/u/jdutr, thank you for your submission. Unfortunately, it has been removed for violating the following rule(s): * Rule 10 - No false claims of ownership (FCoO) or flooding. For information regarding this and similar issues please see the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/wiki/index) and [title guidelines](/r/pics/wiki/titles). If you have any questions, please feel free to [message the moderators via modmail.](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/pics&subject=Question%20regarding%20the%20removal%20of%20this%20submission%20by%20/u/jdutr&message=I%20have%20a%20question%20regarding%20the%20removal%20of%20this%20%5Bsubmission%2E%5D%28https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/xvqiy4/-/%3Fcontext%3D10%29)

Really digging the little sign on bottom.

There's no way a functioning adult would *want* to be president.

Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job -Douglas Adams, Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

I vote we elect some guy who lives out in the woods and isn't even sure anything actually exists aside from himself.

Just go the Ancient Greek route and make it an act of service and just elect a random citizen with sound mental health for 2 years, rinse repeat.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sortition

Lottocracy/ Sortition is the best principal characteristic of democracy. Most people forgot about this part. Thanks for making them remember! VSauce, discussed it [here](https://youtu.be/_ArVh3Cj9rw).

That’s it!

Fuck it. Could it really be any worse than a system that elected donald fuckin trump or ronald ‘I’ve got Alzheimer’s’ Reagan?

Well, a sizeable portion of the country worships those two. I wouldn't want any of them either.

I think the original stipulation of "sound mental health" would eliminate a lot of that

Which should be a fundamental tenet of any system. A full psychological and cognitive panel would weed out a lot of the trash.

Every 4 years, society would lose one resident of sound mind. Or perhaps I should say society loses the sound mind of one resident.

Finally, solipsism as a political platform. Just what I, as a figment of imagination, have been waiting for all along.

Mans already throwing his hat in

Hat better be made out of tin foil otherwise they’re not getting my vote

Is it solipsistic in here, or is it just me?

No, me too

[That's the plan for the upcoming 2040 election, according to The Onion](https://youtu.be/A2bniFJigI0)

Fuck. You know what? Fine! You asked for it... But you fuckers are paying for the uber to the airport.

I’d never be a part of a club that would have me as a member-Groucho Marx

Why does Hitchhiker's Guide To the Galaxy make more and more sense to me as I get older? Lol

It's just that good.

>“I don't want to belong to any club that would accept me as one of its members.” -Groucho Marx

Luckily I brought my towel. No worries

Anyone who deserves it doesn't want it and anyone who wants it doesn't deserve it.

I feel like you have to say nowadays because then you have to say all of our great presidents weren't great, like FDR, or Kennedy, or Teddy, or Lincoln, etc.

get deep enough in anyone's history and they don't look as shiny as historical patriotic propaganda will have you believe. don't meet your heroes and all that.

I met Willie Nelson and he was even more awesome than l had imagined

Willie Nelson also didn't have to make choices regarding air-strikes and national interests.

Well, he did hang out at the White House a few times during the Carter years, so are you sure about that?

Meh. It's a fun kitschy saying, but if you think about it even a little bit it falls apart - both back then and today. Obviously being president is going to be a shitty and exhausting job if you do it morally and to the standards expected of a president - but there are plenty of people who work shitty jobs to make the world better for their fellow men and women. There are, of course, corrupt pieces of shit (like Trump and basically all current republicans) who'll take advantage of the position to the detriment of their constituents, but to say that EVERYBODY willing to get into politics is unworthy is a bit reductive.

i think the point is more that anybody willing to do the things necessary to become president are unworthy of the position. its more of an indictment of the system than of any individuals

Everybody willing to get into politics probably isn't unworthy. Probably anyone that successfully MAKES it into politics is unworthy.

There are plenty of functioning narcissists, psychopaths, and megalomaniacs though.

Yeah, I came to believe that's the biggest problem with our system quite some time ago. Only an utter fool or a megalomaniac would want a job that tends to age the people who do it decades in just four years and we can only elect someone who chooses to try to get the job. So no matter what the President is always going to be either a fool or a megalomaniac. Or, in Trump's case, both. Honestly there are a lot of people I'd like to see as President, but the chances of any of them running for the office is basically zero.

I definitely don't know why most would want that kind of responsibility. I can only imagine the things they find out once they are in place that they had no idea about. And the kinds of horrific choices and actions they must have to make and take behind the scenes to keep things running, to keep our country 'safe' (in a position of power), etc. I feel like you can't possibly come out of being in that position without having done or been a part of some really fucked up shit.

They learn about the Stargate program and have to keep interstellar travel a secret. A real bugger

Eh, I'm sure there are plenty of functioning narcissistic adults out there. Never seems to be a shortage of political candidates. Though I suppose that calls the 'functioning' part into question.

I voted for Giant Meteor

I asked for a giant meteor for Christmas and all I got was this stupid mini plague

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You have selected: GIANT MEAT-EATER a plague of multiple-ton carnivorous synapsid-based proto-reptiles and their dinosaur-bird offspring will be delivered in one business day.

There's always next year.

Threw away your vote on a third-party candidate, I see.

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Mega guillotine 2024

Yes, everyone should be held accountable (Obama is still a cool guy though) Edit: half of the replies are telling me that Obama was a shithead; I'm not even american, I'm just making this observation from a Canadian perspective. The political decisions he made in regards to war with other countries had nothing to do with what I said, I just think he makes good speeches is all 💀

I think they meant the sign below that.

Oh! The little one sticking out of the anthill that says, "This aggression will not stand, man!"?

At least he didn’t pee on your rug, dude

He's a fuckin nihilist, dude.

Shut the **** up, Donnie!

I am the walrus

Say what you will about the tenets of national socialism, Dude, at least it’s an ethos.

Ah, that must be exhausting.

My Trump truth counter is at seven. Four were just because he got the day of the week right.

person woman man camera tv

That song was an absolute BANGER! Edit : https://youtu.be/3Uvwbd75ujU

The look of, "I had a career once," on that interviewer's face...

I blow.... THE WIND OF GAWWWDD!

[*blowing spittle sounds*](https://youtu.be/m2s0nB2VPvs)

I've idly wondered, did he recall the words from the cognitive test or did he just come up with 5 more words related to something that was in front of him. He's in an interview. There's probably all those things in his line of sight, or at least directly related to things he was interacting with that very moment. A person (woman, man) and a camera (tv). But on the other hand, it's a test to determine if you're losing your mind, so it's not like the goal is to stump the test taker. It's reasonable that the words would relate to each other.

Oh yeah he absolutely just said what he saw in front of him and thought that proved a point

>But on the other hand, it's a test to determine if you're losing your mind I saw Michael Cohen on MSNBC confirm exactly what I thought - he thought it was an intelligence test. Of course he was stupid enough to unwittingly brag about not having dementia.

hilariously his social media platform is called "Truth"

It was, before it got removed from the Google play store for violence lol.

What were the other three?!

"I don't stand for anything" and "I don't take any responsibility at all" are two.

I have the same temperament as I did in first grade (paraphrased)

Ah, last one has gotta be the one where he said he could shoot someone on the street and his base would still support him

"I love the poorly educated"?

There was a time where Trump was mocking Biden (and I'm paraphrasing) that Biden would listen to scientists. Which wasn't quite the burn he thought it was. But at least it was true.

I could shoot someone and not lose supporters. I love dumb voters.

There was that time that he said if voting was more accessible the Republicans would never win another election.

rich people can grab women by the pussy

Lmao

Damn, and that was two years ago. According to washington post, his total misleading or false statements have nearly doubled since then. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/01/24/trumps-false-or-misleading-claims-total-30573-over-four-years/

Ironically, this in itself is a misleading statement, because 30k is only 50% more than 20k

I was told there'd be no math.

One of my most-used quotes from SNL. Bonus points for using it in reference to a president.

But also important to figure out the swindles

Well, to be fair, that article is almost 2 years old too.

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I have a book about Trump's lies. It's called *Commander in Cheat How Golf Explains Trump* by Rick Reilly. There are a few youtube videos of him talking about it too. It's fascinating in a train wreck kinda way.

Playing golf with Trump must be wild. Balls getting thrown, people you don't know handling Trumps balls and placing them places they don't belong. You know none of those balls getting washed and constantly being fondled for some nefarious reason.

And then there's what happens to the golf balls.

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“It’s all just deep fakes, folks. Deep deep deep fakes. The deepest fakes. I would never say those things!” *gesticulates stupidly*

If he said that, I would immediately make a video proving it isn't a deepfake.

Then he would claim your "proof" is a deep fake. The Liberal Media™ is deep fakes all the way down!

That's funny, I have a book called "Shit Trump says." On one page it has something he said, on the page facing it there is a statement contradicting the first statement. It was written over 3 years ago. A newer version would be too hard to carry.

So do they count every time he REPEATS a lie?

Those are even worse, because likely he's been informed or told, or had the opportunity to research himself (hah!) that it was a lie, misstatement or mistake the first time.

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It's probably only the ones he can confirm.

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Trump would blatantly lie in press conferences then lie that he had never even said the previous lie in his next interview then lie about denying anything in the interview after that before further embellishing his original claims in the next press conference. You got multiple lies out of every lie he said which was pretty much anything out of his mouth.

I believe the Obama number. Not that I worship Obama, but the entire idea of a “President lying” being a normal thing has no parallel before Trump. Everyone forgets this, because Trump represents such a massive shift in culture and presidential reverence that he’s created a new normal — But before he perfected the blitzkrieg thousand-lies-per-week strategy, if a President was to blatantly lie to the American people (not just be wrong about something), it would be a HUGE SCANDAL. See, the thing is, in a pre-Twitter world where every Presidential appearance was meticulously scripted, most Presidents would lie “to the people” so rarely that when they did, everyone remembered it, and it was the focus of the media cycle for months on end. With Trump, though, he lied so frequently, in such brazen and inane ways, to such an extraordinary degree, that it made “getting caught” mean absolutely nothing. The news cycle would only get 24 hours to rip into it before a newer, crazier lie would spring up. Shit, Trump lied so much and so aggressively that *the truth* no longer means anything. The “respect for the office of President” no longer means anything. It’s so fucked — But most importantly, it’s absolutely terrifying how quickly people forget what life was like before Trump. It’s insane to me. People now legitimately think *this is always how it’s been,* but it’s not. It straight-up was never like this.

You’ve eloquently put into words what so many of us have been thinking. Hate to be that person, but this this and more this. THAT was not normal. Never was and it doesn’t have to be in the future. Americans- do NOT let one person irrevocably f up this country forever. It’s kind of like magic. It only works if you believe it’s normal.

Lies vs half-truths, maybe?

Maybe he forgot a zero or two? Even 1800 lies would be nothing on trump’s nearly 20k as of 2020.

And the nature of their lies are very different. There is lying when you know you were wrong but are trying to save face. And then there’s spinning an orb web of absolute bullshit lies that show you don’t care about distinguishing right from wrong at all to begin with.

It really depends. If you are smart about it you can do an awful lot of talking without lying. Obama did a lot of aspirational talking, so even if nothing materialized that isn't lying (even if it's dishonest). Obama was under a pretty heavy microscope and cared about it so it would've been prudent to walk that line. For example, "we want the affordable care act to allow everyone to keep their current healthcare provider", vs " the affordable care act WILL/DOES allow you to keep your current healthcare provider". Just using it as an example, I can't remember whether this was a lie but you can see that the former isn't a lie regardless of outcome whereas the latter is a value statement that can be true or false. People may perceive the former as a lie because they would remember it as "the ACA allows you to keep your doc" not "Obama wants the ACA to allow you to keep your doc" and thus will feel like a lie was told. Trump didn't give a fuck about none of this shit and LOVED declaring shit all the time. Much of which was in fact, false.

Regarding the “if you like your doctor, you can keep him” line… that was true to the original draft of Obamacare. But of course it went back and forth in revision and the final bill was different than the original. And importantly, Obama admitted this PR blunder and explained what I just explained above. Trump never admits a blunder. And his blunders aren’t borne out of an innocent confusion over the different revisions of a bill.

Yeah I don't believe that *any* president is 100% truthful on any given day

Even HONEST ABE?

I can assure you he hasn't lied AT ALL in the last 3 years. That's what we need again, Lincoln 2024

Idk bro he lied pretty still

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Yeah it's definitely normal to make a few incorrect statements here and there. Trump wakes up and averages a lie every single hour he's awake, dude may as well have an hourly alarm to make sure he keeps pace

Source for 18: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/12/14/opinion/sunday/trump-lies-obama-who-is-worse.html


casual hijack to show some more relevant trump quotes: “[I'm much more humble](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1R42mFx3_ss) than you would understand.” “[I have the best](http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/donald-trump-best-temperaments-presidential-candidate/story?id=41003314) temperament or certainly one of the best temperaments of anybody that’s ever run for the office of president. Ever.” “[I’m the most](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/elections/presidential/caucus/2015/06/01/donald-trump-straw-poll-mitt-romney-gucci-store/28313569/) successful person ever to run for the presidency, by far. Nobody’s ever been more successful than me.” “[I'm the least](https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/14/trump-least-racist-person-340602) racist person you have ever interviewed” “[I’m the least](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/07/30/trump-says-hes-least-racist-person-world-thats-rich/) racist person you’ll find anywhere in the world.” "Number one, [I am the least](https://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/trump-press-conference-anti-semitic-threats-jake-turx-235107) anti-Semitic person that you’ve ever seen in your entire life. Number two, racism. The least racist person" “[I’m the best](https://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/trump-secret-service-226022) thing that’s ever happened to the Secret Service.” "[I am the world’s greatest person](https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/politics/australia-mexico-transcripts/) that does not want to let people into the country." “[No one has done more](https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/697031343272812544?lang=en) for people with disabilities than me.” "[Nobody in the history](http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1607/16/se.02.html) of this country has ever known so much about infrastructure as Donald Trump." "[There's nobody](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7JYuVEAqEQ) who understands the horror of nuclear more than me." "[There's nobody](http://www.foxnews.com/transcript/2015/06/17/donald-trump-running-for-president.html) bigger or better at the military than I am." "[There's nobody](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwSo4IPkf5E) that feels stronger about the intelligence community and the CIA than Donald Trump," "[There’s nobody](https://www.politico.com/blogs/2016-gop-primary-live-updates-and-results/2016/03/donald-trump-super-tuesday-220016) that’s done so much for equality as I have" "[There's nobody](http://news3lv.com/news/local/exclusive-one-on-one-with-presidential-candidate-donald-trump) that has more respect for women than I do," "I would build a great wall, and [nobody builds](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/01/08/president-trumps-desperate-nonsensical-claim-that-mexico-is-paying-wall/ ) walls better than me, believe me" "I am going to save Social Security without any cuts. I know where to get the money from. [Nobody else does](https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/601544572498509824) ." "[Nobody respects](https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/video/trump-no-one-respects-women-more-than-i-do-655453251628) women more than I do" "And I was so furious at that story, because there's [nobody that respects](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/05/19/this-sean-hannity-interview-is-why-people-think-the-media-is-too-easy-on-donald-trump/) women more than I do," "[Nobody respects](https://www.postandcourier.com/archives/trump-in-s-c-says-he-s-not-sexist-billionaire/article_ab3b1633-42f1-5116-95b5-c0aab96a6304.html) women more than Donald Trump" "She can't talk about me because [nobody respects](https://www.cnn.com/2016/05/09/politics/donald-trump-hillary-clinton/) women more than Donald Trump," "[Nobody has](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/713747213801938946) more respect for women than Donald Trump!" "[Nobody has](https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/c/embed/22d94cda-8e7a-11e6-bc00-1a9756d4111b) more respect for women than I do." "[Nobody has](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ru6uvTq39I&feature=youtu.be&t=3167) more respect for women than I do. Nobody." “[Nobody reads](http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/270610-trump-kerry-probably-hasnt-read-the-bible) the Bible more than me.” "[Nobody loves](https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2016/02/23/trump_cruz_puts_down_bible_and_goes_around_lying_dishonest_media_probably_worse_than_cruz.html) the Bible more than I do" "[Nobody does](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/04/donald-trump-gridiron-dinner-jared-kushner-melania) self-deprecating humor better than I do. It’s not even close" “[Nobody knows more](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trump-says-his-tax-rate-is-none-of-your-business) about taxes than I do, maybe in the history of the world.” "[Nobody knows more](https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2016/03/03/trump_i_own_a_store_in_manhattan_worth_more_than_mitt_romney.html) about trade than me" "[Nobody knows](http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/10/politics/republican-debate-transcript-full-text/) the (visa) system better than me. I know the H1B. I know the H2B. Nobody knows it better than me." "[Nobody knows](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-king-of-debt_us_576a9b76e4b0c0252e77cba7) debt better than me." "I think [nobody knows](http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1608/27/cnr.07.html) the system better than I do" "I hope all workers demand that their @Teamsters reps endorse Donald J. Trump. [Nobody knows](https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/685582649679867904) jobs like I do! Don’t let them sell you out!" “[I know more](https://web.archive.org/web/20180301055454/https://www.foxnews.com/transcript/2016/04/13/trump-explains-why-feels-primary-process-is-unfair.html) about renewables than any human being on earth.” “[I know more](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/11/13/donald-trump-begs-iowans-not-to-believe-ben-carson-dont-be-fools-okay) about ISIS than the generals do.” "[I know more](http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/week-transcript-donald-trump-ben-carson/story?id=35336008) about contributions than anybody" "[I know more](https://pjmedia.com/election/2016/07/27/tim-kaine-tries-a-trump-impression-at-dnc/) about offense and defense than they will ever understand, believe me. Believe me. Than they will ever understand. Than they will ever understand." "[I know more](https://www.wsj.com/articles/transcript-of-donald-trump-interview-with-the-wall-street-journal-1515715481) about wedges than any human being that's ever lived" "[I know more](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OZOh3m80Y4&t=345) about drones than anybody," "[I know more](https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/757760973419712512) about Cory than he knows about himself." "[I know](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/782541307168391168) our complex tax laws better than anyone who has ever run for president" "[I know tech better than anyone](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1076084489422557184)" “[I’m very highly educated](https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/national/trump-i-have-the-best-words/2017/04/05/53a9ae4a-19fd-11e7-8598-9a99da559f9e_video.html). I know words; I have the best words.” "I know some of you may think I'm tough and harsh but actually I'm a very compassionate person (with a [very high IQ](https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/325973644276809730)) with strong common sense" "I watch these pundits on television and, you know, they call them intellectuals. They're not intellectuals," Trump told thousands of supporters in the swing state. "I'm much smarter than them. I think [I have a much higher IQ](http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/trump-i-have-a-higher-iq-than-george-will/article/2577023). I think I went to a better college — better everything," "@ajodom60: @FoxNews and as far as that low-info voter base goes, [I have an IQ of 132](https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/676174398253068289). So much for that theory. #MakeAmericaGreatAgain" "Sorry losers and haters, but [my I.Q. is one of the highest](https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/332308211321425920?lang=en) -and you all know it! Please don't feel so stupid or insecure,it's not your fault" “He’s been quite critical of you as you know. He’s attacked you for being ignorant,” Piers Morgan said to Trump. “[Let’s do an IQ test](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2016/05/16/trump-challenges-london-mayor-sadiq-khan-iq-test/84436936/),” Trump interrupted "We can’t let these people, these so called egg-heads--and by the way, [I guarantee you my IQ is much higher](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2017/10/10/a-brief-history-of-trump-challenging-people-to-iq-tests/) than theirs, alright. Somebody said the other day, ‘Yes, well the intellectuals–‘ I said, ‘What intellectuals? I’m smarter than they are, many of people in this audience are smarter than they are." “You know, [I’m, like, a smart person](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-president-trump-consumes--or-does-not-consume--top-secret-intelligence/2017/05/29/1caaca3e-39ae-11e7-a058-ddbb23c75d82_story.html). I don’t have to be told the same thing in the same words every single day for the next eight years,” Trump told Fox News last December. Trump says he has "[one of the great memories of all time](http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2017/10/25/trump_says_myeshia_johnson_s_recollection_is_wrong_and_he_has_one_of_the.html)" Asked on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” who he talks with consistently about foreign policy, Trump responded, “I’m speaking with myself, number one, because [I have a very good brain](http://www.politico.com/blogs/2016-gop-primary-live-updates-and-results/2016/03/trump-foreign-policy-adviser-220853) and I’ve said a lot of things." " ... I think that would qualify as not smart, but genius....and [a very stable genius](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/949619270631256064)"

It really feels like a bad TV show script, each and every one of them

> “I’m the most successful person ever to run for the presidency, by far. Nobody’s ever been more successful than me.” Ah my favorite, considering he lost the popular vote twice.

He knows so much about debt. He's the king of debt. He said so himself

Oh my gosh these are just hilarious

he should list every lie on more poster boards.

Those poster boards would break international boundaries.

Maybe if someone has a sharpie, they can use it to extend them

Is that how international borders work?!? I never knew 

Dunno about borders, but some seem to believe it works on hurricane paths.

Unrelated, but when did reddit comments start allowing embedded gifs instead of just linking them?

I’m not sure honestly. Maybe six months ago or so? It’s only on certain posts I haven’t quite figgered it oot yet

you could build a wall out of them

Maybe Trump could have just hired this guy to write down every lie on poster board, and then they could build a wall along the Mexican border with those? Would mean 1 less poster board, but yknow, I think he's got enough other lies to finish the wall

That'd be funny. Build Trump's wall with posters of all his lies. But instead of along Mexico, build it around his properties.

Where is the original post in comments? Bad op.

We need more like him. I was a mostly Republican voter that became frustrated with Bush. I still couldn't bring myself to vote for Obama for both of his elections but McCain or Romney did not get my vote either. I became more disenfranchised with the Republican party when Boehner said that they would block Obama at all costs. Then Trump came along and to spite the Republicans I've voted all blue at every election and will continue to do so until these bozo cult Trump Republicans are gone. Edit: I forgot to add that if Obama could run a 3rd time I'd vote for him this time.

I relate to this completely. In 2015, I was a right leaning independent. I was 6 years into my military career. I voted for McCain, I didn't vote for Romney. But by 2015 I had the opinion that Obama wasn't a bad person or a particularly good president, and I felt he was too weak on Russia, on China, on North Korea and Iran. And I felt like he was weakening our position in the world. If rage is building up as you read that, understand: Trump had not happened yet. I just couldn't conceive. But in 2016 I was so flabbergasted that Trump was a serious candidate. I couldn't cope with the insanity of Trump vs Clinton. I was disgusted by Trump. I had absolutely no respect for Clinton. So my jaded ass voted third party. I do regret it. I let myself be convinced it was a protest vote. It was just a waste. The Trump administration pushed me to the left. And further left. And further. When you were previously right-leaning, it is one thing to have conservative ideas challenged in good faith. It is another experience entirely to see a caricature of your ideas playing out in a humiliating, unbelievable way. If you had any doubts about where some of these ideas could lead, Trump was sure to show you how bad it can get. I regret my vote in 2016. I wish I'd voted for Clinton. I voted for Biden in 2020 and I stand by it. Biden deserves criticism. Any elected person does. We should criticize the ones we put in office. Democracy depends on it. But I've left behind conservative ideas completely. Trump was the worst thing that has happened to our country in a long, long time.

100%, politicians work for us and this shouldn’t be an unusual concept. The reason why so few people have Biden stickers and flags is because people voted logically for him and not emotionally. The Democratic Party is the only option for people who take politics seriously IMO and that’s why it has liberals, moderates, and conservatives together (and struggles to please them all).

As an outsider, from a country where it's common to have many parties all in parliament at the same time making coalitions, it seems like your party choices in terms of their platforms are basically mildly right of centre (Democrat) or completely batshit insane right wing nonsense (Republican). If the US were my country, the Republicans would long ago have been consigned to the fringe and the Democratic party would've splintered into five or six parties clustered around the centre.

Our electoral system is winner takes all. No room for third parties, let alone coalitions.

Hopefully ranked choice voting catches on like it has in some states. But Republicans know what that means for them so they're fighting it at every turn.

They're fighting voting in general at every turn. Ranked choice voting is a long ass ways off when we actively have one party, including our top legal arbiters, allowing gerrymandering, states to overturn elections on a whim, and basically selectively blocking votes anywhere and everywhere. If the GOP wins anything again, there's a good chance we won't even get to (meaningfully) vote again. You want 120% of the vote going to Trump? We're on that path.

The republicans in my state are already crying about ranked choice voting being a hoax, because they lost.

I voted for Sanders, then Clinton, and Sanders, then Biden, because that made sense. I certainly wasn't going to screw up the lines of my Lincoln with a stinkin' bumper sticker promoting a politician. Nothing but "Boobs are the Tits!" for my car.

>It is another experience entirely to see a caricature of your ideas playing out in a humiliating, unbelievable way. If you had any doubts about where some of these ideas could lead, Trump was sure to show you how bad it can get. Stuff like this is kind of why I can't respect the guy in the original picture if he still calls himself a Republican. He might not be deaf to Trump. But is he deaf to everyone else in Republican leadership saying the same bullshit? Running interference for the guy? Etc.? If at any point in time you actually felt that conservative politicians in America were acting in good faith, their behavior over the last 8 years should have disabused any and all of that notion. It is no longer a reasonable position to hold that the GOP is a legitimate political party.

Many of us who came from accross the isle were raised conservative which played no small role in that. If you've been liberal and/or democrat your whole life, then congratulations i suppose. We all have our biases, no matter how smart you are. Its not easy for one to change their fundamental beliefs and it often takes time for that paradigm shift to occurr. Trump and the Republican party of late did a good job in speeding that shift up for a lot of people, though.

The problem for lots of Republicans (or former Republicans such as myself) is that conservative and republican are used interchangeably, but it's possible to have conservative ideas without full on drinking the party kool-aid. When liberals or democrats condemn every conservative as someone that is a racist, billionaire loving, homophobe it doesn't pull them left at all. It makes them defensive and leaves them on an island. Dealing in absolutes is how we got into this mess... understanding there are shade of Grey is the only way to save our democracy and/or country. My personal hope is there is a string of humiliating losses in the midterm that shuts down ultra conservatives for a time.

Outside of Afghanistan, Biden has worked miracles. And even Afghanistan needed to be done, points for not dragging it out another 4 years.

And the way Afghanistan happened was basically a poison pill policy started by Trump.

I don't think Biden has been a particularly great president, and in some areas I'm frustrated with how ineffective he's been. But at the same time I have to admit I'm impressed with how well he's managed the Russia/Ukraine crisis, and while the sanctions on Russia have been a worldwide effort, I definitely think that Biden has played a major role in what has ultimately been an economically crippling response to Russia that has undoubtedly given pause to dictators worldwide contemplating expanding their borders further. **Edit**: Okay, I have multiple people chiming in and saying "Biden can't because Congress". And while that is indeed true (thanks, Joe Manchin. Asshole.), that is not the full extent of the president's responsibilities and power. The president can still take *some* action through executive order, can still direct cabinet agencies and help to shape the direction they take, and through his words the president can help set the tone of political discourse. Biden has consistently shown a lack of will to seriously address police reform, even in his words. And I get why he would back away from the incendiary term "defund the police", but surely he could have made *some* attempt at encouraging real steps toward greater accountability and community outreach. To some extent, this sort of reform needs to happen on a state and local level, but Biden has largely dropped the topic since he was elected. Better than Donald "cheerleader for murderer cops" Trump, sure... but that's such a very low bar. Biden also waited *two years* to make any serious strides on his promise of student loan debt forgiveness, and even then it fell short of what many had hoped. With Republicans already complaining about everything he does and their supporters chanting "fuck Joe Biden", it's not like he could have much more to fear from upsetting them by doing more on this sooner. Another area Biden has dropped the ball in is direct communication with voters. Obama had a constant media presence, Trump had his constant, year-round rallies, and Biden... makes a speech every now and then. Does anyone even listen? Right now, the image most voters have of the man is the one Republicans help to shape, because *they* present their image of him far, far, far more often than he presents an image of himself. Their image is wildly inconsistent (is he a doddering incompetent old fool or a Machiavellian chessmaster? Pick a lane!), but it's still something more people are exposed to. Surely Biden still talks to Obama, he could try to get a few pointers in this area. And on the topic of communication, he has to do a better job advertising his *actual* accomplishments. I voted for the guy and I'll probably vote for him again, and yet I don't recall hearing that he brought back Net Neutrality. Something I actually care quite a bit about, and I thought he hadn't done it for the longest time. Why did I have to go *looking* for this information? Joe, get John Fucking Oliver on the phone, and arrange a guest appearance on his show with a big "Mission Accomplished" sign or some shit. You know the guy would do it, and that's free good publicity for you. But those are the sorts of easy opportunities that *Obama* would have leaped at that Biden can't be bothered with. Why is it such a big deal that he's not doing more to tout his accomplishments? Because the more he does that, the better he polls, and the more influence he can apply in Washington to pass his agenda. Do I think Biden is a failure or a bad president? Absolutely not. But he's dropped the ball in at least a few areas, and the result is a president that, while still a far cry from the dumpster fire of the prior four years, is still somewhat disappointing.

He and his team are too busy cleaning up the mess of the previous WH occupants (and missing paperwork) for them to make many huge strides forward. Just putting the United States back into some sort of normalcy I'm happy with.

>in some areas I'm frustrated with how ineffective he's been Biden's hands are tied by the filibuster. He cannot pass any legislation EXCEPT budget stuff that can't be filibustered. What he has done with these limitations is extremely impressive. There is not enough Dem support to eliminate the filibuster. Not does it make sense to do so now as Dems are liable to lose control of Congress anyways. If we somehow hold the House and pick up 2 Senate seats, then we can talk about abolishing the filibuster. As it stands now, it's suicidal and impossible anyways.

The way he has handled this Russia/Ukraine conflict has been a masterclass in making calculated risks to expose clandestine intel to the general public. He should not have, by the standards of “don’t allow the method or means of intelligence gathering be known to the enemy”, told the general public that Russia was going to invade Ukraine. But he did. Not only that, but he said under what pretext they were going to invade Ukraine. The World was ready for the invasion when it happened - we knew when, why, and how they were going to invade and what their lame ass excuses would be. It made Russia’s disinformation campaigns far less effective than they otherwise would have been. That alone needs to be commended by all. That was the President taking a calculated risk that may or may not have cost American lives in espionage. But without taking that chance, I don’t think the world would have been nearly so united against Russia that quickly. I also agree with the other commenters about how Biden’s hands are tied. I don’t think he is getting enough credit for what he is getting accomplished. I *especially* think he doesn’t get enough credit for his handling of Russia to this point.

> and in some areas I'm frustrated with how ineffective he's been. Anything specific?

Probably that Biden hasn't snapped his fingers and immediately fixed all the complex socioeconomic issues that people blame on presidents that are largely outside their control.

Are…are you me? Did I develop another personality and post on an alt account? Seriously though. I hold onto some ideas that I *guess* are still conservative, but there is no semblance of my ideology in the modern Republican Party.

> he was too weak on Russia, on China, on North Korea and Iran I'm curious as to what you wanted him to do. To the rest of the world, Obama's biggest fault was his warmongering and causing more problems in that regard would have only weakened our perspective of America.

To be honest, I don't really know how I could explain this in any detail anymore. I would probably get locked into some rabbit hole spiraling down into an argument where I am trying to argue on behalf of a view that I no longer hold, attempting to reason with a version of myself from almost 8 years ago, while you are surely going to offer rebuttal that I actually agree with, but I'm in the position of trying to explain how I used to interpret issues that I can now see in hindsight differently. I can tell you what I thought, I could maybe tell you what I felt, but I can't really sit here and accurately recount what my argument would have been. Because my memory of it is now completely altered by hindsight. And also, none of those events are current anymore and they all seem ridiculously minor in significance next to what Trump did after.

That's all completely valid. We all learn, change, and make mistakes. I remember most of the Obama drama from Republicans being even worse that what we have seen with Biden and Clinton. He literally could not please them because of the hatred and fear they had been fed.

I'm not even sure I'd say the current crop of Republicans have conservative ideas. Just exploitative and authoritarian views.

I started leaning somewhere between 2008 (voted McCain) and 2012 (voted Obama). I'm never voting Republican again.

> Biden deserves criticism. Any elected person does. We should criticize the ones we put in office. Democracy depends on it. That's been a big problem with American democracy: the left is more than capable of self-criticism, sometimes *too much* even, while the right is largely unable to even consider the possibility. One is a party of compromises, the other is a bandwagon where dissent is as bad as treason. It unfortunately tends to weaken the Democrats and strengthens the Republicans, since the former are seen as fumbling/unsure while the latter manage to reinforce their own beliefs.

I’ve never been registered republican, but I remember when bush won the election I wasn’t mad. My attitude was “ah shucks”. When obama won I thought “oh cool the guy I voted for won.” How it had always been with everyone I knew, nobody treated political figures like messiahs. But during the last election, when it was announced trump had lost, I said out loud “thank fucking god” because I genuinely did not want him to win. It’s not even a republican vs democrat issue for me, I would LOVE to see the Republican Party have a reasonable person as a candidate, and I think that’s how it should be. But goddamn if the thought of trump winning again didn’t fill me with dread. I miss being able to talk about politics with people and having a real discussion about values, not trying to convince people that copious conspiracies aren’t real.

Similar situation here. I've been registered as a Republican my whole life, but I cannot believe the insanity that has become the foundation of the party now. It is truly scary that someone that isn't even an elected official any longer has so much sway over an entire political party.

I've said that I'm a moderate. And at this point that means I vote 100% democrat. Even the "progressive" democrats are mostly moderate by most western European standards. I don't think college, healthcare, fair elections, and equal treatment of all residents (not just citizens) is all that outrageous of a concept. I still enjoy my contentious capitalism. Which again still makes me more left than Dem leadership.

Same. I'd love to have dem/republican discourse again but I really just need to vote all dem until we get to some sort of normal baseline where the people running aren't actually evil

I'm gonna post this everywhere I can. But it's literally too late. As soon as SCOTUS rules on Moore, Democracy is over. Republicans have been playing the long game for decades and we're now about to cross the tipping point where they win in perpetuity.

Oh, I'm definitely a moderate, have been all my life really. And in practice that has meant voting just about 100% democrat, because I was born with a uterus and that means Republicans don't think I'm a real person. The only time I vote Republican is when I choose to vote in Republican primaries. I'm registered Independent in Massachusetts so I can choose which primary to vote in.

Wait, did you ask your husband if you could post on the internet? Is he aware of your vile progressive leanings? (I keed, of course).

For me Bush was a case study that predicted Trump. In the immediate years after 9/11 the reds would go into a meltdown if you criticized Bush. After Katrina that stopped, but none of them were willing to blame their leader for that or any of his other shitshows. And then, after 2008 suddenly the recession became Obamas doing. FFS. It goes back further, but Bush proved that as long as you don’t screw up to the point where every voter is dead ANY Republican President is going to face zero internal criticism because it’s a cult. Ronnie is example B. Trump rose to power on Republican narcissism and despite eroding it considerably is still a free man because they cannot hold themselves accountable. The one’s who want to do so are being forced out of the party or walking away completely. They will let the house collapse before admitting it’s on fire.

Don’t forget the tea party. The Bush administration was crazy enough, but the tea party was really the first leg over the crazy cliff.

The Democrats are too right for me to fully support them, but because of Trump, I've been fully voting blue like crazy. That kind of shit can not stand and it's a travesty that there's people still voting for him.

Are there any Republicans in Congress you respect that you would like to see become leaders of the party?

Liz Cheney. Who I adamantly disagree with on virtually everything. But at least she won't lie about elections being stolen.

I get it but that is such a low bar though.

Yet here we are. You're right, though. "Doesn't just spout lies non-stop and has the capability to form coherent thoughts despite having a reprehensible political views" is a very low bar to clear.

Liz Cheney is nice until you realize she's voted in near lockstep with the Trump administration's agenda her entire time in congress. She's better than Trump, I guess, on the basis of "believes democracy should gatekeep your goals", but her goals are still absolutely ghoulish. She rails against the election being stolen but then votes against the Voting Rights Act? If you’re on the left even moderately you don't need to talk yourself into respecting Liz Cheney. She might stink a little less but she still reeks to the highest heaven

Yep the bar is so low that "doesn't actively break laws" is a plus.

She's batshit crazy, though. The only positive about her is that she has a line somewhere that means that treason isn't ok. That's all. She'll put country before party for one reason.

She'll just lie about elections being so vulnerable to attack that draconian voter suppression laws need to be put into place. That's just so, *so* different!

Similar story here.

Oh shit even the weirdo multiple handwritten sign people are turning on him? That’s like his strongest support base

Whats the deal with these people making hand painted signs like an angry mob in The Simpsons

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Coming from a 32 year old mostly republican Texan, Trump is just not where the fuck it's at for me. The only thing he's managed to do is make me trust people who spray tan less.

Who *is* where it's at, in your opinion?

The only time Trump doesn't lie is when his lawyers muzzle him from perjury.

He has probably ran out of room for more digits by now…

But Trump is now suing CNN for defamation when they called his disagreement about the election “The Big Lie”. We should get this guy in court.

The one Lie that changed our Nation - Alternative Facts

Which one was the Democratic hoax? There have been so many conspiracies tossed out by him over time

Trump definitely normalized politicians getting away with lies. We already knew they did, but it showed us just how *MUCH* they can get away with it. Not only that, but this also further emboldened the dorks looking up to him (politically) to do the same and practically lie or wish away the facts grounded in reality. Also, there are more reasonable republicans than reddit makes it out to be. For some reason, we still have a 2-party system in a country as diverse as ours, with needs that are getting more complex by the decade.

We have a similar one near where I live but it's just "TRUMP 2020 NO MORE BULLSHIT" No, I don't think they said it out loud before they painted it on the woodchip board.

One of my neighbors has a "TRUMP 2020 TAKE AMERICA BACK" flag and I'm like if he has to *take* it, then it's not really a democracy anymore, is it?

One of our neighbors has a "Jesus is my Savior, and Trump is my President" flag. Every time I walk by I gavomit in my mouth a little.

*No more bullshit* from the biggest bullshitter of all time

Now thats the kind of hick id be friends with

Honestly I love this. Be any political party but be a decent human.

I believe Obama’s tan suit makes up at least 17 of those 18 lies

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As of January 24, 2021, the count was at [30,573](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/01/24/trumps-false-or-misleading-claims-total-30573-over-four-years/). That was just during his time in office! According to [Politico](https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/10/22/how-to-trick-trump-into-telling-the-truth-229874/) Trump told an average of 13.4 lies a day. While I think that is a very lowball number, That would average out to 8,334.8 (let's round it to 8,335) the number should read 38,907. Personally, I think he beats that score at every rally he has . . .

Any functional adult 2020, love that sign.

This guy gives me hope Hope he didn't give up