US Presidential election

Biden never reversed all of Trump's inflationary tariffs on China. Still keeping prices high.

But Trump could put an end to elective democracy in the USA.

Biden is incompetent and Trump is 100% evil.

Evil is in the eye of the beholder. Like the millions excessively punished and used as slave labor from Biden’s 94’ crime bill.

Or ask those in Gaza if Biden is evil as he tirelessly fights to send bombs to the Israelis so they can continue raining death on civilians.

Both are evil, Trump is just honest about it.

And the threats to Trump ending democracy… well it’s trashed and barely qualifies as democracy to begin with (adding the approval rating of both presidential candidates together gives you about 70%, obviously a system that doesn’t give actually care about what the people want). And what of his claims? He’ll need to pass it by Congress with a 66% voting for any major constitutional changes as well as 2/3’s state governors voting for it as well. That ain’t happening so the ‘Trump will end Democracy’ thing is nothing but a Democrat fund raising tool.

Quote by RowanThorn

Ultimately maybe the Democrats need to give voters something to believe in, Instead their only pitch is, ‘not trump.’ Just like Al Gore lost with his, ‘Not Bush’ campaign.

If the president has 30% approval ratings don’t put him up for reelection. You cannot win this way.

Al Gore didn't lose.

The GOP stacked SCOTUS of that particular year - stopped the counting and declared Bush the winner.

And Gore didn't attempt an insurrection to hold onto power.

Come'on Mr Progressive Revisionist...your fibs are transparent.

Quote by WellMadeMale

Al Gore didn't lose.

The GOP stacked SCOTUS of that particular year - stopped the counting and declared Bush the winner.

And Gore didn't attempt an insurrection to hold onto power.

Come'on Mr Progressive Revisionist...your fibs are transparent.

No, he lost. Don’t go to the election denial convention with the Trump loyalists.

Our country is stacked to give small states outsized influence, be it senate where Wyoming has about 130x more representation than California or in the ‘all or nothing’ electorate system. And by that system Gore lost, no question.

The electoral college is precisely the reason the GOP can back back unpopular candidates, their votes are weighted heavily. And because the GOP has bad candidates the Democrats run on a platform of ‘not being that guy’ and put up their favorite corporate shill and lifetime rich men. Obama won by huge margins because that’s what happens when you choose a candidate people give a damn about.

So, wake up. Gore lost. Get over it or accept the Trump election denialists as your brothers in cognitive dissonance.

Trump is by far the most uninformed, categorically ignorant President and candidate ever to hold and seek office. Biden has long since past his prime. The choice is between simply awful and cautiously competent. If Trump loses he will continue to seek office and claim corruption. In 2028 he will surely beat K. Harris.

I don’t think the Trump 2028 ticket is very likely. He will be 82, he’s already obese as hell and won’t follow the instructions of his doctors. The chances of him being physically able to run ain’t great.

Might be a Trump Jr. run though. The Trumps are quickly becoming the Kennedies of the Republicans. American royalty.

Quote by RowanThorn

Evil is in the eye of the beholder. Like the millions excessively punished and used as slave labor from Biden’s 94’ crime bill.

Or ask those in Gaza if Biden is evil as he tirelessly fights to send bombs to the Israelis so they can continue raining death on civilians.

Both are evil, Trump is just honest about it.

And the threats to Trump ending democracy… well it’s trashed and barely qualifies as democracy to begin with (adding the approval rating of both presidential candidates together gives you about 70%, obviously a system that doesn’t give actually care about what the people want). And what of his claims? He’ll need to pass it by Congress with a 66% voting for any major constitutional changes as well as 2/3’s state governors voting for it as well. That ain’t happening so the ‘Trump will end Democracy’ thing is nothing but a Democrat fund raising tool.

Bush's Homeland Security and increased presidential war powers did not need a constitutional amendment to inhibit democracy and personal liberty.

No, it doesn't take a Constitutional Amendment.

Quote by Buz

Bush's Homeland Security and increased presidential war powers did not need a constitutional amendment to inhibit democracy and personal liberty.

No, it doesn't take a Constitutional Amendment.

Expanded war powers are not reshaping democratic processes.

And what Bush authorized for surveillance on US citizens pales in comparison to authorized data gathering from tech companies years after he left office.

What are you worried about? That Trump is going to gather huge dossiers on US citizens locations, web site searches, purchases, and communications without warrants? Too late, Congress and the courts have backed this for more than a decade publicly. There are no constitutional powers if a sitting president or a simple congressional majority that can alter voting rights. You’re comparing shit covered apples and shit covered oranges.

Quote by RowanThorn

I don’t think the Trump 2028 ticket is very likely. He will be 82, he’s already obese as hell and won’t follow the instructions of his doctors. The chances of him being physically able to run ain’t great.

Might be a Trump Jr. run though. The Trumps are quickly becoming the Kennedies of the Republicans. American royalty.

Who will you be voting for?

A) Democrats

B) Republicans

C) A third party protest vote that is designed to help Republicans

C) Although it’s not a protest vote. It’s this crazy idea that my vote should be for the best candidate. Not a fear induced old man shoved down my throat by corporate interests.

Nice multiple choice though, great way to bring up those voting numbers among those who feel disenfranchised. And a great example of why the Democrats and Republicans both don’t deserve my vote.

If you teach them you’ll eat shit they have no incentive to feed you anything but shit.

Quote by RowanThorn

C) ... shit.

lol

Are Americans better off today (and this entire year) than we were 4 years ago?

https://doggett.house.gov/media/blog-post/timeline-trumps-coronavirus-responses

March 2020 was the month when things went to hell here in the United States. On March 5th there were 129 known cases and only 11 deaths in the US: just 33 days later, hospitals were using refrigerated trucks as morgues and over 10,000 Americans were dead of Covid.

Fear ran through communities and stalked our homes. We were washing our groceries with bleach after picking them up at the store’s parking lot from people wearing masks, goggles, and gloves. We bought up all the air filters in the country. We worked from home when we could. We isolated ourselves from other people as much as was humanly possible.

Within those few weeks in March and early April, serious Covid outbreaks were showing up across the Northeast and Trump — who had two years earlier shut down both of the two federal pandemic task forces Obama had put into place after the Ebola scare — charged his son-in-law, nepo-baby slumlord Jared Kushner, with responding to the crisis.

Trump put medical doctors on TV daily, the media was freaking out about refrigerated trucks carrying bodies away from New York hospitals, and doctors and nurses were our new national heroes.

By March 7th, US deaths had risen from 4 to only 22, but that was enough to spur federal action. Trump’s official emergency declaration came on March 13th, and most of the country shut down during the following week.

The skies and highways fell silent, the Dow collapsed, and millions of Americans were laid off — but saving lives was, after all, the number one consideration.

Quote by WellMadeMale

Are Americans better off today (and this entire year) than we were 4 years ago?

https://doggett.house.gov/media/blog-post/timeline-trumps-coronavirus-responses

March 2020 was the month when things went to hell here in the United States. On March 5th there were 129 known cases and only 11 deaths in the US: just 33 days later, hospitals were using refrigerated trucks as morgues and over 10,000 Americans were dead of Covid.

Fear ran through communities and stalked our homes. We were washing our groceries with bleach after picking them up at the store’s parking lot from people wearing masks, goggles, and gloves. We bought up all the air filters in the country. We worked from home when we could. We isolated ourselves from other people as much as was humanly possible.

Within those few weeks in March and early April, serious Covid outbreaks were showing up across the Northeast and Trump — who had two years earlier shut down both of the two federal pandemic task forces Obama had put into place after the Ebola scare — charged his son-in-law, nepo-baby slumlord Jared Kushner, with responding to the crisis.

Trump put medical doctors on TV daily, the media was freaking out about refrigerated trucks carrying bodies away from New York hospitals, and doctors and nurses were our new national heroes.

By March 7th, US deaths had risen from 4 to only 22, but that was enough to spur federal action. Trump’s official emergency declaration came on March 13th, and most of the country shut down during the following week.

The skies and highways fell silent, the Dow collapsed, and millions of Americans were laid off — but saving lives was, after all, the number one consideration.

I’m not defending Trump but a lot of these data points are just tied to a new plague that dropped.

I 100% believe Biden would have done exactly what Trump had done in his position. Maybe not attacking the Doctors but attempting to avoid the shut down until it was impossible not to. The DOW would have collapsed no matter what, but that’s just rich not money and not a market of Public prosperity which continues to plummet under Biden’s corporate based policymaking.

The economy is fucked and artificially propped up by inflated numbers in the pursuit of infinite growth. Essentially the two parties are playing hot potato with it, hoping the other side is holding the ball when it inevitably collapses.

So out of all the things you could blame on Trump, Covid related economic collapse is just par for course for a mass epidemic.

Everything is cool with Rowan. It's either vote for Trumpism and chaos, or more Corporatocracy with Biden/Hillary/Obama/Bill (rinse wash rinse again)...

Just put up with 5 years of the same shit on the other side of the coin. Crysis' coins. Until the multiple personality fuckwad was banned.

I reckon we can put up with 5 years of your lameness, too.

Trump sewed the seeds for inflation and Biden watered them.

Trump cut federal income drastically by cutting taxes, and not cutting government spending. Therefore, sending the debt sky rocketing. Trump added tariffs, which are paid by American importers, a highly inflationary measure. Nation's like China, in retaliation raised prices on their exports to the USA, especially computer chips. Automobile and tech product prices went through the roof.

TRUMP DID THAT!

The original Covid shutdowns happened under Trump. The SHUTDOWN was incredibly inflationary. Any true economist will tell you that. Whether necessary or not, massive inflation would follow.

Biden allowed many of Trump's tariffs to stay in place, and they continue to add to inflation. Biden then went on to massively increase federal spending, without finding new tax income for the federal government.

Another four years of either Trump or Biden is destined to worsen the situation.

Drastic changes are needed or drastically negative results will follow.

Quote by RowanThorn

If the democrats had half the gumption for reproductive rights as they did for sucking the same corporate cocks the republicans did then abortion access would have been codified decades ago.

I do wish the Dems had had the gumption to codify abortion rights into law. That said, there have only been three weeks this entire century when they had the Presidency, the filibuster-proof majority in the Senate and the majority in the House they would have needed to pull it off. Obama used that rare opportunity to express all his political capital into passing his Republican-originated version of health care reform.

Quote by RowanThorn

Oh, it was never about the best candidates. Both were selected by the richest Americans and funded to be president.

The election system isn’t designed to give people what they want, it’s to give you the illusion of choice while only giving you the options that benefit the richest and most powerful.

That being said, Trump is an anomaly because he’s the monster that got too big to control. They no longer want him, Haley was pushed as they could. But their full support in the past and pushing false rhetorics have made Trumpism more of a religion than a political candidate.

Ok Biden’s side the media quashed any stories about people running against him. It was a non-primary. There was never a true choice…

Unless y’all realize you don’t have to vote for either. Until you accept that you eat what you’re given.

I agree with absolutely everything in the above post.

Quote by Magical_felix

Who will you be voting for?

A) Democrats

B) Republicans

C) A third party protest vote that terrifies the two-party duocracy, and against which they and their extensive network of agents will go to any length to shame, cajole and even threaten to keep us from exercising.

There. Fixed that for you.

How come it is we only hear the calls for establishing a viable 3rd party, during those every 4th year general election cycle for US Presidency.

How come we never see third party candidates make much of a splash during the primaries, during off year congressional elections?

Quote by joe71

There. Fixed that for you.

It’s so terrifying that republican money pours into third party candidates.

You’re an idiot.

Quote by Magical_felix

It’s so terrifying that republican money pours into third party candidates.

You’re an idiot.

In my recent primary the Democrats poured money into the Republican candidate! Only the top two primary candidates are on the ballot and they didn’t want a progressive democrat against the established democrat in the general election, so half of the one candidates budget went to election ads for the Republican.

By the way, are you employed by the Democrats because it seems like it?

Quote by WellMadeMale

How come it is we only hear the calls for establishing a viable 3rd party, during those every 4th year general election cycle for US Presidency.

How come we never see third party candidates make much of a splash during the primaries, during off year congressional elections?

Because the major election cycles are the only times they get any press.

Quote by RowanThorn

In my recent primary the Democrats poured money into the Republican candidate! Only the top two primary candidates are on the ballot and they didn’t want a progressive democrat against the established democrat in the general election, so half of the one candidates budget went to election ads for the Republican.

By the way, are you employed by the Democrats because it seems like it?

Yes.

So which third party candidate are you voting for again?

Quote by Magical_felix

Yes.

So which third party candidate are you voting for again?

Dr Cornel West.

Quote by RowanThorn

Because the major election cycles are the only times they get any press.

So, admittedly - when it's done during Presidential election years - it's simply a protest stoked by Republicans who hope to influence undecideds and swing voters - the ultimate flip floppers.

Ego maniacs and imbeciles like RFK Jr don't even qualify as Democrats by the time they decide to pitch a tent on the nomination trail, otherwise - no Democrats would ever cast a vote for Mr or Mrs X - the 3rd party candidate.

I'm good with protests, except when those protests go against intelligence and reason. Those tend to evolve into riots and insurrections and Patriots Saving America while battling the establishment and legally elected government they seek to protest.

Quote by WellMadeMale

So, admittedly - when it's done during Presidential election years - it's simply a protest stoked by Republicans who hope to influence undecideds and swing voters - the ultimate flip floppers.

Ego maniacs and imbeciles like RFK Jr don't even qualify as Democrats by the time they decide to pitch a tent on the nomination trail, otherwise - no Democrats would ever cast a vote for Mr or Mrs X - the 3rd party candidate.

I'm good with protests, except when those protests go against intelligence and reason. Those tend to evolve into riots and insurrections and Patriots Saving America while battling the establishment and legally elected government they seek to protest.

No, that was never admitted.

Let's talk about the Democrats spending on backing alt right Republicans. This decades old tradition is part of a strategy of making sure the most extremist alt right candidates win. Every election cycle they pump millions of dollars into Republican primaries on extreme candidates hoping for easier times in the general election. The result many of the times is extremist candidates that they back go on to win the general election.

Here's a great example. There was this crazy businessman named Donald Trump who the Democrats thought would be an easy target in the 2016 election. So during the Republican primaries they poured hundreds of thousands of dollars of Super Pac ad revenues into the Trump campaign.

Then they dare tell the general public that they have no other choice but to vote for Democrats.

No thank you, the Democrats drive extremism for their own interests and if they get fucked over by it then that's on them, not on voters who will not pick the devil offered by the Dems.

Quote by sprite

Dr Cornel West.

He's my candidate right now. I'll hold off on final choice till closer to the election but he's my current top candidate.

Quote by WellMadeMale

How come it is we only hear the calls for establishing a viable 3rd party, during those every 4th year general election cycle for US Presidency.

How come we never see third party candidates make much of a splash during the primaries, during off year congressional elections?

This is a serious issue indeed. Say there's a 3rd-party candidate who's able to win the election. Chances are they will not get anything done, because both Democrats and Republicans will not be very eager to support them.
Besides, it may also prove difficult to find the right folks to form a cabinet, or whatever it's called in the US, when there's not a somewhat established platform to pick candidates from.

Here in the Netherlands we've seen many new parties in each general election this century. Some even became one of the bigger parties right away. In those cases this always causes many issues because they haven't been able to vet their candidates properly, and so there's always a lot of scandals with these new big parties.

I think the US desperately needs more big parties. But for that to work in the long term, those parties would ideally be built bottom up, from local to state to national, instead of top down.

Btw, and it's not just the Electoral College that's fucked up about the US election system. The fact that the president, a single position with all the power that comes with it, is elected directly and in a single round, creates a strong incentive for strategic voting. A much better system is where there's (at least) a second round, unless one of the candidates gets an absolute majority of the votes in the first round, between the top 2 candidates from that first round. That way the incentive to vote strategically is gone, unless there's a chance one of the candidates might reach the absolute majority in the first round.
But for such a system to work as intended, you'll need more than two parties to begin with of course.

Quote by sprite

Dr Cornel West.

Do you think he'll be able to get a big enough percentage for Trump to win?

Quote by Magical_felix

Do you think he'll be able to get a big enough percentage for Trump to win?

If he does maybe the Democrats might consider a populous candidate instead of playing shitty games trying to hold the American people hostage.

An election against Trump is an election that the Democrats can only lose. And currently they are choosing to do so.

Frankly I’ll gladly take another 4 years of Trump if it teaches the Democrats to stop gatekeeping out progressivism. It didn’t work the first or second time though, and I really have no interest in supporting a party who would rather hand the country over to Trump than to give the people what they want.

And if extremist right wing candidates were a danger why do Democrat sponsored Super Pacs pump millions of dollars into supporting them in primary seasons? They are more interested in keeping Democracy hostage than working for the people.

Play stupid games, get stupid prizes.