Off Topic Thread 3.0

Rigor Mortis wrote: »

The really instructive thing in all of this is that as of a Harris poll yesterday 44% of Americans still approve of the job Trump is doing. While I think Trump is a complete tool, it still strikes me that mainstream media in the states, as in the UK and to a lesser degree Ireland, remains hugely out of touch with the population.

It also suggests to me, that America is a failed experiment of trying to force together completely disparate entities. While I would be a strong European, i think there are lessons we need to learn from the US.

Actually the news is at the core of those issues. Right wing hate radio and Fox news have turned everyone into the enemy. The fear mongering is insane. Just look up Alex Jones (who Trump has quoted) and google some of his finest moments.

Media in Ireland isn't always great, but you have to appreciate how central they are politically for the most part.

I love the poll back when Trump approved the air strikes in Syria. The ABC poll found:

37 percent of Democrats back Trump’s missile strikes. In 2013, 38 percent of Democrats supported Obama’s plan. That is well within the margin of error.
How about Republicans? Well, that’s a wildly different picture:

In 2013, when Barack Obama was president, a Washington Post–ABC News poll found that only 22 percent of Republicans supported the U.S. launching missile strikes against Syria in response to Bashar al-Assad using chemical weapons against civilians.

A new Post-ABC poll finds that 86 percent of Republicans support Donald Trump’s decision to launch strikes on Syria for the same reason. Only 11 percent are opposed.

Two sets of air strikes in retaliation for Assad using chemical weapons. Identical circumstances but look at the swing. Democrats stay the same, but Republicans shift from 22% against Obama and 86% in favour of Trump. For doing the exact same thing.

These people are hopeless. America needs to invest heavily in education or the "failed experiment" tag will prove true.