Former President Donald Trump's United States of America

[TheKingEast]

To criminals, enforcement of the law always look oppressive.

Quite frankly it's disgusting that people think politics should overrule protection of basic democratic principles like the rule of law. History will not be kind to Trump apologists. And unlike the 2000s when Dubya supporters could slink away in shame and deny they ever voted for the guy, social media will document in fantastic detail all who were marks and how easily they were duped.



Indeed. And unfortunately our system does not allow for independent counsels to investigate the executive.

Agreed. The Trump apologists and fanboys are going to have a tough time. A lot of those politicians are going to be shunned as well.

 

[kEiThZ]

Agreed. The Trump apologists and fanboys are going to have a tough time. A lot of those politicians are going to be shunned as well.

I find it particularly fascinating to see so many Canadian conservatives support this tragedy to the south simply because of a shared brand as conservatives If you're a conservative anywhere, the last thing you should want is to associate your party and brand, at all, with the cult of Trump. Especially going into the next decade where millennials are going to start dominating elections. Millennials in the US will crush the GOP in the years to come. Why would any Canadian conservative want that here?

Love him or hate him, the Conservatives had a decent brand built under Harper. And could arguably make the case that they governed somewhat sensibly. It's mind-boggling to me that instead of using that argument against Trudeau, they are resorting to Trumpesque populism. Would have worked before Ford. But now Canadians have a first-hand look at the kind of incompetence and cronyism going on south of the border. Doubling down on Trump, either by imitating the messaging, the tone or the policy is going to cost them election.

 

[TheKingEast]

I find it particularly fascinating to see so many Canadian conservatives support this tragedy to the south simply because of a shared brand as conservatives If you're a conservative anywhere, the last thing you should want is to associate your party and brand, at all, with the cult of Trump. Especially going into the next decade where millennials are going to start dominating elections. Millennials in the US will crush the GOP in the years to come. Why would any Canadian conservative want that here?

Love him or hate him, the Conservatives had a decent brand built under Harper. And could arguably make the case that they governed somewhat sensibly. It's mind-boggling to me that instead of using that argument against Trudeau, they are resorting to Trumpesque populism. Would have worked before Ford. But now Canadians have a first-hand look at the kind of incompetence and cronyism going on south of the border. Doubling down on Trump, either by imitating the messaging, the tone or the policy is going to cost them election.

I agree. It's like they can't see beyond the next 6 years. This is going to come back to haunt the GOP. There's really no coming back from this. My fear though is if Trump gets a 2nd term (highly likely IMO) what kind of irreparable damage will he cause?

As for Ford....I just ate.

 

[kEiThZ]

I agree. It's like they can't see beyond the next 6 years. This is going to come back to haunt the GOP. There's really no coming back from this. My fear though is if Trump gets a 2nd term (highly likely IMO) what kind of irreparable damage will he cause?

As for Ford....I just ate.

I don't worry about the US. It's a big country. They can and will largely recover. And the greatest socioeconomic damage largely falls on red states.

What we're seeing is the last desperate attempt of white Boomers to retain relevance. And unfortunately for them time is not on their side. Trump's re-election merely delays the inevitable.

American conservatives should pray Trump doesn't get re-elected. Not only will be destroy whatever shred of the Republican brand is left, he'll be in office when the next recession happens, coinciding with unprecedented debt and deficits.

I think this is going to play out like Quebec's Quiet Revolution. Blue states will start asserting more Independence from the federal government. A few red states will flip. And what's left of the red states will become a rump everyone ignores. And that will happen through the ballot box.

In 2018, there were already 2 million more Millennial and Gen X voters compared to Silent Generation and Boomers. And that was a midterm. Trump may get lucky with the Electoral College again. But every victory, solely by EC, only robs the GOP of legitimacy further. And relying on the EC means that eventually when Texas flips, the GOP will be locked out of the Presidency for a generation.

All of the above is inevitable. The only quibble is dates and laziness. Every funeral helps the Democrats. But the proclivity of a younger and more diverse Democratic base to turn out less and ignore midterms gives the GOP an advantage. The real test of whether millennials have learned anything will come with the midterm where a Democrat is in the White House. It's easy to be fired up when you're party is not in power. Less so when they are. See 2010 and 2014. So maybe all the above takes a decade and a half instead of a decade.

I was going to write about the GOP eventually evolving to something like the CPC or British Conservatives. But I'm not sure anymore. Their brand is getting more toxic by the day. It may get to a point where it might just be easier for conservatives to start a new conservative party not burdened by Trumpian baggage.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Another "normal" day and night in the Donald Trump's United States of America...

Nine killed in Ohio in second U.S. mass shooting within 24 hours

See link.

The question a lot of people forget is, who pays the unexpected medical bills for the victims? Especially if they don't have insurance.

 

[Videodrome]

In El Paso, people aren't contacting the police because they think ICE will show up and deport them.

 

[kEiThZ]

Hispanics have kept Republicans in power in Texas for a generation. I really wonder what effects, attacks like these will have on them. Flip Texas and Republicans will lose the Presidency for a generation.

 

[TheKingEast]

Hispanics have kept Republicans in power in Texas for a generation. I really wonder what effects, attacks like these will have on them. Flip Texas and Republicans will lose the Presidency for a generation.

None. Many still support the prez even after all the anti-Latino rhetoric he has been spewing.

 

[kEiThZ]

None. Many still support the prez even after all the anti-Latino rhetoric he has been spewing.

Many do. But as the last election showed, Texas is much closer to being flipped than people realize. You don't need even the vast majority of these communities to flip. Flipping some and a few more simply refusing to turn out would close the gap.

 

[Northern Light]

Many do. But as the last election showed, Texas is much closer to being flipped than people realize. You don't need even the vast majority of these communities to flip. Flipping some and a few more simply refusing to turn out would close the gap.

To truly ameliorate things in the United States, its not a simple matter of ousting the GOP for one election cycle or even three.

The Democrats, typically, have more appealing policy ideas to Canadian ears; but rarely implement any when they have full control of Congress.

As an example, Obama's first term, the Dems had full control of both houses of Congress and didn't pass a minimum wage hike, not even .5c ; even though it was in Obama's platform.

There's a level of money in our politics here that is or should be very troubling, but it is that much worse south of the border.

There is a need to get structural fixes to their election process; ranging from ditching gerrymandering, to imposing tough campaign spending limits, to ditching the electoral college, amongst others.

There is a need to address media concentration, where there the decision of one just one or two players to not accept candidate ads or to otherwise de-platform or under cover them completely shifts the field of candidates who can contend for office.

I'm not sure I much hope of any of those things improving or being tackled in the near or even medium terms.

Perhaps a sweep by Dem's will improve the rhetoric some, or allow for a belated minimum wage hike or some modest expansion of health insurance......... better than swift kick to the head. But hardly sufficiently ambitious to tackle the problems that country faces.

 

[jje1000]

Ultimately, I would say that mass shootings are the symptoms of an ill society + a pandora's box that has been opened, that utilizes the prevalence of guns in America as the means (mass murder) to an end (shock and notoriety).

It's the end result of the dissemination of evil knowledge.

It's much like car bombs and Islamic insurgencies- they only really started being widely used in the Lebanese Civil War- but after the knowledge of their use emerged and spread via copycats, car bombs are now a go-to tool in the hands of Islamic terrorists.

In America, increasing societal discohesion, a defunding and deinstitutionalization of mental health services, all combined with the emergence of the 24-hour media/celebrity cycle has made whatever swirled out of Columbine immensely powerful, and the pattern to be duplicated by copycats.

How to solve it? Guns have always been easily available in America, and gun control is a low-hanging (and over-ripe fruit)- the real problem is a Gordian knot-eque tangle of converging societal issues that's difficult to resolve via simple policy-making.

 

[BurlOak]

None. Many still support the prez even after all the anti-Latino rhetoric he has been spewing.

It's similar in Canada where the biggest opponents to illegal immigration are the legal ones.
Likely legal Latino's in the USA don't like being compared to the illegal ones.
And they are likely smart enough to realize that President is not criticizing them - but the illegal ones.

 

[kEiThZ]

To truly ameliorate things in the United States, its not a simple matter of ousting the GOP for one election cycle or even three.

Never said that. But the year in which Texas flips a Senate seat or the Electoral College will be a political earthquake. Really, if Democrats were to take any major state-wide office, I think you'd see Republicans actually get serious about reforming their party after that.

The Democrats, typically, have more appealing policy ideas to Canadian ears; but rarely implement any when they have full control of Congress.

Have you lived in the US? In my experience, Canadians just don't understand what US political culture is like. And watching through a left-leaning Canadian lens makes that viewpoint even more skewed.

Until very recently, the parties were big tent parties, with wide variation on policy preferences inside the same party. Just because they achieved control of Congress does not mean, they had agreement across the board.

Also, the only time Democrats had full Control of Congress was the 110th and 111th Congresses. And only in the latter, did they have a Democratic President to pass their policies. That's 2 years of full control in the last few decades. Having the House (like Dems do today) is not all that valuable legislatively. And not having the Presidency means constantly having to override the veto.

Likely legal Latino's in the USA don't like being compared to the illegal ones.

A party leader who incites violence against them changes that calculus very much. It's all political banter until you have to attend funerals to put babies in the ground.

You should read up on how well this kind of rhetoric worked for Pete Wilson in California, you know the state which was so reliably Republican it produced two arch-conservative Presidents (Nixon and Reagan).

 

[Videodrome]

You should read up on how well this kind of rhetoric worked for Pete Wilson in California, you know the state which was so reliably Republican it produced two arch-conservative Presidents (Nixon and Reagan)

My friend who lives in California tells me about this. It was the beginning of the end for the GOP in the state. Once they lost the LA area to the Democrats, it was over. Now they have lost the OC to them as well.

 

[TheKingEast]

It's similar in Canada where the biggest opponents to illegal immigration are the legal ones.
Likely legal Latino's in the USA don't like being compared to the illegal ones.
And they are likely smart enough to realize that President is not criticizing them - but the illegal ones.

Are you sure about that?