Talk about life.

[Avaitor]

Shit, that's a lot!

[Spark Of Spirit]

Glad to hear you're alright.

[Commode]

Thanks guys.

[Peanutbutter]

I got banned from Freakin' Awesome Network.



Didn't flame or insult anyone, just had a bit of an argument with a member about a wrestler named Roman Reigns and whether or not he's considered to be in the midcard. Wasn't even heated, just a back and forth. Not a warning or a PM just straight to a ban. Guess its just as well, they're too squeamish about ANY conflict whatsoever over there. Any disagreements that are slight heated and a thread gets locked.



Plus they have two mods, one of whom is immature about things like Sonic, and another who is condescending as heck. Guess I shouldn't take it as a big loss but it sucks because I made a few friends there and now they'll wonder where I went.



Really love the straight IP ban too. Could at least let me lurk but I guess not.

[gunswordfist]

Being American sucks.

[Dr. Insomniac]

Really weird to watch Chinese news, and hear them go "You know, Obama was okay. But Trump will be an improvement." I wasn't even watching conservative Chinese news or anything, which made it weirder.

[LumRanmaYasha]

It's not really a surprise to hear that China and Russia see Trump in power as a good thing.

[Dr. Insomniac]

It's not really a surprise to hear that China and Russia see Trump in power as a good thing.

Even when I was talking to Chinese relatives, they were like "Hillary probably would have been worse", "Presidents are just cogs, and everybody's just overreacting", and "Trump's not rich for nothing, maybe he'll actually make America great again". I guess it's relieving, if still troubling, to hear that perspective on the outcome.

[LumRanmaYasha]

That's interesting. Maybe it's a difference in perspective from a more conservative and less politically inclined older generation that figures Trump's character and "success" as a businessman will translate well into economic policy. Most of us who are worried about what Trump's going to do have been primarily concerned about the damage he'll do to social policies, welfare, and public healthcare, which I can see foreigners not really care about since that won't affect them directly, whereas Trump's economic and foreign policies will.

[Dr. Insomniac]

I'm still quite against Trump and wish the Democrats had more competency to get a hold on the government, but hearing the moderate side is making me reconsider things. I've always hated radicalism and think that radical liberals and conservatives are both equally responsible for making politics a joke, so maybe we should lend an ear to the centrist side. Besides, expecting Trump to actually build a wall or to launch nukes on nations that peeve him won't go without tens of thousands of protests or government conspiracy nuts keeping him busy.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Yeah, the radicalism and sensationalism that's invaded politics and informed rhetoric in both parties in these last couple of years and especially pervaded this election has been concerning, so I'm hoping Trump winning the presidency will be a wake-up call for both Democrats and Republicans to move back towards more moderate positions. I'm not worried about Trump building walls or launching nukes since there's a lot that'll keep him from doing anything that crazy, but when you have someone who's been openly racist, misogynistic, homophobic, and anti-islamic in office, with the House and Senate filled with likeminded radical republicans that support similar views, you can't help but be concerned about the rights and civil liberties of a lot of people being at risk. Especially when you consider that this was the first election we had in 50 years without the protections of the Voting Rights Act, resulting in suspiciously less polling places being set-up in areas with dense minority populations, and well, I think we've seen the consequences of that.

[Dr. Insomniac]

I did find an interesting article as to how Trump used strategy to win.

[Peanutbutter]

With everything WikiLeaks has on her, I'm just very glad it wasn't Hillary.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Trump certainly knew how to get Clinton to say what he wanted her to and make her respond to him in ways that she thought were good rebukes but really played into his hands and the image he wanted to depict her as that alienated her to many voters. Clinton approached this election and her debates with Trump conventionally, but Trump was playing a different game entirely, and knew how to really hit her where it hurt and get her to say things that would damn her far more than she could ever do to him. A set of skills he's honed from decades of business negotiations and selling his image as a public celebrity, no doubt.

[Foggle]

I'm of the opinion that Clinton was simply a bad candidate whose blatant pandering and insufferable stans made voting a chore for all but the staunchest of neoliberals. She subscribed to the modern performative "feel-good" progressivism that's so popular online these days (i.e. calling anyone who disagrees with her racist/sexist/etc. instead of having actual progressive values) - her dislike of guns and promotion of LGBT rights only began last year and were specifically crafted as a smokescreen to win the primary. She wasn't anti-war - her foreign policy was actually more hawkish than Trump's in some ways. She wasn't against the Dakota Access Pipeline or fracking. She egotistically expected black people to vote for her without actually communicating with their communities on any issues. She pretty much completely wrote off the entire working class while Trump sought to win them over. It's telling how, once Sanders was out of the picture, she and her party courted Bush-style Republicans instead of concocting meaningful left-wing policies. Hopefully we can get a true progressive candidate in 2020.

I mean, don't get me wrong, I'd vastly prefer a Clinton presidency over a Trump one; hell, I voted for her. But I'm really not surprised The Orange Demon ended up being the victor. I've been expecting it for months, to be honest.

Yeah, the radicalism and sensationalism that's invaded politics and informed rhetoric in both parties in these last couple of years and especially pervaded this election has been concerning, so I'm hoping Trump winning the presidency will be a wake-up call for both Democrats and Republicans to move back towards more moderate positions.

Hillary Clinton is the definition of a moderate Democrat, really. She's actually farther right than Obama in a lot of ways (e.g. her opinions on Syria, Iran, Snowden, etc.). She just came across as radical because her party and supporters were incredibly snobbish and refused to understand any grievances their critics may have had. This is what I meant when I referred to "performative progressivism:" stuff like the "if you aren't in favor of banning guns outright you are a bad person" shtick she upheld until the moment she defeated Sanders in the primary and then conveniently forgot about. She apparently thinks banning all firearms among civilians would somehow keep criminals from obtaining them and police from murdering innocent people, which couldn't be further from the truth.

If we want the country to improve, the party needs to take a hard left, in my opinion. I'm not talking about going full Karl Marx or Joseph Stalin, but the policies and ideas of Bernie Sanders would be an excellent starting point. We need a candidate with real compassion for working people who can also be tough on the ruling class slowly destroying our country without coming across like your average 16-year-old Tumblr blogger.