Prelude to the Apocalypse

[BryanM]

HATES Repubs to the core, completely bitter about life, barely making ends meet. Worse when she said that she believes that the Repubs will rape and kill her since she is Trans... Just hearing stress of most of my friends, some who want to commit suicide due to Trump winning, it is just not good for anyone's health.

I do feel for these people who put so much emotional investment in a single horrible election. (Honestly was pretty gloomy myself about losing the next 8 to 12 years to neoliberals. As if we haven't given them free reign long enough already.)

Bill Burr's comment about laughing at crying white Hillary supporters (if we're going to have a White People Mourning Mitt Romney.com, that's only fair right?) but not at the crying minorities kind of hit home.

Even if you don't think they have it harder than us in any way, they were still used as props in the ugliest sort of identity politics.

It's just as bad when Hillary Clinton and Melinda Gates paraded a bunch of women from third world countries around like they were animals in a zoo, that their struggles being rich and powerful had anything to do with the struggles of a lady working for $7.25 an hour at Wal-Mart.

I think you might be on the computer too much.

I think we all by definition are on the computer too much. And that that's a good thing. Have you seen how boring all the other entertainment options out there are? >_>

How exactly is someone supposed to parse these statements? How many GOP'ers did you think were just aching to vote for Sanders

About the same number of Democrats aching to vote for Donald Trump. 4 to 7% of them. That's not inclusive of the ones who would have just stayed at home because they were okay with either outcome.

This does not take into account increased millennial turnout or more favorable numbers from Muslims or increased democratic turnout. Any one of these would have changed the outcome of the presidential election. The increased share of the millionaire vote Trump would have gotten in that matchup would not have mattered, since California and New York were locked down to begin with. (Winning Orange County for the first time in a century sure as hell didn't help her at all.)

Thanks.

but when you insist "all we had to do was nominate somebody objectively better than Trump", all I can say is "we DID that, and STILL lost". And all I keep hearing back is "E-mails! Speeches! World War 3!"

It's your subjective opinion that Hillary was better than Trump.

The objective public opinion (ie, this is objectively what people think) is that the difference between puppets of billionaires, and just having billionaires run everything directly on their own, wasn't that much. Just a very cold, discrete, objective 2%.

is to keep on top of the entire flaming mess and ensure folks know how it happened and place the blame where it belongs

Ok thank you for blaming the Clintons and thank you for voting for Bernie or his Union Equivalent in the primary in 2020.

If there's anything left after they run unchecked for the next two to four years, we'll plant a forest in the desert. Together we'll make america great again, brother.

[Opus131]

but not at the crying minorities

Equally laughable, if not more so.

[ED-057]

did I actually manage to write an essay good enough to make him change his mind!?

Not likely.

I'd like some other honest opinions

OK.

Melancton Smith once said, “Representatives should be a true picture of the people”. On June 21st, 1788, the Constitutional Convention was held in Philadelphia. The Federalists are proposing a system where the wealthy have all the power, and has no protection against rights.

Grammar alert! 2nd sentence is past tense. 3rd is progressive. And what is "protection against rights?" Perhaps you meant "protection for [the people's] rights?"

The Antifederalists had stronger arguments because the Federalists’ plans for a strong central government were flawed

Questionable use of the word "because." Are you sure the flawed plans caused the strong arguments, or did the plans merely alter one's perception of the arguments?

they might not prevent each other from doing unlawful things, and/or maybe even work together to do even worse things.

Grammar alert! "doing" vs. "work"

The 2016 presidential election is a good modern example of why the Antifederalists were right. Despite Checks and Balances, the government still managed to become corrupt

I'm pretty sure government corruption predates the 2016 election.

Bernie Sanders, someone who was had liberal views decades before virtually everyone else was;

lol

Hillary Clinton likely beat Bernie Sanders because of how much more well-known and wealthy she is. This shows that the government is biased toward the wealthy.

Not exactly. The government and the Democratic party aren't the same thing.

the Federalists’ plan for a corruption-proof government was flawed

Did they ever say that their plan was for a corruption-proof government?

[ED-057]

one thing among many which should have rendered his candidacy completely dead on arrival, but didn't

Indeed. Reps nominated a lousy candidate. Why'd they do that?

Literally nobody thinks Hillary was a great candidate

Indeed. Dems nominated a lousy candidate. Why'd they do that?

There should have been a summer referendum to scrap all candidates and go back to the drawing board.

[Opus131]

Worse when she said that she believes that the Repubs will rape and kill her since she is Trans.

And this is precisely why Trump won.

[quash]

Just imagine the nicknames Trump would've thrown at him in a general election. "Breadline Bernie" would be tough to shake off.

Weak. People give that tactic way too much credit. Easy to think that it's stunningly effective when the opponents are all complete turds.

It's not designed to work on decided voters, it's designed to work on people who don't have the time to research and get their political information from cable news alone (a group which constitutes a good portion of the country, to be frank).

The point is to make the other guy look like a complete turd, regardless of whether or not he actually is. Like a smear ad, but more poignant and easier to propagate; in other words, a meme. And with someone as good at attacking people as Trump behind it, a small smear can go a long way, even if he later retracts it and calls him a wonderful guy.

[BulletMagnet]

It's your subjective opinion that Hillary was better than Trump.

Feel free to list as many issues/subjects as you can on which Clinton would have been objectively worse for the non-rich (or, hell, feel free to stick with the brain-dead "establishment" term if you want) than Trump. My guess is all that'll come up are "Syria" (and you've already heard me say plenty on that) and "forcing the Dems to finally nominate the super-lefty candidate the country has been clamoring for", to which I'll ask you yet again - even if you do honestly believe that enough of the electorate would have snuck Bernie over the 51% mark, when this same electorate not only puts the "our goal is to make Obama a one-term President" Congress (and I'll say it again, if a Democratic Congress ever said anything half that obstinate towards a Republican administration they'd all be shot in the streets - talk about "crying minorities" ) back in office but expands their number, what makes you think they'd fall in behind him in a way they refused to do with Obama?

EDIT: My favorite phrase makes its latest appearance! God, what a trainwreck.

[atheistgod1999]

Considering that someone posted snippets of my essay, and that someone actually was giving feedback, I might as well re-post it:

Spoiler

Melancton Smith once said, “Representatives should be a true picture of the people”. On June 21st, 1788, the Constitutional Convention was held in Philadelphia. The Federalists are proposing a system where the wealthy have all the power, and has no protection against rights. The Antifederalists had stronger arguments because the Federalists’ plans for a strong central government were flawed, and the Federalists were biased toward the wealthy. The 2016 election is a good modern-day example of why the Antifederalists were right.
Federalists state that if the government were “divided and balanced among the several bodies of magistracy as that no one could transcend their legal limits without being effectually checked and restrained by the others”, the government wouldn’t be able to become unstable. This assumes that not all of the branches would be corrupt; if all of them were corrupt, they might not prevent each other from doing unlawful things, and/or maybe even work together to do even worse things. Due to this, the Federalists’ plans for a strong central government were flawed, weakening their arguments.
Representatives need to truly represent the people, not just the wealthy. Most of the people responsible for making the constitution were wealthy, and “were not the men who stood bravely at the Concord Bridge and Valley Forge”, yet they expect people “to bow to them as if they were Roman patricians”. While Federalists claim that their constitution “does not make a rich man more eligible for an elected office than a poor person”, they also claim that “the wealthy have higher character” because they act “less wicked and sinful, which makes them better suited to look out for our state’s prosperity” without giving any supporting evidence; the latter claim is biased toward the wealthy, making the former uncredible, weakening their arguments.
The 2016 presidential election is a good modern example of why the Antifederalists were right. Despite Checks and Balances, the government still managed to become corrupt, and the wealthy have more power in government. After the e-mail leaks, the FBI let Hillary Clinton off the hook, despite having plenty of evidence that she broke laws. This shows that the government doesn’t always follow the law, showing that it can’t always be trusted. Despite Hillary’s history of having conservative stances on issues and only changing recently-for example, she didn’t support same-sex marriage until 2013-she was still nominated over Bernie Sanders, someone who was had liberal views decades before virtually everyone else was; for example, he passed pro-LGBT laws in the 1980s. Hillary Clinton likely beat Bernie Sanders because of how much more well-known and wealthy she is. This shows that the government is biased toward the wealthy. This shows that the Antifederalists were right about the government being unable to be trusted, as well as biased toward the wealthy.
The Antifederalists had stronger arguments because the Federalists’ plan for a corruption-proof government was flawed, and representatives should represent not just the wealthy, but also the majority of the population. Had the Antifederalists gotten more of what they wanted, the country might be in a better position today; Hillary Clinton, for example, might have actually been indicted.

I'll throw in my last English essay, that I got a 96% on, for good measure:

Spoiler

In the book Everything I Never Told You, written by Celeste Ng, the second to the last paragraph reveals a lot of things. The paragraph reveals a lot about several characters’ futures. Lydia’s impact is also revealed in that paragraph.


The paragraph reveals several major details about the futures of several characters. When Jack and his mother first moved into the Lee’s neighborhood, ”Nath thought they could be friends” (16), but it “hadn’t turned out that way” (16). In fact, one time Nath was so angry at Jack that he “shoved Jack aside” (91). Nath eventually even hurts Jack so badly that “a trickle of red drips from Jack’s nose”. At the end of the book, however, the rifts between Nath and Jack will start “beginning to close” (291), and they will become friends. Nath was interested in astronomy since he was a little kid, but his parents didn’t give him any support; one time, in fact, Marilyn, Lydia, and Nath were at “the museum, he wanted to watch the star show in the planetarium, but they spent the whole day looking at the skeletons, the model of the digestive system, whatever Lydia wanted” (151). Despite receiving no support, Nath will become an astronaut, and one day stare “down at the silent blue marble of the earth” (291). James is going to eventually feel comfortable with the fact that he looks different from everyone else when he ”one day, enters a party and for the first time does not glance, quickly, at all the blond heads in the room” (291). What these characters are said to do are major revelations in the second-to-last paragraph of the book.


Another thing the paragraph reveals is that Lydia will have an impact on all of the family members for the rest of their lives. Currently, James, and especially Marilyn, think they understand Lydia completely; one time, Marilyn even said “She would never have gone out on her own. I know she wouldn’t. Sneaking out in the middle of the night? My Lydia? Never” (108) in response to James suggesting that Lydia might have snuck out on the night she died. Nath was trying to forget about Lydia in favor of his future, to the point that when Lydia wanted to talk to Nath, he said that he didn’t “have time for this” (263). In the future, however, Marilyn and James will keep “arranging the pieces they know, puzzling over her features, redrawing her outlines in their minds” (291) to try and “understand her completely, at last” (291). Everyone in her family “will think of her often” (291): Marilyn when she “opens the curtains in Lydia’s room, opens the closet, and begins to take the clothing from the shelves”, James when one day he “enters a party and for the first time does not glance, quickly, at all the blond heads in the room” (291), Hannah when she “begins to stand a little a little straighter, when she begins to speak a little clearer, when one day she flicks her hair behind her ear in a familiar gesture and wonders, for a moment, where she got it” (291), and James whenever “at school people ask if he has siblings: two sisters, but one died” (291) as well as when he first enters space and “stares down at the silent blue marble of the earth and thinks of his sister” (291). These are some of the many revelations in the second-to-last paragraph of the book.


The second-to-last paragraph in Everything I Never Told You reveals several things about character’s futures, as well as Lydia’s impact on her family members’ lives. It is revealed that Nath will become friends with Jack as well as an astronaut, James will overcome his anxiety of being a different race, and Lydia will never be forgotten by her family members. The amount of information that can be given in a single paragraph is incredible.

[Mischief Maker]

I think the main communication problem here, BulletMagnet, is that you're talking about Hillary Clinton the president, and BryanM's talking about Hillary Clinton the candidate.

[Durandal]

[Rob]

The point is to make the other guy look like a complete turd, regardless of whether or not he actually is.

That's the thing - they were all already spectacularly bad (uncharismatic, prototypically slimy) like Rosie is already fat, so it was never tested. Also, he already coined "Crazy Bernie", which sounds like a compliment disguised as an insult. Is it crazy to think a billionaire should pay a fair share of taxes? And so on. I'm sure he'd ask, repeatedly, until everyone heard it multiple times. He had one note, but it was a note millions of people wanted to hear, like "the wall", except he actually meant it. It was clear that he meant it. Trump is a tailor-made target for his message and he would've been able to attack his every major weakness. There would be no Bill Clinton sex predator or deleted e-mails to distract people with. It would've been Berserker Bernie.

Ah, dreams.

[Bananamatic]

crash and bern

[Rob]

crash and bern

eagle.gif

[BryanM]

I think the main communication problem here, BulletMagnet, is that you're talking about Hillary Clinton the president, and BryanM's talking about Hillary Clinton the candidate.

I think the fundamental problem is that he literally thinks Hillary Clinton is the best our garbage country can do.

And I believe that our garbage country can do and has done, much, much better.*

And you've called *me* a nihilist. : D

Sometimes I wonder if I'm not the most optimistic person in this thread.



* After all, I didn't make a Kucinich 2008 thread when he was running, this time is rather different. I don't buy into the cynical "history is dead" perspective for a minute. We're in the middle of a transformative era in a hundred different ways. The obsolete politics of pretending to give a shit about people will no longer work for democrats. It's a new day, the past is in the past.

There would be no Bill Clinton sex predator or deleted e-mails to distract people with.

That's what drives me crazy about the corporate democrats. They always choose to engage the republicans on their ground. Why?

You can literally choose to talk about anything you want to talk about. When you engage on policy substance, democrats win. When you engage on identity politics, democrats lose.

Here's what the democrats have the media talking about now according to /r/politics:

* Donald Trump is a fake president and we should invoke a constitutional crisis by having electors be unfaithful.
* Russian commies took over our country. Commies commies commies.


So they want to violate the constitution and invoke xenophobic conspiracy theories. A complete waste of our time and a waste of their PR money.

Oh, and they passed a bipartisan* law to help government propaganda. Not sure how that works without censorship.

Think how incredible that power is. It's manufactured consent all the way down. They could have put all this kind of energy into raising the minimum wage. But that isn't one of their goals.



* Bipartisan means you get it in both ends. Normally the democrats have to shame the republicans into doing something that's obviously the correct thing to do.**

** Back when he was a good Weiner and not a bad Weiner.

[Opus131]

crash and bern

eagle.gif

Not even remotely comparable.

[BryanM]

Right, one was our future president being nice to two dicks who didn't deserve it.

The other was our current president cowering like a little bitch to a harmless 5 pound bird.

At least that swamp rabbit Carter tangled with could have had rabies.

[BulletMagnet]

I think the fundamental problem is that he literally thinks Hillary Clinton is the best our garbage country can do.

...there's seriously no way in hell you're actually reading what I write.

One more time, boys and girls: nobody thinks Hillary is "the best the country can do". Nobody. What I do think is that she's still worlds better than Trump, and can go down a long, long list of issues to state my case. You, for your part, have repeatedly said you believe she's equally as awful as he is: I've asked you to get more specific.

Though to be perfectly frank the more of your lilting, lackadaisical playground antics I have to sift through the less I care about whatever it is you might have to say (though for whatever it's worth I must concur that encouraging the electoral college perform a function it never has while also saying it should be dismantled is rather...baffling).

[Opus131]

Right, one was our future president being nice to two dicks who didn't deserve it.

The other was our current president cowering like a little bitch to a harmless 5 pound bird.

At least that swamp rabbit Carter tangled with could have had rabies.

Ho come on. Instinctively sheering away from a dangerous animal when he does something unpredicted is not in the same order as willfully giving the stage to political extremists, and in such a weak and supine manner to boot.

Here's what matters though. Trump had the balls to fight against everyone and against all odds. Bernie Sanders cucked to the Hillary Clinton machine and betrayed all of his supporters, and in the process actually helped Trump get into the white house. I disagree with Bernie Sanders on many political points, but i never disliked the guy personally... until he pulled those kind of stunts, betraying all of his principles and his fan base, telling white people how they don't know what it's like to be poor (how stupid can you be to attack voters that way), and so forth. Perhaps he thought he could beat Hillary Clinton by appealing to SJWs but that demonstrates poor political judgement.

[Opus131]

Just imagine the nicknames Trump would've thrown at him in a general election. "Breadline Bernie" would be tough to shake off.

Heh, try this for size:

http://www.snopes.com/bernie-sanders-essay/

Would have been fun to see what Trump could have come up with to discredit Bernie. Maybe we will get to see that in 2020, if Sanders doesn't croak first.

[BryanM]

C'mon, an animal being an animal is the most predictable thing in the world. A 5 pound bird is as harmless as a kitten to a human being.

telling white people how they don't know what it's like to be poor

Ye, that was a catastrophic fuckup'ed line. You never utter a sentence that can be taken out of context like that in politics. It's safer to just say "you don't know what it's like to have the police busting your balls all the time" than to bring poverty into that.

What's really dumb is that he's Jewish, and back when he was a kid he was considered an undesirable minority. Not a "white" person.

Though to be perfectly frank the more of your lilting, lackadaisical playground antics I have to sift through the less I care about whatever it is you might have to say

.... wow, Domino was right. You really are angry and bitter. You should take a break from politics and the internet.

Go ahead and put me on your handy convenient forum ignore list so you won't get triggered by my citation of facts, figures, and moral red lines. I know it hurts that 72% of the country doesn't agree with you, and having me shoving it in your face over and over again just makes it hurt more and more.

How do you think Opus felt when we elected Obama? Twice?

[Opus131]

C'mon, an animal being an animal is the most predictable thing in the world. A 5 pound bird is as harmless as a kitten to a human being.

Yeah, i'm pretty sure you'd let your child play with an eagle. What could possibly go wrong.

Image
Mod Edit: Huge Image

It's safer to just say "you don't know what it's like to have the police busting your balls all the time"

It is the same kind of crap. Stop doing crime and you'd have no problems with the police.

Ultimately, nobody likes Black Lives Matter as much as nobody likes SJWs. They probably like them less now that they are actually killing cops and creating havoc with their idiotic protests. It is just as stupid to pander to the one as it is to the other.

What's really dumb is that he's Jewish, and back when he was a kid he was considered an undesirable minority. Not a "white" person.

It wouldn't resonate with SJWs to be talking about "Jewish privilege", would it?

[BryanM]

You know what else eats rabbits? Puppies.

Had an adorable one in the past who did it all the time. His official name was "Scooter", named after Scooter Libby and the fact he scooted on the floor one time when he was a puppy. I called him "Busters". He was a ferocious, timid little beast.

So I don't wanna hear anymore of these right-wing smears contesting the cuddliness of birds of prey, mister

[Opus131]

How do you think Opus felt when we elected Obama? Twice?

How did i feel?

[Opus131]

You know what else eats rabbits? Puppies.

Had an adorable one in the past who did it all the time. His official name was "Scooter", named after Scooter Libby and the fact he scooted on the floor one time when he was a puppy. I called him "Busters". He was a ferocious, timid little beast.

So I don't wanna hear anymore of these right-wing smears contesting the cuddliness of birds of prey, mister

Actually, dogs are known to injure, maim or kill children on occasion. There's a whole website dedicate to dogs injuring humans:

http://www.dogsbite.org/dog-bite-statis ... s-2015.php

So even with domesticated animals you have to careful, let alone with birds of prey.

[BryanM]

How did i feel?

More composed and OK with it than the guy furious at me for not wanting to drink the Hillary Clinton poison.

Is my assumption incorrect? Tell me tell me

Actually, dogs are known to injure, maim or kill children on occasion. So even with domesticated animals you have to careful, let alone with birds of prey.

Ye of course. These are carnivores we're talking about. A pig is a safer sidekick.

... until they eat you in your sleep.

[EmperorIng]

There's actually lots of stories of medieval people leaving the door open and a pig wandering in and eating or biting their kid to death.

Pigs. They're no joke.

[Domino]

My stocks and my 401k is doing good since the election. Thanks Trump.

P.S.: Since I work in a bank, everyone is happy since Trump won. Big ballin business.

[Opus131]

More composed and OK with it than the guy furious at me for not wanting to drink the Hillary Clinton poison.

Is my assumption incorrect? Tell me tell me

Pretty much, but then i despise Republicans as much i don't like Democrats.

[BryanM]

Vice has an article cataloging this season's global tectonic shift in the political landscape.

It has a good line in it:

These people have never understood: The more you deny people agency, the more they'll fight for it, even if that means choosing the stupidest possible option as an empty signal of defiance.

[GaijinPunch]

My stocks and my 401k is doing good since the election. Thanks Trump.

P.S.: Since I work in a bank, everyone is happy since Trump won. Big ballin business.

The most profitable day I've seen for a small group I used to work for was September 12th, 2001.