Topic: Americanos, are you voting this year?

[Mooning Freddy]

I might be asking for trouble here, but it seems to me both of the partys' candidates in for the next presidency are a catastrophe. Some of my American friends said they're not voting or voting for a third candidate because they won't support their parties' candidates. Voting may be seen often as choosing the lesser of two evils, but to some the very act of voting for any of those two seems immoral.

[Briraka]

Eh, Clinton. It's not because I find her appealing, I'm just veeeeeeerrrrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyy anti-Trump so I'm going to vote for whoever has the most publicity and thus the more probable chance of getting elected.

[theANdROId]

Ugh...this year is a mess.  I don't really care for any candidate.  I don't feel like it's a good idea (personally) to not vote, but then I'm still not sure who I wanna support. :-S

[Highwind Dragoon]

Green, because Clinton is a horrible candidate.

[Dracula9]

I only registered to vote this election because of Sanders, because up until him I really didn't give a shit about voting since it never really felt like anyone involved gave a shit about the right things.

As the election progressed, I learned about Stein and grew to like her for much the same reason.

So despite the very obvious media campaign to make Trump/Clinton into a "vote for me so the other person doesn't win because they're terrible" pissing match rather than a genuine "vote for me because I'll do these things" appeal, I'm sticking to me morals and voting my conscience.

Whether that's Sanders or Stein, I'm not sure yet. But it's going to be one of the two. I registered to that cause, it would feel shameful to abandon my root cause just to participate in the high-school "the other person's bad because they did this" bullshit.

[Belmontoya]

I'm voting Clinton.

 

[Gunlord]

Yeah, Clinton for me as well. I dislike her but for all her ethical failings she strikes me as more stable than Trump.

[Flame]

My initial choice was Jim "I killed a man" Webb. He was the candidate we needed. But not the one we deserved. He got run out pretty quick though sadly.

My wall 'o text on the rest are as follows:

(click to show/hide)

I respected Bernie Sanders for his populism and his acknowledging how big an issue trade is, I appreciated his genuine feel, but I was really turned off by many of his other positions and some of his strange economic reasonings. Clinton has so much dirty laundry and is so blatantly corrupt that i just can't possibly believe she has the best interests of the country in mind. Also, she's a warmonger who seems hellbent on going to war with Russia, as if our proxy war through Syria isnt bad enough. She's pro free trade- she's a globalist of the worst caliber, (on record as being for "unlimited" free trade) and is practically being handed the presidency through an unholy collusion between herself, the DOJ, the President and even the media. No more political dynasties. I didn't want another Bush, and I don't want another Clinton, when, in hindsight, the first one is largely responsible for the state of our economy now. (Nafta and the push to accept China into the WTO, which led to our massive manufacturing loss, and the banking deregulation that led to the risky practices that caused the 2008 crash)


I'm voting Trump because he had the exact same message on Trade as Sanders, but with a healthy sprinkling of protectionism and nationalism, both of which we are sorely in need of. As far as his views on immigration go, well shit, at least he's got a plan, for the past 30 some odd years, all we do is talk about immigration reform, but do nothing about it. Nothing of any substance anyway. I don't honestly believe he's going to build a wall on the border. I'd be surprised if he does, honestly, but to me it at least shows a willingness to do something about immigration reform in some capacity.

He's non-interventionist, practically following a Monroe Doctrine of "lets stop sticking our noses in other people's problems, it's clearly not working", which is a pretty major break from American foreign policy of the past half a century.

He's protectionist, a stance that helped America in it's early years, helping defend it's nascent industry from Britain's exports when they were still the top dog.

If his biggest sin is just that he's crass, rude, and doesn't have the usual qualifications (law, politics, etc) I'll take the risk. One way or another, there needs to be an upheaval of Washington.

Also he's got a big mouth and that could be beneficial. Think about it: if he's getting blocked by congress, do you think he's gonna take it? Hell no, he's liable to start tweeting about senators and congressmen giving him trouble and actually light fires under people's asses to get things done or face local backlash from constituents who listened to Trump call the guy out.

Now, while we've had "businessman" presidents before, I find it very interesting and somewhat appealing that his selling point isnt just his business accumen and experience, but his ability to negotiate. He's presenting himself as someone who is both able and willing to negotiate and compromise, something missing from Washington these days. He's also neutral on social issues, and would probably leave it to the states to decide, while Hillary has focused her campaign almost exclusively on whatever popular social issues she can get.

Also, his persona is all a show. It's the image he's developed over the course of his reality TV/Wrestling experience. The Donald Trump ive seen in interviews dating from the early 90's and earlier, show a very different side to him. The "serious" more presidential side. (he's been asked for decades if he'd ever run for president, and he's been considering running since at least 2000.) Coincidentally, his political and economical views have been consistent for the past 30 years as well. 

tl;dr I'd rather have a well meaning fool than an ill meaning genius.

[Belmontoya]

Tom Hanks is a Clinton supporter and I don't think he would appreciate you using his photo for the punch line of a gross pro Trump rant.

[JR]

I think I'm just going to stay home on election day. I've never been more disgusted with politics and the media than I am right now. I know it's a completely defeatist attitude to take, but I really just want no part of this shitshow at all.

[Flame]

Tom Hanks is a Clinton supporter and I don't think he would appreciate you using his photo for the punch line of a gross pro Trump rant.

What's "gross" about it?

 Freddy asked, I answered. Don't be hatin'.

[Mooning Freddy]

I think you mixed a lot of ideologies here, Flame, but I ain't gonna argue with you too much, I would just say this:
As a bit of a libertarian I think that protectionism is bad generally as it shrinks people's supply and forces them to rely on local production and services, often more expensive and not as efficient as ones that could be imported; at the same time it impedes local economical evolution by preventing inefficient businesses from closing down and providing them initiative to continue being inefficient and expensive.

You also expressed a positive view of populism which made me raise an eyebrow. Populism is very, very bad. It's the political strategy of telling people what they want to hear, even when what they want to hear is unrealistic. Nobody wants to hear, "sorry guys, but I don't think things are going to get much better in the next ten years, we need austerity and higher taxation to balance the bugdet and pay our debts". When politicians feed the people with unrealistic dreams, what you end up with is Venezuela.

About Syria: Many people argue the very reason Russia allowed itself to intervene and made the civil war WORSE is because the West seemed to not have been doing anything, so they siezed the opportunity to intervene and promote their own intersts.

[Belmontoya]

I work at a college library. since I work on Halloween this year, I was thinking of maybe going to work in costume.

My thoughts instantly drifted to Crusader. probably because I see a LOT of muslims there lately. I dunno. 

I ran it past my boss, although i said "Templar" instead. He laughed, and loved it, said it was something he would wear, but sort of scratched his head because it would probably get the department in trouble. I think he was on to my scheme instantly. I'd get called out as RAYCISS in an instant for a stunt like that.

I guess if I had to ask i already knew the answer

Don't try to hide racism behind supporting his bullshit policies. He has no experience and no realistic policies. He's a phony and everyone knows it.

I'm voting Trump because he had the exact same message on Trade as Sanders, but with a healthy sprinkling of protectionism and nationalism, both of which we are sorely in need of. As far as his views on immigration go, well shit, at least he's got a plan, for the past 30 some odd years, all we do is talk about immigration reform, but do nothing about it. Nothing of any substance anyway. I don't honestly believe he's going to build a wall on the border. I'd be surprised if he does, honestly, but to me it at least shows a willingness to do something about immigration reform in some capacity.

If his biggest sin is just that he's crass, rude, and doesn't have the usual qualifications (law, politics, etc) I'll take the risk.

tl;dr I'd rather have a well meaning fool than an ill meaning genius.

1. Sanders supports Clinton, not Trump.

2. You really think being crass, rude and unqualified are his biggest sins? How about clear cut bigotry, racism, promoting anarchy, and sexually assaulting and degrading women? Not to mention avoiding paying taxes. He's an oopritunist and a hypocrite.

3. You think Trump is well meaning? He's well meaning towards himself and others who live in the 1% top of the economy and that's about it. And even those who would benefit from his bullshit ideas for tax policies don't support him. Look at Buffet and Cuban. Trump wants to kick Meixcans and Muslims out of our country. These are human beings who work hard and want a good life for their families. He also wants to stop taking in refugees when we should be taking in more. These are adults and children who are suffering. And this is just the tip of the iceberg with Trump.

He's a vile bag of the worst kind of human excriment and there's only one reason people want to vote for him and we all know what that is.

That's why I call your rant "gross".

But it doesn't matter anyways. He has no chance in hell of winning because most people with common sense would rather not live in the 1940's.

[Highwind Dragoon]

Sanders only supports Clinton because they threatened to remove him from several senate panels, and (probably) also run a democratic challenger against him in 2018.  Look for Clinton to lose in a landslide in 2020.

[Belmontoya]

I'm supportive of Sanders as well.

But he supports Clinton now.

Make excuses all you want. That's the reality. And he made comments that hinted to his support for her long before he lost to her.

I would be happy to see him as President in 2020.

But he cannot win in 2016 and if you pen him in now you're doing him a disservice and helping Trump in the process. It's not worth it, and sanders doesn't want you to do it.