LogFAQs > #965295285

DrPrimemaster posted...

When the 2016 election happened how much did people talk about the supreme court seats being a primary factor?

It's something that comes up nearly every time a polarizing candidate is running and one of the Justices seems to be getting old enough for there to be a risk of retirement/death. Both sides tend to get paranoid about it and say things like "We can't let the other guy get elected, or he'll have the power to appoint and sway stuff for years."

It also comes up afterward, when appointments actually occur, where the "other side" to the President tends to be obstructionist assholes bent on subverting anyone they pick. Because the hope is that you can eventually push through a compromise candidate or at least wrangle concessions that will benefit you.

Like most aspects of the US government, the two-party system fucks things in general, because everything becomes more of a game between two opposing teams than it does individuals sincerely doing what they believe is right or what will fix things.

The two party system and career politicians are the root of the vast majority of problems we have with government. Which is why some people always like to point out that George Washington warned against both of those things, and we basically ignored him.



Nichtcrawler X posted...

It does appear like your Republicans are willing to fight dirty, while your Democrats are not.

That's mainly because you're a foreigner, whose entire understanding of the US political system mostly comes from what you hear people say on the Internet. Because there's a very strong bias online to emphasis the problems with the Right while downplaying the problems of the Left.

You have a very skewed perception of what's actually going on.

Though it's not like you're alone in that - plenty of Americans have a childishly simplistic view of what's going on as well. Which is what makes most political "discussions" on sites like this or Twitter so painful to slog through.