Political Roundtable Part XXVIII

dobrojim · Post #1461 » by **dobrojim** » Tue Jul 7, 2020 3:16 pm

At the risk of being a broken record, the cruelty is the point.

And it used to work well enough. Perhaps now not quite so much.

https://messaging-custom-newsletters.nytimes.com/template/oakv2?campaign_id=9&emc=edit_nn_20200707&instance_id=20070&nl=the-morning&productCode=NN&regi_id=110875984&segment_id=32782&te=1&uri=nyt%3A%2F%2Fnewsletter%2Fc1124571-b242-4641-8f8a-9c9fabd83668&user_id=fe295128b5cded618b6567d5581ae80c

And yet this time seems different: The strategy isn’t working. Trump’s poll numbers are slumping, and some of his 2016 supporters cite racial issues as a reason they plan to vote for Joe Biden.

Also linked in the NYT piece was this piece from 538.

It wasn’t just Weyrich, either. During the 1971 Supreme Court confirmation hearing of future Chief Justice William Rehnquist, civil rights activists testified that he had run “ballot security” operations in Arizona and had personally administered literacy tests to Black and Hispanic voters at Phoenix polling places. Nor are these sentiments just a relic of a bygone era: In March of this year, President Donald Trump dismissed out of hand Democratic-backed measures that called for vote-by-mail and same-day registration to help ensure people could vote amid the COVID-19 pandemic: “They had things, levels of voting that if you’d ever agreed to it, you’d never have a Republican elected in this country again.”

The political wisdom is ingrained at this point: Black and brown people don’t vote for Republicans.

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-republican-choice/?campaign_id=9&emc=edit_nn_20200707&instance_id=20070&nl=the-morning&regi_id=110875984&segment_id=32782&te=1&user_id=fe295128b5cded618b6567d5581ae80c

Post #1462 » by **Ruzious** » Tue Jul 7, 2020 5:20 pm

Speaking of racists who make a point of being cruel; Tucker Carlson:

"You're not supposed to criticize Tammy Duckworth in any way because she once served in the military," Carlson said. "Most people just ignore her. But when Duckworth does speak in public, you're reminded what a deeply silly and unimpressive person she is."

"It's long been considered out of bounds to question a person's patriotism. It's a very strong charge, and we try not ever to make it. But in the face of all of this, the conclusion can't be avoided. These people actually hate America. There's no longer a question about that," Carlson claimed.

Notice, at the end - he says "These people" just so there's no question that he's a racist, and there's no question that his targeted audience is fellow racists. He WANTS... to be known as a racist. He thinks that's best for his career.

Her answer was perfect - "Does @TuckerCarlson want to walk a mile in my legs and then tell me whether or not I love America?"

pancakes3 · Post #1463 » by **pancakes3** » Tue Jul 7, 2020 5:49 pm

what a piece of feces

dobrojim · Post #1464 » by **dobrojim** » Tue Jul 7, 2020 6:04 pm

today's episode of Fresh Air was quite good

Terry Gross interviews Larry Tye, author of a book on McCarthy called Demagogue.
He draws some interesting parallels to a certain present day demagogue.

Wizardspride · Post #1465 » by **Wizardspride** » Tue Jul 7, 2020 8:21 pm

?s=19

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?s=19p

?s=19

Post #1466 » by **montestewart** » Tue Jul 7, 2020 9:58 pm

Wizardspride wrote:

Read on Twitter
?s=19

Read on Twitter
?s=19

Read on Twitter
?s=19p

Read on Twitter
?s=19

These allegations are shocking, I tell you. Shocking!

dobrojim · Post #1467 » by **dobrojim** » Tue Jul 7, 2020 11:05 pm

Green font? ^

edit to add - there is some crazy ass $hit reported on from excerpts
in the links above. If it wasn't tRump, it would be shocking. But since it is,
it all makes perfect sense.

(DJT) Went to a movie instead of the hospital when his brother died (at 42 from an alcohol induced heart attack).
Commented in front of his wife about how 'stacked' his niece was.
Cheating is simply a way of life with him, has cheated at virtually everything his whole life.

I wish I could say I can't wait to hear the rationalizations that are sure to come
from the minions but actually I can wait. They would be laughable but for the fact
this monster is POTUS.

This might be the most consequential of all the defects, considering he is POTUS.
Short version, he is entirely and completely manipulable.

“After the election, Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong-Un, and Mitch McConnell, all of whom bear more than a passing psychological resemblance to Fred, recognized in a way others should have but did not that Donald’s checkered personal history and his unique personality flaws make him extremely vulnerable to manipulation by smarter, more powerful men,” Mary writes. “His pathologies have rendered him so simple-minded that it takes nothing more than repeating to him the things he says to and about himself dozens of times a day—he’s the smartest, the greatest, the best—to get him to do whatever they want.”

Post #1468 » by **Ruzious** » Wed Jul 8, 2020 10:33 am

Not surprisingly, he cheated on his SAT's to get into Wharton. If a basketball player cheated on his SAT's to get into a prominent school, it'd be a huge scandal. And of course, he basically accused Obama of doing something similar. That's his thing; Any awful thing he's done - he accuses his enemies of doing. That's a horrible character trait. One cannot underestimate how rotten his character is. It's worse than the fact that he's actually done these things. How in the hell does anyone with ANY character support him? I don't get it, and I can't accept it. He's so obviously a piece of garbage.

payitforward · Post #1469 » by **payitforward** » Wed Jul 8, 2020 3:43 pm

Yuck....

Post #1470 » by **Ruzious** » Wed Jul 8, 2020 5:47 pm

dobrojim wrote:Green font? ^

edit to add - there is some crazy ass $hit reported on from excerpts
in the links above. If it wasn't tRump, it would be shocking. But since it is,
it all makes perfect sense.

(DJT) Went to a movie instead of the hospital when his brother died (at 42 from an alcohol induced heart attack).
Commented in front of his wife about how 'stacked' his niece was.
Cheating is simply a way of life with him, has cheated at virtually everything his whole life.

I wish I could say I can't wait to hear the rationalizations that are sure to come
from the minions but actually I can wait. They would be laughable but for the fact
this monster is POTUS.

This might be the most consequential of all the defects, considering he is POTUS.
Short version, he is entirely and completely manipulable.

“After the election, Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong-Un, and Mitch McConnell, all of whom bear more than a passing psychological resemblance to Fred, recognized in a way others should have but did not that Donald’s checkered personal history and his unique personality flaws make him extremely vulnerable to manipulation by smarter, more powerful men,” Mary writes. “His pathologies have rendered him so simple-minded that it takes nothing more than repeating to him the things he says to and about himself dozens of times a day—he’s the smartest, the greatest, the best—to get him to do whatever they want.”

It's like the South Park episode where the Japanese businessmen have their way by saying we cannot compete with huge American penises.

Watch on YouTube

Wizardspride · Post #1471 » by **Wizardspride** » Wed Jul 8, 2020 10:20 pm

Read on Twitter

?s=19

FAH1223 · Post #1472 » by **FAH1223** » Thu Jul 9, 2020 5:32 am

Read on Twitter

Post #1473 » by **Zonkerbl** » Thu Jul 9, 2020 1:10 pm

WHY NOT LEGALIZE POT?!?!?! Aaaaaaaaaargh!!!!!! What is wrong with this dude

Alright get elected and then endorse pot legalization, whatever

Fairview4Life · Post #1474 » by **Fairview4Life** » Thu Jul 9, 2020 4:28 pm

Zonkerbl wrote:WHY NOT LEGALIZE POT?!?!?! Aaaaaaaaaargh!!!!!! What is wrong with this dude

Alright get elected and then endorse pot legalization, whatever

Such a popular position and it's basically the one thing I could see Trump just blurting out one day to save himself.

DCZards · Post #1475 » by **DCZards** » Thu Jul 9, 2020 5:00 pm

Fairview4Life wrote:
Zonkerbl wrote:WHY NOT LEGALIZE POT?!?!?! Aaaaaaaaaargh!!!!!! What is wrong with this dude

Alright get elected and then endorse pot legalization, whatever

Such a popular position and it's basically the one thing I could see Trump just blurting out one day to save himself.

I don't see legalizing pot as a make-or-break issue for most voters. I'd like to see pot legalized but it's not close to being one of my top concerns/issues.

pancakes3 · Post #1476 » by **pancakes3** » Thu Jul 9, 2020 5:11 pm

legalizing pot isn't about letting ppl smoke pot.

it's about taking away pretext for cops/DAs to stop, arrest, prosecute, and imprison large swaths of the population, wreaking disproportionate havoc on impoverished communities.

it's arguably the single most effective, and efficient piece of legislation that Congress can pass.

there are a thousand other reasons why (qualified people dissuaded from entering federal service, billions in unrealized economic benefits, saving governmental resources, etc.) but criminal justice is the most important, imo.

i don't smoke, fwiw.

Post #1477 » by **Zonkerbl** » Thu Jul 9, 2020 5:20 pm

pancakes3 wrote:legalizing pot isn't about letting ppl smoke pot.

it's about taking away pretext for cops/DAs to stop, arrest, prosecute, and imprison large swaths of the population, wreaking disproportionate havoc on impoverished communities.

it's arguably the single most effective, and efficient piece of legislation that Congress can pass.

there are a thousand other reasons why (qualified people dissuaded from entering federal service, billions in unrealized economic benefits, saving governmental resources, etc.) but criminal justice is the most important, imo.

i don't smoke, fwiw.

Don't smoke myself either, but I am strongly against institutional racism and the prohibition of pot is the most racist piece of the criminal justice system right now. A popular thing to do, would cost nothing, and would accomplish *a lot* in terms of lowering unnecessary interactions between black people and police.

Fairview4Life · Post #1478 » by **Fairview4Life** » Thu Jul 9, 2020 5:32 pm

DCZards wrote:
Fairview4Life wrote:
Zonkerbl wrote:WHY NOT LEGALIZE POT?!?!?! Aaaaaaaaaargh!!!!!! What is wrong with this dude

Alright get elected and then endorse pot legalization, whatever

Such a popular position and it's basically the one thing I could see Trump just blurting out one day to save himself.

I don't see legalizing pot as a make-or-break issue for most voters. I'd like to see pot legalized but it's not close to being one of my top concerns/issues.

It's not make or break but it is extremely popular, like 75% of the country supports it or something crazy, and it is something that would energize some demographics to actually go vote. When the margins in some states are so thin it definitely wouldn't hurt.

FAH1223 · Post #1479 » by **FAH1223** » Thu Jul 9, 2020 6:50 pm

Read on Twitter

Post #1480 » by **Zonkerbl** » Thu Jul 9, 2020 7:44 pm

I mean, of course this is a crushing defeat for Democracy - Trump effectively manipulated the court system to run out the clock so vital, relevant information about whether he is in fact a criminal will be withheld until after the election.

But at least the SCOTUS didn't rule he was above the law - a pyrhhic victory, since the effect of the decision is he is, in fact, above the law. But yeah, despite stealing two SCOTUS seats the GOP hasn't managed to destroy Democracy entirely, yet.

Maybe all McConnell is doing is stacking the courts with unqualified judges to get rid of abortion only, while somehow the incompetent, biased judges he appoints do good jobs on all the other questions before them. So maybe our institutions are just barely strong enough to withstand deliberate sabotage by coconspirators like McConnell.

I don't know - I was actually expecting much worse, but this doesn't feel like much of a victory either. I do feel like the SCOTUS did a good job protecting a future Dem president from partisan subpoenas, although I also feel every single Republican subpoena from now on should be contested all the way to the Supreme Court, on principle.