US politics: just for you

[Kalbear]

If Trump didn't win the primary many states have what's called sore loser laws which disallow that person from running in the general. Though they can be written in. Not all states have that, but enough do to where he would likely be unable to win an election outright. 

But it doesn't matter because unless he dies he's winning the primary.

[IheartIheartTesla]

Well, its obvious Biden has his best chance against Trump, so we should thank the latter for swatting DeSantis and other pesky mini-fascists out of the way. Still, third party spoilers and economic headwinds could yet get Trump over the finish line, so I suggest we enjoy the next year or so while the Republicans eat each other. Late 2024, its going to be squeaky-bum time again.

[Zorral]

10 minutes ago, IheartIheartTesla said:

its obvious Biden has his best chance against Trump

They Said the same when it was Hillary against trump. My own sense of this is that the Dems will have it easier to campaign against any of the others than trump.  For one thing the media isn't and won't be as breathlessly enthralled by any of them as they are by him -- and always  have been, and still are.  And this includes 'social' media.

As well, you know just about anybody can look likeable in contrast with any of those who are trying on that side to get the the fascist nom, while his appeal is a messianic hatefulness that appeals to his passionately loyal base and those who are in sympathy with those who only delight is in behaving and speaking hatefully with impunity, while breathlessly awaiting the moment they can start mass killing of everyone not them.  There are so many of those ....

Edited July 15, 2023 by Zorral

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

15 hours ago, Zorral said:

They Said the same when it was Hillary against trump. My own sense of this is that the Dems will have it easier to campaign against any of the others than trump.  For one thing the media isn't and won't be as breathlessly enthralled by any of them as they are by him -- and always  have been, and still are.  And this includes 'social' media.

As well, you know just about anybody can look likeable in contrast with any of those who are trying on that side to get the the fascist nom, while his appeal is a messianic hatefulness that appeals to his passionately loyal base and those who are in sympathy with those who only delight is in behaving and speaking hatefully with impunity, while breathlessly awaiting the moment they can start mass killing of everyone not them.  There are so many of those ....

Who, other than the crazyman RFKjr., is seeking the Democratic nomination for President besides Biden?

[Zorral]

Ser Scot A Ellison -- I thought we were talking who Biden should run against as the Dem nominee?

On the other hand, I suppose if the fascist nom is desantis and he loses, unlike dumpf he's already prepared to 'fix that' with his own private army under his own command, so he need not try to get the US Army to do it.  See below.

~~~~~~~~~

No surprises here -- why did those recruits ever think it would be otherwise?  He essentially said what he intended this force for.

Turmoil in Florida’s New State Guard, as Some Recruits Quit
Some who volunteered for the force commissioned by Gov. Ron DeSantis said the group, billed as a natural disaster relief organization, had become too militarized.

"As planning for the organization got underway this year, ambitions for the group quickly expanded.

Quote

 

The original plan to field 200 volunteers with a budget of $3.5 million, proposed in late 2021, grew to 1,500 people and $108 million. The first-year budget includes $50 million for five aircraft and $2.7 million for boats — equipment that many experts say is beyond the budget of most State Guards."

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/15/us/florida-state-guard-desantis.html?

Early last summer, complaining that Washington had failed to provide adequate staffing for Florida’s National Guard, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that for the first time in 75 years he was activating the State Guard, a force of volunteers that could respond to hurricanes and other public emergencies.

But the deployment this spring has been mired in internal turmoil, with some recruits complaining that what was supposed to be a civilian disaster response organization had become heavily militarized, requiring volunteers to participate in marching drills and military-style training sessions on weapons and hand-to-hand combat.

At least 20 percent of the 150 people initially accepted into the program dropped out or were dismissed, state officials acknowledged, including a retired Marine captain who filed a false imprisonment complaint against Guard sergeants with the local sheriff after he got into a dispute with instructors and was forcibly escorted off the site.

Several of those who left and spoke to The New York Times said they objected to the direction the organization was taking and either quit or were fired when they tried to voice their concerns.

“Gov. DeSantis had the foresight to say, ‘I have this tool in my pocket, all I have to do is take it out and use it,’” Brian Newhouse, a retired Navy officer who helped recruit the first batch of volunteers, said in an interview. “His intention was a disaster response force solely for the citizens of the state of Florida.”

Mr. Newhouse said he spent months recruiting to help lead a program he had understood would be a civilian-style disaster response organization, but arrived at training on June 1 to find out that he was no longer a supervisor, and that the program’s orientation had changed significantly. He said he raised objections on the first day of training and was abruptly escorted out.

“There’s nothing wrong with the military, but it’s not the gold standard for an emergency response organization,” Mr. Newhouse said. “We did not, above all else, want to be characterized as a militia.”

At least 17 other states operate State Guards, but Florida had disbanded its organization in the aftermath of World War II, in 1947. Mr. DeSantis announced its reinstatement as he was preparing a presidential election bid, approving a broad directive to “protect and defend threats to public safety” and provisions that allow some members of the Guard to carry weapons. ....

The vague language of the mission mandate has prompted concerns from civil rights advocates that the new Guard, which includes a specialized law enforcement unit, could be asked to undertake police-style operations for purposes that are not clearly defined by law. The governor’s office said one of the Guard’s missions would be “to ensure Florida remains fully fortified to respond to not only natural disasters, but also to protect its people and borders from illegal aliens and civil unrest.” ....

One of the recruits, who like most of the others did not want to be named because of fear of reprisals, described the training as more like a “military fantasy camp” than the practical instruction expected in topics such as how to respond to hurricanes.

The volunteers said the training seemed poorly structured, with an inordinate amount of time spent, as one of them described it, “marching in fields.” Some of the men said that as veterans with years of experience in the military, they were offended when they were yelled at by junior instructors acting like drill sergeants, who disregarded their previous ranks.

They said they had expected sessions on such things as how to set up distribution of water and other resources during disasters. But that training, a copy of the schedule shows, came only at the very end, after classes on marksmanship and the concealed carry of weapons as well as a “combatives” class on hand-to-hand combat. ....

Jean Marciniak, a former member of the New York State Guard who runs a website and podcast about the nation’s State Guards, said Florida’s decision to include an armed law enforcement unit was highly unusual, as was the provision in the law putting the State Guard under the governor’s direct command, rather than under the state Department of Military Affairs and the National Guard. ....

Mr. Marciniak posted a notice on his website on Friday saying that his organization, StateDefenseForce.com, had polled its members and decided not to endorse the new force. This was based on a concern much different from that raised by the recruits who left. The website noted that Florida’s State Guard was acting as a military organization when by law it was a civilian-led agency staffed by volunteers who could elect to quit in the middle of an emergency. ....

 

 

[Fez]

5 hours ago, Ser Scot A Ellison said:

Who, other than the crazyman RFKjr., is seeking the Democratic nomination for President besides Biden?

Officially? Marianne Williamson

Unofficially? We'll see about Manchin.

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

3 hours ago, Zorral said:

Ser Scot A Ellison -- I thought we were talking who Biden should run against as the Dem nominee?

On the other hand, I suppose if the fascist nom is desantis and he loses, unlike dumpf he's already prepared to 'fix that' with his own private army under his own command, so he need not try to get the US Army to do it.  See below.

~~~~~~~~~

No surprises here -- why did those recruits ever think it would be otherwise?  He essentially said what he intended this force for.

Turmoil in Florida’s New State Guard, as Some Recruits Quit
Some who volunteered for the force commissioned by Gov. Ron DeSantis said the group, billed as a natural disaster relief organization, had become too militarized.

"As planning for the organization got underway this year, ambitions for the group quickly expanded.

 

Desantis is worse than Trump.  He’s Trump willing to work and with a working knowledge of how the State operates.

Edited July 16, 2023 by Ser Scot A Ellison

[Zorral]

14 minutes ago, Ser Scot A Ellison said:

Desantis is worse than Trump.

Worse?  They are all evile fascists who want to kill us and our friends and families.  And everybody else and install a fascist patriarchal theocracy.

But desantis doesn't have even closely the capacity to inspire, and doesn't have the popularity that dumpf has with those voters.

I still am missing why you brought up Kennedy in this context.

 

Edited July 16, 2023 by Zorral

[Larry of the Lawn]

28 minutes ago, Ser Scot A Ellison said:

Desantis is worse than Trump.  He’s Trump will to work and with a working knowledge of how the State operates.

Not to speak for Z but in 2016 Trump was seen by many pundits as the weakest of GOP primary candidates for the general election.  This is also a prominent sentiment looking at 2024.  

The comment you were responding to was referring to electability in the general vs Biden, not an assessment of who's worse.  

[Zorral]

7 minutes ago, Larry of the Lake said:

Not to speak for Z but in 2016 Trump was seen by many pundits as the weakest of GOP primary candidates for the general election.  This is also a prominent sentiment looking at 2024. 

The biggest difference between desantis, now, and dumpf, now, is desantis is assiduously building his private armed forces, including airforce -- as the article above in today's NYT's that I linked to and pulled from.  If the feds don't step in soon, this is going to be very bad very soon. As I've been showing here for quite some time now, he actively is recruiting from those expelled and sanctioned in police forces across the country, and from the military forces too.

I still believe, now, that dumpf is a more likely vote-getter than desantis, as his own campaign's dissolution is showing.  But o yes he's very dangerous.  Both of them are very dangerous, both wanting total power only for themselves perpetually and the destruction of the USA as we've known it through most of history -- exception being of course the War of the Rebellion, which shared the same objectives as these slackwit traitors.

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

1 hour ago, Zorral said:

Worse?  They are all evile fascists who want to kill us and our friends and families.  And everybody else and install a fascist patriarchal theocracy.

But desantis doesn't have even closely the capacity to inspire, and doesn't have the popularity that dumpf has with those voters.

I still am missing why you brought up Kennedy in this context.

 

Kennedy is the only opponent I’m aware of to Biden in the Democratic Primary to select a Presidential nominee.  That’s Kennedy’s context.  

Desantis frightens me because I’m seeing anti-Trump Republicans talking themselves into believing Desantis is “their” guy.  

[DanteGabriel]

On 7/15/2023 at 3:55 PM, Zorral said:

They Said the same when it was Hillary against trump. My own sense of this is that the Dems will have it easier to campaign against any of the others than trump.  For one thing the media isn't and won't be as breathlessly enthralled by any of them as they are by him -- and always  have been, and still are.  And this includes 'social' media.

It can be true that Trump was the weakest candidate against Clinton in 2016 and she still lost. She had a lot of headwinds against her -- eight years of a Democratic president, misogyny, Clinton fatigue... At the time, I figured she'd lose to almost any Republican. And shit, if James Comey hadn't been such a historically epic fucking idiot, she might actually have won.

[mormont]

Now, many of us dislike Trump. But we're all too mature, I'm sure, to point and laugh at his golf game.

I might just watch that again to show how I'm too mature to laugh.

Anyway, my question was, what do you think he put that down as on his score card?

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

19 minutes ago, DanteGabriel said:

It can be true that Trump was the weakest candidate against Clinton in 2016 and she still lost.

The thing is he wasn't. He would have been weak against most other candidates, but Clinton actually was an ideal opponent  for him. If she faced another generic, boring, old Republican she probably wins the race. Despite her faults and problems, I'd favor her over Jeb, Rubio, Walker, etc. Trump created a unique environment she simply couldn't work against and then the October surprise happened and she was pretty fucked by that. Christie is the only one I think could have also done her in, but for different reasons. 

17 minutes ago, mormont said:

Anyway, my question was, what do you think he put that down as on his score card?

Two strokes better than Kim's 38 under. You have to be modest after all.

[A True Kaniggit]

21 minutes ago, mormont said:

Now, many of us dislike Trump. But we're all too mature, I'm sure, to point and laugh at his golf game.

I might just watch that again to show how I'm too mature to laugh.

Anyway, my question was, what do you think he put that down as on his score card?

Thank you. You made this already good day a whole lot brighter. 

[Corvinus85]

31 minutes ago, mormont said:

Now, many of us dislike Trump. But we're all too mature, I'm sure, to point and laugh at his golf game.

I might just watch that again to show how I'm too mature to laugh.

Anyway, my question was, what do you think he put that down as on his score card?

To show your maturity watch this as one of those don't laugh challenges with water in your mouth.

[Jaxom 1974]

2 hours ago, Ser Scot A Ellison said:

 

Desantis frightens me because I’m seeing anti-Trump Republicans talking themselves into believing Desantis is “their” guy.  

Necause most, if not all, anti-Trump conservatives wanted everything he allowed for, except they never wanted to say any of it out loud. They prefer the appearance of wanting government to work. Of course, that facade has been crumbling since 08, and Trump simply accelerated the process allowing for people to see what was happening and resist it...

DeSantis, as he gets more and more National ink really does look petty and incompetent for the National stage, which is just as scary.

[Zorral]

52 minutes ago, mormont said:

what do you think he put that down as on his score card?

You need to ask?  "I won better than anybody else ever did -- see that shot?"

I'm way too immature not to have laffed.  But then, I am so effete that II do not and never have played golf so I have no idea how one wins golf.  Or loses golf. 

[Zorral]

26 minutes ago, Jaxom 1974 said:

DeSantis, as he gets more and more National ink really does look petty and incompetent for the National stage, which is just as scary.

Except for his private military force. With that, it doesn't matter what he looks like on the national stage.  He just takes over.

Not that I have special knowledge or inside knowledge beyond what gets reported in the press.  But yes, he scares me to death -- all of them do.  There is no lesser evile.

Edited July 16, 2023 by Zorral

[James Arryn]

9 minutes ago, Zorral said:

You need to ask?  "I won better than anybody else ever did -- see that shot?"

I'm way too immature not to have laffed.  But then, I am so effete that II do not and never have played golf so I have no idea how one wins golf.  Or loses golf. 

Being effete in no way prevents winning at golf.