2020 Political Chatter

[72gmc]

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-u...-idUSKBN27R309

“It’s pretty dangerous to our democracy to use attacking our elections as a fundraising tool.”

[rwsaunders]

[vertical_doug]

Yes, and if you stop and listen to Americans (I spent the week in the lead up to the election and the last week in GA and S.C.) we are not one nation.
We have two completely different realities, 2 completely different sets of priorities.

One reality is based on science, reasoning and common sense and a desire for more equality(as long as it doesn’t harm corporate personhood and profits!) .
The other reality is based on the negation of all aspects of the Other Reality(as long as it doesn’t hurt corporate personhood and profits).

44 years of mostly-unchecked Regressivism and the complete destruction of our educational system have created this. It will take just as long to fix.

This is the America that Republicans have been conniving for since they sent Dutch up to the Whitehouse. This is the America served by the destruction of Labor and the marriage of neo-liberalism with neo-conservatism and 20 years and trillions of dollars of Nation Building abroad. The United States is a failed democracy with an autocratic strong man and no social safety net.
This is what a country looks like that has spent the past 100 years “fighting global communism” at the expense of serving it’s own people.

Not only must we wait for the death of a large percentage of boomers, we must also wait for a large portion of the population under 50 to cease to breathe and vote.
You can’t fix stupid. Only wait for Stupid to die, and hope that abortion remains safe and legal.

Rememberance Day is probably a fitting time to Pour One Out for The United States.

Unfortunately, the younger generation has more supporters of the GOP than you probably realize. Susan Rice's son John Cameron David-Rice is an outspoken conservative supporter of Donald Trump at Stanford. (hopefully, he will outgrow his Ayn Rand moment)

Trump is famous for projecting. So when he says Democrats are trying to steal the election, you know exactly what he is doing.

[thollandpe]

Four-star General (US Army, Ret.) Barry McCaffery:

“I am not an alarmist. Mark me down as alarmed.”

“We are watching a setup, of some people who are unqualified for the office, to be in charge of the 2.1 million men and women of the Armed Forces.”

“This acting Secretary Chris Miller is a perfectly good, experienced combat soldier, [but he] is unqualified for this office.”

“Retired one-star [General, US Army] Tata is a dangerous man.”

“We are in a risky situation right now.”

[echappist]

Unfortunately, the younger generation has more supporters of the GOP than you probably realize. Susan Rice's son John Cameron David-Rice is an outspoken conservative supporter of Donald Trump at Stanford. (hopefully, he will outgrow his Ayn Rand moment)

Trump is famous for projecting. So when he says Democrats are trying to steal the election, you know exactly what he is doing.

I wonder if it's just his rebellious phase. Also, if nothing else, poster child of riding the coattail of his parents; the only reason why anyone would pay attention to him is due to the fame of his parents.

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Also, I should amend my post above. Not all indirect democracies are republics (but the converse would seem to be true). There are numerous EU nation states that are both constitutional monarchies and indirect democracies, where the respective monarchs are nothing more than figureheads. Ditto for Canada and Australia (though there was that infamous constitutional crisis of 1975, when the unelected Governor General dismissed the Prime Minister).

[Mark Kelly]

Australia (though there was that infamous constitutional crisis of 1975, when the unelected Governor General dismissed the Prime Minister).

After a long campaign of destabilising the (mildly left wing) government led by that Prime Minister. Guess which nation's intelligence operatives were active in the destabilisation campaign?

[Chik]

After a long campaign of destabilising the (mildly left wing) government led by that Prime Minister. Guess which nation's intelligence operatives were active in the destabilisation campaign?

Any prizes? :)

[Loknor]

Whatever the case may be, the proposition still stands. Why anyone would give money to these goats (which is an unfortunate insult to goats) is beyond my meagre comprehension.

Oh agreed, it boggles my mind.

[Loknor]

I'm not going full Q... But when the Secretary of State says he looks forward to a smooth transition to a second Trump administration I take notice. That's not language to dismiss readily from someone as high up as he is.

But that's something different than fretting over a coup.

Is it serious? Yep. Is it destabilizing the system? Yep.. and I can g on with stressing how bad it is.

The election is essentially over. The transition to a new president is just beginning and so far, to my eyes, it's not going smoothly at all. I just hope there are no shenanigans from the various secretaries of state in the tightly contested states.

Yes, most of the lawsuits are being tossed as completely baseless but I wouldn't put much past a few loyalists at the state level. I'll just be glad when he's out of office. I don't care if he concedes or not. That's just language. Actions speak much more powerfully and his actions chip away at the foundations of trustworthy democracy.

Of course we all slake a sigh of relief when he's out, he needs to get his hands of the controls asap.

But every day this takes longer takes away his chances of stealing it. On the other hand, every day this takes longer the more damage accumulates, so make no mistake that I'm just poohpoohing all of this.

But my point that there will not be a coup stands. The Esper and Pentagon moves actually are more or less proof there won't be a coup, as this shows he didn't have true loyalists at those spots preparing a takeover. And no, I flat out refute the notion that the replacements can covertly cobble up a viable take over plan in just a few weeks.

So that fear should not be on your minds (it was the fear I was initially replying to).

Four-star General (US Army, Ret.) Barry McCaffery:

“I am not an alarmist. Mark me down as alarmed.”

“We are watching a setup, of some people who are unqualified for the office, to be in charge of the 2.1 million men and women of the Armed Forces.”

“This acting Secretary Chris Miller is a perfectly good, experienced combat soldier, [but he] is unqualified for this office.”

“Retired one-star [General, US Army] Tata is a dangerous man.”

“We are in a risky situation right now.”

It's alarming without having to go through the "it's a coup rabbit hole". The fact these people are unqualified and being put in charge of the USA military is of course pants on head crazy and worrisome.

[Too Tall]

Running theory regarding Pate to Jowl ratio. I'll report back soon however the data is fairly damning.

Yo Loknor, it is still amateur hr.....with nukes.

[colker]

Let´s talk about Trump´s "widows": Netanyahu or the moron/asshole/scoundrel Bolsonaro in charge of my country. Bolsonaro is the typical bad human being: no empathy towards other human beings, no will to educate himself, no honesty. He is not even a good liar. Of course this piece of shit is a Trumpist ... and now he is lost.
This week the moron talked about military violence in case President Biden would bring economic sanctions to the table regarding the amazon. It´s a delicate subject that masquerades subsidized and protected markets, mostly food. Brasil may be the biggest grain and soy producer in the world. Our foreign chancellor once said Trump had God on his side.. we are living a nightmare down here. Every person w/a cognitive enough brain is desperate. Bolsonaro represents outlaw police militias which control arms , drug trafficking and religious pentecostals. He also gave state jobs to thousands of militaries , something that goes against every conservative rule regarding the military.
With Trump gone, Bolsonaro and his three trumpist kids are weakened. One of the kids wanted to be ambassador in washington but senate rejected based on his utter lack of any credentials. This brat was wearing a Trump 2020 hat in 2019.
All the far right world leaders suddenly lost Papa Trump.

[Saab2000]

All the far right world leaders suddenly lost Papa Trump.

He's not quite gone. Wait until Biden has been sworn into the presidency. Then he'll be gone. His term officially ends at noon on January 20th.

[monadnocky]

I'm thinking that the optics of him being carried out, kicking, screaming, and crying, by the Secret Service on 1/20 won't be good for him and he knows it.

So, he leaves voluntarily, never acknowledging the fact that he lost .... and immediately sets up the "rightful government" in Mar-a-Lago, using donations from his cultists - I mean supporters - to pay for his "cabinet members" and "advisors." Loyal House and Senate members will remain silent about this, perhaps even giving it some legitimacy by their refusal to condemn it. He continues to "govern" by tweet and by Fox.

He doesn't want the real job; it's all about branding and cultish adulation. And this scenario would be perfect for him.

Crazy? Yeah. So, therefore, guaranteed.

[Tom]

I am not letting myself breathe easily but the more I look at this and the process to certify the election I am coming to the conclusion that the Republicans and the President are dealing with this situation totally cynically. Cynically in the sense of the word as I heard it used watching English soccer. The one player had no chance to win the ball so he simply took down the other player. A cynical tackle, it was termed.

Trump just wants to knock Biden off his feet. He doesn't believe he will reverse the election results. Aside from Trump, in the words of Molly Ivins, it's just bidness. Keep the money flowing in. For Trump, the concern is that it is desperation. He knows the prosecutions are going to come thick and fast when he is no longer POTUS. Desperation can cause even more irrational behavior.

[HorsCat]

Please, Lord, give New York and any other relevant state authorities the fortitude to press forward with indicting and prosecuting DJT for his life of crime. It'd be groovy if you could add his oldest son, his oldest daughter, and her husband to the list of prosecutees. Thanks in advance.

[htwoopup]

He knows the prosecutions are going to come thick and fast when he is no longer POTUS.

I am not sure I agree with this. He is so arrogant that I believe he thinks he did nothing wrong legally ever so by definition, in his mind, any prosecution would be only politically motivated which falls into his psychosis of victim-hood which just confirms it. But, I don’t believe he is really afraid of going to jail or some such as he really doesn’t think he did anything improper.

The desperate part I agree with, his mirror that makes him look grand when he looks in it is shattering.

I also think you give him far too much credit. Donald is actually not very bright.

[Too Tall]

Please, Lord, give New York and any other relevant state authorities the fortitude to press forward with indicting and prosecuting DJT for his life of crime. It'd be groovy if you could add his oldest son, his oldest daughter, and her husband to the list of prosecutees. Thanks in advance.

You left out the horse(s).

[Too Tall]

I am not sure I agree with this. He is so arrogant that I believe he thinks he did nothing wrong legally ever so by definition, in his mind, any prosecution would be only politically motivated which falls into his psychosis of victim-hood which just confirms it. But, I don’t believe he is really afraid of going to jail or some such as he really doesn’t think he did anything improper.

The desperate part I agree with, his mirror that makes him look grand when he looks in it is shattering.

I also think you give him far too much credit. Donald is actually not very bright.

Utterly disagree with your assessment. DJT is 1000% aware of his criminal intent and is adept making bank at the same. Oh wait, I just tried to make sense of this. Apologies, I'll drop for 20.

[echappist]

After a long campaign of destabilising the (mildly left wing) government led by that Prime Minister. Guess which nation's intelligence operatives were active in the destabilisation campaign?

The one that overthrow the popularly elected government of Iran (thereby begetting us the vile Ayatollah and his minions) and the popularly elected government of Zaire (whose effects still reverberates in Zaire/ DRC today)? I believe said nation was going for a trifecta of sorts?

[Loknor]

Yo Loknor, it is still amateur hr.....with nukes.

Yep, go USA