The 2016 US American Election Thread

[photon]

A nice review of Trump's twitter histrionics during the 2012 election, including his deleted tweets. "March on Washington".

A nice preview for November 8.

http://edition.cnn.com/2016/10/18/po...-twitter-2012/

[DuffMan]

Originally Posted by photon

Sheriff Clarke
Calls Black Lives Matter a hate group.
Keeps calling Hillary Mrs. Bill Clinton.
Repeats it is pitchforks and torches time in America.
Says the elections are rigged.

Yeah, if I was a liberal citizen under his jurisdiction I'd feel TOTALLY safe.

I think Sheriff Clarke is an angry white man, in a black mans body.

[Red Ice Player]

A group of female veterans express their opinion of HO. Google "blue falcon." I never heard of this term but it sure fits.

[DuffMan]

Originally Posted by nik-

https://mobile.twitter.com/franklinl...83338590826497

[photon]

So much of what Trump gets wrong just seems to be a result of not understanding anything. 1.8 million dead people voting for Clinton he claims, the 1.8 million comes from there probably being 1.8 million dead people in the voter records (cause you know, people die without notifying the voter records first).

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...e-in-november/

[GirlySports]

i guess the whole point of this election is

how has the US become this divided?

because people are stupid is not an answer.

[photon]

"Where were you born?" Hah!

[Senator Clay Davis]

^^People are stupid is likely the correct answer though. I don't think it's a coincidence the divisiveness of the country has coincided with the decline in America's ranking in the world when it comes to things like math, reading and science. If Trump's core is taken as the indicator, 25-35% of Americans believe Michelle Obama is actual Michael, Barack is gay, and Sasha and Malia are actually orphans from Morocco or somewhere else in north Africa. Not sure what other answer leads to that other than stupidity (ignorance I guess).

[troutman]

A Union Is Building A Wall Of Taco Trucks Outside Trump’s Las Vegas Hotel

https://www.buzzfeed.com/adriancarra...NAy#.eoqMYKWd1

I was there last week, and wanted to go by there to see what kind of wackiness was going on around the hotel. Never made it that far.

The New Protesters Defying Donald Trump: His Customers

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/18/us...=tw-share&_r=0

[nik-]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

i guess the whole point of this election is

how has the US become this divided?

because people are stupid is not an answer.

A black president shattered people's minds

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

i guess the whole point of this election is

how has the US become this divided?

because people are stupid is not an answer.

There has always been a divide in the U.S. It has just become a little less geographical (although the red/blue still tends to follow a similar line). Changing demographics and a more mobile population due to changing economic climates have affected this.

Make no mistake, a big part of the reason the divide is growing is because a lot of people tolerated the other side when it was only WASP men ruling the roost.

[corporatejay]

Originally Posted by GGG

Yes that's what I mean.

I guess I see them as treating the Muslim women with respect until she is kicked out by the campaign

And the two ladies he has the conversation with about all the conspiracies about Hillary that they read as truth. There is a Naivety to it that they believe it because its written and they were told it to be true.

That is juxtaposed with the Mob of chants and protests and being part of the sporting event. Like chanting F*** the oilers or saying derogatory things about their players.

I see him finding people in one on one conversations and their treatment of other individuals. When they confront protestors or people that are perceived as attacking them they become the mob.

Yeah, I mean nothing humanizes people like "#### syrians".

Give me a break. Not all trump supporters are animals but the ones who go to the rallies are.

[GirlySports]

i think it's more economics and demographics than race. The world is moving faster than ever and the youths (regardless of race) are winning. The race and immigrants just add to it.

[mikephoen]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

i guess the whole point of this election is

how has the US become this divided?

because people are stupid is not an answer.

Been around the world and found
That only stupid people are breeding

/troutman

[troutman]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

i guess the whole point of this election is

how has the US become this divided?

because people are stupid is not an answer.

There is evidence that conservatives and liberals are wired differently:

Experts Say Liberal And Conservative Brains Are Wired Differently

There are fundamental differences in the way they solve non-political problems.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/...b09bf44a9dd89f

https://www.scientificamerican.com/a...olitical-wars/

http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/02/19/...d-republicans/

[photon]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

because people are stupid is not an answer.

Depends on what one means by stupid. By definition half of the people in any population have below average intelligence (whatever intelligence means).

I would prefer to say all people are susceptible to manipulation as most of our thoughts are unconscious. People like Trump get selected because they instinctively depend on this.

(I think this also explains how so often people gain success without seeming to have any overt qualities one would expect of success)

https://georgelakoff.com/2016/07/23/...nding-trump-2/

The brain stuff is about half way down.

It also explains a bit why what Trump says is so dangerous.

[photon]

Lol, the Cards Against Humanity guys' PAC put up a billboard.






It says "Donald Trump: He can't read this, but he's afraid of it.", with no English translation on it.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

i guess the whole point of this election is

how has the US become this divided?

because people are stupid is not an answer.

I'm not sure if the following are causes or symptoms but I would say the driving factors are the following

Authoritarianism is one factor. People who are authoritarians in times of fear look toward a strong man to deliver them. I think this is the driving psychological behaviour pushing people towards trump.

Fear mongering of media - In general all media has pushed the world is more dangerous mantra despite all indicators showing this to be false.

The loss of the economic viability of small town, 1 factory, America.

The ability of likeminded people to self isolate. One of the biggest factors in fighting authoritarianism is having people exposed to people who are different. Attending a university decreases people Authoritarianess the theory being that being exposed to differing view points makes people in general more open to them even if they don't agree with them. So the past 8 years have moved to a more curated social and media experience have decreased people's exposure to differences.

The cult of celebrity continuing to increase

The loss of faith in institutions -- Government, media, science. This is seen on the both left and right anti-vas, anti-gmo, climate change hoax, etc.

One problem is I don't see easy fixes to these things.

[ernie]

There is also an ignorance issue of actual platforms. A very large chunk of people couldn't actually tell you which candidate has which position beyond a few dog whistle type subjects. You saw this with the Affordable Care Act where they had polls/surveys that had a large number of people that didn't like it. If they broke out the things the act addressed one by one nearly everything got overwhelming support but the people didn't recognize it as part of the thing they just said they hated.

So perhaps rather than stupidity it's a matter of education. Of course to get educated you have to be willing to listen. Not being willing to listen and simply towing a party line because that's what your family does perhaps is just stupid.

There is also another issue. Americans as a whole have a much more pronounced "what is good for me is the only thing that matters" streak. Most other industrialized countries have a population that will give ample consideration to the populace as a whole and will be willing to take a personal hit to better the overall community. To me that is often missing in the US.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by corporatejay

Yeah, I mean nothing humanizes people like "#### syrians".

Give me a break. Not all trump supporters are animals but the ones who go to the rallies are.

That cheer is in the same rally where people are very respectful to a Muslim person wearing a Hijab. The codification of all people attending rallies as deplorable is not helpful.