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Post by Tross on Nov 18, 2016 14:31:03 GMT -5
Well, in the interest of avoiding derailing topics with political discussion, here's a thread for said topic. Sure, we don't have to follow the same rules as most forums since it's just us here, but I'd rather keep a dark cloud like the US election out of a more cheerful topic like Ponies.
In response to your last post, I guess I wouldn't put it past Trump to actually use the nuclear codes since he is unstable, though what worries me more is that he doesn't seem to think before he acts. That could be a problem. Trump supporters have been obnoxious all election, but it would be nice if they could stop now. It doesn't look like the US protests are doing much good and I agree that they shouldn't block roads, especially since there could be an emergency. Those protests are going on here too, but it makes even less sense since Canada can't do anything. All they're really doing is being a bother to everyone in the vicinity. I'm glad I don't live in the city.
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Post by OttselHero on Nov 22, 2016 10:20:02 GMT -5
I won't speak much of the 2016 U.S. election since I'm trying to forget all about it, though I will add that it sounds as though Hillary may have a ghost of a chance at coming out of this year with the presidency. I've heard that the winners of each state are ultimately determined by a board of electors who don't have to rule a state in favor of the candidate that the majority of the state voted for; in other words, the electors could grant a state that Trump won to Hillary (or vice-versa). They would have to pay a fine, but otherwise it's well within their power to do so. I'd like to think that considering how most politicians despise Trump, a scenario such as this could happen. Again, this is not likely, but all we can do is hope since it's only been two weeks since the election and Trump is already appointing the worst sort of people to his cabinet (this includes, but is not limited to, a white supremacist who, I kid you not, praised the likes of Dick Cheney and Darth Vader). In the meantime, petitions have been going around like this one, which is almost at 5 million signatures. At this point, I think it would be hard for the electors to ignore: www.change.org/p/electoral-college-electors-electoral-college-make-hillary-clinton-president-on-december-19?source_location=discover_feedWhat aggravates me the most about this election is the voter turn-out. Apparently fewer than 50% of registered voters participated in the election this year. To put in perspective, Trump acquired about as many votes as Romney before him, and McCain before him, but Obama wiped the floor with them. This suggests that people stayed home either because they thought Hillary had it in the bag, or they despised both candidates equally and thus decided not to bother with the election this time around. That being said, it should become mandatory for all registered citizens to vote like Obama said two years ago. I'm aware that other countries employ mandatory voting, so it should be no different here. |
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Post by Tross on Nov 22, 2016 14:27:34 GMT -5
I won't speak much of the 2016 U.S. election since I'm trying to forget all about it, though I will add that it sounds as though Hillary may have a ghost of a chance at coming out of this year with the presidency. I've heard that the winners of each state are ultimately determined by a board of electors who don't have to rule a state in favor of the candidate that the majority of the state voted for; in other words, the electors could grant a state that Trump won to Hillary (or vice-versa). They would have to pay a fine, but otherwise it's well within their power to do so. I'd like to think that considering how most politicians despise Trump, a scenario such as this could happen. Again, this is not likely, but all we can do is hope since it's only been two weeks since the election and Trump is already appointing the worst sort of people to his cabinet (this includes, but is not limited to, a white supremacist who, I kid you not, praised the likes of Dick Cheney and Darth Vader). In the meantime, petitions have been going around like this one, which is almost at 5 million signatures. At this point, I think it would be hard for the electors to ignore: www.change.org/p/electoral-college-electors-electoral-college-make-hillary-clinton-president-on-december-19?source_location=discover_feedWhat aggravates me the most about this election is the voter turn-out. Apparently fewer than 50% of registered voters participated in the election this year. To put in perspective, Trump acquired about as many votes as Romney before him, and McCain before him, but Obama wiped the floor with them. This suggests that people stayed home either because they thought Hillary had it in the bag, or they despised both candidates equally and thus decided not to bother with the election this time around. That being said, it should become mandatory for all registered citizens to vote like Obama said two years ago. I'm aware that other countries employ mandatory voting, so it should be no different here. Yeah, you guys pulled a Canada. You really are our neighbors!  It's hard to be too mad given that's what Canadians do all the time and it often comes back to bite us. I think mandatory voting would be the only way Canadians would have a reasonable turnout. I make sure to vote because I figure only those of us who participated have the right to complain about the results of a given election whether it be municupal, provincial or federal. We have different terminology for some of the same things, but instead of states we have provinces, hence the term provincial, and instead of governors we have premieres at that level. We obviously have a Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister at the federal level. We have ridings instead of seats, but they're essentially the same thing. People here were wondering how Trump could get in when Clinton got more votes, but we use the First Past the Post system too, so that part of your electoral system is not strange. We don't use the term electoral college, but it's all semantics really. Granted, we don't elect house/senate people separately from who we want in, so that's where our systems differ. We vote in an MP (Senator) for our riding and the candidate whose party gets the most seats wins the election. If we want the Liberal candidate in, we vote for the Liberal MP in our area, and the party leaders do run too in their own riding and the vast majority of the time they win that since they run against less famous MPs. I do have a theory as to why the US elects Senators and House representatives separately though. In Canada we have a three party system. There's a Green candidate, but they usually do about as well as your Green or Libertarian candidate. The New Democrat Party, or NDP, is the lesser of the three parties and as far as I know has never been the lead party and I only know of one time they ended up being the official opposition (party with the second most seats), but they're significant enough that they're still a major party and between them and the opposition, it's possible for the lead party to have less than 50% of the seats, which creates what is called a minority government (as opposed to a majority one). If the other parties are jerks or have legit reasons to, they can create a vote of non-confidence, which is when the other parties vote against the lead party and more people vote against one matter brought to the house, which...forces another election, which Canadians hate, but we do like that it forces the Prime Minister to be more careful with what he proposes. If your system worked like ours, the President would always be a majority. But as you have only two main parties, your system allows for a house and senate controlled by the other party. From what I gather they can't force another election, but they can block most of what the president does. I heard the senate is up for re-election next year so vote Democrat regardless of what happens. Canada has no such system, but we usually just live with whatever government we have even if it's a majority. |
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Post by OttselHero on Jan 20, 2017 10:08:13 GMT -5
Today's the day a mad man will be sworn into office. Cue the "Imperial March" for the next 4 years.
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Post by Tross on Jan 20, 2017 13:40:10 GMT -5
Lol. However bad Trump will be, I think he'll be many times better than Mike Pence, so long live Trump. Plus, whatever damage he can do will hopefully be undone in four years time by another president. I think even a US president can't singlehandedly cause the apocalypse. Sure, I think he will go down as a bad president, but life goes on. Canadians are used to riding out rough four year terms of a leader generally disliked because we tend to have low voter turnout. Heck, we do it all the time at both the federal and provincial (state) levels, and even municipal (county) levels. The point is, I have experience with this sort of thing as I live in a country that's known for it. We tend to just keep our heads down and go about our lives ignoring the vast majority of anything political. I now invite you and other Americans to be part of that proud tradition. |
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Post by OttselHero on Jan 21, 2017 11:33:29 GMT -5
Lol. However bad Trump will be, I think he'll be many times better than Mike Pence, so long live Trump. Plus, whatever damage he can do will hopefully be undone in four years time by another president. I think even a US president can't singlehandedly cause the apocalypse. Sure, I think he will go down as a bad president, but life goes on. Canadians are used to riding out rough four year terms of a leader generally disliked because we tend to have low voter turnout. Heck, we do it all the time at both the federal and provincial (state) levels, and even municipal (county) levels. The point is, I have experience with this sort of thing as I live in a country that's known for it. We tend to just keep our heads down and go about our lives ignoring the vast majority of anything political. I now invite you and other Americans to be part of that proud tradition. Haha that actually makes me feel a little better. It seems Americans are no different on the whole voter turnout thing. They were low 2 years ago for the midterm (and thus our joke of a governor was reelected), and I admit that I didn't vote that time around because it wasn't a presidential election. I've learned my lesson, however, and I've since vowed to cast my ballot during every election season. But I almost feel like the only one who learned something out of it because the 2016 election's voter turnout was just as low as it was in 2014. Though I think a lot of people thought that Trump could never win and so they decided to stay home thinking that Hillary had it in the bag. But yeah, hopefully Trump won't be as bad as everyone thinks. Chances are he won't be good, but if we can get into 2020 without having gone into nuclear war or be lost to yet another economic crisis, I think everything will be okay. |
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Post by Tross on Jun 7, 2017 19:22:50 GMT -5
So...um...what are your thoughts on the current political climate? From an outsider's perspective I see a President who has thus far done the worst job of any president in recent memory (not that I'm surprised) and who clearly doesn't have a clue how to run a government. That said I also see vocal and passionate defense for him and unbelievable hatred for the Democrats. Maybe as an insider you have a better insight into the American political climate? I sure don't because if a Canadian Prime Minister had such a terrible track record you could bet he would be practically hung out to dry in the next election. Also, this guy doesn't believe in empirically valid environmental science. Also, also, he tries to bully other world leaders into doing what he wants and gets angry when they don't just roll over and let it happen. Any thoughts?
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Post by OttselHero on Jun 8, 2017 11:25:46 GMT -5
So...um...what are your thoughts on the current political climate? From an outsider's perspective I see a President who has thus far done the worst job of any president in recent memory (not that I'm surprised) and who clearly doesn't have a clue how to run a government. That said I also see vocal and passionate defense for him and unbelievable hatred for the Democrats. Maybe as an insider you have a better insight into the American political climate? I sure don't because if a Canadian Prime Minister had such a terrible track record you could bet he would be practically hung out to dry in the next election. Also, this guy doesn't believe in empirically valid environmental science. Also, also, he tries to bully other world leaders into doing what he wants and gets angry when they don't just roll over and let it happen. Any thoughts? Actually your insight is pretty much in line with mine. This president has nothing good going for him and it is equally appalling that he's received so much support from Republicans (due to bribery, I'm sure). The best thing he's done was maintain the status quo by going against his previous intent to eliminate the budget that would normally go towards Great Lakes maintenance; my guess is someone pulled him aside and explained why the Great Lakes are so significant and that Asian Carp is an invasive species of fish that could cripple us in the long run. Aside from that, he is 100% clueless as to how to run a country. And he thinks health care only costs $15 a month. This, of course, only scratches the surface. If there's one good thing to come out of this, it's that his approval rating is so dismal that it is not likely that he would win his reelection in 2020. Impeachment is also likely, though I equally fear what a country run by Mike Pence would look like. Logically, I think if physical proof arose suggesting that Russia tampered with the election, the presidency should default to Hillary, but sadly I don't think it works that way. |
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Post by Tross on Jun 10, 2017 1:38:48 GMT -5
So...um...what are your thoughts on the current political climate? From an outsider's perspective I see a President who has thus far done the worst job of any president in recent memory (not that I'm surprised) and who clearly doesn't have a clue how to run a government. That said I also see vocal and passionate defense for him and unbelievable hatred for the Democrats. Maybe as an insider you have a better insight into the American political climate? I sure don't because if a Canadian Prime Minister had such a terrible track record you could bet he would be practically hung out to dry in the next election. Also, this guy doesn't believe in empirically valid environmental science. Also, also, he tries to bully other world leaders into doing what he wants and gets angry when they don't just roll over and let it happen. Any thoughts? Actually your insight is pretty much in line with mine. This president has nothing good going for him and it is equally appalling that he's received so much support from Republicans (due to bribery, I'm sure). The best thing he's done was maintain the status quo by going against his previous intent to eliminate the budget that would normally go towards Great Lakes maintenance; my guess is someone pulled him aside and explained why the Great Lakes are so significant and that Asian Carp is an invasive species of fish that could cripple us in the long run. Aside from that, he is 100% clueless as to how to run a country. And he thinks health care only costs $15 a month. This, of course, only scratches the surface. If there's one good thing to come out of this, it's that his approval rating is so dismal that it is not likely that he would win his reelection in 2020. Impeachment is also likely, though I equally fear what a country run by Mike Pence would look like. Logically, I think if physical proof arose suggesting that Russia tampered with the election, the presidency should default to Hillary, but sadly I don't think it works that way. It's good that you say that his chances of re-election are slim because Trump supporters are saying things like "he would have won the popular vote if the election were held now" and "he's practically guaranteed a second term". I also hear people saying the Democrats want to spread Islam throughout the country and create some kind of socialist dictatorship. Ummm...what kind of propaganda have the Republicans been spreading? On a side note, I was having a discussion on the MLP forums and mentioned that I'm actually impressed that Trudeau didn't just cave in when Trump tried to bully him, and someone replied that he's apparently a pushover to some "SJW people" in Canada, to which I responded that I'd rather he be a pushover to the Canadian populace than some orangutan from across the border who some Americans seem to think is Jesus. Of course for the lols I had to Google orangutan Jesus and I kid you not, an image of Trump next to an image of an orangutan is the seventh image that comes up in Google images (second row, second from the left on most screens, or fourth row on a phone). So, I've decided that since I think Trump resembles an orangutan and his supporters seem to think he's Jesus we can meet in the middle and I can just nickname him Orangutan Jesus or OJ for short. All hail the King of Orangutans! |
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Post by OttselHero on Jun 11, 2017 12:50:51 GMT -5
Actually your insight is pretty much in line with mine. This president has nothing good going for him and it is equally appalling that he's received so much support from Republicans (due to bribery, I'm sure). The best thing he's done was maintain the status quo by going against his previous intent to eliminate the budget that would normally go towards Great Lakes maintenance; my guess is someone pulled him aside and explained why the Great Lakes are so significant and that Asian Carp is an invasive species of fish that could cripple us in the long run. Aside from that, he is 100% clueless as to how to run a country. And he thinks health care only costs $15 a month. This, of course, only scratches the surface. If there's one good thing to come out of this, it's that his approval rating is so dismal that it is not likely that he would win his reelection in 2020. Impeachment is also likely, though I equally fear what a country run by Mike Pence would look like. Logically, I think if physical proof arose suggesting that Russia tampered with the election, the presidency should default to Hillary, but sadly I don't think it works that way. It's good that you say that his chances of re-election are slim because Trump supporters are saying things like "he would have won the popular vote if the election were held now" and "he's practically guaranteed a second term". I also hear people saying the Democrats want to spread Islam throughout the country and create some kind of socialist dictatorship. Ummm...what kind of propaganda have the Republicans been spreading? On a side note, I was having a discussion on the MLP forums and mentioned that I'm actually impressed that Trudeau didn't just cave in when Trump tried to bully him, and someone replied that he's apparently a pushover to some "SJW people" in Canada, to which I responded that I'd rather he be a pushover to the Canadian populace than some orangutan from across the border who some Americans seem to think is Jesus. Of course for the lols I had to Google orangutan Jesus and I kid you not, an image of Trump next to an image of an orangutan is the seventh image that comes up in Google images (second row, second from the left on most screens, or fourth row on a phone). So, I've decided that since I think Trump resembles an orangutan and his supporters seem to think he's Jesus we can meet in the middle and I can just nickname him Orangutan Jesus or OJ for short. All hail the King of Orangutans! Trump's supporters are delusional. Many of the people who voted for him have publicly stated their regrets for voting him just weeks after the election. If we had an election do-over today, the result would be very different. 46% of registered voters didn't turn out to vote in November, most of whom are likely Hillary supporters who were foolish enough to believe that she had the election in the bag without their vote. This is why it should be mandatory for every registered voter to cast a ballot come election time. As for the Republican agenda, I've heard they are actively trying to limit the powers of the media just so that GOP candidates can win elections more often. I didn't read too far past the header, but it would not surprise me if that is what they're looking to do. |
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Post by Tross on Jun 12, 2017 2:37:50 GMT -5
It's good that you say that his chances of re-election are slim because Trump supporters are saying things like "he would have won the popular vote if the election were held now" and "he's practically guaranteed a second term". I also hear people saying the Democrats want to spread Islam throughout the country and create some kind of socialist dictatorship. Ummm...what kind of propaganda have the Republicans been spreading? On a side note, I was having a discussion on the MLP forums and mentioned that I'm actually impressed that Trudeau didn't just cave in when Trump tried to bully him, and someone replied that he's apparently a pushover to some "SJW people" in Canada, to which I responded that I'd rather he be a pushover to the Canadian populace than some orangutan from across the border who some Americans seem to think is Jesus. Of course for the lols I had to Google orangutan Jesus and I kid you not, an image of Trump next to an image of an orangutan is the seventh image that comes up in Google images (second row, second from the left on most screens, or fourth row on a phone). So, I've decided that since I think Trump resembles an orangutan and his supporters seem to think he's Jesus we can meet in the middle and I can just nickname him Orangutan Jesus or OJ for short. All hail the King of Orangutans! Trump's supporters are delusional. Many of the people who voted for him have publicly stated their regrets for voting him just weeks after the election. If we had an election do-over today, the result would be very different. 46% of registered voters didn't turn out to vote in November, most of whom are likely Hillary supporters who were foolish enough to believe that she had the election in the bag without their vote. This is why it should be mandatory for every registered voter to cast a ballot come election time. As for the Republican agenda, I've heard they are actively trying to limit the powers of the media just so that GOP candidates can win elections more often. I didn't read too far past the header, but it would not surprise me if that is what they're looking to do. Well, someone should enforce mandatory voting in Canada. This may be the US's first rodeo with low voter turnout but we're really bad about that here. The key differences are that a bad Canadian Prime Minister doesn't have nearly as much of a ripple effect on the rest of the world, and we'd never elect an orangutan. I do vote because I believe it's my duty as a citizen of my country, but a lot of people don't...and then they complain when they don't like whoever gets elected. It's just bad news all around when the poorly chosen elected official is the President of the United States. There's definitely cause for concern among the other world leaders then. I actually do believe reports that CNN is biased. However, so is Fox News if we're going to go down that rabbit hole. I think it's pretty hypocritical that Fox News hasn't come under fire for the same exact thing. While we're on the subject, magazines like Enquirer print flat-out lies, like when Trump was confirmed to have a few screws loose when he accused Obama of wiretapping his phone and Enquirer supposedly ran an article with snippets of an "official document" that "confirmed the truth" of Trump's claim. Umm...what? A quick internet search at the time revealed that was a load of poppycock. I can't imagine why that magazine is even sold around here as I can't think of anyone I know who would buy it. The only practical use for it I can think of is for starting a bonfire, but there are far more inexpensive catalysts out there. A napkin or paper towel, for example, and that wouldn't involve supporting such a waste of checkout shelf space through sales. |
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Post by Tross on Aug 15, 2018 17:19:35 GMT -5
n4g.com/news/2194053/video-games-are-political-heres-how-they-can-be-progressive#c-12860345As a bit of a rant, is it really true that the right doesn't believe in the first amendment? I know they're obsessed with the second amendment, but what about what I posted is incorrect? Freedom of speech means recognizing the rights of others to say what you don't agree with. I know the right insists the left controls the media and wishes for more right-wing representation in the news sector, to which I would say, fair enough. On the other hand, their King Oompa Loompa has been trying for a while to censor left-wing media, and his supporters rally behind that. So, what the right supports isn't actually free speech, but a world where their point of view is dominant while dissenting opinions are suppressed? It's frightening to think such a perspective is prevalent in one of if not the most powerful country in the world right now.
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Post by OttselHero on Aug 18, 2018 16:42:14 GMT -5
n4g.com/news/2194053/video-games-are-political-heres-how-they-can-be-progressive#c-12860345As a bit of a rant, is it really true that the right doesn't believe in the first amendment? I know they're obsessed with the second amendment, but what about what I posted is incorrect? Freedom of speech means recognizing the rights of others to say what you don't agree with. I know the right insists the left controls the media and wishes for more right-wing representation in the news sector, to which I would say, fair enough. On the other hand, their King Oompa Loompa has been trying for a while to censor left-wing media, and his supporters rally behind that. So, what the right supports isn't actually free speech, but a world where their point of view is dominant while dissenting opinions are suppressed? It's frightening to think such a perspective is prevalent in one of if not the most powerful country in the world right now. While there are a handful of exceptions to the first amendment, I do agree that it seems that many of Trump's supporters don't like to hear anything that is contradictory to anything that Trump says or believes in. In this world where everyone seems to be offended by everything, no one seems to be more offended than the right. While I didn't like it when people bashed Obama for no reason (because there was almost no reason to dislike him), I didn't bite back or anything like that; that was their opinion and nothing I could have said would have changed it. On the flip side, if you say something against Trump, you'll get a half-dozen of his supporters ready to chew you out for it. I think a lot of it has to do with how LOUD Trump is; if you say something loudly enough, it's easier to convince your supporters that what you say is to be interpreted as truth, and anything that opposes that is deemed either stupid or disloyal. |
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Post by Tross on Aug 19, 2018 21:45:28 GMT -5
n4g.com/news/2194053/video-games-are-political-heres-how-they-can-be-progressive#c-12860345As a bit of a rant, is it really true that the right doesn't believe in the first amendment? I know they're obsessed with the second amendment, but what about what I posted is incorrect? Freedom of speech means recognizing the rights of others to say what you don't agree with. I know the right insists the left controls the media and wishes for more right-wing representation in the news sector, to which I would say, fair enough. On the other hand, their King Oompa Loompa has been trying for a while to censor left-wing media, and his supporters rally behind that. So, what the right supports isn't actually free speech, but a world where their point of view is dominant while dissenting opinions are suppressed? It's frightening to think such a perspective is prevalent in one of if not the most powerful country in the world right now. While there are a handful of exceptions to the first amendment, I do agree that it seems that many of Trump's supporters don't like to hear anything that is contradictory to anything that Trump says or believes in. In this world where everyone seems to be offended by everything, no one seems to be more offended than the right. While I didn't like it when people bashed Obama for no reason (because there was almost no reason to dislike him), I didn't bite back or anything like that; that was their opinion and nothing I could have said would have changed it. On the flip side, if you say something against Trump, you'll get a half-dozen of his supporters ready to chew you out for it. I think a lot of it has to do with how LOUD Trump is; if you say something loudly enough, it's easier to convince your supporters that what you say is to be interpreted as truth, and anything that opposes that is deemed either stupid or disloyal. When you put it that way, Trump support sounds like a cult. What can we infer when one's cult leader is dumber than a bag of chips? |
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Post by Tross on Jan 6, 2019 17:37:45 GMT -5
So...how are you enjoying the US government shutdown? Too soon?
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It's hard to be too mad given that's what Canadians do all the time and it often comes back to bite us. I think mandatory voting would be the only way Canadians would have a reasonable turnout. I make sure to vote because I figure only those of us who participated have the right to complain about the results of a given election whether it be municupal, provincial or federal. We have different terminology for some of the same things, but instead of states we have provinces, hence the term provincial, and instead of governors we have premieres at that level. We obviously have a Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister at the federal level. We have ridings instead of seats, but they're essentially the same thing.