olivertwist wrote: 
Movie sequel idea: Three Babies, no men.

Democratic awakening.

The madness.What have you done?

 VV wrote: 
You are so much smarter than this.

 meower wrote: 
#1 Least Expected Post in "Trump" thread.
 
Or is it? 

 oldviolin wrote: 
Emoticon of hands clapping!

 steeler wrote: 
Double Bingo!!

 kcar wrote: 
I find your posts thought provoking and I appreciate your point of view. Please understand that I am in no sense throwing in the towel. I am, however, staunchly apolitical as I have my heart vested in many directions humanly speaking. I'm better off marginally outside the arguments and navel gazing that often substitutes for informed opinion in the fields and streams of politically oriented conversation. I count listening as far superior to talking in most cases, and serving as an honorable progression in the wake of overwhelming frustration.

Partisanship IMO is a death sentence in this the information age where a lie is as good as the truth to a resonant ear. It seems that, as in an impressionistic painting, the noise is inseparable from the subject when one stands too close to appreciate the line, color, and aesthetic. One must step back and observe from a distance when fair observation comes into conflict with appreciable perspective. Therein lies the wisdom to marry context with perception.

Thank you for caring.

 kcar wrote: 
That's a pretty bold statement.  

I'd like to see proof.

So far, I find nothing to back up your claim. 

Snopes 

 steeler wrote: 
Dude,the nation HAS been poisoned.It needs to be bled.

Not by Trump though.

 From within.

 steeler wrote: 

"The nation, however, is not immune to the lasting damage that is being done to it by Trump's success in normalizing post-factual politics. It is being poisoned by the injection into its bloodstream of the cynicism required of those Republicans who persist in pretending that although Trump lies constantly and knows nothing, these blemishes do not disqualify him from being president."
— George Will, noted "liberal" member of the "mainstream media," in today's Washington Post.

Hit that nail squarely on its head.

 Coaxial wrote: 

 olivertwist wrote: 
Sadly, the biggest baby of the three is in the middle.

Yup, the baby on the right sums up my feelings about this interminable campaign season.

 kcar wrote:

 
actually we're pretty sure she woke up and said "wtf happened to my uterus"

 oldviolin wrote: 
While the Democratic party has longstanding issues, due in part to its inclination towards a more active and interventionist federal government and its attempt to represent a far wider spectrum of Americans, it gets things done. Things like preventing us from falling into the Great Depression 2.0 and moving us towards universally available, more affordable healthcare with ACA. 

The reason Trump got nominated was because the GOP no longer stands for anything beyond no tax increases, no gun control and no abortions. Oh, and tax cuts skewed to the 1%. Trump's nomination is a sure sign that the peasants have stormed the castle. I am amazed that anyone supports this mentally diseased 70 year-old child. He has swindled people time and again but Jesus he got idiots to give him $82 million in July. The guy is selling nothing more than anger, bigotry, arrogance and empty promises about jobs. The more he talks about the world and government policy, the more you realize that he's unprepared and dangerously stupid. During a briefing on foreign policy, he actually asked three times why we don't use the nuclear weapons we have. He belongs in the movie "Idiocracy." 

The GOP couldn't coalesce around a remotely reasonable alternative to a demagogue who repeatedly called for its dismantling. It can't make up its mind as to whether it should denounce Trump, avoid him or support him. The GOP has been useless and injurious to most of the American public since at least Dubya's administration and is now acting like Trump's whipped dog. 

I'm pretty sure that we have only one functioning political party.

I am fed up with the tar brush applied to Hillary Clinton. Yes, the email server was seriously stupid. Yes, she likely enabled Bill's adultery. Yes, she may have benefitted from insider information on cattle futures. No, she was not to blame for Benghazi. Frankly, the only other serious candidate put forth by either party was Jeb Bush, and he was a walking Sominex. The woman has the brains, experience and steel spine to get things done. Trump quietly wishes he could be half the President Hillary's going to be. If you're looking for a President you could have a beer with, remember how that worked out with Dubya. 
 NoEnzLefttoSplit wrote:  
I think you're suggesting that the Southern states seceded in 1861 because matters between them and Northern states were so dysfunctional. Yes, but Southern secession was not a matter of the military taking over as I think you suggested, following bokey's notion that we might need let the military take over now. The Southern states justified their intent to secede based on states rights and the right to control private property (namely, slaves) as outlined in the US Constitution. Individual states held conventions or referendums to formally vote on the act of secession and each ratified a common Ordinance of Secession. 

So basically the Southern states justified their secession based on a roughly uniform belief in a constitutionally based government run by citizens, not the military. The Confederacy established a unicameral Provisional Confederate States Congress which drafted the Confederate States Constitution and elected Jefferson Davis as the President of the Confederacy. I don't know how much the Confederate military listened to Davis, but Davis appointed commanding generals including Robert E. Lee. The Confederacy was not a military junta. 

Again, I disagree with bokey's suggestion that we need to let our military take over. I can't imagine anyone high up in our military would come within a mile of such a proposition because its training and ethos is rooted in primary loyalty to the Constitution and obedience to a civilian government. 

As a country, we are going through a hard time because history shows that economic crashes caused by the bursting of financial bubbles are slow and halting. Recovery has been uneven in terms of geographic regions, industrial sectors and demographic groups. Neither party is capable right now of addressing widespread real income stagnation and growing income inequality. 

But we are far, far ways away from the collapse or dissolution of our nation or political system.

I know I have not always been the gentlest of posters and I apologize to fellow RPers if I have upset you in this thread. At the end of the day, we are all people trying to make sense of the world and wanting the best for ourselves, our family and neighbors. Most of us are Americans, a fact which despite some great differences in political opinion invokes a spirit of solidarity in me, especially since 9/11. 

 oldviolin wrote: 
Well Veev is in the political threads making a reasoned argument, there is certainly something big going on.

 haresfur wrote: 
ayup, the bad people

Interesting concept that.Bad.Small children understand.

 haresfur wrote: 
ayup.

As I've long said; Trump doesn't scare me nearly as much as the legions willing to support him.

IMO the real problem is that Trump is symptom of deeper darkness. In my world view that includes fundamentalism, racism, religious intolerance, concentration of wealth, marginalization of minorities (no matter how you slice and dice society), acceptance of violence, and libertarianism.

If I throw in overly-narrow world-view/focus then I can include my problem with the Greens, too.

Gee, is there anyone I left out?