US Politics

An appointment the country can get behind :wink:

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I think you all need to be examined by Dr Phil. :crazy_face:

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https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/24/trump-supporters-react-cabinet-picks

TLDR: Morons who think Trump is the pot of honey on the other side of rainbow when it’s mostly faeces painted in gold glitter.

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Donald Trump said on Monday he would sign an executive order imposing a 25% tariff on all products coming in to the United States from Mexico and Canada.

“On January 20th, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous Open Borders,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

Trump said the tariffs would remain in place until the two countries clamp down on drugs, particularly fentanyl, and migrants crossing the border illegally.

In a follow-up post, Trump announced that the US “will be charging China an additional 10% Tariff, above any additional Tariffs, on all of their many products coming into the United States of America”.

Trump and his supporters have already proven they don’t know how tariffs work, and now he wants to impose tariffs on the US’ only neighbours and top two trading partners?

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He’s all about getting along and liking Xi yet imposes tariffs on China. Says it all about this two-faced f-wit.

But no, his lunatic supporters will gush over this because they’re supposed ‘tired’ of ‘elite’ bureaucracy telling them what’s good for them even though Trump and his cronies are also part of that ‘elite’ force that they seem to despise.

I think Trump does know how they work. And everyone was informed and explained how they would work. This is what the people voted for. So they have to be prepared for the consequences.

Whether he knows or not, the story he sold was “tariffs will make other countries pay”. His misinformed voters ate it up, including business owners and workers that rely on imports.

Reality didn’t start to hit until companies started panic buying in bulk before the tariffs come in… I don’t think it actually has hit for most. It’s America’s version of the Brexit Bus.

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Misinformed is a bit generous to describe them. I’d probably describe them as ‘brainwashed’, or in RFK Jr’s case, braindead. But knowing what MAGA is like they’ll probably blame it on the Democrats anyway.

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He’s not going to listen to them. His head is so far up his you know what that he can see through his nose.

But most voters, including his supporters, know he makes a lot of stuff up. So they should have done their own research. They have to lie in their bed.

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If you want to learn more about how Kamala lost, listen to the new Pod Save America episode with the members of Kamala’s team. Excuses and no acceptance of things they got wrong. Feels like people are cosplaying The West Wing which was last relevant to the US political disposition (if ever) about 20 years ago.

Serious question: Is it possible to pursue a progressive socioeconomic agenda without alienating the working class? Experiments with that in recent elections in Australia and in the UK seems to suggest that both sides of the argument are basically saying it’s one or the other. If you’re for the working class, you have to give up on things like climate action, equality etc, and vice versa. It’s mind boggling how that could be such a thing.

I have to agree that given the gravity of Trump’s re-election, the fact that Harris and her team are doing a self-congratulatory run is pretty, you know, weird. They should be picking each other apart for what went wrong so it won’t happen again in 2028. I can’t say why given I’m not part of the team, but I suppose part of her failure is the old slogan ‘It’s the economy, stupid’ and she didn’t capitalise on that as much as she could.

Cynically I feel that even if Harris didn’t make those simple but blatantly obvious mistakes (one trick pony with abortion, celebrity endorsements overload, no explicit outline of her policies equally, endless attacking Trump instead of his policies as much as it was justified etc) the American people were going to stupidly vote for Trump anyway. It seems nothing would’ve changed their minds and Trump was going to romp it in anyway because of Biden being supposedly poor.

Americans have this mentality of all win, no lose about them. They love to hear how good their economy is and how their lives are good when it’s not. It’s what cost Carter his re-election in 1980 when he was being honest with them about the energy issue. They wanted to hear lies and delusions and Reagan (and now Trump) was delivering it to them in spades.

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It is possible to do both, however, they need to also pay attention to the issues affecting voters like cost of living and the economy - the issues of the people they want to govern needs to be their number 1 priority - however, provided they address the voters main concerns, then they can pursue other agendas.

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I have a lot of friends that voted for Kamala. They’re still
Going on about how evil and bad trump is. (I agree, but still
Going on about how bad he is at this point is a waste of energy)

When I turn the discussion to what the dems did wrong and how to learn from it - they loose interest, praise her some more and turn back to shor slinging trump

This is why she lost. Heads in sand

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I think it’s possible to do both too.

BUT in the Australian context, as a traditionally Labor voter I have been incredibly frustrated though with the left’s inability to balance their policies across economic and social agendas.

I am economically progressive but I almost feel like the left have gone too far on socially progressive policies. They’ve fought hard on equality over the decades but are now pushing things too far and seem to have abandoned the principal that everyone is equal. Climate action isn’t really the problem, but things like first nations agendas have gone too far. When certain social agendas are questioned - even in the wake of a defeat like the Voice or even the US election - they are dismissed out of hand. That’s such a frustration. The left seem unwilling to self-reflect or budge even an inch on certain things. Consequently it’s the right that seem more flexible and inclusive - which of course is mostly an illusion, but it’s still the perception. In short, the left come across as sanctimonious and stubborn.

Back to the US context, I think the Democrats may have lost the poorer working class who seem eager to believe what the Maga’s are peddling. However they need to re-focus on the middle-class. The middle class are very much still in play, but they need to appeal to what matters to the middle class. And a big part of that is a strong economy and opportunity to maintain and better their standard of living, while also supporting the services they value - education and health.

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It probably explains why Labor is trying to lurch to the right (comparatively speaking) so they can get back to the centre of the political spectrum (and Labour in the UK is doing the same), but the issue is that it seems that the move has pleased no one. The right thinks they’ve gone too ‘woke’, whilst the left thinks they’re in bed with the right. It’s probably more of a product of the polarised political landscape these days more than anything else but it’s disheartening to see because there is really a place for a truly centrist party (like Labor/Labour) to do things properly for everyone.

In America, the Democrats are far from far left (apart from the likes of AOC etc) but the way the media and Trump likes to portray them as communist look-a-likes quite frankly is inaccurate yet it ropes people in. Perhaps what they need, in addition to good policy, is a better communicator for Presidency in 2028. Luckily for the Democrats they’ve got quite a pool of high profile senators/governors they could pick from which will make a competitive primary, whilst over at the Republicans, post-Trump they’ve got Vance…and then who else? Probably a bunch of dinosaurs or far right hacks like MTG.

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The Democrats definitely need a better communicator in 2028, if indeed there is a 2028. And I hate to say it, but they possibly need a man. But whoever it is they need to be a great communicator like Bill Clinton or Obama. And someone who’s good off the cuff too.

They’ve got the perfect one (Pete Buttigieg) but unfortunately his sexuality would not suit the so called Christian right not to mention other right wing religious groups yet they voted for a racist rapist! There was nothing wrong with Kamala’s communication IMO. The Democrats failed to excite their voters and get them to the polls. The economic message was not shared enough, that America is doing pretty much ok. I believe the economy will be much worse after 4 years of this idiot! The old saying about ‘making beds and lying in them’ comes to mind. Both uses of the word ‘lie’ can be used for trumpers!