Not exactly new, but as the date for the mid terms draws closer, concerns and discourse are mounting that the Reps and particularly DJT, will refuse to accept any results he doesn't like, and has been planning for a long time for all manner of tactics to interfere as he deems necessary, including canceling the election altogether.
It's really quite something to watch the major superpower become a 3rd world, corrupt, strife-ridden, shambolic state, in real time.
Its like the fall of the Roman empire.
The problem for us is we're one of the 'provinces' and it will have an impact on us in terms of things like defence. USA and reliablity don't really go together at the moment....and it's not something we can rely on. I'm not sure we ever could, but there was a degree of comfort in the idea that we had an ally who would have our backs.
I'm not sure where we fit when the 'Three Amigos' meet to divide up the World.
The issue lies not with the everyday run-of-the mill citizen who are able to make the distinction between the radical nonsense and ridiculous suggestions The problem comes when the extreme messages get taken up by those suffering from a mental issue or extremist views and are then acted upon. Sometimes it only takes a sideways glance or comment to trigger that behaviour.
The ears pricked up when it was revealed that 'anti-terror' personnel were involved in the investigation of the Haines incident. Terrorism?
It turns out that one explanation may be that at some point a 'once fan', most likely suffering from mental health isssues, has been put off by a comment, perhaps even in a private conversation or message, and that has triggered him to the extent that he carried out the offence.
The alleged offender's parent's have suggested a long term friendship with Helen Haines. At the very least they were acquainted...and that would probably have extended to their son. They reportedly appeared have at one time shared similar views on a number of social and environmental issues
The extent of any realtionship, motives and the mental health of the offender will be for the courts to decide...but it does remain that the events are almost always the result of inflammatory messaging that sets off the 'not right-minded' to act aggressively.
There is going to be a lot of angry posters come 28th November
Not me! I live in Queensland.
Seriously though, I just think what you folk are going to end up with is a bit of a mess, with no party having absolute control or a mandate and reliant on deals and compromise to get legislation through.
A political entitie's relevance is pretty much tied to their ability to draw support. Do they have enough support to be a part of the decision making process? Will they be the ones to control the spending and policies affecting the people voting for them?
Now in the case where Green representation and suport may allow a Labor government to hold on to power, the Greens may possess that ability. Is it a more likely scenario that it is a centre/right conservative group or coalition that will emerge with the control of the purse?
I suspect that's the expectation... and why ON has a degree more relevance than the Greens at the moment. Can either win enough seats to have a big seat (or two) at the table when decisions are made? We'll have to wait and see.
See this is the point that some are making. It's easy to rite off ON as "populist" or call them whatever names you like, but it's a choice, which is about the only thing we have left. Who is actually worth voting for and can form a viable, effective government - in for example Victoria? Labour is clouded in a miasma of corruption and incompetence, and the Libs haven't been an effective opposition for years. Plus they couldn't be trusted to run a chook raffle. In the end it's personal choice, the only part of the Democratic process left to us.
That's quite true. And given the failure of the traditional major parties you can see that some may look to something different.
It may be that the attraction of an alternative needs to be tested by a spell in power before folks understand the ramifications of that choice. It's possible that experience would put the alternative to rest once and for all.
But the major problem I'm guessing at is that the Victorian election will throw up a dog's breakfast...and stability will be difficult to achieve.
Folks are free to vote for who they like. And naturally we gravitate towards those parties that reflect our own views and values.
I suspect the big issue facing Victoria once the election is over will be stability. If no party has an absolute majority they are going to need the support of a secondary or minor party to govern. The combinations available probably suggest there is little chanc of that being a stable or sustainable relationship.
One of the problems One Nation faces, and we saw it in the SA election, is that their support probably wont be even across the board. They'll be strong in some areas but poor in others, and that won't necessarily translate to a lot of seats...but it might, as their support is fluid and their influence increases with the current impotence of the LNP.
A One Nation-LNP coalition wouldn't last as long as a snowball in hell and any relationship is likely to be one decided on individual pieces of legislation.
You would probably be back at the polls next year.
Then there's the loose cannon that is One Nation's leader. Who will probably want to have some influence in Victoria.
You can see Barnaby Joyce, (who's bit of a loose cannon himself, but a little more politically aware) standing beside Pauline and it's almost like he's thinking to himself..."Please don't say anything stupid that I'm going to have to go out and explain or defend."
Independent MP Helen Haines was attacked outside her Wangaratta electorate office this afternoon. A white 4WD did a u-turn before pinning Ms Haines against the boot of her car. Bystanders intervened and detained the 43 year old driver of the 4WD who was apparently armed with a knife and was subsequently arrested by police.
By all accounts, Ms Haines is a serious, decent and grounded regional MP who is genuinely admired both within and beyond her electorate and by people who wouldn't normally vote for independents.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has confirmed that counter-terrorism police are investigating the attack.
Information is still sketchy at this stage but, if the reports are accurate, it is an appalling act by a person who doesn't deserve to live in our country.
As is the usual case we need to wait for the details behind this... Some will guess at motives, which really helps no-one at this point. The fact that counter-terrorism police are involved probably increases speculation.
Hopefully Ms Haines recovers well, but there seemed to be a real seriousness in the tone of Albanese when he was talking about it, that suggests she's not in a good way. I had a work colleague caught between his boot and a car crashing into the rear of his car...the 'crush' injuries were severe.
I recall the lines becoming very blurred around socialist, conservative and anti-communist policy, which I think gave birth to the DLP out of ALP roots. I did learn a bit about this at school, but that's a long long time ago!
Did we have some recent invocations of the DLP allegory that turned out to be veiled fundamentalist Christianity, all linked to more radical conservatism?
I just like the jingle... I didn't think we were worried too much about policies and the best mob for the job .
That about sums it up. We do have a protesting component but we're mostly a group that will look at that sort of behaviour and shake our heads, let alone get involved in it. If you want to turn us off your cause...take to the streets and start burning or breaking stuff. The repsonse will be "Wake up to yourself"
It really is a pain in the bum to try and keep two threads operating on the same topic. It also makes the thread hard to follow as we switch between overseas and local.
I see you've made comment on the situation in Europe in the Australian politic thread Shawny and related it to the Australian situation. That's the way to do it if we want to make comparisons.
This thread has over 300 pages and is U.S specific. With the shenanigans I expect with the mid-terms in a couple of weeks it's probably going to get pretty busy in here so let's keep the two separate.
Just took a trip down memory lane and read about twenty pages at the start of this thread. We got a bit sidetracked on the Zika virus for about ten pages before getting back on track.
Lot's of old faces that are no longer posting but still might be visiting from time to time. We seem to have been right with some predictions, but well wide of the mark with others. It makes for funny reading at times.
