I don't like my options.

[Balcan]

I am clearly less than thrilled with the current presidential candidates.

The primaries in my state happened yesterday with Trump in the lead for Republicans (followed by Kasich) and Clinton for the democrats.

What people don't realize is that decisions are not the president's alone to make. It passes through the house, the senate, and various others. A president is not a dictator, so if there are standpoints that are not unanimous there is no guarantee that a change will be made. And those actions will take time to be effective. Most likely a lot of things will be said and promised but not a lot accomplished. There will not be a revolution whether it is Trump, Clinton, or Sanders in office.

People are really quick to attack Trump without really being educated on his political views. All they are able to say is that he is a racist, a sexist, and asshole, etc. without being able to provide a valid reason as to why. If you're going to jump on a candidate, be informed before you do it. I have my own reasons to dislike Trump but one of them is not because it's the trending thing to do.

Anyway, are any of you voting? If so, for whom?

[galled]

You are not alone! I don't there has been any election in modern times when people loved their electorial choices. But it seems to be getting worse every year!

The president has very little power. It won't make any big difference in real terms to us regular folks with any President. Congress holds all of the power and it is broken.

I'm not excited about any of the candidates, but all I know for sure is I don't trust Hillary and I don't think she up to the job physically or mentally. She just looks and sounds tired. And I will add that Trump says a lot of things that I think most people think (even some of the other candidates), but we're too nice to say them in such broad terms as he has.

I like Bernie's aim to make the government work for the people again, but I don't think any president can change things alone.

In any case I like this election cycle more than many in recent history. It sure is more fun and it has raised many topics of discussion!

[Kitalpha Hart]

The political system is fucked up and I'm voting for a rehaul

[Balcan]

galled: I'm pretty sure it's going to come down to Trump and Clinton in the finals.

I agree that part of Trump's appeal is how he isn't afriad to offend anyone. People are fed up with walking on eggshells and this so-called "political correctness". Sure some of the things he says are blatant but he speaks what is on his mind rather than changing his views constantly for political expediency (*ahem* Hillary). More than that, he knows how to work a crowd and get them riled up.

Hillary is dishonest and inconsistent in her stances. For example, she was openly against gay marriage stating that marriage "should be between a man and a woman" until it was politically dangerous to oppose it. Now even her logo features the rainbow. Exhibit B is when she claimed that upon her arrival to Bosnia she was targeted with sniper fire. Later there was footage of her being greeted and welcomed and when confronted about it, she claimed she"misspoke". Oh, and she mentioned this more than once. Really? You accidentally stated multiple times that you were shot at?

Kitalpha Hart: please expound on this. Unless you tell us why you feel this way, your statement is no more helpful than the aforementioned "Trump is an asshole"

[Diana]

I have opted out of voting, so I don't follow politics; but I've been seeing all sorts of propaganda plastered all over all of the big social media I visit (which is frustrating and not what I want to see, of course).

There has been a lot of inappropriate hate about some of the candidates. I've seen everything from lame jokes and poorly photoshopped images, to horribly mutilated voodoo dolls and witchcraft/demon summoning circles. To me, the degree of hatred some people have towards the politicians-- for things they've said, or empty promises, mind you-- is far more terrifying, sick, and twisted than anything the presidents could do. Like you said, people don't realize we have checks and balances for a reason & what the actual power of the president is.

[Kitalpha Hart]

By theory we are a republic
The people elect representatives that align with their interests and they cycle out, much like the president
Meanwhile, there are families with generations in government, and they represent the money thrown at them, not the people
They are supposed to be in there for one, maybe two, terms and then get out. Instead, it's the same people for 30+ years, and then they're replaced by another person who lives richly while they have their wages essentially for life
So the rest of us are left in the dust, ignored in favor of their paychecks
Oligarchy. The States has become an oligarchy. Run by the house and Senate. The president is a figurehead and scapegoat. The court? Look at the States arguing over theaw that requires all states to allow same sex marriage
There's been exactly one time the states was out of debt, because one of the earliest presidents paid it off himself
I believe Andrew Jackson. We keep hearing about hitting the debt roof and then said roof being raised so those paychecks can keep rolling in
I've seen it compared to adding another floor to a flooding house, rather than taking care of the flooding
Doesn't make sense in daily life, why is it supposed to make sense in government?
And last week a kid was sent to rehab. Rich family, big money lawyers. Convinced the judge that the millionaire family was too poor to pay for the kid's rehab, so the everyday people pay for it in taxes

And let's not forget that the States is not a religious-run country, by theory. And there are people who try to use their religion (usually christains, when there's the coin parable from Jesus that says obey the government, and the diety) to get away with not doing their jobs, which should get them fired

HEY HEY LOOK NEW VIRUS AAAAAHHHH DRAMA
Hey look everyone's distracted, send off 20k more people to die because we don't want to admit that it's better in the long run to use renewable resources for the people than it is to line our pockets with more money and oil

For the non tl;dr version, you'll want to talk to my dad

[Watery Star]

I like Bernie Saunders but I agree that the role of the president doesn't allow for much control. It's been said before that he is better off staying a senator, and that's probably true. He is spreading awareness of issues in our political system though, and I hope that that is helpful in some way of reforming congress.

As far as Trump, I don't agree with his issues or the way he's run his campaign. I will concede in saying that I much rather a politician being brash, polarizing but staying firm on their issues than what Hillary has done. She's flipped flopped so much I don't know where she truly lies on the issues. I see her as self-serving and not having the country's, and the people's, best interest.

[galled]

That's very well put, Watery. That's it for me--it seems Hillary is in it for herself or whomever she's talking to at the moment. Trump, for right or wrong, has reasoning he can express and that I can understand--I can't say that about a lot of politicians. It's certain that political entertainment will continue for a while still!

[ShiroGEM]

I'm not a resident of the US and I don't really understand much of the voting system but I do agree that the president doesn't have much control. I do think they're kind of the symbol or figure of the country (speaking from a foreign country of course.) For example, how many headlines had "Obama" in the title? Once he was elected everyone who mentioned United States instantly thought "Obama" lol. Even if it's all the other people who do most of the power/in control we still blame the president because of his position. So do you really want Trump's face to represent your country?

Though from what i've seen, Trump is a really good businessman and he's terrible at being rational. He's really good at offending people, but how is that going to solve any of the problems we have right now?? -cough climate change cough-

[Kitalpha Hart]

Doesn't Trump have a 15% success rate with his business ventures? If that's supposed to be good, then something's fucked up somewhere

[galled]

Your dad sounds very reasonable to me. How is he feeling?

You know, I think term limits are one of the keystones to fixing the current government gridlock. It shouldn't be a career.

Do you have an more info about the kid in rehab? I hadn't heard about it.

Trump has made the most money from his TV show. I don't know how many of his businesses failed, but the truth is most businesses fail within the first 5 or so years and pretty much every business fails eventually, so the details probably really make a difference rather than the outright percentage. I think the only business still going is the Vatican.

[Kitalpha Hart]

He caught a cold from mom, but other than that he's fine

The presidency didn't originally have one, ol George set the precedence of only two terms
Then FDR ran four and an amendment was made so that two terms is the legal max for a president

It's local news, but I wouldn't be surprised to find other stories like it around the country
Spoiled kid gets into drugs
Spoiled kid gets caught
Parents are rich, spend the money on lawyers
Lawyers convince judge (potentially through bribery, we had this problem before) that the parents who both make six digits a year cannot afford the rehab
Judge accepts this
Taxpayers pay for spoiled rich kid to have rehab

What TV show?

[galled]

Glad to hear he's good.

I always wondered how FDR did that. Now I know!

Arggghh, the lawyers always end up ahead...

"The Apprentice" of course! Yaw fiyed!!

[Kitalpha Hart]

Yeh

I'm a bit of a history nerd >.>"

Particularly those who get way ahead by having contacts and rich people backing them

Not a show I watch

[Axiom]

If Bernie Sanders is the Democratic nominee, I will be voting for him. He is the most radical liberal candidate we have seen in a long time, and while you're right that the president doesn't get to make exclusive decisions about almost anything, his campaign alone has already helped to spread his ideas and enlighten the American people. I imagine that as president he will continue to get opportunities like this, if not to directly enact change, then to inspire it.

On the other hand, if he does not win the nomination, I don't think I will vote at all. If I did, I suppose I would vote for Clinton. I know that Bernie's supporters are very mixed on who they will vote for if Clinton wins the nomination. A lot of them really hate Hillary Clinton and will either write someone in or vote for a third party. It's hard to say what will happen in the general election, but my guess is that whoever opposes Trump will win. I'm not exactly thrilled about a Clinton presidency, given that her ties to corporations will dictate most of the decisions she will make in office. But by comparison, Trump, and really the entire Republican party these days, is terrifying and out-of-control. And I sort of suspect that the establishment is banking on people like me who are terrified of a Trump presidency to make sure that Clinton wins and upholds the status quo. :/