So much to touch on. Why do you guys think Biden needs to be in a care home and Trump doesn't?

I don't even think this race is gonna as close as it was last time. Trump is going to easily slide in for the win. Hell I'm even thinking about voting for Trump because it never matters in NY. It will automatically go to Biden.

Biden's hard stance to support Israel killed his re-election chances. There is no way that Genocide Joe is going to win. The current Democrats are so splintered. People are either going to stay home or throw away their vote on some smuck third party person.

Biden doesn't have enough votes to win by just not being Trump like he did last time. He has a record for people to call into question and people are disappointed by certain aspects of it. Democrats really screwed up throwing all their eggs into one basket behind Biden. Best case scenario he passes away but Kamala is even weaker of an opponent and Trump will roll her too.

The claim that Republicans are more stickler for the rules isn't correct either with the districts they gerrymandered last time around in attempts to win and still lost because of the overturned Roe v Wade stuff. Democrats' turn to change up districts is happening this year and will benefit them a bit more. I'm more worried about the house and any Senate races that are occurring than Trump.

I was this cool the whole time.

Quote from: DJChameleon on Feb 26, 2024, 05:14 PMSo much to touch on. Why do you guys think Biden needs to be in a care home and Trump doesn't?

Trump is old but he's otherwise fit and healthy and pretty sharp.

Biden is decrepit, can barely walk and is visibly not right. You cannot see his gaffes and think anything else surely. There is absolutely no way Biden should be in office even if his policies and leadership were amazing.

Only God knows.

#32 Feb 26, 2024, 05:21 PM Last Edit: Feb 26, 2024, 05:53 PM by SGR
Quote from: Jwb on Feb 26, 2024, 03:28 AMi agree it's hyperbolic to say there "most likely won't be anymore elections" if Trump wins, but I'm kind of puzzled about the next paragraph.

1) what do you mean by republicans so frequently lose elections because they are too "by the books" when compared to the democrats?

2) what rules did the democrats bend with regard to Covid and the 2020 elections?

Republicans are favored electorally in our system by the sheer way that it is set up. From the way the senate is structured to the electoral college, republicans are benefited by all of that. They so frequently lose elections because despite being propped up institutionally, they are pushing essentially an ideology that is on  its last legs. Trump and his complete capture of the right in a few short years is a perfect symptom of that.

I was referring mostly to universal mail-in ballots and the easing of mail-in restrictions. Before 2020, a voter would have to request an absentee ballot and get a witness to verify their identify in order to vote by mail. In 2020, nine states + DC mailed out ballots to everyone on their voter rolls, while others suspended the requirement for a witness. With the easing of mail-in restirctions, progressive Dems in many states sued to ease security measures for mail-in ballots, such as the aforementioned witness requirement and signature requirement - and in some cases, allowing ballots to arrive days after the election. None of this was illegal by the way, I'm just saying Democrats, at least in recent times, are more effective about using the existing rules to maneuever changes to benefit them electorally - while Republicans can hardly mount an effective ballot harvesting operation in comparison. The link below details more about the changes the Democrats were able to enact in 2020 - and as this article suggests, the Republicans, like the Democrats, will need to learn how to best exploit these rules if they want to have any chance of winning:

https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/3811483-to-win-republicans-must-embrace-the-new-election-rules/


Republicans being what I'll call 'graceful losers' in comparison to Democrats and too 'by the books': if we look at 2016 for example, Clinton's campaign paid a foreign national (Christopher Steele) to produce a bunk dossier about Trump and his 'collusion with Russia' that the Democrats used as pretext to conduct about 2 years of investigation into Trump and his campaign, which also served to effectively undermine the legitimacy of his presidency. The Democrats then, after all that fizzled out after the release of the Mueller report, impeached him twice. Republicans in contrast, tend to write strongly worded letters and are 'looking into' impeaching Biden. And this doesn't even get into all the shenanigans with the intelligence agencies and their coordination with social media companies during the 2020 election that benefitted Biden and the Democrats. Republicans, at least before Trump, seemed to be fine with letting the Democrats dominate and control the narrative, and play defense. One of the first examples that popped in my head was Mitt Romney's '47% comments':

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitt_Romney_2012_presidential_campaign#47%_comment

Whereas Trump would often double-down on whatever the media outrage was about his comments, Romney relented and went on a mini-apology tour for what he said (in politics, apology tours rarely work and often serve as a death knell, because regardless of the apology, what was said will continue to be used in political attacks by your opponent). Hell, in that election, Obama and the Democrats effectively used all technology and social media at their disposal to campaign. Romney and his campaign did none of that. Republicans tend to need to play catch-up and defense with Democrats, and maybe that's foundationally attributable to the difference in ideology - Republicans look to the past and want to 'conserve' what we have while Democrats often look to the future and want to make changes and improvements. As a culture and society, we need elements of both to be successful (and ideally, additional parties that serve as legitimate alternatives - but we all know that won't happen).

You're right that the electoral college does benefit Republicans, at least today. I didn't know this, but found it interesting - there's only been 5 US Presidential elections in which the candidate who wins the popular vote didn't ultimately win the presidency (because of the electoral college and in some cases, involvement of the Supreme Court) - Trump in 2016 being the most recent example - Bush in 2000 being the example before that, and prior to that, it hadn't happened since 1888:

List of United States presidential elections in which the winner lost the popular vote

To your point about the GOP being 'an ideology on its last legs' and that being a primary reason they lose, I don't necessarily disagree. I think if the Republicans just gave up on the abortion issue, they'd take away one of the biggest advantages Democrats have. But they don't seem to want to do that. Trump, at least now, has appeared to capture the Republican party - and we've discussed this before, but it will be interesting to see how different the party is after Trump is out of the picture - will they go back to their old ways and talking points, or will Trump's differing vision of the GOP become a seemingly permanent fixture?

Sorry for the novel, I'll try to respond to you @Lisnaholic later - but I think some of what I wrote above will be part of my response.


Quote from: jadis on Feb 26, 2024, 03:52 PMA strong word coming from you. What accounts for this intensity?
really? I feel like I often phrase things pretty strongly. I just loathe him because he's a corrupt liberal creep, I guess in the same way that I hate all politicians of that type, except that he has an extra ick-factor to me that's completely irrational and based on vibes. I feel exactly the same way about him as about Dutch (former-ish) prime minister Mark Rutte, another icky corrupt liberal creep


If RFKJ doesn't win I'm setting myself on fire in front of the Israeli embassy


Quote from: jimmy jazz on Feb 26, 2024, 05:18 PMTrump is old but he's otherwise fit and healthy and pretty sharp.

Biden is decrepit, can barely walk and is visibly not right. You cannot see his gaffes and think anything else surely. There is absolutely no way Biden should be in office even if his policies and leadership were amazing.





Quote from: Marie Monday on Feb 26, 2024, 05:30 PMreally? I feel like I often phrase things pretty strongly. I just loathe him because he's a corrupt liberal creep, I guess in the same way that I hate all politicians of that type, except that he has an extra ick-factor to me that's completely irrational and based on vibes. I feel exactly the same way about him as about Dutch (former-ish) prime minister Mark Rutte, another icky corrupt liberal creep

Ehh...I dunno that I'd call it completely irrational.




I agree with @DJChameleon . At this point I can only hope for the best but prepare for the worst. Speaking as a trans person I think it's a good time to make plans for DIY treatments and potentially relocating.

I cannot cling to a country whose president is actively committing direct harm to myself and my people to thunderous applause. If I were granted the opportunity to leave I would do so without hesitation.

"stressed" is just "desserts" spelled backwards

Quote from: Mindy on Feb 26, 2024, 05:31 PMIf RFKJ doesn't win I'm setting myself on fire in front of the Israeli embassy

I like dark jokes but literally too soon. You know the airman died right?

RIP.

I was this cool the whole time.

Quote from: SGR on Feb 26, 2024, 05:58 PMEhh...I dunno that I'd call it completely irrational.



This is rather old information, but I figured some may not have heard about it. The 'Ashley Biden diary'. I'm not sure why it was not a bigger story, as different news reports seem to confirm that the diary was real, was Ashley Biden's, and two people plead guilty to stealing it and they're prosecuting them for it.

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/08/25/guilty-trafficking-ashley-biden-diary-00053770

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/22/us/politics/aimee-harris-ashley-biden-diary-sentencing.html

The diary is on the Library of Congress's archive site and can be found here:

https://ia803405.us.archive.org/20/items/ashley-biden-diary/Ashley_Biden_Diary_Original_10_15_2021.pdf

Page 25 in the PDF of the diary above is the one about Joe Biden taking showers with his daughter, among other really gross things:




Quote from: DJChameleon on Feb 26, 2024, 06:15 PMI like dark jokes but literally too soon. You know the airman died right?

RIP.
yeah, it's sad. He didn't seem like the "bout bout" type too. Probably should have thought it over. Fucked up how an israeli embassy agent pointed a gun at him the whole time he was burning alive.

yeah maybe that joke was too soon too, my bad.

The mossad twitter page made fun of him right away! it was messed up, they were the ultra 'too soon'.


Quote from: Mindy on Feb 26, 2024, 06:23 PMyeah, it's sad. He didn't seem like the "bout bout" type too. Probably should have thought it over. Fucked up how an israeli embassy agent pointed a gun at him the whole time he was burning alive.

yeah maybe that joke was too soon too, my bad.

The mossad twitter page made fun of him right away! it was messed up, they were the ultra 'too soon'.

I think I would have been more okay with the joke if he was still alive and just severely injured but him passing away which I didn't learn about til this morning is a bit much. 🤔

I was this cool the whole time.

Quote from: SGR on Feb 26, 2024, 06:17 PMThis is rather old information, but I figured some may not have heard about it. The 'Ashley Biden diary'. I'm not sure why it was not a bigger story, as different news reports seem to confirm that the diary was real, was Ashley Biden's, and two people plead guilty to stealing it and they're prosecuting them for it.

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/08/25/guilty-trafficking-ashley-biden-diary-00053770

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/22/us/politics/aimee-harris-ashley-biden-diary-sentencing.html

The diary is on the Library of Congress's archive site and can be found here:

https://ia803405.us.archive.org/20/items/ashley-biden-diary/Ashley_Biden_Diary_Original_10_15_2021.pdf

Page 25 in the PDF of the diary above is the one about Joe Biden taking showers with his daughter, among other really gross things:



How scandalous! A parent taking a shower with their child woopty fucking do.

I was this cool the whole time.

Quote from: SGR on Feb 26, 2024, 05:58 PMEhh...I dunno that I'd call it completely irrational.



Smelly old nonce.

Him, not you.

Only God knows.

Quote from: DJChameleon on Feb 26, 2024, 06:27 PMHow scandalous! A parent taking a shower with their child woopty fucking do.

Well besides the fact that she was supposedly 10 or 11 when this happened. She was old enough that even she said in the diary it was 'probably not appropriate'.