2016 US Presidential Election Thread XIV: May This Entertainment Never End

[BigMacPhisto]

Just as I figured, McMullin's candidacy in Utah was nowhere near its ceiling, especially since the majority of people didn't even know who he was according to recent polls. He's now a point behind Trump and a point ahead of Clinton and I can't really foresee any scenario where he doesn't end up taking the state unless the polling is just way off at the moment.

[LuckyNumber7]

Originally Posted by BigMacPhisto

Just as I figured, McMullin's candidacy in Utah was nowhere near its ceiling, especially since the majority of people didn't even know who he was according to recent polls. He's now a point behind Trump and a point ahead of Clinton and I can't really foresee any scenario where he doesn't end up taking the state unless the polling is just way off at the moment.

You must be a wizard, or maybe a seer.

[gump]

Originally Posted by Diemen

Why limit yourself to their standards?

Not really about "their" standards, but mine. In a world where charity money is a finite resource, I would choose to give to entities that do good things, according to my own subjective moral compass.


And in other news, these are the "reasonable" Republicans left in the party:

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewir...-court-nominee

[bono_212]

The idea that it's deplorable to donate, though to me, is an embodiment of what REALLY scares me about this election. I'm not worried about what happens to Clinton or Trump post election, I'm worried about what happens to us. The climate for violence is getting a bit oppressive at this point.

[anitram]

Truthfully there are better ways to donate your money - but then again I don't donate to political campaigns as a matter of course as I think $ goes a lot further in other places. But hey, to each their own, everyone has the right to spend how they see fit.

I was down south recently (South Carolina) and had a few people at home who had previously wanted Trump paraphernalia as a joke. Well we came across the Make America Great Again hats but didn't get any because even the people who thought it was funny once no longer do. It's like he is a giant shitstain on our world and the sooner he is gone the better we will all be.

Of course the reality is that he'll be bloviating on TrumpTV which is by all accounts in the works (hey FoxNews, couldn't have happened to nicer people!). Luckily we'll at least have the choice of not paying for the privilege of watching that drivel.

[martha]

Hopefully it will fail as miserably as everything else he does.


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[Axver]

Originally Posted by PhilsFan

I think feeling the need to prove you are against fear tactics by sending money to hiding-in-plain-sight hate groups is insane.

No shit. I don't need to prove I'm against fear tactics by donating to help a group of people who... use fear tactics.

I frankly view this ridiculous donation campaign as a great exercise in back-patting and smug self-satisfaction.

[martha]

If it helps some of the deplorables STFU then I can get behind it.


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[Vlad n U 2]

I would like to see if there's any correlation between those donating (or defending it) to rebuild this building and those who get upset when anti-fascists confront Neo Nazis.

[bono_212]

Being a republican does not make you inherently racist, misogynist, a terrible human being, or somehow evil, sorry. Life isn't black and white.

This particular state's headquarters may be shitty, but it doesn't make it OK, and to talk about basically half the country as if they're Nazis or something is really friggin' disturbing to me.

[cobl04]

Originally Posted by PhilsFan

I think feeling the need to prove you are against fear tactics by sending money to hiding-in-plain-sight hate groups is insane.

yup.

condemn the act. have sympathy. no one is suggesting that it was a good thing to do. but to give them money is fucking insane.

[bono_212]

Originally Posted by cobl04

yup.

condemn the act. have sympathy. no one is suggesting that it was a good thing to do. but to give them money is fucking insane.

Seems like at least Vlad thought it was a good thing to do.

[martha]

It's difficult to have sympathy for people who support the things the NC Republicans support. If it walks and talks like a misogynist racist bigot then maybe it is one.

[Vlad n U 2]

I have very little sympathy for Republicans, and I sincerely doubt they would have sympathy for me to start with.

[bono_212]

Pretty certain the whole of my family aren't evil human beings that lash out at other people for no good reason, but good job at not judging other people yourself.

[DaveC]

Originally Posted by Vlad n U 2

I would like to see if there's any correlation between those donating (or defending it) to rebuild this building and those who get upset when anti-fascists confront Neo Nazis.

considering there is an actual ocean between where "anti-fascists confront Neo Nazis" these days and anything to do with this incident i'm sure the correlation is near zero.

you're really over-excitedly reaching with all this, vlad.

[bono_212]

I just get so angry about this stuff, I really do. There are reprehensible politicians and then there are every dy average people who honestly buy into what amounts to a lot of lies about how the Republican party can help them. Evangelicals and even just average religious people (which would definitely include my family) get roped into this guilt-cycle where people who are getting tons of money that they themselves will never see, are convinced that basically if they don't vote for Republicans, they'll go to hell. It sickens and disturbs me, and I feel bad for them, I really do. That's my world-view. But I'm not about to sit there and say that they are bad people because they're republicans.

Anyways, I have NO knowledge whatsoever of what the NC Republican party has done that has everyone so unwilling to help them, so I'm going to drop it. I'm just disappointed by the lack of empathy at play here, and the idea that it's NOT OK to help people you don't agree with. But, if what they've done is truly that bad, then I could be led to at least understand.

[DaveC]

Originally Posted by bono_212

I have NO knowledge whatsoever of what the NC Republican party has done that has everyone so unwilling to help them

Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act

i agree with everything you said, btw. the way a person votes doesn't affect their value as a person, to me. let's just keep that shit to ourselves if we disagree but get along otherwise.

[bono_212]

Forgot that was them, thanks Dave.

[anitram]

Originally Posted by bono_212

I just get so angry about this stuff, I really do. There are reprehensible politicians and then there are every dy average people who honestly buy into what amounts to a lot of lies about how the Republican party can help them. Evangelicals and even just average religious people (which would definitely include my family) get roped into this guilt-cycle where people who are getting tons of money that they themselves will never see, are convinced that basically if they don't vote for Republicans, they'll go to hell. It sickens and disturbs me, and I feel bad for them, I really do. That's my world-view. But I'm not about to sit there and say that they are bad people because they're republicans.

I understand your sense of frustration here because I too have family members (mercifully not too many in the immediate family) whom I truly consider backwards in their political views and who may fall into various categories of -ists (racists, sexist, what have you). If you looked at them on the whole they would not be bad people, they contribute to society, are generally great to their families, generous to a fault, etc. But they have bought into various lies and myths.

However I do think it is fair to fault them for wilful blindness. They for the most part choose to live in their bubble which they reinforce by reading/watching the same news sources, repeatedly falling for circulated nonsense whether through e-mail or by listening to neighbours/friends, sticking to the same daily routines that do not take them out of their comfort zone, etc. At some point we are all adults and capable of critical thinking but we have to want to open our eyes a little. It is not impossible because sometimes I look at a family of siblings and one or two are nutbags but the other ones are normal people. They had the same parents and the same upbringing and opportunities, but some seized on them and others didn't. When you choose to be ignorant and worse yet celebrate your ignorance, at some point you become a cog in the wheel of injustice and evil in this world. We can sugarcoat it however we like but it's true nonetheless.