America's Presidential Election Blues

[fountainhall]

I'm not an American. But as an observer, am I the only one sick and tired of a Presidential election campaign which has already lasted more than 6 months and still has more than a whoie 8 months to go? All to elect someone for a mere 4 years? I find the two party system results in a constant "I'm right!" "No, you're fucking wrong and I'm right" mentality that is just so boring. I find the amounts of money permitted to be spent utterly obscene and almost certainly corrupt. I find it amazing that as the number 1 economy with the most influence, good and bad, over the world, the country's foreign policy plays such an insignificant part of the debate when it is America along with it allies which has been responsible for the disastrous multi-decade policy in Vietnam and the even more disastrous multi-decade destabilisation of huge chunks of the Middle East.

I find it extraordinary that so many people are presently placing their faith in two men, the first of whom is a loud-mouth celebrity industrialist whose utterances indicate he knows precious little about politics and even less about international diplomacy, and the second of whom will be 75 by November and who, however admirable his policies, equally has almost zero experience in foreign affairs. Yet both would have their fingers on the nuclear trigger.

Americans clearly have the right to whichever electoral system they want. Why I get pissed off is that every single news and comment programme on international media channels forces this down non-Americans throats. I can't help comparing this with the British system where the electoral period is merely a matter of a couple of months or so, where each candidate is legally able to spend less than around $50,000 and political parties for the most recent election spent less than $50 million.

Please, give us a break!

[Smiles]

Nice rant! Well put ~ as rants go ~ and on the button.

I prefer our sweet Canadian process (much the same as the UK): 1. The Prime Minister calls an election and gives a date which is usually not more the two months from his call. 2. The MP's scurry home like rats and plan their strategy (i.e. the strategy NOT to get turfed). 3. The election itself is held. 4. The winning party takes over and their leader becomes the Prime Minister and immediately starts Prime Ministering. That's it ... all done in the time frame of around 8 weeks (I've seen some take only 6 weeks).
The whole process is about a billion times cheaper than in the US (Canadians would demand another election immediately if the bastards spent the kind of insane amounts which are thrown around down south), and the corporate-donation money machine is heavily regulated and controlled.

Canucks are extremely smug about all this.

Donald Trump is an entire 'other-worldly' addition to this US election. But it is crazily fascinating.

[bobsaigon2]

I'm pretty much of a hermit so I don't need to answer embarrassing questions about why my country has such a wasteful pre-election process, and why so many of my countrymen could put stock in a comedian like Trump or a fraudulent manipulator like Clinton (both), but I have been giving thought recently to acquiring Canadian citizenship in the event that Trump ever became a legal occupant of the White House.

[arsenal]

The fact that Trump might actually win shows how little actual power in domestic policy the president has. But if America wants to stop the seemingly inexorable rise of China. Trump is your last chance.

[christianpfc]

I agree about obscene amounts of money spent and disastrous foreign policy (or are they destabilizing the near East on purpose to harm Europe?).

I don't watch news, I only learnt of this upcoming election by chance, but I will have a closer read of his blunders for entertainment purposes. Not dissimilar to that president Bush, who showed levels of ignorance, dyslexia, dyscalculia and lack of morals [citation needed] that would make him unfit to be a kindergarten teacher in developed countries.

[Manforallseasons]

Trump is fond of a familiar statement, he wants to return America "to its former glory".

[Surfcrest]

The fact that Trump might actually win shows how little actual power in domestic policy the president has. But if America wants to stop the seemingly inexorable rise of China. Trump is your last chance.

But you see, that's the problem with American foreign policy. The Americans are always concerned about the other guys when they really should be focused on their own problems. The Americans have been pushy with this TPP idea, that virtually shuts China out of the Pacific Markets so that the Americans can push their way in? In a Global economy, where we rely on our trading partners for "trade", I question the American's motives...especially when a global slow down is being directly pegged to the slowdown in China.

Then there's their meddling Middle East foreign policy and their "stick you head in the sand" reaction to North Korea.

The US should take this time to step back and address all the nonsense that has been happening within the continental United States of America before they start looking over the fence at what the neighbours have on the BBQ.

Surfcrest

[Yraen]

The US should take this time to step back and address all the nonsense that has been happening within the continental United States of America before they start looking over the fence at what the neighbours have on the BBQ.
Surfcrest

Hear, hear. MYOB. In fact, MYOFB.

[Manforallseasons]

U.S. Presidential race takes on new demention as replacement of Supreme of Judge could be decisive vote as new cahallanges to Gay Marriage, abortion and affirmative actions are at the moment on the docket of the court as arguments against previous decisions will likely be heard again.

[fountainhall]

The death of the arch-conservative Supreme Court Justice Scalia has illustrated yet again the rot at the core of U. S. politics. With the 8 remaining Court members presently split seemingly 50-50, even before the President could give his comments and even before Scalia's corpse was cold the Republican Senate leader McConnell announced to the world that his Republican-controlled Senate would not even consider any replacement nomination until after a new President takes office in January 2017. Apart from this illustrating utter disrespect to the family of the deceased and yet again to the President, what will happen, I wonder, if one of the three other oldest members of the Court - 1 liberal in her 80s, and 1 liberal and 1 conservative in their late 70s - should follow Scalia to their grave in the interim? I haven't the faintest idea of the Constitution's provisions for the replacement of a Supreme Court Justice. Nor do I care. But if I was an American, I sure would!