A second Trump presidency would be much more dangerous than the first. The first time around he had various semi-sane people around him who actually tried to do their jobs but quickly found out he is an idiot. Now he is surrounded by psychopaths like Musk who play Diablo IV all day and are in league with the Kremlin. Trump himself is too lazy to destroy the country, he will just sit around eating Big Macs like before. However, the fascist incel tech bros like Elon aren't. Either way a Trump presidency is a disaster for the world at large, as foreign policy will go back to appeasing every dictator under the sun. I don't see why people outside the US aren't allowed to be worried by that. The US has its soldiers everywhere and has legislation that says it can invade my country if the ICJ dares to prosecute an American. Never mind the fact that all bullshit US culture wars are immediately imported into Europe. So we have a stake in this.

people outside the USA should obviously feel like they have an interest in US politics given how much we unnecessarily involve ourselves in the affairs of the entire world, and to be fair, how linked our consumption policies are to the rest of the world. that said, i'd just remind people who do not live here and have never lived here that its hard to understand the issues that people deal with on a daily basis that are impacted or potentially impacted by the election if youve never actually lived here, and if you are going to judge people's political beliefs, you should at least make sure you understand the issues they are concerned about.

i could comment on UK politics with a 30,000 foot view, but it would be pretty meaningless. ive visited the UK 4 or 5 times, never for more than 4 days, and ive never lived there, so its hard for me to speak meaningfully about issues impacting people in london or portsmouth or whatever. the situation in the US right now feels like a bomb about to explode, and the shrapnel is going to hit everyone, so its understandable that everyone is worried/has a take on it.

    Eh, let everyone have their say. Americans are all about free speech no? If you think Kamala is or will be incompetent, you're welcome to your opinion.

    In general I've found people get the leader they deserve. If Trump wins, that's what America (and the world) deserves, and will have to live with when (if) the time comes.

    mdgoonah41 the situation in the US right now feels like a bomb about to explode, and the shrapnel is going to hit everyone

    I get your point, but if we're going to be doing a little judicious tone policing about sensitive political commentary, maybe the bomb and shrapnel metaphor isn't the best possible choice for you here.

      meanwhile in Australia, this is the level of scandale engulfing the leader of our nation

      Anthony Albanese has broken his silence on the Qantas upgrade mess revealing an audit of his travel has confirmed he never directly called Qantas CEO Alan Joyce about upgrades for personal travel.
      But crucially, the Prime Minister is not denying - as revealed by news.com.au - that he or his staff may have called Qantas’ government relations contacts or the Chairman’s Lounge “hotline” to book the flights with upgrades then offered by Qantas.
      Instead, the Prime Minister is unequivocally denying for the first time that he ever personally liaised with Mr Joyce directly on the subject of upgrades for family holidays

      the US needs to go back to the time when owning a peanut farm could potentially sink a presidency

        Is this normal in America to just have boxes in the street where you can drop your ballot into? What the actual fuck.....

        I saw yesterday someone had set fire to one of these boxes but not entirely sure if that clip is legit, surely this is not a very well thought out idea?

          Early voting is voting by mail and that is basically a mailbox. I'm not sure what exactly about that you find unusual.

          Having voting boxes out randomly on the road which could easily be tampered with or set on fire?

          Mailboxes are also "randomly out on the road" and can "easily be tampered with or set on fire".

          People can blow up a mailbox if they're really sufficiently motivated to do so. People can break open an ATM machine and steal money if they're really sufficiently motivated to do so. People can get a weapon and shoot you in the head if they're really sufficiently motivated to do so. If a crazy person is sufficiently motivated to do a crazy thing, then they can do so. That's not really a sufficient argument against civilization existing.

            Some very comparable examples you list there. Considering how divided the country is, talk of foreign interference and how the election could potentially be settled by tens of thousands of votes I would think they should be looking to make elections as secure as possible? Those are not general post boxes holding things like birthday cards and parcels are they? They only hold ballots

            DiabyKungFu That's not really a sufficient argument against civilization existing.

            So you are equating these mailboxes with civilisation?

                JazzG Considering how divided the country is, talk of foreign interference and how the election could potentially be settled by tens of thousands of votes I would think they should be looking to make elections as secure as possible?

                If the legislatures around the country worked to "make the elections as secure as possible", then those invested in the "America is bad" cottage industry would turn around and say "'Securing the election' is clearly a dog whistle for voter suppression. This is proof that America is a dystopian hellscape". Instead, the general direction of travel has been to bend over backwards to make voting as easy as possible and those in the "America is bad" cottage industry seem to want to say "Making voting easy enables bad actors to flourish. This is proof that America is a dystopian hellscape".

                Sometimes being restrictive is good. Sometimes being restrictive is bad. Each situation needs to be analyzed on its own merits. However, you're not going to get me to believe that "having mailboxes" is some crazy, radical, democracy destabilizing concept. You've clearly worked backwards from "America is bad" to reach that conclusion.

                    JazzG we don't have those in AU either. electoral drop boxes still seem to be a point of contention over there as well, i don't think all states have them. on the flipside, from reading about USPS, they don't play around wirh this stuff. if you're caught tampering with standard mail - let alone ballot boxes - they have a highly responsive and well resourced security arm that will wreck your shit expeditiously. the republican who set fire to the ballot box in washington was caught within like 24-48 hours, and remedial measures put in place for the damaged ballots.

                        Dunno about the real impact of having postal votes made by public mailbox labelled in such a manner, but I do think the way the US does elections is procedurally stupid.

                        The variable use among states of ballot-marking devices and voting machines is one example of this.

                        That the powers of the Federal Election Commission don't extend to consistent nationwide electoral administration and that this is managed by officials and agencies in each state is another.

                        These things hardly determine the presence or absence of civilisation but, as with many aspects of US parliamentary democracy—some more of which we're quite likely to see if this poll results in further constitutional shenanigans—it's pretty far from perfect.

                        Even though for every US presidential election since 2000 there's been non-stop hand-wringing about irregularities both during the primaries and in November, pundits across the spectrum will still turn out to shed a single tear and expatiate about the United States' glorious democracy …

                        DiabyKungFu However, you're not going to get me to believe that "having mailboxes" is some crazy, radical, democracy destabilizing concept. You've clearly worked backwards from "America is bad" to reach that conclusion.

                        Again where did say that democracy destabilizing concept, I just think it is a bad idea. I agree voting should be made as easy as possible, you could have online voting and make it even easier but there is a reason that isn't allowed.

                        Not sure what makes you think I clearly think America is bad? I'm just talking about these ballot boxes...

                        Gazza M we don't have those in AU either. electoral drop boxes still seem to be a point of contention over there as well, i don't think all states have them. on the flipside, from reading about USPS, they don't play around wirh this stuff. if you're caught tampering with standard mail - let alone ballot boxes - they have a highly responsive and well resourced security arm that will wreck your shit expeditiously. the republican who set fire to the ballot box in washington was caught within like 24-48 hours, and remedial measures put in place for the damaged ballots.

                        Interesting and good they clamp down hard if someone does try to fuck around with them.

                            From what I've seen Trump/Musk are trying to tell everyone how terrible mail-in ballots are because they know that many eligible voters don't have ID and wouldn't vote if the rules were changed (which would benefit Trump). All this despite the evidence of voting fraud being entirely insignificant. They're basically telling their supporters that any person could just put their name in there a million times when it obviously doesn't work that way.

                            Note that they're not at all focused on providing free IDs for all eligible voters. because the entire point is voter suppression.

                              Qwiss makes for better selfies.

                              Are you trying to suggest we don't we all go dressed up in our best clothes to vote? 😉

                              QuincyAbeyie Note that they're not at all focused on providing free IDs for all eligible voters. because the entire point is voter suppression.

                              I agree with the providing free ID point, there are pros and cons if you want to mandate ID for voting but you need to then add that if you don't have a valid form of ID then the government should be providing it for free.

                                  plouffe is the guy that helped obama win, and is a senior adviser to the harris campaign. quiet confidence seems to building on the dem side based on the early vote data in the swing states. that MSG stunt may have actually been an inflection point.

                                  those fugazi betting odds on polymarket have also swung drastically in the last 48 hours, which has caused an amusing meltdown on X.