2020 US Election

  On 11/2/2023 at 1:12 PM, trying to be less rude said:

they're not all corrupt. geeks like me who spent their lives learning the lay of the land, with media spins, and familiarizing with journalistic methods, are able to have a good sense of what's real. many politicians are not corrupt. it's easy to confuse people, though. running for office costs money. that's how it's easy to confuse people about anyone. "hey look! they take money! they're corrupt!"

please, people, get past this, and try to pay closer attention. "they're all corrupt" is the message from the rightist media that panders to covering for the deeply corrupt national GOP. they're literally out there trying to make the left look corrupt so that the right won't look so bad. they want you to not pay close attention. they want you to think "it's all the same, it doesn't make a difference, they're all liars, they're all corrupt." this is the objective. and it's obviously false. you could run. canvas your town for a year and you can be elected mayor. do a good job for two years and you can run for state office. do a good job there and you can run for governor. etc. 

please don't let fantasies pedaled by agencies and foxish news outlets snuff out free society. the deluge of bad info we're drowning in is a real threat. the best solution is for individuals to take responsibility for not being full of shit. 

here, i'll give you a mystic secret. it's from socrates. know when you don't know. this is an elemental step toward being able to navigate in a hazardous information environment.

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i wish you were right, unfortunately the left wing of the US government is deeply corrupt in so many ways, this lib viewpoint you're putting forward is fundamentally providing cover for the corrupt democratic party of the US which actively aids everything from the current Israeli genocide of Palestinians, to a global economic sanctions regime killing the populations of numerous countries, to refusing domestically to even house the homeless or provide their own citizens with healthcare.

give me a break with this bullshit.  you have a mystic secret to impart on us from socrates? dont make me laugh

  On 11/12/2023 at 6:47 AM, iococoi said:

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salute emoji

I mean, if you can read that and not feel a little frightened about having that sort of person in power then I don’t know what to say. 
When leaders “root out” people, it never really looks great in history books… but I guess that’s the “radical left thug” in me talking. 

  On 11/12/2023 at 7:42 AM, J3FF3R00 said:

I mean, if you can read that and not feel a little frightened about having that sort of person in power then I don’t know what to say. 
When leaders “root out” people, it never really looks great in history books… but I guess that’s the “radical left thug” in me talking. 

he's using the language of fascism.. always has.. but now he's like "gloves are off.. we're gonna round up people with the wrong kinds of signs on their lawn"

  On 11/12/2023 at 8:10 AM, ignatius said:

he's using the language of fascism.. always has.. but now he's like "gloves are off.. we're gonna round up people with the wrong kinds of signs on their lawn"

And we've all seen that, unfortunately, there are enough of those people to actually make a difference in elections.

Kinda wish they'd just go back in their caves and resume distrusting the gov't and "the system" by NOT VOTING.

  On 11/12/2023 at 1:12 PM, EdamAnchorman said:

And we've all seen that, unfortunately, there are enough of those people to actually make a difference in elections.

no doubt, but we've also seen some significant portion of them turn their backs on Trump in the last election, either by not showing up in 2020 or voting the other way, despite the many inadequacies of Biden.

all that is going to be exacerbated for 2024 (Biden is looking obv MUCH older/frailer, and all the anti-Trump legislation, valid as it is, could flip the calculations on him seeming to many like he really is being 'targeted') tho so we might see the opposite flip this time? hard to predict the future a full year away.

  On 11/12/2023 at 1:12 PM, EdamAnchorman said:

Kinda wish they'd just go back in their caves and resume distrusting the gov't and "the system" by NOT VOTING.

if Trump keeps doing dumb shit being off his game, they may do so again as that was likely a big part of his loss in 2020. he's only getting older and getting tried for more crimes, and he's straight up saying 'don't vote' out loud encouraging that distrust. but he's also leaning towards the shades of fascism which could look appealing to his supporters...they're definitely a smaller bloc than they were in 2016, which isn't looking great for him, despite the Dems similar situation (loss of 'enthusiasm' for that walking corpse Biden in particular). the smaller election results have largely shown Dem turnout is strong in many cases, so counter to the polls i'd think the Dems still have an edge going into 2024.

The US should drop this two party scam they've been propping up instead of democracy.

  On 11/12/2023 at 3:02 PM, Silent Member said:

The US should drop this two party scam they've been propping up instead of democracy.

yeah, it's so ingrained at this point and basically all the political infrastructure is propping it up, so it's seemingly here for the foreseeable future. 

unless of course we have a knight in shining anti-vaxxarmor like RFK come and save all us maidens from what little is left of our brain's functions

  On 11/12/2023 at 1:12 PM, EdamAnchorman said:

And we've all seen that, unfortunately, there are enough of those people to actually make a difference in elections.

Kinda wish they'd just go back in their caves and resume distrusting the gov't and "the system" by NOT VOTING.

also crazy that so many people are unaware of this language he uses and why it's alarming/important.  it just sails right over them or triggers them in a warm and fuzzy way to make them like him more. they want to be angry at something and he gives that to them. 

  On 11/12/2023 at 7:39 PM, ignatius said:

also crazy that so many people are unaware of this language he uses and why it's alarming/important.  it just sails right over them or triggers them in a warm and fuzzy way to make them like him more. they want to be angry at something and he gives that to them. 

I don't think they're quite unaware. I think these are people who would've probably responded the same way to anyone speaking in that language. I feel like they've always been angry at the government, or "the system", but they've never had a candidate that they've been willing to vote for.

One of Trump's greatest tricks is fooling these people into thinking he's telling the truth when he says he's going to "drain the swamp".

  On 11/12/2023 at 3:13 PM, auxien said:

a knight in shining anti-vaxxarmor like RFK come and save all us maidens from what little is left of our brain's functions

Horrifying prompt for whatever AI art generating function is popular nowadays. 

  On 11/13/2023 at 12:02 AM, EdamAnchorman said:

I don't think they're quite unaware. I think these are people who would've probably responded the same way to anyone speaking in that language. I feel like they've always been angry at the government, or "the system", but they've never had a candidate that they've been willing to vote for.

One of Trump's greatest tricks is fooling these people into thinking he's telling the truth when he says he's going to "drain the swamp".

i have noticed with the current situation in israel/gaza/palestine that the tempers of people are shorter and they have a hard time seeing any nuance about it at all. the history, the complexity, the other side of the conflict etc.. is just disregarded because it's too complex for them to deal with and much easier to buy in on the language of fascism. they're tired of hearing people "complain" about their situation. some of this is racism, islamophobia and some of it is just laziness and lack of effort to even try to have a smidge of empathy and make any attempt to understand why a thing might be happening or why a whole bunch of people feel a certain way about it.. the foreign policy thoughts people have feed into the domestic immigration ideas of people like trump. 

“I love America more today than I did on May 22. But when I go back to Iowa, it will not be as a presidential candidate. I am suspending my campaign” - Tim Scott

https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/12/politics/tim-scott-ends-presidential-campaign/index.html

"The voters are telling me, 'Not now Tim"

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6341023535112

lol

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

  On 11/13/2023 at 4:10 AM, Nebraska said:

"The voters are telling me, 'Not now Tim"

failed opportunity to say "Now's Not The Tim".

edit: who tf is Tim, I'm not even following this shit. the minutiae of American politics are enough to bore any normal person's brains out of their ears

Disgusting

Started the year running for president, now he's doing fetish videos for small change.

Tim Scott was certainly the most likeable of the 'publican challengers to donnie. my guess is Haley becomes the last person standing out of this group... but it all seems sorta moot, since the R's have handcuffed themselves to the orange collared criminal. insane to think 'merica could elect its 1st convicted felon to the throne...so it'll come down to a wannabe dictator vs. wal-mart greeter grandpa joe vs. anti-vaxxor conspiracy whacko. Alexa, can we please have a fckin 4th option? I'd pencil in an AI-lite chatbot to run the show at this point. reality ain't working out that well anymore.

  On 11/13/2023 at 5:50 PM, zero said:

Tim Scott was certainly the most likeable of the 'publican challengers to donnie. my guess is Haley becomes the last person standing out of this group... but it all seems sorta moot, since the R's have handcuffed themselves to the orange collared criminal. insane to think 'merica could elect its 1st convicted felon to the throne...so it'll come down to a wannabe dictator vs. wal-mart greeter grandpa joe vs. anti-vaxxor conspiracy whacko. Alexa, can we please have a fckin 4th option? I'd pencil in an AI-lite chatbot to run the show at this point. reality ain't working out that well anymore.

maybe Jeb or Al Gore will step into the ring. lol. 

  On 11/13/2023 at 6:00 PM, ignatius said:

maybe Jeb or Al Gore will step into the ring. lol. 

ha, for a sec there I thought you wrote "Ai" Gore. as in an Ai version of Al Gore. he was once called the Gore-bot, so you never know. I mean crazier shit then that could actually happen. like electing trump lol

  On 11/13/2023 at 5:31 AM, usagi said:

edit: who tf is was Tim, I'm not even following this shit. the minutiae of American politics are enough to bore any normal person's brains out of their ears

  Quote

Trump, who was one of five children, now has one living sibling, his sister Elizabeth Trump Grau.

The former president's younger brother, Robert Trump, died in 2020 at 71, and Trump held a service at the White House in his honor. His older brother, Fred Trump Jr., died of a heart attack at 42, which the family blamed on alcoholism.

Donald Trump's ex-wife, Ivana Trump, died in 2022 at the age of 73.

https://www.npr.org/2023/11/13/1212767277/maryanne-trump-barry-dead

maybe Trump won't last 'til 2024's election...his family aren't showing much on the long-life tip.

  On 11/14/2023 at 1:25 AM, auxien said:

Fred Trump Jr., died of a heart attack at 42, which the family blamed on alcoholism.

the story about him is fucked up. he didn't want to go into the family business. per their father he wasn't a "killer" in business. didn't have that attitude. he wanted to be a pilot. so they all thought he was a loser and at family gatherings he was the butt of every joke and endlessly shit on for wanting to be a pilot.  he did become a pilot. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Trump_Jr.

fucking shitty family. 

Trump posted a touching tribute to his sister on Truth after she passed away.  RIP, Sis.

maddow continues to find the real story like a bloodhound, and to bravely help society despite the environment of hostile deceit that targets people who are good at revealing bad actors. i like how she has been illuminating the dynamic of foreign powers, local traitors and corporate actors attacking the us government through covert means, with her recent work that lays out the nazi plot to overturn american government with propaganda, coopting officials, and a violent plot. 

this is a vulnerability of self-government. the founders of USA knew it and this is the weak point that russia (and who knows who else) have been exploiting.

the public has not yet woken up to the reality of the hostile modern info space. we may learn too late that the zombies may cause nuclear apocalypse. the fallibility of humans is something that flies under the radar - we have a blindness to our own stupidity. at this moment of peak danger, when our information is a fucking mess, even serious people don't know when they're drunk.

the modern world is heady - and interesting. whatever bullshit fiction you're following... reality is better

she's been doing a media tour for her new book, Prequel (an expansion on her podcast series Ultra), and she has done a good job of not just repeating herself in each interview; each one tends to discuss different details, and of course hers is generally interesting and insightful content. this one is with michael steele, who is modest but sharp as a laser, so this is a good one