Discussion of Political Memes & Politics

You’re not gonna get anywhere with Trump in this thread :rofl::rofl: it’s explicitly pro-Biden.

Fwiw, I think all old white men who hold or held a position of power for some time have some racism in them.

I’m glad one of them was crowned, maybe shit can settle and we can get back to moving forward instead of all the bickering back and forth with the politicians and their based and I think that’ll be easier with Biden as POTUS.

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Harris2024, because old white men had their chance. I’ve been employed in a professional capacity for quite some time now and the best bosses I have ever worked for have been women.

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Agreed!! And well said!

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I’m going to be the resident party pooper and point out that while the media might have called Biden the winner, they don’t actually get to choose who won. The Bush/Gore thing took 35 days to resolve and the president isn’t chosen in November. All we are doing is voting on electorates. I’m not saying people shouldn’t be excited that Biden seems to be the one who will win, but I think it would be prudent to wait on actual celebrations until we get word from the government about who won and not media.

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It is not ambiguous. Check out the PA state government website. Biden is ahead beyond the recount bar. That’s why the news outlets reported it. There is absolutely no evidence of ambiguity or fraud. Even beyond the fact thatBiden won the popular vote by almost five million votes. It’s a problem for democracy when powerful people don’t accept the results of legitimate democratic elections. But let’s hope the courts and rule of law still function well enough that it won’t matter. https://www.electionreturns.pa.gov/

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Oh you’re right. It is a super big tragedy that Biden voters destroyed cities all summer long

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Maybe they wouldn’t be angry if their friends weren’t in danger from a coupke sour apples in the police and right winged vigilantes like Kyle Rittenhouse :thinking:

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Also right. Maybe they wouldn’t be.

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It is tragic - seriously. Violence is tragic. America is many things, and one of them is over two hundred years of violence against Native Americans and black & brown populations, by people from all political parties (Whigs, Democrats, Republicans, and others).

The riots that rocked America this summer happened because there was no constructive response from America’s executive leadership about the tragedy of American racial violence.

People need their leaders to lead them in a constructive response to tragedy. George W Bush did this well, after 9/11, when he emphasized the difference between radical Islam, and healthy Islam. Barack Obama did the same thing in his responses to the shooting deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile (and others), in his speech in July 2016, calling for respect for police officers, empathy for the victims of racial violence, and bipartisan action to heal the damage. Both these presidents led the nation in a constructive response to a tragedy in America. Totally different parties. Same constructive response.

The riots that rocked America this summer, and the preventable deaths of thousands of Americans from COVID, have one cause. It has nothing to do with political parties. There are good potential leaders in both parties. The problem happened because of a failure of leadership.

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Negativity is the disease of the human race

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And the cure’s the same as what we use to stay sober: be grateful, stay humble, learn, work, and keep connected in constructive ways. :innocent:

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The overwhelming majority of protests were peaceful, however I think the violent ones had a far great effect. We’ve seen more progress in the last 6 months than we have in the last 60 years as far as racial equality goes. Plus no one from BLM stormed a state capitol building with machine guns because they were upset over wearing a mask. No one from BLM attempted (and got caught trying) to kidnap a sitting state governor. Those were white supremacists and trump voters. We can play tit-for-tat all the live long day on who was more wrong, but at the end of the day the most divisive and outwardly antagonistic president in history is gone. It’s time to put in the work. I have a feeling most trump voters will probably come back towards the middle now that the huckster is gone. And to them I welcome them back in to reasonableness. And for the ones who continue his rhetoric and hate speech (looking at you Mitch mconnell) well they can fuck right off.

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I live in a big city. I’m a proud Philly resident. Our city was not destroyed. Good things happen in Philadelphia. We have one weird orange guy and it’s enough. There were some fabulous peaceful protestors, advancing the cause of racial justice, which in a better world would be a non partisan issue. There was some looting in the wake of the marches. I don’t know how the looters vote. Probably a mix. It was not that big a deal. It’s a symptom of poverty and pent up energy. The stores were mostly rich chains. We had a neighborhood cleanup after one protest had a few incidents in local stores, and it was beautiful seeing people work together. There was some police over reaction. The local government recognized there needs to be more change in policing. It’s an ongoing dialogue. I’m thrilled the protests happened. Like most big cities, Philadelphia votes Democrat. Why would that be, if the city was really being destroyed? That’s just the fear monger narrative on some of those ads…it’s a story, not real.

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It’s reflective of a cultural divide, that the meme thread and the discussion thread aren’t the same people. We live in two different versions of the USA, which is an incredibly divided country. You can’t talk across genres. How do we communicate, if some people discuss and some meme? Idk but I think it’s one of the biggest questions.

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I think the really hard thing is listening, I find that to be the case anyway. If I hear something I disagree with, I automatically want to say what I think, why I think my opinion is right and theirs is wrong. Especially when I perceive there to be inherent injustice in the other person’s point of view. When everyone is so passionate it is understandable. It is easier to be measured in writing, when you can edit and re-read and rephrase, take the time to consider and contemplate. But it doesn’t stop people reading what they want to see! And obviously memes are not designed to be considered or calm, they are for cheap laughs and viral posts.

I was listening to this radio show Across the Red Line, I posted about it before, using Conflict resolution principles to explore politically sensitive topics. All about seeing the other point of view and coming at it without your own biases, finding the common ground and working from there, accepting the differences and working for compromise on both sides. It’s really hard. That’s why we are where we are I suppose!

Editing to add, I think you can talk across genres… But people do need to be willing to listen. I wonder if something the internet does is make the opinions of people we wouldn’t otherwise hear from more visible (excuse the mixed metaphor!). We tend to discuss with people who are interested in discussing. The people who aren’t interested in discussing weren’t before, but memes, or whatever, give a new platform to those voices. Whether that then amplifies those voices and opinions, I don’t know. I think it’s probably too early to say with any certainty.

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That’s something that I’ve seen coming up a lot recently, in lots of different contexts. The media narrative and the rise of the internet as a significant media platform means that information that is not equally legitimate often gets given equal weight.

In the UK, as in the US I believe, there is a significant groundswell of opinion against the ‘mainstream media’ from both sides of the political divide. It is interesting that, in seeking to get away from perceived bias, many people end up consuming stuff that is even more biased, totally unregulated and advancing the interests of who knows who!

Your example is a brilliant one of the importance of getting off our screens and into the real world to see a true picture of things as they are.

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Maybe… maybe in the same way that you can’t breed across species. Different flowers, plants, animals. But they are unquestionably linked and dependent on one another. They nourish one another and keep the cycle of life moving.

The key takeaway - if we are looking to nature as our example - is the interdependence. If it’s possible in nature, it’s possible among humans too.

I think it’s important to note that these ‘false narratives’ are presented to both sides. You could equally argue that the reason it voted Democrat was because of the narrative presented to left leaning people. It’s not exclusive to any particular group. Big tech have had an immense impact on this polarisation. This is fascinating/disturbing in equal measure.

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VP Pence is coming to Sanibel today, he has a place here. I guess he’s been coming here for 30 years from what I read.
They close the causeway an hour before he arrives and when he leaves.
UPDATE:
It was cancelled. Just wanted the truth out there, lol

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