than give people fewer reasons to want them dead.

–

Brandon is now set to leave office with a lower approval rating than Trump did.

It’s only by like a point or so, but Brandon is now less liked than Trump was post J6.

There’s a lot to unpack there, particularly on the continually proven effects of propaganda and of pushing of a consistent narrative hit piece. But for now I’m just gonna say ‘Good riddance to bad rubbish. Biden presided like he didn’t want to be there, and America now looks like they feel the same way.’

@Ciaran
Ok, and how many of those people expressing contempt for the current system are also unwilling to learn or do anything about it? Because I’m kind of tired of seeing people complain that the system is broken, and then the second you try to provide them with information or engage them in discussion in an attempt to try to change things they disengage completely because they’re “tired of everything being political”, despite the fact that literally the only political thing they do is avoid anything involved with politics. I mean these are the same people that tell you voting doesn’t work, but don’t vote. And tell you that it’s always the same unlikable people, but don’t pay attention to the primaries or try and get someone in who’s different. And complain that nothing is being done for people like themselves, but also pay almost no attention to what the people they apparently hate are doing, either for or against them.

@Dustcan
Biden ranking lower then Trump feels wrong/undeserved tbh imo

Get ready for four years of misery. This is going to be a really wild ride. Buckle up for tomorrow and beyond. This is not looking good for the United States.

@Background Human
Agreed.

Oh! I didn’t expect a late Christmas present, but I’ll take it!

@Background Pony #3E47
Re: how many, I’m guessing lots? Because, I mean, isn’t that why things like this thread exists? Or sites like Twitter and now Facebook? Engagement. And nothing engages people like hate.

It is. Biden presidency was just mediocre, Trump was actively detrimental and capped off with an act of treason.

But the Dems spent 4 years telling us “Shut up, Sweaty. Look at the charts, everything is fine!” while the Reps spent 4 years saying “Everything is not fine, blame the Dems”.

So imagine that, 4 years of that and people walk away not happy. The power of narratives has been known for centuries, literally millennia. But the Dems are professional losers so…

@Dustcan
One more piece of news, of the face-eating leopard variety this time, to add to those: remember how Mr Unpresident’s moving his inauguration indoors because he doesn’t want to stand in the cold?

Well, turns out the dumb braver peons who came all the way to DC, at the expense of thousands of their hard-earned dollars for some of them, won’t even have Jumbotrons on the National Mall to watch the show: the Presidential Inauguration Committee had them taken down.

Relevant.

Surprisingly inspirational words NGL.

I mean, they say it’s because of the cold. But looking at local hotel sales showed a remarkably low amount of people were expected to show up.

So there’s been a running theory that Trump declared he won’t have an inaugural crowd rather than be humiliated at how small it is, again.

@Dustcan
I just think on general Biden having a lower approval rating then a guy whose a convicted felon and serial rapist just smells like a load of bull. Its why I’m finding a lot of Conservatives/Leftists saying that Biden is “the worst President in modern history” takes hard to take seriously.

Like putting aside politics, a President beibg a rapist should automatically put them into negative approval, I feel like that should outweigh whatever faults the other guy has.

@Background Pony #1F81
An ex-president being a rapist shouldn’t even have been re-elected in the first place, yet here we are.

A self-admitted rapist should never have gotten his name on the ballot in the first place, much less been elected - never mind re-elected.

And people wonder why I find being lumped in with the human race to be an insult.

Undoubtedly. I’m certainly here at the present time because I need a place to (occasionally) vent my vast seething bitterness that also offers a quick retreat into something calming and distracting. But that doesn’t stop me from wishing it existed for the sole purpose of allowing people interested in having meaningful discourse about their different political opinions and ideologies a place to do so.


@Background Pony #1F81

One of the few hopes I still have for the future at this point is that history will remember and rate President Biden more accurately than many people currently do. He did a remarkable amount given the opposition he faced and the razor thin majority he had to work with.

I have a feeling the midterms are going to be a big concern for the Dems. If they don’t pull something together, there might be another massive shift to the right. If California goes red from the wildfires, then it’s probably over.

And about that TikTok ban reversal… yeah, I can definitely see gen Z eating it up, unfortunately.

@Ereiam
Ahh.

So… the ceasefire in Gaza is now in place.

All sides involved are trying to claim victory now. HAMAS and its supporters rejoice at the perception that they defended the Strip against Israel, but of course don’t tell this to the tens of thousands of civilians who didn’t pick up the rifle, some of whom will probably blame them for their loss and cause unrest. Netanyahu presents the heads of Sinwar, Deif, Nasrallah and Assad and claims military pressure forced HAMAS to agree. Trump claims victory through his (apocryphal?) vague threats towards Israel and HAMAS though his cabinet remains fervently pro-Israel. Meanwhile Iran grapples with a loss of influence and braces for the impact of a possible US-Israeli air attack. Hezbollah says it defended Lebanon from Israeli aggression, but now other Lebanese parties are eating away at their corners as they’re weak, with European powers like France now saying they want the Lebanese army to have a “monopoly” on arms.

What’s positive at the moment is the potential for civilians on all sides to take time to breathe and reassess the hawkish attitudes of their societies. Brazilian TV stations reporting on an Israeli vigil for instance interviewed a Brazilian-Israeli woman, who, in broken Portuguese, said “there are good people in both sides” and no pledged no ill will towards her Palestinian neighbors. Perhaps this is a result of the present social feeling, as both sides are fatigued by war (Palestinians of course being much more, materially speaking), or perhaps she found the opportunity to voice her real concerns by speaking in a language other Israelis couldn’t understand, shielding her from being heckled. But still, with polls showing that most Israelis are supporting the ceasefire, maybe past assessments by some that they are irredeemably racist are bound to be proven wrong, at least in part.