American Politics Thread

[zoroarctic]

It absolutely blows my mind that Trump is saying he's tested negative now for COVID-19. Just...How? How is it that of all people, the one who has downplayed and spread misinformation about this virus so often is the one who had like 2 days of very mild symptoms, then no flare ups in the 2nd week? Just how? Making it clear again that I'd never wish for his death, but I'm just kinda irritated he had such an easy time with it, cause it could have taught him that this is more than "just a flu". It could have opened his eyes, but he walks away completely unscathed.

It’s possible he’s lying. I wouldn’t trust anything coming from this White House.

 

[Volphied]

the one who had like 2 days of very mild symptoms, then no flare ups in the 2nd week? Just how?

That's only because he's high on steroids. His voice is still very hoarse, and his monologues don't last 90+ minutes like they used to, due to him being exhausted. If it doesn't kill him, it will still take a decade out of his lifespan (covid leaves permanent scars on lungs), which is not good news for someone over 70 years old.

Besides, I still want him to live long enough to be humiliated by losing the election.

And let's not forget that he's still highly contagious, no matter how much he pretends to be "cured". I'm not gonna shed a tear if he keeps mingling with prominent GOP politicians.


View: https://twitter.com/ddale8/status/1315794426934046720

As I've said before, it is a time that just makes me think of the fact that if I was still holding onto a God belief, I wouldn't be able to anymore.

There is no justice. No justice at all.

Right now we're heading towards an election that will see Trump humiliated and the Senate most likely flipped to Dems. What the GOP is doing with the SCOTUS is right now making court expansion more likely than ever before in history, with prominent dems refusing to rule it out which in itself is highly unprecedented. If Trumpism is rejected in November, then their highly partisan court nominee will be too terrified to do anything highly controversial. So it's too early for you to give up on everything. This is the GOP's last desperate attempt at power before getting swept away by the tide of public outrage.

 

[zoroarctic]

Polls seem to continue to favor Cunningham.

Trump's election proved that voters don't care about politicians cheating on their wife. I'm not saying that's right, I'm merely saying that this is how it is now.

Update: Cunningham’s numbers have actually improved in the latest polls. What’s interesting if you dig into the numbers is he’s actually lost a little support from women, but gained support from men. And I’ll just leave it at that.

 

[LuxrayOfTheWild]

We've all been waiting for an October surprise. We knew the Republicans were going to push some phony story in desperation to sway people away from Joe Biden, and it looks like its arrived and backfired immediately. The NY Post, which tends to be right wing propaganda, posted an article about alleged emails from Hunter Biden to Ukranian official about meeting his father. This is coming from Steve Bannon and Rudy Giuilani, and people have noted, the emails seem to be forged. This is their October surprise, and boy is it a VERY sad attempt. Twitter and Facebook have apparently begun to stop the spread of this misinformation. Conservatives are already bitching about it.

 

[Rainfall]

Just a pedantic additional view on this./

The Taliban Hopes Trump Will Win the U.S. Election

“When we heard about Trump being COVID-19 positive, we got worried for his health, but seems he is getting better.”

www.thedailybeast.com

This happened.

" A spokesman for the insurgent group, Zabihullah Mujahid, told the network, “We hope he will win the election and wind up U.S. military presence in Afghanistan.”

To be pedantic, here's another follow-up view, from the same person.
If we're quoting him, we have to be careful. (I'm also not sure if the original quote was in... Dari or Pashto, or English, or what.)
LINK:
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/nothing-of-the-sort-taliban-corrects-cbs-news-report-that-it-endorsed-president-trump

They're not technically endorsing Trump. They do want US presence in Afghanistan to stop, which seems to be President Trump lingering latest policy direction (unless I'm uninformed about this).

(As an aside, I don't follow global situations very well, but in my uninformed personal opinion, my understanding was that the policy to keep a continued, non-combative 'peacekeeping' military presence has net positive value.)
______________________________________________________

 

[Rainfall]

Some more small thoughts./

Update: Cunningham’s numbers have actually improved in the latest polls. What’s interesting if you dig into the numbers is he’s actually lost a little support from women, but gained support from men. And I’ll just leave it at that.

Part of me thinks that what a political officeholder does in their own life (re: adultery) shouldn't directly impact what goes on in public policymaking...
Still, seeing that the aggregate effect following the news, that he's lost some support from women, and gained some support from men, leaves quite the sour taste in my mind.
______________________________

This is coming from Steve Bannon and Rudy Giuilani, and people have noted, the emails seem to be forged. This is their October surprise, and boy is it a VERY sad attempt. Twitter and Facebook have apparently begun to stop the spread of this misinformation.

[bolded emphasis mine]

I guess I'm just here to comment, that
- given misinformation is so much easier to spread than factual, true things,
- given that the tech landscape will give rise to even more sinister disinformation capabilities in the near future, and
- given many people, from different political and social backgrounds, all are dissatisfied with how various social media sites are handling fact-checking, disinformation, hate speech, etc.,

given all these things, I'm glad that those sites are still actively pursuing fact-checking and chasing after the difficult, nebulous ideal of a reliable, healthy social (and news) media landscape.

 

[Volphied]

View: https://twitter.com/RawStory/status/1316455611161288710

“I just want to punch him,” Schultz said of President Donald J. Trump. “I always had to keep my politics to myself, but from where I’m sitting now? Those days are over. I shouldn’t be here.”

Schultz said he believes Trump should have been more upfront with the public from the beginning about the dangers of the virus that has now killed 215,000 people and climbing.

Schultz recalled feeling sick on the same day Trump checked into Walter Reed Medical Center. The president’s nonchalant attitude was wearing thin on Schultz.

“I’m just frustrated with the president — the non-chalantness of this virus,” he said. “They should be afraid. It’s nothing to mess with… I just can’t sleep. If you can’t breathe, you can’t sleep.”

The way Trump keeps pretending that Covid is no big deal is definitely behind his current fall in polls. Most American's don't have access to the same healthcare US presidents have. It's completely self-defeating for Trump to boast about his own recovery from Covid.

 

[WyndonCalling]

Jack Dorsey is a blisteringly stupid man. All you had to do was nothing. I wouldn't be surprised, in the grand scheme of the things, if he hadn't expedited the break-up of his company by, oo, five years?

 

[prog rocker]

Jack Dorsey is a blisteringly stupid man. All you had to do was nothing.

What's the context behind this?

 

[WyndonCalling]

Twitter and Facebook censored a scuttlebutt-but-probably-fundamentally-true story about Hunter Biden that not a soul in the world would have actually cared about, registered, or been significantly influenced by - the former also limited Trump's campaign account. Both he and Zuckerberg have been summoned to appear in Congress to answer questions about potential electoral law-breaking.

How brick-eatingly thick do you have to be to make a move like that in this environment, when everyone is absolutely chomping at the bit to claim they've been screwed over by social media and the broad existing consensus is that you're probably a net blight on society?

Edit: He has to be a Trump double-agent playing an extremely long game. He has to be.

 

[Volphied]

Twitter and Facebook censored a scuttlebutt-but-probably-fundamentally-true story about Hunter Biden that not a soul in the world would have actually cared about, registered, or been significantly influenced by - the former also limited Trump's campaign account. Both he and Zuckerberg have been summoned to appear in Congress to answer questions about potential electoral law-breaking.

How brick-eatingly thick do you have to be to make a move like that in this environment, when everyone is absolutely chomping at the bit to claim they've been screwed over by social media and the broad existing consensus is that you're probably a net blight on society?

Edit: He has to be a Trump double-agent playing an extremely long game. He has to be.

To be fair, the stuff that got deleted was literally revenge porn. It broke the rules so it got removed for consistency. That material is clearly from an illegal source (and includes stolen pictures and a sex tape). For once, they did the right thing by deleting it. The GOP has been screaming about Facebook/Twitter being biased against them for a very long time, so no one (who could change their mind) will believe those chicken little Republicans even in this case.

 

[LuxrayOfTheWild]

Just about 17 more days until the election. Things have been going good for Biden, but I still can't help but feel genuinely scared though. There's nothing I dread more tham seeing Trump declare victory and all of his supporters running their mouths, mocking Biden supporters the next day.

 

[zoroarctic]

There's nothing I dread more tham seeing Trump declare victory and all of his supporters running their mouths, mocking Biden supporters the next day.

On the flip side, I will laugh my fucking ass off if Biden ends up winning by more than Obama did in 2008.

 

[TechSkylander1518]

In a way, I'm also afraid of how people will act after a Trump, though obviously it wouldn't be as bad as Trump getting re-elected. Between the kidnappers in Michigan, the armed lockdown protesters, Kyle Rittenhouse, QAnon, etc, I think violence after a Trump loss is a pretty strong possibility.

 

[Proxima Centauri B]

In a way, I'm also afraid of how people will act after a Trump, though obviously it wouldn't be as bad as Trump getting re-elected. Between the kidnappers in Michigan, the armed lockdown protesters, Kyle Rittenhouse, QAnon, etc, I think violence after a Trump loss is a pretty strong possibility.

Im afraid too. My state's governer,Ralph Northam, was also a target of a kidnapping plot. It seems to have been the same if not very similar. People are getting kind of crazy. It makes me afraid to go to work after the election.

 

[prog rocker]

What kidnapping plot???? Are things going that insane?

 

[LuxrayOfTheWild]

What kidnapping plot???? Are things going that insane?

Some radical far right militia tried to kidnap Govenor Gretchen Whitmer because they were mad at her for how she was handling COVID-19, and apparently Ralph Northam was a target also. This is what happens when you have a president who downplays a serious virus and tweets the stuff he does.

 

[Volphied]

Don't worry guys, we might get our first runaway ex-president.

Trump Threatens to ‘Leave the Country’ if He Loses to Biden

“Could you imagine if I lose?” the president asked his rally crowd Friday night. “What am I going to do?”

www.thedailybeast.com

 

[zoroarctic]

Don't worry guys, we might get our first runaway ex-president.

Trump Threatens to ‘Leave the Country’ if He Loses to Biden

“Could you imagine if I lose?” the president asked his rally crowd Friday night. “What am I going to do?”

www.thedailybeast.com

But where would he go? So many countries have closed their borders to us.

 

[prog rocker]

But where would he go? So many countries have closed their borders to us.

*remembers his country still accepts people from the US* Well, we're screwed then...