The Politics Thread

[Juliajms]

I think in past years it was a lot easier to go along with this idea.  This year, I really can't. Unlike some, I can pity some of Trump's supporters, but I can't be friends with them in any real sense of the word.  I know some people who would simply never vote for a democrat because of economics. Most years I could ignore that. This year, I find it truly unconscionable.  You are really going to sell out your countrymen just to keep more money in your pocket?

 

I try to put myself in the position of the prolifers. Most years I can, even though I think it's such a destructive position for poor women and families. I guess if I were religious and really truly believed that life begins at conception I'd have to be prolife like those people are, so I get it. Hillary getting to appoint a couple of Supreme Court justices is going to make a big difference in that fight, but hey, how about the people already here? Is Trump the one we want trying to handle Kim Jong-un? I ask you, which of the is more unstable and likely to start the apocalypse first?

 

In someways, what he has unleashed is already out there to stay. No doubt, he'll start Trump TV and we'll be subject to his horrible ideas for the next 20 years, but I'll still take that over having him be our actual president.

 

 

[marceline]

The New York Times did a really amazing endorsement of Hillary and not one of those "hold your nose and do it to stop Trump" pieces. They lay out a very methodical case FOR her.

[JaneAusten]

That was well done but frankly I can never look at the NYT the same way after how they lambasted her for the last 18 months and gave Trump a free pass.

[marceline]

I feel that way about a lot of folks but at this point we need to have one goal and that's stopping Trump and I'll take any ally we can get for that cause.

[Ms. Quartermaine]

Trump has invited Gennifer Flowers to debate #1 and she has accepted. 

 

Can anyone tell me how Gennifer Flowers has anything to do with Hillary allegedly silencing those Bill allegedly sexually assaulted? (And what's the story behind that?)

 

I just thought Gennifer was someone Bill had a consensual relationship with while he was married to Hillary, way before he became President. I think he denied it, but then Gennifer had audio tapes. Clinton's aides at one point said were edited, and so she sued them and then later added Hillary's name to the lawsuit. 

 

I wonder if this will actually work to Hillary's advantage because after Monica, her approval reached its highest level ever. 

[Roman]

I believe it will because it once again shows Trump's pettiness. he can't do anything with getting to the lowest point of the gutter. this once again proves it. HRC is supposed to get flustered by this, but sat for 11 hrs. being grilled by republican hacks with an axe to grind and came up pretty much unscathed. 

[Vee]

Trump desperately needs women voters. Trying to shame Hillary with Gennifer Flowers is not going to help him there. It's a boorish move everyone is decrying.

[JaneAusten]

Yeah this is going to backfire bigtime. Hillary's popularity and sympathy numbers soared when Bill's liason's became public. Plus it's not going to fluster her one bit. She sat through 11 hours of being grilled by the GOP and looked refreshed while Gowdy looked like he was run over by a train.

 

It's funny. The Cuban invite must have really gotten to Trump. She should have invited the Kahn's and Pastor Timmons also.

[Vee]

I would.

[Ms. Quartermaine]

And Khan could bring his mini-constitution. That would be so awesome.

 

How did what Trump said about Khan's family NOT get brought up in the Commander in Chief forum?! That, as well as him wanting to commit war crimes, should have been addressed. 

[quartermainefan]

He is a joke and would be a bad president, but people are forgetting the history of the last 15 years.   Trump is a racist, Trump has no idea about anything except how to build buildings and be a huckster on TV.  He'll suck, it's true.  He'd probably wreck the economy while he's at it.  However, George Bush lied under the advice of Dick Cheney to start a war of convenience that not only got a few thousand americans killed and many more maimed, but tens of thousand of Iraqis too--bankrupting our country in the process.   That war created the Isis we know today.  He will go down as the worst president maybe of anyone except whatshisname who watched as the country went into the civil war.   Nothing Trump can do will be as bad as Dick Cheney since Dick Cheney is the definition of bad.   I'd never vote for Trump, but I said it during the primaries  and I'll say it again---I'd take a hundred Trumps before I take one Ted Cruz.  

 

That said, I'd never let an election come between me and my friends.   My friends have the right to make bad decisions and this makes for fun debates on facebook.   I debate my republican friends on FB all the time and we barely agree on the time of day, but to stop being their friend because they disagree with me?   That's crazy talk if you ask me.  

[DRW50]

Part of the problem is that it's not really about a candidate this time around as it's about his views. Trump's views are very clear - hate hate hate hate hate. He doesn't even especially try to hide that this is how he lives his life and his vision. Hatred and fear of the world, of everyone but someone who looks and acts just like him. And this means many who are supporting him are very open that they are the same way. They have essentially "come out." That's why there's been an increase in hate crimes, like the Muslims in NYC who have been attacked by Trump supporters. 

 

The people I know who are voting for him I generally just don't say anything to because they are very old and they mostly just believe what they hear on Faux News, and I want to be polite.

 

The other people I know who are Republican and likely voting for him have gone oddly quiet this election season, and I just don't push it, as I figure if they're being polite I'm not going to rock the boat. 

[DramatistDreamer]

I could never stay friends with people who could honestly back a man who once took out a full-page ad in an internationally known newspaper declaring the need for the execution of five young men who turned out not to have committed the crime and a man who once said that he didn't want Blacks on the floor of his casinos and that he hated having Black accounts count his money.

 

Fortunately for me, with my caliber of friends, I never have to worry about the possibility of any of them backing a bigot.

 

Well, there is a connection between the likes of Bush/Cheney and Trump/Pence.  After all, Mike Pence did cite Dick Cheney as his role model.  Yep, digest that one, folks. 

[Roman]

IMO it won't even matter who's there....the lights will be dimmed so no one will be able to see who's in the audience. BUT....if the TVMSM starts showing shots of her every time HRC speaks...it will truly be a dark day for journalism and I PRAY they get blasted for it....like they should now for even covering this mess. Huff. Post has it as their number one story right now. 

[Chris B]

I'm so excited for the debate, but not sure what to truly expect. I feel like Hilary's performance will be strong and Lester Holt is one of my favorite journalists so I'm trying to be optimistic. We know he'll be hard on Hilary, because everybody is and he *should* be hard on her. My biggest question is will a moderator/interviewer finally be equally as hard on Trump and actually hold him to answer questions? He typically doesn't say much relating to the actual question and he never provides insight into his ideas, nor does he show more than a basic knowledge of the issues at hand. That needs to be highlighted. Hilary will give very concise and detailed answers so I am hoping the contrast is stark. The biggest problem for Lester Holt I feel will be what questions he asks Trump. I believe he'll be equally tough on both, but there is so much ground to cover with him (since no one ever does) that you're bound to have people complaining about the additional things he couldn't ask.