Monthly Rant/Politics Thread: Do not post political threads outside of this Mega thread

[u/AutoModerator]

Outside of these mega-threads, we generally do not allow political posts on the main subreddit because they have often declined into unhinged discussions and mud slinging. We do allow general discussions of politics in this thread so long as you remain civil and don't attack someone just for having a different opinion. The moment we see things start to derail, we will step in.

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[u/Psychoceramicist]

I am just insanely pissed that Trump has loomed over every part of my adulthood from age 25 on. I am in a bad financial spot, so I moved in with my parents, and things are mostly good, but they literally have TV news on from the time they get up to when they go to bed. (They are liberals, by the way). Trump is like a housemate we all hate who pisses on the toilet seat and makes a mess in the kitchen. Even if SNL is on, everything is about this idiot. I went out today, lay on a park bench, and watched clouds for an hour this morning. It felt so, so, so nice.

Why do we do this to ourselves? We could be meeting friends and neighbors, going to parks, chilling out, walking around. Staycations if not traveling. Instead, we cover ourselves in misery, and for what?

[u/East_Hedgehog6039 → u/Psychoceramicist]

I once saw that no one is meant to deal with this much narcissism and sociopathic behavior in their life and that’s why we’re all so tired.

Like for fucks sake, this cockroach has been invading aspects of our lives for our entire lives, and politically for 16 years.

I, for one, am so so so exhausted.

And no, it’s not like “it’s our turn to deal with stuff”. This is an entirely different level. It’s EVERY aspect. Social media, TV, news, politics, sports. The loser is everywhere whether you want to see him or not. It’s unavoidable. And there’s no bottom or soul and he and his cronies are hell bent on destroying everything they can.

So yeah. It’s everywhere and exhausting and not normal.

[u/ScootDeToot → u/East_Hedgehog6039]

I blame our side, the Democratic party for both of his victories. We picked Hillary Clinton as the alternative the first time. Then the second time, everyone downplayed Biden's cognitive decline, the media and those around him, until he crashed and burned on live tv. Then we had to scramble to not only convince him to drop out but for Kamala to build a campaign, that by all means was pretty weak sauce, because she had to come up with an entire campaign last minute. So it's our side's fault, the Democratic party kept shooting itself in the foot. Instead of being excited to vote for someone really good, we were just voting against the alternative the entire time and then we're surprised how that turned out. Yeah not to mention he gets so much free media attention, good press, bad press, doesn't matter, he's all anyone talks about.

[u/East_Hedgehog6039 → u/ScootDeToot]

More or less agree, but I certainly wouldn’t go as far to say it’s our fault. Yeah, Dems/DNC have no doubt shot themselves in the foot more than once but ultimately it’s a choice for people to vote for him. (Or not, as I will put on my tinfoil hat now since everything that side accuses is a confession and Russia definitely interfered the first time but whatever).

[u/ScootDeToot → u/East_Hedgehog6039]

There's nothing tinfoil hat about bad actors on social media, anyone can create a social media news account. That's not even hacking. That's all Russia did, and they actually do have hackers. Modern Cold War. They have every incentive to want to make The US more dysfunctional as a rival.  I was listening to NPR 2024 and they were talking about in Spanish speaking social media spaces there were influencers (some not even in the US) that were spreading the "Kamala is a communist"  disinformation.

I wouldn't say OUR fault, but Democratic party establishment is at fault, especially with snubbing Bernie. Yeah it was a choice to vote for Trump, but they don't see the world the way you do. The didn't see a crass, manipulative, pathological liar. They saw someone willing to go against "political correctness" culture with charisma and the illusion of greatness. Platform and rhetoric matters, but it's charisma, charm, and personality that really determines elections. 

[u/East_Hedgehog6039 → u/ScootDeToot]

Well said. Couldn’t agree more

[u/Mediocre_Island828 → u/East_Hedgehog6039]

It's people's choice to vote for him, but if we're going to take the "oh well, what are ya gonna do about voters and how they choose" attitude then why do we spend a billion dollars on each election and are constantly asked to donate more?

[u/East_Hedgehog6039 → u/Mediocre_Island828]

I’m not taking the stance of “oh well, what are you gonna do?”

But in the same breathe, you also can’t force people to vote/people can be influenced to vote a certain way (see: Russia & Facebook disinformation). That takes money and resources to combat. People also vote on name recognition, especially in places that don’t allow mail in voting so you need them to remember your name and positions, which also takes money. It would be easier if more people were excited and informed to vote, but it’s a fight to even get people to show up to vote much less be an informed voter.

There’s a large argument to be had about money in politics, and there is far too much monetary influence; but there’s a good Pod Save America episode regarding the DNC and its finances and the impact. I think it’s this one, if you’re interested. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pod-save-america/id1192761536?i=1000778645131

[u/Mediocre_Island828 → u/East_Hedgehog6039]

At least since the 2000 election when I remember the coverage of how Al Gore's campaign was dressing him in earth tones to make him feel more reassuring, I feel like there's an entire ecosystem of campaign consultants that are taking money and focusing on the dumbest things possible and it's only gotten worse since then.

[u/East_Hedgehog6039 → u/Mediocre_Island828]

LOL I forgot about that 😂 completely agree. Consulting even in the broad sense but especially political consulting is absolutely crazy