[GT] US election - It's 2020, what could possibly go wrong?

[opendoor]

Originally Posted by nfotiu

I posted an article above about a Virginia house member who almost lost her seat, that she won rather easily in 2018.

That's a weird way to characterize it. In 2018 she won by 1.9 points and in 2020 she won by 1.8 points. And in 2018 there was a Libertarian candidate that got 1.2 percent of the vote, which would presumably come more from likely Republican voters than Democratic ones, whereas in 2020 is was just the two candidates.

That said, I do agree that having more left wing policies isn't likely to push them towards success in a conservative country like the US. The problem with the Democratic leadership isn't progressive vs. moderate; it's that they haven't seemed to learn a thing from their failures in 2016. They spent the last 4 years blaming Russia for their loss rather than looking in the mirror and realizing why business as usual wasn't a very tantalizing prospect for large swaths of the country. Trump got elected in 2016 and got 74 million votes after a fairly disastrous presidency (by pretty much any metric) for a reason.

Not to mention, their leadership is ancient. Biden is 78, Pelosi is 80, Schumer is 70, and the heads of most of the important committees like Feinstein (87), Leahy (80), Sanders (79), Lowey (83), and Yarmuth (73) are no younger. And the top 4 finishers in the 2020 Democratic primary were 77, 78, 78, and 71 years old. There is just a complete lack of any kind of leadership in the party that's under 70 years old (Adam Schiff maybe?). I mean, Bill Clinton was elected President almost 30 years ago and he's still younger than most of the current Democratic leadership.

[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by blender

I get it, and trust me, I am with the program. I also get that you are being tongue in cheek here, but I was surprised that rubecube's comment, which was accurate and apt, if debatable, was met with such a jingoistic response.

I toss out jingoistic responses when I'm being met with commentary that requires such a response. Rube's hot takes on American politics are laughable, and very much from the Bernie Bro playbook of hot socialistic ideas (in American parlance). I mean, come on. He's claiming 60% of the country is in on a progressive agenda, which they clearly are not. Do some ideas have some support? Yes. Is it a progressive agenda? Not in the slightest. But I do enjoy being told what my fellow Americans like and are willing to accept with such conviction and certainty, when those claims are so easily proven wrong by the outcomes of elections.

Carry on.

[troutman]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1339651660646391810

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by New Era

I toss out jingoistic responses when I'm being met with commentary that requires such a response. Rube's hot takes on American politics are laughable, and very much from the Bernie Bro playbook of hot socialistic ideas (in American parlance). I mean, come on. He's claiming 60% of the country is in on a progressive agenda, which they clearly are not. Do some ideas have some support? Yes. Is it a progressive agenda? Not in the slightest. But I do enjoy being told what my fellow Americans like and are willing to accept with such conviction and certainty, when those claims are so easily proven wrong by the outcomes of elections.

Carry on.

Hard to take you seriously when you're struggling with basic reading comprehension.

Originally Posted by rubecube

You have a populist wave in the U.S. right now that probably accounts for 60% of voters (combining right and left populists) and who knows how many non-voters. This is a direct rejection of establishment politics but centrists keep sticking their heads in the sand and pretending it doesn't exist.

Either that or you're deliberately mischaracterizing my position. Hard to say which is worse.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by JohnnyB

The US has some pretty fundamental issues to deal with in the wealth gap, money in politics, permanent QE and value of the dollar, slow responses to tech advancements, social division in the country, and the impact of climate change. The Biden admin will make steps on some of these, but they're not likely to address money in politics, the wealth gap is likely going to become much worse soon, and I'm not sure there is any vision beyond permanent QE yet. Can they even reverse the damage of the last 4 years? I'm skeptical. Is there a vision for an America beyond the broken systems? I'm skeptical of that too. Those who have tried to advance visions of change are kept on the fringes, so not much change should really be expected.

On point.

[GirlySports]

Do your best not to continuously laugh throughout this entire article.

the day after the election, when Trump’s odds at BetOnline were +525 and 80 percent of the bets were still coming in on Trump

[Dion]

Dominion voting machines demands pro-Trump attorney Sidney Powell retract 'defamatory' accusations

Attorneys for Dominion Voting Systems sent a letter to Sidney Powell, a onetime member of President Trump’s legal team, demanding she retract her claims that the voting machine company helped rig the 2020 election.

The letter, from the Alexandria, Va.-based law firm Clare Locke, warns Powell that she will expose both herself and the Trump campaign to “substantial legal risk for defamation” if she refuses to publicly recant the many unsubstantiated claims she has made about the company.

“As a result of your false accusations, Dominion has suffered enormous harm, and its employees have been stalked, have been harassed, and have received death threats,” the letter states. “We demand that you immediately and publicly retract your false accusations and set the record straight. If you refuse to do so and instead choose to stand by your defamatory falsehoods, that will be viewed as additional evidence of actual malice.”

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaig...powell-retract

[keratosis]

Frozen cherry pies can now be especially thick? Finally!

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by Dion

Dominion voting machines demands pro-Trump attorney Sidney Powell retract 'defamatory' accusations



https://thehill.com/homenews/campaig...powell-retract

Yeah, I was wondering when the defamation suits were coming.

[pylon]

Originally Posted by rubecube

Hard to take you seriously when you're struggling with basic reading comprehension.



Either that or you're deliberately mischaracterizing my position. Hard to say which is worse.

I have a question for rubecube, and this isn't a slight, just a general curiosity question.

If you were given 2 choices, and your life depends on selecting one, which would you choose?:

1) Live in a full on Communist Society modelled after mid-seventies Soviet Union. You get everything you need, nothing you don't, and every move you make, is monitored.

2) Live in the worst case scenario 'wet-dream' of a Republican 'Murica where capitalism, guns, full on Freedom!, and Trump rule.

Jumping off a bridge is not an option. This is a compromise you have to willingly make.

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

Originally Posted by rubecube

Yeah, I was wondering when the defamation suits were coming.

This is where it is a real problem for Sidney Powell that the allegations she made outside the courtroom were more inflammatory than the ones in the actual “Kraken” lawsuit, which theoretically attracted a qualified privilege. All of that out of court unsworn “testimony” could now come back to bite her, and it won’t be hard for Dominion to prove damages.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by pylon

I have a question for rubecube, and this isn't a slight, just a general curiosity question.

If you were given 2 choices, and your life depends on selecting one, which would you choose?:

1) Live in a full on Communist Society modelled after mid-seventies Soviet Union. You get everything you need, nothing you don't, and every move you make, is monitored.

2) Live in the worst case scenario 'wet-dream' of a Republican 'Murica where capitalism, guns, full on Freedom!, and Trump rule.

Jumping off a bridge is not an option. This is a compromise you have to willingly make.

I honestly think I might choose #1, and Trump being part of #2 is what tips the balance. Just make it 1980's Republican 'Murica with Reagan instead and you'd probably win me back. Can't speak for Rube.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Originally Posted by Iowa_Flames_Fan

This is where it is a real problem for Sidney Powell that the allegations she made outside the courtroom were more inflammatory than the ones in the actual “Kraken” lawsuit, which theoretically attracted a qualified privilege. All of that out of court unsworn “testimony” could now come back to bite her, and it won’t be hard for Dominion to prove damages.

She has a cult that she can GoFundMe for the damages, she'll be alright.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by pylon

I have a question for rubecube, and this isn't a slight, just a general curiosity question.



If you were given 2 choices, and your life depends on selecting one, which would you choose?:



1) Live in a full on Communist Society modelled after mid-seventies Soviet Union. You get everything you need, nothing you don't, and every move you make, is monitored.



2) Live in the worst case scenario 'wet-dream' of a Republican 'Murica where capitalism, guns, full on Freedom!, and Trump rule.



Jumping off a bridge is not an option. This is a compromise you have to willingly make.

In the second scenario, do we live in the modern day, surveillance state U.S.? Are talking full on libertarian, wet dream USA, with zero environmental regulations and an unchecked corporate oligarchy?

If it's just the last 4 years of Trump rule, then I'd probably take option 2. If we're talking about the USA that Trump would like to build, probably option 1.

[GreenLantern2814]

It’s probably worth posting every few pages of this thread...

Voting machines are the stupidest goddamn idea any democracy ever came up with.

Pen. Paper. Check mark. Done. Christ.

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by rubecube

In the second scenario, do we live in the modern day, surveillance state U.S.? Are talking full on libertarian, wet dream USA, with zero environmental regulations and an unchecked corporate oligarchy?

If it's just the last 4 years of Trump rule, then I'd probably take option 2. If we're talking about the USA that Trump would like to build, probably option 1.

Read the Gulag Archipelago. Just the first two chapters will be enough to convince you that on Trump’s worst day, he’s better than that.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern2814

It’s probably worth posting every few pages of this thread...

Voting machines are the stupidest goddamn idea any democracy ever came up with.

Pen. Paper. Check mark. Done. Christ.

The dominion machines have a paper trail to allow recounts. Paperless voting is ridiculous.

I like the scantron that Canada has a begun using. Still fill out an easy to read ballot but counting is done by a Machine. This is essentially how most of the mail in ballots in the US are done.

The Michigan error could happen in Canada.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern2814

Read the Gulag Archipelago. Just the first two chapters will be enough to convince you that on Trump’s worst day, he’s better than that.

I think if Trump's worst impulses were left unchecked, you'd end up with a pretty brutal fascist regime. That said, I agree that the last 4 years of Trump aren't even in the same galaxy as the Soviets.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

Do your best not to continuously laugh throughout this entire article.

I bet on Biden winning the popular vote on election night..free money

[Dion]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1338926016564088833