***Official Political Discussion Thread***

[me love nutella]

He killed an Iranian general.

He expanded the drone program and hid the death count.

But go on.

Under Donald Trump, drone strikes far exceed Obama's numbers

Trump has escalated the number of U.S. drone strikes overseas, and made the program even more secretive.

chicago.suntimes.com

I keep saying this: y'all got eyes, but you don't want to see. According to you, the regulars in this thread are falling for propaganda, but when the numbers come out, it's always the opposite.

Well yes, I AGREE WITH YOU there. I was saying that is the rhetoric and pandering he used, when damn well the Republicans and Trump are warmongers and getting on with Iran as that is Netanyahu's wet dream.

I was saying why his voters fell for the anti-war stance lies he spewed.

 

[Kierris]

Yeah but as soon as the veneer of public decorum is stripped away, all of that civility disappears.

Lol y'all doom and gloomers man... At what point in your life was what you described bed not the case; not just for politics but any public places where you're converging with people like school, work, events etc..

To reiterate my point. Most people are just trying to make it through the day. Most people aren't going out of their way to fw in real life just because you got different political views. Will there be incidents here and there? Sure but there what's been the case... You said it yourself. Your taxi driver is racist but neither you or him are purposely trying to make each other's day any harder because y'all have different outlooks are you?

The same way you made it through 2016-2020 ok is the same way you'll make it through the next 4 years ok. If you do live in an area where you're constantly being maligned and harassed because of your political views then I genuinely suggest you move brother.

 

[osh kosh bosh]

he's part of the problem in terms of turning away young men.

his audience is majority female.

 

[Cashflow]

The Dems have to start playing from the same playbook as the Republicans. Bringing knives to a gun fight just to feel like you have a moral high ground is costing folks too much.

 

[Kierris]

People are being nice at those rallies because they are excited to see Trump.

Except the narrative that's always been painted is that those rallies are hostile environments and that any poc will be be called a slur and/or assaulted for attending.

 

[staffsgtdignam]

Except the narrative that's always been painted is that those rallies are hostile environments and that any poc will be be called a slur and/or assaulted for attending.

Really? Why would they be hostile to people who are also there to support Trump?

I’m sure they are hostile to protesters but that obviously makes sense.

 

[DCAllAfrican]

Before I sign off for a little bit I want to say the following.

1. NT is a great community with some of the best people I’ve ever known.

2. Thank you all for the kind words and the support.

3. I will be back but I have to decompress. So many emotions in this that extends beyond the election loss as the last time my mom was herself before she passed was when we won in 2020 and she really wanted Trump to be held accountable. Grief is still a daily struggle.

4. We all need to regroup as Democrats and those sympathetic to democratic causes and figure out what to do better and how to get our voters to consistently show up.

5. I still believe that there are more good people than bad people but not enough good people participate in the political process.

6. Times will be hard but we will survive them and hopefully those that supported this nonsense come back into the fold during the midterms after they come to their senses.

7. Lots of good ideas being thrown out and I have confidence that we will come back stronger from this once a proper assessment is made.

8. Never give up and quit fellas. We can’t stop organizing and participating in the political process. When we don’t they win.

Jameson thanks you for your service.

 

[staffsgtdignam]

Lol y'all doom and gloomers man... At what point in your life was what you described bed not the case; not just for politics but any public places where you're converging with people like school, work, events etc..

To reiterate my point. Most people are just trying to make it through the day. Most people aren't going out of their way to fw in real life just because you got different political views. Will there be incidents here and there? Sure but there what's been the case... You said it yourself. Your taxi driver is racist but neither you or him are purposely trying to make each other's day any harder because y'all have different outlooks are you?

The same way you made it through 2016-2020 ok is the same way you'll make it through the next 4 years ok. If you do live in an area where you're constantly being maligned and harassed because of your political views then I genuinely suggest you move brother.

This is a great point.

Honestly, people need to spend less time online (yes I know this is fresh from someone like myself who is chronically on NT lol) and surround themselves with good people that make them happy in real life.

People who turn to politics, etc. to make themselves happy don’t ever seem to end up as such.

 

[wavycrocket]

Also, I think many people drastically underestimate the influence of social media political content creators. The likes of Adin Ross, or alternatively Hasan Piker on the left.
Parasocial behavior (comparable to the cultish devotion to Trump) is a rampant issue amongst streamers, and the influence they have on their communities should not be taken lightly.

Dana white with Trump this morning thanking those podcasters:





I want your thoughts on gamergate, and the entire manosphere being co-opted for this. Especially what Bannon, Musk etc have done

 

[D Fly]

Because he's gonna privatized it with the company he owns?

I can't really elaborate much, sorry.

 

[Belgium]

Lol y'all doom and gloomers man... At what point in your life was what you described bed not the case; not just for politics but any public places where you're converging with people like school, work, events etc..

To reiterate my point. Most people are just trying to make it through the day. Most people aren't going out of their way to fw in real life just because you got different political views. Will there be incidents here and there? Sure but there what's been the case... You said it yourself. Your taxi driver is racist but neither you or him are purposely trying to make each other's day any harder because y'all have different outlooks are you?

The same way you made it through 2016-2020 ok is the same way you'll make it through the next 4 years ok. If you do live in an area where you're constantly being maligned and harassed because of your political views then I genuinely suggest you move brother.

I have the privilege of not being American, being white and excellent finances. To illustrate a parallel with the extreme far right in my country, I'm not the one who's gonna bear the social and/or economic burden.

 

[keko jones]

 

[osh kosh bosh]

Also, I think many people drastically underestimate the influence of social media political content creators. The likes of Adin Ross, or alternatively Hasan Piker on the left.
Parasocial behavior (comparable to the cultish devotion to Trump) is a rampant issue amongst streamers, and the influence they have on their communities should not be taken lightly.

the question to me is it symptom or cause?

i think its symptom.

education polarization causes the media become more uniformly left-wing / progressive turning off male audiences.

a right wing media niche is created
influencers come in to fill the void.



if there was no andrew tate or adin ross, there would be someone else. thats why to me it's less about the influencers. and more about the structural elements.

as long as media production is so culturally left, and anti young male.
this will always be a problem for dems.

 

[osh kosh bosh]

whatever happens, there's gotta be a debate in the Democratic party.

no more unity, no more coming together.

people gotta fight it out and figure out what the direction of the partY is gunna be.

no more anointing people, people gotta fight it out. there's gotta be political competition.

iron sharpens iron.

 

[dacomeup]

Minimizing the majority of the thread minus a few disaffected/misinformed 3rd party voters and MAGA folks as being “doom and gloomers” is hilarious. We only saw inequality worsen and our standing amongst allies worsen, millions of people die from COVID, a SC appointed that reversed women’s reproductive rights that had been standing since the 1970s. What exactly are the positives that we’re supposed to be looking for here? Especially as they learned from the first time that they need to get rid of anyone who isn’t a pure loyalist from the administration in order to be able to fully implement their plan. I’m not sure if it’s just you being as a casual politics follower that doesn’t understand this, but the implications of a Trump term are real and will be felt globally. That’s not hyperbole.

 

[atlsfinest]

All we can do is laugh now. I'm a married, church-going father and make decent money. I hate Trump but at the end of the day I'm going to be fine. Normally I would feel bad for the people who will be negatively impacted by Trump's policies but seeing as most of them voted for him, I'll just sit back and laugh.

 

[rbk93]

whatever happens, there's gotta be a debate in the Democratic party.

no more unity, no more coming together.

people gotta fight it out and figure out what the direction of the part is gunna be.

no more anointing people, people gotta fight it out. there's gotta be political competition.

iron sharpens iron.

Seems like I hear this after every election. From either side.

 

[Belgium]

Dana white with Trump this morning thanking those podcasters:





I want your thoughts on gamergate, and the entire manosphere being co-opted for this. Especially what Bannon, Musk etc have done

I would say gamergate isn't really a thing anymore but those sentiments have absorbed into the manosphere to some extent. The same gamergate views are now just being seasoned with "WOKE/DEI" rhetoric.
Gamergate consisted largely of basement dwelling incels, and so does the manosphere to a slightly lesser extent, but obviously the manosphere's popularity isn't solely propped up by those kind of people.

Streamers with a big audience is guaranteed to create a parasocial dynamic with their community, no matter how much it is discouraged. These communities act like their favorite streamer/content creator getting in some sort of drama is some lifechanging event that saddens them and has an actual impact on their personal mental health. The more popular the content creator, the more of this unhealthy parasocial behavior and cultish devotion.
The likes of Adin Ross are resonating well with younger men, and his base can no longer be dismissed as just a bunch of incels and little kids.

I think their influence, as well as the likes of Elon Musk etc is understood and exploited by the Republicans, but not by Democratic operatives. Or at least not sufficiently.

I think it's a strange oversight by the Dems, after all the Russia investigation should've made clear that social media is a very valuable tool.

 

[WASHED KING]

he's part of the problem in terms of turning away young men.

his audience is majority female.

We had this discussion months ago up here about the left not having these same online creators for young men that the right do. I wish I could search up which thread we talked about it in but NT's search feature hasn't worked for me since the last update.

 

[gil23]

We should have all seen it. I had a feeling when the town with 6 people was split when in 2020 Biden took 5 votes.

 

[nonnative]

Lol y'all doom and gloomers man... At what point in your life was what you described bed not the case; not just for politics but any public places where you're converging with people like school, work, events etc..

To reiterate my point. Most people are just trying to make it through the day. Most people aren't going out of their way to fw in real life just because you got different political views. Will there be incidents here and there? Sure but there what's been the case... You said it yourself. Your taxi driver is racist but neither you or him are purposely trying to make each other's day any harder because y'all have different outlooks are you?

The same way you made it through 2016-2020 ok is the same way you'll make it through the next 4 years ok. If you do live in an area where you're constantly being maligned and harassed because of your political views then I genuinely suggest you move brother.

Honestly, this is an oversimplification of how a lot of people truly are. Yes, on any given day, people are just trying to survive but as we've seen time and time again, yesterday being maybe the biggest example yet, there are a lot of people that will gladly use their ballot to inflict their own personal brand of retribution and punishment and are excited to do so.

Take the trans soccer guy. He watched his kid play one game of soccer and decided that he wanted to inflict a lifetime of punishment on an untold number of people.

Or all of the people in small town Kansas or Nebraska voting on immigration. They're probably actually benefitting from immigrants but in return for some vague, nebulous gain they probably won't even get or see, they'll vote to guarantee the pain of millions.

So to say that people are just trying to live their lives is a rosy and frankly unrealistic analysis.

 

[HarlemShakeStory]

Thoughts from my perspective as a coastal Floridian:

- Kamala wasn’t a bad pick. She is likable and qualified. When she spoke she spoke with authority and charisma. Her campaign could have been improved though.
- Kamala campaign should have focused more on what they would do for average Americans. They spent too much time refuting Trump’s claims and not enough building her an identity.
- Kamala campaign should have worked harder to differentiate from Biden. Though Biden is fine, and economy is doing well, the public’s perception is that he isn’t doing a good job. Tell the people what they want to hear.
- People are incredibly misogynistic and racist. The memes and vulgar references to Kamala were gross. A lot of people should be ashamed of themselves (but won’t be). Sadly, I don’t think America is ready for a female president and won’t be for a long time.
- The democratic party has to go a little closer to the center to recruit independents and moderates. Every time we have been up against Trump (serial adulterer and scumbag) I think it is a great opportunity to appeal to traditional family values and yet we get stuck on the defensive while the right makes all sorts of wild claims about the left pushing things like transgenderism. Say whatever you want, but the “sex changes for inmates” ad did numbers this election cycle and shaped a lot of people’s views of Kamala.
- The democratic party has to go low. People are idiots and love gossip and conspiracy. If that is what the people want, give it to them. Trump was at center of Epstein controversy and is in dozens of photos with Puff. If the goal is to win election, you gotta push stuff like that.
- The democratic party has to get cooler, and not with traditional celebs. Skipping things like Joe Rogan was big mistake. Need more podcasters and influencers recruited to the left and pushing content. Yes, these people are oddballs, but this is reality and we can adapt or die.
- Latinos supporting Trump is nuts to me. Half of my family is Cuban and came over here seeking political asylum. It is hard to see the lack of compassion they have for other immigrants seeking the same things they sought a generation ago. Like a previous poster mentioned, we need to do a better job of recognizing the different groups of Latino voters and stop classifying them as one big group.
- White people want to feel like they are part of the upper class so bad that they keep buying Trumps grift because it makes them feel like they are part of that class of people. Dudes making $250k think they are rich and don’t care about middle class. They think Trump’s policies will benefit them somehow because in their eyes they are wealthy. Democratic party has to go low and paint a better picture of republicans as poor white trash. The data supports it. It will take a few election cycles but it needs to happen.

 

[1995]

I would say gamergate isn't really a thing anymore but those sentiments have absorbed into the manosphere to some extent. The same gamergate views are now just being seasoned with "WOKE/DEI" rhetoric.
Gamergate consisted largely of basement dwelling incels, and so does the manosphere to a slightly lesser extent, but obviously the manosphere's popularity isn't solely propped up by those kind of people.

Streamers with a big audience is guaranteed to create a parasocial dynamic with their community, no matter how much it is discouraged. These communities act like their favorite streamer/content creator getting in some sort of drama is some lifechanging event that saddens them and has an actual impact on their personal mental health. The more popular the content creator, the more of this unhealthy parasocial behavior and cultish devotion.
The likes of Adin Ross are resonating well with younger men, and his base can no longer be dismissed as just a bunch of incels and little kids.

I think their influence, as well as the likes of Elon Musk etc is understood and exploited by the Republicans, but not by Democratic operatives. Or at least not sufficiently.

I think it's a strange oversight by the Dems, after all the Russia investigation should've made clear that social media is a very valuable tool.

The way Gamergate was the jump off point for so much of this stuff doesn't get talked about enough

 

[Belgium]

the question to me is it symptom or cause?

i think its symptom.

education polarization causes the media become more uniformly left-wing / progressive turning off male audiences.

a right wing media niche is created
influencers come in to fill the void.



if there was no andrew tate or adin ross, there would be someone else. thats why to me it's less about the influencers. and more about the structural elements.

as long as media production is so culturally left, and anti young male.
this will always be a problem for dems.

I agree if not Tate, it would be someone else. Political influencers have been popular long before Andrew Tate even entered the picture.

 

[pmatic]