Trump vs. Biden

[Jonny]

My faith in the American people was shattered when Trump got elected and has continued to deteriorate over time after seeing all of what's gone on. It's really impacted my image of people in the country. There really are a lot of stupid people or those with highly impaired judgment. I might have always known this but not to the degree I've come to realize. I see what are normally really good people and sometimes reasonably intelligent that they believe in the conspiracy theories, the right winged rhetoric and Trump's constant lies. It reminds me of the actions of a senseless mob. I hope will return to a sense of normalcy next year after he's out of office.

I feel sad, mostly. I recently watched this youtube video of Obama's 2008 victory:

And in this coverage Brit Hume said something that I think we were all feeling at the time:

Tonight as you can see, to these people, to the thousands with them in Grant Park in Chicago and many thousands and millions more across the country, tonight is a night of victory and a night of hope. All things seem possible. It really seems possible that this remarkable man will be someone truly and remarkably different who can lift us out of the out of the partisan differences that divide us the ideological divisions that that keep people apart... who can change the atmosphere in Washington as his predecessor hoped to do but could not... who can somehow find a set of policies that are right for the time... who can fight the war on terror in some different way perhaps that will be at least as successful and maybe more so. These are the things people can hope tonight. Barack Obama has been elected, an African-american, and the son of immigrants, 44th President.​

And I think this speaks to the reason he was nominated and awarded the Nobel Peace Price. Not because of anything he'd done, but because of how many in the U.S. and, really, the world felt when he was elected. It did feel like a time of hope and of peace, even in the midst of two wars and a major financial crisis. It was a sort of catharsis, a gesture meant to reflect what we all aspire to be: united. Of course, what actually transpired during his 8 year presidency wasn't what people had hoped for. Partly his own failings, but also in part due to pervasive elements of our society (and government) that worked against him.

In contrast to Obama's campaign of hope and unity, Trump ran and continues to run a campaign of fear and division. Whereas the image and election of Obama represented the best in us, Trump represents the worst. And I think even his supporters recognize it on some level, but they explain it away as unimportant. They ask others to ignore what he says and how he behaves as superficial and meaningless. But the consequences of that rhetoric and behavior are on display all around us. A more divided nation. A more hateful nation. Spiteful, acrimonious. If one were to believe the nature of Trump as described by those once close to him who have come out against him,our national state seems like a manifestation of his very soul.

I just want it to be over. I want to get along again.

 

[Jonny]

 

[Jaguar]

The hits, they keep on coming . . .

Whistleblower alleges top Trump appointees abused authority by telling officials to alter intelligence to match Trump claims - CNNPolitics

Specifically, acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf and Acting Director of US Citizenship and Immigration Ken Cuccinelli, both Trump appointees, directed officials to change intelligence assessments based on Trump's political rhetoric, an order the whistleblower says amounted to an abuse of authority, according to the documents.

Both Wolf and Cuccinelli also tried to alter a report to downplay the threat posed by White supremacists and instead emphasize the role of leftist groups due to concerns about how the initial language would reflect on the President, according to a source familiar with the claims raised by the whistleblower.

Is there anyone in that place who isn't scamming? FFS. This is like being on an airplane with a bunch of crazy people in the cockpit, circling the airport, but we can't land.

 

[highlander]

I feel sad, mostly. I recently watched this youtube video of Obama's 2008 victory:

And in this coverage Brit Hume said something that I think we were all feeling at the time:

Tonight as you can see, to these people, to the thousands with them in Grant Park in Chicago and many thousands and millions more across the country, tonight is a night of victory and a night of hope. All things seem possible. It really seems possible that this remarkable man will be someone truly and remarkably different who can lift us out of the out of the partisan differences that divide us the ideological divisions that that keep people apart... who can change the atmosphere in Washington as his predecessor hoped to do but could not... who can somehow find a set of policies that are right for the time... who can fight the war on terror in some different way perhaps that will be at least as successful and maybe more so. These are the things people can hope tonight. Barack Obama has been elected, an African-american, and the son of immigrants, 44th President.​

And I think this speaks to the reason he was nominated and awarded the Nobel Peace Price. Not because of anything he'd done, but because of how many in the U.S. and, really, the world felt when he was elected. It did feel like a time of hope and of peace, even in the midst of two wars and a major financial crisis. It was a sort of catharsis, a gesture meant to reflect what we all aspire to be: united. Of course, what actually transpired during his 8 year presidency wasn't what people had hoped for. Partly his own failings, but also in part due to pervasive elements of our society (and government) that worked against him.

In contrast to Obama's campaign of hope and unity, Trump ran and continues to run a campaign of fear and division. Whereas the image and election of Obama represented the best in us, Trump represents the worst. And I think even his supporters recognize it on some level, but they explain it away as unimportant. They ask others to ignore what he says and how he behaves as superficial and meaningless. But the consequences of that rhetoric and behavior are on display all around us. A more divided nation. A more hateful nation. Spiteful, acrimonious. If one were to believe the nature of Trump as described by those once close to him who have come out against him,our national state seems like a manifestation of his very soul.

I just want it to be over. I want to get along again.

I agree completely with those sympathies. I did vote for McCain in that election because I thought Obama was a bullshitter. He grew on me however and I came to have a fair amount of respect for the guy.

 

[Jonny]

I agree completely with those sympathies. I did vote for McCain in that election because I thought Obama was a bullshitter. He grew on me however and I came to have a fair amount of respect for the guy.

I know many people who voted for McCain, and for Romney in 2012. It was a completely different world back in 2008. I think among many of McCain's supporters there was still an understanding of what Obama's election meant, and how it reflected upon our country. There was genuine pride even from those who didn't support Obama, because of how we saw ourselves. I'm not suggesting the absolute rightness or wrongness of it in totality, but at least through the prism of social progress and unity it was seen as a positive for our country at that time. I remember listening to the Fox pundits and how there was a different reaction than might have normally occurred if a Democrat won. I remember Hannity wishing for Obama's success. It was quite a moment.

Again, this isn't about Obama as much as it's about what he represented at that time. Just like now, it isn't as much about Trump as it is about what he represents.

I hope that we can come together as a country again. Maybe in a few years you and I can have a healthy debate about policy differences that are within a range of acceptable possibilities, as opposed to just trying to fight for the very soul of our democracy.

 

[Virtual ghost]

Minnesota: Biden +9 (strong pollster)

 

[Z Buck McFate]

DHS Homeland Threat Assessment draft report: Homeland Threats 8 19 2020 Draft

Mentioned among primary anticipated threats to our country in 2021: white supremacist terrorist cells. (And foreign sabotage to our democracy, primarily Russian, but that's a different thread).

Absolutely no mention of Antifa.

More on this^.

NYT: Whistle-Blower Says D.H.S. Downplayed Threats From Russia and White Supremacists

Brian Murphy, the former head of the intelligence branch of the Homeland Security Department, said in a whistle-blower complaint filed on Tuesday that he was directed by Chad F. Wolf, the acting secretary of the department, to stop producing assessments on Russian interference. The department’s second highest ranked official, Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II, also ordered him to modify intelligence assessments to make the threat of white supremacy “appear less severe” and include information on violent “left-wing” groups, according to the complaint, which was released Wednesday by the House Intelligence Committee.
​

At this point, since it's about Trump installing a yes-man to head DHS - so that the guy can use DHS to obscure actual intelligence reports and release propaganda instead - I'll post it in this thread too.

House Intelligence Committee Releases Whistleblower Reprisal Complaint Alleging Serious Misconduct By Senior Trump Administration Officials to Politicize, Manipulate and Censor Intelligence to Benefit Trump

 

[Virtual ghost]

All 7 of today's polls regarding the senate have blue results.

 

[The Cat]

I certainly think he is...

 

[Z Buck McFate]

It reminds me of the actions of a senseless mob. I hope will return to a sense of normalcy next year after he's out of office.

I've got a bad feeling the senseless mob is still going to be there, either trying to put Hannity or Don Jr in office 2024. Trump's ego isn't going to let him back away - if he loses (and agrees to leave the White House), he's going to spend the next 4 years sowing discord as hard as he can to discredit anyone who made him look like a loser and fan flames of adoration from his cult. While he'll no longer have the authority to appoint his loyal yes-men at the top of intelligence agencies to release his propaganda: the problem that put him in office will still be there, he'll still be spraying propaganda from his Twitter account (just like Hannity will be spraying it from FOX), and people will still be following him. And though we might actually be able to do something about the Russians helping him (their goal is actually to undermine our democracy, not specifically to help Trump), they're still going to be contributing to that chaos however they can (likely by continuing to strengthen the Trump cult).

I mean, 2015 felt like a moderately sane kind of normalcy only because we didn't know about the undercurrent of *whatever* that surfaced and got Trump elected. It seemed safe to take our democracy for granted. It just turns out that it wasn't as stable/sane as we all thought. (My point is: we can't really return to something that wasn't there as much as we think it was).

 

[The Cat]

I've got a bad feeling the senseless mob is still going to be there, either trying to put Hannity or Don Jr in office 2024. Trump's ego isn't going to let him back away - if he loses (and agrees to leave the White House), he's going to spend the next 4 years sowing discord as hard as he can to discredit anyone who made him look like a loser and fan flames of adoration from his cult. While he'll no longer have the authority to appoint his loyal yes-men at the top of intelligence agencies to release his propaganda: the problem that put him in office will still be there, he'll still be spraying propaganda from his Twitter account (just like Hannity will be spraying it from FOX), and people will still be following him. And though we might actually be able to do something about the Russians helping him (their goal is actually to undermine our democracy, not specifically to help Trump), they're still going to be contributing to that chaos however they can (likely by continuing to strengthen the Trump cult).

I mean, 2015 felt like a moderately sane kind of normalcy only because we didn't know about the undercurrent of *whatever* that surfaced and got Trump elected. It seemed safe to take our democracy for granted. It just turns out that it wasn't as stable/sane as we all thought. (My point is: we can't really return to something that wasn't there as much as we think it was).

He's like a cartoon villain made manifest and given a horrifying semblance of life.

 

[Jaguar]

Treasonous bastard.

 

[Totenkindly]

He's like a cartoon villain made manifest and given a horrifying semblance of life.

 

[The Cat]

Matt Gaetz can be Mutley.

 

[Z Buck McFate]

Sometimes I forget that Matt Gaetz isn't already a cartoon villain.

 

[The Cat]

Sometimes I forget that Matt Gaetz isn't already a cartoon villain.

Oh he totally is. His smile looks like it was painted on by a really good make up artist with a really bad hangover. I keep half expecting him to accidentally let slip his secret snake tongue. (I'm not a fan of his)

 

[The Cat]

The reality is, after he knew, and had a full understanding of what was going on...he went out there and told people there was 'nothing to worry about'... Go on about your day...Because he panicked. Because he was worried that unlike these things that he's more than willing to fear monger about...well this one might hurt him might hurt his poll numbers.

 

[The Cat]

The current resident's whole MO has been to create fear and panic. and we're actually supposed to buy that the first real thing, "he didtn want to cause a panic"...riiiiiiiiight.

 

[Virtual ghost]

Some polls from yesterday that weren't posted.


Florida: Biden +3
Oklahoma: Trump +24
Wisconsin: Biden +9

 

[The Cat]

The feds dont fund your local departments, that's not a thing...

Remember kiddos the current resident doesnt want to cause a panic. @_@