US Politics: Vaguely above average Tuesday

[Zorral]

1 hour ago, Jace, Basilissa said:

rump actively making it worse and therefore Trump winning allows for a "real Democrat" to win in 2024

That is a person who is truly Stoo-o-o-o-pid.

As if letting him have yet another term or just stay on (as he plans to) wouldn't make getting a Dem elected in 2024 even more difficult, after 4 more years of SC stuffing, voter repression, endless lockdowns -- and not just at the borders . . . .

[DMC]

1 minute ago, Tywin et al. said:

It would appear that adding an extra 0 would be problematic. Whoops 

Well, to be clear, because this calculation is pretty damn easy and I just got another week off from work, Clinton lost the three states by a combined 77,744 votes.  That's .057 percent of the total votes (although I don't know why you're basing it off that and not the statewide votes, just seems kinda cheap), about 57 times .001%, or 5.7 times .01 percent.

[Zorral]

Also, re the really stooopid boyfriend -- wouldn't have a Dem, even if not our / my personal preference in the WH, who, hopefully, would begin the terrible long difficult process of repair, or at least getting competence, be more likely to lead to an even more (younger) Dem getting in, then, in 2024?

Of course I don't understand why polls and Carvills and the rest are allowed to tell us how politics works etc., so wth, wot do I no?

 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

14 minutes ago, DMC said:

Well, to be clear, because this calculation is pretty damn easy and I just got another week off from work, Clinton lost the three states by a combined 77,744 votes.  That's .057 percent of the total votes (although I don't know why you're basing it off that and not the statewide votes, just seems kinda cheap), about 57 times .001%, or 5.7 times .01 percent.

Yes, that's what I got when I redid it. I'm honestly curious where I fat fingered it.

But anyways, my math mistake aside, the point was to highlight just how small the margin was, and that a shorter, more cordial primary in 2016 could have been the difference in the election, but I also said above that so could Clinton not running a terrible campaign in the Midwest. Let's just hope Biden and Sanders mean it when they say they're friends because it sounds like Sanders is going to completely unload on Biden in the next debate.

(And also, to answer a question you posed in another thread because the coronavirus is everywhere, ain't no way in hell Vince shuts down WrestleMania without the government forcing his hand, and even then I could see him fighting it with a steel chair. I wonder what a wrestling event would look like with no fans.....)

[DMC]

8 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

the point was to highlight just how small the margin was, and that a shorter, more cordial primary in 2016 could have been the difference in the election, but I also said above that so could Clinton not running a terrible campaign in the Midwest. Let's just hope Biden and Sanders mean it when they say they're friends because it sounds like Sanders is going to completely unload on Biden in the next debate.

Again, I just don't think your causal variable here - people not voting for Clinton because Sanders stayed in too long - had even that much of an effect.  But, like I said, no one knows this.  Even if you tracked it in real time, I'm not sure simply asking that item would demonstrate the legitimate reason Sanders voters didn't vote for Clinton.

Sanders is entitled to go full bore on Biden as long as he remains civil, which frankly he always has.  While there's that whole mishegoss about Sanders supporters, I don't think most anybody claims he's ever unwarrantedly gone after an opponent in a debate.  The other component from 2016 that he can't really point to this time is the system is "rigged" with the stupid way the media would include superdelegates in the delegate count.  He can't do that anymore.

15 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

And also, to answer a question you posed in another thread because the coronavirus is everywhere, ain't no way in hell Vince shuts down WrestleMania without the government forcing his hand, and even then I could see him fighting it with a steel chair. I wonder what a wrestling event would look like with no fans.....

Halftime Heat 1999, which aired during halftime of the Super Bowl, featured Mankind defeating Rock for the championship in an empty arena.  Anyway, obviously Vince isn't going to shut it down without government officials forcing him to, that's what I said in the Pro Wrestling thread.  But it's looking increasingly likely they're gonna force him to shut it down, or do it in an empty stadium.

[Stego]

2 hours ago, Ran said:

That's 1 liberal and perhaps as many as 3 Supreme Court seats (2 of them liberal) the boyfriend is willing to cede to Trump. That's ~20-40 years of the Supreme Court shutting down pretty much anything progressive.

 

How many court seats are worth your integrity? 1? 3?

I couldn't care less. It very well may have to get worse before it gets better.

And you're talking as if Biden has a chance. He doesn't. The race is over.  Have you seen the viral videos from today? "DISQUALIFIED!!" 

2 hours ago, Muaddibs_Tapeworm said:

 And no, it's not more important than anything to have a strong defense. In fact, a strong defense is probably the dead-ass lowest priority I can think of. 

We still have troops in Germany from the end of WWII (I think Hitler's good and dead by now). 

In case I wasn't clear, what I'm saying we need to do with our military budget is make big, giant, sweeping, merciless, powerful, veiny, THROBBING cuts and put that money somewhere it's going to do actual good.

Someone has never read a history book. 

We are still in Germany because Germany demanded we stay out of fear of the Soviet Union. They STILL demand we stay. What the fuck does Hitler have to do with it?

Our military budget brings technological advancement impossible without it. It keeps our rivers able to be used for trade through the Corps of Engineers. It brought us the transistor that created modern computing. It gave us nuclear power and both fixed wing and rotor wing aviation. Military investment was, is, and will be the best investment a nation could make. All of history backs this assertion.

It's ok if you don't believe in evil or in a force capable of fighting it. Not everyone has actually experienced the world.

[Lord of Rhinos]

So here's the title of the most posted on thread on the front page of /rchapotraphouse "Anyone who tells people to vote Biden on this sub needs to get banned. Lenin’s ghost 2020"  Post contains no text.

 

Here's the pinned mod post:

"I'm fully onboard with this. Anyone voting for Joe Biden is unironically a reactionary and clearly lacks an understanding of how neoliberalism enables fascism.

Joe Biden offers nothing. His election would setback leftist movements in this country for easily a decade. He is feeble and despises the working class. Biden is a terrible presidential candidate and I will not vote for him in November.

Green, PSL, and down-ticket leftists only.

If you vote for Joe Biden you are both a liberal and a class traitor."

[mcbigski]

9 hours ago, Isabel said:

You do realise the damage another 4 year trump will do to your country?

You can kiss the supreme court goodbye, perhaps dictatorship, non functional bureaucracy  etc.

Not down for the dictatorship but like Mr. loaf said 2 outta 3 ain't bad.

[Fragile Bird]

I am gob-smacked at what Trump is saying. 
 

He’s going to shut down all air travel with Europe and stop the virus.

A little late, now.

[Fez]

So far this is the speech he should've given (minus the self-praise, but whatever, that's what he does) almost a month ago.  Almost nothing, except the brief advice about social distancing, is helpful at this point.

I mean, the economic package is fine; but (other than paid sick leave) none of it helps with the immediate problem.

[Martell Spy]

DeVos rebuked in bipartisan Senate vote over limiting student debt relief

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/11/betsy-devos-senate-vote-student-debt-relief-125826

Quote

 

The Senate on Wednesday issued a strong bipartisan rebuff to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, passing legislation to block her policy that makes it tougher for defrauded student loan borrowers to have their debts forgiven.

Ten Republican senators broke with the Trump administration and joined with Democrats on a 53-42 vote to overturn DeVos’ rewrite of the Obama-era “borrower defense” rule, which governs debt relief for students whose colleges engaged in misconduct.

The measure, which cleared the House last month, now heads to President Donald Trump’s desk. The White House has threatened a veto of the legislation, which did not garner a veto-proof majority in either chamber.

But Trump told Republican senators during a closed-door meeting on Tuesday that he was “neutral” on the resolution, according to several individuals familiar with the remarks. During the meeting, Sen. Lamar Alexander, (R-Tenn.), the chairman of the Senate HELP Committee, told Trump that he opposed the resolution and was defending the Trump administration’s own policy.

“I have sort of a neutral position,” Trump responded, according to people in the room. “I’m in between.”

Trump told senators that he hoped that DeVos would be able to address any concerns with the rule. Trump later indicated that he actually was in favor of DeVos’ regulation after speaking with her on the phone, according to a Senate GOP aide.

A White House spokesperson did not dispute Trump’s remarks but pointed to the Statement of Administration Policy issued in February. The statement says that Trump’s advisers would recommend he veto the resolution. Asked for comment, an Education Department spokesperson pointed to the same statement.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who voted to block DeVos' rule, said that the Trump administration's policy "makes it difficult for students to know whether they’ve been a victim of their college’s misrepresentation in the first place."

"I worry this new rule may have unintended consequences in our efforts to hold fraudulent colleges accountable and protect student loan borrowers," Murkowski said in a statement. "We need a policy in place that will allow defrauded students the chance to have their loan debt forgiven, while protecting good colleges and taxpayers.”

If Trump does not sign the measure, it would be only his seventh veto since taking office — and the first on a domestic policy issue. Previous Trump vetoes have been over disputes with Congress on war powers, arms sales and the declaration of a national emergency to build a border wall.

 

 

[Guest]

Good news for us: Trump will spend like a drunken sailor to get re-elected.

Bad news for Trump: he has lost control of the news cycle on this thing. He owns it all now.

[Zorral]

I would just like to say, YET, ONCE AGAIN, the Dem candidate has been chosen without me ever getting to cast a vote. I live in a big blue state/district.  Hello?  Dems?  Are YOU LISTENING?

[Centrist Simon Steele]

1 hour ago, Lord of Rhinos said:

So here's the title of the most posted on thread on the front page of /rchapotraphouse "Anyone who tells people to vote Biden on this sub needs to get banned. Lenin’s ghost 2020"  Post contains no text.

 

Here's the pinned mod post:

"I'm fully onboard with this. Anyone voting for Joe Biden is unironically a reactionary and clearly lacks an understanding of how neoliberalism enables fascism.

Joe Biden offers nothing. His election would setback leftist movements in this country for easily a decade. He is feeble and despises the working class. Biden is a terrible presidential candidate and I will not vote for him in November.

Green, PSL, and down-ticket leftists only.

If you vote for Joe Biden you are both a liberal and a class traitor."

So someone posted a shit post? What's your point? I posted in that thread that I'm voting for Biden. Didn't get banned. They're talking about people like you (I presume) coming in and shaming them for not voting. 

This election is so fucking over for so many reasons. Go buy like 8 months worth of toilet paper and quit trying to villainize potential voters.

[TrueMetis]

4 hours ago, Simon Steele said:

Yeah, it's exactly what you're doing (albeit in the opposite direction) by looking so far down at other groups of supporters that you don't even want their help. You have an arbitrary question about something, and based on how you presume people will respond, you judge them as inferior. I know it's hard to accept that about yourself, but acceptance is the first step toward becoming better.

I accepted a chunk of moderates (some who aren't even voting in the U.S. election) are insufferable, but because I accepted that, I now feel free to move forward and vote for Biden with a gas mask on instead of hiding in a bunker on election day. 

... Purity politics in the opposite direction. So purity politics is the choosing of your candidate based on a single policy (IE Medicare or all or let it burn). The opposite direction of that would be choosing your candidate on the sum total of their policies. Which yeah I guess that's what I do. It's why I voted for the Liberals in the Canadian Election instead of the NDP who actually align more closely with my personal politics. (still not actually aligned, but what are you gonna do?)

Simon I say this as respectfully as possible, you're not making any fucking sense. Like I'm not American, I'm not getting any help from any of you. If worst comes to worst I'll be part of the group pulling people out of camps. I'm not judging arbitrarily or presuming, I know that people on the Alt-right and Left switch between the two, I've seen it. There's data. And yeah I'll judge them as inferior, they're helping a fascist get and keep power.

And I'm sure as hell not a moderate. I'm an actual socialist, not a milquetoast "call me a socialist because America doesn't know what that word means" social democrat like Bernie.

[Guest]

The NBA just cancelled its season.

[ThinkerX]

Next up: Trump cancels the general election to prevent the spread of the Corona virus.  Key members of congress are deemed 'infected' on dubious grounds and deemed unfit for office. 

[Fragile Bird]

If you want to amuse yourselves in a lol/sob sort of way, ask to join the Royal Caribbean Facebook group.

The food fight that’s broken out between the Trumpsters and everyone else is hilarious! The name-calling is racist, homophobic, everything you could imagine! 

We haven’t gone on a cruise since just after Trump was elected. The Americans just became so much more obnoxious to non-Americans, not so much to Canadians, but especially to Latinos. And Puerto Ricans.

eta: Trump supporters, as far as we could tell.

[DMC]

17 minutes ago, The Great Unwashed said:

The NBA just cancelled its season.

Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson having it >>>> Rudy Gobert having it.  That dude's immune system will just rim protect the shit out of the virus.

[Fragile Bird]

Oh, guess what? After Trump’s speech the Dow futures dropped a thousand points.