US Presidential Election 2020

briany

There have been no far-left mass murderers in the United States, as far as I know, but on the other side of the political coin, there have been people like Dylan Roof who walked into a church and deliberately murdered a load of black people.

And I know what the typical right wing commentators would say - "That kid was a nutter. He doesn't represent anything"

Alright, but then don't go around pointing at looters and go "The left, ladies and gentlemen!". The fringe is so-called for a reason...

Strazdas

theguzman wrote: »

Leo Varadkar has his own charisma and a likeable character if he was never in politics, Micheal Martin is about as popular or as funny as a fart in a space suit he is the sort of horrid person addicted to power who is busy writing ambulances parking tickets in another parallel universe.

Look at Boris Johnson in England, a grand fine type of character you'd have a pint with, well able to tune into the resonant vibe of the people, winning a personal vote, an anti-establish protest vote almost. Then you have the likes of Arlene Foster or Jeremy Corbyn, the sour dour always angry type about as much fun as a wet dead trout, you'd draw blood from a turnip easier than a laugh or a smile from either two.

Biden doesn't resonate well, he doesn't have that fun type of persona but Trump would be some craic out with the boys playing golf and sharing battle stories of days gone-bye. Just my two cents on him.

The two Bushs were quite serious characters, definitely not 'men of the people'.

Water John

Biden is well liked by politicians to both sides. He, during the Obama Presidency did much of the work with the GOP Senators.
Trump doesn't drink so not much point in going for a pint as you'll be drinking alone.

Scot_in_Dublin

theguzman wrote: »

Leo Varadkar has his own charisma and a likeable character if he was never in politics, Micheal Martin is about as popular or as funny as a fart in a space suit he is the sort of horrid person addicted to power who is busy writing ambulances parking tickets in another parallel universe.

Look at Boris Johnson in England, a grand fine type of character you'd have a pint with, well able to tune into the resonant vibe of the people, winning a personal vote, an anti-establish protest vote almost. Then you have the likes of Arlene Foster or Jeremy Corbyn, the sour dour always angry type about as much fun as a wet dead trout, you'd draw blood from a turnip easier than a laugh or a smile from either two.

Biden doesn't resonate well, he doesn't have that fun type of persona but Trump would be some craic out with the boys playing golf and sharing battle stories of days gone-bye. Just my two cents on him.

Oh, I don't know.

That picture that went around of Biden being stuck in his 'basement' was an edited one from him watching a college football game with a whole bunch of folks. He even sat on the floor to give other people seats. Seemed they were all having a pretty good time.

What has Trump done that shows he would be fun?

Apparently a lot of the things that Trump seems to find fun would turn the stomach of most decent human beings. Barring golf.

Sure, didn't he say he was the guy who got the NFL back, but not that long ago was saying he would never watch it again?

As for battle stories....wow.

Strazdas

Water John wrote: »

Biden is well liked by politicians to both sides. He, during the Obama Presidency did much of the work with the GOP Senators.
Trump doesn't drink so not much point in going for a pint as you'll be drinking alone.

Someone pointed out during the week he doesn't seem to do anything. Doesn't read, doesn't go to theatre or art galleries, doesn't seem to have any interest in popular culture, music, cinema or sport or have any hobbies.

He just appears to watch cable news all day, plays golf and gives speeches / rallies.

Water John

Strazdas wrote: »

Someone pointed out during the week he doesn't seem to do anything. Doesn't read, doesn't go to theatre or art galleries, doesn't seem to have any interest in popular culture, music, cinema or sport or have any hobbies.

He just appears to watch cable news all day, plays golf and gives speeches / rallies.

Would qualify as, rich white trash.

theguzman

Water John wrote: »

Would qualify as, rich white trash.

Ahh, the liberal hypocrisy, racism is OK so long as it is against whitey. "White Trash" is a racial slur no different to those derogatory terms used against other races. It really should not be tolerated.

Strazdas

theguzman wrote: »

Ahh, the liberal hypocrisy, racism is OK so long as it is against whitey. "White Trash" is a racial slur no different to those derogatory terms used against other races. It really should not be tolerated.

'Rich white trash' would be a contradiction though, as WT is meant to depict poor white people in the southern states. My understanding of it would be a white person with loads of money and possessions but no manners or class.

Outlaw Pete

Scot_in_Dublin wrote: »

What has Trump done that shows he would be fun?

He did a Comedy Roast for charity. Was on SNL a bunch of times satirizing many how he and his family are perceived. Was on Jimmy Fallon a few times being self deprecating even let him check if his hair was real. The liberal elites really only turned on Trump with accusations of racism etc when he decided to have the gall to run for office.

One pathetic thing about that Jimmy Fallon appearance was that Jimmy got stick for having fun with Trump as leftists said he had normalized Trump and so Jimmy, as is his wont, kowtowed to the left and said he would do it differently if he could as he was ganged up on by the last people he felt would do that and that it was a low point for him. No surprise there, that's why so few celebrity Trump supporters come out and support him. Must be a dozen max and Jimmy's story shows us why.

Trump responded at the time:


https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1011036519812030467

Apparently a lot of the things that Trump seems to find fun would turn the stomach of most decent human beings.

Such as?

Scot_in_Dublin

Outlaw Pete wrote: »

He did a Comedy Roast for charity. Was on SNL a bunch of times satirizing many how he and his family are perceived. Was on Jimmy Fallon a few times being self deprecating even let him check if his hair was real. The liberal elites really only turned on Trump with accusations of racism etc when he decided to have the gall to run for office.

One pathetic thing about that Jimmy Fallon appearance was that Jimmy got stick for having fun with Trump as leftists said he had normalized Trump and so Jimmy, as is his wont, kowtowed to the left and said he would do it differently if he could as he was ganged up on by the last people he felt would do that and that it was a low point for him. No surprise there, that's why so few celebrity Trump supporters come out and support him. Must be a dozen max and Jimmy's story shows us why.

Trump responded at the time:


https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1011036519812030467

So in the context of the post I had quoted, we all know someone in the bar we drink at who may be a 'laugh' but I wouldn't necessarily vote for them to be in the highest impacting political position in the world.


Such as?

From watching President Trump through a number of years, even prior to his current position, he does seem to find it fun and or funny to belittle folks he doesn't deem to be on the same level as him. I don't know about you Pete, but I personally have never felt that need. You could see it through his tenure of The Apprentice, through the stages of the prior run up to his successful election in 2016, and we see it continuing now.

Is this the new benchmark we all should hold ourselves to now?

everlast75

Scot_in_Dublin wrote: »

From watching President Trump through a number of years, even prior to his current position, he does seem to find it fun and or funny to belittle folks he doesn't deem to be on the same level as him. I don't know about you Pete, but I personally have never felt that need. You could see it through his tenure of The Apprentice, through the stages of the prior run up to his successful election in 2016, and we see it continuing now.

Is this the new benchmark we all should hold ourselves to now?

The last two pages..

The president is a racist, tax dodger, wannabe dictator.... but is he fun?

sydthebeat

everlast75 wrote: »

The last two pages..

The president is a racist, tax dodger, wannabe dictator.... but is he fun?

Its worse that these obvious trolls are fed.

Ignore the ignorant

VinLieger

I think Rachel Maddow put it perfectly after the debate, hes not running for election, hes arguing he should stay in office and the election should be negated.


And his supporters would be fine with this even though they supposedly love democracy and the beloved constitution. Just look at one of his supporters on here suggesting Trump magically change the constitution to allow a 3rd term.....

hetuzozaho

Scot_in_Dublin wrote: »

Oh, I don't know.

That picture that went around of Biden being stuck in his 'basement' was an edited one from him watching a college football game with a whole bunch of folks. He even sat on the floor to give other people seats. Seemed they were all having a pretty good time.

What has Trump done that shows he would be fun?

Apparently a lot of the things that Trump seems to find fun would turn the stomach of most decent human beings. Barring golf.

Sure, didn't he say he was the guy who got the NFL back, but not that long ago was saying he would never watch it again?

As for battle stories....wow.

Yeah I feel Melania is going to show us there ain't much fun in Trump's White House early next year!

breezy1985

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Your posts about Trump read like satire at this stage. Politics is not supposed to be entertaining. Trump was deranged and unhinged and Biden was boring and stable. Carnage is what we see under Trump, to the point of already being depressing.

Biden nailed it last night in his tweet when he said "What has Trump said tonight that will make your lives better?" Absolutely nothing. It was all about him and how much of a victim he is. Biden on the other ran rings around him on healthcare and the environment.

I don't want my politicians to have charisma and charm. I want them to be boring level headed accountant types. The charming charismatic ones usually turn out to be complete snakes

briany

breezy1985 wrote: »

I don't want my politicians to have charisma and charm. I want them to be boring level headed accountant types. The charming charismatic ones usually turn out to be complete snakes

Problem is that when all the you have is boring politicians, then the ground is ripe for a charismatic one to come along. I think the best we can do is to accept it's a cycle and it's about to calm down as the populist steam is let off. I think we're ready to get off this ride.

breezy1985

briany wrote: »

Problem is that when all the you have is boring politicians, then the ground is ripe for a charismatic one to come along. I think the best we can do is to accept it's a cycle and it's about to calm down as the populist steam is let off. I think we're ready to get off this ride.

Hopefully. I am not endorsing any of the people below but I would any day have:
Major over Thatcher, Ends over Bertie, Brown over Blair. Hollande was better than given credit for too

droidus

theguzman wrote: »

Leo Varadkar has his own charisma and a likeable character if he was never in politics, Micheal Martin is about as popular or as funny as a fart in a space suit he is the sort of horrid person addicted to power who is busy writing ambulances parking tickets in another parallel universe.

Look at Boris Johnson in England, a grand fine type of character you'd have a pint with, well able to tune into the resonant vibe of the people, winning a personal vote, an anti-establish protest vote almost. Then you have the likes of Arlene Foster or Jeremy Corbyn, the sour dour always angry type about as much fun as a wet dead trout, you'd draw blood from a turnip easier than a laugh or a smile from either two.

Biden doesn't resonate well, he doesn't have that fun type of persona but Trump would be some craic out with the boys playing golf and sharing battle stories of days gone-bye. Just my two cents on him.

Im sure we all support universal suffrage, but occasionally someone comes along and makes you wonder if it's such a good idea after all.

pixelburp

I can't imagine a more self-deluded mentality for political preferences than "could I have a pint with them?" As if running a country should be about affability and social charm - rather than pragmatism and group coordination. True, charisma helps if you're a politician keen to find consensus and bring your ostensible opponents on board. Little else though. As a sole-trader, I didn't hire an accountant because they make me laugh or seemed like good drinking buddies. I'm not twelve. I hired them 'cos they seemed details oriented, and could be trusted with handling my finances.

And even IF we're talking pure charisma, and dispensed with politics for a second - Donald Trump does not present as "fun". He comes across as a meanspirited man who'd delight and laugh at the expense of others. The classic representative of those in power who "punch down" at those less fortunate; critically for a sense of humour though, he comes across thoroughly thin skinned - incapable of self-deprecation. Who'd want to drink with someone whose ego was that brittle?

Look at his inability to laugh with Obama's ribbing during that fateful Correspondant's Dinner. Or indeed the Comedy Central roast of him in 2011, when he warned that jokes about his wealth were off limits. Truly "fun" or funny people laugh at themselves before others; Trump would laugh at others but raged when an uppity black man teased hiim about that disgraceful Birther movement (let's not forget THAT openly racist chapter in Trump's poltical life).

Roanmore

The new ad from the Lincoln Project is fairly hard hitting on Don Jr.
It's Don Jr. talking and the song Cocaine playing in the background.

The intro to the clip is Trump saying Biden's son was discharged for cocaine use.
No punches pulled with this one.

everlast75

Describing him as being fun* really shows how little he has of anything else that might be a reason for him being a good president.

1. Intelligent
2. Compassionate
3. Studious
4. Driven
5. Patriotic
etc
etc
etc

20. Fun.



On the debate, I think the point has to be driven home by Biden...

These tax returns doesn't show Trump to be a very successful businessman who is tax savvy, and due to his ability and cleverness has managed to avoid paying tax. That's what Trump wants people to believe.

These tax returns actually show that he is a business failure. He was born with a silver spoon in his mouth but still managed to squander and waste a fortune granted to him. He needed to be bailed out by his father on multiple occasions, yet still had business bankruptcy after business bankruptcy, including Casinos!

When he got $400 plus million from the Apprentice, he pumped it into failing businesses.

The "audit" (which doesn't preclude him from releasing his records) centre around a dispute over $70 million refund the IRS gave him in 2009 in relation to losses of over $1 billion over the prior 4 or 5 years.

He squandered Fred Trump's money, he squandered his Apprentice money and he squandered the IRS rebate money.

Hammer it home - the image of a successful businessman is a fraud and in 2015, the people were sold a pup









*which he isn't

breezy1985

pixelburp wrote: »

I can't imagine a more self-deluded mentality for political preferences than "could I have a pint with them?" As if running a country should be about affability and social charm - rather than pragmatism and group coordination. True, charisma helps if you're a politician keen to find consensus and bring your ostensible opponents on board. Little else though. As a sole-trader, I didn't hire an accountant because they make me laugh or seemed like good drinking buddies. I'm not twelve. I hired them 'cos they seemed details oriented, and could be trusted with handling my finances.

And even IF we're talking pure charisma, and dispensed with politics for a second - Donald Trump does not present as "fun". He comes across as a meanspirited man who'd delight and laugh at the expense of others. The classic representative of those in power who "punch down" at those less fortunate; critically for a sense of humour though, he comes across thoroughly thin skinned - incapable of self-deprecation. Who'd want to drink with someone whose ego was that brittle?

Look at his inability to laugh with Obama's ribbing during that fateful Correspondant's Dinner. Or indeed the Comedy Central roast of him in 2011, when he warned that jokes about his wealth were off limits. Truly "fun" or funny people laugh at themselves before others; Trump would laugh at others but raged when an uppity black man teased hiim about that disgraceful Birther movement (let's not forget THAT openly racist chapter in Trump's poltical life).

The first election I remember is Bertie v Bruton and I asked my father if he was gonna vote Bertie because I heard he "was the kind of guy you could have a pint with" and the lecture he gave me about how wrong that was is the best advice I ever got on politics

briany

pixelburp wrote: »

I can't imagine a more self-deluded mentality for political preferences than "could I have a pint with them?" As if running a country should be about affability and social charm - rather than pragmatism and group coordination. True, charisma helps if you're a politician keen to find consensus and bring your ostensible opponents on board. Little else though. As a sole-trader, I didn't hire an accountant because they make me laugh or seemed like good drinking buddies. I'm not twelve. I hired them 'cos they seemed details oriented, and could be trusted with handling my finances.

And even IF we're talking pure charisma, and dispensed with politics for a second - Donald Trump does not present as "fun". He comes across as a meanspirited man who'd delight and laugh at the expense of others. The classic representative of those in power who "punch down" at those less fortunate; critically for a sense of humour though, he comes across thoroughly thin skinned - incapable of self-deprecation. Who'd want to drink with someone whose ego was that brittle?

Look at his inability to laugh with Obama's ribbing during that fateful Correspondant's Dinner. Or indeed the Comedy Central roast of him in 2011, when he warned that jokes about his wealth were off limits. Truly "fun" or funny people laugh at themselves before others; Trump would laugh at others but raged when an uppity black man teased hiim about that disgraceful Birther movement (let's not forget THAT openly racist chapter in Trump's poltical life).

I thinks Nigel Farage has pretty much based his whole political career on being someone you could go for a pint with. There are many pictures of him in his silly flatcap and hunting jacket getup, holding a pint of brown ale, looking like some kind of Wetherspoons mascot.

Penn Jillette was on Joe Rogan's podcast, and he'd been on Celebrity Apprentice - his assessment of Trump tallies with what you're saying. He's a man who does not make light of himself, and is extraordinarily sensitive about any kind of unsanctioned mockery. Jillette said that Trump would rant about pieces he'd read on the Internet which criticised him in some way. Just seems so thin skinned. The man's a serious psychological case.

Outlaw Pete

correct horse battery staple wrote: »

200,000 dead with another 200,000 to go before year end.

The US numbers with regards to deaths per million are on a par with the UK and Italy and so I fail to see how they could be cited as Trump doing a poor job.

The early travel ban, which Biden suggested was an example of Trump's xenophobia, absolutely was the right thing to do and had Trump not acted so swiftly, it doesn't bear thinking about how badly things might have gone.

Biden wouldn't have put a travel ban in place anyway, that's for sure - as he's much to eager to please leftists and they were screaming about racism in Jan/Feb in response to genuine concerns being expressed about the spread of the virus.

Quin_Dub

Outlaw Pete wrote: »

The US numbers with regards to deaths per million are on a par with the UK and Italy and so I fail to see how they could be cited as Trump doing a poor job.

Italy were effectively the canary in the coalmine for the Virus, the US had the better part of a 3 month head start on them and the UK did an utterly SH!TE job , so yes - The US being on a par with them (so far , they will overtake them soon) is absolutely a measure of how appalling their response has been.

Outlaw Pete wrote: »

The early travel ban, which Biden suggested was an example of Trump's xenophobia, absolutely was the right thing to do and had Trump not acted so swiftly, it doesn't bear thinking about how badly things might have gone.

Biden wouldn't have put a travel ban in place anyway, that's for sure - as he's much to eager to please leftists and they were screaming about racism in Jan/Feb in response to genuine concerns being expressed about the spread of the virus.

No.. He didn't

TRUMP: “He opposed my very strict travel ban on Chinese nationals to stop the spread of the China virus. He was totally against it. ‘Xenophobic,’ he called me. ‘Xenophobic.’ A month later, he admitted I was right.” — Rose Garden.

THE FACTS: No, Biden did not come out against the travel restrictions on China. He said little about them at the time. In April, his campaign said he supported travel restrictions if “guided by medical experts.”

Biden did say Trump has a record of xenophobia, a comment made during an Iowa campaign event when the restrictions were announced. Biden said Trump was “fear-mongering” against foreigners and the Democrat took issue with Trump’s references to the “China virus” as an example. He did not address the travel steps.

Trump has claimed that Biden realized he was right after all about restricting travel from China and wrote him a “letter of apology.” This didn’t happen, either.

breezy1985

Outlaw Pete wrote: »

The US numbers with regards to deaths per million are on a par with the UK and Italy and so I fail to see how they could be cited as Trump doing a poor job.

The early travel ban, which Biden suggested was an example of Trump's xenophobia, absolutely was the right thing to do and had Trump not acted so swiftly, it doesn't bear thinking about how badly things might have gone.

Biden wouldn't have put a travel ban in place anyway, that's for sure - as he's much to eager to please leftists and they were screaming about racism in Jan/Feb in response to genuine concerns being expressed about the spread of the virus.

His travel ban targeted certain countries and left out other very infected ones like the UK. Also and it's the huge one that Trump fans leave out is how late the US got hit. Italy got hit fast and hard when the world was still scrambling to figure it all out but by the time the US got a bad dose alot had been learnt and even after that Trump is playing it down or telling everyone to drink bleach

spacecoyote

Deaths per million is a poor comparison at this point anyway. US are comparable to Italy since the start of Covid maybe, but look at the graphs for the last few months.

If you go roughly from May, Italy hit around 30k deaths then, theyve around 5k extra deaths in the last 4-5 months.

US was about 50k in May, and have had an extra 150k deaths since then.

Trump is massively responsible for this. He's undermined the experts, flouted state laws and made absolutely zero effort to push his supporters to follow the guidelines

breezy1985

spacecoyote wrote: »

Deaths per million is a poor comparison at this point anyway. US are comparable to Italy since the start of Covid maybe, but look at the graphs for the last few months.

If you go roughly from May, Italy hit around 30k deaths then, theyve around 5k extra deaths in the last 4-5 months.

US was about 50k in May, and have had an extra 150k deaths since then.

Trump is massively responsible for this. He's undermined the experts, flouted state laws and made absolutely zero effort to push his supporters to follow the guidelines

The alt right section of his fanbase have tried to paint the health experts as enemies of the state

Igotadose

breezy1985 wrote: »

His travel ban targeted certain countries and left out other very infected ones like the UK. Also and it's the huge one that Trump fans leave out is how late the US got hit. Italy got hit fast and hard when the world was still scrambling to figure it all out but by the time the US got a bad dose alot had been learnt and even after that Trump is playing it down or telling everyone to drink bleach

Lest we forget, #IMPOTUS had plenty of warning.

FatherTed

Chalk McHugh wrote: »

Biden calling the Presidant a'clown' and telling him to shut up were pretty low blows. Doesn't say much for him. You may not like trump but you should at least respect the position he holds.

.....

Are you ok with....

Sleepy Joe
Mini Mike
Pocahontas
Da Nang Dick
Gov. Jerry "Moonbeam" Brown
Low Energy Jeb
Boot-Edge-Edge
Sleepin' Bob Casey
Crooked Hillary
Liddle' Bob Corker
Lyin' Ted
Sneaky Diane
Jeff Flakey
Lightweight Senator Kirsten Gillibrand
Phony Kamala
Puppet Jones
Corrupt Kaine
Lamb the Sham
Wacky and Deranged Omarosa
Evan McMuffin
Cheatin' Obama
Evita
Foul Mouthed Omar
Dummy Beto
Nancy Antoinette
Little Marco
Crazy Bernie
Shifty Schiff
Weirdo Tom Steyer
Low-IQ Maxine Waters
Gretchen Half-Whitmer
Cryin’ Chuck
Little Rocket Man
No Talent Samantha Bee
Low I.Q. Crazy Mika
Fredo
....