2016 Politics - All The Marbles, Lost

[Lupine]

Me too. The hypocrisy over the years has been very telling. Lefties promote tolerance yet show vitriolic intolerance. I work at a liberal university and liberals here are shooting themselves in the foot all the time with their hatred and intolerance.

This is why I'm always very careful to distinguish between Left Wing and Liberal. They are not the same thing. They never were, but they used to be somewhat on the same page.

It's like what I was mentioning earlier (either in this post or another) that I noticed that people on the right-wing and left-wing were basically using the same style of argument.

Long story short, Hillary Clinton took voters for granted.

I started to quote you thinking I was going to disagree, but now that I think about it that is probably a correct assessment. The problem, from what I've been reading, is that many people simply didn't turn out to vote. Apparently Trump received fewer overall votes than McCain or Romney and by all rights should have been trounced in a landslide. Too many people were assuming that with early voting that more people would show up.

[RJDiogenes]

not really. It sounds absolutely crazy, but many Hispanics loathe the African Americans. When I lived in LA, there were 3 supermarkets in the vicinity and each ethnicity went to a different one. Even in buses I never saw a Hispanic and an AA sitting together. Totally nuts - just like Trump.

Unfortunately, that's not news to me. I worked in inner-city health care for twenty-two years and I was witness to all kinds of bigotry, very little of which had anything to do with White people. African Blacks versus Islanders, Blacks versus interracial couples or kids, Blacks versus Hispanics, Puerto Ricans versus Mexicans versus South Americans, Asians versus everybody. The thing that people need to learn is that xenophobia is a human attribute, like the fight-or-flight syndrome, that may have worked as a survival trait a hundred thousand years ago, but now needs to be managed as a mental health issue.

Electing a President via the popular vote, 50.1%, is mob rule.

No, it's just majority rule. What are the alternatives? Electing the runner up, like we just did and did in 2000? Or having a requirement of a 2/3 majority, just to make sure that the vast majority is on board? The only really fair way to do it that I can think of is direct elections with ranked voting. That gives people the most control over where their vote goes.

It's like what I was mentioning earlier (either in this post or another) that I noticed that people on the right-wing and left-wing were basically using the same style of argument.

I've been watching it unfold for at least twenty years. Each generation becomes worse. We definitely needed a revolution, but not this one.

The problem, from what I've been reading, is that many people simply didn't turn out to vote. Apparently Trump received fewer overall votes than McCain or Romney and by all rights should have been trounced in a landslide. Too many people were assuming that with early voting that more people would show up.

Even on election night, they were pointing out that Clinton never even campaigned in Wisconsin. She fell victim to the Bob Dole Syndrome.

[Lupine]

The thing that people need to learn is that xenophobia is a human attribute, like the fight-or-flight syndrome, that may have worked as a survival trait a hundred thousand years ago, but now needs to be managed as a mental health issue.

I've been wondering lately if racism is a misfiring of the Uncanny Valley concept. Though there is often a conspiratorial aspect to it (IE, Group A as a whole is conspiring to inflict harm on Group .

[huggle]

I am not certain if I am a typical example for my Generation, but when I gew up there were literally no foreigners in my country. I was 23 when I first saw a person of African origin and 26 when I met my first Asian. Yet, all I feel for people from other continents is curiousity as to their particular views and way of life. That people are the same, under their skins, goes without saying for me and, I believe, for most Western Germans of my generation.
In Eastern Germany (formerly the GDR) they always had lots of Asian workers and it seems to me that for the last 2 generations there has formed a tradition of hatred towards different ethnicities. After the reunification many GDRers moved to the west and now, together with a few overlooked old Nazis, they form the core of the freshly growing xenophobia in Germany. Still, in many respects Germany is a good deal less racist than the US.
As the general opinion is "everything American is good and must be copied or even exceeded" it's to be expected that in a generation or two we'll introduce race segregation
The only factor truely borderless in this universe seems to be human idiocy.

[RJDiogenes]

I've been wondering lately if racism is a misfiring of the Uncanny Valley concept. Though there is often a conspiratorial aspect to it (IE, Group A as a whole is conspiring to inflict harm on Group .

I think it's just the wariness of animals in the wild-- the instinctive assumption that the creature over there is your enemy because they want your resources. This is beneficial when you live in trees, but not so good when you've formed a cooperative venture like, say, civilization.

That people are the same, under their skins, goes without saying for me and, I believe, for most Western Germans of my generation.

Same here. I actually find the idea of different kinds of people intriguing and attractive. That probably makes me a pervert in evolutionary terms, but that's okay. I like perverts.

Still, in many respects Germany is a good deal less racist than the US.

Well, I'm from Massachusetts, so my experience may be different, but I don't think the country is as racist as it may appear. Racism is like terrorism-- the vast majority of people don't fly planes into buildings, but the ones that do get a disproportionate amount of attention.

As the general opinion is "everything American is good and must be copied or even exceeded" it's to be expected that in a generation or two we'll introduce race segregation

If that's the case, then I wish that they would pay attention to what our real values are and not what our traitors do.

The only factor truely borderless in this universe seems to be human idiocy.

Unfortunately, that is very true. But I also believe in the old saying, "Never attribute to malice what can adequately be explained by stupidity." I think most people are basically decent, if properly cultivated. We proved that back in the 60s, and we have to figure out a way to get the current generation to believe it. It was the Millennials who got Trump elected, not the KKK.

[Gary]

What Was Hillary Clinton’s Real Downfall? Complacency

I saw a great chart posted on Fark which showed voter turnout for Hilary was substantially lower than the two times President Obama ran. Long story short, Democrats stayed home just like Republicans did when Romney ran.

Hillary was like Bob Dole and John McCain in that she insisted "it was her turn" and she "deserved it".

[RJDiogenes]

Exactly. As I was just saying to KatyJane, even before the counts starting coming in on election eve, they were pointing out that Clinton never even bothered to go to Wisconsin. You can't take the voters for granted like that.

[Gary]

The one aspect of this election I liked is Trump would not falter and release his tax records. I don't care what the blowhards say, a persons tax history should remain private and has no bearing on an individual's ability to govern. I've stated this before in discussions and people have responded, "It matters to me." Bee Ess. You're either voting for the person because of an agreement over issues or party blindness, not because of a $10,000 write-down to due stock losses or because that person didn't donate money to charity. The only reason tax records have been an issue is because Richard Nixon used it as a ploy to out his opponent in the area of trust-worthiness.

[RJDiogenes]

And as if it would make a difference if he somehow demonstrated that he had actually paid taxes. "Oh, he never cheated on his tax returns-- that makes up for him being an anti-American moron."

[Lupine]

Democratic Underground was hacked on election day and it's still down.

[Gary]

I have to agree.

[Gary]

http://theconcourse.deadspin.com/donald ... 1788862854

Yep, he's a showman. He loves the thrill of the chase and is not suited for governing, which involves patience and compromise. I'm thinking more and more he will get bored and resign; otherwise, one term and he's out.

[Lupine]

The thing that's annoying me the most right now is the Monday-morning quarterbacking and the finger pointing. Everyone is blaming everyone from the Russians, to Clinton not being inspiring enough, to the "establishment" not supporting Saint Bernie, to the media, ect.
[vent]The real blame is that people did not vote! They stuck their noses up in the air and somehow rationalized that Clinton was as bad as Trump because she was [reasons]. Being angry is not an excuse. A politician being "corrupt" is not an excuse. Some faceless, monolithic entity is not an excuse. That wasn't about you, it was about the future of the country. You did not vote.[/vent].

[BBvideo 425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTUeXX8BP_M[/BBvideo]

Whew! Sorry about that, guys. That's been building up for a while.

Carry on.

[Gary]

The thing that's annoying me the most right now is the Monday-morning quarterbacking and the finger pointing. Everyone is blaming everyone from the Russians, to Clinton not being inspiring enough, to the "establishment" not supporting Saint Bernie, to the media, ect.
[vent]The real blame is that people did not vote! They stuck their noses up in the air and somehow rationalized that Clinton was as bad as Trump because she was [reasons]. Being angry is not an excuse. A politician being "corrupt" is not an excuse. Some faceless, monolithic entity is not an excuse. That wasn't about you, it was about the future of the country. You did not vote.[/vent].

[BBvideo 425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTUeXX8BP_M[/BBvideo]

Whew! Sorry about that, guys. That's been building up for a while.

Carry on.

I wish I could find the chart which shows the low turnout when compared to previous years. This is just like 2012, when Republicans sat out because they didn't like Romney and promptly whined about "that damned 'secrit muzlum illegal Kenyan anti-criste'" who would "destroy 'murica".

[RJDiogenes]

Democratic Underground was hacked on election day and it's still down.

It's still down now. I assume it's a forum. I hope they didn't lose their database like we did in 2008.

Yep, he's a showman. He loves the thrill of the chase and is not suited for governing, which involves patience and compromise. I'm thinking more and more he will get bored and resign; otherwise, one term and he's out.

I don't think he'll quit, but I doubt if he will run for re-election.

The thing that's annoying me the most right now is the Monday-morning quarterbacking and the finger pointing. Everyone is blaming everyone from the Russians, to Clinton not being inspiring enough, to the "establishment" not supporting Saint Bernie, to the media, ect.
[vent]The real blame is that people did not vote! They stuck their noses up in the air and somehow rationalized that Clinton was as bad as Trump because she was [reasons]. Being angry is not an excuse. A politician being "corrupt" is not an excuse. Some faceless, monolithic entity is not an excuse. That wasn't about you, it was about the future of the country. You did not vote.[/vent].

The worst politicians are elected by people who don't vote, as the saying goes. But there's certainly a lot more blame to go around than that. It takes a lot of losers to create a catastrophic disaster of this proportion.

I wish I could find the chart which shows the low turnout when compared to previous years.

I was just looking at that this morning.