Crazy American Politics

[InversneckieDob]

It's interesting (and a little scary) to read Orlanndo's take on things.

He seems a reasonable person, so I'm guessing the stuff he's saying is a not uncommon opinion Stateside.

The Americans I've communicated with have a different take. Hugely different. 

They do not see any positives in the Trump presidency and tend to see it as the same abomination as those of us outwith America.

They are pinning everything on the mid-terms and the Dems getting control of both houses.

Then there will be at least an attempt at checks and balances.

If the elections go ahead fairly,  their take is that this is inevitable.

Through online groups, I've spoken with a number of folk from Minneapolis/Minnesota.

They're certainly seeing no positives from this carry-on, they're living a dystopian nightmare. 

I think in terms of the longer term picture, the UK has to be less dependent on the U.S. democracy has been proven so fragile there it has to be considered a failing state.

Brexit is daily being shown as the disasterous folly it was, on SUCH a wide variety of levels.

The UK is more vulnerable than ever.

What a time to be alive.

Thank fuck I'll be deid or lang.

[InversneckieDob]

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/25/alex-pretti-killing-nra-pro-gun-groups?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

Could this be the start of the turning point?

NRA turning is interesting,  if the right-wing religious nutters turn.....

[Jupiter]

Why is this news over here? It is nothing to do with us. If something like that happened here, no way would the Yank media be interested.

[Don Julio]

Really? Relevant facts might that they’re the world’s major superpower. That they’re English speaking and lots of us have relatives there. That they’re supposed to be a beacon of democracy. That societal developments there often seem to follow here?

And conversely that only 50% of them have passports (a record high)?

Don’t you want to live in a country where the populace take an interest in world affairs?

[Mason89]

1 hour ago, Jupiter said:

Why is this news over here? It is nothing to do with us. If something like that happened here, no way would the Yank media be interested.

This will blow your mind but the exact same folk making a cunt of it over there, are trying to import it here 

[InversneckieDob]

1 hour ago, Jupiter said:

Why is this news over here? It is nothing to do with us. If something like that happened here, no way would the Yank media be interested.

I really wish it wasn't. 

I really wish Rapey's antics could be teated like all the other dictatorial, third world failing states.

Sadly the UK in all its post-Thatcherite, post-brexit vulnerability,  has chosen to tie its excerable economic future almost exclusively to this basket case.

That's why it is news over here.

[Jupiter]

Even American snow is news over here, no way were they interested in our snow.

[RicoS321]

19 minutes ago, Jupiter said:

Even American snow is news over here, no way were they interested in our snow.

I agree for what it's worth. I guess it's because they are supposed to be "one of us". Similarly, we get news about stabbings in London or whatever, which have zero bearing on the North East of Scotland. There is a hierarchy of news, and US events are high up in that hierarchy for the reasons others have stated. I don't think it's the coverage that it is the issue, but the fact that we feel the need to amplify it and are required to have an opinion on it. It's a fairly sordid habit, of which I too am guilty. In the end, it doesn't matter. We can't fill ourselves with grief for the deaths and oppression of people across the globe, it's silly to try. That we/me pick and choose who we attend to shows its absurdity. We can have no bearing on the outcomes of Yankee Doodle land. It doesn't deserve our outrage. 

[tlg1903]

 

50 minutes ago, RicoS321 said:

I agree for what it's worth. I guess it's because they are supposed to be "one of us". Similarly, we get news about stabbings in London or whatever, which have zero bearing on the North East of Scotland. There is a hierarchy of news, and US events are high up in that hierarchy for the reasons others have stated. I don't think it's the coverage that it is the issue, but the fact that we feel the need to amplify it and are required to have an opinion on it. It's a fairly sordid habit, of which I too am guilty. In the end, it doesn't matter. We can't fill ourselves with grief for the deaths and oppression of people across the globe, it's silly to try. That we/me pick and choose who we attend to shows its absurdity. We can have no bearing on the outcomes of Yankee Doodle land. It doesn't deserve our outrage. 

I've just come to the conclusion these days that you need to just take every little bit of joy you can find in this life.  Causes are folly and usually take from you in some way, shape or form (though as football fans who are we to judge?) The rich will always exploit and the poor will suffer from the exploitation and it's not changing in our lifetimes.  The planets probably fucked and at some point ww3 is going to hit so we have that to look forward to as well.   There is literally nothing you, I or anyone on this board can do about it.  

 

America was fucked the moment Biden decided to run again if you ask me.  It meant there was no Democrat selection process and Harris was fucked due to her association with the previous term when parachuted in.  If Harris had somehow  won it would have been by microscopic margin.  Trump and Maga would have kicked off and America would have torn itself apart.  Would possibly already be in civil war.  Trump wins though  and does Trump things......  I can understand why many think civil war seems to be in the post.  

Had the Democrats actually gone through the nomination process because Biden had not decided to pursue a 2nd term I think Trump could have lost. They would have been able to put forward someone who was untainted by the previous administration and possibly even fit to stand for president and it's been a while since you could say that any candidate was. 

Well done Joe

[TheDonbytheDee]

40 minutes ago, tlg1903 said:

 

I've just come to the conclusion these days that you need to just take every little bit of joy you can find in this life.  Causes are folly and usually take from you in some way, shape or form (though as football fans who are we to judge?) The rich will always exploit and the poor will suffer from the exploitation and it's not changing in our lifetimes.  The planets probably fucked and at some point ww3 is going to hit so we have that to look forward to as well.   There is literally nothing you, I or anyone on this board can do about it.  

 

Come to that conclusion a few years ago now.

Take each day as it comes and enjoy it as much as you can

It's the young I feel sorry for most.

What a midden we are leaving behind for them and it's not going to get any better.

 

[InversneckieDob]

4 hours ago, tlg1903 said:

 

I've just come to the conclusion these days that you need to just take every little bit of joy you can find in this life.  Causes are folly and usually take from you in some way, shape or form (though as football fans who are we to judge?) The rich will always exploit and the poor will suffer from the exploitation and it's not changing in our lifetimes.  The planets probably fucked and at some point ww3 is going to hit so we have that to look forward to as well.   There is literally nothing you, I or anyone on this board can do about it.  

 

America was fucked the moment Biden decided to run again if you ask me.  It meant there was no Democrat selection process and Harris was fucked due to her association with the previous term when parachuted in.  If Harris had somehow  won it would have been by microscopic margin.  Trump and Maga would have kicked off and America would have torn itself apart.  Would possibly already be in civil war.  Trump wins though  and does Trump things......  I can understand why many think civil war seems to be in the post.  

Had the Democrats actually gone through the nomination process because Biden had not decided to pursue a 2nd term I think Trump could have lost. They would have been able to put forward someone who was untainted by the previous administration and possibly even fit to stand for president and it's been a while since you could say that any candidate was. 

Well done Joe

I'd go back further.

When the Dems decided NOT to run Biden but went Hilary.

I'm convinced Biden wins in 2016 and the Trump cult is abated.

Biden wins again in 20, we're not in the abyss we are now.

[Nellie The Don]

On 24/01/2026 at 18:35, OrlandoDon said:

I’m 100% behind law enforcement

There is no way that any rational person could look at ICE and describe them as law enforcement.

They are a paramilitary domestic terrorist organization. It really is that simple. 

At this point, if you can still find it in yourself to support this regime, then you have made a choice that you can't come back from. Best of luck to you.

[Mason89]

8 hours ago, TheDonbytheDee said:

What a midden we are leaving behind for them and it's not going to get any better.

 

There’s plenty of reasons to be cheerful 

[RicoS321]

10 hours ago, tlg1903 said:

 

I've just come to the conclusion these days that you need to just take every little bit of joy you can find in this life.  Causes are folly and usually take from you in some way, shape or form (though as football fans who are we to judge?) The rich will always exploit and the poor will suffer from the exploitation and it's not changing in our lifetimes.  The planets probably fucked and at some point ww3 is going to hit so we have that to look forward to as well.   There is literally nothing you, I or anyone on this board can do about it.  

 

America was fucked the moment Biden decided to run again if you ask me.  It meant there was no Democrat selection process and Harris was fucked due to her association with the previous term when parachuted in.  If Harris had somehow  won it would have been by microscopic margin.  Trump and Maga would have kicked off and America would have torn itself apart.  Would possibly already be in civil war.  Trump wins though  and does Trump things......  I can understand why many think civil war seems to be in the post.  

Had the Democrats actually gone through the nomination process because Biden had not decided to pursue a 2nd term I think Trump could have lost. They would have been able to put forward someone who was untainted by the previous administration and possibly even fit to stand for president and it's been a while since you could say that any candidate was. 

Well done Joe

America was fucked the moment some Europeans came across the water and set about a wee bit of genociding (nae a word).

Trump is a symptom of a culture, nothing more. Suggesting that Biden running in 2016, or Harris (or other) winning would have prevented the deterioration simply ignores the problem. It's like suggesting that recycling would solve plastic pollution, or electric cars will stop climate change. It hides the problem a little, but the problem is still there. Trump is the fly tipped litter or the belching exhaust in that analogy, spotlighting the problem in the most stark of manner. Although, somehow, it remains hidden, and people will claim that everything will be fine in a few years once Trump pops his clogs and the "sensible" guys start running things again. 

Nobody has a solution to the problem that the US (and everywhere else to a greater or lesser degree) will face in the coming decades and centuries. Unless that solution is the nihilism of nuclear war.

[InversneckieDob]

7 hours ago, RicoS321 said:

America was fucked the moment some Europeans came across the water and set about a wee bit of genociding (nae a word).

Trump is a symptom of a culture, nothing more. Suggesting that Biden running in 2016, or Harris (or other) winning would have prevented the deterioration simply ignores the problem. It's like suggesting that recycling would solve plastic pollution, or electric cars will stop climate change. It hides the problem a little, but the problem is still there. Trump is the fly tipped litter or the belching exhaust in that analogy, spotlighting the problem in the most stark of manner. Although, somehow, it remains hidden, and people will claim that everything will be fine in a few years once Trump pops his clogs and the "sensible" guys start running things again. 

Nobody has a solution to the problem that the US (and everywhere else to a greater or lesser degree) will face in the coming decades and centuries. Unless that solution is the nihilism of nuclear war.

I agree Trump is a symptom rather than cause.

There is a sizeable number of folk Stateside who buy into the racist,  misogynist stuff and couldn't give  a toss about the crimes he commits.

Tge issue is, he gives a focal point for these dreg types to congregate behind.

I think he loses in 2016 he doesn't run again.

Yeah the dregs are still there, but less mobilised.

[Mason89]

By all accounts he was surprised as anyone when he won it in 2016. 
I can understand folk voting him in for a laugh, or falling for the act or just being genuinely bad people in 2016. There’s no excuse now though. Same here with folk still trying to make Brexit work or thinking it’s a good idea. Sit down, shut up.