[thepossum]

benellis58, on 2025-May-02, 14:35, said:

Trump and GIB deserve each other: both are hopelessly incompetent.

Come on the greatest first 100 days of an administration in US history - loud cheers
I'm impressed anyway

[thepossum]

Australian democracy does not appear to have been Trumped. Certainly influenced though

[pilowsky]

The outcome of the Australian election was certainly influenced by voters here not wanting to risk becoming the 52nd or 53rd state of the USA - assuming there's a bit of a logjam with Canada and Greenland getting there first.
Our penguins are safe for another 3 years

[benellis58]

Luckily, Canadian voters and Australian voters are infinitely more intelligent than many American ones. Consequently, Donnie Dumbo is currently ruining only the USA, not Canada and Australia. The morons who voted for Agent Orange deserve whatever they get, but I am truly sorry for all the innocent, intelligent Americans who were wise enough not to vote for that idiot T-Rump.

[pilowsky]

The Australian electoral system strongly favours centrist parties.
The current Australian Labor Party is radically progressive compared to the average Democrat in the USA.
Here, Bernie Saunders would be considered a moderate-left candidate within the ALP.
We also have an independent Electoral Commission that ensures fair boundary distributions.
On top of that we have compulsory voting and exhaustive preferential voting.
"Informal votes" - votes not properly completed - account for only 5% of votes.

In the USA OTOH, 33% of eligible voters don't cast a vote, voting isn't compulsory and electoral distributions are determined by politicians.

[WasWinM]

Congratulations to Australia for thoroughly rejecting its Trump Lite candidate. If only we ….

[Zelandakh]

pilowsky, on 2025-May-03, 22:13, said:

The current Australian Labor Party is radically progressive compared to the average Democrat in the USA.

Even as a teen in the 80s, it was common in Europe to describe the US political system as "a choice between right and further right" and that was before there was a genuine Authoritarian running the White House. I don't think too many Americans understand just how truly warped their politics is, particularly given how such a large portion of the electorate actually take seriously claims that centre-right politicians are Communists.

[johnu]

Zelandakh, on 2025-May-05, 13:49, said:

I don't think too many Americans understand just how truly warped their politics is, particularly given how such a large portion of the electorate actually take seriously claims that centre-right politicians are Communists.

Actually, this has less to do with actual politics than you may think. Convicted Felon Trump and his ultra right fringe cult members call anybody who disagrees with them communists, or socialists as kind of a general insult. Since Trump loves the uneducated, of course his cult members have no idea what the politics of communism and socialism actually are.

It's especially egregious when they rail against the "socialist" programs of the Democrats, when MAGA are most dependent on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.

[WasWinM]

Most have no idea the real president is Stephen Neider-Miller-Meyer and the White House is Delta. It’s a real shame about his horse.

[kenberg]

WasWinM, on 2025-May-07, 06:17, said:

Most have no idea the real president is Stephen Neider-Miller-Meyer and the White House is Delta. It's a real shame about his horse.

I'll take this opportunity to confirm, as has often been said, how really stupid we in this country are. I do not understand the above post at all. Whose horse? What happened? What or who is Delta? Etc.

[mycroft]

Animal House (link is to "Where are they now" ending scene. Note: made in 1978, many of the jokes are maybe "no longer acceptable". Unless, of course, you're an "anti-woke" Repub who wonders "why can't we be funny anymore?")

In context, the uneducable but party-loving and "for the lolz" White House occupant is being run from behind the scenes by the military version of the Secretary Bird (who is also so competent and well-loved that he is "fragged by his own troops" in a few years).

Having said all that, anything that gets Niedermeyer (who is also the Twisted Sister "Whaddaya want ta do with your LIFE" Dad / Teacher, because of course he is) on the same side as the Deltas would pretty much have to be the textbook definition of FUBAR. Which, well, you know...

[kenberg]

mycroft, on 2025-May-07, 11:19, said:

Animal House (link is to "Where are they now" ending scene. Note: made in 1978, many of the jokes are maybe "no longer acceptable". Unless, of course, you're an "anti-woke" Repub who wonders "why can't we be funny anymore?")

In context, the uneducable but party-loving and "for the lolz" White House occupant is being run from behind the scenes by the military version of the Secretary Bird (who is also so competent and well-loved that he is "fragged by his own troops" in a few years).

Having said all that, anything that gets Niedermeyer (who is also the Twisted Sister "Whaddaya want ta do with your LIFE" Dad / Teacher, because of course he is) on the same side as the Deltas would pretty much have to be the textbook definition of FUBAR. Which, well, you know...

Thanks. As you mention, Animal House was in 1978 and the only things I remember about is that I didn't like it and couldn't stand John Belushi. I cannot say if the jokes are "no longer acceptable" because I thought that they were "at the time stupid". In college (1956-60) I joined a fraternity in the spring of my freshman year and withdrew in the fall of my junior year, wondering what took me so long to withdraw. Animal House reminded me that my withdrawl was a good choice. I could easily have also withdrawn from the movie theater halfway through.

Anyway, now I understand about the dead horse. And maybe a bit about the rest. Thanks.

Oh. I am not really feeling stupid for not catching the reference, I sort of enjoy being confused. Call me weird.