I thought there were laws against using a whitehouse press conference for electioneering publicity?

Theres a scene in Parks & Recreation where Lesley keeps dragging co wrokers out of the (government) office to discuss her election/running for office plans, as govt buildings aren’t allowed to to be used for that?

An article on one of the US political websites – will post link when I find it – suggested that, if trump loses in November he could pardon himself in January, immediately prior to the new inauguration, of any crimes he may have committed against the US during his time as president.
Based directly on Gerald Ford’s presidential proclamation in which he pardoned Nixon – but with the twist that he pardons himself for stuff that may not be known about.
Yep, through the looking glass now – or is it down the rabbit hole?

I had to stop watching, but now I want to check it out again

This article is worrying, as we seem to be sliding down to America’s level, how long before we end up with MPs that believe in burning down 5G masts to stop covid?

Theres a scene in Parks & Recreation

Good call, I’m away to watch a bit of parks & recreation now, perhaps the episode where Ron Swanson gets sent to the lagavullin distillery, I need something amusing to remove my confusion over the “urgent press conference” I’ve just watched

thought there were laws against using a whitehouse press conference for electioneering publicity?

The Hatch Act, but it doesn’t apply to the President or VP.

He can only be pardoned for Federal crimes which is why the NYC filings are so important, he can’t get out of state or local crimes. Hopefully he will finally be prosecuted for a crime versus dodging with dragging things out in the courts. Probably won’t be before November though.

Dan Quail?

Remember when thats all we had to worry about? Someone should have told us we were living in a golden age.

It’s a **** miracle!!!!

The US have apparently taken reasoned and appropriate action over Hong Kong. Is there something I am missing here, or has someone slipped some lsd in my morning coffee.

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At least the police are killing white people to, that makes it all OK…

The US have apparently taken reasoned and appropriate action over Hong Kong

Does Trump even know Hong Kong exists?

The answer being “no” is the only way that computes, with some unimportant underling dealing with “bits of the wurld I dunt no abowt”.

New ad from The Lincoln Project has just dropped.
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/507401-lincoln-project-asks-in-new-ad-if-you-trust-trump-or-fauci

I watched the presser in astonishment. Such a complete mess.

An hours rambling about how great Trump is and how terrible Biden is, was, and will be once he gets in. And China; China is bad too.

He blamed Biden for everything. He even said at one point that Biden would make windows illegal!

I assume his campaign manager didn’t try to stop him too much; that’s why he’s now fired.

The Dems must be laughing and sitting back as Trump implodes. This will be the easiest election ever

The Dems must be laughing and sitting back as Trump implodes.

Biden is doing very little for now – just allowing the anti-Trump Republicans tear him to pieces. The Lincoln Project is occupying a space rent-free next to Trump’s withered brain stem. They will have contributed to the Parscale sacking with their ad pointing out how rich he was getting at Trump’s expense.

No secret that CNN and Anderson Cooper are no Trump fans but Anderson definitely didn’t pull any punches in this video.

https://edition.cnn.com/videos/politics/2020/07/16/president-trump-goya-fauci-coronavirus-kth-cooper-ac360-vpx.cnn

He blamed Biden for everything. He even said at one point that Biden would make windows illegal!

Yeah – think this was a plan by Biden for all workplaces or buildings to be carbon-neutral by 2030, Trump’s interpretation was you wouldn’t be allowed windows 🤪

I still reckon COVID is going to massively impact the US elections. They’re now going to be dealing with hospitalisations from all the infections in the Sun Belt the last month, that will take a couple of months. And then you’re into Autumn, flu in the mix too.

This will be the easiest election ever

I wouldn’t be so sure.

If they can’t win now; when can they?

Even Jeremy Corbyn would be elected in a landslide with this kind of opposition.

Qunininpac have a 15 pt lead for Biden

& ‘polls were wrong last time’ line doesnt stick

last time they were getting savaged for saying Trump had a much higher chance

https://www.vox.com/2016/7/14/12183016/quinnipiac-donald-trump-polling

If they can’t win now; when can they?

Even Jeremy Corbyn would be elected in a landslide with this kind of opposition.

You say that, but Corbyn was against a weak opposition and he failed. Joe Biden is such a flawed candidate, too. Whilst the polls have him in a great position right now I don’t trust (A) him not to say / do something stupid like another gaffe or have a stroke or (B) the American people not to do something daft a second time and vote Trump again.

November is a long time away, Trump is going to play as dirty as he can, and everything could change between now and then. 2020 is full of surprises. I want it to stop now.

I wonder at what point does Trump realise he’s certain to lose the election unless he can trigger a war (foreign or domestic) and stoke up nationalism/fear that way. November’s getting close now.

Whilst the polls have him in a great position right now I don’t trust (A) him not to say / do something stupid like another gaffe or have a stroke

With ‘ol creepy Joe, the gaffe is likely to be some form of stroke.

Joe Biden is such a flawed candidate, too.

Oh, absolutely.

The best alternative to Trump is another white old man. An old, old man.

But he does have Vice Prez experience, and he does know how to behave like a leader.

The best candidate I saw on the run up was Mayor Pete. He was a breath of fresh air compared to all the crusty old men and women.

But his, ahem, lifestyle would not have jived with a great many of the dug in fundamentalist religion types that US is full of.

Said it before – Dems should ditch Biden and go with Cuomo but don’t know how that sort of switching sits with US electoral processes; unless, of course, Biden stood down.
Moving on from that, Scaramucci is now fundraising for The Lincoln Project.
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/507735-scaramucci-fundraising-for-the-lincoln-project-i-hope-trump-is-humiliated
So far, trump AFAIK has avoided commenting on any of The Lincoln Project ads; they’re getting much more pointed and are broadcast on Fox so how long can he contain himself for?
When he blows it should be amusing.

Biden is the right candidate to go against Trump. Warren et al would have been a disaster.

He’s going to get most of the potential Dem vote (except the most die-hard Bernie fans), but what he’s really there for is to give the centrist republicans somebody who they can hold their nose and vote for…. that’s what this election is going to be about: winning over the republican voters who aren’t stupid/morally bankrupt enough to vote for Trump a second time. One has to hope that’s a significant number of people.

Biden’s doing well so far, by doing absolutely nothing. Never interrupt your enemy while he’s making a mistake. For The Donald, that’s every day.

I like Cuomo, but I have no idea how he’s perceived in the US.

November is a long time away, Trump is going to play as dirty as he can

Already happening. Sticking one of his lickspittles in as head of the USPS who is now on a mission to make the post as slow as possible. Mix that in with the utterly batshit response to coronavirus meaning a lot of people are going to want to mail in their votes in November, as well as deliberately reducing the number of voting locations available in larger cities and majority black population centres (which tend to vote democrat), and you have a recipe for a (stolen) Trump 2020 victory.

This Reuters pic yesterday of the press secretary’s notes sums it up. I knew she had a canned response to any question, this is how she does it. I suppose when you have so many lies to remember you need a book. Really want to know what’s filed under ‘absurd’.

… reuters photographer jonathan ernst got this shot today of press secy. kayleigh mcenany's briefing materials which include topic headings for:

– goya
– statues
– wins
– obama
– meuller (it's mueller)
– golf
– lgbt (no q)
– absurd
– privil(ege?)
– lies pic.twitter.com/abaOoRsB3t

— fake nick ramsey (@nick_ramsey) July 16, 2020

The best candidates I saw on the run up were Mayor Pete

Yang and Gabbard preferably on a joint ticket – Yang on domestic and Gabbard on foreign policy.

This election is a special case – they just have to make sure Trump doesn’t get a second term, by putting up a candidate who can appeal to everyone except the Trump core. It’s by no means a done deal, even with the poll numbers Biden is getting.

Biden is the right choice for a single term presidency. He’s a blank canvas on which all kinds of voters can see their expectations mirrored. He will probably announce Kamala Harris as VP candidate, so it may well be her vs Buttigieg/Warren/O’Rourke for 2024.

Where the Republican party goes from this (if they lose) is another story. Trumpism has laid waste to pretty much everything. Trump was laying tracks for his son to run in 2024, who do they have left who is untainted by association with him?

Vote Kanye ….. oh

You would think they might have learned their lessons from the last election. America was presented with two candidates – neither of which anyone really wanted. It was a case of picking the least worst one. And it looks like they made the wrong call. But funny things seem to happen in politics. For example, Theresa May’s “strong and stable” tag line. That was obviously going to be gold to, well, everyone and yet they persisted with it. I know we have been over this before, but it was also obvious going into the last election that Corbyn was never going to win. So we ended up with a choice of candidates that no one really wanted either…

I notice his latest “masks are about freedom” interview gets more prominence, but this is also bubbling away under the surface…..using federal agents to support or undermine the local authorities?

BBC News – Portland protests: Federal agents ‘abuse power’ in arrests
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-53453077

COULD TRUMP DELAY THE ELECTION

Straying into Fake News territory there dantsw13, (or maybe clickbait). That article is from early June and the answer is no, as stated immediately under the article headline. Presidential election dates are mandated in the American constitution.

Sorry, the headline is a bit misleading, but it was more the whole article on what happens if it is cancelled – I found it really interesting.

There is also a high chance of vote fixing with “stay at home orders” due to CV in key counties.

The Guardian had an interesting piece a day or two back about how Boden needs a huge overwhelming victory to prevent Trump trying various “legal” moves to overturn the result if it’s close and he loses. Can’t find the damn article now I want it again

Meanwhile, Pompeo has declared that some human rights are more righty than others- specifically, property ownership and religious freedom. He doesn’t specify which human rights he thinks aren’t important, but in the same speech, he attacks the press, so apparently freedom of speech and a free press are in there.

This one?

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jul/17/trump-biden-win-democrat-landslide

Thanks gecko76!

It’s a worry. He’s lied and cheated at every opportunity to date.