US Politics: Veni, Vidi, Virus

[Fury Resurrected]

1 hour ago, Simon Steele said:

So he's acknowledged that about himself? I suppose plenty of people that belong to a community have worked to hurt that community, but damn, this guy is a scum bag.

If X-ray said it on this topic especially- it’s gospel. She would absolutely not make a claim of this type without having the goods and we probably should not press her for more information as it could negatively impact her or others.

[Xray the Enforcer]

24 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

Why? Doesn't that just make him even more of a hypocrite? 

I don't think it really matters. I can be happy for someone that they're living their authentic life -- because not doing so is partly why the suicide rates among the LGBTQIA+ community are so high -- and still think they're a shitbag for other reasons. 

[Fragile Bird]

A scary idea was raised by someone on CNN the other day. You saw how Trump spent hours on talk radio these last few days, with Rush Limbaugh, and on the phone to Fox, among others.

Someone said, this is the future Trump. If he loses the election, you can bet he’s going to have a radio show and he’ll use it to continue his encouragement of the far right. The Biden/Harris team will be under non-stop attack, and everything will be presented as “that’s stupid, I would never do that, they’re destroying the economy I built!” Not to mention Biden will continue to be sleepy, stupid etc etc and Harris will continue to be a communist monster who is not a real American and she should be impeached. And of course Biden should be arrested for treason and impeached and jailed and maybe executed.

 

[Xray the Enforcer]

1 minute ago, Chataya de Fleury said:

Typically, I would never make assumptions or ask about someone’s sexual orientation unless I wanted to ascertain if my advances might possibly be welcome or completely unwelcome, and I have no attraction whatsoever to Senator Graham.....however, I am *dying* to know what this nickname is!! 

Before I post it, I will say this: please don't use Graham's nickname on this board to refer to him. I've seen literally hundreds of comments on Twitter using it in a transphobic manner, deliberately misgendering Graham as a way to denigrate him. That shit will not fly here. Anyway, according to one of the sex workers that Graham allegedly repeatedly hired (and made sign an NDA), the nickname he asks them to use is "Lady G."  

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

13 minutes ago, Xray the Enforcer said:

I don't think it really matters. I can be happy for someone that they're living their authentic life -- because not doing so is partly why the suicide rates among the LGBTQIA+ community are so high -- and still think they're a shitbag for other reasons. 

But this seems to be two separate issues. I don't think anyone *who is decent* wants Graham to suffer as an individual. Frankly, I wish he could be out and just live whatever life that is. However, he's not doing that, and intentionally inflicting pain on others because he can't come to terms with his sexuality.  At some point you just have to give up on that person, especially when they're hurting others, even if they don't understand their actions, or in his case, probably don't care about them. 

 

[Larry of the Lawn]

2 minutes ago, Fragile Bird said:

A scary idea was raised by someone on CNN the other day. You saw how Trump spent hours on talk radio these last few days, with Rush Limbaugh, and on the phone to Fox, among others.

Someone said, this is the future Trump. If he loses the election, you can bet he’s going to have a radio show and he’ll use it to continue his encouragement of the far right. The Biden/Harris team will be under non-stop attack, and everything will be presented as “that’s stupid, I would never do that, they’re destroying the economy I built!” Not to mention Biden will continue to be sleepy, stupid etc etc and Harris will continue to be a communist monster who is not a real American and she should be impeached. And of course Biden should be arrested for treason and impeached and jailed and maybe executed.

 

Eh.  He's just going to be another toxic voice in an already toxic echo chamber.  

What'll be scary is in 8 years when the white suburban liberal types start lionizing him like they did with Reagan and W.

[Xray the Enforcer]

16 minutes ago, Fury Resurrected said:

If X-ray said it on this topic especially- it’s gospel. She would absolutely not make a claim of this type without having the goods and we probably should not press her for more information as it could negatively impact her or others.

Thank you. Sometimes I'm really wrong and will certainly admit it when further info sheds new light on a situation. But in this case, the sources corroborate each other in ways that make me quite confident of the intel. 

[A Horse Named Stranger]

11 minutes ago, Fragile Bird said:

A scary idea was raised by someone on CNN the other day. You saw how Trump spent hours on talk radio these last few days, with Rush Limbaugh, and on the phone to Fox, among others.

Someone said, this is the future Trump. If he loses the election, you can bet he’s going to have a radio show and he’ll use it to continue his encouragement of the far right. The Biden/Harris team will be under non-stop attack, and everything will be presented as “that’s stupid, I would never do that, they’re destroying the economy I built!” Not to mention Biden will continue to be sleepy, stupid etc etc and Harris will continue to be a communist monster who is not a real American and she should be impeached. And of course Biden should be arrested for treason and impeached and jailed and maybe executed.

 

Live from Sing Sing, this The Don Trump Show. This is your host, whose face matches his suit, President Trump.

Him starting some media shit show was always the endgame of his presidential ambitions (I think we established that well over four years ago). That it took the detour of four crueling years of an  actual Presidency is entirely the fault of the American electorate.

I doubt he wil be on air for a decade. I have a hunch, that he will kick the golden KFC bucket within five years after he is out of office.

[Kalbear]

10 hours ago, DMC said:

What the hell are you talking about now?  You said:  "The number of ballots turned in as a measure of this is really not useful, because in most cases those votes have not been even tallied yet and they're using demographic data instead of actual results for the values."  And that's simply inaccurate because they have been "tallied" in plenty of places, which is what everybody was referring to.  Unsurprisingly, you were wrong.  Again.  Deal with it.

NOt in any definition of the term 'tallied' that I'm aware of. 

10 hours ago, DMC said:

This is the case in most states.  Acting like "they haven't been counted yet" in terms of vote preference or even processing is an absurd standard because it's against every state law to reveal the former before election day.  The ballots are in the custody of the people that will count them.  Mine is - Florida lets you check this.  I suppose now you can move the goalposts to "well will they actually be counted," but that doesn't change the fact you were explicitly wrong about the first step.

Again, no - they're in custody, but they've not been counted. Since I care a lot more about the latter than the former, that's kind of an issue.

10 hours ago, DMC said:

What exactly didn't I understand?  Sorry, know you can't answer that.  You're too busy resorting to character assassination instead of employing logic or empirical evidence.  If you need GOP references in such an endeavor I know some people.

You didn't understand what I meant by tallied - and still don't. You don't appear to be remotely concerned about this whatsoever. Other than that, you're spot on. 

[Jace, Extat]

So for the last few days every time I try to open YouTube I get banner ads called, no shit, Watch Biden Malfunction. Paid for by the committee to elect Donald J. Trump, it explains that Joe uses a teleprompter for responses by (I am not making this up) copying what he says in the video they have and displaying it next to his head while he speaks.

The ad culminates in a moment when Biden is talking about masks or something and begins to muddle a statement, collects himself, and corrects his accounting of the facts and needs of the moment. This is the malfunction, I suppose. It's fucking bonkers, yo.

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

4 hours ago, Varysblackfyre321 said:

Who is this?

It is well understood here in my home State what a man in his 60s who lives with his Mom means.

[Relic]

1 hour ago, Xray the Enforcer said:

Before I post it, I will say this: please don't use Graham's nickname on this board to refer to him. I've seen literally hundreds of comments on Twitter using it in a transphobic manner, deliberately misgendering Graham as a way to denigrate him. That shit will not fly here. Anyway, according to one of the sex workers that Graham allegedly repeatedly hired (and made sign an NDA), the nickname he asks them to use is "Lady G."  

What am i missing here?

 

Basically, as the rumors go, Graham likes to cross dress, and this is being used against him, as a sort of blackmail, byt members of the GOP. Or so rumors go. Why are we not allowed to discuss this?

[DireWolfSpirit]

Yeah I had just assumed it was common knowledge amongst posters that Graham was a consumer of sex worker services from younger males.

I think it's the hypocrisy of being a Republican leader that actively seeks to disenfranchise the very people he's client to, that raises one's eyebrows obviously.

[Zorral]

For years it is well known within many circles here that is a title he's very fond of using and having used.

~~~~~~~~~

In the meantime though, in the cold and rain, offices of all kinds are shut down and the mail isn't delivered because it's a national holiday, Indigenous Peoples Day.  It's a good day to meditate on reasons for that, blatant in our national history, that the communities here in the USA of indigenous people are being hit harder by covid-19 than just about all the others.

[Ormond]

2 hours ago, karaddin said:

Getting a nickname from the male sex workers in the state that is commonly known is a reasonably strong signal the rumours aren't just talking shit.

Sorry, I don't agree with that at all. There is no reason to believe that sex workers would be any less likely to pass around untrue rumors than anyone else. 

I don't know if Graham is gay or not. I would guess there's a higher percentage probability than for the general male population. But I know way too many examples of rumors that some famous man was gay that have circulated within the American gay community that are almost surely false to take something like that as strong evidence. 

P.S. And having read further posts -- I really don't take those rumors as any sort of proof. They could all be created by people who assume Graham must be gay because of his high voice and mannerisms, and who falsely think that all gay men like to cross-dress. Again, perhaps he is gay, but I really don't find any of this is far from proof as so far presented. 

[Ran]

There's three weeks left. Anything could happen. And no doubt there will be desperate efforts after election day -- we know that the "best hope" they have right now, according to a Politico piece, is to get results on November 3rd that look kind of close before all the absentee ballots are counted and then they'll try to throw it to the courts (note: it just does not work that way, even in the most Trump-friendly states, so it's more of a Trumpian pipe dream rather than anything one need be concerned about).

But. That said, I'm feeling increasingly comfortable with saying that Biden is going to win this election. IDP/TIPP's started their tracking poll, and having been among the Trump-friendliest with Biden at +3,  he's starting the tracking poll at Biden +9.

Biden is just polling too far ahead in too many places. Of course, polling tries to measure what voters will do, so ... yeah, go and vote if you have not done so yet (I have, as I see some of my fellow Floridians here on the board have). I'm definitely not saying be complacent. Every vote counts, and every vote for Biden is a vote repudiating Trump.

[Argonath Diver]

39 minutes ago, Ormond said:

Sorry, I don't agree with that at all. There is no reason to believe that sex workers would be any less likely to pass around untrue rumors than anyone else. 

I don't know if Graham is gay or not. I would guess there's a higher percentage probability than for the general male population. But I know way too many examples of rumors that some famous man was gay that have circulated within the American gay community that are almost surely false to take something like that as strong evidence. 

P.S. And having read further posts -- I really don't take those rumors as any sort of proof. They could all be created by people who assume Graham must be gay because of his high voice and mannerisms, and who falsely think that all gay men like to cross-dress. Again, perhaps he is gay, but I really don't find any of this is far from proof as so far presented. 

Well, there's already been one poster here who mentioned a direct affirmation to the story. I hung out with some sex workers in NYC who said it was a commonly known fact, not just a newly-crafted internet rumor. The outrage among conservatives would be that it's true. The outrage among liberals is that it makes Graham even more vile, for routinely siding against other LGBTQ+ people. I dearly wish he'd drop the false face and come out as a sex-positive LGBTQ+ advocate. The NYC folks who I heard speaking of it all seemed to agree that their Southern friends thought Graham was a sweet guy to his connections. And out, repentant, and proud Graham would demonized by the Christian right, but he'd have a lot of support among us that identify as something other than straight.

[Ran]

Over 50% of all absentee ballots requested in Wisconsin have been returned already. That's 682,000 or so ballots. In the 2016 election, there were just shy of 3,000,000 votes, so basically at much as 22% of the vote has been cast early via absentee ballot. Looks like a good sign to me.Also, because I'm just going to beat this horse into the ground, another entry in the genre of, "Joe Biden is good politics, you are not", this time from Yair Rosenberg with some good points that basically suggest that people overestimate the importance of younger voters, underestimate the importance of seniors, and are wrong to think that Biden is only winning because of Trump being unpopular because his favorability scores have been improving as the election wears on:

 

[Centrist Simon Steele]

1 hour ago, Fury Resurrected said:

If X-ray said it on this topic especially- it’s gospel. She would absolutely not make a claim of this type without having the goods and we probably should not press her for more information as it could negatively impact her or others.

I believe her too of course. I was just trying to clarify details (which she may not know).

[Centrist Simon Steele]

1 hour ago, Xray the Enforcer said:

I don't think it really matters. I can be happy for someone that they're living their authentic life -- because not doing so is partly why the suicide rates among the LGBTQIA+ community are so high -- and still think they're a shitbag for other reasons. 

Yes, this is what I meant. That he was living his authentic life--thank you. He's a shitbag separately from this, but any time a person can admit who they really are is just a good thing. I wish he'd do something more positive with it.