Election 2020
IdleRich
IdleRich
Well the first part is definitely true. Which governor was it who was defeated in the mid-terms last year and he deliberately voted to strip his office of powers before he stepped down because he was concerned that his replacement would "use the office to pursue a left-wing agenda" - really?
WashYourHands
Cat Malogen
If the first casualty of war is truth and such a thing as a culture war exist in the US today, how can the election command sides to stand down? It can’t, it’s only going to get worse.
version
Well-known member
I don't even know if Gass' proposed solution mentioned at the end of that Tunnel piece I posted the other day would work anymore,
After “The Tunnel” was published, Gass made its true subject clear: “I’m not talking about Germany, I’m talking about the United States.” The novel ends without a solution, but Gass had once hinted at a potential way out. In his 1968 novella “In the Heart of the Heart of the Country” he evokes a Midwestern town in which tribalism transcends mere selfishness or greed: “I have known men, for instance, who for years have voted squarely against their interests.” Politics is treated as a sporting event, with voters lined up on opposing sides, and their need to see themselves as winners may turn out to be their unlikely salvation: “They tend to back their country like they back their local team: They have a fanatical desire to win; yelling is their forte; and if things go badly, they are inclined to sack the coach.”
After “The Tunnel” was published, Gass made its true subject clear: “I’m not talking about Germany, I’m talking about the United States.” The novel ends without a solution, but Gass had once hinted at a potential way out. In his 1968 novella “In the Heart of the Heart of the Country” he evokes a Midwestern town in which tribalism transcends mere selfishness or greed: “I have known men, for instance, who for years have voted squarely against their interests.” Politics is treated as a sporting event, with voters lined up on opposing sides, and their need to see themselves as winners may turn out to be their unlikely salvation: “They tend to back their country like they back their local team: They have a fanatical desire to win; yelling is their forte; and if things go badly, they are inclined to sack the coach.”
Mr. Tea
Let's Talk About Ceps
This is exactly the attitude that got Trump into power in the first place. A politics of anti-politics.
WashYourHands
Cat Malogen
Cheerleaders with guns? Maybe not though eh.
luka
Well-known member
Yup. We need more of it. We've only just begun.
sufi
lala
sorry Leo i missed your reply earlier
I'm not discounting the resistance, but sadly it doesn't feel like Biden could pull off the necessary landslide to settle things decisively (from this faraway vantage point), so they will be played into the position where they have to choose between conceding and violence
(hopefully it goes without saying that's not my preferred outcome)
It just seems more likely that things will easily sink into disputes and recriminations, leaving things open for him to claim his 2nd term (after all obama had 2),
I'm not discounting the resistance, but sadly it doesn't feel like Biden could pull off the necessary landslide to settle things decisively (from this faraway vantage point), so they will be played into the position where they have to choose between conceding and violence
(hopefully it goes without saying that's not my preferred outcome)
Leo
Well-known member
some, including McConnell, came out today and said there would be a peaceful and orderly transfer of power in January.
it's the shit show that happens between November 4 and January 19 that's the problem.
Mr. Tea
Let's Talk About Ceps
More Trump? Sounds ideal.
IdleRich
IdleRich
Yeah that's obviously a weaselly answer that could easily allow him to stick to his word if Trump blatantly cheats like a motherfucker so that the transfer of power is from Trump to Trump. But we need to know that if there is a massive unconstitutional action by Trump before that he will do the right thing. I mean obviously he's avoiding the question and he won't.
"Let Me Explain What Happens Next..." - A Reader Sums It All Up Very Ominously
There is only one difference between now and full-on state oppression: A change in the Zeitgeist...
Leo
Well-known member
Mitch McConnell has proven many times that he will stretch the limits of the law to get what he wants, but I honestly think he would not support an action that was in violation of the law. he'd tie himself up in knots trying to find a way to parse the legal words so they fit his narrative, but he wouldn't break the law.
Leo
Well-known member
"Let Me Explain What Happens Next..." - A Reader Sums It All Up Very Ominously
There is only one difference between now and full-on state oppression: A change in the Zeitgeist...www.zerohedge.com
stopped reading at "Yet the science is clear – masks offer no protection."
c'mon, Gov...QAnon is more entertaining than that guy.
Mr. Tea
Let's Talk About Ceps
The Election That Could Break America
If the vote is close, Donald Trump could easily throw the election into chaos and subvert the result. Who will stop him?www.theatlantic.com
"At the time, Clark was a senior lieutenant with Trump’s reelection campaign; in July, he was promoted to deputy campaign manager. “Wisconsin’s the state that is going to tip this one way or the other … So it makes EDO really, really, really important,” he said. He put the mission bluntly: “Traditionally it’s always been Republicans suppressing votes … [Democrats’] voters are all in one part of the state, so let’s start playing offense a little bit. And that’s what you’re going to see in 2020. That’s what’s going to be markedly different. It’s going to be a much bigger program, a much more aggressive program, a much better-funded program, and we’re going to need all the help we can get.” (Clark later claimed that his remarks had been misconstrued, but his explanation made no sense in context.)
Of all the favorable signs for Trump’s Election Day operations, Clark explained, “first and foremost is the consent decree’s gone.” He was referring to a court order forbidding Republican operatives from using any of a long list of voter-purging and intimidation techniques. The expiration of that order was a “huge, huge, huge, huge deal,” Clark said.
His audience of lawyers knew what he meant. The 2020 presidential election will be the first in 40 years to take place without a federal judge requiring the Republican National Committee to seek approval in advance for any “ballot security” operations at the polls. In 2018, a federal judge allowed the consent decree to expire, ruling that the plaintiffs had no proof of recent violations by Republicans. The consent decree, by this logic, was not needed, because it worked."
Is this as ominous as it sounds? I mean, am I being totally hyperbolic by imaging a handful of tall, beefy white guys with questionable tattoos, wearing combat fatigues, Oakleys and MAGA hats, hanging around polling stations while visibly packing heat, and either heavily implying or actually saying "Vote Trump, or else"?