How do folks in the UK view the 2020 U.S. election?

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Re: How do folks in the UK view the 2020 U.S. election?

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drafsack wrote: Fri May 29, 2020 10:48 am The trouble with two party systems is that there is never a middle ground you have gone from Obama Left wing politics to Trumps ultra right wing. it seems anything good set up by one party is then reversed when the next party gets in. When you look at it its not the democrats or the republicans who run the country its the legal system and the NRA as regardless of which party is in nobody has tried to curtel their activities - with around 16000 murders a year and people like George Floyd being murdered by the legal system there seems little hope. I also think Trump will sneak it - after all if he didn't get in Rog would have to re think his show
I agree with that. It would be a good thing if both big parties broke up into something like a four or five party system like we have in Germany.

By the way, the NRA seems to be bankrupt? 8-[
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Re: How do folks in the UK view the 2020 U.S. election?

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DarkSideFreak wrote: Thu Jan 21, 2021 1:00 pm
drafsack wrote: Fri May 29, 2020 10:48 am The trouble with two party systems is that there is never a middle ground you have gone from Obama Left wing politics to Trumps ultra right wing. it seems anything good set up by one party is then reversed when the next party gets in. When you look at it its not the democrats or the republicans who run the country its the legal system and the NRA as regardless of which party is in nobody has tried to curtel their activities - with around 16000 murders a year and people like George Floyd being murdered by the legal system there seems little hope. I also think Trump will sneak it - after all if he didn't get in Rog would have to re think his show
I agree with that. It would be a good thing if both big parties broke up into something like a four or five party system like we have in Germany.

By the way, the NRA seems to be bankrupt? 8-[
Its always interested me that in Germany it always seems to be Coalitions - and therefore compromises on all sides - so when was the last time there was one party with a clear majority
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Re: How do folks in the UK view the 2020 U.S. election?

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How do folks in the UK view the 2020 U.S. election?

With some relief that eventually things turned out reasonably well.

A USA with a fascist dictatorship would have caused huge damage to the entire world.
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Re: How do folks in the UK view the 2020 U.S. election?

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drafsack wrote: Sat Jan 23, 2021 7:33 pmIts always interested me that in Germany it always seems to be Coalitions - and therefore compromises on all sides - so when was the last time there was one party with a clear majority
The 'conservative' CDU and its Bavarian sister party CSU is still the largest party but their appeal has been waning especially among the younger generations.

In Bavaria, the CSU actually had a proper majority (50+ %) for many years but have had to do coalitions more recently too. On the federal level, there was always a coalition in government (I'm speaking about 1945 onwards, mind, and not about East Germany either). The liberals (FDP) used to be the "king-makers" because who could govern depended solely on who they went into coalition with. In 1982, they broke up the existing coalition with the SPD (social democrats) and turned to the CDU. But around this time the Green Party started their ascent, and later we got more parties, so this 3-party constellation is a thing of the past too.
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Re: How do folks in the UK view the 2020 U.S. election?

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Annoying Twit wrote: Sun Jan 24, 2021 2:54 pm How do folks in the UK view the 2020 U.S. election?

With some relief that eventually things turned out reasonably well.

A USA with a fascist dictatorship would have caused huge damage to the entire world.
Just replaced Trump with Left wing zealots who refilled the Swamp
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Re: How do folks in the UK view the 2020 U.S. election?

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drafsack wrote: Sat Jan 30, 2021 12:10 am
Annoying Twit wrote: Sun Jan 24, 2021 2:54 pm How do folks in the UK view the 2020 U.S. election?

With some relief that eventually things turned out reasonably well.

A USA with a fascist dictatorship would have caused huge damage to the entire world.
Just replaced Trump with Left wing zealots who refilled the Swamp
Any other normal country, Democrats or Republicans would be seen as conservative. So there is that hilarity. They'll get rid of some Trump things but will keep others.
The swamp itself is a smokescreen in a mirage! That was never going to be drained. Don't believe the soundbite.
Trump is an ex brand now. The glory days never came but still get valued.
And Black lives do fucking matter. They can't just put the band aid back on and pretend of special relationships and historic links.
# We've saw what they are-re #
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Re: How do folks in the UK view the 2020 U.S. election?

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drafsack wrote: Sat Jan 30, 2021 12:10 am Just replaced Trump with Left wing zealots who refilled the Swamp
We've already seen quite a bit of action from Biden's administration in a short time. They are acting in a calm competent way, and are very far from being 'zealots'.

The end of the Trump presidency was an attempted coup. I can't see how anything done by any other party is more 'swampy' than that.
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Re: How do folks in the UK view the 2020 U.S. election?

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Annoying Twit wrote: Sat Jan 30, 2021 8:54 pm
drafsack wrote: Sat Jan 30, 2021 12:10 am Just replaced Trump with Left wing zealots who refilled the Swamp
We've already seen quite a bit of action from Biden's administration in a short time. They are acting in a calm competent way, and are very far from being 'zealots'.

The end of the Trump presidency was an attempted coup. I can't see how anything done by any other party is more 'swampy' than that.
What worries me is that Biden is so loved by the media at the moment no one is asking any difficult questions and any discrepancy is ignored. Nobody has really challenged him on Hunters dodgy dealings and it will stay in the shadows until Harris decides she can use it against Joe to oust him and become the first female president - unless Joe croaks it before then.

Also got to be careful saying anything about Joe as Big Tech is watching and we don't want to be cancelled!!
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Re: How do folks in the UK view the 2020 U.S. election?

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drafsack wrote: Sun Jan 31, 2021 6:45 pm What worries me is that Biden is so loved by the media at the moment no one is asking any difficult questions and any discrepancy is ignored. Nobody has really challenged him on Hunters dodgy dealings and it will stay in the shadows until Harris decides she can use it against Joe to oust him and become the first female president - unless Joe croaks it before then.

Also got to be careful saying anything about Joe as Big Tech is watching and we don't want to be cancelled!!
There are political forums where far more than this is discussed with no consequence. I don't think there is any risk of being 'cancelled' for political discussion. I don't think anyone here is going to be making death threats against elected officials, plotting an insurrection, or engaging in gross sexism and racism. Not without censure of course.

There are many claims about Hunter Biden and 'dodgy dealings'. However, these claims do not typically bear scrutiny. E.g. https://www.politifact.com/article/2020 ... oe-biden-/ Note that the claims are often based on details that can be verified but the conclusions (e.g. of illegal behaviour) are not.

As for claims that Harris will replace Biden soon into the presidency... I've seen many of these. We shall see what actually happens. It's impossible to prove that there is no such plot except by waiting for four years (or less) to see if Biden is a voluntary one-term president (as he has suggested) or changes his mind. However, individual claims about Harris are typically based on no evidence. E.g. https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2 ... int-pence/ There are many conspiracy theories about Harris, and I apply Hitchen's razor to them: That which is asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.

I've seen an awfully large number of right-wing conspiracy theories proposed. E.g. by 'Q'. Those which have reached their temporal conclusion turn out to be false. Without actual evidence to support any new claims, I feel it's entirely reasonable to assume that the current crop of right-wing conspiracy theories will fare no better.

And please note: for this conspiracy theory to be shown to be true, it requires more than Harris replacing Biden. It would require evidence that this had been pre-planned, from before the election.
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Re: How do folks in the UK view the 2020 U.S. election?

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I ask anyone that's bitching about Biden already would you rather have Trump?
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Re: How do folks in the UK view the 2020 U.S. election?

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flashback wrote: Sun Jan 31, 2021 9:54 pm I ask anyone that's bitching about Biden already would you rather have Trump?
Unfortunately there are quite a few people who would rather have Trump. Even after his attempted coup, which makes him unambiguously the worst traitor in the USA of modern times, there are a lot of people who would rather have Trump.

A lot of that is based on false claims and conspiracy theories - e.g. claims that Biden is a hardline communist and in the pocket of China, that the election was 'stolen' and so on.

In our societies we need to think long and hard about how we ended up in such a situation. I'm in the UK, but the UK is hardly any better.
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Re: How do folks in the UK view the 2020 U.S. election?

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Annoying Twit wrote: Mon Feb 01, 2021 1:09 am In our societies we need to think long and hard about how we ended up in such a situation. I'm in the UK, but the UK is hardly any better.
2016 certainly wasn't a positive year for the whole idea of Western democracy. Disinformation campaigns fueled both the Brexit referendum and the Trump vote. On the latter, people like Seth Abramson have done some pretty good work uncovering the dark underbelly of the presidency. And I'm really curious to see how many of the legal issues he's now facing in several places will pan out.

As for Biden, I think what characterizes people who rooted for him is that we're perfectly aware that he's not perfect. Criticism is OK as long as it's not completely destructive. A lot of Trumpists were gravely offended when anyone suggested that he might be out of his depth (e.g. regarding the pandemic response).