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Putting my mod hat on for a second, I should add the standard warning you've been seeing around other forums and platforms the last few days about his death; and the usual note about how it's not just about the person themselves, but also their family and friends.
Oh...
The photos of him 'working' and signing blank paper isn't an issue for me. Just a standard photo op, a bit amateur that they got caught using marker and paper.
Trump getting into an SUV (sealed shut to prevent chemical attack) and going for a drive around, with others in the car, is a real act of irresponsibility though. Perhaps all those in the SUV already had Covid-19; otherwise they have just had a totally needless potential exposure.
His team must have been absolutely desperate to arrest the narrative that he was doing worse than what people were saying.
Yeah, and then the medical team come out to say "Yeah, he was put on supplemental oxygen twice in the last 24 hours, but sure he could be released as early as tomorrow", which is just bizarre. Those two things shouldn't really be in the same sentence. Being put on oxygen is a sign that a nasty virus that targets the lungs is taking hold, not that you're about to go home.
It was about the markets. They were just about to open. They don't care about people, just money.Quote:
Originally Posted by NeverFeltBetter
I see that @The Fly has gained some new found fame off the back of the Vice-Presidential debate last night!
:rofl:Quote:
Originally Posted by Real ale Madrid
In all seriousness though, it's looking good for Biden now. His lead in the polls is so substantial and consistent that it's hard to see the mass of silent Trump voters, untapped by the polls, tipping the balance in the Donald's favour.
However, whilst a Biden win will calm the nerves of many Americans (and those outside of the States who've become emotionally invested in the soap opera of American politics) I think that it could signal a kind of point of no return for that country.
Overconfidence has been the downfall of many a politician. Remember the big numbers for Bernie, and then no-one actually got up off their hole to vote for him?
Republicans may be utter cretins right now, but they damned well vote.
And also, the demographics that tend to vote republican tend to have it easier in terms of voting- some of the obstruction to people exercising their right to vote over there is absolutely staggering.
Yes, local GOP chapters putting out illegal ballot boxes is the one this week, but they've literally dismantled post sorting machines and have slowed the USPO way, way down. Plus there's the standard gerrymandering and the country-scale gerrymandering they're trying to do by halting the census.
Republicans only ever win by cheating.
This is true, but the trouble with doing this is that eventually you **** off the country enough that they give the other guys a go, the first item of business for them is addressing all the cheating, and all of a sudden you find yourselves in a fair fight that you're totally unprepared for.Quote:
Originally Posted by dahamsta
TBH I wouldn't trust the Dems to actually be willing to do the leg work in making it more of a fair fight. The Obama supermajority was one of the most wasted opportunities in political history in my opinion.
I've always disliked the hero worship of Obama. He was better than all of the other recent Presidents, but that doesn't make him a great President. He was "good" at best.
Obama was clearing the very low bar set by Bush, and whoever comes after Trump will just have to act like a decent human being.
He was charismatic and blazed a trail for African Americans. He pushed for better healthcare in the US. He spent 6 of his 8 years without control of both houses, which hamstrung him badly. He was a disaster on privacy and typically aggressive militarily overseas. (Maybe someone has a more nuanced opinion of his foreign policy, but it seems to me like he bombed the **** out of 6 or 7 countries to achieve almost nothing.) On balance, he was more good than bad, which is exceptional in terms of US presidents.Quote:
Originally Posted by dahamsta
In simple terms, this.Quote:
Originally Posted by tetsujin1979
Trump always seemed like a short-term, slightly freak, anomaly.
The BLM movement is huge. A historic event. The status quo of cops being able to shoot black kids in the back with impunity was never acceptable, and will never will never be able to pass without very major consequences, now.
Unfortunately I don't think he's an anomaly - he's the culmination of the growth of the far-right within the Republican Party and they're not going to go away with one modest defeat. It will take three or four landslide victories for the Democrats and a concerted effort by what moderate Republicans to take back their party to beat them backQuote:
Originally Posted by Trequartista20
Its looking likely at this stage that Biden will win the election comfortably, and the Democrats will hold the Senate and the House after the election. A nice legacy for the Donald. With any bit of luck he will throw a tantrum and quit the night after the election.
See FiveThirtyEight's analysis here
Presidential:
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com...tion-forecast/
Senate:
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com...recast/senate/
House
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com...orecast/house/
They also wrote an interesting piece pre 2016 election on why Trump was literally a polling error behind to Clinton when others noted that he had no chance.
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features...ehind-clinton/
I see one of the links there brings up the possibility of Texas "turning blue". That's something that I have seen posited as a game-changer for as long as I have been following American politics - I suppose since 2000 - but always seemed like pie-in-the-sky thinking. For Biden to be projected at a 1 in 3 chance of winning that state is incredible, and is hard to believe in many ways. If it was a "landslide", I suppose it could happen, but, as always, it seems too soon.
It ain't over yet. And it ain't as simple as Trump losing the election. If it's a landslide, on the night, he'll probably slink off with his tail between his legs, but that's unlikely. It's more likely that the live vote on the night will be closer, and Trump will try to exclude the postal votes as fraudulent. He will try a coup. He already is. It's his nature.Quote:
Originally Posted by Trequartista20
It is huge, and it is historic, but you're talking like it's over, or nearly over. It's not even close. It's still happening, and until the cop unions are brought under control - not abolished, which would be very, very wrong - but controlled, it will continue to happen.Quote:
The BLM movement is huge. A historic event. The status quo of cops being able to shoot black kids in the back with impunity was never acceptable, and will never will never be able to pass without very major consequences, now.
And don't forget CBP. And don't forget ICE. And don't forget the Electoral College. And the Supreme Court. And the unbalanced power of the Senate. And. And. And.