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Post by Scumhunter on Nov 27, 2016 1:03:02 GMT -5
As the admin of this website, I have often found it difficult to discuss certain cases on this forum if there is a certain political bent to him. While other members don't have to follow my rule, I feel my role as an administrator is to stay somewhat neutral or as neutral as I can when it comes to politics. However, this has been an unusual election season, brutal even compared to past Presidential elections, and I feel it has been a divisive year overall for U.S. society. Because of that I figured perhaps I should make a thread for anyone who wants can share their thoughts concerns etc... as I feel this has unfortunately become such an issue it's kind of hard to ignore even for a crime forum. I just hope we can comment while respecting others opinions. While respectfully disagreeing is one thing, I will delete the thread if I feel it gets out of hand. I will say my peace and then probably not comment after that. I am not particularly ideological and have major issues with both major parties, but admittedly usually select between the Democrat and/or Republican. While I know it's cliche to say you don't like both choices, I felt this year was not just cliche and I was given a bad hand. (In 2008, for example, I had a tremendous amount of respect for both then Senator Obama and Senator John McCain and it was for a while a difficult choice.) Amazingly, TNT sports show host Ernie Johnson summed it up perhaps the best. He also called the election a bad hand, said there were trust issues he couldn't get past with Hillary Clinton, while finding Donald Trump's rhetoric inflammatory and indefensible. For the first time in his 40 plus years of voting, he voted for a write-in candidate. For me, I didn't vote at all, for I think was the first time ever in any election. (There may have been one other election I didn't participate in where there was literally nothing to vote except for like one congressional race where there was already an inevitable landslide winner but that's it). I thought about my third party options until Gary Johnson showed a dangerous lack of foreign policy knowledge while Jill Stein I thought had extreme views on vaccinations. I sat this one out. I lived in a blue state that was going to vote for Hillary Clinton anyway. But I will admit that I had I lived in a swing state like Florida or Ohio, I would have begrudgingly voted for Hillary Clinton because I felt she was the more experienced and ready to lead of the two candidates that I did not want. And I like everyone was pretty shocked when Donald Trump won. I thought Hillary Clinton would win the election, and technically I was right about that, but only if you count the popular vote. Trump won what mattered which was the electoral college. Donald Trump is to put it mildly unlike any President we've ever elected before. I have major concerns about his rhetoric. I absolutely agree with him that border protection is porous and part of the reason we see some of the criminals we see on AMW/The Hunt. However, what I have a problem with is the underlying tone of racism that came from those statements, and the indication that ALL Mexicans are rapists, criminals, etc... Many come here just looking for opportunity. And of course, there has been an uptick in hate crimes since Trump's election, which he has only admonished when doing interviews. I am waiting for him to use his social media platforms to also condemn the violence, rather than going after the cast of "Hamilton" or SNL. With that being said, despite my issues with Trump's rhetoric, I am hoping Trump the President is different from Trump the candidate. Trump often seems to like to say controversial things for attention rather than believing them and is admittedly quite good when it comes to that. Since his election, he has shown a softer side on many issues and has at least shown a willingness to work together and look at the issues. Some of his picks concern me, yes, but even they are complete unknowns until Trump takes office. Despite my concerns, I am rooting for Trump to prove me wrong and become a good President. As President Obama himself said, if the President succeeds, we all succeed. If not, then there will be another election in 4 years where we can pick a new President. But right now the country is very divided and it has been a difficult 2016 for society no matter who got elected. I can't say I'm optimistic or pessimistic. Rather I'm just crossing my fingers and hoping President-elect Trump does a good job. The rest of Ernie Johnson's comments on TNT are very inspiring: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayU5kw7Kf5U |
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Post by 912thamwuser on Nov 27, 2016 1:22:17 GMT -5
I voted for Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary. My first instinct after he lost that against Rodham was to suspect Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, the previous chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, who had a long history with and lopsidedly close ties to the Clinton family. After that, I voted for Rodham because I thought she would do less damage to the ecology than Trump would.
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Post by тσρтєиhυитєя on Dec 3, 2016 0:48:13 GMT -5
To begin I have to say that this election was crazy and terrifying. Donald Trump's racist rhetoric was very over the top, from the day he launched his presidential campaign, he offended millions of Mexicans, Undocumented immigrants, and the Hispanic community, including me, being a Mexican-American, born and raised in the State of Maryland.
In school we literally would do seminars (debates) on our thoughts about the election and majority of teachers and kids here bashed Trump since Montgomery County is heavily blue.
As I said in one thread, I voted for Bernie Sanders like 912th during the primary and i was happy to cast my first vote ever for him.
After the whole DNC rigged the primary against Bernie in Favor of Hillary, I was truly pissed and I did cry during the coverage of the DNC because it was heart breaking that this would happen in America and made me see the reality that in a way both parties don't care about us but their interests, they only look for us during election season to be elected and never do anything in office.
Republicans alienate minorities, Democrats alienate the people when they are in office, and that to me is what I call disgusting politics.
I then became more 3rd partyish and independent by supporting Gary Johnson, but the guy lacked any foreign policy experience and also what did it for me is how he wasn't sticking to some of his Libertarian principles. The farthest left I'll go is Democratic Socialism and the farthest Right I'll go is Center Libertarianism. Another reason why is because the conventions because both parties proved themselves worthless, but it all happened the way it did and Trump is our president elect.
My advice to the democrats is when a grassroots candidate is running for their party's nomination, don't screw them over especially if the people love them, Bernie had a better chance of beating Donny Tinyhands, by 10-15 points that is.
Now that Tinyhands has won, I hope he chills out with the racist rhetoric and doesn't reverse Obama'a progress. I'm fearful yet hoping it won't be as bad as he's sounded during the election, but again we are in this together regardless of where we are in the country, or political leaning.
We need to love eachother, not hate, not divide, use politics of unity, love, peace and justice, getting money out of politics and finally protecting the environment more importantly.
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Post by Scumhunter on Dec 4, 2016 0:42:59 GMT -5
LOL @ Donny Tinyhands.
Also, I know I said I wasn't going to comment but I do want to add that John Walsh has said Trump has been charitable towards the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. (He called him a friend but also a crazy bastard whose wall idea is not practical), so I have to give him credit for that at least.
Also Machete, I'm assuming that was you who emailed me. You seem to have missed the part where I said I hope Trump proves me wrong about him. I hope you'll be right about him, for the good of country. Trump has the potential to be a good President if he gets his act together and tones down the rhetoric. I respect your opinions. But you will have to learn to respect others as well.
OK now I'm done making any more comments lol.
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Post by 912thamwuser on Jan 21, 2017 21:55:05 GMT -5
I didn't have any better idea of where to ask this, so I posted it here.
Many of today's most avid conservatives, including the Tea Party and some of Donald Trump's apparent worshipers, have this view that anyone who's liberal, progressive, working class, wants more done about the cost of higher education, or wants more done about multinational corporations and our problems with Wall Street, is just some whiny loser who brought his/herself down into poverty because they didn't want to work hard to pay off college debts, make a living, and build a career for themselves. Even when they admit that college tuitions and other costs have been gouged over the last few decades, many of them ignore most of the income inequality epidemic and blame it all on the poorer economic classes for making up lame excuses. Many of these same people portray liberalism as a mental disease, in which case they come off as claiming the hard-right owns exclusive rights to good mental health, and anyone who as much as leans liberal needs to be thrown into a sanitarium.
Now my question becomes: What do I have to do just to prove to people who follow the Bootstrap mentality that my very existence is worth a (censored) to society / the world? And how can liberals, the lower classes, and other politically marginalized groups prove to the world that they're not sick in the head?
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Post by Scumhunter on Jan 22, 2017 0:26:32 GMT -5
I promised I wasn't going to comment anymore but since you asked the question I would say become more involved in your community. Speak out etc.. support candidates you feel best represent you and start a movement to get them elected. I'm not tied to either major party but if you're a liberal, the old guard needs to go and the Elizabeth Warren/Bernie Sanders movement needs to begin because people are more passionate about them. It's about passion whether you're a democrat or republican. Obama inspired people which is why he got elected. Trump inspired his followers which is why he got elected. Quite frankly, the Democrats nominated the only person Trump could beat (not entirely because of her but not giving Bernie Sanders a fair chance didn't help either) and vice versa.
Also, sick and tired of people calling Trump protestors "sore losers, snowflakes, need a safe space because their candidate lost." First off, their candidate didn't lose. Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by 3 million votes, while Trump got in by a measly 70,000 vote margin in a few swing states to swing the electoral college to him amid rumors of Russian interference in the election. Only in this country does the candidate with the most votes not win. Also, people are not protesting because their candidate lost. They are protesting because of WHO their candidate "lost" to- someone who has insulted all races, women, immigrants, the disabled etc... the list goes on.
Had it been a more sane moderate Republican like a John Kasich or perhaps even a Marco Rubio while liberals would have still been upset I don't think there would have been such large mass protests outside their houses in Ohio or Florida. People will always protest against a President, fair on unfair, but this large reaction is because of Trump himself, not because his party "won "
Obviously I'm tired of being wishy-washy on this forum lol. I keep naively hoping for the best but as the fan of a show that sought justice for all people, if I see injustice happening to any marginalized group of people, I will speak up from now on.
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Post by тσρтєиhυитєя on Jan 22, 2017 2:12:21 GMT -5
I'm not going to lie, I count myself in to what Scumhunter and 912th said.
Look I honestly think the Bernie wing of the Democratic Party needs to take the bull by the horns and tell those establishment Dems to GTF, because a lot of young kids and even awake minded people agree on the things Bernie called for whether you supported him or not, at least he was genuine and honest.
I know you guys have seen the "Bernie could have won" memes all over the Internet and I agree it could have been had there not been any f**kery on the Democratic side.
Scumhunter I'm glad that you are sick and tired of people calling Trump Protestors "sore losers" because tbh I'm one of them, I did protest when he won in November and again yesterday in D.C.
I've never been attached emotionally to any movement like I was to Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign and his inspiration was seeded inside of many even the young kids too.
Trump did all this to himself, the Dems, Establishment Repubs, Libertarians, and the Greens have to organize themselves and stand united and stand up to Trump if he does anything that is an injustice or gets out of hand. We all should stand united, Scumhunter you said it perfectly and that's to speak up if there is injustice going on. Geez like there's many viral videos of this injustice and people just blurt out, "I voted Trump" to justify acting like a complete a**.
As an Independent, Left-leaning Libertarian, i hope everyone stands together against Trump.
(Also on a side note, we might have to change the name of this thread to President Trump discussion lol)
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Post by Scumhunter on Jan 22, 2017 2:28:09 GMT -5
Great points. Another thing Trump supporters love doing is whenever you mention any of his faults going "But Hillary this" "But Hillary that." The election is over and I was no fan of Hillary Clinton either. It's basically admitting everything said about Trump is true if that's your only argument. Like I said, both had their faults- but one was a stereotypical pandering opportunist and that's pretty standard for most politicians while the other is potentially a real life Dr. Evil.- even his inauguration speech quoted Bane from The Dark Knight Rises! (I really hope I'm wrong about him but even his first two days in office he's already talking about how terrible everything is and how the media is mean to him.)
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Post by тσρтєиhυитєя on Jan 22, 2017 2:41:05 GMT -5
Well he's the president of the United States, the media should cover him and also call him out on things that are unacceptable, that's the way the media works, that's part of a democracy and is also a human right to have free media, if not then we have a serious problem.
The only terrible one is Donald J. Trump, like I tried having hope and give him a chance but it's hard, especially for someone whose political ideas are far from mine and comments about other troubling comments on Race, immigrants, disabled people, woman and so forth, have offended me and millions of others across this beautiful country.
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Post by Scumhunter on Jan 23, 2017 1:41:12 GMT -5
Machete- Sorry for replying here but it's the only way to communicate with you. I will always be grateful for your contributions to our forum. Obviously our politics differ. But hopefully we can continue to respect each other even if we entirely disagree with each other's opinions. If Donald Trump had won the election by popular and electoral vote I would not have complained as much but the problem is him acting like he has a mandate instead of trying to unite the people who didn't vote for him. (So far.) I also disagree about President Obama and feel he's actually been the best President of my relatively young lifetime so far. People seem to forget how bad things were in 2008 when we had the great recession. Unemployment is down. Gas prices are down. The economy is ticking upward. There are some issues I will tend to agree with conservatives on I will agree that the Affordable Care Act (or Obamacare as it is nicknamed) is a bit of a mess. However, I still feel it is better than no health care at all and the solution I feel is to tweak and fix it, not get rid of it. I also don't agree with raising the minimum wage to 15 an hour. I do think it should be raised but not nearly double the national minimum. Also the problem with "taking it like a man" is I feel to standing up and defending rights is being a man. And also it should be mentioned I am a native New Yorker. EVERYONE hates him here. I feel like asking the rest of the country why they wouldn't believe the words of the people who know him best. New York might be a liberal city but they also elected Rudy "9/11" Giuliani twice. Mayor Bloomberg also technically ran as a Republican his first two terms in office. (I will admit he was a RINO- but still technically ran as a Republican). And the reason NY'ers dislike him? Because we're savvy people who while friendly (some of us) have a healthy dose of skepticism because everyday someone's trying to sell us something- monetary or otherwise. New Yorkers can smell a con from a mile away. And we see Trump as a grifter. He promises the moon and how everything will great but it's a bill of goods and the same false hopes and promises as any other politician (and that goes for both democratic or Republican politicians). If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. We all feel that Trump has conned you and others who voted for him- especially those in the rust belt states who think their now obsolete manufacturing jobs are magically going to come back now that Trump is President. Machete, trust me (or believe me as Trump would say lol) I would love nothing more than to 4 years from now personally apologize to you and say "you know what Machete? You were right. Not only has Trump been a good President, and toned down his rhetoric and become a responsible leader but I will actually vote for him this time." As a native New Yorker there is only one thing that gives me hope- the Wollman Park skating rink in Central Park. Wollman Rink was a once prestigious ice skating rink that in the late 1970's/early 1980's started to fall apart and no local elected politicians were able to fix it and it became a bureaucratic nightmare. Trump was given control of the project to rebuild it and fixed it in pretty much less than a year, making all traditional politicians look foolish. When I first heard Trump was running for President, it was one of the first things I thought of that gave me some hope- and then I saw his announcement where he basically called all Mexicans rapists. If Wollman Rink Trump shows up, we'll all be ok. But if post-Apprentice thinking the entire world is against him Trump shows up, then we won't be. Obviously, we have different political leanings. You are more conservative and I am probably more liberal. I am praying perhaps naively (or definitely naively lol) that something clicks in Trump and he becomes a responsible leader, apologizes in words or actions for the disenfranchised who felt disrespected by him and does unite all of us- including those of us with different opinions. I am hoping the weight and responsibility of the Presidency makes him a better person. I unfortunately am very cynical that it will happen but no one will be happier than me if it happens. Believe me.  |
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Post by Scumhunter on Jan 23, 2017 1:42:45 GMT -5
Also Machete, I do want to add I respect your opinions as well and you can always tell me if you disagree with me about something. Becoming a better informed person means listening to everyone's point of view- especially those who disagree with you.
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Post by тσρтєиhυитєя on Jan 29, 2017 19:46:41 GMT -5
Not really liking Trump's presidency at all now, especially with the travel ban. Honestly the only reason I even have hope is because there's individuals like Bernie Sanders (Vermont) and Rand Paul (Kentucky) in the senate, who fight on behalf of the people and are a lot less hawkish and more brighter than other politicians. Also the protesters who have been pounding the pavement to have themselves heard have also given me hope.
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Post by Scumhunter on Jan 30, 2017 0:40:42 GMT -5
I said I wasn't going to comment but I have to take back my original plan because now I feel like I have no choice. I gave Trump a chance and it lasted about five minutes... It feels like the entire country is being held hostage right now and it's a chaotic mess. I try not to get too political but now feel like I have no choice but to speak up. So many of my friends have made the same "I try not to get political but.." posts because they realize the gravity of the situation. First things first let's get this out of the way: 1. Not one of the 7 countries on the travel ban have business ties with President Trump. Most of the countries that were the countries of origin of the 9/11 hijackers have no connection to this list. Is it really a coincidence Muslim-populated countries with business ties to Trump were not included on the banned list? 2. When the state department stopped processing Iraqi refugees for six months in 2011, it was in response to a specific thread after two Al-Qaeda operatives were found living in Kentucky. www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2017/01/29/trumps-facile-claim-that-his-refugee-policy-is-similar-to-obama-in-2011/?utm_term=.4ecb52fcd16b3. Omar Mateen, the Orlando shooter that first prompted Trump's election calls for a Muslim ban (which is what this is as much as they try to deny it) was born in New York. Quite frankly this ban is racist and reminds me of how my Jewish ancestors were denied refugee status by the supposed liberal hero FDR in the 1930s and 1940s during the reign of Nazi Germany. It seems even some Republican Senators are finally speaking out though which is a good thing. This is different from politics. This is human decency. Even some of my Republican friends (I have friends all across the political spectrum) are saying enough is enough. This is a mess and I feel what Trump is doing is unconstitutional. Lots of people feel he's going to get impeached but apparently there's also an article in the constitution that can be interpreted as declaring the President mentally unfit to continue serving. I think one or the other may happen soon. There are rumors this has been the plan all along by the GOP establishment who all prefer Mike Pence who fits more in line with their traditional conservative values. Trump's ideology is mainly whatever makes himself look good and he has the ability to go rogue on his colleagues. While I strongly disagree with Pence on most social issues, he at least won't start World War III because someone insulted him on Twitter. Pence will at least know how to act like a mature adult and act Presidential. It's the best we can hope for until the midterm elections when we can elect better people into the House and Senate. |
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Post by тσρтєиhυитєя on Jan 30, 2017 1:16:26 GMT -5
I said I wasn't going to comment but I have to take back my original plan because now I feel like I have no choice. I gave Trump a chance and it lasted about five minutes... It feels like the entire country is being held hostage right now and it's a chaotic mess. I try not to get too political but now feel like I have no choice but to speak up. So many of my friends have made the same "I try not to get political but.." posts because they realize the gravity of the situation. First things first let's get this out of the way: 1. Not one of the 7 countries on the travel ban have business ties with President Trump. Most of the countries that were the countries of origin of the 9/11 hijackers have no connection to this list. Is it really a coincidence Muslim-populated countries with business ties to Trump were not included on the banned list? 2. When the state department stopped processing Iraqi refugees for six months in 2011, it was in response to a specific thread after two Al-Qaeda operatives were found living in Kentucky. www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2017/01/29/trumps-facile-claim-that-his-refugee-policy-is-similar-to-obama-in-2011/?utm_term=.4ecb52fcd16b3. Omar Mateen, the Orlando shooter that first prompted Trump's election calls for a Muslim ban (which is what this is as much as they try to deny it) was born in New York. Quite frankly this ban is racist and reminds me of how my Jewish ancestors were denied refugee status by the supposed liberal hero FDR in the 1930s and 1940s during the reign of Nazi Germany. It seems even some Republican Senators are finally speaking out though which is a good thing. This is different from politics. This is human decency. Even some of my Republican friends (I have friends all across the political spectrum) are saying enough is enough. This is a mess and I feel what Trump is doing is unconstitutional. Lots of people feel he's going to get impeached but apparently there's also an article in the constitution that can be interpreted as declaring the President mentally unfit to continue serving. I think one or the other may happen soon. There are rumors this has been the plan all along by the GOP establishment who all prefer Mike Pence who fits more in line with their traditional conservative values. Trump's ideology is mainly whatever makes himself look good and he has the ability to go rogue on his colleagues. While I vehemently disagree with Pence on most social issues, including the "Religious Freedom Law" he signed on to as Governor of Indiana which gave businesses the right to discriminate and deny service to whoever they wanted based on "religious beliefs", he at least won't start World War III because someone insulted him on Twitter. Pence will at least know how to act like a mature adult and act Presidential. It's the best we can hope for until the midterm elections when we can elect better people into the House and Senate. I hope he is declared unfit or he is impeached because it's only 10 days into his presidency and a ton of B.S. has happened, imagine what will happen after a year? It is a coincidence But also the reason why Saudi, Egypt and Lebanon weren't added was because they are the government's and the establishments closest partners, the other nations are not. In Syria they hate Assad, in Libya they destroyed it after taking out Gadaffi, in Yemen, the Saudis are unleashing the worst of the worst on civilians there. People in those countries don't see a future there's because of superpower Geopolitics B.S., not because of these dictators anymore, maybe early on, but that rhetoric faded long ago. They have to deal with air strikes in those countries on a daily basis, and the country that is participating in them decides to ban them. Many of those people want to live a better life away from war, destruction and death. |
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Post by тσρтєиhυитєя on Feb 3, 2017 0:10:13 GMT -5
Sorry if I've been posting on this thread a lot lately, but this is the final straw for me. We lost one of our own thanks to incompetence and also an 8 year old girl, the daughter of an extremist preacher. She was only 8, also she's an American citizen, and it's not her fault, she isn't to blame for the actions of her father. But again why go to other countries to kill civilians and our soldiers, men and women, who probably had lots going for them, those lives sacrificed their lives for what? A stupid war that most likely nobody knows we're involved in or why we're involved, I do acknowledge that under Obama we were involved in these interventions, but he wasn't stupid about it. Honestly it needs to stop, I wish we can all live in peace and harmony, and not have these awful things happen. www.businessinsider.com/awlaki-killed-seal-team-6-raid-yemen-2017-1 |
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