Thread

1. neom · 1789557380 · focus · HN ↗

   No idea what this actually means, if it means easier trade, I'm all for anything that reduces our dependency on the yanks, as long as we don't need to be involved in their regulatory or legal regimes. The Americans are no longer our friends, Salut, mes amis Européens. :)

   1. method_capital · 1789561127 · focus · HN ↗

      I'm afraid you're mistaking our lunatic leader with "us". Understandable, but this step will be wholly unnecessary as soon as December when his power will be checked (largely). I lean right, more libertarian small government type, so you're not hearing this from a blowhard on the American left. His foreign policy, the way he's treated friends has been wanton and immensely damaging, and a whole lot of us want this corrected.

      1. mitxela · 1789561570 · focus · HN ↗

         The majority of US voters like the guy. He represents the country, like it or not. Most of his voters still agree with all the stuff he's doing, and the opposition seems intent on sabotaging themselves as much as possible so he will likely win again this year.

         1. strictnein · 1789562180 · focus · HN ↗

            The majority of US voters do not like the guy. 58.1% disapproval, 38.6% approval.

            1. mitxela · 1789562912 · focus · HN ↗

               The votes consistently tell a different story.

               1. Wowfunhappy · 1789563774 · focus · HN ↗

                  Trump won the popular vote once, not consistently, against an understudy candidate who was pushed on stage at the last minute. Also, opinions have shifted since that time as people have noticed how unhinged Trump is.

                  1. enoint · 1789565302 · focus · HN ↗

                     He won the election, not even by popular vote.
               2. strictnein · 1789563972 · focus · HN ↗

                  [delayed]

                  1. mitxela · 1789567636 · focus · HN ↗

                     That's all copium. Harris was a perfectly average Democratic candidate and an improvement over Biden.

                     1. method_capital · 1789579022 · focus · HN ↗

                        Clearly not an American.

                        Bernie has literally zero chance in a nationwide election. Read it again: ZERO.

                        1. mitxela · 1789601241 · focus · HN ↗

                           He was literally winning until the DNC de-primaried him partway through the election.

                           1. mitxela · 1789621554 · focus · HN ↗

                              de-nominated him partway through the primary, I meant
                           2. strictnein · 1789694606 · focus · HN ↗

                              [delayed]
         2. DaSHacka · 1789562508 · focus · HN ↗

            > so he will likely win again this year.

            What do you mean by this?

            1. mitxela · 1789562886 · focus · HN ↗

               I mean the Trump party will win in a landslide. Same reasons as last time. The opposition hasn't done anything to inspire more votes.

               1. jmye · 1789572782 · focus · HN ↗

                  [dead]

               2. DaSHacka · 1789578388 · focus · HN ↗

                  But Trump has been doing even worse.

                  The left things he's literally Orange Hitler, and the right is fractured between "hasn't done enough, mostly performative cruelty"/"MIGA"/"woah he's going to far, I just didn't want 'commiela'" types.

                  The one thing nearly everyone agrees on, however, is he is a disappointment. This much is evident from his absolutely underwater support in the polls, and how multiple states are likely to swing blue in the midterms.

                  1. mitxela · 1789601204 · focus · HN ↗

                     !RemindMe December
      2. neom · 1789561880 · focus · HN ↗

         You're right, I am confused. It was clear what was going on under his first term... You guys voted him back in!!

         1. enoint · 1789565365 · focus · HN ↗

            The system elected him without a majority.

            1. bryanlarsen · 1789565768 · focus · HN ↗

               It was 49.9% vs 48.3%. The 1.8% of people voting for a 3rd party candidate and those who didn't vote were implicitly endorsing Trump.

               1. enoint · 1789566641 · focus · HN ↗

                  That’s a weird way to say 50.1% of votes were against Trump.

                  1. bryanlarsen · 1789573871 · focus · HN ↗

                     Agreed, it is a weird way of saying that. But it is basically what I'm saying.

                     I used the word "endorsed", not "voted". The distinction does matter.

                     Only about 25% of the voting age public voted for Trump. Almost 25% of the voting age public weren't registered to vote, perhaps some of them wanted to vote but couldn't, so let's use the registered voters as the denominator. 75.8% of them voted; roughly one third for Trump, one third for Harris and one third didn't vote.

                     Choosing not to vote against a likely outcome is an endorsement of that outcome in my opinion.

                     1. enoint · 1789576217 · focus · HN ↗

                        We usually rely on polling for those answers. When you encounter a randomly-selected American on the street, do you find it 50/50? I’m in Wyoming, perhaps the reddest state, and it’s close to 50/50.

                        1. bryanlarsen · 1789647813 · focus · HN ↗

                           The third of the people who didn't vote are culpable.
      3. rsynnott · 1789568858 · focus · HN ↗

         As another of your, ah, problematic presidents once said:

         > "There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again."

         Like, if the US had just elected ol' minihands once, that would be one thing. But it did it _twice_. Ultimately, even if he's comprehensively put back in his box, there is an issue of long-term trust.

         At this point, Pandora's Box has been opened; it has been established that the US president can just act like a crazy dictator and... none of the mechanisms which are supposed to prevent that actually really function. Even if the US elects the most normal, sensible, rule-of-law-focused president imaginable in 2028, Canada will still have to look to 2032. I'm not sure that anything short of constitutional change would really restore trust, and the US is set up such that changing the constitution is virtually impossible.

         1. method_capital · 1789579678 · focus · HN ↗

            The calculus for the US is different than that for Canada. Most Canadiens have a very inflated view of themselves and their nation, but any honest view into this relationship shows clearly: Canada has a lot to lose; the US does not.

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