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[Mariolee]

Ever since Trump was elected there's been a massive national anxiety about what a government headed by Trump and the GOP would be like, and based on these first three months those fears have been fulfilled and then some. From the Muslim Bans (both tries) to Standing Rock to ICE prevalency to basic rights being taken way to the National Budget Plan going to shit, in just three months Trump has been able to ruin a lot of lives in an extraordinarily short time.

However, another big thing we feared: the prominence of right wing and alt right media rising up and becoming mainstream, has actually led to a sort of purging of those personalities. Between the public shaming and firing of Milo Yiannopolous, Bill O'Reilly, Roger Ailes, and to a certain extent Tomi Lahren (though her situation is a bit more complex), we've seen them fall so fast and so hard. Because the spotlight is on them, every shitty thing they do also follows them into the limelight.

In addition, the rest of the media is able to also put a spotlight on how incompetent the GOP is and publically shame them as well since they are the ones in full control. We can see this in the hundreds of town hall meetings that have Republican Reps being berated by their own conservative constituents, or the devastating denial of the reformed healthcare bill proposed by Paul Ryan that the GOP apparently has been working on for the better half of a decade. All shit, and now Republicans know it too.

So if there's any silver lining to this administration, it's that maybe in 2-4 years we'll be able to make it out as a better nation? Is it worth the countless lives that are being destroyed. I don't think so, but this is the only optimistic thought I can have during this time.

Edit: I formally apologized. This was definitely a stupid assertion and question and I regret asking it and am sorry to those I offended.

Well damn, you guys are right. I suppose living in my naive bubble I haven't directly felt the impact of a Trump administration so despite being against it I haven't felt the true weight and magnitude of this administrations actions and the longterm consequences it holds.



And this is true too.

Sorry ya'll.

 

[CrocMother]

The existence of climate change nullifies your argument completely right out of the gate.

 

[jtb]

No.

No. No. No. No. No. No.

Just because it's good politics doesn't mean it's worth the pain that it's inflicted on millions of people. And will continue to inflict for years.

And it certainly isn't worth the legitimization of an openly racist, white nationalist ideology in the most powerful office in the world.

I hate this argument. I hate this sentiment. I hate conflating good politics for good policy. This is Susan Surandon-tier privileged logic.

 

[Septimus Prime]

No. The ends don't justify the means when the means is ruining the world. We also don't actually know what the ends are, either.

These people belong in prison.

 

[Cyanity]

Is this one of those threads that historians are going to look back on in 30 years while silently shaking their heads in disappointment?

 

[legacyzero]

I think in a way, a Trump win has a silver lining. People are going to rise up. They already are. Our country is going to evolve for the better, if we can only mobilize and. Take them down.

Conservative and neo-con ideologies are a dying brand, and hopefully it's our generation the gets to put the steak through its heart.

 

[SomTervo]

I guess arguably it could cause a bigger swing back to the "left" by revealing how flawed and corrupt they are. Is that your basic point op?

The problem is obviously the lives currently ruined by the lesson of it all.

 

[Htown]

No.

No. No. No. No. No. No.

Just because it's good politics doesn't mean it's worth the pain that it's inflicted on millions of people. And will continue to inflict for years.

And it certainly isn't worth the legitimization of an openly racist, white nationalist ideology in the most powerful office in the world.

I hate this argument. I hate this sentiment. I hate conflating good politics for good policy.

this right here

 

[Afrodium]

No. Republicans will still exist in a decade and will still have power. The last time we had a Republican president we started a decade long war based on a lie and the economy crashed but here we are again.

 

[Ashodin]

It's not a good thing. It's illuminating the problems to more people who didn't give a shit before yes, but that shouldn't have been the case in the first place.

 

[Psychoward]

Gorsuch and climate change not to mention all the other irreversible disasters that came/are going to come along with millions of Americans still not thinking any less of the GOP after these 4 years are up.

If shitty R presidents sunk the GOP, we would have rid ourselves of the GOP decades ago.

 

[Kyzer]

In some ways yeah, but only if we manage to make it out without much impact

 

[hydrophilic attack]

lolno

People finally learning that it's important to pay attention to your vote may be a positive side effect, but not worth all the damage rhe Republicans will cause

 

[Zophar]

Purging toxic media personalities in no way justifies the irreparable damage to our republic's institutions and global stability we've paid for them with.

 

[Cymbal Head]

Fox News will exist without Bill O'Reilly.

The online even alt-right is doing just fine without Milo being allowed on Twitter.

The only reason the media has been hard on Trump is because he doesn't play by the rules of Washington decorum. He could be impeached tomorrow and everyone would be so thrilled to return to normalcy that they'd hardly bat an eye when President Pence privatized social security.

And for good measure, the Democratic party seems determined not to learn any lessons from their defeat last year.

 

[Trey]

No. Not in the slightest. Incompetency and poor policy didn't need to be exposed for people to be aware of it. If anything, this further represents the belief that democracy just doesn't work.

People need to vote, rules need to change, and everyone needs to be held accountable.

 

[Nafai1123]

The ends don't justify the means, because all that's going to happen is people will get pissed off and want change, and then when we have Democrats back in power everyone will forget how god-fucking-awful the GOP is and they will start getting pissed off at Democrats, and the cycle will continue while we fuck up the Earth and fuck over poor people and minorities.

 

[smurfx]

hell no. when the trump appointed supreme court justices are knocking down many progressive laws in the future we will look back on his election and severely regret it.

 

[kirblar]

The problem is that the electorate is stupid and reactionary and liberals and conservatives both are less likely to vote if they see their party in the presidency.

It's a pendulum, and the argument is less "Trump is a good thing" and more "Trump being ineffective means we were better off popping the infection now rather than letting it happen in 2020 when there's redistricting."

 

[VariantX]

4 years is a long time. Look at what damage has already been done in 3 months. I don't know if the potential lessons learned is worth the potential costs that could follow us into future generations.

 

[NullPointer]

I thought the same for a while during the Bush W years.

And yet now, only eight years later we have President of the fucking United States, Donald Trump.

 

[super-heated plasma]

The political equivalent of "to make an omelette you gotta break a few eggs."

 

[Killa Sasa]

Nah, because accelerationism at its best means a shit ton of collateral damage, usually to the most vulnerable. At its worst, it takes even longer to learn the lesson and it'll eventually just yoyo back... So what was even the point of the first sway?

Yall just need an electorate who gives a shit and *thinks*.

 

[Electric Eye]

It certainly shut up every "both the same" naive posters here at least until 2020.

 

[EatinOlives]

The political equivalent of "to make an omelette you gotta break a few eggs."

I can toss a broken egg in the trash and clean up the counter in 10 seconds.

We can't toss out Gorsuch to the trash after Trump gets kicked out of office. Some actions, like this election, has consequences that will last for decades, well beyond the tenure of this clown-fuck of a president.

 

[nomis]

GOP killed the filibuster so when the Dems get power back indefinitely if they ever get it back, you might have a good point there

 

[kirblar]

GOP killed the filibuster so when the Dems get power back indefinitely if they ever get it back, you might have a good point there

They should have killed it in 2009 but Obama was real naive (and to be fair, so were a lot of us because we assumed the GOP craziness was in part due to the Clintons.) We quickly learned that no, they were just crazy now. The thing "triggering" them was themselves.

 

[Zackat]

 

[GameAddict411]

If we look at history, power between both sides swing left and right. People who have their chosen leaders in power are less likely to vote that year and are also less likely to be excited about the election. The same thing happened with bush is happened with Obama. The only difference is that Trump administration is incredibly incompetent in basically doing anything. They are causing permanent damage to this country.

 

[R10Neymarfan]

Right wing media is crumbling one by one. Trump and GOP are taking "L"s for every thing they do. And the Republican party is beginning to imploded by inner ideology. What's more is that many people are waking up that they been conn'd and the Dems are internally starting to clean up themselves. Not to mention Liberals are having conversations that change mindsets


Maybe the Bernie bros were right about acceleration-ism

 

[Autoignition]

This is some Susan Sarandon shit right here. Just keep throwing PoC and other oppressed groups under the bus to pat the privileged on the back for finally getting around to doing some shit they should've been doing all along.

So now you're #woke? Where were you when we needed you the first time?

 

[Betty]

So if there's any silver lining to this administration, it's that maybe in 2-4 years we'll be able to make it out as a better nation?.

Unless the economy tanks their supporters can ignore everything else and focus on that one highlight.

And for the forseeable future I don't see the economy going bad, certainly not by 2020

No matter how much of this good streak is thanks to Obama they will only have the urge to attribute it to Trump.

 

[old manatee]

It's really working out great for all of the people who are being deported.

 

[The Maverick]

1. Climate Change
2. Supreme Court
3. Foreign Policy

No to the OP.

GOP killed the filibuster so when the Dems get power back indefinitely if they ever get it back, you might have a good point there

Only for Court nominations. Democrats won't walk in and pass all the legislation they want without a major shift in Congress.

 

[Shaanyboi]

No. Nobody needed this. If people needed to see firsthand how fucking awful the GOP actually is in power, then they were never paying attention in the first place.

Peoples' lives are being made demonstrably worse, all so a few fucking idiots could learn a lesson.

 

[cackhyena]

Is this one of those threads that historians are going to look back on in 30 years while silently shaking their heads in disappointment?

That's America they'll be looking back on. Who gives a shit about a thread.

 

[jtb]

Roger Ailes was fired from Fox News in July 2016. The premise of this thread isn't even based in reality.

Tammy Lahren? What!?? She's a fucking idiot. She's popular because she tells people what they already believe. She's a follower, and easily replaced by a million other pretty blonde clones who repeat the same vapid talking points in the same screaming fashion.

 

[Afrodium]

No. Nobody needed this. If people needed to see firsthand how fucking awful the GOP actually is in power, then they were never paying attention in the first place.

Peoples' lives are being made demonstrably worse, all so a few fucking idiots could learn a lesson.

If everyone who believes that the GOP was looking out for their best interest could be quantified as "a few fucking idiots" then the GOP wouldn't control two branches of government and the majority of state governorships.

 

[RinsFury]

No.

The only possible silver lining I can think of is that these cretins are fucking up so badly that the reputation of the republican party may be irreparably damaged. That would be a nice legacy for Trump, destroying his name and the republican party along with it.


But four years is a long time. A really long time.

 

[jtb]

If everyone who believes that the GOP was looking out for their best interest could be quantified as "a few fucking idiots" then the GOP wouldn't control two branches of government and the majority of state governorships.

The idea that the GOP base votes against their self interest isn't really rooted in reality. They vote for white supremacy, which is - and always will be - their best interest.

 

[Tye The Czar]

It's always darkest before dawn, as they say.

I don't think a lot of us Americans here lived in a time that feels as dangerous as right now. And sometimes it has to get worse before it gets better.

I do feel like the GOP showing their true colors as bigoted oligarchs has sparked a huge, international backlash. Such a backlash will not be going quietly into the night.

 

[Dr. Worm]

I think there's an argument to be made that from an immediate perspective, Trump is ridiculously awful, but long-term, we're setting ourselves up for a much stronger position in the 2020s (when a lot of our problems are going to start coming to a head), whereas a Clinton presidency would've been stonewalled at every turn, letting Republicans marinate in craziness even further and giving them strong control in 2020.

Or, to put it another way, we're pretty screwed now but are positioned for a strong turnaround; a Clinton win would leave us less screwed currently, but positioned to become way more screwed.

 

[smurfx]

This is some Susan Sarandon shit right here. Just keep throwing PoC and other oppressed groups under the bus to pat the privileged on the back for finally getting around to doing some shit they should've been doing all along.

So now you're #woke? Where were you when we needed you the first time?

not voting and patting themselves on the back for being above it all.

 

[nailbombxx]

America has to be destroyed before we can #MAGA

 

[TheBryanJZX90]

No. This is the stupidest thing I've read this year, other than Trump quotes.

 

[boingball]

Your argument would have validity if we would learn from history. But the only thing we can learn from history is that history repeats itself. So while the Republicans will easily loose the house and senate and presidency to the Democrats the Republicans will not change and after 8 years of the next democratic president they will be in power again because the voters will have forgotten.

 

[Weiner Whistle]

I think in a way, a Trump win has a silver lining. People are going to rise up. They already are. Our country is going to evolve for the better, if we can only mobilize and. Take them down.

Conservative and neo-con ideologies are a dying brand, and hopefully it's our generation the gets to put the steak through its heart.

???

Sounds good to me.

 

[legacyzero]

???

Sounds good to me.

KILL THEM WITH MEDIUM RARE BEEF lol

 

[kess]

Long term, massive corruption is being hard baked into the American political system.

Like, if Hillary Clinton was the Sega CD, she doesn't even compare to Johnny Trumpo... who comes bundled with Sherlock Holmes: Russia Detective

 

[Teknopathetic]

The only people who say this are those not in danger of getting fucked in the interim between now and whenever the consequences of GOP's shittery comes back to bite them in the ass (if ever).