politics
Welcome to the discussion of US Politics!
Rules:
- Post only links to articles, Title must fairly describe link contents. If your title differs from the site’s, it should only be to add context or be more descriptive. Do not post entire articles in the body or in the comments.
- Articles must be relevant to politics. Links must be to quality and original content. Articles should be worth reading. Clickbait, stub articles, and rehosted or stolen content are not allowed. Check your source for Reliability and Bias here.
- Be civil, No violations of TOS. It’s OK to say the subject of an article is behaving like a (pejorative, pejorative). It’s NOT OK to say another USER is (pejorative). Strong language is fine, just not directed at other members. Engage in good-faith and with respect! This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.
- No memes, trolling, or low-effort comments. Reposts, misinformation, off-topic, trolling, or offensive.
- Vote based on comment quality, not agreement. This community aims to foster discussion; please reward people for putting effort into articulating their viewpoint, even if you disagree with it.
- No hate speech, slurs, celebrating death, advocating violence, or abusive language. This will result in a ban. Usernames containing racist, or inappropriate slurs will be banned without warning
We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.
All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.
That's all the rules!
Civic Links
• Congressional Awards Program
• Library of Congress Legislative Resources
• U.S. House of Representatives
Partnered Communities:
• News
view the rest of the comments
That's not true! I've met some people that voted for Trump in 2016 that have come to regret it.
I can't say the same thing about people that still plan to vote for him in 2024, though.
I might get downvoted to hell for this, but hopefully you hear me out before you do. I knew nothing of politics most of my life prior to 2016. It was never on my radar and most of the time when I did vote it was essentially just how my family members voted. I did not think for myself back then. That was my mistake. And so I voted for Trump the first time knowing nothing outside of the "email scandal". But my own ignorance and laziness to be informed is no excuse.
I have since been on a vigilant crusade of self reflection and self correction to better understand myself. This mistake on my part which has motivated me to spend the rest of my life to be more informed, not just politically, but also with history, economics, social and culture issues as well, the whole nine yards so to speak. Within Trumps first 100 days in office, I knew I made an absolutely huge, huge mistake and I vowed never again. In the years that have followed, I've amassed a wealth of knowledge I previously never had from learning more of the Constitution of the US/Bill of Rights, as well as my states own Constitution, and I've read numerous books on US history from how the government functions, to Civil War to Civil Rights to better inform myself of how we got here.
I've been in horror watching everything unfold since 2016. Not being politically aware/involved before this was my mistake. I've read books from my local library on How Democracies Die to How Fascism Works to better grasp what is going on because having perspective matters. Looking back, I can see the type of media my family consumed affected my decision at the voting booth, but it was my mistake that I never dug deeper or tried to objectively learn the truth of things. I used to be the type that naively thought "both parties are the same" (they absolutely are not), but it was my mistake to remain ignorant for many years.
Shortly after the 2016 election, I was second guessing myself, thought I was taking crazy pills, and everything Trump was saying and doing I was in major conflict with. Prior to 2016, I never read/heard political news, but after 2016, everything I read was political news. Ignorance may have been bliss, but it's no excuse not being informed. That was my mistake. I did a few of those 'which political party are you' type of online quizzes. Turned out my views on social issues, drug issues, prison reform, environmental issues, education, military, etc were aligned 80% of the time with the Democratic Party. Really blew my mind, since I was more or less raised to vote Red. Diving into History and learning about the Republican tactics from the Southern Strategy to Obstructing anything Democrats do, to blowing up the deficit while in office, to only cutting taxes for the wealthy, to saying they support the troops but do nothing for them, to overturning Roe v Wade, among 100 other things they've done really woke me up that I've been misled for so long.
I hope to never make a mistake like that again. My family is all still very pro-Trump, I'm the black sheep in the family, but I don't care what they think knowing what they are still willing to support. Since 2016, I've had numerous debates with my family, almost always civil discussions, but they always move the goalposts...they never move an inch from their Republican entrenched mindset since they watch/listen to Fox News and right wing AM radio every single day. It was my mistake I ever listened to them. I hope to never make a mistake like that again.
tl;dr I naively voted for Trump in 2016 and within the first 100 days instantly regretted it and vowed never again to make a mistake as monumental as that by being better informed. Took an online test, turned out I was always Democrat leaning with my views on issues.
I appreciate the self-reflection and steps you've taken to better understand yourself, your surroundings, and the world. No downvote from me; you're exactly the type of person that we need more of.
It's easy to armchair quarterback this. There were a lot of unknowns, and a lot of projection going into 2016. There was also the fact that Clinton, for better or worse, was deeply unpopular. There was also a lot more faith in the system to keep him from doing much harm. It seems obvious now, but it wasn't clear back then exactly what we were walking into.
As an example, there were voices saying from the beginning that he would refuse to leave office. But the way the system is designed, the person doesn't leave office, the office leaves the person. Once the term ends (automatically, I might add), they become just another trespasser in the white house. He would have to launch a fucking coup to stay in power. Well, guess what happened....
Above all else, he showed exactly how fragile the entire system is and continues to be. In the 3 years since, we have done almost nothing to fix that. This is why it's so alarming to people that he could win again.
The fact that there are some who came to learn from this mistake gives me some hope for this country. I just hope there are enough of them.
morons didn't want to know anything.. every single person who voted for him can eat shit..