Off Topic Thread 5.0

Bazzo wrote: »

I'm not sure he has specifically said he won't vote Biden? I've searched online and can't find him quoted anywhere on the first few pages of google anyway. He was definitely a big Sanders supporter but not sure that means he won't vote Biden.

I'm a big fan of Killer Mike(as a person, but RTJ live are also some craic) but if he was actively saying he wouldn't vote Biden it would be very dumb of him when the other choice is Trump.

I don't think he's openly said don't vote Biden, but he's certainly been critical of him and hasn't been pushing ant campaign for him unlike Bernie

https://twitter.com/KillerMike/status/1238460374585880577?s=19

irishbucsfan wrote: »

I mean... you can’t really call people dumb and then completely misrepresent or misunderstand how voting in a presidential election works! You can choose to vote for Biden, vote for Trump, vote for a 3rd party candidate, or vote for no one. If you choose not to vote for Joe Biden it does not mean your vote counts for Donald Trump.


I though I had seen him tweet about not voting for Biden because of his voting record, but I may be mistaken, apologies if I am

No, there is the tweet above where he is critical of Biden's voting record, but he never said he wouldn't vote for him.

I'd love to know how I misrepresented or misunderstoof the voting system? Voting anyone other than Biden(or not voting) in the American system is essentially increasing Trump's share of the vote and increasing his chances of winning. Even if you find Biden's past distasteful Trump might as well be an openly racist president so that's much worse.

irishbucsfan wrote: »

You said the only other choice of voting for Biden is voting for Trump. That’s what was incorrect.

If you think people who don’t want to vote for Biden are “dumb” for considering that, even people who’ve grown up as political activists and are heavily involved in US politics and involved in campaigning for candidates within the Democratic Party, then that’s up to you. I’d say rather than assuming these people are dumb maybe it’s worth considering that for some people there are reasons that holding their community’s vote ransom (which I think was Ice Cube’s way of wording it) is worth the risk of enduring 4 more years of Trump. It’s up to Joe Biden to convince them it’s not. Rather than just assuming they will vote for him, which he pretty much admitted is exactly what his thoughts were.

Yeah, no. You're way off base on a couple of points there. I didn't say their only other choice was voting for trump at all, I said he was the other choice (as in on the ballot).

I also didn't call him dumb, in fact I said I was a fan of his. I said it would be dumb of him to do that, I do stupid **** all the time but I don't consider myself stupid. I'm not sure if you're wilfully misinterpreting what I said.

The system is absolutely broken but I don't see how inflicting Trump on themselves to teach the democrats a lesson or whatever is going to fix it when the current administration has been openly trying to break the system to favour them for a very long time to come(stacking the courts etc). But I guess I can see that maybe they need to appear to be willing to do that to try and get Biden etc to wake the **** up and start making moves for real change.

irishbucsfan wrote: »

Well it’s not necessarily the other choice on the ballot. As I also said.

And if you agree the two party system is awful, then imagine what it feels like if you believe neither of the two parties are capable of representing your community and you believe there is a legitimate chance of negotiating a change to that with one of them. And then you’ll start to understand why these people genuinely believe that is worth the risk of 4 more years of Donald Trump. I don’t think that’s necessarily dumb at all.

Agree to disagree then.

ClanofLams wrote: »

In many cases these are the same people who voted Nader in 2000, Stein in 2016 etc

The system didn’t change because of that and it won’t change as a result of them voting third party this year either. All that happened was financial deregulation, tax cuts for the very wealthiest, zero gun control legislation, weakened healthcare, etc

Anyone who thinks voting Green or whatever this November will make any difference other than assisting Trump’s re-election effforts would want a reality check.

Ah I don't think voting for Jill Stein, or whoever their nominee is this time, would change the democratic party. I think the chances of the people I'm talking about voting for Jill Stein is almost 0. Imagine Ice T and Ice Cube coming out for Jill Stein! There could be a global warming angle there though... I'm not talking about 'socialist' middle-class white people in California and Oregon.

Obviously I personally think (not that it matters) that Biden would be far better for those people for many reasons, but I think at the moment he's definitely going to struggle massively to convince those people to vote. And I'm guessing the democratic party know that (especially after his gaffe) and are just counting on beating Trump without them. I think that's pretty sad. I think being part of the Obama administration that they felt let them down so badly, and things like that Violent Crime bill Killer Mike referenced are really problematic. And I don't think female black VP candidate helps at all, it'll just be what Cornell West was calling "another black face" in that clip that went viral this morning.

I just hope he doesn't make the same sort of unforced errors when reaching out to other minorities for votes. Keep him away from the Asian communities in LA and SF, god knows what he thinks the equivalent of "you ain't black" is for them! Keep his morning radio appearances to the mid-west (although obviously not Chicago!).

irishbucsfan wrote: »

Again, I’m sure Biden could absolutely walk the black vote in November if you compare it to those who come out for Trump. But that’s not enough. He needs to inspire people who otherwise would vote for no one, because Trump’s base is traditionally more dependable. He needs influential (currently relevant) black leaders to be cheerleading a Biden vote, not just begrudgingly admitting he is the better candidate (which would be an improvement from where they were last week).

Ice Cube last week was talking (along with many others) about holding the black vote hostage until there is a campaign they are satisfied with, that came after a completely unprovoked gaffe. The airwaves were full of normally apolitical morning hosts echoing that view. Even saying that only now is a massive problem and will influence turnout. He needs to turn that around 180 degrees. Rather than having relevant people actively persuading people NOT to vote, he needs them to be doing the opposite across the board. He needs to start by not shooting himself in the foot like he did, and then he needs to bring forward an agenda that actually inspires people to come along with him (and I have no idea what that would be).

I DO think however he’ll handle this horrific situation with far more grace and decorum than trump ever would, and should help him a little, maybe even far more than the original dumb-dumb comments hurt him

As Charlamagne put it in the infamous gaffe-laden interview, black voters gave Biden the democratic candidacy. Granted, Booker and Harris withdrew before the votes were cast, and he'll eventually need to convince voters aside from registered democrats, but securing this vote above other democrats is at least consistent with him inspiring black voters, and definitely inconsistent with them simply seeing him as the lesser of two bad options vis Trump.

I haven't kept up with Ice Cube's more recent media work, so I can only presume he read the 22-page document released some time ago by Biden's camp, detailing his specific plan for black America; the plan that Al Sharpton has repeatedly said he'd rather be focusing on, rather than the gaffes.

All this being said, I think he has potentially done yet more harm just now, claiming Charlamagne was "baiting" him, in an interview where he let CthaG speak for a total of 9 seconds.

kuang1 wrote: »

I'm confused about one thing though... Is Musk a pal of Trump?

Not sure pal is right but they seem to be sharing a lot in common these days.
Criticising Twitter. Travelling to moon. Against lockdown in individual states
More think they're two twisted individuals with warped ideals that share some similarities

Zzippy wrote: »

"Izzit cos I iz a lilywhite?"

I can hear this in the voice over and over in my head...

irishbucsfan wrote: »

I can’t wrap my head around some of these videos or understand what the motivations of the police officers are.

They were small minded idiots and not that bright to begin with. Then they became police officers and were indoctrinated into us-vs-them and were given power and a sh*t load of military hardware and they've been itching to use it ever since. They're f*cking loving this.

The minority of the police force over there that don't fall into the bracket above are being swept along.

(Yes I realise it's not as simple as this, but for a large large number it's unfortunately accurate I suspect)

prawnsambo wrote: »

I don't think these are rubber bullets in the sense of the baton rounds that were used in Northern Ireland. From what I can see, these are more like paintball rounds that have pepper spray or powder in them. And afaik, fired from what are effectively modified paintball guns. That doesn't mean that they can't do a lot of damage. Paintball guns have reduced kinetic energy so as to reduce the chance of injury, these ones have a good bit more power behind them. And even the reduced power paintball guns can cause a bit of damage if you're hit in the wrong place. Like the eyes.

I think they’re using both.

I’d say any one of these cities’ police departments could very, very comfortably invade Ireland with some of the hardware they have out there at the moment. Luckily enough we’re not in the target demographic.

Atlanta Mayor urging anyone protesting to go get tested for COVID this week. How many of these people are insured and can afford a test in the first place?

Insanity.

awec wrote: »

Rubber bullets can kill you.

Rumour had it the old RUC used to put D batteries in place of rubber bullets in some of the dodgier estates in Belfast.

I saw them shoot rubber bullets into a mass brawl one night and the bang from the gun would have deafened you!!

Incidentally, Nick Waters of Bellingcat is cataloguing incidents of police attacking and arresting journalists. He's up to 29 so far after starting this morning.