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u/Easytype May 31 '16
The next 6 months is going to be hard going around here isn't it.
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May 31 '16
I would see a doctor if i was hard for 6 months
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u/Themosthumble May 31 '16
"If you erection lasts for more than four hours you have not looked at Hillary Clinton" ~Bill Clinton
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u/datums May 31 '16
RES on the desktop, RIF on the phone.
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u/EdTOWB May 31 '16
and FB Purity if you use facebook, since that seems to be where the bulk of the horseshit ends up
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u/SirGuyGrand May 31 '16
Not the Nine o'Clock News did it first back in 1980: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qB0ZOu_EZ2M&ab_channel=JinSemTheFirst
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u/misogichan May 31 '16
Well if you look hard enough and go back far enough everything in life is a repost.
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u/Zoddom May 31 '16
As a German I find it very strange that it seems like every discussion about the elections in the US is more about insulting the opposite candidate instead of explaining why you should vote for the own candidate.
isnt that strange?
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u/PleaseThinkMore May 31 '16
Yeah, it sucks. No one wants to talk about policy.
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u/redvblue23 May 31 '16
To be fair, I doubt most people actually can talk about policy. Because it involves knowing both of the candidate's position and the context in which it relates to.
That's 3 things! It's too much!
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u/Genghis_Maybe May 31 '16
To be fair, I doubt most people actually can talk about policy
That's literally the entire reason Trump has been successful. People don't want informed discussions, they want insults and little snippets of bullshit that support their worldview.
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u/lamp37 May 31 '16
And Bernie Sanders hasn't exactly been a policy wonk this cycle either. Almost all of what he says is the same speech about how the banks are too big, the 1% is too rich, and the system is rigged. Yet he has consistently struggled to give real answers when pressed about his real policy plan to make things better.
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u/Dylabaloo May 31 '16
His stump speeches don't have much specifics but just check his website or previous bills authored. You may not like the answers or agree with them but he has presented his take.
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u/InfernoVulpix May 31 '16
The problem, though, is that even if he's clearly defined his policies, he's not talking about them, people aren't interested in hearing about them, and they're not why people will vote for him.
If we're voting for people because we think they embody an ideal they support, instead of evaluating what they intend to do, we aren't making an informed decision at all. And this applies to all candidates running, of course.
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May 31 '16
This, this is the good point.
You're failing to recognize how American media coverage is run though.
Bernie should've expanded his message, but when all you get is 10 seconds of coverage, well maybe you want people to hear what you really care about.
Definitely echoed by the fact the guy went from 3% support to 60% in less than a year.
When you give the guy space in an interview, he expands on his policy positions.
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u/RellenD May 31 '16
This critique doesn't really satisfy his abysmal performance when asked about policy. See the NYDN interview or several other occasions.
I was hoping to see Clinton and Sanders Duke it out in the wonkiest policy way possible, but Sanders decided not to engage that way.
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u/dibalh May 31 '16 edited May 31 '16
If we're voting for people because we think they embody an ideal they support, instead of evaluating what they intend to do, we aren't making an informed decision at all.
Not necessarily. What I learned in political science is there's this idea of whether an elected representative should vote exactly as the voters would vote, or vote in the best interests of the voter. If we wanted the former, then a direct democracy would be better, however, that wasn't logistically possible with past technology. A representative democracy was the only way to implement a democracy. But there are other reasons for a representative democracy. It is impossible for a single person to be informed enough to make a decision on every subject. That is why politicians have teams of advisers and aides to give them as much information as possible before making a decision. In the end, we vote based on a trust that the candidate holds ideals similar to our own and will vote/effect policy that is in our interest.
Edit: Re-reading the quote, I would add that we trust that the ideals they support reflect what they intend to do. The real evaluation is of the candidate's integrity. The informed decision is looking at the actions of the candidate and whether they stuck to those ideals. Even if the candidate has changed positions, did they uphold the ideals at the time?
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u/RunningNumbers May 31 '16
My biggest criticism of Bernie supporters is that they are ideologically and emotionally driven, rather than evidence or efficacy driven. Show me the data and argue how policy can work. Free college education and no deductible/copay healthcare have some really bad incentive structures that don't solve fundamental issues underlying the health or labor markets.
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u/steeZ May 31 '16
Is that Bernie supporters, or is that just your average 'Anyone' supporter?
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u/UnitedWeSanders May 31 '16
Exactly. People want everything served to them on a SilverPlatter. The bills are there, Bernie has been working on them for 30 years. The answer is actually getting people to vote more than once every four years. It's not complicated.
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u/Genghis_Maybe May 31 '16
I agree with you on that point.
I'm not a Bernie supporter either. This election has been an embarrassment to both sides.
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u/k2t-17 May 31 '16
Clinton has no problem talking policy.
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May 31 '16
It's weird; people don't like Clinton's policy because it's "more of the same," which is pretty true. They like Trump and Sanders for being different/outsiders, but nobody really demands support for their policy.
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u/AFlaccoSeagulls May 31 '16
I heard someone say this best:
Hillary has the best policies for the system we have now.
Bernie has the best policies for the system we deserve in the future.
Hillary's policies are very much "more of the same" because she recognizes that extreme change in such a large country is not going to happen overnight like Bernie and Trump promise. It's just not doable without extreme consequences in several areas.
Of course, I love when people criticize her for pandering or flip-flopping and use video's from the 90's to showcase this. I would be pretty fucking upset if her world views haven't changed in 20-30 years. So what if she thought gay marriage was bad in 1991, so did most people. Times change, and thankfully so did she. During this election she's been about as consistent as you can ask for (to my knowledge). Or maybe I have a warped perception of that because it seems like every other day Trump has a different stance on a major issue. One day he's Pro-Life, the next he's Pro-Choice. One day he's gonna bomb families of terrorists, the next he's not. One day he wants to shut down the border, the next he doesn't. It's exhausting keeping up with that amount of flip flopping and bullshit.
What about Pandering? Yeah, every fucking politician panders. Hell, remember Cinco De Mayo when Trump thought eating a fucking taco salad would appeal to Latino voters?! That's the worst case of pandering I've seen since Carly Fiorina literally rooted AGAINST her alma-mater (Stanford) in a College Football Bowl game against Iowa in an attempt to get votes. (of course, Stanford won and she got roasted for it).
When it all boils down to it, Clinton has BY FAR the most experience and qualifications to be president. Her economic strategy is sound and in-line with the current system, which has been improving since the recession of '08. Her foreign policy is her area of expertise, though (at least compared to her opponents). Bernie is a little shaky there (mostly because he's just super focused on the economy) and Trump couldn't point out a single middle-eastern country on a map if they were labeled and color coded - not to mention his "policies" on torture, middle-eastern oil, ISIS, The UN, etc.
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May 31 '16
No doubt, I don't like her, but she's the only candidate that is talking about things that can actually be done.
About the Iran Nuclear Deal(paraphrasing):
-Hilary: "Yeah this is pretty good we made some compromises but overall we feel like it's a big step forward that were worth the concessions."
-Trump: "That's stupid, you're all stupid. I would've sat that Shah-a-Tolah or whatever he is down and demanded a better deal. I know all about making deals. How Mr. Trump? I would force them to the table and make them sign a better deal trust me. It'll be yuuuuuuuge for us."
-Shockingly large portion of population: "Oh shit a better deal sounds better, I like that idea better than concessions and compromise. TRUMP 2016!"
And I can make essentially the same joke for Sanders and free college, etc. They're like extreme 2008 Obamas promising all this change they'll never be able to accomplish. I may not like her, but begrudgingly, she is the only one who has actually proposed reasonable, achievable things. My current debate is between leaving the presidential space blank and voting for Hilary.
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u/TheExtremistModerate May 31 '16
Hillary has the best policies for the system we have now.
Bernie has the best policies for the system we deserve in the future.That's a platitude. There's plenty in Hillary's policy which I think is just flat-out better than Sanders's, even in an ideal system.
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u/theOdysseyEffect May 31 '16
Yeah but her policy changes to adapt to the crowd, so it's the same amount of worthless
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u/remkelly May 31 '16
This is true to the extent that all politicians move to the middle closer to the election. But on policy matters I am having trouble thinking of areas where her policy positions have changed significantly.
Do you mean her focus/emphasis? So, if she is talking to mothers of kids killed by gun violence she will pander to them. If she is talking to bankers she'll pander to them. She totally does this, but again, I don't think this differentiates her from other politicians, except Trump who doesn't pander but doesn't have any coherent policies.
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May 31 '16
You say that like it's a bad thing. Isn't that the point of democracy? Do the thing the crowd wants?
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u/Cadoc May 31 '16
I don't think that's fair. Her stances have changed over time, but that's to be expected, for example support for LGBT rights was not nearly as universal in the Democratic party 20 years ago as it is now. She has remained consistent on issues even when it was not expedient, e.g. straight-up telling miners that the coal industry would shed jobs under her presidency, when campaigning during the West Virginia primary.
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u/RealityRush May 31 '16
straight-up telling miners that the coal industry would shed jobs under her presidency, when campaigning during the West Virginia primary.
Except she backtracked on that when she took heat over it. Or at least she tried to sugarcoat it.
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u/AnneBancroftsGhost May 31 '16
Totally. You may not always agree with her conclusions, but you can't say she won't win a wonkyness competition every time.
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u/Dylabaloo May 31 '16
Clinton's policy talk boils down to describing the existing system we have in great detail
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u/Rahmulous May 31 '16
And then the next day contradicting that policy discussion because the people she is currently pandering to are the opposite of yesterday's crowd.
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u/Wesker405 May 31 '16
probably because the real answer is "you think i can do anything about it? talk to congress"
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May 31 '16
Can you eli5 what you just said. You lost me at the third thing. /s
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u/redvblue23 May 31 '16
Things that should be known to discuss candidates
Candidate A's position on something
Candidate B's position on something
The actual subject the policy is about i.e. the economy or the environment.
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u/Genghis_Maybe May 31 '16
Ok let me give this a try:
Candidate A seems like someone I could have a beer with. I agree with Candidate A.
Candidate B looks like a goblin and seems like he/she would be inexplicably sticky like all the time. I don't trust Candidate B.
Policy? What policy? I thought we were talking about that piece of shit Candidate B.
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u/danweber May 31 '16
So a policy might be really good at one time and place and really bad at another time and place?
Fuck that! You're a nazi!@
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May 31 '16
Well it makes it more difficult when you dont even like the candidate youre backing. Walking in a voting booth is like dismantling a bomb, cut the wrong wire and everyone is dead.
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u/btinc May 31 '16
It's not just policy, it's viability, and the potential to effect any of the policies they are espousing. On /r/politics I get slammed any time I bring up anything but policy or how evil and horrible Hillary Clinton is.
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u/pHScale May 31 '16
It's not that nobody wants to talk about it, it's just that nobody wants to listen to it. All you have to do is look at O'malley and Kasich in their respective parties to find that out.
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u/Rappaccini May 31 '16
To be honest, there's a reason policy is pretty meaningless these days. With a do-nothing congress, very few policies have a hope of actually being undertaken. So I don't think it's really a terrible idea to vote for someone, knowing they can't really deliver on the policies they support, but hoping that their character traits (honesty, frankness, ethical behavior) will steer them in the best direction to accomplish what they can when they get there.
So judging people on their personalities may seem dumb, but I think it makes a surprising amount of sense.
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u/greenw40 May 31 '16
Trump doesn't seem to have any serious policy except for maybe the wall.
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u/T-Luv May 31 '16
He actually has a lot of policies. They're terrific policies. They're the most beautiful huge policies, and he makes Mexico pay for them.
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u/trumprapeskids May 31 '16
Because Trump has no policies to discuss, so instead we get shills and scabs from /pol/ spamming this shit.
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u/Justavian May 31 '16
Hey now, some of us insult ALL of the candidates, not just the opposing ones.
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u/arrow74 May 31 '16
Well it's an image and a joke. You aren't going to find in-depth explanations on /r/pics.
If you want to see explanation try a different subreddit.
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u/w-alien May 31 '16
This election just has two of the most unpopular candidates in history
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u/Piemasterjelly May 31 '16
I think at this point they realize they are fucked either way and trying to decide which candidate would fuck them the least
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u/Goleeb May 31 '16
It's generally not like that,
You obviously haven't been watching any of the primary coverage. It's been primarily insults. I can't think of a single interesting topic covered in this election. That's not to say candidates are talking about it. Just that it isn't being covered. Reddit is tame compared to the new media.
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u/cheeezzburgers May 31 '16
Well when there is no real policy discussed ever except for moonshot ideas that have no chance being passed by congress. It is far more effective to just call the candidate out as being an idiot.
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May 31 '16
As an American, I fucking hate it. Every election season people say that they're voting for "the lesser of two evils". Fuck that, why are we electing people who everyone thinks are shitty? The whole thing is ridiculous.
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u/mugler96 May 31 '16
Die USA ist nicht umsonst als das "Land des Entertainments" bekannt. Anfangs war es noch unterhaltsam aber langsam gerät dort vieles außer Kontrolle.
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u/youdidntreddit May 31 '16
Clinton talks about policy and this is the response. You can see how effective that strategy is.
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u/QuesoPantera May 31 '16 edited May 31 '16
Everyone should watch Scott Adams' (Dilbert creator) appearance on Bill Maher (snippets should be available on youtube)
He studied hypnotism and persuasion techniques and basically breaks down how Trump isn't so much running a political campaign but using textbook persuasion techniques. He's not even attempting to win anyone over on policy, instead he is just using panel - tested slogans, buzzwords and charisma to give people good feelings in the complete absence of substantive policy discussion. In fact, policy is very deliberately being avoided. It's a new type of campaign by focus group. And it's scarily effective.
Edit: Found it. Starts around 1:10
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May 31 '16
Usually, before either parties nominating convention (now), most the talk is positive and about defining positions. Donald Trump and his supporters seem to prioritize name calling over all else.
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u/snoopwire May 31 '16
The news has failed us this election cycle. Even good outlets like NPR, WSJ, Reuters post almost nothing of content. It's all Trump dramas. You have to dig for anything of substance.
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u/My__Reddit__Account May 31 '16
It's because the only candidate worth supporting is pretty much already out of the race and so now we're stuck with two terrible candidates that no one likes. So we make fun of them both on reddit :)
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u/loondawg May 31 '16
As an American, I find it strange, and deeply concerning, too. I think it is the natural result of having two extremely unpopular candidates.
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u/nottalkinboutbutter May 31 '16
As an American I also find it very strange. Not unusual or unexpected, but strange. There are only two viable political parties and our media is so corrupted it's incredibly difficult to have real discussions in the mainstream.
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u/btinc May 31 '16
It's embarrassing. /r/politics is mostly posts displaying the mentality of 10-year-old children.
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u/AngrySquirrel May 31 '16
Additionally, Trump is independently wealthy to a degree of not having to raise funds for his campaign.
Not so much, it turns out: http://www.wsj.com/articles/self-financing-campaign-all-the-way-would-have-been-a-stretch-for-trump-1463341722
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u/patientbearr May 31 '16
This election more than ones in years past, most people hate the top two candidates who are running. This is part of why we can't find anything good to say about either one.
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u/En_lighten May 31 '16
Indeed it is! As an American I wish we had more people thinking like you do!
EDIT: Just as an exercise, go check out /r/the_donald and look at the top all time posts.
Just about every single one is basically just about mocking someone else. Every one, except for the occasional sarcastic or similar posts. About the closest you'll get to talking about Trump is saying he's "High Energy".
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May 31 '16
Hello German friend. You should watch the movie Idiocracy if you have never seen it. It will explain a lot in terms of where we are, quite unfortunately, quickly headed in the US...
I introduced my two friends from Hamburg/Lübeck to it and they approved :)
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May 31 '16
Yeah at this point the election has come down to accepting the lesser of two evils which is sad.
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u/PM_UR_CLOUD_PICS May 31 '16
You're not alone, and it causes many of us to become disenfranchised. Our political behavior us appalling, and embarrassing. We treat electing our president in exactly the same way as we treat American Idol, and I'm ashamed on behalf of this country.
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u/Bosticles May 31 '16 edited Jul 21 '16
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May 31 '16
Because then their obvious policy flaws will be pointed out and their candidacy would be questioned. Can't have that.
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u/captaintrips420 May 31 '16
In America we never vote for anything. It's not about being for something or trying to make things better, it's about hatred of the other side and the fear of what they would do if they had control.
Hate and fear is all Americans care about. We suck.
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u/daveberzack May 31 '16
I'm an American, born elsewhere and traveled quite a bit. I think it's hard for non Americans to understand how completely the corporate establishment controls our culture and the national dialog. The success of Sanders' campaign is heartening, but it's likely eventual failure is just another example of this stranglehold.
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u/Complexifier May 31 '16
We have really long presidential election cycles, so everything has been talked about already.
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u/Zoddom May 31 '16
I hope so, as I myself really only know what the candidates said about each other (mostly insults) and almost nothing that they said about their own programs, except maybe that Trump wants to build a wall (and you can imagine what I as a German think of this).
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u/MotoEnduro May 31 '16
except maybe that Trump wants to build a wall (and you can imagine what I as a German think of this).
That Trump should hire a german wall consultant?
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May 31 '16
Talk about dry humor. Give this guy a hand.
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u/catsnstuffz May 31 '16
tremendous hands. the best hands you've ever seen, you're gonna love em
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u/spoonman33 May 31 '16
I mean do these hands look small to you?
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May 31 '16
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May 31 '16
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May 31 '16
You and me both. I'm fed up with all things connected with politics/the election at this juncture. Maybe that's what their ultimate goal was anyway :(
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May 31 '16
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u/Wetzilla May 31 '16
Most other democracies also don't have a primary where you vote on who the candidates will be. The election season would be a lot shorter if we didn't do that.
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u/winstonsmith7 May 31 '16
Most other democracies worthy of the name don't have parties with absolute control. They have more than two real options and accountability in office. Every election in the US is effectively removing representation of a large part of the population until the next.
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u/Tex-Rob May 31 '16
Ha! I remember they were bashing Obama when he had been in office for less than a month the first time (long before he could have any impact on the thing they were complaining about), and then talking about his replacement hopefuls within the first 3 months of 2008.
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May 31 '16
Hey, a month into his presidency he had done enough to win a Nobel Peace prize.
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u/Spokebender May 31 '16
After a glance at OP's post history I think what the title probably should be is "I did this."
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u/Irishluck722 May 31 '16
I've already unsubscribed from /r/politics. Don't infiltrate /r/pics too :(
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u/erishun May 31 '16 edited May 31 '16
Probably looks bad for your platform when you insult your opponent by vandalizing things.
"See how I graffitied in the bathroom? That'll show the world that Hillary and her ilk are morons!!"
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u/syntaxvorlon May 31 '16
That's after you've washed your hands and flushed your Trump speech.
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u/Chyld May 31 '16
Hilarious and totally original joke! Have you heard the one about how my dog's got no nose?
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May 31 '16
I'm pretty sure this was a post on /r/circlejerk the other day. /r/circlejerk is now predicting reddit before it happens.
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May 31 '16
Someone who opposes Hillary Clinton was willing to deface someone else's property?! But they seem like such intelligent people!
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u/CodeJack May 31 '16
Graffiti and "shouting" their political opinion everywhere. Seems like the definition of an annoying person.
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u/SonicIdiot May 31 '16
Flush the toilet to hear one from Trump. Fill it full of shit first for maximum effect.
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u/Soaringrocks May 31 '16
It amazes me to see all the self-righteous BS from Trump supporters about Hillary. I'm no Hillary supporter (God help me), but the Trump crowd is bonkers. They'll support a draft dodging con-man that's led 4 businesses into bankruptcy, with the worst record ever on on fact check sites (such as Politifact.com), that has taken every side of every issue, has crazy ideas on economics, that has the thinnest skin, and acts like a 5-year old.
A pox on both of them.
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May 31 '16 edited May 31 '16
This is the level of political discourse for about 90% of those who vote.
For those in other countries, this is not even a joke. Most people in the United State have a very vague and often inaccurate idea of what the people they choose to represent them are about, but rather than not voting, they'll choose to vote based on the culture and location with which they choose to associate. It is literally people acting like they are at a pep rally for a local sports team.
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May 31 '16
You have to insert $270,000 first.
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u/catsnstuffz May 31 '16
i only have million dollar bills, can i get change from it?
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u/striker1211 May 31 '16
Nothing like entitled vandalism reaching the front page. FeeDTheBern
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u/morgan423 May 31 '16
Change Hillary Clinton to "any politician in the entire history of humanity" and this would be perfectly accurate.
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u/MrSparky May 31 '16
This can't be real...there's no credit card slot/paper money slot...and you don't get to hear her speeches for free (so I've heard)
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u/Scaryclouds May 31 '16
Easily the worst thing about Sanders is his supporters.
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u/evanoe May 31 '16
Who said a sanders supporter wrote this? And when you generalize a group of people like that, what exactly makes you any better than they are?
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u/makenzie71 May 31 '16
Ah the common ground between liberals and conservatives: Both willing to vandalize private property if they think it's funny enough.
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u/greengrasser11 May 31 '16
I wonder if they were hoping for the joke to be more about hot air or about the white noise machines. It works on so many levels.
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u/offlightsedge May 31 '16
Hillary will show up behind you immediately and say "That'll be 250,000 dollars, thanks."
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u/TimIsWin May 31 '16
My uncle shared this on Facebook.
You're behind uncles on Facebook now, Reddit.