Former President Donald Trump's United States of America

[lenaitch]

Great analysis KeithZ. There are many in the US that argue that there is a difference between a 'conservative' (or at least our interpretation of one) and a Republican, and that a true Republican is synonymous with being a constitutionalist; wherein the true America lies in partying like it was 1776.

One difference between the conservatism here and US Republicanism is the diminished influence of religion. While there is a small 'religious right' base in Canada, it is nowhere near as influential as in the US. That and their election financing laws that allow third party organizations to toss unholy gobs of money into the process.

I won't laugh at your prediction; some of the Senate races are reportedly really close - as were many in 2016 - and the numbers needed to swing aren't that large.

 

[maestro]

Religious indoctrination in US politics is damn scary.

Conservatism or Liberalism. Woke or Unwoke. Both countries (among others) are being run by unqualified wealthy elites that are far removed from the average countryman's daily experiences. Universally, decisions are made to their benefits which usually involves higher fees and taxes for the middle class.

I would love to get a glimpse of the distant future to see if we have continue along this ominous path of economic inequality or returned to a balance.

 

[SunriseChampion]

^When was there ever a balance?

 

[Admiral Beez]

It’s the Gerrymandering and voter suppression including insane State-by State voter ID laws that make me shake my head.

There is absolutely no reason the US couldn’t match Canada’s national and easy-for-all voter ID laws, riding boundaries run by a federal Elections dept not the ruling party and based purely on population not ethnicity or economic class, and walk-in voter registration vs. required pre-registration. Think how many are coming to the polls tonight thinking they cN vote and being told to go away because they didn’t preregister.

The US should have a federal department of elections that is tasked with increasing voter registration, making voter ID laws easy for everyone, a department that is measured against voter turnout, a department that has the true measure of and means to counter voter fraud, that puts polling stations where the voters are welcomed by all. Lastly this department would control and monitor election spending, banning corporate donations, Super PACs, etc.

Our FPTP system may be flawed, and it’s a little aggravating that I’ve never voted once for the leader of our government, but I’ll take the Canadian system over the US one any day.

 

[Admiral Beez]

This should be a point of pride for all Canadians

 

[kEiThZ]

There's only one party that makes elections hard in the US.

 

[kEiThZ]

A mixed result. Some serious short term heartburn for Democrats. 2020 is going to be tough. Trump's chances of re-election look decent.

If I were a Republican, I'd be worried about 2024. Those numbers from women, Gen X and millennials are devastating. With 3-5% of Boomers exiting the stage each year, if they don't do something, the long term trends are going to crush them. And this is before the ugliness of two years of investigation into Trump crushes their brand.

Among the Democrats, the progressives proved once again they can't actually win when it counts. Relying on young voters and minorities to win in the general is an apparently failing strategy.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Jeff Sessions resigns as attorney general at Trump’s request

From link.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General Jeff Sessions resigned Wednesday as the country’s chief law enforcement officer after enduring more than a year of blistering and personal attacks over his recusal from the Russia investigation.​

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Sessions announced his resignation in a letter to President Donald Trump. He said the resignation came at “your request.”​

​

Trump announced in a separate tweet that he was naming Sessions’ chief of staff Matthew Whitaker, a former United States attorney from Iowa, as acting attorney general.​

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The resignation was the culmination of a toxic relationship that frayed just weeks into the attorney general’s tumultuous tenure, when he stepped aside from the investigation into potential coordination between the president’s campaign and Russia.​

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Trump blamed the decision for opening the door to the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller, who took over the Russia investigation and began examining whether Trump’s hectoring of Sessions was part of a broader effort to obstruct justice and stymie the probe.​

 

[lenaitch]

It’s the Gerrymandering and voter suppression including insane State-by State voter ID laws that make me shake my head.

There is absolutely no reason the US couldn’t match Canada’s national and easy-for-all voter ID laws, riding boundaries run by a federal Elections dept not the ruling party and based purely on population not ethnicity or economic class, and walk-in voter registration vs. required pre-registration. Think how many are coming to the polls tonight thinking they cN vote and being told to go away because they didn’t preregister.

The US should have a federal department of elections that is tasked with increasing voter registration, making voter ID laws easy for everyone, a department that is measured against voter turnout, a department that has the true measure of and means to counter voter fraud, that puts polling stations where the voters are welcomed by all. Lastly this department would control and monitor election spending, banning corporate donations, Super PACs, etc.

Our FPTP system may be flawed, and it’s a little aggravating that I’ve never voted once for the leader of our government, but I’ll take the Canadian system over the US one any day.

The issue lies in the structure of their Constitution. Since they are a 'federation of independent states', the vast majority of election laws are at the state level. Issues of federal infringement on 'states rights' have loomed large in their history.

 

[JasonParis]

Ironically, Canada is even less federal, but at least our election laws are at the national level.

 

[kEiThZ]

In my time down here. I have never understood why American elections were crazy, until I live in the US.

1) Every two years. And in some cases, they have other local elections on years when there's no federal elections.

2) They elect everyone from dogcatcher to President. So many positions that are public servants in Canada, would be elected officials in the US.

3) They have referendums on everything and it doesn't take much to get your referendum on the ballot.

4) No limits on campaigning by time frame or spending.

Now imagine, every two years you are getting blasted with election ads for every position from local councillor to Congressman to President, for 6 months, along with ads for ballot initiatives, and you have to go in and fill out ballots that in some cases are booklets, not just a slip of paper. And if they are a slip of paper, they are literally a scantron sheet with options for all the positions.

If you wonder why their elections are so complicated, this is also part of it. You literally have different ballots for people living the next town over as those counties will have different initiatives on the ballot.

After my time here, I fully sympathize on why some Americans choose to just tune it all out. I'm a somewhat politically informed person, and I found all their advertising and all the different issues to be considered overwhelming. And I don't live here and don't have to go through this every two years.

After all that comes the gerrymandering and other nonsense. Which only makes it all worse.

 

[kEiThZ]

I may have been right with my guess after all.

Looks like the only thing the Dems gave up was one Senate seat. If this works out, the Republicans are in real trouble. Doesn't look great for them at all.

 

[Northern Light]

It’s the Gerrymandering and voter suppression including insane State-by State voter ID laws that make me shake my head.

There is absolutely no reason the US couldn’t match Canada’s national and easy-for-all voter ID laws, riding boundaries run by a federal Elections dept not the ruling party and based purely on population not ethnicity or economic class, and walk-in voter registration vs. required pre-registration. Think how many are coming to the polls tonight thinking they cN vote and being told to go away because they didn’t preregister.

The US should have a federal department of elections that is tasked with increasing voter registration, making voter ID laws easy for everyone, a department that is measured against voter turnout, a department that has the true measure of and means to counter voter fraud, that puts polling stations where the voters are welcomed by all. Lastly this department would control and monitor election spending, banning corporate donations, Super PACs, etc.

Our FPTP system may be flawed, and it’s a little aggravating that I’ve never voted once for the leader of our government, but I’ll take the Canadian system over the US one any day.

I participate from time to time on some US/International forums.

I've brought up the notion of how we determine riding boundaries here; and likewise how we appoint judges.

Even reform-minded Americans, in my experience are very skeptical as they can't seem to believe its possible to have a non-partisan judge or court or panel.

The level of cynicism is extraordinary. The notion that there must always be a winner and loser is seemingly ingrained into their consciousness. The concept of win-win is all but non-existent.

Its rather depressing.

 

[Thorns_Embrace]

I participate from time to time on some US/International forums.

I've brought up the notion of how we determine riding boundaries here; and likewise how we appoint judges.

Even reform-minded Americans, in my experience are very skeptical as they can't seem to believe its possible to have a non-partisan judge or court or panel.

The level of cynicism is extraordinary. The notion that there must always be a winner and loser is seemingly ingrained into their consciousness. The concept of win-win is all but non-existent.

Its rather depressing.

It is funny you bring up the concept of a non-partisan panel. I can say I actually agree somewhat with the American perspective on this. Everybody is biased from a certain angle. And things likes maps are at least partially subjective? Is it best to "keep neighborhoods together" or should they be split if it means a more fair result, either from a balance in population or because it would allow for another neighborhood to be kept together? Canada has some questionable riding boundaries (I believe Saskatoon under the previous riding map was divided into 4 allowing conservatives to win all areas). Arguably the Toronto council ward boundaries had serious fairness issues despite being recommended as well.


That is not to say I believe the American system is good. the obvious gerrymandering done in some states is ridiculous. At least the so called non-partisan panels have ti at least maintain the image of being fair, so I think they would at least be closer to fair, even if I don't believe anyone is 100% non-biased,
Personally I think we should move away from district type representation to pure proportional systems. I never understood why some people think it is fair that some people have no voice just because they live in certain areas, and that is fundamentally true whether this is due to partisan gerrymandering or just due to natural demographics of certain areas. If you are a conservative in downtown Toronto you might as well stay home. The same can be said for an NDP voter in Simcoe for example. And I really don't like the population discrepancy, which literally makes some people's votes worth more than others. And these population discrepancies were always recommended by supposedly non-partisan committees, despite being completely unfair.

 

[kEiThZ]

Something to keep in mind on riding boundaries. Till the VRA got tossed, there was a specific interest and legal obligation to draw boundaries to keep minority communities together.

I think it's easy for many of us to forget their history with slavery and racism. The last American slave died in the 1970s. The last undisputed Civil War veteran died in the 1950s. Their descendants lived through Jim Crow and segregation. The Civil Rights Era was the 60s. I think when you look at it through this lens the US has come a long way.

But all that needs to be kept in mind. We're talking about a country that is still healing from a lot of internal conflict.