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[Neonivek]

By the frame of the government under which we live, this same people have wisely given their public servants but little power for mischief; and have, with equal wisdom, provided for the return of that little to their own hands at very short intervals. While the people retain their virtue and vigilance, no administration, by any extreme of wickedness or folly, can very seriously injure the government in the short space of four years.

From Lincoln's first Inaugural Address.

He is talking about how no matter how bad an administration is that it cannot just totally destroy the government.

He isn't talking about how much actual damage an administration can do and how long it could take to repair said damage.

Not to mention a LOT of things in Lincoln's time is simply not true anymore. For example you cannot enslave children anymore (Abolished about... 1930)

[EnigmaticHat]

Man I am just thinking about how many presidents the USA will have to go through to undo the damage Trump did.

Rome wasn't built in a day, but it was destroyed in one.

Rome survived a lot of terrible leaders.

To be blunt, as long as Trump's base is still around, "undoing the damage" is optimistic.  The dude didn't exactly hide what he was going to do.  Like we can talk about how Trump is different, but is he?  None of his hateful ideas are unusual among the Republican party, none of his plans would be particularly out of place among the conservative media sphere.  Hell, we talk about how weird it is he got elected, but the only weird things are his party outsider status and the fact that he had zero government experience.  If you remove those two things, the general outline of his political career looks a whole lot like Reagan's.

The only thing Trump and the current congress has said or done that has angered Trump's base at all is threatening to remove their healthcare.  And that's because it affects them.  You bet your butts if these people had for some reason voted Obama in, they would have been cheering on the Pakistan drone strikes that liberals keep giving Obama shit for.

They're going to elect another bad president sometime.  Even if they only get it through once every few election cycles, that means that every other American president is going to have to excel just to keep the country from declining.

[Neonivek]

Yeah but it is kind of annoying that positive change requires constant vigilance from a team of presidents.

I hesitate to think what would have happened if... magically... it was Trump who became president instead of Obama

Plus a LOT of what presidents do... seem to be undoing the last president

It seriously makes the next president of the USA seem pointless because their job is to just undo Trump (and deal with the looming economic crisis >_<)

---

I mean... we had torture, we got rid of torture, and now we have torture back.

[hector13]

That's the joy of a two-party system. They're never going to compromise because it means compromising with the only competition. The fact that each party is also polarizing further and further from each other means compromise is getting less likely than never, too.

[Neonivek]

That's the joy of a two-party system. They're never going to compromise because it means compromising with the only competition. The fact that each party is also polarizing further and further from each other means compromise is getting less likely than never, too.

So basically the whole "Parties would be forced to compromise based on what the people want, regardless if it coincides with the parties personal wishes" is starting to evaporate?

But that is the only thing that makes democracy work...

Though someone has said that it is a natural cycle of democracy. What will happen is basically... A party will collapse and need to be reformed. It is why the democrats aren't KKK slave lovers today (though I am not sure how accurate that ever was)

[Strife26]

Yeah but it is kind of annoying that positive change requires constant vigilance from a team of presidents.

I hesitate to think what would have happened if... magically... it was Trump who became president instead of Obama

Plus a LOT of what presidents do... seem to be undoing the last president

It seriously makes the next president of the USA seem pointless because their job is to just undo Trump (and deal with the looming economic crisis >_<)

---

I mean... we had torture, we got rid of torture, and now we have torture back.

Yep, Gen. Mattis has totally thrown the manual about interrogations out the window and replaced it with a sticky note that President Trump scribbled on. 

[Neonivek]

I don't know if you are being sarcastic as in "Ohh come on don't exaggerate"

Or going "Yeah, it is pretty bad"

Because both are fair interpretations. Actually it is kind of funny when a phrase can be taken in completely opposite directions and both are equally valid.

[hector13]

Given Strife's military background and the respect Mattis apparently maintains among military folk, I suspect the former

[Dorsidwarf]

I don't know if you are being sarcastic as in "Ohh come on don't exaggerate"

Or going "Yeah, it is pretty bad"

Because both are fair interpretations. Actually it is kind of funny when a phrase can be taken in completely opposite directions and both are equally valid.

You could almost say that they're two...

Alternative facts

(/s! /s!)

[Neonivek]

Given Strife's military background and the respect Mattis apparently maintains among military folk, I suspect the former

According to the research while Trump fully supports torture and wants them to reinstitute it...

He isn't actually going to do it himself... or at least has yet to sign an executive order to do so.

[Strife26]

Followed by Mattis effectively saying "hell no" and Trump shrugging and deferring to judgment.

[Neonivek]

Followed by Mattis effectively saying "hell no" and Trump shrugging and deferring to judgment.

Yeah he seems to be quite vehement in not bringing it back.

It is almost like the people most in favor of torture are the people who don't have to do the torture.

[PTTG??]

That's the joy of a two-party system. They're never going to compromise because it means compromising with the only competition. The fact that each party is also polarizing further and further from each other means compromise is getting less likely than never, too.

Prove that the liberals are getting more extreme.

[Neonivek]

That's the joy of a two-party system. They're never going to compromise because it means compromising with the only competition. The fact that each party is also polarizing further and further from each other means compromise is getting less likely than never, too.

Prove that the liberals are getting more extreme.

Not... extreme... Polarized.

But... if you want proof... what about the riots and strikes because Trump won the election?

[EnigmaticHat]

If anything, I would describe the democrats as a left leaning moderate party.  Radically liberal only in comparison to their opponents.

Bernie Sander's voters weren't moderate, but in a lot of ways he was a return to our roots.  His proposals had more than a passing similarity to the New Deal.

That's the joy of a two-party system. They're never going to compromise because it means compromising with the only competition. The fact that each party is also polarizing further and further from each other means compromise is getting less likely than never, too.

Prove that the liberals are getting more extreme.

Not... extreme... Polarized.

But... if you want proof... what about the riots and strikes because Trump won the election?

Ah yes, the great anti-Trump inauguration riots.  Reminds me that one time a Bernie Sanders supporter picked up a chair and put it back down.  Its amazing how effortless it is for liberals to riot.  I wonder if I've ever rioted...