2020 US Election Thread

[Anteater]

I lol'd a bit at Chris Wallace bringing up Ft. Worth as though it were some kind of hot spot for BLM riots. There were like 19 incidents overall in the second quarter of last year and 21 this year in the same timeframe, both less than 2018.

[ribbons]

Funniest part of the evening was when Trump said that racial sensitivity training was racist (we nearly fell off the couch laughing at that one).

[OccultHawk]

like frown said I too was thinking they got to just mute whoever when it’s not their turn. Stick to the time and when it’s up no warning just mute.

Trump looked like an annoying school boy you can’t throw out of class and unfortunately Biden, to me, seemed pretty incoherent.

My bias is probably kicking in but in my mind Biden is trying to argue for a right wing government and you can’t out right wing a republican.

Biden did nothing to defend the left.

On health care I actually thought Trump won because the ACA really does suck. Of course Trump doesn’t have a plan but the ACA isn’t a plan worth defending. If it’s not a case for change why change?

Biden sucked on the environment because he doesn’t support anything there either. Go back six years? WTF ever. Again Trump is worse but if not giving a **** is your thing Trump is your man.

Then man oh man, on not honoring the election, so what are we gonna do about it Joe? VOTE VOTE VOTE. Bitch if he’s not going to honor the results that’s a non-action. Trump was like calling his Nazis to arms. Again Trump is worse but Biden offers no alternative.

[Lucem Ferre]

I think Biden wiped the floor with Trump.

Mostly because he provided the bare minimum of rationality.

Trump had a few good points in hurling as many accusations as he can but his bull**** smothered all of it.

If Trump wasn't going for the racially loaded Law & Order bit he could've pulled Biden's receipts but it contradicted the strawman he was creating.

And Biden really should have used other countries that are already open and hardly affected as proof that Trump's response was terrible.

If Biden's opponent wasn't a literal man child he'd have been walked all over.

[OccultHawk]

man child

Goddamn did Trump look and act like a spoiled child.

[jwb]

Originally Posted by TheBig3

Exert dominance over him? What was Biden supposed to do? Piss on him?

Maybe challenge him to a pushup contest.

In all seriousness, I'm not saying there's anything he could've done about it that was really within his skill set or temperament to do. I think if anything the sympathy angle seems to be helping him somewhat where as the bullying is backfiring on Trump.

Especially the part where Biden brought up his dead son and Trump responded by **** talking Hunter again. Really the Hunter stuff should've worked in Trump's favor of he wasn't such a domineering prick about it.

As far as actual content the format didn't allow the arguments to get into much detail or substance so there really wasn't anything to see in that regard. Basically Trump tried to associate Biden with the left and Biden did a good job avoiding that association.

Originally Posted by Anteater

I lol'd a bit at Chris Wallace bringing up Ft. Worth as though it were some kind of hot spot for BLM riots. There were like 19 incidents overall in the second quarter of last year and 21 this year in the same timeframe, both less than 2018.

Yes it's almost like the recent crime spike has has nothing to do with who happens to be in power locally and more to do with the pandemic, the massive unemployment and the racial unrest. Obviously most of it happens in "Democrat run cities" since most actual cities are run by Democrats. That was basically Wallace's point imo.

[Lisnaholic]

Originally Posted by OccultHawk

Goddamn did Trump look and act like a spoiled child.

Yep, not remotely Presidential and barely adult.
His constant badgering interuptions broke the rules of the debate and were often worthless imo. Here was one that the press has not picked up on sufficiently:-

(not verbatim)
Biden: Wearing a mask saves thousands of lives. 100, 000 lives, some studies say.
Trump (interrupting): And some people say the opposite.
Biden: No serious person says the opposite.

Eight months into the pandemic, with an audience of millions the President once more undercuts the idea that masks can save lives. He is therefore risking lives, and for what? In hopes of throwing Biden off his game for one prime-time second?
__________________________________________________ _________

There are so many stories and techniques of voter suppression, that it's almost worth its own thread ("This is the way democracy ends, not with a bang but a wimper.")

A story out of Texas:-
https://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2020-54380684 Texas Governor Cuts Back on Voting Locations Weeks Before the Election

Texas' governor has ordered that voters can drop off their mail-in ballots at only one location per county in the lead-up to the presidential election. Critics have accused Mr Abbott of voter suppression, pointing out that in some cases this means thousands of voters must go to one clerk's office.

Coming weeks before the election, the order requires counties to close any satellite ballot drop-off locations. Some of the state's largest counties had already set up multiple drop-off sites. Harris County, home to the city of Houston and some four million residents, must now close 11 drop-off locations, the Houston Chronicle reported.

In addition to raising questions about how potentially millions of urban Texans will need to visit a single drop-off site, the move may also be problematic for rural residents, who are spread out across the state - which is also America's second largest by area.

Texas Democratic chairman Gilberto Hinojosa responded by saying that courts across the US have said it is too late to make changes to election rules, "but our failed Republican leadership will try anyway".

The proclamation by Mr Abbott will cause "widespread confusion and voter suppression", said Harris County clerk Chris Hollins in a statement. Harris County, which encompasses Houston, is the most populous county in the state. "Multiple drop-off locations have been advertised for weeks," he said. "To force hundreds of thousands of seniors and voters with disabilities to use a single drop-off location...is prejudicial and dangerous."

My bold for classic Republican voter-suppression manouvre: publicise information, then change it.

[Psy-Fi]

Trump Pride: Gay Republicans on why they're backing the president

[OccultHawk]

Originally Posted by Psy-Fi

Trump Pride: Gay Republicans on why they're backing the president

A lot of queers are rich. If you’re an adult and you’re not being clobbered with workplace oppression you still need compassion if you’re gay or not. Where I live if you’re openly queer you’re likely to be ostracized at work and kept poor. The insanity is that poor people support Trump. Rich Mexicans aren’t being put in concentration camps. Rich black families aren’t having their fathers kidnapped and put in prisons. And rich queers can shield themselves from gay bashing. And by bashing I mean violence, not words. These people know where their bread is buttered.

[Lisnaholic]

Yes, it's surprising how people can be so disloyal to their own demographic group. Every time I see a woman waving a "Women for Trump" sign, I wonder about their sense of solidarity, their sisterhood. This propaganda ad leaves out the p***y-grabing tape and much else, but Trump's treatment of women still comes across as pretty vile:-