US Politics Thread

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BlueMoonAcrossThePond said:
Thanks, Alvin, for this clarification of your original post.

I must say, though, whether viewed through the lens of a die-hard MAGA Trump voter, or a Harris supporter, your post is completely off the mark.

There is a massive, unprecedented difference between the two candidates.

I would agree though, that in the past, say 16 years or so ago, pre-Trump, there wasn't a massive difference between electing a Republican as President versus electing a Democrat. Governance in the US is based on a balance of power between the Executive (the President leads this branch); the Judicial (the Supreme Court of the US leads this branch); and the Legislative (the Senate and the House of Congress form this branch). In the past, any President would accept the limitations imposed by shared governance between executive-judicial-legislative.

Trump, however, represents a huge departure from the above. Trump wants all power vested in the Executive. In other words, whatever Trump says is law - end of.

So, were Trump elected to President in 2024 what would happen? He'd certainly attempt to aggregate all power in the Executive. What's to stop him?

Normally, the Judicial branch would act as a curb. If the Executive steps too far out-of-line, they'd rule against the Executive in suits brought to their court. Trouble is, the Judicial branch is stacked in favor of MAGA. It's not clear how radical some of the right-leaning justices are... perhaps (or I think likely) some of them would balk against attempts of the Executive to seize all power; yet, it's likely that some Justices will retire in the next 4 years; should Trump be President, he'll attempt to install 100% loyalists.

As for the Legislative branch... should MAGA win control of both House and Senate, it's likely that they will simply enact whatever Trump wants. Congressmen and Senators are elected officials. Their chief motivation is to get re-elected. And if they were elected to support Trump... that's what they'll do.

In short, there's a massive, historically unique, difference between electing Harris for President versus electing Trump for President. Trump will attempt to change the system of governance in the US from Democracy to Autocracy.

As for your positive view with regard to Musk, unless you're in favor of Autocracy you're once more off the mark.

Musk is likely on the spectrum - somewhat autistic - incapable of feeling regard towards others. He has been extremely lucky in his financial ventures. He has garnered the support of the Right due to his political views.

As someone either incapable of or having markedly reduced capacity toward empathy for other human beings, Musk is another individual whom you'd never want in a position of governance.

Many of Musk's ideas are ridiculous; yet he'll back them 100% because their his and because he lacks the ability to listen to critical input. Check out my thread on Musk, especially the first few posts where many of his ideas are discredited.
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American people have an admirable faith in democracy and all kinds of good quality.
If you look from my position, if you are a Chinese you can find some obvious "bug" which means your country may not be as democracy as you thought it to be.
But it's hard to make anyone who are proud of the democracy to believe it, because all these things can be called conspiracy. "Deep state" is a conspiracy concept no matter how many times Elon Musk or Jeffrey Sachs talks about it. No proof.
I think Trump will be in control. He knows the consequences.
I don't know. I'd prefer to give people here some information. And I never insist that my post about America must be correct. I am just honestly telling people our thoughts and feelings. I don't insist that these are all right, because we are not Americans.
Don't take it too serious.
 
Alvin-blue-qhd said:
American people have an admirable faith in democracy and all kinds of good quality.
If you look from my position, if you are a Chinese you can find some obvious "bug" which means your country may not be as democracy as you thought it to be.
But it's hard to make anyone who are proud of the democracy to believe it, because all these things can be called conspiracy. "Deep state" is a conspiracy concept no matter how many times Elon Musk or Jeffrey Sachs talks about it. No proof.
I think Trump will be in control. He knows the consequences.
I don't know. I'd prefer to give people here some information. And I never insist that my post about America must be correct. I am just honestly telling people our thoughts and feelings. I don't insist that these are all right, because we are not Americans.
Don't take it too serious.
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Cheers.
No Democracy is perfect, sure. But the "deep state" claim is simply conspiracy; propagated by those either not knowing enough to recognize it as such, or those hoping to take advantage of the claim.

Why is "deep state" a conspiracy?

Because for it to be true, there would need to be massive collusion between numerous individuals to keep secret their actions. Next, it presupposes that these individuals would be preternaturally competent, able to hide or erase all evidence of their machinations; and, it would require that individuals affected by the deep state either be so stupid as to be unaware that they were impacted, or to be so frightened of the consequences of outing the deep state that they remain silent.

In all, the "deep state" conspiracy requires that thousands of individuals act in perfect harmony to perfectly keep secret their endeavors or to be so fearsome that anyone aware of what's going on remains silent.

As with most conspiracy theories, the "deep state" conspiracy immediately disintegrates upon rudimentary, first principles reasoning.

Coming from China, where, presumably, any statement against the government is immediately stamped out, and where there is no freedom of press, the point I'm making above, may seem unbelievable. Yet, in a Democracy, with freedom of speech and a free press, what I'm stating is absolutely true.
 
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Alvin-blue-qhd said:
American people have an admirable faith in democracy and all kinds of good quality.
If you look from my position, if you are a Chinese you can find some obvious "bug" which means your country may not be as democracy as you thought it to be.
But it's hard to make anyone who are proud of the democracy to believe it, because all these things can be called conspiracy. "Deep state" is a conspiracy concept no matter how many times Elon Musk or Jeffrey Sachs talks about it. No proof.
I think Trump will be in control. He knows the consequences.
I don't know. I'd prefer to give people here some information. And I never insist that my post about America must be correct. I am just honestly telling people our thoughts and feelings. I don't insist that these are all right, because we are not Americans.
Don't take it too serious.
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Alvin, you don't represent all Chinese people.

Many have different opinions to you, although of course they have to be extremely careful if and how they voice them. I know several myself.

You speak for yourself.
 
Government in its purest sense exists to manage the interests and finances of a country, state, county, district, city, town, village, etc. There are many forms of government, some of which benefit the people more than others.

When you have people like Trump and his cronies coming up with policies that are purely transactional in the business sense, and for personal gain then it changes the entire political landscape. If Trump wins the vote in 17 days time, you can forget the people of the country. Trump being elected has never been about public service. He serves nobody who doesn't have something to offer him back.
 
Trevor Morley's Tache said:
Government in its purest sense exists to manage the interests and finances of a country, state, county, district, city, town, village, etc. There are many forms of government, some of which benefit the people more than others.

When you have people like Trump and his cronies coming up with policies that are purely transactional in the business sense, and for personal gain then it changes the entire political landscape. If Trump wins the vote in 17 days time, you can forget the people of the country. Trump being elected has never been about public service. He serves nobody who doesn't have something to offer him back.
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Like any US politician that climbs the greasy poll that high he is bought and paid for by lobbyists. I suspect his friends are the petrochemical and fracking people from his policy pledges.
The arms dealers are probably backing the other side.
 
Mazzarelli's Swiss Cheese said:
Like any US politician that climbs the greasy poll that high he is bought and paid for by lobbyists. I suspect his friends are the petrochemical and fracking people from his policy pledges.
The arms dealers are probably backing the other side.
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The problem with Trump is, his 'lobbyists' appear to be foreign dictators.
 
Trevor Morley's Tache said:
The problem with Trump is, his 'lobbyists' appear to be foreign dictators.
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I doubt it. I'm sure the US security services would intervene if that were the case. Many of his promises around energy and food/agriculture seem to pander to those sectors so it would seem likely that is where his money is coming from.
 
Mazzarelli's Swiss Cheese said:
I doubt it. I'm sure the US security services would intervene if that were the case. Many of his promises around energy and food/agriculture seem to pander to those sectors so it would seem likely that is where his money is coming from.
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www.bloomberg.com

Trump Took $7.8 Million in Foreign Cash While in Office. He’d Do It Again.

Greed and financial conflicts of interest will certainly haunt the White House if the former president returns and better guardrails aren’t in place.
www.bloomberg.com www.bloomberg.com

I suspect the 7.8 Million Dollars mentioned above is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to foreign influence finding its way into Trump's pocket.
 
Trevor Morley's Tache said:
www.bloomberg.com

Trump Took $7.8 Million in Foreign Cash While in Office. He’d Do It Again.

Greed and financial conflicts of interest will certainly haunt the White House if the former president returns and better guardrails aren’t in place.
www.bloomberg.com www.bloomberg.com

I suspect the 7.8 Million Dollars mentioned above is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to foreign influence finding its way into Trump's pocket.
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It's no wonder you suspect that - the editor of article has shoe horned a picture of Putin in there even though Russia is not mentioned. I think the article is meant to make us suspect all sorts. Don't get me wrong, I think trump will cheerfully take a handout from anywhere, but those pulling his strings are much closer to home.
 
Mazzarelli's Swiss Cheese said:
It's no wonder you suspect that - the editor of article has shoe horned a picture of Putin in there even though Russia is not mentioned. I think the article is meant to make us suspect all sorts. Don't get me wrong, I think trump will cheerfully take a handout from anywhere, but those pulling his strings are much closer to home.
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Allies of the Russian government own an entire floor in Trump Tower, NY.
 
Trevor Morley's Tache said:
www.bloomberg.com

Trump Took $7.8 Million in Foreign Cash While in Office. He’d Do It Again.

Greed and financial conflicts of interest will certainly haunt the White House if the former president returns and better guardrails aren’t in place.
www.bloomberg.com www.bloomberg.com

I suspect the 7.8 Million Dollars mentioned above is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to foreign influence finding its way into Trump's pocket.
Click to expand...
If he gets back in office, not only will there be no “better guard rails” put in place, the ones that existed before will either be removed or completely ignored (as he knows there will be no actual consequence to roaming well outside of them).

And, for the record, Trump’s companies (and those of his children) received massive investments from foreign governments during his first term as President, including Russia (through back door loans), Saudi Arabia (via direct land development deals), and China (through sweetheart trademark and licensing deals), among others.
 
SebastianBlue said:
If he gets back in office, not only will there be no “better guard rails” put in place, the ones that existed before will either be removed or completely ignored (as he knows there will be no actual consequence to roaming well outside of them).

And, for the record, Trump’s companies (and those of his children) received massive investments from foreign governments during his first term as President, including Russia (through back door loans), Saudi Arabia (via direct land development deals), and China (through sweetheart trademark and licensing deals), among others.
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That’s all nice and dandy, but do the people who vote for him get to make some extra money for themselves or do they just get cheaper eggs?
 
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