US Politics: Burning Down the Country

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

36 minutes ago, DanteGabriel said:

If you're referring to the Hunter S. Thompson platform I referenced,

Yeah, well his fictional character based on himself also said this:

 

[Guy Kilmore]

8 hours ago, Fury Resurrected said:

I mean, it is not optimal that it’s falling to residents to keep the block safe. But, if there was not COVID or if there was and I did not have lupus, I’d be out getting teargassed. So, I’m being pretty safe for the circumstances. And as always, my assistant has bank and lawyer information on hand in event that I get arrested. This is where I’m needed right now, I have CPR and first aid certification, and I’m from the 90s punk and hardcore scene where we fucked Nazis up like it was our job. I’ll be okay.

I want to be out there too, but with COVID and my wife being vulnerable, I can't afford to bring it back.  I have been using my dollars instead.  I so wanted to be there and help clean up.  

I am glad that your neighbors and your neighborhood have you in it.

[DMC]

3 minutes ago, Maithanet said:

Tonight?  Are there any races that we have actual robust polling, such that we would notice a difference?

King's.  Although, yeah, I shouldn't have said the polling will directly reflect the results.  More just give us a better benchmark to figure out how turnout is going.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

33 minutes ago, DMC said:

Polls usually reflect the general electorate.  Even in contests conducted since the pandemic, there's no reason to think there's any egregious error.  We'll actually get a better idea of that tonight.

The polls are likely correct. But how that translates to voting, we're still in a mystery box man. 

Like I said before, regardless of who wins, what if turnout is an all-time low. Then what? 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

23 minutes ago, Fragile Bird said:

In case you missed it, a priest and a seminarian were forcibly removed from the patio of St. John’s Episcopal church about an hour before the Trump display of power. Who needs an actual priest, especially a woman priest, around the president, right? Not when he has control of the Bible.

Again, one of the upsides of the Trump presidency is that he's proved Christian religious leaders in this country, for the most part, are all fucking liars and frauds.

Sorry Frags, but there is no way to deny it at this point. 

[DMC]

3 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

Like I said before, regardless of who wins, what if turnout is an all-time low. Then what? 

Then we'll see what's what.  Assuming depressed turnout due to a pandemic is going to benefit one party or another is based on absolutely nothing.  If respondents are saying they're likely to vote, then they're probably likely to vote.  It doesn't fundamentally change anything, which is what your dismissive attitude suggests.

[OldGimletEye]

1 hour ago, karaddin said:

Just another hypothetical where the election proceeds and Trump actually loses - Russian interference/hacking in an almost certainly blue state is exposed, Trump jumps on this to discredit the entire election result and refuses to leave office. Who makes him leave? If it results in a case that goes to SCOTUS it probably goes in his favor anyway, and he's backed by the 30% of the country with a lot of guns very eager to use them on many of their countrymen.

Well I don;'t think even SCOTUS would go that far as it would completely de-legitimize itself. And Roberts in particular should know that, since nothing is provided for Trump stay in office without at least the appearance of an election. Even full blown dictators like Hitler or Orban try to justify their rule behind democratic legitimacy.

But, in the case that SCOTUS were to uphold it, a situation I consider highly unlikely, then every person in government service should refuse to obey any order given by Trump since he would hold office illegally.

But, if that doesn't work, then I guess we are headed towards civil war. That kind of power grab can't be tolerated. And conservatives, as dumb as they can be sometimes, should know that. Such a move by Trump would go way beyond the usual Republican antics of voter suppression and so forth.

[A Horse Named Stranger]

5 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

Like I said before, regardless of who wins, what if turnout is an all-time low. Then what? 

Hum, if turn out is low, I can tell you what happens.

Four more years. That's what happens then. Whether your country will survive four more years of this, that's another question.

47 minutes ago, Arakan said:

Trump is the Definition of a weakass bully who wants to look strong. There is no denying that he secretly loves Hitler. His love for the authoritarian strongman shows it. But he is a clown. The true devil is the Republican Party. Callous and malicious. Trump is stupid, just a puppet. 

I really didn't want to. But a Bavarian CSU supporter slamming a divisive bully who wants to look strong just made my irony detector go off the charts. I am pretty sure other German boarders can explain the irony of former Bavarian Governors sucking up to Orban and praising the good work he is doing, for which we shall be gratefull one day, and their drunk slurs on the Promille, nope, sorry Obergrenze. Of course Trump is all that patheticness on steroids.

 

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, DMC said:

Then we'll see what's what.  Assuming depressed turnout due to a pandemic is going to benefit one party or another is based on absolutely nothing.  If respondents are saying they're likely to vote, then they're probably likely to vote.  It doesn't fundamentally change anything, which is what your dismissive attitude suggests.

I tend to agree that likely really does mean likely in this case. Most like-minded people I've been communicating with are at the "crawl over broken glass" stage when it comes to casting a ballot in November.

I doubt the pandemic will suppress turnout all that much. If voting is suppressed, it'll either be through traditional Republican tactics, or some crazy gambit by Trump. And it kind of seems at this point that any attempt to suppress the vote in November will even further radicalize people. That's not to say Trump won't try it, just that I doubt people will be sanguine about the attempt.

[Arakan]

2 minutes ago, A Horse Named Stranger said:

Hum, if turn out is low, I can tell you what happens.

Four more years. That's what happens then. Whether your country will survive four more years of this, that's another question.

I really didn't want to. But a Bavarian CSU supporter slamming a divisive bully who wants to look strong just made my irony detector go off the charts. I am pretty sure other German boarders can explain the irony of former Bavarian Governors sucking up to Orban and praising the good work he is doing, for which we shall be gratefull one day, and their drunk slurs on the Promille, nope, sorry Obergrenze. Of course Trump is all that patheticness on steroids.

 

CSU? I am a Bavarian socialist :)). 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

18 minutes ago, DMC said:

Then we'll see what's what.  Assuming depressed turnout due to a pandemic is going to benefit one party or another is based on absolutely nothing.  If respondents are saying they're likely to vote, then they're probably likely to vote.  It doesn't fundamentally change anything, which is what your dismissive attitude suggests.

Depressed turnout plus heavy voter suppression. That will certainly help one party, and we're already seeing signs this will happen. 

[DMC]

3 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

That will certainly help one party, and we're already seeing signs this will happen. 

Where?

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

4 minutes ago, DMC said:

Where?

Like literally every state controlled by Republicans. 

Why are you being so naive? 

[Fury Resurrected]

9 hours ago, James Arryn said:

I don’t think residents will effectively keep a block safe, unless your definition of safe is broken people instead of broken things. I would much rather you all stayed safe inside until the world figures it’s shit out and/or gets bored.

You may not think that but you are incorrect. We have gotten multiple groups of white supremacists to get the fuck out. We have stopped the gas station that would absolutely spread to houses from being burned more than one time. We have assisted scattered protestors. We have been effective, none of us have been harmed. The police have not been providing these services. If we called them, they would not come (which was found out by the watch the next block over calling on a car clearly belonging to agitators, nobody showed up). If they showed up, we could be putting our neighbors of color in danger. The Minneapolis PD have no trust within the community at all.

 

@Tywin et al.- I’m about to turn 37. I started going to punk shows in junior high school the last few years on the 90s. Maybe I’m older or started younger than you assumed?

[DMC]

4 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

Like literally every state controlled by Republicans. 

Why are you being so naive? 

Why are you making things up?  You asserted the current situation will depress turnout and suppress voting disproportionately more so, than, ya know, the GOP regularly does.  You have no evidence for this.  Instead, you've chosen to adopt a fatalistic posture rather than understanding turnout is changed by effort, and there are plenty to want to see this fuck out of office.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

25 minutes ago, Fury Resurrected said:

 

@Tywin et al.- I’m about to turn 37. I started going to punk shows in junior high school the last few years on the 90s. Maybe I’m older or started younger than you assumed?

That sounds like it lines up. I didn't start going to shows regularly in Uptown until I was like 16, and by then rap seemed to overtake punk in the area, but if you bought a cheap ticket to a small show, you never knew what you'd get. I always smiled when you got a random jazz singer as an opening act. 

23 minutes ago, DMC said:

Why are you making things up?  You asserted the current situation will depress turnout and suppress voting disproportionately more so, than, ya know, the GOP regularly does.  You have no evidence for this.  Instead, you've chosen to adopt a fatalistic posture rather than understanding turnout is changed by effort, and there are plenty to want to see this fuck out of office.

Evidence, evidence, evidence. Show some instinct man. 

The Republican party, nationwide, will make the dirty tricks of the past seem like child's play. 

I guess I'm Mulder, and you're Scully. 

ETA: I feel like a broken record in saying that. 

[Guest]

Just in case anyone was wondering, Republicans have decided they'd rather ride the tiger instead of let go of its tail.

Quote

Top Republican senators defended the move to use force to clear out peaceful protesters near the White House in order for President Donald Trump to pose with a Bible in front of a church amid the continued unrest in the United States.

Mom and Dad have given up and this toddler is throwing the mother of all tantrums.

[OldGimletEye]

5 minutes ago, The Great Unwashed said:

Just in case anyone was wondering, Republicans have decided they'd rather ride the tiger instead of let go of its tail.

Mom and Dad have given up and this toddler is throwing the mother of all tantrums.

God Cotton is such a sorry ass. Honestly, I'd like to smack the fuck out of him.

[DMC]

9 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

Evidence, evidence, evidence. Show some instinct man. 

The Republican party, nationwide, will make the dirty tricks of the past seem like child's play. 

I guess I'm Mulder, and you're Scully. 

Never watched X Files enough to get that one, although Duchovny always seemed to be pretty stupid so...thanks?  Look, I understand everyone's concerned and I understand why.  But an interest group pushing for free and fair elections - of which there are many - can't take feelings to states' boards of elections as a cause of action.  Moreover, your assumption is based on the competency of the Trump administration and surrogates to pull such a thing off.  I was afraid of Dick Cheney and Karl Rove.  I'm not nearly as afraid of Mike Pence and Stephen Miller.

[Martell Spy]

D.C. Mayor’s office says federal officials floated idea of taking over D.C. police

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2020/06/02/dc-protest-george-floyd-white-house/#link-NBBCGBJWNNGKDMTN5GYN4A6BHY

Quote

 

Federal officials floated the idea of taking control of local D.C. police, John Falcicchio, the mayor’s chief of staff, confirmed Tuesday.

The District of Columbia is a federal enclave governed by a mayor and the council, but the federal law granting self-governance allows the president to take control of local police officers in emergency situations.

Falcicchio said federal officials, including at the White House, inquired about their powers to take control of police. He said Mayor Muriel E. Boswer and other city officials objected and would mount a legal challenge if they attempt to do so.