What is happening to America today?

[0Scarlett_nidiyilii]

If you’re not Catholic and you’re not American, what exactly is your dog in this fight?

For the life of me I couldn’t imagine trying to dictate to another nation and religion about which candidate had their best interest at heart.

You’re not in this country, so there are nuances you simply couldn’t understand.

 

[JonNC]

That’s remarkably sad.
I’m not a single issue voter, unless one views strictly limited government just that, but I view the right to life essential to a free society. That’s why what happened to George Floyd was so egregious.

 

[JonNC]

I’m sorry, Jharek, I don’t see the lives of soon to be born human beings that way.

For me, that’s sad.

 

[EmilyAlexandra]

If you’re not Catholic and you’re not American, what exactly is your dog in this fight?

I suppose mostly that, like many people around the world, I think Donald Trump is an absolutely awful human being who is unfit to be the president of the most powerful country in the world.

For the life of me I couldn’t imagine trying to dictate to another nation and religion about which candidate had their best interest at heart.

I am not trying to dictate anything to anyone. I am merely expressing an opinion, just as many people who are not British (including Donald Trump) have not held back from expressing their opinions on British politics.

You’re not in this country, so there are nuances you simply couldn’t understand.

True, but I do sometimes feel that I know more about the United States than some Americans I know. I did study American history at Oxford and have remained a keen observer of all things American since. I have a friend who is American, a Columbia graduate, and she makes me wonder just how much American history some Americans are actually familiar with. For example, she recently staggered me by announcing that she had never heard of Juneteenth and didn’t know what it commemorated. Even when she tried to find out what it did commemorate, she got the idea that it was the date on which slavery was abolished everywhere in the United States. She had never heard of the Emancipation Proclamation or the Thirteenth Amendment. In an entirely separate conversation, I discovered that she did not know that a person called Grover Cleveland had been president of the United States once, let alone twice. This is only one example, of course, and it may be that my friend is unusually ignorant of her own country’s history.

 

[EmilyAlexandra]

Instinctively, I tend to agree with many of the more left-wing policies, but I also appreciate that for a party to get into power and get things done, it does need to appeal to the centre ground. There was a lot that I didn’t like about Tony Blair, but he achieved more as prime minister than Jeremy Corbyn achieved in opposition.

Speaking of Blair, it turned out, of course, that meeting with the IRA was actually rather a good idea. Of course, many would argue that the prime minister meeting with the IRA is quite a different thing to a backbench MP meeting with the IRA, and they would have a point.

But, yes, I think when it came down to it, the antisemitism in the Labour Party was possibly the decisive factor for me. Not so much that there are anti-Semites in the Labour Party, since there are presumably anti-Semites in all parties, but the fact that it seemed to be essentially tolerated by the party leadership. IIRC, Corbyn admitted in an interview with Andrew Neil that a party member had published Holocaust denial material and had merely received a warning not to do it again, and the warning hadn’t even been issued with any kind of haste.

 

[0Scarlett_nidiyilii]

I suppose mostly that, like many people around the world, I think Donald Trump is an absolutely awful human being who is unfit to be the president of the most powerful country in the world.

I’m sure you’re aware that DJT wasn’t elected in a vacuum.
Unfortunately, the choices we had in the last election were really poor.
Neither Trump nor Clinton even got 50% of the popular vote.

I guess I get annoyed because here in the States, there is a left-wing narrative that acts as if there were absolutely splendid candidates available, but the Trump voters did so on purpose just acting out of stupidity, insanity or malice.

 

[Dr_Meinheimer]

You are the only one who keeps saying that. Lots of support for Biden still, but there is a reason why McCauliffe wants him to stay off camera, nd why they are trying to defend not having debates. There is video after video of him. Here is one of the latest; he is reading, mind you:

Biden says, "I believe this, every fiber of my being: we're posed. What I proposed is ... (long pause) ... it can be done."

Eventually he gives up on trying to read what's in front of him. #BarelyThereBiden pic.twitter.com/2mtxLeWJPM
— Trump War Room - Text TRUMP to 88022 (@TrumpWarRoom) July 8, 2020

 

[EmilyAlexandra]

You obviously have a very conservative view of what you believe to be American values. I do not think that there is any serious degree of abridgement of freedom of speech, freedom of religion, or due process in the United States at the present time. I think these are rather alarmist concerns raised by people on the right. As for the right to bear arms and the benefits of limited government, clearly not all Americans agree with you.

Trump was certainly fortunate to become president at a time when the American economy was doing rather well.

@0Scarlett_nidiyilii I would agree that the Democratic Party seems to have something of a track record of putting forward less than stellar candidates for election. Possibly Martin O’Malley would have been a better candidate in 2016, but unfortunately the primaries very quickly became all about Hillary and Bernie. Obviously O’Malley won’t be very popular on this forum as a Catholic who is also pro-abortion.

You are the only one who keeps saying that. Lots of support for Biden still, but there is a reason why McCauliffe wants him to stay off camera, nd why they are trying to defend not having debates. There is video after video of him. Here is one of the latest; he is reading, mind you:

Please watch the entire speech, not just this one clip:

He speaks perfectly cogently for a quarter of an hour.

 

[0Scarlett_nidiyilii]

I do not think that there is any serious degree of abridgement of freedom of speech, freedom of religion, or due process in the United States at the present time.

Let’s put it this way.
There have been serious challenges to our freedoms that had to be faced in court.
And there are people who faced lawsuits for practicing their beliefs, and church-run schools that had to fight for the right to hire teachers who wouldn’t directly contradict the beliefs of their religion.
So are people being jailed for their religious beliefs?
No.
But people of faith have to be constantly vigilant for sneaky attacks. And fight back.

 

[PaulinVA]

You’re not in this country, so there are nuances you simply couldn’t understand.

I work for a company in the UK, and I find it very interesting to discuss their perception of what’s going on here (US). Sometimes it’s funny, and sometimes it’s insightful.

I suppose mostly that, like many people around the world, I think Donald Trump is an absolutely awful human being who is unfit to be the president of the most powerful country in the world.

Well, yes, there’s that.

I guess I get annoyed because here in the States, there is a left-wing narrative that acts as if there were absolutely splendid candidates available, but the Trump voters did so on purpose just acting out of stupidity, insanity or malice.

I blame the Republican Party for allowing the election of Trump. There were a lot a very qualified Republican candidates in the primaries, but the RNC totally borked the whole thing.

They allowed a clown getting no more that 30% of the primary votes to get the nomination. They should have quickly winnowed the field from 16 to 3 so they could have a real contest. The Democrats did that this year.

 

[Dr_Meinheimer]

I suppose mostly that, like many people around the world, I think Donald Trump is an absolutely awful human being who is unfit to be the president of the most powerful country in the world.

And that would matter if you got a vote.

The opinion of Non-Americans is something people may consider when they vote, but many others don’t care. Just depends on the voter. I am guessing Germans don’t spend much time weighing how Americans view Angela Merkel when they vote. I suppose I could be wrong.

 

[JonNC]

You obviously have a very conservative view of what you believe to be American values. I do not think that there is any serious degree of abridgement of freedom of speech, freedom of religion, or due process in the United States at the present time.

That’s why I said they are under attack, not gone. We still have time, but Biden as president would hurt the cause.

I think these are rather alarmist concerns raised by people on the right.

After reading a few of your posts, I can understand why you might feel this way. That’s not a knock, just an observation.

As for the right to bear arms and the benefits of limited government, clearly not all Americans agree with you.

Which is why I thank goodness we have a constitution that protects the inherent rights of the individual. It takes more than a few progressive politicians to codify a denial of rights.

Trump was certainly fortunate to become president at a time when the American economy was doing rather well.

I wouldn’t characterize a 1-2% GDP growth rate as “doing rather well”.

 

[Boatswain2PA]

I suppose mostly that, like many people around the world, I think Donald Trump is an absolutely awful human being who is unfit to be the president of the most powerful country in the world.

Probably because of the source of your news.

The news here does the same thing to him. Fortunately most US voters understand most of the news organizations are worse than he is.

 

[EmilyAlexandra]

Probably because of the source of your news.

The news here does the same thing to him. Fortunately most US voters understand most of the news organizations are worse than he is.

I tend to get my news from a range of sources: the BBC, Sky, LBC, The Guardian. Broadcast media in the UK is strictly regulated and is not allowed to express political bias. Print media is different. The Guardian, for example, is very clear that it has a left-wing editorial bias. However, print media in the UK is also regulated to the extent that it cannot publish things that are simply not true. The quality of news reporting in The Guardian is very good: there is a distinction to be made between its editorial content, which is clearly left-wing, and its new reporting, which is very reliable. The main reason I read The Guardian is because it’s not behind a paywall and its website doesn’t carry so much advertising that it’s impossible to actually read the stories. Like I say, most of my news comes from the BBC, Sky, and LBC, which are required by law to be free of political bias.

I wouldn’t characterize a 1-2% GDP growth rate as “doing rather well”.

My point is, it is by no means clear that Trump is actually responsible for the growth of the economy. He became president when the economy was entering an upwards trajectory. Similarly, Gordon Brown is widely blamed for the decline of the British economy during his premiership, when, in fact, he simply became prime minister just as the global economy was about to be hit by the biggest financial crisis in living memory.

Which is why I thank goodness we have a constitution that protects the inherent rights of the individual. It takes more than a few progressive politicians to codify a denial of rights.

Yes, there is much to be said for the US constitution and also much to be said for other systems of government. Both have their advantages and their disadvantages.

 

[EmilyAlexandra]

The opinion of Non-Americans is something people may consider when they vote, but many others don’t care. Just depends on the voter. I am guessing Germans don’t spend much time weighing how Americans view Angela Merkel when they vote.

They probably don’t consider the opinion of Americans. But they probably do consider the opinion of other European nations, given Germany’s position as the most powerful country in the EU (previously tempered by Britain’s position as the most powerful EU member state on the world stage, although not the most powerful country in the EU in terms of purely EU affairs).

Certainly when choosing who to vote for in a UK general election, I would consider how well I think the leader of any party would represent the UK abroad. That is one reason why I did not vote for either of the main parties, because I didn’t think that either Boris Johnson or Jeremy Corbyn could represent the UK to the rest of the world. Keir Starmer, who hopefully will be our next prime minister, is somebody who has the intellectual credibility and personal dignity to restore Britain’s status in the world after more than a decade of poor leadership.

 

[Bill_B_NY]

I think Donald Trump is an absolutely awful human being

Why do you think he is an absolutely awful human being unfit to be president?

 

[F_Marturana]

I personally think many of the Republican candidates were a better choice at the time.



I can see voting between him and Hillary as picking him as the lesser evil.

But what about the primaries?

The debates featured him bragging about his size of his boy parts.

 

[EmilyAlexandra]

Just for example:

Can you tell me which other US president has behaved the same way? Obama? No. Bush Jr.? No. Clinton? No. Bush Sr.? No. Reagan? No. Carter? No. Ford? No. Nixon? No, even Nixon, the only US president to resign from office, didn’t not behave this way.

 

[JonNC]

My point is, it is by no means clear that Trump is actually responsible for the growth of the economy.

Agreed, but Obama was clearly responsible for restricting the economy through taxes and regulations. No president creates new jobs or grows the economy. That is the work if free markets and entrepreneurs. But presidents are often responsible for limiting economic growth.

He became president when the economy was entering an upwards trajectory.

The economy was flat, in the slowest economic recovery since WW ll.

Yes, there is much to be said for the US constitution and also much to be said for other systems of government. Both have their advantages and their disadvantages.

The biggest disadvantage to other US constitution is it was not explicit enough on limiting central government power.

 

[JonNC]

I personally think many of the Republican candidates were a better choice at the time.

Clearly, Cruz for sure, and even Rand Paul. Rubio would have been fine.

But what about the primaries?

The debates featured him bragging about his size of his boy parts.

That’s not what won it. What won it for him was his willingness to “punch Back”. In 2012, Newt’s high water Mark was when he punched back against the hostile leftist media. That’s what Trump did, but far more often.
Republicans are tired of our leaders being timid. That’s what won it.