Well, for me, I don't follow political news. I see memes. But I
don't care who is president. I never did. I vote and decide when
I close the curtain, but I'm "independent". Registered. Neither
party. I also know the technicality of it: My presidential vote
matters little while the others votes I make do. So, I'm not the
best example of this kind of thing. I kinda like Trump as an
entertainer. I don't care if he's president or not. A stick or a
theoretical physicist could be president. too. Not much would
change. == I suspect Hillary Clinton will be the next President.
I can give reasons why. There's also a stronger likelihood that
I'm wrong. It's not even that I like her. I don't care much for
her. But as in my la-la-land might want to believe that it's
possible for Bernie Sanders to become president, he won't. His
hair is messy. I think there was a Republican who stands a
chance too. I forgot his name though. Usually a republican
follows a democrat but not always. But again, stronger
likelihood that I'm wrong. But really, I don't care. I'll get
two choices around June 2016. I don't really know for sure who
they'll be. I've been surprised before. I'm sure I'll be
surprised again. == Oh, I wouldn't worry about civil war in the
USA. It happened once. It's not likely to ever happen again. I
suspect the news exports you get about the USA make things look
horrible here. But they're not. We just like to bicker loudly. =
The USA is a big, surprisingly boring country. Lots of stuff
seems to happen here. Not much really does. People go to work,
go to school, eat, shit, come home, go to bed. That's about it.
== Ahh, but you're seeing the horse and pony show. Consider
this: What happens when a president gets into office? Who do
they deal with most of the day? Senate. House. Supreme Court.
Military personnel. Advisers. The candidates are selected by the
Democratic and Republican National Committees. Look at the
members of the Democratic committee. How many of these names do
you know? National Chair: Debbie Wasserman Schultz[10] Tulsi
Gabbard, U.S. Representative from Hawaii[10] Maria Elena Durazo,
Executive Secretary*Treasurer of the AFL-CIO[10] Donna Brazile,
political analyst, campaign manager for Al Gore's 2000
presidential campaign Raymond Buckley, President of the
Association of State Democratic Chairs, Chair of the New
Hampshire Democratic Party R. T. Rybak, former Mayor of
Minneapolis, Minnesota Executive Director: Amy Dacey Treasurer:
Andrew Tobias, businessman, author, and financial self-help guru
Secretary: Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, Mayor of Baltimore[11]
Communications Director: Mo Elleithee[12] National Finance
Chair: Henry Mu*oz III[10] You've probably heard of Andrew
Tobias. Money guy. Beyond that? Probably none. I've heard of
none of them at least, except Tobias. THEY decide between
Sanders and Clinton. It doesn't MATTER what people think. It
_doesn't matter_ what's in the news. It doesn't matter who is
logically better. None of that matters. It matters what these
people decide. July 2016 they'll decide. They're politicians
mostly. Do they want a contrary guy who won't play along? No.
They want somebody who knows how the system works, who knows
what to do and what not to do. This is why Clinton will most
likely get the nomination from them. If they're SMART, they'll
have Bernie Sanders as VP. But it's more likely they'll pair her
up with someone who also plays well with others. Just how it is.
== Bah. Hype. Trump won't get in. Don't believe the news. Won't
even matter if he does. Anyway, he likes Putin. Putin likes him.
Mind you, that's smart for international relations. With Russia.
Nobody else. Let's see: I MIGHT be concerned if the Republican
National Committee believes that we need a single power:
USA-RUSSIA against the Arab nations. Or worse: USA-RUSSIA-EUROPE
against Arab nations. That'd be a very bad thing. Not likely to
happen though. Even if they like each other, won't matter.
Trump's hands would be tied as president for MOST things. ==
Again, popular vote doesn't matter. Elections *do* matter and
public support matters somewhat, but public doesn't cast the
votes. Clinton may not be popular with the people but she's
popular with the offline Press (newspapers and TV) and the
democratic national committee. That's still what matters in
elections. Internet hasn't changed anything. None of them take
the Internet seriously except for grassroots candidates.
Grassroots candidates don't make it. It's sad. They should have
a chance. == I don't follow the news Andy, just what's on
Facebook or what people tell me here. I haven't turned the TV on
in 2.5 yrs except for Doctor Who and haven't read a newspaper in
about 5 years. Britain is tiny. Size of my state of Florida. Not
that many people. USA is huge. Different rules here. You guys
seem to care about politics there. Here? We bitch about it but
don't do anything. Politics is ignorable for most people in the
USA. I vote because I was a Boy Scout. It's my civic duty. Most
people weren't boy scouts. They don't feel civic duty. They got
a joint to roll, a game to play. Sure, they'll get online and
say "ME TOO!", both on the Sanders side and the Trump side, as
the two most extreme candidates per party. But most republicans
and democrats alike will be home come election day, arguing
about politics on their headsets but both agreeing that
"elections are bullshit so I'm not going" and feeling perfectly
justified and smug. === They'd be fools to stick him up front.
ALREADY the White House THEMSELVES said that his Muslim
profiling idea was unconstitutional. That's a VERY VERY bad
sign. He can talk all he wants but when the white house press
secretary says that... which, by the way, NEVER HAPPENS... it
nailed his coffin shut, imo. The People want change. The
politicians who do the actual voting don't. The politicians want
things to run smoothly and slowly like clockwork as they always
have. It keeps them in their jobs. They continue to get paid.
You can believe the news if you like. You can believe that "this
time things will change". But let's be scientific here. If it
hasn't happened before that way, why would it happen now that
way? == Oh absolutely. He's a brilliant tactician although not
in the long term. His long term projects are quite often
failures. He's changed political parties whenever it suits him.
He's too "now" - he has no sense of past or future. == He's a
youtube commentator or philosophy forum troll playing politics.
== Politics is its own little world. Day-to-day life for
politicians runs VERY slowly. They go to work. They do
interviews and smile. They occasionally sign papers. They sit in
long meetings. They chat over golf. Sometimes they'll prepare
speeches on various local topics that matter to their
constituents. The Senate and the House sit in big wooden rooms
and listen to long speeches they give to each other for hours
and hours, days and days on end. Then they vote. It's not enough
to decide. So they do it again. Or they move on to something
else. The life of a politician is generally very SLOW, very
structured, very stable. It's their secret world that carries
the long and slow tradition. ==
