[Abyss]

QuickTidal, on 05 March 2026 - 03:14 PM, said:

...
Sadly yes...America had little trouble electing an elderly traditional Democrat to oust Trump the first time...but apparently a Woman of colour the next time was too much for the deeply racist and sexist US to elect, so they went with Felon, rapist Pedo.....

The part that truly irks me... it's not the racists, idiots, zealots, corporate stooges who voted for him (I mean it is that too but that's not my point here)... they did what they were always going to do... it'sthe absurdly huge chunk of voters who claim to care but couldn't be bothered to show up because 'Kamala'. Like, whatever your problem w Kamala... her prosecution record, her political background, her position on Israel, her name has too many vowels, whatever... how did anyone with half an education and two braincells to rub together look at the alternative and decide 'nah, not going'???

AND they'll do it again too.

[Abyss]

Azath Vitr (D, on 05 March 2026 - 09:27 PM, said:

Tiste Simeon, on 05 March 2026 - 08:32 PM, said:

So what is Kirsty Noemployment going to ruin next I wonder?

Trump made up a new job for her...

Quote

special envoy for the Shield of the Americas, which he said would be a new security initiative for the Western Hemisphere

https://www.nytimes....?smid=url-share

"Shield of the Americas"? Shouldn't that be something more like "Golden Shield of Epic Fury" or some such?

Does she get another plane or just a bus this time?

[Cause]

Who had Noem, and how much did you win?

Sadly Mullin is the guy who nearly threw hands with the teamster president in the house right? Can the republicans afford to lose another senator?

The clown car can always fit more clowns.

This post has been edited by Cause: 05 March 2026 - 11:10 PM

[Macros]

Your visa only good for the US Cause?
Plenty of Saffers in the Uk

[QuickTidal]

Cause, on 05 March 2026 - 11:02 PM, said:

Can the republicans afford to lose another senator?

From what I understand this was the safest choice for Trump to pick as Oklahoma went red in every county in the last election, so the chances a Democrat could flip the empty seat are essentially nil.

[Tsundoku]

Nah, Cause should go to Perth (Western Australia, not Scotland). He'd feel right at home with all the Saffers there.

This post has been edited by Tsundoku: 06 March 2026 - 12:22 PM

[Cause]

Canada, UK, Australia all look really good. Believe me.

When I first moved to America and people asked me why I did I would say I came for the political stability. It has evolved from half serious, to tongue cheek, to sarcastic to mocking.

[QuickTidal]

Cause, on 06 March 2026 - 02:17 PM, said:

Canada, UK, Australia all look really good. Believe me.

When I first moved to America and people asked me why I did I would say I came for the political stability. It has evolved from half serious, to tongue cheek, to sarcastic to mocking.

You're welcome to come here brother.

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 06 March 2026 - 02:25 PM

[HoosierDaddy]

Abyss, on 05 March 2026 - 09:56 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 05 March 2026 - 03:14 PM, said:

...
Sadly yes...America had little trouble electing an elderly traditional Democrat to oust Trump the first time...but apparently a Woman of colour the next time was too much for the deeply racist and sexist US to elect, so they went with Felon, rapist Pedo.....

The part that truly irks me... it's not the racists, idiots, zealots, corporate stooges who voted for him (I mean it is that too but that's not my point here)... they did what they were always going to do... it'sthe absurdly huge chunk of voters who claim to care but couldn't be bothered to show up because 'Kamala'. Like, whatever your problem w Kamala... her prosecution record, her political background, her position on Israel, her name has too many vowels, whatever... how did anyone with half an education and two braincells to rub together look at the alternative and decide 'nah, not going'???

AND they'll do it again too.

I think there needs to be some separation of the person from the party. Part of the reason Trump won is because he was up against a Democrat whose party just had inflation blow up and prices keep going higher.

It wasn't Kamala vs. Trump insomuch as it was "continuation of the party in power whose economic policies failed us because of *gestures to price stickers" vs. Trump. Did the fact that she was a minority woman with a funny name have an impact? Sure.

But I don't think it was as large as the inflation factor at all. People tend to vote for very simple reason. Unfortunately there is not a lot of nuance here. Most people are not erudite intellectuals. They are simple and vote for simple reasons.

James Carville for all of his idiocy got part of this right a long time ago: "It's the economy stupid".

Granted, the US was actually doing quite well comparatively recovering from Covid, but people who live paycheck to paycheck will ALWAYS bet on change if what they see is an unsustainable and continuous hit on their pocketbook.

[QuickTidal]

I think you underestimate the sheer level of racism and sexism that exists just beneath the surface of the people in your country on the whole.

[HoosierDaddy]

QuickTidal, on 06 March 2026 - 02:55 PM, said:

I think you underestimate the sheer level of racism and sexism that exists just beneath the surface of the people in your country on the whole.

Maybe I do.

Maybe I think you are REALLY REALLY angry at America and Americans and are probably biased the other way as well.

[QuickTidal]

HoosierDaddy, on 06 March 2026 - 03:39 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 06 March 2026 - 02:55 PM, said:

I think you underestimate the sheer level of racism and sexism that exists just beneath the surface of the people in your country on the whole.

Maybe I do.

Maybe I think you are REALLY REALLY angry at America and Americans and are probably biased the other way as well.

I've been to the states and been around Americans in mixed company and the racism I've seen always kind of staggers me...I'm not saying this from a place of ignorance, as a Canadian (and we have our own racism problems, don't get me wrong) I was quite astonished at how open and blatant it was in various instances. If that's not representative of the whole, that's fine, but that's been my experience with average Americans in my years.

[HoosierDaddy]

QuickTidal, on 06 March 2026 - 04:05 PM, said:

HoosierDaddy, on 06 March 2026 - 03:39 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 06 March 2026 - 02:55 PM, said:

I think you underestimate the sheer level of racism and sexism that exists just beneath the surface of the people in your country on the whole.

Maybe I do.

Maybe I think you are REALLY REALLY angry at America and Americans and are probably biased the other way as well.

I've been to the states and been around Americans in mixed company and the racism I've seen always kind of staggers me...I'm not saying this from a place of ignorance, as a Canadian (and we have our own racism problems, don't get me wrong) I was quite astonished at how open and blatant it was in various instances. If that's not representative of the whole, that's fine, but that's been my experience with average Americans in my years.

I'm not going to pretend it isn't a problem and doesn't still exist to a large degree. But, as a motivator for voting in Trump, I think it has less to do with that than the economy. I listened to countless interviews with people who said they remember Trump's economy and how great it was who voted for Biden and were leaning Trump because of the "current" economy.

[Abyss]

HoosierDaddy, on 06 March 2026 - 04:17 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 06 March 2026 - 04:05 PM, said:

HoosierDaddy, on 06 March 2026 - 03:39 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 06 March 2026 - 02:55 PM, said:

I think you underestimate the sheer level of racism and sexism that exists just beneath the surface of the people in your country on the whole.

Maybe I do.

Maybe I think you are REALLY REALLY angry at America and Americans and are probably biased the other way as well.

I've been to the states and been around Americans in mixed company and the racism I've seen always kind of staggers me...I'm not saying this from a place of ignorance, as a Canadian (and we have our own racism problems, don't get me wrong) I was quite astonished at how open and blatant it was in various instances. If that's not representative of the whole, that's fine, but that's been my experience with average Americans in my years.

I'm not going to pretend it isn't a problem and doesn't still exist to a large degree. But, as a motivator for voting in Trump, I think it has less to do with that than the economy. I listened to countless interviews with people who said they remember Trump's economy and how great it was who voted for Biden and were leaning Trump because of the "current" economy.

Not actually the people i'm 'angry' at... it's the self-identified democrat centrist to left leaning vocally socially conscious set who decided that the right thing to do was not vote.

[Lady Bliss]

I agree wholeheartedly with QT. I’ve only heard stupid reasons on why people voted Trump or didn’t vote at all. Anyone that blamed the economy was an idiot or just looking for an excuse not to vote Kamala. As mentioned above, Biden actually saved the US economy from tanking as badly as everyone else. Even though he was fairly unremarkable as far as presidents go, he didn’t hurt us. The people that didn’t vote at all because they allegedly didn’t like any of the choices also fucked us over. I don’t see the US getting out of this mess in my lifetime at this point. The republicans have dug in too deep.

[HoosierDaddy]

You don't have to believe their reasoning. You don't have to believe they are being truthful in what they are saying. That being said:

https://www.ap.org/n...hard-for-trump/

Quote

President-elect Donald Trump tapped into deep anxieties about an economy that seemed unable despite its recent growth to meet the needs of the middle class, according to AP VoteCast, a sweeping survey of more than 120,000 voters nationwide.

Worries about everyday expenses helped Trump return to the White House. In key states, Trump’s voters saw illegal immigration as imposing new costs on their communities. Many believed that their own financial well-being was at risk after the burst of post-pandemic inflation. More voters said they were falling behind this year than they did in 2020.

Trump made inroads among lower-income voters, middle-income voters and voters without college degrees, AP VoteCast found. All those groups appeared to put as high a priority — if not somewhat more so — on their family budgets than the worries about the future of democracy that motivated much of Vice President Kamala Harris’ coalition.

[Lady Bliss]

Right and all of the stupid people actually believed that shit.

[HoosierDaddy]

Lady Bliss, on 06 March 2026 - 05:32 PM, said:

Right and all of the stupid people actually believed that shit.

It's extraordinarily frustrating. It's hard to open eyes.

There has been a carefully controlled and executed shift to defund education; smear those who are educated as being snobbish and looking down on those who aren't; and push narratives and issues that divide those of similar economic status than unite.

Liberals often fall into the practice of preaching at and talking down to people who are ignorant on issues, economic or otherwise. And ignorance isn't a slight here. It's an absence of knowledge. I am ignorant of how most things work in the world. If you asked me how to fix my car I'm going to say hell I don't know and take it to a dealership, and I'm not savvy enough to actually tell when a dealership is being straight or not. For most of these people, they saw that inflation is up, shit is costing more, I'm going to draw a simple connection and go with that.

The common immigrant, illegal or otherwise, has far more in common with a retail store worker or pharmacy tech than the people who are voting for Republicans because of their capital gains and minimalist tax positions.


Willful ignorance and malicious ignorance are separate than actual ignorance. I think we confuse a lot of the latter with the former. That doesn't mean the former don't exist and pollute the pool, but I don't think it's the majority.

[Maark Abbott]

HoosierDaddy, on 06 March 2026 - 06:12 PM, said:

Lady Bliss, on 06 March 2026 - 05:32 PM, said:

Right and all of the stupid people actually believed that shit.

It's extraordinarily frustrating. It's hard to open eyes.

There has been a carefully controlled and executed shift to defund education; smear those who are educated as being snobbish and looking down on those who aren't; and push narratives and issues that divide those of similar economic status than unite.

Liberals often fall into the practice of preaching at and talking down to people who are ignorant on issues, economic or otherwise. And ignorance isn't a slight here. It's an absence of knowledge. I am ignorant of how most things work in the world. If you asked me how to fix my car I'm going to say hell I don't know and take it to a dealership, and I'm not savvy enough to actually tell when a dealership is being straight or not. For most of these people, they saw that inflation is up, shit is costing more, I'm going to draw a simple connection and go with that.

The common immigrant, illegal or otherwise, has far more in common with a retail store worker or pharmacy tech than the people who are voting for Republicans because of their capital gains and minimalist tax positions.


Willful ignorance and malicious ignorance are separate than actual ignorance. I think we confuse a lot of the latter with the former. That doesn't mean the former don't exist and pollute the pool, but I don't think it's the majority.

This is something similar to what we've seen over here - many, many years of 'we don't need experts' rhetoric leading to Johnny Public believing his opinion is just as valid as that of someone qualified in a specific subject, plus constant cuts to public services and education and suchlike, primarily in the poorest areas. It's much easier to persuade angry, destitute folk to punch down than it is to explain to them that the problem comes from above. Doubly so because the people at the root cause of these problems - the political right, conservative businessmen, etc - hold most of the media and as such it feels like being one voice against an endless stream of propaganda.

RE the US specifically however, I think the rest of the world is going to carry this presidency as a scar for a long, long time. The fact that the man is a nonce will not be forgotten quickly, or easily; the fact so many supported a man who rapes children after that fact was made known will mean that the default position for a lot of people with Americans is going to be cold suspicion.

[Grief]

HoosierDaddy, on 06 March 2026 - 05:20 PM, said:

You don't have to believe their reasoning. You don't have to believe they are being truthful in what they are saying. That being said:

https://www.ap.org/n...hard-for-trump/

Chiming in on this, because I think it's an interesting debate, the study you link highlights later on that "Trump’s hardline policies on illegal immigration found their mark".

After both of the seminal anglosphere right-wing upsets - Brexit and Trump - there has been this post-mortem debate on the losing side about how much to blame
1. economics: financial anxiety especially amongst "left behind" regions of the country
2. values: xenophobia, sexism, and similar "authoritarian" identity politics

It's an important question that has obvious implications for the strategy of left parties that want to regain ground.

I am not confident enough to say there is a consensus amongst political scientists, but generally what I have read suggests it is leaning towards #2.

Education predicts the Brexit vote better than income, and support for the death penalty predicts it better than either.

Similarly, measures of sexism and racism predict the likelihood that someone votes Trump in 2016 significantly more powerfully than economic dissatisfaction.

I'm finding it harder to find so much about the 2024 election at the moment. I definitely would expect the economy to play a bigger role than in 2016 given inflation, and from what I can find that does seem to be true. Nonetheless, studies still seem to suggest that values predict the vote highly, with a gulf in attitudes towards race, immigration, abortion, and whether women continue to face obstacles in society compared to men or not. Immigration was a massively more important topic for Trump voters in 2024 than Harris voters.

I think it's very tempting amongst liberals to focus on #1 as far as possible. It's certainly more comfortable than accepting that a large number of your neighbours are completely fine, even actively support, sinking small boats at sea or deporting people based on their skin tone (despite the evidence getting more and more blatant).

And I don't think it's just that it's more pleasant personally. It's also that there is a more obvious political playbook to respond to #1, and that it's a centrist liberal economic playbook that the political establishment can largely get behind.

Responding to #2 feels like a quagmire by comparison.