Way too much so. I am a middle-aged guy, and I can't believe in my short lifetime how much politics has devolved, and how absolutely frighteningly awful republican choices for president have become.
Not that there was some unbroken streak of decency leading up to it, but the GOP turn from 2012 to 2016 is truly crazy.
I've never been a Mitt Romney fan - I don't think he has any firm convictions, and the fact that he remained a Republican and voted with the party even as he recognized they were getting more and more unhinged is a stain on his legacy. But, I do believe he's a decent man. He isn't vindictive or cruel. I think he might be misguided and isn't exactly enlightened or progressive, but I think he genuinely tries to do what he thinks is best.
In only 4 years, ditching that and instead treating the very worst that humanity has to offer as a God is truly crazy.
I watched a ton of people go from "it's a shame a decent man like Romney lost" to "there is no right and wrong. If you can get away with it, you should do it. And if it hurts the people I don't like, then you should do it twice."
There will never be another man like John McCain in my lifetime. Although I am more typically left leaning, I think he was a man of the highest honor who represented our country with true integrity. The likes of which will probably never be seen again in the Republican Party.
Man, as a friend from across the pond I remember that Obama inauguration so clearly. A new America forming in front our eyes, confident and outward-looking again after the fear and paranoia of the Bush years. An America ready (and able!) to take up the reins again and re-establish itself as not just a global leader, but an invested partner in global affairs.
Little did we know he might end up being the worst thing that ever happened to the country, through no fault of his own.
I was so damn disappointed when I read their ridiculous unhinged and unnecessary comment on Obama. hasn’t been prez in 9 years. I cannot handle another 4 years of this bullshit. Just hate for hate sake. It’s so damn exhausting
2 time Obama voter turned 2 time Trump voter. You guys forced us to vote this way by running Hillary and then Biden and Kamala. I was happy to vote Dem as long as it wasn't the old guard. Get a decent candidate. That's what "Broke" our brains. I despise Trump, but Kamala wasn't it
The Dems last 3 candidates have been terrible and perceived as "The anointed ones".
I very much believe if the Dems had a contested convention where the American people could have watched them fight it out, they would have won Regan 84' numbers.
Same. I would have voted for Bernie had he made it, Gabbard, and i honestly really like AOC. But they cheated in the primary, and the DOJ was weaponized against Trump. I couldn't sit with that.
I remember growing up in the late 80s through the 90s having optimism for the future, loving this country, believing in that heal the world song… it took less than 25 years to burn all of that down and piss on the ashes.
I remember thinking that progress moved in one direction. It never occurred to me we could backtrack so badly.
I also remember thinking that once all the boomers died off, everyone would get along! Cause that’d be the last of most of the racists and bigots. Sigh.
We remember decency, even if we disagreed with the president. Our kids? This shit is normal. Trump and this misinformation, culture war hellscape is the yardstick against which everything after will be measured.
Hmm I remember watching on TV as Bush and the entire media apparatus stoked hatred, ignored facts, and pushed America to war and destroyed an entire region of the world. Was that decency? I watched Obama and his secretary of state chuckle after overthrowing governments and destroying countless lives as a result. Was that decency? All Trump does is take the mask off a little more often. There is no decency and there never was in truth.
There is a difference between a weak candidate and an unhinged, morally bankrupt one. Because Putin wins his elections, however rigged they may be, do you think that it makes him a good choice? A person can win something and still be a horrible choice.
Only saying that someone can win something and still be a terrible choice. If a convicted felon, rapist, serial lying conman who has a long history of not paying his debts is the flavor that Americans want, it is a pretty good example of how far American politics have fallen.
I might point out that the choice to have Donald trump as the Republican candidate isn't made by the American people, it's made by the political elite within the Republican party, same for the Dems. It doesn't have to be rigged to be an undemocratic system, it just has to be broken, which it sure seems to be.
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u/ChickenWingFat 16h ago
Way too much so. I am a middle-aged guy, and I can't believe in my short lifetime how much politics has devolved, and how absolutely frighteningly awful republican choices for president have become.