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Why are so many Australians so invested in the MInutia of US politics?

Patooka said:
2) There is a *HUGE* amount of "monkey see monkey do" in Australian politics. If an idea is floated and talked about in US political circles, it will most likely be echoed by an Australian MP or Senator within a couple of weeks, especially with regards to national security. This is further exacerbated by how much of Australian media is owned by News Ltd, so there is one hell of an echo chamber with very little effort required.
[...]
So basically watching what a bunch of right wing cunts say in the US will give me a head start on what right wing cunts will say here in a few days time.
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Aaah. Thanks for that insight.
 
barbos said:
Clearly Australians are actually Russian trolls, and time zone is similar which helps :D
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Oh, come on. Russia spans so many time zones they could have trolls everywhere in the hemisphere.

(Hmm...)
 
Rhea said:
I don’t mean the big things, the foreign policy, etc. I think world citizens are right and justified to pay attention to those things, both proactively and reactively.
And I don’t mean the fascination with it, because that also makes sense - when someone does something unusual to you, you are interested in it.

But I find it unexpected the tribalism about the little stuff. The taking of sides. The efforts to bring up fighting topics and put on a jersey.
The most recent one is the Pelosi haircut thing. Another is the partisan goading on the presidential polls thread. Another is the BLM protests and the COVID rules.

So what makes so many people get so invested in the haircuts and ice cream of third tier politicians in other countries? Or the mask policies in a state that you’ll never be in?

Strange stuff. But I’m actually curious.

Again, not the investment in what will shape policy that affects your native country, but the degree of taking sides in the stuff that won’t affect you?
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It's an English speaking people geographically very far away from the centre of action. Perhaps they just want to feel like they're part of the club?
 
DrZoidberg said:
It's an English speaking people geographically very far away from the centre of action. Perhaps they just want to feel like they're part of the club?
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You're not wrong. Australian media loses its shit everytime someone overseas mentions us. It was worse during the 80's and 90's, however.
 
The Colourful Jester said:
Is it only the land down under? Not others as well?
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Good point, there are others who seem to invest more than I would expect from someone not immersed in the state and local levels of the shit show.

Let me me clear for everyone, by the way, and I want to say this in big letters because I really mean it and I sense it needs to be clarified:

I have no objection to, and indeed a welcome for, comments, insights, observations and commentary from non-Americans. It’s one of the things I like about this place and I value what I learn when y’all contribute. So thank you.

This thread is truly and only about a curiosity that I could not get my mind around, about what motivates people to discuss certain things and in certain ways. I have NO OBJECTION to people doing it, I just felt that I was looking through greased glasses at the action and didn’t understand their opinion as much as I ought and I wanted to understand better.
 
Rhea said:
I just get surprised when folks like Metaphor and Angelo really pull on the Jersey and go in the ring for Moscow Mitch and Rush Limbaugh and Lindsay Graham. Not US policies, but the side-taking over things like whether Pelosi is a hypocrite about ice cream or AOC is a dumb bartender or something. That’s the part that seems so unexpected.
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I suspect Angelo gets baited into it on Facebook.
 
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