Early reports are of HUGE lines in places like New York and Pittsburg.
I just got back from voting in San Francisco. I always vote on election day. There's something about going to a polling place with other people and casting your ballot...it just feels more real, like a community coming together to decide something.
Compared to the 2012 election, I would say the polling place line was 3 to 4 times as long. People were filling out their ballots on top of the washing machine in the polling station.
It looks like it's going to be a massive turnout.
"The great problem of any civilization is how to rejuvenate itself without rebarbarization." - Will Durant "We've kept more promises than we've even made" - Donald Trump "Of what meaning is the world without mind? The question cannot exist." - Edwin Land
MeDotOrg wrote:It looks like it's going to be a massive turnout.
It wouldn't surprise me if they underestimated who is the likely voter on this one. With such a dangerous candidate to the safety and prosperity of the US being a potential winner it can scare people that usually don't vote into voting. Romney and McCain would have been decent Presidents in my opinion, so they don't scare people into voting as much as the worst serious candidate(Trump) in US history. The question that will be asked long after this election is how people have become so stupid.
For some 40% of the people we are neither the land of the free nor the home of the brave. People who are scared do all types of self-destructive and ultimately stupid things.
The CCC wrote:People who are scared do all types of self-destructive and ultimately stupid things.
It the scared people who are going to vote to keep Trump out. The question is why so many were stupid enough to think Trump was a good choice. And I am not talking about the racists. We know why people like Ajax are supporting him even though he would grow the debt far more the Clinton's economic plan.
Themis wrote:It wouldn't surprise me if they underestimated who is the likely voter on this one. With such a dangerous candidate to the safety and prosperity of the US being a potential winner it can scare people that usually don't vote into voting. Romney and McCain would have been decent Presidents in my opinion, so they don't scare people into voting as much as the worst serious candidate(Trump) in US history. The question that will be asked long after this election is how people have become so stupid.
Just like it is tempting to judge religious people as stupid for believing in myths, we'd like to believe all Drumpf supporters are stupid, but it's just not true. I know several Drumpf supporters who are by no means stupid.
I think the word you're looking for is "misinformed." It's a matter of not agreeing on what constitutes facts.
God belief is for people who don't want to live life on the universe's terms.
I think both Themis and Schmo are at least partially right. I agree that it is likely that in future years, historical analysis of this election will cause many historians to ponder how so many Americans could have bee so stupid or misinformed as to seriously consider Trump a good choice for president. I will lean more towards being misinformed rather than just stupidity, but doesn't it take at least some modicum of irrationality or even stupidity to let oneself become so dangerously misinformed?
No precept or claim is more likely to be false than one that can only be supported by invoking the claim of Divine authority for it--no matter who or what claims such authority.
“If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you; but if you really make them think, they'll hate you.”
― Harlan Ellison
Gunnar wrote:I will lean more towards being misinformed rather than just stupidity, but doesn't it take at least some modicum of irrationality or even stupidity to let oneself become so dangerously misinformed?
I suspect that most of the impetus to become misinformed is more a matter of loyalty and tribalism than a lack of intelligence. You seek out the sources of information that support your team's world view.
Don't get me wrong; I think there are vast swathes of Drumpf supporters who are dumb as nails. I just don't think that speaks to everyone's reasons.
Plus, there is something very powerful about Drumpf's "outsider" status. If you're sick of gov't gridlock, having someone come in to shake things up is attractive, if only superficial. I certainly get that particular motivation, even though it is incredibly unlikely that people would get what they're looking for from the orangutan.
God belief is for people who don't want to live life on the universe's terms.
Themis wrote:It wouldn't surprise me if they underestimated who is the likely voter on this one. With such a dangerous candidate to the safety and prosperity of the US being a potential winner it can scare people that usually don't vote into voting. Romney and McCain would have been decent Presidents in my opinion, so they don't scare people into voting as much as the worst serious candidate(Trump) in US history. The question that will be asked long after this election is how people have become so stupid.
Just like it is tempting to judge religious people as stupid for believing in myths, we'd like to believe all Drumpf supporters are stupid, but it's just not true. I know several Drumpf supporters who are by no means stupid.
I think the word you're looking for is "misinformed." It's a matter of not agreeing on what constitutes facts.
I think stupid works just fine. I'm not using it to say what a person's IQ is. "stupid is as stupid does". We can all be stupid at times no matter our educational level. I know many of the reasons why many support Trump, and they tend to be stupid reasons. They don't tend to be well thought out even though many of them are intellectually capable of doing so. Ajax supports Trump for just his wall statement. He ignores looking realistically whether it is a good idea or whether Trump is just saying it to get his vote. He ignores all the other potential problems that come with Trump being president. I think he is being stupid even though he is intellectually capable. Some other people who support Trump are not as intellectually capable so I might be more sympathetic to why they think the way they do. I also recognize Ajax has extreme racist ideas that cloud his judgement.
Some Schmo wrote:Plus, there is something very powerful about Drumpf's "outsider" status. If you're sick of gov't gridlock, having someone come in to shake things up is attractive, if only superficial. I certainly get that particular motivation, even though it is incredibly unlikely that people would get what they're looking for from the orangutan.
I call it the Obama Effect. Drumpf is an outsider with a simple message. Americans, I guess, can't really be expected to understand how government works and why someone with insider experience, or at least government-related managerial experience, is the preferred candidate.
Talking up America's greatness, "change" that matters, and being a non-Washington type really gets the juices flowin'.
- Doc
In the face of madness, rationality has no power - Xiao Wang, US historiographer, 2287 AD.
Every record...falsified, every book rewritten...every statue...has been renamed or torn down, every date...altered...the process is continuing...minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Ideology is always right.
