Given the obvious societal division in the US and assuming that we are beyond the point of actual Civil War part Deux, what are the options the country has after this election?

States Rights is going to be a thing. Lines will be divided that way I think. Like Indiana passing that law to make legal signs in windows that say ‘No Gays’ served here and lack of access to health care.

The glue in the Republican Party the last 30 years has been religion. Some of those issues are irrelevant now, and so I think that partly explains the party being able to be fractured. Gay people can marry, and gay people are allowed in the military, and the sky didn’t fall. Abortion is still an ongoing topic, but that’s about it. I know they are trying to pick on transsexuals, but it’s fleeting I think.

The republican new leader, Trump, doesn’t give much of a damn about the religious social issues. He’s just playing to the crowd when he says that stuff. IMO.

As the country becomes closer and closer to the 50/50 mark in fundamental beliefs of how the country should be run, the democracy will probably be harder and harder to maintain.

Maybe as the Republican Party gets split, and some democrats break away from their party, a new majority will result?

Maybe @cazzie is right, maybe the states will gain more power. Or, at minimum even more identity. However, with the constant movement of the population this will be tricky too.

If we have a big upswing in our economy people will become more apathetic and things will probably normalize for a while. I don’t know how likely that is.

I just saw on Fareed on yesterday a conversation about Universal Basic Income (UBI). If that comes into politics any time soon I see pure chaos ensuing.

Some people believe a parliamentary system would be wiser at this point. Maybe that would be tossed around.

Well the one trend that is unquestionably beyond the reins of the entrenched political elite is the resurrection of populist politics. Whether this is to be a positive or delitorious result is dependent in large part on the selling of the versions of “what ails us.” My own view is that in this narrative, it is the left which has failed miserably to put across a compelling explanation for our endemic shortcomings. And this is due in no small measure to the systemic failure of the democratic party to function as the party of the left.

@stanleybmanly And this is due in no small measure to the systemic failure of the democratic party to function as the party of the left.

It is extremely difficult to function as the party of the left if the party of the right is so extremely right, as with the “Neo-Con” movement. The polarization is so severe that a slightly-more-than-moderately progressive like Bernie Sanders is seen by the mainstream as almost a radical progressive.

IMHO, this election cycle will cause the Republican Party organization to raze and rebuild, and it will more than likely take more than one presidential election cycle to rebuild.

The democratic party wasn’t drug to the right by GOP extremists. The party simply rushed to assure that democratic snouts were amply inserted in the troughs of slop provided by the plutocrats, the reasoning being that the party need only be slightly left of wherever the GOP hogs set the line. After all, where else had its constituency to go? Well Bernie showed them EXACTLY where we would go, and if our hogs want to continue wallowing in the slop, the dems seriously risk the fate of their GOP counterparts.

When people compare today with the Civil War what they fail to account for is that the driving force behind the Civil War was southern plutocrats who’s entire business model was under threat. Today, no matter how contentious things may appear, the plutocrats, regardless of political alignment or geographic region, are all served well by things as they are.

They also miss the point that the bulk of the redlands would be reduced to instant destitution minus the largesse of the Federal government and revenues funneled from blue country.

It will be just like 2008. Things will chug along. Obama was supposed to destroy everything too.

If anyone is looking for a safe investment I have some gold bars for sale. Only 2800 per ounce. Hold your future in your hands since Clinton will destroy the economy like her husband did.

I’m pretty sure a Clinton presidency will mark the end of Democracy in America. There is a trifecta of big money, the corporate media working for the politicians, and election rigging that will be impossible to break apart.

You have the Wikileaks emails proving the corruption in the inner circle of the Democratic Party and the mainstream media is barely covering it, and when they do, it’s in a dismissive tone, ignores much of what’s in them and focuses on the distraction of Russia instead of what’s been revealed. They show how the Media is in the pocket for Clinton, but because of the coverage blackout/spin people aren’t aware. Likewise there was rampant election fraud in the primaries, but no coverage of it. 3rd parties have been ignored, marginalized and trashed by political hacks.

Liberals are so terrified of 4 years of Trump (who is a monster) that they’ve been manipulated into supporting an even greater evil: a future where corruption has a permanent grip on our political system, and the people have become disenfranchised through voter machine manipulation. Where elections can be rigged, and the press won’t report it because their parent companies benefit from the fraud. A future where there is so much corporate money in elections that no quantity of $27 donations can allow a populist candidate to challenge the corporate candidate.

At this point I hate to say it, but I think a Trump presidency may be the least evil outcome if it results in a complete purge of the DNC, and a populist surge in 2020.

Is that satire?

@johnpowell I’m dead serious. How can we ever have integrity in our political process again if what Hillary has done is rewarded with the Presidency?

Every person elected to the presidency in my lifetime (at least) was suppose to mark the end of democracy in America. After a certain point it begins to sound like hyperbole.

@Darth_Algar Have you been reading the leaks? Take a look at this report showing the election fraud. Remarkable how Clinton votes consistently violate the law of large numbers, but only in districts that use voting machines isn’t it? Or how the exit polls match the votes in districts with paper ballots, but not with voting machines, and always in Clinton’s favor?

@gorillapaws Don’t give up yet. What Trump & Sanders demonstrate is that the overwhelming majority of us now recognize that the table is rigged. If the greatest beneficiaries of the rigging (Clinton & Trump) openly campaign on the fact that the game is crooked, the uprising from below cannot be far ahead.

@stanleybmanly Sorry but when the media is in collusion with the politicians, I don’t think we’re able to come back from this. You have a smoking gun e-mail showing that Donna Brazile leaked a primary debate question to the Clinton campaign, and was apparently rewarded with the position of chair of the DNC (after replacing the previous chair of the DNC who was also thumbing the scales for Clinton and rewarded with a position on her staff). There’s barely a peep about it. CNN denies it, and then it just vanishes like a fart in the wind. How the fuck is that possible? It should end her career, but instead she’s now the leader of the DNC and the media says nothing?

There are tons of examples of “journalists” forwarding stories to the Clinton campaign for approval/editing before publication, and none of them are being reprimanded/fired. It’s apparently not a problem for our journalists to be completely corrupt. There is a quid pro quo culture between the media, politicians, and corporate interests that is nauseating to witness.

Sorry, but if Clinton is elected, what’s going to happen is these guys in the inner circle of the DNC are going to do whatever they can to prevent another “Bernie Sanders situation.” They’re going to survey the Democrats and identify who might become the next “rogue” candidate. They’re going to have people keeping a close eye on them, finding ways to manufacture scandals that they can blackmail them with over the next 8 years, or force them to make votes on wedge issues that can be used against them if necessary. They’re going to tweak the procedures for voting to make it even harder to detect problems with voting machines. People who rigged the current elections will be rewarded. The media will ignore the issue, or dismiss genuine evidence as conspiracy theory.

I really think we’re totally fucked. I’m not some weirdo with a tinfoil hat, and photos with red yarn and pushpins in my wall. This stuff is blatant and out in the open for anyone to read, and nobody seems to care. It’s 1000x more shocking than whatever the latest is from Trump. The guy could literally murder the Pope while molesting a child and that would be less concerning than what’s happening to our Democracy.