@FreeSpirit1 Bullshit!

@Zoranna Exactly

@spjennifer And yet you still claim to be the greatest country on earth with the best political system. *sigh

Thank goodness I'm an Australian but please remember that what your country does affects the whole world. You used to be a reliable ally but that has been destroyed due to the ego of one man. I hope that relationship can be restored but try to understand our reservation. Trust has been destroyed and has to be rebuilt, not by words but by action.

I wish your new President-Elect and every Cabinet member my sincerest best wishes. His empthathy is palpable, his intentions sincere and I don't care what party he belongs to: he comes across as honest and dedicated and I wish him every sucess.

@Zoranna

[quote]And yet you still claim to be the greatest country on earth with the best political system. *sigh
[/quote]

I never claimed that, understand you mean us as a Nation but I do believe that we can be, the basic premise of any great Democracy is the ability to accept change and should be an ever evolving Democracy. No great Civilization is ever perfect and America certainly isn't. Other great Nations have had spurious leaders for a time and so did we, now it's time to heal, heal our own tensions and forge new and stronger relationships with our allies, let not the abject folly of the last 4 years taint what has been a longstanding friendship... Let's give President Biden the chance to effect change.

@SW-User That's the power of the VOTE! That's where you're heard and it's free!

@CountScrofula That was heartbreaking. Dr Fauci tried his best to inform and educate the administration; unfortunately to no avail. Their ignorance, defiance and incompetency will go down notoriously in history.

@Zoranna

[quote]Ridiculous is an understatement. How can you be sure it's accounted for? You seem to be resigned to accept the status quo. Oh well. I'm just watching from afar.[/quote]

Believe it or not, the election system overall in the USA is not rigged. Financial filings are very heavily scrutinized and people can go to jail for messing with that stuff. So, yes, it's very well accounted for.

That is orthogonal to the final tally.

There could be ways to make this less costly, but they involve some serious changes that may run counter to some of the provisions in our Constitution.

The largest factor is election season length: 2 years. Every single candidate has to maintain a national presence, in all states. This means offices, people, support staff, pollsters, political consultants, media, etc. And when the election is over, that infrastructure is not dismantled, it's revamped for the next election cycle.

Everything else is peanuts compared to this.

It would even be more expensive, if you account for the volunteers' time.

@Northwest I never claimed nor ever believed it was rigged; I didn't even allude to it. I'm just, as I said, continually shocked at the exhorbitant sums of money involved. I do note your valid points, particularly about the volunteers, and agree; yours is HUGE country.

The election cycle in the USA appears to be continually ongoing. I say that slightly in jest but maybe that was because the amount of International coverage given to Trump. I do applaud that coverage though for many non Americans as it peeled away the pretence and veneer and showed him for what he really is: Incompetent, selfish, deceitful and corrupt. To watch him in person lie about something and then sortly thereafter deny that lie still bemuses me. I personally always knew what an absolute cretin he was long before he ran for office and was shocked that he fooled so many. Mind you with hypocrites like Lindsey Graham first against him and then his best buddy, and back and forth again, who can really wonder.

Good luck and stay safe. Once the debacle of the vaccine, delivery and implementation, is overcome hopefully things will slowly start to improve.

@Zoranna [quote]The election cycle in the USA appears to be continually ongoing. I say that slightly in jest[/quote]

This is NOT in jest. Our election cycle is non-stop 24/7, year in, year out. This is what we are.

In regards to costs, I am simply being factual.

I am part of the last category to be vaccinate, so may not get the vaccine until May.

Donald Trump never had any clothes, but 74 Million Americans closed their eyes, and decided not to look. It is our shame.

@Iwillwait I note that it also states that it wasn’t from [b]corruption[/b] which is [b]usually[/b] the implication. I looked it up, and what Politifact was correcting was an inaccurate claim that she had more money, because [b]apparently[/b] for a female politician, [b]that’s[/b] a no-no.

[b][quote] How rich is House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.? A post making the rounds on social media offers a number that’s way off.

The post, which features a picture of Pelosi gesturing, says: "Annual salary: $193,400. Time in office: 28 years = $5,415,200. Net worth: $196,299,990. ‘Something is wrong with this picture’ -- Nancy Pelosi."

The meme’s point is that Pelosi is a modestly paid public servant who has nonetheless collected almost a fifth of a billion dollars in net worth, presumably by corrupt means. That interpretation, and the facts underlying it, are badly flawed.

The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)
[/quote][/b]
And I will henceforth leave you alone and stay off your posts. 🙁

@RedBaron Yep he always will; your Commander in Cheat! He doesn't know how to tell the truth as he's been lying all of his life.

@Zoranna He's not mine any more than yours.

@SW-User

The availability and influence of money seems to control politics in the USA. Despotic/authoritarian countries Trump tried to copy are forging ahead without him i.e. North Korea. Kim Jong Un thanks him so much for putting his irrelevancy on the world stage: he tried to diminish Kim but he enhanced him. *sigh He and Kim are the two greatest pretenders but Kim has complete control of his country's finances whereas Trump never had any.

I disagree, not most countries. I've been voting since I was eligible and have NEVER paid one cent to do so.

For 5 years though I've had grave misgiving about Trump, his motives and agenda. It was all about him and his brand. He's primarily a salesman who had no product but a "Brand". He was convinced it might be good for his "Brand" to run for the Presidency, as a "gimmick" and for his "Brand" he complied. He had no other goal and never expected to succeed. Through that lack of expectancy, knowledge and experience he tried to bluff his way through it. Don't people do their research over there: Trump has been notorious since the 90's! He never pays his contractors and now, ironically, he's not going to pay Giuliani. I really laughed when I heard that but since then Guiliani has been offering to be his lawyer at the 2nd Impeachment Trial. They deserve each other; who can outstiff the other? 😄

Then his enormous ego got in the way of responsible governing: he knew better than anyone ... or so he thought and in the process lost the vital personnel who could have enabled him to have a successful time in office. The rest is history.

No one was more shocked than Trump that he won, partly due to James Comey opening up, but exonerating, the investigation into Hillary Clinton so perilously close to a General Election. James Comey should have been fired but not for the reasons Trump cited. His actions were misguided and reckless and I have no sympathy for him; he should have known better.

I take comfort knowing Trump's "Brand" is now trash and tarnished forever but my sympathy is with USA, the people and how you're all going to recover from this abomination. I wish you well.