2020 Political Chatter

[ides1056]

Davis, Polk is and always has been a Blue-Chip firm.

[BBB]

Dear, oh dear...

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...violence-texts

[j44ke]

On appointing a new Supreme Court justice - Why is Trump rushing to do this? Why is the Senate?

If the appointment is confirmed before the election, then any evangelical who has the slightest qualms will say okay we got our supreme, who needs Trump - and then not vote. Or any anti-choicer or private schooler or whatever other sort of believer who would be served by Trump selecting a prospective supreme. Are they afraid of the moral quagmire that comes from confirming a supreme selected by a lame duck President? What's the rush? Dangle that Supreme Court nominee out there like a juicy carrot - a vote for me is a vote for the audiobook of Jesus reading the Constitution.

Unless they are worried about something?

[mzilliox]

we live in a country full of stupid, and people buy more stupid, then have it delivered NOW. what do we expect from our politics?

[monadnocky]

New story in the Atlantic by Barton Gellman that I think is more likely than not to occur:

“The worst case,” Gellman writes, “is not that Trump rejects the election outcome. The worst case is that he uses his power to prevent a decisive outcome against him.” Merely by refusing to concede, Trump could keep the electoral result in doubt through the 79-day period between Election Day and the day the next president is to be inaugurated. Gellman's reporting shows that Republicans are already discussing plans to bypass the popular vote and directly appoint electors to the Electoral College. This could lead the country to a precipice: Two men could show up to be sworn in on Inauguration Day. “One of them,” Gellman writes, “would arrive with all the tools and power of the presidency already in hand.” Gellman’s report is a warning about the fragility of our entire system of governance. “An election cannot be stolen unless the American people, at some level, acquiesce,” he writes.

Italics mine. Should this come to pass (and, as I mentioned above, I think it it very likely) I can't imagine that it represents anything but the final heartbeat of this republic.

[Clean39T]

https://www.rollingstone.com/politic...heory-1064928/

With this racist warmup complete, Trump then veered into an open endorsement of eugenics — the discredited theory that the human race can be improved with selective breeding for superior traits. The theory has an ugly history in America. And Hitler’s embrace of eugenics in Nazi Germany gave rise to the program of “race hygiene” that culminated in the extermination of millions of Jewish people and others at death camps. “You have good genes, you know that right?” Trump said to the nearly all-white crowd. “A lot of it is about the genes, isn’t it? Don’t you believe? The racehorse theory,” Trump said. “You think we’re so different? You have good genes in Minnesota.”

Anyone supporting Trump or supporting the Republican party at all at this point is complicit in the genesis of genocide.

Which brings a question: does anyone have a cheat-sheet for talking to extended family/friends who you don't know that well and would rather not talk to but feel obligated to at least try to talk some sense into for the greater good? I think Cindy McCain's endorsement of Biden is a good start - not sure where to go from there and what line of attack has the greatest utility.

[gregl]

https://www.rollingstone.com/politic...heory-1064928/

With this racist warmup complete, Trump then veered into an open endorsement of eugenics — the discredited theory that the human race can be improved with selective breeding for superior traits. The theory has an ugly history in America. And Hitler’s embrace of eugenics in Nazi Germany gave rise to the program of “race hygiene” that culminated in the extermination of millions of Jewish people and others at death camps. “You have good genes, you know that right?” Trump said to the nearly all-white crowd. “A lot of it is about the genes, isn’t it? Don’t you believe? The racehorse theory,” Trump said. “You think we’re so different? You have good genes in Minnesota.”

Anyone supporting Trump or supporting the Republican party at all at this point is complicit in the genesis of genocide.

Which brings a question: does anyone have a cheat-sheet for talking to extended family/friends who you don't know that well and would rather not talk to but feel obligated to at least try to talk some sense into for the greater good? I think Cindy McCain's endorsement of Biden is a good start - not sure where to go from there and what line of attack has the greatest utility.

Take a look at the photo in the article Dan linked above. Not a person of color in sight. The crowd is entirely white. Only four people are wearing masks - and two of them are wearing their masks incorrectly. We have a racist dictator lying to a racist crowd and they are hanging on his every word. We are truly at a tipping point in the American experiment. What this country decides in the next 60 days will determine the fate of a nation. I am not optimistic.

Greg

[BBB]

On appointing a new Supreme Court justice - Why is Trump rushing to do this? Why is the Senate?

If the appointment is confirmed before the election, then any evangelical who has the slightest qualms will say okay we got our supreme, who needs Trump - and then not vote. Or any anti-choicer or private schooler or whatever other sort of believer who would be served by Trump selecting a prospective supreme. Are they afraid of the moral quagmire that comes from confirming a supreme selected by a lame duck President? What's the rush? Dangle that Supreme Court nominee out there like a juicy carrot - a vote for me is a vote for the audiobook of Jesus reading the Constitution.

Unless they are worried about something?

Doesn't Trump want it (a) make all those out in conservative land happy they will have a conservative judge for the next 20-30 or more years and (b) in case the election ends up in the Supreme Court and the numbers are in place to ensure a majority decision?

And also dopey wants to stay on come what may.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...breonna-taylor

[guido]

Trump won’t commit to a ‘peaceful transfer of power’ if he loses | Washington Post

"President Trump refused Wednesday to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the election, asserting that if he doesn’t win, it will be because of fraudulent mail-in voting and not because more Americans voted against him.

His latest comments came after he has spent months making unsubstantiated claims that voting by mail is corrupt and will lead to a “rigged” election. In fact, states that have embraced universal mail voting have documented tiny rates of possible ballot fraud, data shows.

“Well, we’re going to have to see what happens. You know that I’ve been complaining very strongly about the ballots and the ballots are a disaster —” Trump began when asked during a White House press briefing if he would ensure a peaceful transition.

“I understand that, but people are rioting; do you commit to making sure that there’s a peaceful transferral of power?” the reporter pressed, appearing to refer to incidents of violence that have broken out during some protests.

“Get rid of the ballots, and you’ll have a very — we’ll have a very peaceful, there won’t be a transfer, frankly. There’ll be a continuation,” Trump said. “The ballots are out of control. You know it. And you know who knows it better than anybody else? The Democrats know it better than anybody else.”

The president seems to be referring to, as he has for months now, the massive uptick in people voting by mail this fall rather than in person amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Trump continues to claim, with no evidence, that Democrats are supporting widespread mail-in voting not for public health reasons but to corrupt or commit fraud in the results.

Trump has previously been asked whether he would accept the results of the election if Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden wins. Asked by Fox News’s Chris Wallace in July, Trump said, “I have to see. Look, you — I have to see. No, I’m not going to just say yes. I’m not going to say no, and I didn’t last time, either.”

Refusing to ensure he would support a peaceful transfer of power between administrations if he loses this year’s election seems to escalate that threat amid partisan tensions."

Be very afraid...

[Christian Fox]

https://www.rollingstone.com/politic...heory-1064928/

With this racist warmup complete, Trump then veered into an open endorsement of eugenics — the discredited theory that the human race can be improved with selective breeding for superior traits. The theory has an ugly history in America. And Hitler’s embrace of eugenics in Nazi Germany gave rise to the program of “race hygiene” that culminated in the extermination of millions of Jewish people and others at death camps. “You have good genes, you know that right?” Trump said to the nearly all-white crowd. “A lot of it is about the genes, isn’t it? Don’t you believe? The racehorse theory,” Trump said. “You think we’re so different? You have good genes in Minnesota.”

Anyone supporting Trump or supporting the Republican party at all at this point is complicit in the genesis of genocide.

Which brings a question: does anyone have a cheat-sheet for talking to extended family/friends who you don't know that well and would rather not talk to but feel obligated to at least try to talk some sense into for the greater good? I think Cindy McCain's endorsement of Biden is a good start - not sure where to go from there and what line of attack has the greatest utility.

Cheat sheet item one: you won't get very far convincing anyone by starting with "Anyone supporting Trump or supporting the Republican party at all at this point is complicit in the genesis of genocide"

[j44ke]

Doesn't Trump want it (a) make all those out in conservative land happy they will have a conservative judge for the next 20-30 or more years and (b) in case the election ends up in the Supreme Court and the numbers are in place to ensure a majority decision?

And also dopey wants to stay on come what may.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...breonna-taylor

That's a good reason for getting the appointment confirmed quickly right there. Thanks.

[gregl]

Cheat sheet item one: you won't get very far convincing anyone by starting with "Anyone supporting Trump or supporting the Republican party at all at this point is complicit in the genesis of genocide"

Even if it's true. Sincerely, the son of a refuge from Nazi Europe. I wouldn't exist if my grandmother hadn't signed over nearly her entire net worth as "delinquent taxes" to the Nazis so that she could take her family to Switzerland, thence England, and finally the US between 1938 and 1940. I've read the official reparations report on my family's incarceration and the inventorying of their worldly possessions - right down to the jewelry my grandmother was wearing. It's chilling. Not viewing the Trump administration as a dictatorship is the same as those Germans who lived near concentration camps claiming "they had no idea what was occurring". Watch the movie Woman in Gold for a reasonable overview of my family's story. Maria Altmann's family were friends with my family.

Greg

[j44ke]

I think these evasive comments about transition of power are gamesmanship on Trump's part. He knows full well that the left A#1 worry is that he will become a dictator and not step down from power even if defeated fair and square in the election. So of course he's going to use that as a destabilizing tool to keep the left on edge and play fierce to his constituency. That doesn't mean the left - indeed the entire country (no one in a democracy benefits from a despot) - shouldn't be vigilant and assert the requirement that a smooth transition be the goal, but after asking this particular President what he would do in a hypothetical situation, what would you expect him to say?

If Biden loses the election, then all this hand-wringing about whether Trump will go quietly or not is a complete waste. Win the damn election.

[gregl]

If Biden loses the election, then all this hand-wringing about whether Trump will go quietly or not is a complete waste. Win the damn election.

^^^This^^^ Get out the vote. Make Trump's defeat so overwhelming that there simply isn't a question about who won.

Greg

[j44ke]

Even if it's true. Sincerely, the son of a refuge from Nazi Europe. I wouldn't exist if my grandmother hadn't signed over nearly her entire net worth as "delinquent taxes" to the Nazis so that she could take her family to Switzerland, thence England, and finally the US between 1938 and 1940. I've read the official reparations report on my family's incarceration and the inventorying of their worldly possessions - right down to the jewelry my grandmother was wearing. It's chilling. Not viewing the Trump administration as a dictatorship is the same as those Germans who lived near concentration camps claiming "they had no idea what was occurring". Watch the movie Woman in Gold for a reasonable overview of my family's story. Maria Altmann's family were friends with my family.

Greg

Yes.

Marie Bonaparte of France paid the Austrian National Socialists, as backed by the German Nazi government, roughly $2million in current dollar value (then 31,000 Reichsmark) to get Sigmund Freud out of Vienna. Anna Freud negotiated the settlement with the Gestapo. They couldn't afford to also get Freud's sisters out, and they were all killed in Terezin Treblinka and Auschwitz. To emigrate as a Jew, you had to pay a series of taxes - Reichsfluchsteuer, Steuerunbedenklichkeit, Judenvermogensabgabe - to compensate the Fuhrer for the value of the material possessions you had stolen from the people of the Aryan nation. Because Jews couldn't legally own anything. It was all the property of the Fuhrer and the German people.

[Too Tall]

I think these evasive comments about transition of power are gamesmanship on Trump's part. He knows full well that the left A#1 worry is that he will become a dictator and not step down from power even if defeated fair and square in the election. So of course he's going to use that as a destabilizing tool to keep the left on edge and play fierce to his constituency. That doesn't mean the left - indeed the entire country (no one in a democracy benefits from a despot) - shouldn't be vigilant and assert the requirement that a smooth transition be the goal, but after asking this particular President what he would do in a hypothetical situation, what would you expect him to say?

If Biden loses the election, then all this hand-wringing about whether Trump will go quietly or not is a complete waste. Win the damn election.

"Owning the libs". I'll leave it right there. Stop biting down hard on shiny things. Not you Jorn, us.

[HorsCat]

I think these evasive comments about transition of power are gamesmanship on Trump's part. He knows full well that the left A#1 worry is that he will become a dictator and not step down from power even if defeated fair and square in the election. So of course he's going to use that as a destabilizing tool to keep the left on edge and play fierce to his constituency. That doesn't mean the left - indeed the entire country (no one in a democracy benefits from a despot) - shouldn't be vigilant and assert the requirement that a smooth transition be the goal, but after asking this particular President what he would do in a hypothetical situation, what would you expect him to say?

If Biden loses the election, then all this hand-wringing about whether Trump will go quietly or not is a complete waste. Win the damn election.

Methinks this is an entirely too benevolent view of Trump. Sure, some element of what he is doing is intended to drive 'the left' batty and to focus the media's attention on something not involving hundreds of thousands of dead Americans. But if one thinks that Trump isn't 1,000,000% completely committed to cheating any way he can to stay in power any way he can for however long he can, one hasn't been paying attention.

[gregl]

Methinks this is an entirely too benevolent view of Trump. Sure, some element of what he is doing is intended to drive 'the left' batty and to focus the media's attention on something not involving hundreds of thousands of dead Americans. But if one thinks that Trump isn't 100% completely committed to cheating any way he can to stay in power any way he can for however long he can, one hasn't been paying attention.

Trump has consistently befuddled the left, leaving them off balance and off message. They give him too much credit for being "complex". Trump is simple. He uses all the pages out of the dictator's playbook. Lie until no one even blinks anymore and keep pushing the boundaries of "normal" until his power grab is normal. He's Coach Red Beaulieu in The Waterboy. He only has one playbook. Take a look at John Boyd's OODA theories and get inside Trump's decision cycle. Play smarter and he can be defeated.

Greg

[ides1056]

Trump is full of shit.

All this talk of "be afraid" is giving him the attention and credibility he desperately wants. The press covers his ravings because it gets your goat. He is a profound coward, soon to be a convicted felon.

Live your life, enjoy the day, and vote.

Since this jerk entered the race I have had to hear his name repeated ad nauseam.

Time to consign him to the dustbin of history.

[Too Tall]

trump is full of shit.

All this talk of "be afraid" is giving him the attention and credibility he desperately wants. The press covers his ravings because it gets your goat. He is a profound coward, soon to be a convicted felon.

Live your life, enjoy the day, and vote.

Since this jerk entered the race i have had to hear his name repeated ad nauseam.

Time to consign him to a prison cell.

fify