I don’t remember mass protests or town hall meetings when Obama came into power. I don’t remember anyone actually being frightened by Obama.
That’s when the Tea Party got started. There was quite a bit of activity, though I don’t know if there was a lot of protesting.
I remember hearing about Tea Party protests fairly frequently, but at least to me, there was always a sense that these were wingnuts just getting a bit of attention because they were being vocal. I had no sense at the time that anyone I knew, let alone any neighbors, friends, or relatives would have been involved (and I was living in the South then, not the PNW). That makes it very different from what’s happening now, at least for me.
Within a few months of Obama being elected I was riding my bike and there was a protest group at a 4-way intersection. I asked them what they were protesting. The answer was essentially “any kind of healthcare Obama is going to promote.” I thought it was a bit strange, but there were a lot of haters energized right from the start.
I have American friends who don’t know anyone who voted Trump and are horrified at what’s happening.
It’s so bizarre, this polarisation of viewpoints. It’s the same in the UK with Brexit. How can countries survive when half the population believes something completely different about the world to the other half? Sets of things, even.
It’s not half. Some smaller portion of that are die-hard Trump fans who are true believers. 25%? 30? The rest are stock Republicans who held their noses to various extents because they couldn’t bear voting for a Democrat.
It was a VERY close election - something like 100,000 swing votes in a few states and it would have come out differently.
I don’t know a single person who voted for Trump. No friends, no family, no former colleagues, no distant writer acquaintances, no one at all. This is why the country is so fucked up; we might as well be two different species of American at this point.
I don’t think it can. I expect the secession vote to win in California when it happens, and I think we’re ripe for something really bad- if not with Trump, then with Trump’s successor.
I know a good number of Trump voters, but I’m behind enemy lines here. I expect for some people I’m the only Hillary voter they know.
This isn’t Brexit. There is no legal framework for a state to secede. They can’t write a letter to Trump saying they’re not part of the US anymore.
Unless they’re willing to confront the US military, any secession vote is symbolic at best.
We already decided the question of secession. It was called the civil war. States do not have the right to secede.
True. I always have to remind myself of that.
Yeah, this is more like Scottish independence. They can ask for it as much as they like, but I’m not sure what they can actually do. If things get really bad, they can start withholding Federal taxes I guess,.
Yup. I live in L.A. and do not desire to see tanks rolling down Wilshire Blvd sent by a president acting on the precedent of Abraham Lincoln.
The vote passing does not mean secession, but it means a majority of the voters in the state want to leave the US.
Also there is no such thing as a fully settled question in politics- Trump is proving that now.
So what then? I don’t even understand what you’re suggesting. No sitting President will let any state leave the Union, and I’ll tell you no matter how much I hate Trump and love California I would support any action he would take to prevent it from happening.
So again, unless California is ready for tanks rolling through the 3rd Street Promenade, this is all just for show.
All it means is they want to put how they voted on facebook.
The threat of secession is as realistic as the development of a police state in a country that has been politically stable for 150 years.
It is a self evident fantasy people engage in. There is not one reason to suspect this is a possible issue and all it boils down to it ‘I don’t like Trump’s politics’.
It plays well for posers on facebook and twitter, and that’s all it’s good for.
I wouldn’t suggest writing a blank check in support of any action Trump (of all people) might ever take for pretty much any reason.
I imagine this is one of only a few issues we can agree on.
Well I can’t say I’m familiar with your opinions, so I guess I’ll just have to take your word for it.
So … what you’re saying is, the odds are increasing every day?
Off to design some uniforms. I call dibs on blue!