2016 U.S. Presidential Race Megathread Mark 2.

Overheal · 18-10-2016 02:43AM

It had escaped my prior notice until I previewed my ballot that Peter Skewes was on the ticket for the American Party. He's a University professor here. Golly.

https://peterforpresident.us/

Terrible campaigning though if I haven't heard of him on campus!

dwayneshintzy · 18-10-2016 03:30AM

I love Melania Trump's defense of her husband in the Billy Bush "grab them by the pussy" tape; basically, a bigger boy told him to do it. Exactly what you want in a President.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/oct/17/melania-trump-billy-bush-groping-tape-cnn-interview

Black Swan · 18-10-2016 03:57AM

1-hour ago FiveThirtyEight gave their forecast if the election was held today: Clinton 88.2% and Trump 11.8%. It will be interesting to see if their forecast narrows as 8 November 2016 draws near, or if it holds.

Overheal · 18-10-2016 04:24AM

Unprompted at a rally, Trump locks in on a young girl in the crowd and calls her up to the stage, "So beautiful," he says as they bring her up to the stage where he parades her and leans in for a kiss that you can see on the instant replay, is totally going for the lips. Yikes.

http://www.mediaite.com/online/trump-invited-a-little-girl-on-stage-gave-her-a-kiss-and-twitter-had-some-thoughts/

How can you expect the media to talk about emails when you keep making video-tapped, gift-wrapped news like this? No doubt in my mind that he HAS to be deliberately throwing this thing now. No freaking way someone in their right mind would have thought that was a smart move given the weeks events.

Brian? · 18-10-2016 08:06AM

KingBrian2 wrote: »

Yes I understand where your coming from. There are Jihadists who are committed to do just that though attack the west and Muslim states. They already existed now they have gone all 21st century on us so this makes them a lot worse. Al Qaeda, ISIS and all the rest have taken passages from the Quran and devote themselves to indiscriminately attacking the world. It is a mistake not to call them Jihadists and not to treat them as such. We also have the whole Shia-Sunni divide which America should not be getting involved in. Literally a conflict going on since the beginning of Islam. This is a Muslim matter let them sort it out themselves.

Why the insistence on calling them Jihadists? To me it's a smoke screen designed to single out Islam as the reason they are committing acts of terror. There are about 1 billion other Muslims not committing acts of terror.

Islam is not the whole problem, calling people Jihadist or radical Islamists white washes the nuances.

Your line about it being a Muslim problem they should sort out themselves is another piece of white washing. The Shia-Sunni conflict was at a peaceful detant until recently.

Let's call them what they are: terrorists.

CMOTDibbler · 18-10-2016 08:09AM

Overheal wrote: »

Unprompted at a rally, Trump locks in on a young girl in the crowd and calls her up to the stage, "So beautiful," he says as they bring her up to the stage where he parades her and leans in for a kiss that you can see on the instant replay, is totally going for the lips. Yikes.

http://www.mediaite.com/online/trump-invited-a-little-girl-on-stage-gave-her-a-kiss-and-twitter-had-some-thoughts/

How can you expect the media to talk about emails when you keep making video-tapped, gift-wrapped news like this? No doubt in my mind that he HAS to be deliberately throwing this thing now. No freaking way someone in their right mind would have thought that was a smart move given the weeks events.

There's a strong suggestion that he's going to move into TV and media once the election is over. It was mooted some time back when he started surrounding himself with the likes of Roger Ailes and his strong links with Breitbart and InfoWars.

He's already built himself a following that he could use as a base for a media empire.

Brian? · 18-10-2016 08:14AM

CMOTDibbler wrote: »

There's a strong suggestion that he's going to move into TV and media once the election is over. It was mooted some time back when he started surrounding himself with the likes of Roger Ailes and his strong links with Breitbart and InfoWars.

He's already built himself a following that he could use as a base for a media empire.

At this stage it has to be a ratings ploy. He's turned on Fox, so he can claim only Trumpnews isn't biased against the right.

TheDoctor · 18-10-2016 09:08AM

dwayneshintzy wrote: »

I love Melania Trump's defense of her husband in the Billy Bush "grab them by the pussy" tape; basically, a bigger boy told him to do it. Exactly what you want in a President.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/oct/17/melania-trump-billy-bush-groping-tape-cnn-interview

Nothing says Alpha Male more than "the other boy made me do it".

Quin_Dub · 18-10-2016 10:28AM

Brian? wrote: »

At this stage it has to be a ratings ploy. He's turned on Fox, so he can claim only Trumpnews isn't biased against the right.

Can you just imagine it?

Breitbart TV with a dash of Infowars washed down by Roger Ailes produced Trumpism....

Quin_Dub · 18-10-2016 10:34AM

Quin_Dub wrote: »

This kind of stuff is the truly terrifying un-intended consequence of Trumps rhetoric..

I don't for a second believe that in the cold light of day , Trump actually wants people commiting acts of violence etc. , he's just an extreme narcissist with absolutely no control over his thought process.

However , there are enough mentally unstable people out there that will add together the 2+2 of Trumps vitriolic ramblings and come up with 5 leading to the very real risk of bombs and/or gun attacks on polling day or indeed post election acts of violence against a Clinton victory..

It's a frightening thing to contemplate..

Billy86 wrote: »

To be honest I would love to agree with you, but with some of the comments he has made, his astoundingly vindictive personality, and indeed his own worrying mental instability which has been on full display for the last several weeks, I wouldn't be so sure.

jobbridge4life wrote: »

Earlier in the campaign I might have agreed with you.However as Donald has been deliberately ratcheting up his rhetoric and has now plumbed depths even the most egregious of previous candidates wouldn't have dared to consider, I am no longer willing or able to give him any benefit of the doubt. Most especially considering that in the wake of Pussy-gate, and the attendant Republican renunciations, Donald declared that he was now free to campaign the way he wants. That indicates he had people advising him, telling him this sort of rhetoric was dangerous, and is now thankful that he is free to ignore this advice and engage in all the base instincts that he chooses.

Whats-more it doesn't take above, or even average intelligence (of which we know Trump has a 'huge IQ') to know that undermining the integrity of an electoral process as a the candidate of a major political party in that election is ispo facto an incitement to violence. Moreover plenty of his own supporters, even relatively high profile ones have been actively calling for an armed insurrection.

It is discomforting to think it but Trump really is the fascist nightmare he portends to be.

I know it's not even 24hrs since I posted the above , but listening to what Trump and his proxies have been saying since - I'm now inclined to agree with you all.

He does mean it , he doesn't care if it gets violent , in fact if it does lead to violence it will provide him with some kind of twisted validation that he isn't really a loser and that if it wasn't for that big bad conspiracy he'd have been carried to the Whitehouse on a golden dais.

aloyisious · 18-10-2016 11:04AM

Brian? wrote: »

At this stage it has to be a ratings ploy. He's turned on Fox, so he can claim only Trumpnews isn't biased against the right.

That might explain why the Fox News item I saw with the host discussing the election with a Christian gent focused solely on the republican party woes, no mention of Don. His opinion: the loss of christianity was the cause of it's, and the US's, problem.

Akrasia · 18-10-2016 11:29AM

Overheal wrote: »

Unprompted at a rally, Trump locks in on a young girl in the crowd and calls her up to the stage, "So beautiful," he says as they bring her up to the stage where he parades her and leans in for a kiss that you can see on the instant replay, is totally going for the lips. Yikes.

http://www.mediaite.com/online/trump-invited-a-little-girl-on-stage-gave-her-a-kiss-and-twitter-had-some-thoughts/

How can you expect the media to talk about emails when you keep making video-tapped, gift-wrapped news like this? No doubt in my mind that he HAS to be deliberately throwing this thing now. No freaking way someone in their right mind would have thought that was a smart move given the weeks events.

What an astounding video considering all the allegations that have been flying around about him.

It's unbelievable that anyone could think this man is fit to be president of the U.S.A.

And regarding him deliberately throwing the election, I find it hard to believe that anyone would choose to have themselves labelled as a sexual predator, and possible paedophile just to guarantee that he won't become president of the USA. Nobody wants to have even a hint of an allegation that they would prey on children attached to their reputation.

I just think that Trump is such a sociopath, that he genuinely cannot judge what is and is not appropriate behaviour relating to other people. He probably thinks 'I'm a politician, politicians kiss babies, I need black people to like me, there's a little black girl, if i kiss her, it will show that i'm not a racist and that I like kids, people like people who like kids...

He has no idea how he comes across to other people. He thinks he's hitting it out of the ballpark. He's a psychopath. He has learned enough about faking empathy and manipulating other people to get him through life as the son of a millionaire who has been in a position of power over other people his entire life. He has absolutely no idea how to behave when he's the one asking people for something from a position where they have the power. He cannot engage with other human beings. He can only think in terms of playing roles and playing games. He thinks that the way to turn around his election, is to play lip service to demographics, but he has no idea that his act is so transparent to everyone except his blinkered die hard supporters.

Billy86 · 18-10-2016 11:35AM

Quin_Dub wrote: »

I know it's not even 24hrs since I posted the above , but listening to what Trump and his proxies have been saying since - I'm now inclined to agree with you all.

He does mean it , he doesn't care if it gets violent , in fact if it does lead to violence it will provide him with some kind of twisted validation that he isn't really a loser and that if it wasn't for that big bad conspiracy he'd have been carried to the Whitehouse on a golden dais.

I know it's a good while back and quite easily forgotten with his non stop disgusting behaviour ever since, but his openly calling for violence against protesters at his rallies during the primaries and gloating that he would "pay the legal fees" of anyone who did so was an early indicator of what was to come. The media didn't come down nearly hard enough on him for it which led to the "second ammendment people..." comment... which the media didn't come down nearly hard enough on him for either. And on and on until we are where we are now.

For all the fries about media bias, it is in part the sheer amount of stuff they have let him get away with in the interests of ratings and clicks that have got us to where we are now. I think some have realised their folly and almost complicit nature at this point, and their role in creating a Frankenstein, hence publications offering their first ever endorsements in 100+ years or unprecedented Democratic endorsements for (somewhat ironically) the second most hated-by-Republicans Democratic politician in decades (after her husband - the shared of Obama pales in comparison to both of them and has died down somewhat during hsi se on term, hunting it was more posturing than anything else on their part).

aloyisious · 18-10-2016 02:16PM

Overheal wrote: »

Unprompted at a rally, Trump locks in on a young girl in the crowd and calls her up to the stage, "So beautiful," he says as they bring her up to the stage where he parades her and leans in for a kiss that you can see on the instant replay, is totally going for the lips. Yikes.

http://www.mediaite.com/online/trump-invited-a-little-girl-on-stage-gave-her-a-kiss-and-twitter-had-some-thoughts/

How can you expect the media to talk about emails when you keep making video-tapped, gift-wrapped news like this? No doubt in my mind that he HAS to be deliberately throwing this thing now. No freaking way someone in their right mind would have thought that was a smart move given the weeks events.

Don is able to see the girl in the audience, points to her "how beautiful she is, all decked out this evening" and the "no more though" like there was a horde rushing the stage. The parents allow her to go up without even following her to below the stage area as a matter of course. The camera didn't even pan around to the approach or where the parents were, remained focused on Don. When she got on stage and was in his arms, Don couldn't even see where her parents were then, the lights in his eyes, despite being able to see her a minute earlier in the audience. Somehow I think this was a Trump campaign attempt to prove he is a man for all the people and it has backfired.

K-9 · 18-10-2016 03:25PM

Trump had a couple of media ventures before and they failed.

The narrative of the election seems to have gone from "how the fcuk did he get here" to "how low in the polls can he go".
And it's all down to Trump, the things that got him here in the first place have proved his undoing. He just doesn't have the temperament or self awareness to stick to what was winning him votes.

Itssoeasy · 18-10-2016 04:04PM

I'll will admit that I really hadn't thought about the post election problems with trumps supporters as one thing the US say is that pride themselves on the organised and peaceful transfer of power. But the nearer it gets the more I feel that trumps supporters may be angry enough to do something, in the event that trump doesn't win.

TheDoctor · 18-10-2016 05:36PM

Itssoeasy wrote: »

trumps supporters may be angry enough to do something, in the event that trump doesn't win.

Imagine how pissed they'll be when they turn out to vote on November 28th

CMOTDibbler · 18-10-2016 05:43PM

TheDoctor wrote: »

Imagine how pissed they'll be when they turn out to vote on November 28th

The ultimate conspiracy.

KingBrian2 · 18-10-2016 06:03PM

Itssoeasy wrote: »

I'll will admit that I really hadn't thought about the post election problems with trumps supporters as one thing the US say is that pride themselves on the organised and peaceful transfer of power. But the nearer it gets the more I feel that trumps supporters may be angry enough to do something, in the event that trump doesn't win.

It would be unfair to say that only the far right engage in violence. Not saying for a moment that Trump does not attract a lot of the extreme right wingers. They gravitate towards him but violent people will behave violently regardless of being left wing or right. It is the big mistake the liberal est is making and by portraying all of Trumps fans as racists is just being condescending and reinforcing the disconnect with wider society.

Brian? · 18-10-2016 06:54PM

KingBrian2 wrote: »

It would be unfair to say that only the far right engage in violence. Not saying for a moment that Trump does not attract a lot of the extreme right wingers. They gravitate towards him but violent people will behave violently regardless of being left wing or right. It is the big mistake the liberal est is making and by portraying all of Trumps fans as racists is just being condescending and reinforcing the disconnect with wider society.

This is another white wash. The "liberal establishment ", whoever they are, aren't painting all Trump fans as racists.

jobbridge4life · 18-10-2016 07:02PM

KingBrian2 wrote: »

It would be unfair to say that only the far right engage in violence. Not saying for a moment that Trump does not attract a lot of the extreme right wingers. They gravitate towards him but violent people will behave violently regardless of being left wing or right. It is the big mistake the liberal est is making and by portraying all of Trumps fans as racists is just being condescending and reinforcing the disconnect with wider society.

I don't think anyone here or anyone with any real credibility claims violence is the preserve of those on the right, but the issue here is that in this election, right now the candidate of the right and only the candidate of the right has repeatedly called for violence, is undermining the electoral system (an ipso facto incitement to violence) and has supporters, including high profile ones, openly calling for violence.

To an extent I do sympathize with your point regarding labeling all Trump 'fans' as racist but (and without discounting the idea that they may have legitimate grievances) if they are still supporting this man they are actively in favour of a racist, bigot, fascist taking the presidency. There just isn't a work around for that.

KingBrian2 · 18-10-2016 07:03PM

Brian? wrote: »

This is another white wash. The "liberal establishment ", whoever they are, aren't painting all Trump fans as racists.

How about we call them the neoliberals. Happy.

Overheal · 18-10-2016 07:15PM

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoliberalism

Does it actually fit

KingBrian2 · 18-10-2016 07:19PM

Overheal wrote: »

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoliberalism

Does it actually fit

Many liberals in America fit the characteristic of being neoliberal.

B_Wayne · 18-10-2016 07:22PM

KingBrian2 wrote: »

Many liberals in America fit the characteristic of being neoliberal.

Do you still think Trump supporters want to protect the constitution by violating the first amendment?

jobbridge4life · 18-10-2016 07:25PM

KingBrian2 wrote: »

Many liberals in America fit the characteristic of being neoliberal.

Many if not most of those identified as neo-liberal fall on the Republican side and whats worse they tend to coalesce with the neo-cons to produce a truly reprehensible beast.

Brian? · 18-10-2016 07:28PM

KingBrian2 wrote: »

How about we call them the neoliberals. Happy.

Call who?

Brian? · 18-10-2016 07:31PM

KingBrian2 wrote: »

Many liberals in America fit the characteristic of being neoliberal.

No, they don't. Many people who self identify as libertarian fit the description of neoliberal.

Late 20th century and early 21st century liberals believe that government plays a large role in regulating the economy. This is diametrically opposed to neoliberalism and classic liberalism.

Modern liberals aren't really liberals anymore. It's all very confusing to be honest. I suppose progressive is a far more apt term and has started to replace liberal in the nomenclature.

KingBrian2 · 18-10-2016 07:35PM

jobbridge4life wrote: »

Many if not most of those identified as neo-liberal fall on the Republican side and whats worse they tend to coalesce with the neo-cons to produce a truly reprehensible beast.

Not entirely true many neoliberals have such disrespect for Americans and their values. The condescending attacks. You can't say every liberal hates America which is also untrue but a great deal do. The divide in America is very big at the moment. Liberal America and Conservative America whereas most Americans are somewhere in the middle.

jobbridge4life · 18-10-2016 08:00PM

KingBrian2 wrote: »

Not entirely true many neoliberals have such disrespect for Americans and their values. The condescending attacks. You can't say every liberal hates America which is also untrue but a great deal do.

Sorry but just a couple of posts ago you were complaining about the people accusing the Trumpists of being racist en masse. You are now in essence stating that most liberals hate America which is akin to accusing them of treason, which is in effect a call to violence against them. And your glib 'you can't say every' disclaimer is fooling no one.

Have you any evidence at all that a 'great deal' of liberals hate America? Literally any evidence at all that goes to prove that claim.

Do you understand that stating that a segment of the American population hates America is an extraordinarily dangerous claim to make?

KingBrian2 wrote: »

The divide in America is very big at the moment. Liberal America and Conservative America whereas most Americans are somewhere in the middle.

Yes there is a growing chasm in America but since you seem intent on furthering it I don't know how you expect us to take your apparent concern about it seriously.

Honestly and frankly speaking you just seem to be repeating verbatim talking points from a presentation to the least informed of republican voters.

2016 U.S. Presidential Race Megathread Mark 2.

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