Donald Trump is the President Mark IV (Read Mod Warning in OP)

eire4

amandstu wrote: »

Saw something today that it was very high and was breaking around approx 35/25 approve/disapprove against Trump although of course he is not on the ballot.

Even so the Senate is not expected to shift.

No given the vast majority of the senate seats that are up this November are already held by Democrats they will do well to actually not lose seats never mind win seats. I would not be surprised if the Senate stays where it is 51-49 in Republican hands.

pixelburp

Anecdotally, when I visited a friend of mine living in Arizona around 2009, his father in law was a retired cop who spent his weekends with a group patrolling the border. His political outlook was unapologetically racist (he was quite open about his feeling on Obama's ethnicity), though I don't know what they did with anyone they caught crossing the border. These mobs / militia groups predate Trump, though some are no doubt feeling legitimised by his rhetoric.

Igotadose

Rhineshark wrote: »

Jesus, playing up "invasion" with damnfool wannabe "militia" folks charging down to the border. That's not going to go badly wrong at all.

'Salright. There's now 5000 troops going. I'm sure this'll turn out well. And... how much will THAT cost the taxpayers?

everlast75

everlast75 wrote: »

He has become ever more blatant now in terms of his riling his base.

Speaks of desperation. I wonder is an indictment imminent. Are the numbers for the midterms worse than we know.

Either that, or he is just a sociopath.

Maybe its this?

https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1056951341795434496?s=19

Captain Obvious

Celticfire wrote: »

You said there were two states that the machines were changing votes. I haven't seen anything about voting machines in Georgia changing votes.

If the machines in Texas are not fit for purpose then this flaw that allows users to make these errors would affect Republicans and Democrat voters equally.

The NAACP has alleged the same thing is happening in Georgia.


https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2018/10/23/georgia-naacp-filed-complaint-voting-errors-some-counties/1741406002/

StringerBell

PropJoe10 wrote: »

If the Dems don't take the Senate then I think he will. If they take the Senate, then they can use their majority to disrupt his agenda and hopefully marginalise him.

If the Dems don't take the Senate, they'll be on the back foot for the rest of his first term and it'll be very hard for any Democrat to put up a decent campaign to challenge him. His core base will never desert him.

They don't need the Senate, it would be great of course but it's such a big ask it is also important to remember the key battle ground this cycle is the house.

Take the house and the screw can begin to turn. That is what will happen imo, but where it leads ultimately I'm not so certain.

Rhineshark

StringerBell wrote: »

They don't need the Senate, it would be great of course but it's such a big ask it is also important to remember the key battle ground this cycle is the house.

Take the house and the screw can begin to turn. That is what will happen imo, but where it leads ultimately I'm not so certain.

The more I'm reading about what's going on over there the less I think the Dems will be allowed take back the house. There is a hell of a lot of mischief going on.

everlast75

Fox had a pundit on saying the caravan might be bringing leprosy.

Where the **** are the Boards Trump fact-checkers now?

StringerBell

The man has no redeeming feature and it will be a good day for the world when it is rid of him.

I know that sounds harsh, and I don't ever claim moral high ground but it wouldn't be a regular thing for me to muse about how much better a place would be if someone simply dropped dead in the morning.

He is willfully inciting violence, hatred and fear and **** him tbh. At the very least, I hope it touches him too.

Rhineshark

everlast75 wrote: »

Fox had a pundit on saying the caravan might be bringing leprosy.

Where the **** are the Boards Trump fact-checkers now?

Be nice if Fox "News" had any fact checkers. Couldn't he at least have picked a S.A. disease?

StringerBell

Does make you wonder what is going to happen when the time of Trump passes.

How is the country going to come together somehow after him or is it just going to get worse?

Cookie_Monster

StringerBell wrote: »

Does make you wonder what is going to happen when the time of Trump passes.

How is the country going to come together somehow after him or is it just going to get worse?

It'll get worse, we've now entered the era of celebrity candidates. For many the Trump presidency is exciting more than anything else, he's always making headlines etc and its not just boring old men from Washington. I can see either party running a celebrity candidate next time to cash in on it and just make the whole thing worse.

Walter Bishop

StringerBell wrote: »

The man has no redeeming feature and it will be a good day for the world when it is rid of him.

I know that sounds harsh, and I don't ever claim moral high ground but it wouldn't be a regular thing for me to muse about how much better a place would be if someone simply dropped dead in the morning.

He is willfully inciting violence, hatred and fear and **** him tbh. At the very least, I hope it touches him too.

Unfortunately this would mean Mike Pence becoming President, who at least seems to be able to keep his mouth shut whilst having actually thought about policies and probably being able to actually get something done.


Oddly it's probably best if Trump hangs on until 2020 and then gets voted out, if he got impeached it wold just polarise the electorate further, which is likely to happen anyway after the mid-terms, particularly if the Democrats do make gains and are able to frustrate what little legislation Trump is getting through - then he can play the 'obstructionist!!' card for all he's worth.

Wanderer78

Walter Bishop wrote:

Oddly it's probably best if Trump hangs on until 2020 and then gets voted out, if he got impeached it wold just polarise the electorate further, which is likely to happen anyway after the mid-terms, particularly if the Democrats do make gains and are able to frustrate what little legislation Trump is getting through - then he can play the 'obstructionist!!' card for all he's worth.

Could he get a second term?

Walter Bishop

Wanderer78 wrote: »

Could he get a second term?

Of course he could, who knows what's going to happen these days.



He's a catastrophe as President, but if he drops dead or gets impeached Pence becomes President and Trump attains martyr status.


So for those of us who would like to see him out of office, it's probably going to be better in the long run that he makes it to 2020 and gets removed by the voting public, then by any other means.

Wanderer78

Walter Bishop wrote:

So for those of us who would like to see him out of office, it's probably going to be better in the long run that he makes it to 2020 and gets removed by the voting public, then by any other means.

Does the voting public actually have the ability to do so?

frag420

Wanderer78 wrote: »

Does the voting public actually have the ability to do so?

Yes, by voting!

Manic Moran

pixelburp wrote: »

Operator error or not, is there any sign that the incorrect votes will be reversed? Because if not - and last I'd heard no action was to be take - that's where the problem lies, and frankly the votes should be either negated or re-run. Anything else is a perversion of democracy.

https://www.sos.texas.gov/about/newsreleases/2018/102718.shtml

During the first week of the Early Voting period, the Texas Secretary of State's office was notified of less than 20 instances in which voters in a small handful of these counties expressed concerns about their ballot tabulations. The concerns were raised by voters who cast a straight-party ballot on the eSlate voting machines. To these voters, the machine appeared to deselect or change one or more of their choices when they advanced to the summary page before casting their ballot. In each case, these voters were able to properly review and cast a ballot that accurately reflected the choices they made.

My bold.

If I read it correctly this isn't what was happening though. If you voted Staight Democrat on the ballot it was flipping Beto to Cruz, but the converse was not happening if you voted straight Republican (I'm open to correction on that though)

https://www.texastribune.org/2018/10/26/texas-voting-machines-2018-straight-ticket-midterm-elections/

Some people wondered if there was malfeasance. Others blamed malfunctioning voting machines. And both Democrats and Republicans have tried to warn voters in their respective parties.

Yeah, I haven't seen reports of the converse happening either.

Are you looking for it? Hopefully you're not just relying on articles coming across your internet feed... Echo chambers and all that.

See also
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/texas-voting-machines-party-switching/

Indeed, some voters in Texas have reported that when using the “straight ticket” option (i.e., automatically marking candidates from the same party for every race) on voting machines, their selections for the U.S. Senate race were either left blank or were reversed, with some Democratic voters’ ballots being marked for Republican candidate Ted Cruz and some Republican voters’ ballots being marked for Democratic candidate Beto O’Rourke

(Again, my bold)

In any case, straight ticket voting has been declared illegal in Texas starting with the 2020 elections. Anyone casting their vote will actually have to individually select folks' names, so user error in this particular form should no longer be a problem. Of course, user error can never be completely eliminated, even with the pen/paper method my county uses here in California.

Wanderer78

frag420 wrote: »

Yes, by voting!

really? so when the majority vote for something, their wishes occur, within the american political system?

robinph

How is any of that user error?

The blame lies with the machines and their designers, not with the person placing the vote.

Igotadose

robinph wrote: »

How is any of that user error?

The blame lies with the machines and their designers, not with the person placing the vote.

This. The machines aren't working to spec - assuming the spec is that they record votes directly and not "randomly" move D to R votes. One never knows of course.

And, remind me - these machines are safe from external tampering, right? And the Congress since 2017 has gotten right on making sure of that?

Oh wait...

everlast75

Not going to address any other thing that's happening in the admin Manic? Really?

Because to not do so seems like you're cherrypicking the topic to discuss.

Of course you're not under any obligation to. But you've gone to bat for him on a number of occasions on here.

You see it just would be mentally pleasing to hear someone who has spoken up for this thug in the past finally admit that the penny has dropped, he's a despicable human being who is dragging the U.S. into the dark ages.

Manic Moran

How is any of that user error?

The blame lies with the machines and their designers, not with the person placing the vote.

It's an old machine and doubtless could be faster with newer technology, but the fundamentals of computer use haven't, to my knowledge, changed at least since I got started with them in the 1980s... Don't get ahead of the computer and you won't have a problem. If the problems are indeed people not waiting for the computer to bring up the next screen, or pressing multiple buttons at the same time, that's user error.

Fortunately, they have placed a confirmation screen up, which has caught the errors, which reduces the gravity of the problem by an order of magnitude. Replacing the machines will cost tens of millions of dollars over a couple of years. Taking a breath, and calmly voting can happen now and is probably more reliable anyway.

everlast75 wrote: »

Not going to address any other thing that's happening in the admin Manic? Really?

Because to not do so seems like you're cherrypicking the topic to discuss.

Of course you're not under any obligation to. But you've gone to bat for him on a number of occasions on here.

You see it just would be mentally pleasing to hear someone who has spoken up for this thug in the past finally admit that the penny has dropped, he's a despicable human being who is dragging the U.S. into the dark ages.

You guys seem to be covering it well enough. If we all agree he's not exactly presidential, what's the point in my adding to the chorus?

robinph

Manic Moran wrote: »

How is any of that user error?

The blame lies with the machines and their designers, not with the person placing the vote.

It's an old machine and doubtless could be faster with newer technology, but the fundamentals of computer use haven't, to my knowledge, changed at least since I got started with them in the 1980s... Don't get ahead of the computer and you won't have a problem. If the problems are indeed people not waiting for the computer to bring up the next screen, or pressing multiple buttons at the same time, that's user error.

Fortunately, they have placed a confirmation screen up, which has caught the errors, which reduces the gravity of the problem by an order of magnitude. Replacing the machines will cost tens of millions of dollars over a couple of years. Taking a breath, and calmly voting can happen now and is probably more reliable anyway.

It doesn't require a super computer to record a D or an R. If the machine can't do this or is buffering multiple key presses when it's not ready to display the next screen and then taking those multiple presses then it is still not user error.

The machine should be designed to work for everyone who has never used a computer before. It's a very simple task to do, with complicated ways of recording it in the background no doubt. But if the interface can't be understood by a five year old then it is not fit for purpose.

Water John

Lottery machines have been operating for a long time and are totally accurate.
Am I missing something?

prawnsambo

An interface that does the job a voting machine does, shouldn't buffer at all. Far too likely to fall down the rabbit hole of unintended consequences.

circadian

I see Pharrell Williams has issued a cease and desist order for Trump to not use his music. Happy during a Trump rally just hours after the Synagogue shooting.

https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/music/pharrell-williams-warns-donald-trump-not-to-use-his-music-at-rallies-37473436.html

prawnsambo

Water John wrote: »

Lottery machines have been operating for a long time and are totally accurate.
Am I missing something?

Lottery machines are scanners. Completely different from what the US voting machines do.

everlast75

Manic Moran wrote: »

You guys seem to be covering it well enough. If we all agree he's not exactly presidential

We have an award winner here for understatement of the year!!!!

Manic Moran wrote: »

what's the point in my adding to the chorus?

Really?

You don't think the odd comment from you or someone else who batted for him on here, to show that you agree with his abhorrent behaviour would be noted?

Because being honest, it reads more like "heaven forbid you should criticise him".

Beechwoodspark

circadian wrote: »

I see Pharrell Williams has issued a cease and desist order for Trump to not use his music. Happy during a Trump rally just hours after the Synagogue shooting.

https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/music/pharrell-williams-warns-donald-trump-not-to-use-his-music-at-rallies-37473436.html

Trump was happy to court neo nazis and fascists during the election so nobody should be surprised.

And remember according to trump there are great ppl in the American far right