141 Comments
User's avatar
Documentally's avatar

I asked my friend in the US for his thoughts this morning and he messaged...

"You know it’s going to hurt.

On the plus side. America finally admits to itself and the world what it now is: not a shining city on a hill, not the last best hope for mankind, not a land of high ideals and principles.

It’s a mean spirited, dull witted, lazy, over-sugared huckster with zero attention span and no understanding of the past or the future."

Kathleen Weber's avatar

My take on the election: America bought itself a million-dollar bag of hopium. Fantasy beats reality any old day. The big man told 'em, “Don't you worry now, I'll take care of everything." Ronald Reagan was a movie actor; Trump is better, he played a billionaire on TV.

THE CRUCIBLE's avatar

And Trump will soon be hiring Hannibal Lechter for a position in his cabinet and dedicating a statue to Arnold Palmer's.

Clara's avatar

Your friend is smarter than the President!

THE CRUCIBLE's avatar

I'm smarter than the P-dent and I don't do public porn just to get attention either.

Baz's avatar

Is it just me or is the whole world getting tired of this country?

Documentally's avatar

I'm not sure Bush helped things much with a series of questionable foreign policy choices. I remember meeting Americans when travelling Europe who said it was easier to just say they were Canadian.

THE CRUCIBLE's avatar

I'm waiting for Trump to pick up where he left off with COVID before Joe & Kamala had to come in and fix it and get this country back on track. He has to come up with another virus this time though and I'm pretty sure they made sure they packed in plenty of food truck morgues for this next occasion. The FH's even learned to handle 10x the bodies they were accustomed to. THEN I'm packing up.

Bob Martin's avatar

Your friend, I assume was in favor of equally heinous Kamala.

THE CRUCIBLE's avatar

I wonder how "heinous" she would have been if she was NOT Vice President LOL! In other words "Any warm Body. Insert Vile Words. Instant heinousity." Jesus could have run against Trump and you'd have called him heinous too. LOL!!!

Bob Martin's avatar

Absolutely untrue. You are putting false words into my mouth. Had Bernie Sanders, for example, been the nominee I would have used the word "acceptable", but for a genocide cheerleader like Harris, heinous fits to a tee. If genocide isn't a red line for you, you have no red lines.

THE CRUCIBLE's avatar

Genocide is a red line for me. That’s why I would NEVER vote for Trump.

Documentally's avatar

Congratulations on understanding what polarised means ;-)

Margaret Altink's avatar

I spoke to my brother in Australia yesterday and I asked him who he thought would win......I said Harris............he said TRUMP! When I asked him why, he said because AMERICANS are f...ing STUPID

Ace Levy's avatar

And you could have used the same reasoning had Kamala won.. Americans are effing stupid. This election was ultimately a choice between deciding whether you wanted polio or cancer.

Punditman's avatar

"Spare a thought for the stay-at-home voter

His empty eyes gaze at strange beauty shows

And a parade of the gray suited grafters

A choice of cancer or polio."

--Jagger & Richards, 1968

Rebel Nun's avatar

Thank you for reminding me. The whole song. The wise ones are eternal.

Ace Levy's avatar

Indeed. And you're very welcome.

John Mendelssohn's avatar

Pernicious nonsense. The choice was comparable to that between a stubbed toe and needing to having your leg amputated. Or maybe you, who seem to feel qualified to assess the average intelligence of Americans, are unable to distinguish between an admittedly mediocre candidate and a perfectly horrific one, which is to say the one elected.

Ace Levy's avatar

A "medicore candidate" definition of which is a genicide supporter and enabler, actively seeking to suppress free speech at every opportunity, serial liar, diehard war hawk, who pays endless fealty to the MIC Big Oil big Pharma and Wall Street. And one who stands for nothing, no consistent policy or even moral commitment on anything.

You continue to demonstrate conclusively a lack of comprehension of reality. Like I said utterly brainwashed.

John Mendelssohn's avatar

Listen, Doug, all she needed to do to seem infinitely superior to Trump in my eyes was not (1) suggest that allowing the police to do just as they please for one day would instantly eliminate criminality, (2) threaten to sic the military on those (“the enemy within”) of political views unlike his own and (3) implacably demonize immigrants. Not a lot to ask. That he’s a rage-filled, hateful, delusional sociopath who can’t speak coherently for more than four seconds at a stretch should be unmistakable to all. And you’re calling ME brainwashed?

Ace Levy's avatar

Well I can see that you missed out on kamala's experience as AG in california. She kept thousands of people in prison beyond their sentence so that they could continue working for the State of California free of charge. She withheld exculpatory evidence on multiple capital offenses belligerently until the courts forced her to release the evidence freeing these prisoners. She was the head of a large task force investigating crimes during the mortgage, they uncovered over a thousand serious felonies committed by Countrywide mortgage. As they were moving towards prosecution the CEO of Countrywide donated some money to kamala's campaign and she in turn disbanded the task force and no charges were ever filed.

To suggest that she is somehow less Pro police than Trump is not only laughable in the extreme but indicative of the fact that you don't know what you're talking about. And this could be one of two things you're either completely propagandized or utterly ignorant of the facts I'll let you choose.

Gail Shields's avatar

I had heard murmurs before her election but these are the first outright allegations of serious breach of personal conduct in her professional duties! Thanks for putting the information out there.

Bob Martin's avatar

"A mediocre candidate"? Utter, utter nonsense. Kamala is a genocide-committer. She belongs in prison for life for all the harm she has done and was committed to keep doing. Sheesh!

THE CRUCIBLE's avatar

Only because she was there. If she hadn't been there, they would have just inserted any other name where hers was.

John Mendelssohn's avatar

Obviously, a great many of us are. And a great many of can stand toe to toe intellectually with even the brainiest Aussie!

Hetty in Scotchland ;-)'s avatar

Yes indeed there are a great many highly intelligent Americans. I think it's a matter of some lacking in a decent education, too many gullible folks, easily led, but that's the case in all countries. Religion plays a part, especially at the cult level as seems the case with the Maga GOP.

Propaganda works to benefit the rich and powerful otherwise they wouldn't do it.

Scary times, I hope peace and democracy prevails in the US.

Sadly can't say same for Gaza and other countries in middle east.

Pat's avatar

And years of intentional dumbing down.

theOriginalNicole's avatar

Gaslit nation, America she is…

Penelope Prill's avatar

Aussies are equally stupid.

Pat's avatar

And he is correct. Exactly what i came away with. But either useless tool,same outcome. Ignorance r us.

THE CRUCIBLE's avatar

Got that right!!! LOL. And if they are that stupid, that MAKES Trump a genius. Anybody can preside over a pack of idiots, even a pet sloth.

Weston Parker's avatar

Thanks for all that highly accurate summation, Laura.

Well, we Americans love our money, our corporations, our power and our influence. This is the sword that we shall die on. Soon to be 36 trillion in debt and neither candidate so much as mentioned it because they did not need to. Our media lost its independence long ago, our education system never touches on critical thinking and we have become a large nation of over fed, under exercised morons who love our bread and circuses. Probably 99% of us don't know where Gaza is or why it has its own strip. We are an empire well into decline and we were one of the absolute worst with the absolute best propaganda machine in history. For women's rights, today is a day of great shame.

Rebel Nun's avatar

All true, but what you say can be applied to many other countries as well. As the biggest bully, they tend to blame us and ignore the dangerous road they themselves are going down.

gypsy33's avatar

Hi Weston

And Palestinian women’s rights?

The right to EXIST!

Not happening under either “candidate”.

Weston Parker's avatar

We have candidates who are entirely beholden to the military complex, plain and simple. That is who runs our country now.

Maggie Bennett's avatar

I’m embarrassed to be an American today, and it’s not for the first time. So many are so content in their ignorance. I’m so tired, but all we can do is keep working at it. My head is falling off from shaking it so much.

Geoffrey Deihl's avatar

I sure wish we could have the fine leadership you Brits have!

John Mendelssohn's avatar

Fair enough, but would you take Donald Trump over Keir Starmer, whatever Starmer's shortcomings? I'd almost have taken Liz fucking Truss over Trump. An arrogant idiot, to be sure, but not a fascist.

Rebel Nun's avatar

It’s this: millions of us Americans felt we did not have a viable choice that represented us; I believe that millions of Brits felt the same way in their last election. Democracy is an illusion for both of us.

Ace Levy's avatar

They're all fascists the fact that you don't recognize that speaks volumes about the effectiveness of brainwashing..

John Mendelssohn's avatar

And the fact of your inability to punctuate a simple English sentence speaks at least thin volume about the insufficiency of the American educational system

Ace Levy's avatar

First of all look who's writing. Grammar critique, the last refuge of the fact and cognition challenged.

Simon Folkard's avatar

You could have put a comma after sentence!

Gail Shields's avatar

Really! We mustn’t forget our periods. Let us hear it for British “Grands Ecoles”!!

Remsomm's avatar

I will take them all, if I could, and put them on an island very far away from all of us.

Gail Shields's avatar

Starmer is an outright faschist! Arrest and denial of free speech, funding and aiding and abetting genocide, conducting smears against the former labor leader, etc!

Rukshana Afia's avatar

Indeed a creep of the first order .

dorothy P slater's avatar

I think someone should do a film like Matt Walsh in what is a woman. He found out as did we, that most people can't even Define what a woman is therefore, a man claiming to be a woman, is totally fine. I think we should also have a movie called what is a fascist because I think that 9 out of 10 people who run around calling Trump a fascist have absolutely no idea what a fascist is. It's just one of those Buzz words that people use in order to make themselves look smart.

Ron Stockton's avatar

Fascism is the melding of the state with the corporate sector. America has been fascist for a very long time as have most western countries. The fact that, until now, we have maintained a pretext of voting choice and allowed vigorous debate within defined parameters (see Chomsky) doesn't change the fact that whichever party wins in any western state (North America, Europe, Russia), the oligarchs interests are the first priority of the government. The difference in this age is that fascism is now resorting to using Nazi type tactics to expand and maintain its power. Israel's genocide of Palestinians on behalf of North American and European interests is just one example. The narrowing of the parameters within which citizens are allowed to debate in North American and European countries (following Russia's example) is the warning that the Nazi type tactics will be used at home and, in fact, have been used already.

Rukshana Afia's avatar

Remembering that 'Nazi' is short for 'National Socialism'.

Jo Waller's avatar

Fascists stick together- isn't that what rich straight white (orange) American men are doing?

I think Trump started out on some ego trip- now he's just a confused puppet of BlackRock.

John Mendelssohn's avatar

And in so doing make themselves look stupid, as when Trump and his even stupider sons do when they call people like Kamala Harris Marxists or Commies.

Geoffrey Deihl's avatar

Hey, I was just trying to protect my countries' honor!

Little Nell's avatar

America? Honor?!!? Please.

Geoffrey Deihl's avatar

Sarcasm is hard to convey in a text, sorry...

Rukshana Afia's avatar

If someone comes across as ignorant/stupid/right wing/hypocritical they might be all those thigs and worse but not have the brains to be a fascist .

John Mendelssohn's avatar

I don’t believe fascism to have a significant intellectual component. Seems pretty visceral to me.

Rukshana Afia's avatar

I hope that is a joke .

Rukshana Afia's avatar

I hope that was a joke ?

Teri Simonds's avatar

Satire falls very flat today.

Explorer's avatar

Well worth a cup of coffee, Laura! More of this please (so more coffee too)...

I could've hardly said it better, or written it more incisively, myself.

Peti Bacsi's avatar

In the end, Israel is the real clear winner ….. they got all 538 electoral votes …😂

Gogs's avatar

More exciting news: Katherine Viner (ed.) has laid out how the Guardian will stand up to Trump in the next four years, so non-stop moaning from their rich columnists at home and in NY. As far as I'm concerned Trump is the lesser of two evils by a considerable margin, which shows how far I think the Democrats, now the Neoconservative and Big Pharma Party, has sunk, and how terrible their campaign was,.

Mohsin's avatar

What a great day to be a genocidal maniac and a hate-monger.

Jennifer Ward Dudley's avatar

Pleased to meet you , hope you guess my name. My friends just call me Lucifer

Rebel Nun's avatar

He’s not even wearing the mask anymore.

Mark's avatar

Trump mirrors 'murica; crass, bloated, malevolent, vain, & fullashite.

Harris is the emptiest husk the Machine has ever put forward as chief puppet, transparently vapid.

Someone should go back in time & sink Columbus' boats.

Rebel Nun's avatar

I like it, but let’s not forget the colonial powers who sent out the boats, all over the world.

Hetty in Scotchland ;-)'s avatar

Scary times, with another fascist dictactor at the helm. Too depressing to contemplate.

David Korabell's avatar

Both parties stink. The dems will happily shit on you, The GOP will shit on you, say it's your fault and rub it in your face.

Maggie Bennett's avatar

And you hit the nail on the head when you said only those full of hatred are allowed a voice (or words to that effect). Apparently it’s just easier to hate.

Rebel Nun's avatar

The media loves it. Hate fires up emotions, which sells advertising.

Remsomm's avatar

"Hatred is what makes America the greatest nation on earth (apart from Israel)." - hard hitting truth, many people in the world view America in this way, not the way the peace lovin' folk tend to think of themselves.