Life Events Thread

[(BP)]

The Democrats will run a male surrogate for Clinton's agenda in 2020 because they've learned nothing and they'll lose. I would hope the wheels are already spinning on a Democratic Socialist party based on Sanders's following. 

[Jiji]

I think Elizabeth Warren is the obvious candidate for DNC chair, though Sanders is there as well.

[NikoBaltimore]

4 minutes ago, Oyaji said:

I think Elizabeth Warren is the obvious candidate for DNC chair, though Sanders is there as well.

Oh, man, don't remind me.  I was begging and pleading for days that she'd consider running.  When she pretty much said no I was heartbroken.  I'm really hoping she runs in 2020 as I'm sure many from both sides would pick her in a heartbeat.

My bad, didn't see the DNC chair part.  That too, she'd be great for it.  But presidential run in 2020 is where it's at for her.  Let Bernie run DNC.

[piranesi]

I hate myself for how much I blame Joe Biden for not running despite his tragedy.  It's not right.  But the reality is he would have won this so easily.

[Dolfan in NYC]

14 minutes ago, Oyaji said:

I think Elizabeth Warren is the obvious candidate for DNC chair, though Sanders is there as well.

She's not leaving the Senate and handing another seat to the Republicans. 

 

[Jiji]

I thought you could do both.

Edit: or is that just with representatives? Because it didn't stop that dork Wasserman Schultz.

[Pete]

4 minutes ago, Oyaji said:

I thought you could do both.

Rules vary from state to state... some let you keep your seat, others require you to vacate it.

[NintendoLogic]

I'm going to copy and paste what I wrote on Facebook because it pretty well sums up my thoughts on the election.

Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party have no one to blame but themselves for this result. You can talk about the media and Russian hackers and the FBI all you want, but at the end of the day, excuses are just that: excuses. She was a terrible candidate who ran a terrible campaign. If someone repulses far more voters than she inspires, even if that repulsion is completely unwarranted, she's a bad candidate, and clearing the field for her in the primary was a huge mistake. The email thing may have been blown way out of proportion, but nobody put a gun to her head and forced her to disregard State Department policy by conducing business exclusively through a private server. It ended up being a big deal because it fed into the popular perception of her as someone who felt that rules everyone else had to abide by didn't apply to her. It was an unforgivable act of hubris that crippled her campaign.

Speaking of her campaign, it's pretty clear that downplaying the issues, particularly economic ones, and emphasizing Trump's personal failings in an attempt to win over suburban Republicans was a fatal mistake. Was running up the score in California and narrowing the margin in Texas worth losing the Rust Belt over? And turning the election into a clash of personalities rather than a contest of ideas put the focus on her own ethics and judgment (like the aforementioned emails). Look at turnout, which is at its lowest level since 2004. For people who aren't committed partisans, frightening them into voting against the other guy isn't enough. You have to give them something positive to vote for, and Clinton failed to do that.

If there is a silver lining to this election, it's that the Wall Street wing of the party has been completely discredited. Demographics haven't shifted enough to throw the white working class completely overboard, and it's hard to be a credible voice on lunch-pail issues while giving speeches to Goldman Sachs.

[SirSmUgly]

I don't know how much of a silver lining that is. We're not going back to a pre-free-trade era where a company has to pay a union worker in Dearborn or upstate New York or Akron 35 bucks an hour to do manual labor. Those jobs are being automated no matter how many trade barriers we put up. 

I don't think that we've done a good enough job of re-training these folks who have lost their jobs, and in 2020, there needs to be more emphasis on this sort of thing, but those voters are regressive. They're not getting those jobs back. The guy they rushed to elect does tons of manufacturing out of the country. Until they understand that, they'll vote for any candidate, no matter how unequipped for the office, who says that he'll give them nine-to-five factory jobs that pay well. 

[Dolfan in NYC]

Remember this: 

1/20/2021.

[RIPPA]

I have a laundry list of things of I'm angry about

People (even if it is just 1) who voted for Hamarabe can fuck right off.

[NikoBaltimore]

I was reading an article at Ars Tecnica that featured where Trump stands on various tech and science issues.   http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/11/what-the-trump-win-means-for-tech-science-and-beyond/?comments=1&start=40  In the comments somebody had this to say:

Quote

I've seen this happen 3 times now within the last 18 months:

- My own country, Denmark, did this last time, which is not so remarkable on a world stage, but had the same dynamics as the Trump election.
- Brexit
- Trump

All of them won, because a silent majority that didn't make an appearance in the polls were the ones who voted and it was a surprise result every time. The majority felt neglected and left behind, and all cases, it was older, working class people with little education in rural areas that decided the election result.
And in all cases, the same majority voted for people who eventually has or will screw them over, because they didn't understand those people.
This is why we need fair education for all, fair opportunity for all and why equality is important, otherwise you WILL get people stuck in the cheap rows and vastly increase the risk of them deciding how the show goes.

The parallels make sense, though unlike Brexit pro-Trump people are still pro-Trump.  But I still feel sure at some point it'll sink in what they've done, leading to a "My God, what have we done?!"  moment.  It's so sad that many people were so anti-Hillary that they'd vote the Devil himself and not care about the consequences.

[RIPPA]

BTW - people need to stop assuming Trump is getting 8 years (not here per se).

And I'm not even talking about Dems getting their heads out of their asses.

This is Donald Fucking Trump. I am saying it is even money he doesn't even run for term two OR because being President is hard - he resigns after 2.

(The later might be more terrifying than his actual election)

[Burgundy LaRue]

On ‎11‎/‎9‎/‎2016 at 3:37 PM, piranesi said:

I hate myself for how much I blame Joe Biden for not running despite his tragedy.  It's not right.  But the reality is he would have won this so easily.

If nothing else, watching Biden cuss out Trump while backing up his platform with actual governing knowledge would have been a joy to watch.  I'm going to miss seeing Biden on the regular.

Until this morning, I didn't realize that Hillary apparently hadn't visited Wisconsin since April.  This is what I read somewhere in all the talk. How stupid is that, if true?  And she loses it by .94% or less.  Ridiculous. All she had to do was hold on to Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.  Do that, win the election.  It's like she went out of her way not to win.  Isn't Bill supposed to be a great campaigner?  Didn't he tell her how to handle at least some of this stuff? If Obama could shake hands with Skoal-chewing rednecks waving Confederate flags in his face during his campaigns, she could have played nice to working-class white people.  Good grief.

[Jiji]

I'm a huge proponent of hers and The Leap Manifesto but Naomi Klein's article pretty much sums up my feelings and frustrations with the Democratic party. Things aren't okay and running that message was idiotic.

[Burgundy LaRue]

For the love of whatever God or goat any of us believe in, hope we don't ever hear the words President Mike Pence.  I may actually drink bleach if that comes to pass.

[Jiji]

I wonder what his workload will be compared to the average VP. I can't imagine him not being in a more hands-on role due to this being Trump's first political job and all.

[odessasteps]

To me, it was lower voter turnout for Dems than anything else. because they didnt want hrc, upset bernie supporters, millennials,...whatever the reason. 

I live in a rural area and,as i said on my pod, i prob saw 15-20 trump signs on lawns and 0 for hrc. i assumed it was supporters being afraid of retribution. maybe there just were not any. 

As a straight white man (albeit a liberal atheist one), i am mostly worried for minority friends going forward.

[odessasteps]

2 minutes ago, Oyaji said:

I wonder what his workload will be compared to the average VP. I can't imagine him not being in a more hands-on role due to this being Trump's first political job and all.

I can def seeing (scary) parallels to both reagan/ghwb and gwb/cheney.

[Burgundy LaRue]

7 minutes ago, odessasteps said:

I can def seeing (scary) parallels to both reagan/ghwb and gwb/cheney.

Yep.  At his core, Trump is a blowhard who just wanted to show he could be an 'outsider' and win the Presidency. Like an old, rich, white heterosexual man in the USA has ever been anything less than an insider. But Pence is fucking frightening.  Hope Paul Ryan hates Trump enough to block some of the sewage we're likely to see during the next four years.  We'll see.

[Ryan]

I'm generally a private person, anyone who knows me knows I don't have a deep footprint online, there aren't even any photos of me, but I'll post what I posted on facebook last night at about 3 AM. It's more apolitical than anything because I don't like getting into the rawness of why what happened did and the wonkiness because it would just upset me more than anything knowing how many people vote(or don't vote at all) against their own actual interests out of malice or lack of caring.

So, here it is. Any grammatical stuff is what it is as my grandmother used to say.

Fear, hatred and anger will never guide me as a human being. I will strive to do whatever is in my limited ability to make the world a better place for everyone there is, regardless of any differences. I will not change who I am because of one outcome, I will always be who I am and that will never go away, it is my nature.

Anything that comes along that threatens the progression and evolution of the freedom of all to be who and what they are will never have my support. I know too many great people to let it darken my resolve and make me a worse human being and care too much about the future of many I barely even know to let that happen.

Regardless of any times ahead marked by the people running things trying to set history back and bring us to a future that embraces a past that never was and never should be, I will always resolutely be just as I am. A single person doing all that he is capable of to make sure it is a better place in the end.

I can do little with what I have and represent, but the freedoms to use it to make things just and the future one for all will never burn out or fade away. These are not some meaningless platitudes, it is the core of the heart and soul of my being and I will always stand back up when knocked downed by the injustices of tempestuous forces outside my control and stand up for those who society deems unworthy of doing so, damn the repercussions.

I am a young white male of much privilege in my life and upbringing, but I have never shied away from the plight and struggles of anyone. Progress matters, LGBTQ matters, Black Lives Matter, the homeless and mentally ill matter, forgotten veterans matter, people of all religious and ethnic backgrounds matter, even those who generally gave us the results of today matter, whether they like what I stand for or not.

Racism, sexism, bigotry and intolerance will never have a say in who I am, who I care about or what I believe. I will always simply be myself and all that stands for. You are all loved and always will be no matter any differences. I am me.

[Brian Fowler]

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck and fuck.

More coherent, reasoned thoughts I put on Facebook:

It is not enough to just not be racist. One must be anti-racism. It is not enough to not be misogynistic, one must by feminist. It's not enough to not be homophobic. One must fight for LGBTQ rights.

It is not enough to not be evil. One must be good.

Never before have I legitimately feared the people in my country. Never have i been so ashamed of being an American.

But giving up is easy. I'm a straight white cisgendered male and it would be easy to downplay being an atheist. That's easy.

I won't do that. I won't put my head down and plough ahead while my country tells Latinos, Africans, Muslims, Asians, LGBTQ people, and women that they are second class citizens, that them having rights is wrong. 

We the people have been overruled by hatred, and, worse, apathy towards hatred.

[RIPPA]

In "happier" news (for me since I'm selfish) - all the ballot measures in my county went the way I voted - which included extended tax breaks to the spouses of deceased veterans 

Also - 76% of my county voted 

There were FAR to many write-ins but that is a different story

[J.T.]

Brian.  There is no reason to be ashamed to be an American if you personally voted your conscience.  One person cannot bear the zeitgeist for the whole fucking nation.

It is like driving a car.  You can only control your vehicle.  You have no say over some other drunk asshole that decides to get on the freeway and fuck things up.

The country made a decision and we'll see what happens.  Sometimes democracy is ugly and it should be since it is the end product of fallible humans doing the best they can. 

The caveat being that I am one of those rare human beings that enjoys earnest debate, respects the ideologies of others, and can agree to disagree.

I am not so much concerned about the past fuckwittery of the president elect as I am about the composition of the Supreme Court during his term. 

The cases decided in the next four years with a Trump appointed SCJ will have second and third order of effect for generations to come.

I'm not happy with the results of the election, but I still have the power of the vote and we'll see how well the Trump presidency is received during the mid terms. 

That will set the tone for 2020 provided that he actually runs for a second term.

I am guessing that I being a DoD employee will see business pick up as I am guessing that we will be bombing the living shit out of Al-Raqqah in about seventy days.

 

[Niners Fan in CT]

7 hours ago, Jerome Miller said:

Okay, so what exactly are the Democrats and non-Trump Republicans going to do to HELP those Rust Belt workers?

I'm not going to say I don't care about what's happened to the Rust Belt. I do feel sorry for them and it IS depressing driving through some of those areas. But as someone else said, this has been ongoing for 30 years. We did do it to ourselves but also the writing was on the wall for a very long time. The same thing happened in my area. I lived in a small town where manufacturing was key. My grandfather worked in manufacturing, my father was a plant manager. I didn't try to follow in their footsteps. My father said he worked his ass so I didn't have to and he did. I went to college and I'm trying to carve my own path. I think some folks thought the plant would always be there. It sucks what happened though I don't want to sound insensitive to their plight. I just don't feel like giving the middle finger to the rest of the nation was the best option.