US Politics: The Killing Hoax

[A Horse Named Stranger]

57 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

Makes you wonder if he’s pushing meds he’s personally trying to profit off of.

Nope. I think the truth is simpler and scarier.

He is batshit crazy, and whatever bizarre idea creates the loudest echo within that hollow head of his, gets transmitted to the outside. Him, and his lackwit motley crew are that detached from reality. It's not an act. You lot managed to vote a deranged racist into office, and now you have a deranged racist in office.

[Fragile Bird]

Wow, what a surprise!

He was making a sarcastic reply to that fake news reporter, he wasn't serious, and fake news is once again lying about it.

[maarsen]

3 minutes ago, A Horse Named Stranger said:

Nope. I think the truth is simpler and scarier.

He is batshit crazy, and whatever bizarre idea creates the loudest echo within that hollow head of his, gets transmitted to the outside. Him, and his lackwit motley crew are that detached from reality. It's not an act. You lot managed to vote a deranged racist into office, and now you have a deranged racist in office.

 You forgot the adjective stupid. When my grandkids ask what I remember about this time, I will always stress that the president of the US was probably the stupidest person ever to sit in that office.

[A Horse Named Stranger]

3 minutes ago, maarsen said:

 You forgot the adjective stupid. When my grandkids ask what I remember about this time, I will always stress that the president of the US was probably the stupidest person ever to sit in that office.

Oh, you assume we all live long enough for that?

Canadian optimism, eh?

[Maithanet]

I agree with those points, and it gives me some hope.  In addition, bad economic news is bad for the incumbent president.  The economic news is very bad now, and it's only going to get a lot worse in the next couple months (and possibly much longer) as the many unemployed people run out of money. 

The things that scare me are:

1. Trump's populism thrives on fear/anger and this is a scary time.

2. Biden is an underwhelming and uninspiring candidate.

3. Who knows whether the election in November will have anything like normal turnout/protections.  If you told me that the 2020 election will have 58% turnout (a la the 2008 election), I'd feel really good about our chances.  But if suppression and COVID fears push it down to more like 2000 (51%) or even worse, then Trump will probably take this thing. 

[Fragile Bird]

It's official, the Navy is recommending Capt. Crozier be re-instated as the captain of the Roosevelt. Now will the Secretary of Defense agree?

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/24/us/politics/coronavirus-navy-roosevelt-brett-crozier.html

eta: Esper apparently is not ready to accept the recommendation 

[DMC]

53 minutes ago, Maithanet said:

2. Biden is an underwhelming and uninspiring candidate.

On this point, I thought Rahm Emanuel made a good argument in his op-ed yesterday:  

Quote

But 2020 is not 2016, and the underlying zeitgeist is dramatically different. Americans of all stripes have tired of the president’s penchant for sowing constant chaos and conflict. Middle-class resentment might once have led them to look past his sneering self-aggrandizement, or to dismiss his misogyny. But many of those who appreciated the Trump Show in 2016 are now fed up—particularly women. Trump’s lead among white working-class female voters, which came in at a whopping 27 points four years ago, has now been whittled down to a mere 8. Simultaneously, the percent of college-educated women voting for Democrats in House elections grew from 46 percent in 2012 to 59 percent in 2018—a 13-point jump. That shift is tangible on the ground. The wealthy white Detroit suburb of Livingston County—a place where Trump prevailed by 30 points in 2016—saw more than a 50 percent jump in Democratic primary ballots cast this year. Why? Because the most consistent trend since Trump’s election is the steady march of women out of the GOP.

Voters were marching away from Trump’s venom before the coronavirus crisis; soon they’ll be running for the exits. Why? Amid a pandemic, Trump’s antics have become his own worst enemy. As people around the country bang pots to cheer nurses filing in for their shift at hospitals, they aren’t looking for the nation’s leader to hack away endlessly at the institutions of American life. At a moment when our hearts bleed for the single mothers who show up without fail to clean hospital wards overflowing with intubated patients, what voters want isn’t vitriol—it’s a new depth of understanding.

I also enjoyed his acknowledgment immediately after that quote that this is argument is somewhat ironic coming from him:

Quote

I realize that may sound strange coming from someone with my public profile. I’m rarely described as a fount of compassion—at home or in public. 

Indeed.

[Maithanet]

33 minutes ago, DMC said:

On this point, I thought Rahm Emanuel made a good argument in his op-ed yesterday: 

I think that you can simultaneously say that this time is a good fit for Biden/s particular "brand" of politics and that he is also an underwhelming and uninspiring candidate.  Biden 2012 would be much better, for example. 

[DMC]

3 minutes ago, Maithanet said:

I think that you can simultaneously say that this time is a good fit for Biden/s particular "brand" of politics and that he is also an underwhelming and uninspiring candidate.

Agreed.  However, I'd say people are looking for stability more so than any cycle in my adult life - more than 2012 and even 2008, where obviously the "change" message hit the right notes.  If the basis of your candidacy is a "return to normalcy," 9 times out of 10 that's not gonna be too helpful at the presidential level.  This time, though, boring and stable might just mean Biden is the right candidate at the right time.

[ThinkerX]

Well, I suppose Biden is trying...and I must wonder if Trump is that stupid:

 https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/elections-2020/mark-my-words-biden-predicts-trump-will-try-to-postpone-election/ar-BB137vlU?li=BBnbcA1&ocid=msnclassic

 

Biden, while speaking at a virtual fundraiser on Thursday evening, said the president would try to postpone the election because "that's the only way he thinks he can possibly win."

"Mark my words: I think he is going to try to kick back the election somehow; come up with some rationale why it can't be held," Biden said. "Imagine threatening not to fund the post office. Now, what in God's name is that about? Other than trying to let the word out that he's going to do all he can to make it very hard for people to vote. That's the only way he thinks he can possibly win."

The coronavirus pandemic has sparked a debate over mail-in voting and absentee ballots as states are ordering people not to leave their home and primaries are canceled.

 

[ThinkerX]

Also been seeing quite a few hostile Facebook posts from conservatives about how Trump did not recommend injecting disinfectant to get rid of the corona virus.  

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

14 minutes ago, ThinkerX said:

Also been seeing quite a few hostile Facebook posts from conservatives about how Trump did not recommend injecting disinfectant to get rid of the corona virus.  

They’ve gone full 2+2=5.

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

1 hour ago, Tywin et al. said:

They’ve gone full 2+2=5.

They have.  They really have.  

If Trump baked a pie from his own shit and asked Trumpanistas how it tasted they would, after eating it knowing the ingredients, declare it “better than chocolate” because Trump made it.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

50 minutes ago, Ser Scot A Ellison said:

They have.  They really have.  

If Trump baked a pie from his own shit and asked Trumpanistas how it tasted they would, after eating it knowing the ingredients, declare it “better than chocolate” because Trump made it.

I'm not sure how you break that absent some kind of calamity. I worked in a psych lab in college that studied relationships, and while it was in a different context (dating), I think the general concepts can apply here due to the nature of the bond. Any outside criticism is only going to likely push them closer to him, even if the relationship is abusive.  

[dornishpen]

20 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

Dipshit.

May your bread be soft and your butter hard.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

15 minutes ago, dornishpen said:

May your bread be soft and your butter hard.

And may your tacos be lacking hot sauce. 

[ThinkerX]

Really, it should have been somebody else here to catch this one (looking at you, Fragile Bird).  That said, Trump must be well and truly rattled...

 

 https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-ends-coronavirus-briefing-in-minutes-after-fury-over-dangerous-bleach-suggestions/ar-BB13a7zA?ocid=ob-fb-enus-580&fbclid=IwAR1mt-RsAfyrNKJ1jxNLLnUXStLmTidM8ySg9OGa-8dVNg6bYuZWI28w8Uc

 

 

President Donald Trump left Friday’s coronavirus task force briefing without taking a single question just a day after stunning medical experts by using the daily briefing to float bizarre and dangerous ideas about possible coronavirus treatments, like injecting disinfectants.

Reporters tried to shout questions at the president to no avail Friday as Trump ended what was an abnormally short briefing. The entire briefing, which featured Trump talking at the start, lasted roughly 20 minutes.

[Fragile Bird]

2 hours ago, ThinkerX said:

Really, it should have been somebody else here to catch this one (looking at you, Fragile Bird).  That said, Trump must be well and truly rattled...

 

 https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-ends-coronavirus-briefing-in-minutes-after-fury-over-dangerous-bleach-suggestions/ar-BB13a7zA?ocid=ob-fb-enus-580&fbclid=IwAR1mt-RsAfyrNKJ1jxNLLnUXStLmTidM8ySg9OGa-8dVNg6bYuZWI28w8Uc

 

 

 

 

Before the briefing they tried to re-arrange the seats of the reporters. Katy Collins, a CNN reporter Trump likes to attack, sits near the front, and they tried to tell a reporter who sits near the back to take her seat. He refused and they actually told him that if he didn’t move they’d bring in the Secret Service to move him. He refused, and they didn’t. They just refused to take questions instead. And no Dr. Birx, no Dr. Fauci.

[Fragile Bird]

Three other US Navy ships have cases of Coronavirus on board....

And the Roosevelt now has over 800 cases, out of about 5,000 crew. Even the Diamond Princess only had 712.

[Paladin of Ice]

On 4/24/2020 at 2:37 PM, Maithanet said:

I agree with those points, and it gives me some hope.  In addition, bad economic news is bad for the incumbent president.  The economic news is very bad now, and it's only going to get a lot worse in the next couple months (and possibly much longer) as the many unemployed people run out of money. 

The things that scare me are:

1. Trump's populism thrives on fear/anger and this is a scary time.

Yeah, I think Trump has blown his big chance to turn things around. A month ago 538's aggregate had his polling at easily the best that its been since about his first month or two in office; a net approval of just under -3% approval (as in 3% more disapproved of him than approved, such as 46% approve, 49% disapprove) with the general population, -4% with likely/registered voters. Putting himself on display the way he has resulted in in both of those numbers hovering right around -9%. He's turned himself into more of a laughing stock than he was before, and there's video evidence of it everywhere, being spread and witnessed constantly on social media by people who now have a lot fewer distractions than they'd normally have who are looking for/to leadership.

If the election were today, then as long as it was free and fair Trump's goose would probably be cooked. Polling outfits as notoriously in the bag for Republicans/conservatives as Rasmussen can't put together a higher than mid 40s approval rating for Trump, (whereas from mid-November to the start of March daily polls from Rasmussen stubbornly clung to an approval rating of 48-51%, with maybe one poll every week to two weeks dipping below that) and even OAN (yes, fucking OAN) can barely put him above a 50% approval rate.

It's going to take something big to reverse that trend. It's not going to get any easier with every new bit of Trump stupidity, or the ads with video and audio full of his corruption and incompetence, both in general and regarding the pandemic in particular. Also, every casket that gets filled by Covid-19 this year is going to be a bigger stain on the Orange Idiot. A lot of red states and some swing states have been laughing this thing off, but going by confirmed infection rates, in another 3-4 weeks states like Florida, Georgia,, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Missouri, Indiana, Iowa, South Dakota, etc. are no longer going to have an easy time laughing it off. Also, those are just the confirmed cases, and as I've said throughout this whole mess, it's damn hard to get a test and be confirmed in most places. It gets harder to show up to the polls to vote for a guy when Aunt Sue and Uncle Jimmy died because of a disease and he's calling it fake news or suggesting people should be injecting household disinfectants.

I don't feel like Biden being exciting is going to be an issue. People are unusually hyped to vote and are paying much more attention to news and politics than usual in this country, they're much more worked up than usual, and pretty much all Democrats and a majority of independents are dying to kick Trump to the curb. Plus there'll be some people who normally sit on the sidelines that will be coming out for this one.

Usually Democratic voters want to fall in love with their candidates, but I think this time that while progressives have their candidates that they fell in love with and are pushing harder for change, a big majority of the mainstream Dems and indies are looking for stability, solid ground, and reverting back to what they know and are familiar with. They're spooked by any possibility of risk or that they might fall for the wrong candidate. As fucking frustrating as that is considering the opportunities that are open to be seized, that's life. After the election progressives just have to push harder to make a difference and get concessions, and all the while work overtime to convert more people to the cause.

Quote

3. Who knows whether the election in November will have anything like normal turnout/protections.  If you told me that the 2020 election will have 58% turnout (a la the 2008 election), I'd feel really good about our chances.  But if suppression and COVID fears push it down to more like 2000 (51%) or even worse, then Trump will probably take this thing. 

That's the one that worries me. That, and the crazy Republican shenanigans that may upend the law that the SC will either uphold or at least let stand until after the election.