• Octopus Knight
    10
    If you have a problem figuring out whether you're for Biden or Trump then you ain't White.
  • Echarmion
    2.5k
    Apparently Trump wants the State Department to release full unredacted versions of all the emails from Hillary Clinton's private mail servers to the public.Pfhorrest

    Releasing private emails sounds kinda illegal to me.

    Trump apparently wishing it's 2016 again.
  • Mr Bee
    508
    This is bad. At this rate Clinton won't win the election.
  • Streetlight
    9.1k
    I think you mean Obama.
  • unenlightened
    8.7k
    The problem I see is with consentPunshhh

    whether it’s a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. — Goering
  • _db
    3.6k
    Violence, propaganda, either way the ruling class has to manufacture consent from the great beast.
  • _db
    3.6k


    Surrounded by his MAGA goons, Trump still questions how he could lose to Biden. Each time sounded like a tacit admission of defeat. Link is forwarded to one of them (11:35).

    • "Can you imagine if you lose to a guy like that?"
    • "How the hell do you lose to a guy like this?"
    • "Suburban women, can you please like me? I saved your damn neighborhood, okay!"
    • "The wall is almost built, the wall it up to three-hundred ninety-two miles." (Mexico - Texas border is 1,954 miles) "It's almost built."
    • "We are protecting the legacy of Christopher Columbus [...] [he] will always be a hero on my watch."
    • "You damn well better vote for me, Pennsylvania!" (PA is a swing state)
    • "That sucker [covid treatment] works, that's my opinion. What do I know? But to me, it works."
    • "We have proudly received endorsement of the National Association of Police Organizations, the National Troopers Coalition, the International Union of Police Associations, the Pennsylvania State Troopers Association, the Fraternal Order of Police..."
    • "Four years ago I said we were going to do things, now we've done them all, plus additional things, I mean a lot of additional things. I never talked about Space Force [...] that's, like, a major achievement for four years, that's like one thing out of so many other things, so it's one of those things, I never used to talk about that."
    • "We took out 100% of ISIS."
    • "We are the envy of everybody. There is no country that has what we have." (like 216K dead from covid)
  • Streetlight
    9.1k
    Biden could well still lose. Or, given the utter havock wrecked on the basic democratic mechanism of voting by the GOP, the courts could still simply give it to Trump. Don't make the mistake of thinking Biden has it in the bag.

    https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/jpmorgans-kolanovic-has-warning-those-expecting-crushing-biden-victory
  • Echarmion
    2.5k


    The argument presented in the article is hardly convincing, and doesn't address polling at all.

    Whether or not Biden "has it in the bag" is a fairly irrelevant question anyways, since the course of the post-election phase depends more on immediate results and choices than on the final tally.
  • Streetlight
    9.1k
    The article I cited was an afterthought. I'm just saying: don't trust Americans not to fuck themselves when given the opportunity.
  • BC
    13.1k
    Biden could well still lose.StreetlightX

    Absolutely, he could still lose -- either by getting too few votes in the states with sufficient Electoral College weight, or his victory could be stolen.

    Regardless of who wins, the process itself is under attack, as Trump, Republicans, et al practice dirty tricks. For instance, in California (some) Republicans have been putting out phony but very official looking ballot election boxes, presumably with the intent of disposing of ballots of suspected liberal voters. Law enforcement is rounding these up, but such things cause voters to distrust "the system".

    Voter fraud is nothing new, of course. The quip "Vote early and vote often" references ballot box stuffing in cities like Chicago (and other cities). Some states have a much cleaner record than others.

    I think it matters whether Trump or Biden win -- at least in the short run. In the medium run (say by 2024) another election comes round and some of the bad things that Trump and the Republicans did can be undone. Unfortunately, global warming isn't waiting for a better congress and executive, or for a better SCOTUS either. In the long run (1980 to 2050 and beyond) we are almost certainly screwed whether Biden or Trump wins.
  • Mr Bee
    508
    Yeah Democrats shouldn't be complacent like in 2016 and I hope that they have the memories of that election in mind when it comes to this election cycle. Although I would normally be confident in a Biden victory Trump and the GOP's attempts to outright steal the election really makes the need for a landslide victory on election night all the more necessary, though I'm expecting an absolute mess no matter what.

    That said, that article that you linked to is absolute bonkers. The news outlet is a far-right libertarian conspiracy website, and the JPMorgan guy they talked to has a history of making bullish predictions on Trump's chances.
  • Streetlight
    9.1k
    That said, that article that you linked to is absolute bonkers. The news outlet is a far-right libertarian conspiracy website, and the JPMorgan guy they talked to has a history of making bullish predictions on Trump's chances.Mr Bee

    Ha, fair enough. I come across their stuff every now and then and it's usually economics rather than politics. Nonetheless, good to know.

    I just feel there's been a bit of a turn in the last couple of weeks with alot of outlets looking to polls and basically calling it for Biden. This kind of hope ought to be crushed until one sees it in the concrete. And even then, one ought to give Biden every bit of shit that that corporate fuckbag deserves, even if he does win.
  • KerimF
    162
    I guess, if I understood well what free elections mean, the best American persons who are chosen by 'The People' in America so far are Biden and Trump. Good luck to all.
  • Benkei
    7.1k
    This is entirely true when you understand "best for whom"? Follow the money.
  • Michael
    14k
    'Unmasking' probe commissioned by Barr concludes without charges or any public report

    The federal prosecutor appointed by Attorney General William P. Barr to review whether Obama-era officials improperly requested the identities of individuals whose names were redacted in intelligence documents has completed his work without finding any substantive wrongdoing, according to people familiar with the matter.

    The revelation that U.S. Attorney John Bash, who left the department last week, had concluded his review without criminal charges or any public report will rankle President Trump at a moment when he is particularly upset at the Justice Department. The department has so far declined to release the results of Bash’s work, though people familiar with his findings say they would likely disappoint conservatives who have tried to paint the “unmasking” of names — a common practice in government to help understand classified documents — as a political conspiracy.
  • Benkei
    7.1k
    Enter in 3, 2, 1...nosfart with something totally unrelated disparaging Trump's opponents.
  • 180 Proof
    14k
    ... one ought to give Biden every bit of shit that that corporate fuckbag deserves, even if he does win.StreetlightX
    1,000X :up:
  • sarah young
    47
    one ought to give Biden every bit of shit that that corporate fuckbag deserves, even if he does win.StreetlightX

    I am of the belief that both candidates are right wing corporate scumbags with no care for the common people, and should both be raked through the mud as is deserved, I couldn't agree more
  • Mr Bee
    508
    Agreed. At this rate it won't be until 2024 that America could see real change. Bernie's pretty much out since he's probably too old to run again, so I wonder who's gonna take over his position as the populist leftie? My guess is Yang.
  • magritte
    553
    Oh, I think the Russians or the Chinese will have a say about that. It's only reasonable that they should hop aboard that train.
  • sarah young
    47
    yeah, it honestly saddens me that bernie didn't get a chance at presidency, pretty much the only big player that gave a shit about the average person. and yeah, I'd vote for Yang
  • frank
    14.5k

    Would you say there's no value to slow progressive change? If so, why not?
  • sarah young
    47
    I never said that, however, there is negative value in regression, which both candidates offer
  • KerimF
    162
    Sorry for the interruption.
    I wonder how many people (mainly the old ones) around the world realized that a leader, a president, a prince or a king is just the official speaker of a certain powerful rich Elite who helped him (I try avoiding saying the truth by saying... hired him :) ) to play these symbolic highest positions before 'The People'.

    So one has to admit that D. Trump played so well his given role (better than his precedents and the greatest actors at Hollywood did) to the point almost all people (right, left.. etc..), if not all, were fully convinced that he is a real top decision-maker and not just another official speaker (just a great talented actor behind whom there are... sorry I don't like talking politics).
  • frank
    14.5k
    never said that, however, there is negative value in regression, which both candidates offersarah young

    I think a lot of Amerucans want Biden to take us backward at least to the Obama era where providing health insurance, being a member among Pacific states, and being a barrier to Russian aggression were priorities.

    I understand the frustration regarding Biden's lack of progressiveness, but remember that when Biden was younger, where we are today was the progressive goal. I imagine Biden's focus would be to allow the US to recover from the Godfather climate of Trump.

    Ive never seen the Godfather, btw.
  • 180 Proof
    14k
    I am of the belief that both candidates are right wing corporate scumbags with no care for the common people .sarah young
    So now 'Neoliberals' and 'Neofascists' are indistinguishable ... like private prisons and gulags / concentration camps?

    I'd like someone to name a US president who has advanced liberal (or progressive) reforms who was not also a corrupt pro-corporate / establishment opportunist. I don't recall any such 'saintly un/anti-political man-of-the-people' chimera in the White House in the last couple of centuries, do you?
  • Ciceronianus
    2.9k
    I'm with the Sage of Baltimore, H.L. Mencken, who said that every election is a kind of advance auction sale of stolen goods. That said, the quality of some stolen goods is better than others.
  • tim wood
    8.7k
    I'd like someone to name a US president who has advanced liberal (or progressive) reforms who was not also a corrupt pro-corporate / establishment opportunist.180 Proof

    Hmm. Corrupt. Very likely at the right focus you're corrupt, and yo' mama and your whole family. And mine and everyone else's. And never mind just how all that is defined. Still, though, I accept the challenge - and without a lot of discussion that you would no doubt endorse. Starting with FDR
    FDR
    HST
    DDE
    JFK
    LBJ
    Carter
    Obama

    Nixon a horror who may have done some good things - none come to mind.
    Ford, doesn't arise.
    Reagan, a tool, Harbour Freight.
    Bush1, Checking his watch and "Read my lips."
    Clinton. Either way.
    Bush2. It seems to me Bush2 is so much an ordinary man that at best he is merely tawdry, but at the same time from out of his ordinariness inherits a mantle of intrinsic goodness - read, "benefit of the doubt." And I suspect that he has a pretty good idea of who he is - not a pretty sight - unlike many.
    Trump sui generis: trans. a pig of his own.

    I'm not sure either your question or this answer worth further. The question ill-considered and ill-posed, the answer worth the question.


    .
  • NOS4A2
    8.3k
    Someone left Hunter Biden’s laptop at a repair shop and never came and picked it up. The man made a copy of it before sending it to the FBI, who has had it since December, months before the impeachment charade. You cannot make this stuff up. There are some beauties in here.

    Smoking-gun email reveals how Hunter Biden introduced Ukrainian businessman to VP dad

    Hunter Biden introduced his father, then-Vice President Joe Biden, to a top executive at a Ukrainian energy firm less than a year before the elder Biden pressured government officials in Ukraine into firing a prosecutor who was investigating the company, according to emails obtained by The Post.

    The never-before-revealed meeting is mentioned in a message of appreciation that Vadym Pozharskyi, an adviser to the board of Burisma, allegedly sent Hunter Biden on April 17, 2015, about a year after Hunter joined the Burisma board at a reported salary of up to $50,000 a month.

    “Dear Hunter, thank you for inviting me to DC and giving an opportunity to meet your father and spent [sic] some time together. It’s realty [sic] an honor and pleasure,” the email reads.

    An earlier email from May 2014 also shows Pozharskyi, reportedly Burisma’s No. 3 exec, asking Hunter for “advice on how you could use your influence” on the company’s behalf.

    Other material extracted from the computer includes a raunchy, 12-minute video that appears to show Hunter, who’s admitted struggling with addiction problems, smoking crack while engaged in a sex act with an unidentified woman, as well as numerous other sexually explicit images.

    N.Z. isn’t identified in the email but appears to be a reference to Burisma founder Mykola Zlochevsky, whose first name is a Ukrainian version of “Nicholas.”

    When the alleged shakedown failed, “they proceeded with concrete actions” in the form of “one or more pretrial proceedings,” Pozharskyi wrote.

    “We urgently need your advice on how you could use your influence to convey a message / signal, etc. to stop what we consider to be politically motivated actions,” he added.

    hunter-biden-7.jpg?quality=80&strip=all&w=640
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