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Post by Merge on Jul 1, 2024 14:47:33 GMT
So it seems Biden could declare Trump a terrorist and send Seal Team 6 to take care of him, with complete immunity.
Make it so.
(And before anyone gets all high and mighty about what is implied here, ask yourself if you think Trump will hesitate to have political rivals or protestors assassinated, knowing he cannot be held accountable. That would be a dream come true for him.)
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Post by Merge on Jul 1, 2024 14:04:12 GMT
We can keep our old dude because we have a plan in place if something were to happen to him - Kamala Harris This is not a great plan. Harris, for many, is the reason to vote for Trump, even if they hate Trump. I fully believe Biden will not make it long, and his VP will be who we are voting for. I wish Pete B was his VP! Yes, we’re all aware that Harris’ race and gender are what make Biden unpalatable to certain people. She’s a black woman who doesn’t “know her place” so they have an instinctive dislike of her, though they generally cannot name a single policy position she holds that they object to.
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Post by Merge on Jul 1, 2024 13:46:25 GMT
Happy Canada Day to all of you!
I miss rhubarb crisp. I grew up eating rhubarb everything in the Midwest, but it’s not really a thing here in Texas. Enjoy!
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Post by Merge on Jul 1, 2024 13:44:35 GMT
I haven't read the replies, and probably won't since I don't usually even open political threads. But for some reason I couldn't help it on this one. My question is why should we -- "we" meaning general "we", i.e., anyone in the USA -- equate a poor showing on one debate with being a bad president? Yes it seems he had a bad debate (although I can't imagine the Orange One was any better, except that his followers are stupid sheep and don't care what he says or how he says it). But that doesn't mean he is or will be a bad president. Yes, he's too old, in my opinion. And yes of course he's 100% a better choice than trump. I don't understand why we just jump immediately to "replace him" after one debate. I haven't read the replies, and probably won't since I don't usually even open political threads. But for some reason I couldn't help it on this one. My question is why should we -- "we" meaning general "we", i.e., anyone in the USA -- equate a poor showing on one debate with being a bad president? Yes it seems he had a bad debate (although I can't imagine the Orange One was any better, except that his followers are stupid sheep and don't care what he says or how he says it). But that doesn't mean he is or will be a bad president. Yes, he's too old, in my opinion. And yes of course he's 100% a better choice than trump. I don't understand why we just jump immediately to "replace him" after one debate. The narrative is being spearheaded by Trumpers. It would play right into their hands.
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Post by Merge on Jul 1, 2024 2:22:31 GMT
Democrats have been recently winning special elections that we normally would not be competitive in. They recently over-performed in a district in Pennsylvania where we lost badly four years ago. Abortion is proving to be a motivating issue and we should be hammering the Republicans on that. Elections are real results - polls are not. *ding ding ding ding ding*
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Post by Merge on Jul 1, 2024 2:00:27 GMT
Biden was behind in the polls before the disaster. The chance of him winning now is close to zero - he can only win if trump has a seizure in public or something like that. So why not try someone else? Don't believe the polls. Biden has raised $33M in donations since the debate.
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Post by Merge on Jul 1, 2024 1:34:45 GMT
We ... won with Biden four years ago. How is that expecting different results? Ah, sorry. That was opaque. Yes, of course we won with Biden four years ago. When I said that, I wasn't referring to running the same set of candidates as we did four years ago. Four years ago, the world and the US were in a completely different place. Yes, Biden/Harris won, but that doesn't mean they will win again now. As much as I think that they have done a fine job and passed much important legislation and they would 100% have my vote no matter what the circumstances, the polls are not moving in regards to how the general public feels about Biden and Harris. Trump has been and still is predicted to win this election. We have to move the needle somehow, as we seem to be stuck in second place. When I said "doing the same thing over and over again," I was referring to the Dem's messaging to the general public over the last two years. We have been telling people over and over and over again that: -the economy is actually better than they realize -Joe Biden's capabilities were not fading, he was as strong as ever -Joe Biden is not too old to be president again -Kamala Harris would be a fine president if something happened to Joe -Trump's administration was a train wreck -Trump is a dangerous threat to democracy But those undecided voters who will unfortunately decide this election in a handful of swing states are not buying any of this messaging. But we keep hammering this same message, thinking that suddenly these folks will believe it. But no one seems to be buying what we Dems are selling. I am heartsick and scared to death of what might happen in November, but I don't believe we can win by continuing on in the same way to election day. Too much is at stake to f*ck this up. It is my opinion that we need to pull the emergency brake. This is what I was referring to. I don’t buy that we lose voters over this in November - especially as it will be a tiny blip on the radar by then. I think we will lose voters if we spend the next four months arguing over who the nominee should be. And I see online that lots of MAGA-affiliated people are claiming that “everyone says Joe has to go.” I don’t see actual Democratic voters saying that. I haven’t put any faith in polls since 2016.
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Post by Merge on Jul 1, 2024 0:02:36 GMT
The Republicans are sticking with their convicted felon. We can keep our old dude because we have a plan in place if something were to happen to him - Kamala Harris. They should use her as much and as effectively as possible in the next few months. It’s our job to build up both Biden & Harris. But we also need to remind people what is very likely to happen if Trump were to become president again. This isn't working. We have been trying for the past three years to remind people of what a disaster Trump was. They. don't. care. And Kamala's ratings are even more dismal that Joe Biden's. That is not going to change. Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results... We ... won with Biden four years ago. How is that expecting different results?
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Post by Merge on Jun 30, 2024 23:12:20 GMT
Never used those. It was pencil and paper for my first election (1992) in Missouri.
I don't think I voted again after that until Houston in 1998 - I was moving around a lot and it didn't occur to me to get an absentee ballot - and it was computers here by then. We used those same dang computers with a weird little rotary selector until a few years ago, when we finally got touch screens with a paper backup.
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Post by Merge on Jun 30, 2024 22:48:02 GMT
No.
Biden was never my choice, but if Dems spend the next four months infighting over a new nominee instead of rightfully pointing our fingers at the convicted felon, serial assaulter, and pathological liar the Rs are running, we are toast.
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Post by Merge on Jun 30, 2024 20:20:58 GMT
Curry, but in the States, I think it is pretty commom not to have tried curries. Much more common for our Aussie and Brit friends. I have tried Indian food, once, long ago. I think we probably had Tandoori chicken. I disagree. Curry (Indian, Thai, Vietnamese, or otherwise) is super common in larger cities here in the US. Heck, we had at least one Indian restaurant in Omaha in the 80s. I’ve also been able to buy the ingredients to make a good curry in our grocery stores for at least three decades.
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Post by Merge on Jun 30, 2024 19:15:03 GMT
Never been on a cruise. No desire to go on one.
Never attended a professional or college football game.
Never watched a single episode of any of the Law and Order franchise shows.
Never been skiiing on snow or water.
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Post by Merge on Jun 30, 2024 16:14:47 GMT
Of course we don’t. So if you have friends thinking that way, you need to tell them to wise up. As for Biden’s debate performance, I guess I’m glad you never saw me trying to teach through a cold, no voice, hopped up on DayQuil and just trying not to fall over, short on sleep to begin with. I wasn’t incapacitated. I was just sick. If this were just some friends spouting off, I wouldn't pay attention but this is data from reputable polling sources. With all due respect, trying to teach hopped up on DayQuil isn't the same at all. You're not 81 years old and the holder of the nuclear codes. I feel like the party is flying the plane into the mountain. But if Biden can’t finish his term, we get someone who shares the same priorities. If Trump is elected, democracy is pretty much done. This seems like a no-brainer to me. We’re electing a platform and a party, not a savior. As for it not being the same when I’m teaching sick and Biden is debating while sick - it is. Sick is sick, not incapacitated as you claimed. He bounced back the next day.
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Post by Merge on Jun 30, 2024 15:41:29 GMT
It’s ridiculously hot here, so of course DH’s company is hosting an outdoor event that I will have to go to. Yay.
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Post by Merge on Jun 30, 2024 15:18:37 GMT
Emotional Support Canadians have popped up on Twitter again, as well as here on the board. So thank you all for that.
This is up there with his windmill cancer comments. But sure, he’s going to get the country “back on track.”
His supporters are as stupid as he is.
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Post by Merge on Jun 29, 2024 17:08:24 GMT
This is not some old man with a cold and it's insulting that they think we'll buy that. It doesn't explain how he couldn't organize his thoughts. The Leader of the Free World is incapacitated. The Democratic party needs to get their $#*t together or we'll have a deranged monster in the White House. Anyone who would vote for Trump because they think Biden is too "progressive" deserves exactly what they will get. They're not voting for Trump, but abandoning Biden is tantamount to supporting Trump. Sure they deserve what they get, but do WE? Of course we don’t. So if you have friends thinking that way, you need to tell them to wise up. As for Biden’s debate performance, I guess I’m glad you never saw me trying to teach through a cold, no voice, hopped up on DayQuil and just trying not to fall over, short on sleep to begin with. I wasn’t incapacitated. I was just sick.
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Post by Merge on Jun 29, 2024 13:38:55 GMT
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Post by Merge on Jun 29, 2024 0:23:44 GMT
When Democrats in other states are tempted to write off the south, remember that a whole lot of us are Trae Crowders.
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Post by Merge on Jun 29, 2024 0:05:54 GMT
Good tip. I loathe the little pus blisters.
My youngest stepped in an anthill at a park one time when she was about 2, and had nasty bites all up one foot and leg.
The asps are apparently worse, though. I haven't been bitten by one, but anytime I've had to cover recess duty we worry about the kids finding/touching one. They're apparently excruciatingly painful.
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Post by Merge on Jun 28, 2024 23:07:26 GMT
I didn't say it did. The fact that it happens to other party elements doesn't negate the fact that it happens to us. We are all bound by the more insular views of voters from two small, mostly white states. In the case of the 2020 election, that means that progressives were forced to support (or "cave to") the moderate candidate whether they liked it or not. We all knew that sitting out or voting 3rd party would result in another Trump presidency. But now we're supposed to be fine with the fact that the moderates we caved to in 2020 can't understand the same thing? Do you really think it is only moderates that aren’t voting for Biden this time? There are a lot of progressives who say they won’t vote for him because of Israel/gaza. Any type of democrat who isn’t voting or won’t vote for Biden is misguided if you ask me. The post I responded to was about moderates. If you want to discuss my disappointment with progressives on the Israel/Palestine issue, you’ll have to start a different thread.
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Post by Merge on Jun 28, 2024 22:33:30 GMT
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Post by Merge on Jun 28, 2024 21:24:20 GMT
Our primary system doesn't actually allow all states to decide the candidate, as you know. Candidates are done if they haven't won a primary or caucus by South Carolina. And the states before that are overwhelmingly white and conservative. Progressives all over the country never got a chance to vote for their preferred candidates. We didn't have any choice but to go with the moderate candidate white people in Iowa and NH were comfortable with. I don't like the primary process, either. It isn't just progressives who don't get a chance to vote for their preferred candidate. It's the same for the rest of us. There are progressives in Iowa and NH as well, just like in every other state in the country. But I don't know that the primary process screws them over any more than the moderate voters. I didn't say it did. The fact that it happens to other party elements doesn't negate the fact that it happens to us. We are all bound by the more insular views of voters from two small, mostly white states. In the case of the 2020 election, that means that progressives were forced to support (or "cave to") the moderate candidate whether they liked it or not. We all knew that sitting out or voting 3rd party would result in another Trump presidency. But now we're supposed to be fine with the fact that the moderates we caved to in 2020 can't understand the same thing?
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Post by Merge on Jun 28, 2024 20:51:39 GMT
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Post by Merge on Jun 28, 2024 20:51:21 GMT
Anyone who would vote for Trump because they think Biden is too "progressive" deserves exactly what they will get. Biden has supported Ukraine against Putin. Trump has said upfront that he'll let Putin do whatever he wants. But supposedly Trump is the stronger candidate? And it galls me to no end that the moderates Biden was nominated to attract would now turn on him. If that's what they're going to do, we could have had a real progressive president. Liz Warren is hale and hearty. For that matter, Buttigieg or Beto or any of the other Democratic candidates would have been great. But no, we had to cave to flighty moderates who apparently can't see the difference between fascism and not fascism because an old man getting over a cold sounded feeble. This country is too stupid to keep a democratic republic, apparently. I agree that Biden is not that progressive and am curious how someone above thinks he “caved to the progressives.” That being said, I also don’t don’t see how anyone caved to the moderates, either. Joe Biden won the primary because 1) that is who people thought could win against Trump and 2) there were apparently more moderates than progressives that voted in the primaries. Our primary system doesn't actually allow all states to decide the candidate, as you know. Candidates are done if they haven't won a primary or caucus by South Carolina. And the states before that are overwhelmingly white and conservative. Progressives all over the country never got a chance to vote for their preferred candidates. We didn't have any choice but to go with the moderate candidate white people in Iowa and NH were comfortable with.
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Post by Merge on Jun 28, 2024 17:24:54 GMT
I will plant this here.. Brilliant.
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Post by Merge on Jun 28, 2024 16:42:44 GMT
Biden isn’t capable to lead? Are you fucking kidding me? He’s been leading since 2021. He’s got a very capable team around him. He's been a figurehead who has been losing moderate support because he caved to the progressives. He doesn't have the strength or international respect to go toe-to-toe with Putin and Kim Jong Un. There is no good choice in this election, but we could have someone with their wits about them if he stepped down. I don't know who can fill the void but we need a hero or our rights will go down the drain. Anyone who would vote for Trump because they think Biden is too "progressive" deserves exactly what they will get. Biden has supported Ukraine against Putin. Trump has said upfront that he'll let Putin do whatever he wants. But supposedly Trump is the stronger candidate? And it galls me to no end that the moderates Biden was nominated to attract would now turn on him. If that's what they're going to do, we could have had a real progressive president. Liz Warren is hale and hearty. For that matter, Buttigieg or Beto or any of the other Democratic candidates would have been great. But no, we had to cave to flighty moderates who apparently can't see the difference between fascism and not fascism because an old man getting over a cold sounded feeble. This country is too stupid to keep a democratic republic, apparently.
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Post by Merge on Jun 28, 2024 15:01:34 GMT
Biden isn’t capable to lead? Are you fucking kidding me? He’s been leading since 2021. He’s got a very capable team around him. If you don’t vote, you’re voting for trump. Republicans already came for abortion. They’re working on birth control. If trump gets in again, we’re in danger of an abortion ban becoming federal, birth control being banned, and I wouldn’t put it past those motherfuckers to make marital rape legal again. Do you not have any women or girls in your life? trump will let Putin do whatever he wants. The ME will get even worse. He’ll try to pull us out of NATO. The economy will go right into the toilet. Do you not remember 2017-2021? Why would you not do what’s in your power to make sure it doesn’t happen again? FOR FUCK’S SAKE! I just absolutely don’t get this attitude. I think you have rose colored glasses on. These past 4 years have been horrible. I don't like Trump, however he will get America back to where we need to be. How have the last four years been horrible? *Inflation here is lower than in any of our peer countries, and what remains has been shown to be mostly the effects of corporate greed. *Our economy's Covid recovery has also been better than any of our peer countries. *Millions of Americans have benefitted from an end to their predatory student loan payments, allowing them to put those funds into savings and/or into our economy. *Democrats passed a massive infrastructure bill that has benefitted the entire country to the point where Republicans who voted against it are now trying to claim credit in their communities. *Biden has supported Ukraine against the Russians. If you can't see the benefit in that, get your head out of your ass. *A lot more. Do your research. So what, exactly, has been so terrible about the last four years? We have more poor immigrants coming to our border due to deteriorating conditions in their own country? Yes, we do. The fact that we've failed to pass legislation to both keep out criminals and assist those who deserve our help is entirely on Republicans, who didn't want to give Biden that win. If you'd like a view into the America Trump intends, you need only to come to Texas, which is quickly devolving into a theocratic state. Republicans have: *made great strides toward destroying our public schools, including many excellent schools that communities love, through underfunding and putting up far-right candidates for school boards. Those candidates have presided over the decimation of school and classroom libraries, a return to a culture of fear and repression for LGBTQ students, the erasure of minority culture and history from the curriculum, and the silencing of even any discussion about climate change and vaccines in our classrooms. *further defunded special education, state police, foster care, Medicaid, rural healthcare, and a variety of other necessary services. *made strides toward sending millions of taxpayer dollars to religious schools. *participated in the coverup of sex abuse in churches. *taken away women's rights to bodily autonomy and self-determination. *wasted millions of tax dollars fighting the federal government's attempts to tamp down the fascist laws being passed here. *discarded decades of progress on civil rights in hiring by outlawing any equity and DEI initiatives. *attempted to impose one religious sect's belief system on all public school students. *raised taxes on the middle and working class while handing more tax breaks to the wealthy and corporate entities. *propped up the owners/profiteers of a rickety electrical grid that is cut off from other grids and is prone to failure in times of emergency. *gerrymandered and suppressed the opposition vote well out of proportionate representation, while wasting millions to uncover voter fraud that didn’t exist. *removed democratic control of the state’s largest school district, disenfranchising millions of voters in our majority minority city. So much more that I don't have time to type right now. Is that where you think America needs to be? Really? If so, then definitely vote for Trump. Make sure to decide whether you prefer the red robe and white hat of the handmaids, the green of the wives, or the blue of the domestic servants when you do, because that's where Trump wants to take us. I only wish that was hyperbole. Be sure to let your LGBTQ and Black/Brown friends know how little you value them and their safety while you're at it.
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Post by Merge on Jun 28, 2024 14:40:36 GMT
Of course he's not the best we have to offer. We were prevented from fielding our best because white moderates have to be appeased. But he's what we have, for now. Platform, not personality. Republicans have made it very clear what they intend to do this country. If people's heads are so far in the sand that they can't make a basic choice between religious fascism and America continuing to be America, I don't know what to tell them.
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Post by Merge on Jun 28, 2024 13:54:16 GMT
People have to forget about voting for a person/personality. You're voting for a platform and a party. Other countries do this better - they vote in a party, which then chooses a leader. Americans have this ridiculous idea that we're supposed to vote for this one individual who is going to save us all.
That person doesn't exist. Vote for the party that best aligns with your values. Vote.
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Post by Merge on Jun 28, 2024 3:18:57 GMT
I think JD Vance.
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