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She alleges alien DNA is currently used in medical treatments
To be fair, I think 'alien' usually means DNA that is not yours in this context. Same as UFO doesn't mean aliens. But the rest of it sounds off the wall. And bonkers that this stuff just gets retweeted.
I'm onto the Bolton book now. He says Trump's working day starts with 9am-11am sat in a room off the Oval Office watching TV and tweeting.
Where are all the anti-government right wing militia groups who will defend the Constitution at all costs now eh? They seem remarkably ok with all this.
My problem is that 35% of Americans can have heard the ramblings of that bellend for the last 6 years (4 in office, 2 campaigning for office) and think him worthy of the highest office in the land. I know it’s guilt by association but when I hear an american accent and know there is a 1 in 3 chance they are an ironed on Trump supporter I can’t help but start from a position of thinking of them as a moron or at the very least a thoroughly dislikable person.
Its a bit more complicated than that. Politics is really tribal and there is an entire media complex designed to reinforce the tribalism. People on both sides of the political divide consume news and other content that is designed to reinforce their existing viewpoint. Social media algorithms amplify this effect even further.
How many Guardian reader on here also read the Telegraph?
Being "high minded" enough to evaluate information from lots of different sources is hard work, most people have neither the time or inclination.
Trump supporters aren't watching Twitter videos of people taking the piss out of "Person, Woman, Man, Camera, TV" They are watching a talking head on Fox News slagging of "Creepy Joe" instead.
35% is probably towards the lower bound of the baked in Republican support, if its accurate it actually shows how much his support has eroded. In an unashamedly two party political system like the US both parties notional support normally starts nearer 45%.
I saw a video of a pro-trump event in Arizona and this family literally had swastika stickers on their car as well as Confederate flags and MAGA and Trump 2020 etc
In ref to the above post, I don't read the Telegraph but I do try and read opposing views to The Guardian. The FT is about the most balanced news you can get I think.
Its a bit more complicated than that. Politics is really tribal and there is an entire media complex designed to reinforce the tribalism. People on both sides of the political divide consume news and other content that is designed to reinforce their existing viewpoint. Social media algorithms amplify this effect even further.
How many Guardian reader on here also read the Telegraph?
Being “high minded” enough to evaluate information from lots of different sources is hard work, most people have neither the time or inclination.
Trump supporters aren’t watching Twitter videos of people taking the piss out of “Person, Woman, Man, Camera, TV” They are watching a talking head on Fox News slagging of “Creepy Joe” instead.
35% is probably towards the lower bound of the baked in Republican support, if its accurate it actually shows how much his support has eroded. In an unashamedly two party political system like the US both parties notional support normally starts nearer 45%.
It's probably worth listening to the analyst on the podcast but this was specifically teasing out the difference between Republicans and Trump supporters acknowledging that whilst obviously related they are also separate things. There are lifelong republicans who would not vote Trump because, well, they have a brain. See Lincoln Project.
Also the 'creepy Joe' stuff - that is only going to work on a particularly low rent, low level educated voter - which is as much of a problem that indicates a broken country as any built-in moronic tendencies that would have you voting Trump without the brain washing.
Also the ‘creepy Joe’ stuff – that is only going to work on a particularly low rent, low level educated voter
Yep. It's a nod to the QAnon crowd too: hinting that "Creepy Joe" is another elite paedo sacrificing babies for their Adrenochrome and only the Lord and Saviour Trump can stop him.
Check out these Republican political ads for a feel for just how alien American politics is:
https://vm.tiktok.com/JYoJVT5/
https://vm.tiktok.com/JYokUCX/
https://vm.tiktok.com/JYEoHEq/
Those republican ads are nuts but then again a vast swathe of republicans are just as nuts and are as culpable as Trump for pandering to the basest level of ignorance, they only hope is for a split in the Republican party where the more sensible amongst them part company from the ****ing gun-toting retard nutjobs otherwise America will become a failed experiment.
Check out these Republican political ads for a feel for just how alien American politics is:
I know you'd never get that sort of flag waving militaristic bollocks over here.
🙂 🙂
EDIT
With apologies for spoiling everyone's day with a picture of Ruth Davidson
Sh'd like to put the boot in...does that conflate to a hoof in the slats for her?
I see she is being elevated to the house of lords, a peerage for her?....ffsake!
At what point do we admit that this is the beginning of the end for mankind? Just accept the inevitable, kick back and enjoy the fireworks.
In cosmic terms, we really don't matter.
There are lifelong republicans who would not vote Trump because, well, they have a brain.
Arnold Schwarzenegger being one of them - actually one of the most articulate anti-Trump people out there.
Arnold Schwarzenegger being one of them – actually one of the most articulate anti-Trump people out there.
The US became a place where Arnie is the ‘articulate’ option. Let that sink in.
I watched a few highlights from Bill Barr's grilling yesterday. His utter disdain for the proceedings was so clear.
He had his feet held to the fire by a couple of superstars but he pretending to not be aware of, and never heard about so many things he must live in a cave.
It was made clear that the election date is in the constitution; moving it would take an act of congress that they would never agree to. He was ignorant of the article, though.
Fingers crossed.
I watched a few highlights from Bill Barr’s grilling yesterday. His utter disdain for the proceedings was so clear.
It was a bit odd, alternated between Dems giving him a grilling and Republicans thanking him for his service and what a great job he was doing. How do they come to a conclusion? Guess that's why it's such a task to get anything through the process in the US.
The questioning around why he felt the feds had to respond to the BLM protests, Lafayette Square etc. but didn't respond to the armed protests in the Massachusetts State House (in fact, Trump supported them) wound me up. He claimed he didn't know the details of what happened in Massachusetts - there are lots of protests going on at the moment he said.
The US became a place where Arnie is the ‘articulate’ option. Let that sink in.
He's very savvy. The mono-syllabic set of muscles he ended up playing through most of his films is just a character.
"Pumping Iron" is a film that I'd heard Arnie enthusiasts bang on about. It popped up on a trawl through netflix or something. I pressed play with a sigh to see what they were on about. "Arnie is an elected politician?!?!? WTF!??!" is not something you'd say after watching the film.
Trump is not the problem – he is exactly the president you could have predicted he would be – he is merely a symptom of a thoroughly broken and vile country.
See also Boris Johnson.
Agree that Arnie is way more savvy than he ever gets credit for. I was a wannabe bodybuilder as his career was ending, Pumping Iron is amazing
Watching Trump do one of his 'chopper talks' today, reminded me that one of the books said that this was done on purpose. He binned his press briefings (although they've obvs started since for COVID), and takes questions stood right next to a Sikorsky with the engines running.
If he doesn't like a question? Says he can't hear and moves to the next. He skipped all of Kaitlan Collins' questions today, said she needs to speak up.
See also Boris Johnson.
Yes and no. I'm certainly no Bozza fan and wish I'd done the world a favour 12 years ago when with him alone in an empty building (long story, but an empty Boris sized cupboard was underutilised), but Trump is orders of magnitude worse I think it's pretty clear.
Trump trying to get the privileged suburbia vote. This is pretty grotesque actually.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1288509568578777088
He might as well just have said black people. Jesus. Following in daddy's overtly racist footsteps.
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/28/us/politics/donald-trump-housing-race.html
There are lifelong republicans who would not vote Trump because, well, they have a brain.
there’s a difference between ‘would not vote for’ and ‘would vote against’
Watching Trump do one of his ‘chopper talks’ today, reminded me that one of the books said that this was done on purpose. He binned his press briefings (although they’ve obvs started since for COVID), and takes questions stood right next to a Sikorsky with the engines running.
This technique was developed for President Reagan
Watching Trump do one of his ‘chopper talks’ today
And the inevitable has happened.
So that's him started the delaying tactics for the election citing unproven voter fraud.
Wow. He really is getting desperate.
Here's some coverage from The Hill
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/509738-trump-suggests-delaying-election
The quote from Biden was made in April when Trump ruled out changing the election date.
I thought that changing the election date can only be done if Congress legislate.
There is no evidence that mail-in voting increases the likelihood of fraud so it's yet more bollocks from the orange faced buffoon.
Let's see which of the GOP stooges runs with this one.
Pelosi would be interim then if not decided in time. Interesting!
NY Times view:
Could the general election be postponed or canceled?
Only with enormous difficulty.The date of the general election is set by federal law and has been fixed since 1845. It would take a change in federal law to move that date. That would mean legislation enacted by Congress, signed by the president and subject to challenge in the courts.
To call that unlikely would be an understatement.
And even if all of that happened, there would not be much flexibility in choosing an alternate election date: The Constitution mandates that the new Congress must be sworn in on Jan. 3, and that the new president’s term must begin on Jan. 20. Those dates cannot be changed just by the passage of normal legislation.
After Louisiana’s announcement on Friday, Marc Elias, the prominent Democratic election lawyer, knocked down what he described as a wave of queries about whether the November election could be similarly revised.
“I am getting a lot of questions about the November election,” Mr. Elias wrote on Twitter. “While states can set their own primary days, the federal general election is set by federal statute as the the [sic] Tuesday following the first Monday in November. This date cannot be changed by a state nor by the President.”
Its crazy isn't it?
There was an interesting American author on Five Live yesterday. She was saying how what America was going through was the march towards fascism. She said that Trump would somehow postpone or cancel the election completely due to the whole postal vote thing.
It all sounded a bit paranoid and alarmist, but it does indeed look like what he's planning to do.
The other thing she said was that he's systematically dismantling the US Postal service so that postal voting can't take place. I've had a quick Google and it sounds like she's got a point there too
A Fight Over the Future of the Mail Breaks Down Along Familiar Lines
America is an absolutely insane place at the moment. And thats even from the UK. God knows what it looks like from a country with a properly functioninng government
but he can't
well, unless he declares himself dictator....which isn't beyond imagination really
The man who's behavior he apes and who he admires most is presently altering the Russian constitution so that he can rule forever.
I'm sure that Trump is looking at that and thinking 'well if he can do it....'
He can't cancel it, but if it is in any way contested or closer than it looks now, he can use states with Republican incumbent legislatures to muddy the waters Florida-style by questioning the validity of mail-ins, and perhaps even declaring huge swathes of votes null and void and using this to send back Republican electors to the electoral college.
This article sets it out.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/03/coronavirus-election/608989/
Can trump declare a state of emergency and thus delay on those grounds?
He can't delay the election, but he might conceivably use it to try to nullify the result, citing foreign interference (ironically). He's laying the groundwork for all kinds of avenues. It's a dangerous time for the US. The only way to beat it is to win, not by a hair's breadth, but convincingly in the swing states.
What's the difference?
"Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good"
Trump would somehow postpone or cancel the election completely due to the whole postal vote thing.
I suspect that it's a Dead Cat to avoid discussing the fact that the economy has tanked and the Fed's just issued a report that essentially says the economy's contracted by nearly 40% and everyone's lost their job. Given that Trump's tied his political fortunes to the success of the US economy, He's got to draw attention away from the fact that he's done a shit job (who's have thought) of protecting everyone's livelihoods
What’s the difference?
“Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good)”
Volume could be an issue? The process is the same, but if a huge amount of mail-in voting was needed due to COVID concerns, postal service etc. might get swamped? AFAIK there's a process to check for fake votes.
But if he thinks there's an issue, then sort it!
NOrthwind - absentee voting means you are away from your voting place and cannot get there to vote. Mail in voting means you are in the area but don't want to go to the polling station
Jon Oliver did a piece about mail voting a few weeks ago, its much much more secure and incorruptible than ballot voting, particularly the electronic ballots that routinely get hacked.
and obviously the democrat leaning younger and BAME voters are more likely to mail vote
its the last desperate attempt to avoid a loss, or allow for a refusal to budge
He has already done things "he can't do" according to the constitution and rules. He can postpone/cancel the election if the mechanisms of government don't stop him, and especially with a rigged supreme court saying "nothing to see, its all above board, honest"
One of the problems with Biden being such a weak clown,and Pelosi being just as corrupt, is will they really get the support of any government agencies ie the military and law enforcement, behind them if/when he does try the ultimate power grab.
One of the problems with Biden being such a weak clown,and Pelosi being just as corrupt,
Donald, is that you?
So what about Biden and/or Pelosi makes you think they are good choices to gather support and oppose an illegal Trump takeover? Honesty, integrity, charisma, track record, intellect?
Not being Trump might be enough to win the vote if it goes ahead, but they will need to do better than that if his actions prevent the election.
Trump can't postpone or cancel the election - it's written into the constitution and can only be changed by bi-partisan agreement. There's no point debating with someone who can't get the basics right.
You want to try observing what is already happening, he is already taking actions that opposes the constitution. Who has stopped him tear gassing peaceful protesters, who has stopped him running goon squads snatching innocent citizens from the streets.
Somebody has to stand against him, constitutional law is just words until someone enforces it, and that is the problem, who are the mechanisms of law and order going to back when it comes to the crunch.
Next you will be saying racism doesn't exist because it's against the law.