The News Thread

[CiG]

Oops.

 

[crimsonfloyd]

What the Dems should do:
-Call for unanimous consent on every bill
-Force every bill to read aloud
-Shut down the government if Republicans refuse to wait until January
-Impeach Trump over and over until January to freeze the senate
-Commit to stacking the Supreme Court the moment Biden is sworn in

What the Dems will do:
-A few grandstanding speeches
-A pin or something else symbolic to honor Ginsburg
-Some pitiful appeals to "moderate" Republicans
-Act like there's nothing they could do once Trump's justice is appointed

For the record, I would only endorse the continuation of those hardball tactics if Biden wins the presidency and/or Dems win the senate. If they lose they lose. However, if they let the Republicans change the rules on them yet again without the fight of their life, then the entire leadership of the Dem party needs to be removed.

 

[Dak]

I would love for Dems to go more apeshit than they already have. Very publicly. I would love for them to pack 500 scotus judges in if Biden wins. Let's cut the lame slowly escalating tit for tat and cut straight to the full blown stupid. They tried that supporting the looters and that worked well. The level of senility in Dem leadership at the top and the midwits at the junior level really hamper longterm success, especially with that approach.

OTOH, I look at their opponents and it's nearly as bad. The faster it gets stupid the sooner we see people who have been previously uninvolved or covertly involved show up or reveal their hand.

 

[Einherjar86]

Fox News won a court case by 'persuasively' arguing that no 'reasonable viewer' takes Tucker Carlson seriously

Fox News argued that Carlson "cannot be understood to have been stating facts, but instead that he was delivering an opinion using hyperbole for effect," the ruling said.

It added that Fox News "submits that the use of that word or an accusation of extortion, absent more, is simply 'loose, figurative, or hyperbolic language' that does not give rise to a defamation claim."

US District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil agreed with Fox's premise, adding that the network "persuasively argues" that "given Mr. Carlson's reputation, any reasonable viewer 'arrive with an appropriate amount of skepticism' about the statements he makes."

 

[CiG]

 

[Oblivious Maximus]

https://greekcitytimes.com/2020/09/...l-azerbaijani-attack-loss-of-lives-and-tanks/

Not good.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

I know a lot of people expect the cable debates to be Trump's saving grace over Biden, but I think they will be far more slanted against him than the 2016 ones already were. If anything the lack of audience/remote moderation for wuflu concerns will only be used against Trump. Not to mention that it won't be a theatrical event anymore; just go back to the one Biden vs Sanders wuflu debate and see how difficult it is to watch from a purely aesthetic point of view.

After today's I'd say

1. Debate was definitely and obviously slanted against Trump, and this was the FOX guy, will only get worse from here. The next moderator is a former intern of Biden's, lol.
2. The stage/audience issues of the Biden/Sanders debate were fixed and it was perfectly watchable from an aesthetic standpoint, which might help keep viewership high-ish.
3. Wuflu was clearly and obviously a weak point for Trump, though it would be for any candidate in the same position.
4. The tax section was his worst showing and at one point he seemed to accidentally blame Biden for not reversing Trump's tax cuts, though maybe I misheard it or the whole thing was too dry to be bothered with.
5. Trump showed full energy and I'd argue even seemed sharp in terms of recalling specific details in a way that surpassed any of his HRC debates (though there was no "Because you'd be in jail" moment). Some of his jabs seemed excessive and pointless (like calling Biden "number two") but that's his style so probably doesn't matter.
6. Based Trump Proud Boys energy. That being said, while I'm not sure the Proud Boys boogieman will scare that many independents/non-whites, I'm a little surprised he didn't make at least a slightly more substantial defense of himself, e.g. mentioning that Proud Boys have literally murdered no one during a demonstration since their conception, whereas antifa have murdered several just since May. The controversy will perhaps give him a better angle to force that next debate, but it also gives Dems an opportunity for a schizo gunman/bomber to kill people in the name of the Proud Boys. But again, I like the ballsiness of the move, almost zero deference given to anti-white propaganda.
7. Despite all of that, Biden was fairly sharp too, far better energy than he had on the big primary stage, his slip-ups were relatively short, and Rep hopes of a total Biden collapse were clearly unjustified.
8. I think the "from Scranton" angle could have seemed fake if Trump didn't explicitly attack Biden for coming from a less prestigious school, which only feeds into the blue-collar Irish-Catholic Biden image. "I don't know anything about Beau" also seemed unnecessary when he already hit on Hunter and the Russia money multiple times. So in terms of how Trump framed Biden's character, I think it was a failure, and since a big chunk of swing/independent voters tend to place emphasis on the "would have a beer with" factor, that goes doubly.
9. Because Trump needs a big boost and Biden only needed to show up and look conscious, Biden arguably still came out ahead in the net and I doubt the debate did much to change people's minds.
10. The largely-negative response to the debate hints at potential voter fatigue, which will help Trump since his base is more fanatical. Additionally, Telemundo is saying that two thirds of Hispanic viewers thought Trump won just on machismo factor, and with other polls hinting at least a slight Hispanic vote, that could be his winning hope is he has one at all.

Overall, enjoyed it a lot, mostly just for the shit-flinging. Looking forward to the next two, and dreading the Pence vs Harris debate (though I'll give it a shot). Within everything else considered I don't see Trump winning the election but fingers crossed.

 

[crimsonfloyd]

Supreme Court: I thought Biden was smart to focus on the risk of Obamacare being overturned. Abortion is usually the talking point when it comes to the Supreme Court, but anyone who is voting on that issue is already decided. Trump pretended that Biden wanted “socialized healthcare” and Biden rebutted that point and focused on his own plan for a public option. I thought Biden played it wrong by not answering the questions about packing the courts and ending the filibuster; people want to know if he will actually take action to get legislation passed or if it will just be another 4 years of gridlock. I’ll add in here a great line Trump had later in the debates about the courts. Obama left 180 seats empty while Trump filled 300 plus three Supreme Court seats. Ouch. That fires up Republicans and depresses Dems.

COVID-19: I thought Biden won this section, but not as well as he should have. He had some strong lines, like (paraphrased) “the people didn’t panic, Trump panicked.” He also had a line about how maybe Trump looked at Wall Street instead of focusing on the people. He tried to go into “empathetic Joe” mode, which started well, and then Trump just steamrolled over him. Trump’s answers on this topic were all rehashed talking points about how he shut down the country from China 10,000 years ago and how a vaccine is just around the corner, he promises, even if the health experts say otherwise. Still, I think Biden could have hit him much harder here, since this is the biggest failure of Trump’s presidency.

Economy: I don’t know if it was Steve Bannon or someone else, but in 2016 someone was training Trump to sound like a populist and that person is clearly gone. Trump barely touched on trade and manufacturing and instead focused on 401Ks and the stock market. Biden had some of his most substantial moments when he talked about his “Buy American” plan and talked about the work he and Obama did with saving the auto industry. Trump meanwhile talked about “bringing back football” which seemed woefully out of touch in the middle of an economic crisis. Trump also pivoted to Hunter Biden here, which I didn’t think was a good look for him. Biden is talking about his economic policy and you want to pivot to family drama? Still Biden took the bait. His non-answer here was terrrrrible. He kept just saying “it’s not true.” This is the totally wrong way to handle this. Biden should have shifted to the corruption in the Trump family. Trump is using payments to his daughter as tax write offs and somehow Biden didn’t mention this? Biden needed to fight fire with fire here, and by not doing so, he made himself look weak.

Race and Law and Order: I thought this area was Trump’s clearest win. He hammered Biden on the crime bill and the “super predators” line. He talked about how he is freeing many nonviolent drug offenders that Biden locked up. Then, he made Biden denounce defunding the police, made him sound wishy washy on BLM, and he made him talk about giving more money to police. Great move by Trump to depress voter turnout on the left. Trump also hit Biden with the “name one law enforcer” line, which Biden couldn’t answer. Trump managed to make Biden seem too far right for progressives and too far left for moderate Republicans. Biden did hit Trump on the Charlottesville comments, but those are stump-speech lines and anyone who is voting off of that is already voting for Biden.

Climate Change: Here again Biden walked into Trump’s trap. Trump got Biden to dump on the Green New Deal, alienating left voters. However, Trump went waaay to far with the hyperbole when he said Biden’s environmental plan would cost $100 trillion. Then, Chris Wallace comes in with some nuanced question about Biden’s plan, which just made Trump’s comments seem all the more absurd.

Election Integrity: Trump’s answers were exactly what I expected. He will try to win this election by any means necessary, including flipping electoral college voters and using the Supreme Court to freeze ballot counting as they did in 2000. Biden’s answers here were good: Trump doesn’t determine the election, the votes do. Wallace did a good job of trying to establish that precedent as well. Still, I don’t see feckless Dems like Pelosi and Schumer being a match for Trump and McConnell’s push for power. They won’t even slow down the Barrett vote when he’s clearly telegraphing that he is willing to use the Supreme Court stopping the vote count to win. Dems seem to be heading towards an iceberg and only responding with “Vote!” while driving straight ahead.

Final analysis, I think Trump went too hard. He was relentless in his interrupting and insults and it made the debate intolerable for long stretches. Unlike 2016, there wasn’t a clear message of what he wanted to do for the country, just a sense of chaos. His best move was depressing voter turnout on the left. On the other hand, I thought Biden was too soft. He missed so many opportunities to hit back at Trump on his corruption, his nepotism, his intelligence, his failure on COVID, and so much more. I think this probably made some people decide to stay home and reminded many low info voters why they hate politics, which will make more people stay home. Like HBB said, that’s a win for Trump. Still Trump’s answers on COVID are so bad and I think he’s gonna feel the wrath of old people who simply don’t want to die.

 

[CiG]

Trump belligerently bullied Sleepy Joe, I didn't see that coming at all...

 

[rms]

Wouldn't say it was bullying, like badgering. He was wild like a kid

 

[crimsonfloyd]

10. The largely-negative response to the debate hints at potential voter fatigue, which will help Trump since his base is more fanatical. Additionally, Telemundo is saying that two thirds of Hispanic viewers thought Trump won just on machismo factor, and with other polls hinting at least a slight Hispanic vote, that could be his winning hope is he has one at all.

From one of the most veteran polsters.

 

[CiG]

Finally have some time to watch the debate right now. I fucking hate Chris Wallace ugh.

Wouldn't say it was bullying, like badgering. He was wild like a kid

Nope this is absolutely bullying, and it's pretty belligerent too. "Did you use the word 'smart'? You forgot the name of your college, graduated lowest in your class, don't ever use the word 'smart' with me."

He's such a massive cunt lol.

Edit: Chris Wallace tried to get Trump to denounce Kyle Rittenhouse by lumping him in with white supremacists and Trump didn't bite, that was awesome. Get absolutely fucked with a rail spike.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

Biden put an ad out featuring Kyle Rittenhouse as a white supremacist and the latter's attorneys are saying they're going to sue the campaign. tbh, some of the attorneys seem to be going really hard on the 1776 WILL COMMENCE AGAIN tone and one of them has a shady past so while I think Kyle will easily avoid a murder conviction, I think anything more than a quiet and small settlement is unlikely.

A few people at my work were seething about the debate btw, literally LITERALLY SHAKING, repeating "clown" a dozen times. I'm sure they'll still vote Biden since they're affluent, but feathers were rustled and at least one of them was annoyed that Biden didn't defend himself better.

 

[CiG]

Yeah Biden came in like some kind of "can't we all just get along, man" puppy dog and Trump was just in full attack mode. By the end Biden started getting heated and doing better though, but the first half of the debate was basically all Trump. Also jesus Chris Wallace has got to be one of the biggest cucks on the planet, the entire time Trump is just disregarding debate rules, arguing with Chris himself, shitting all over Biden and every time he wanted to calm things down he'd say "guys guys guys" as if it was both Trump and Biden going apeshit, or when Biden called Trump a clown and then immediately tried to rectify his ad hom and Wallace clutched his pearls and gave Biden a stern warning lmfao.

Wallace had Trump's balls in his mouth the whole time, even with his lame ass "gotcha" attempt questions he was still licking his nutsack.

 

[crimsonfloyd]

As a teacher, I felt like I was watching every rule of classroom management be broken.

He didn’t enforce his rules from the get go. He enforced them inconsistently. He begged. He yelled. He openly acknowledged that one of the participants didn’t have to answer the questions. It was like observing a first year teacher getting wrecked.

 

[CiG]

Exactly haha. Also when Wallace would change to the next subject and would say something like "can we move on to---" and Trump would say "okay" or "sure" it was like he was asking Daddy Trump for permission to do his fucking job. Piss poor performance old chum, delete your career.

 

[no country for old wainds]

https://twitter.com/RosyGSpeers/status/1311683810258563074

finally a convincing argument

 

[CiG]

Kyle Rittenhouse to sue Joe Biden after campaign ad links teen to white supremacy.

The lawyer for accused Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse is suing Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden for libel, accusing the candidate of connecting Rittenhouse to white supremacy in a campaign video.

Biden posted a video on Twitter with a comment saying President Donald Trump “refused to disavow white supremacists” during the debate Tuesday night. The video plays the audio of moderator Chris Wallace asking Trump if he’ll condemn white supremacist and militia groups and ask them to not add to violence during protests, pointing to examples in Portland, Oregon, and Kenosha, Wisconsin. The video includes a photo and footage of 17-year-old Rittenhouse during protests in Kenosha on Aug. 25, the night he’s accused of killing two people and wounding a third, according to The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

“To say that Kyle is a white supremacist and militia member who was responsible for the violence in Kenosha is a lie. That lie prejudices Kyle’s constitutional right to a fair trial and damages his reputation,” L. Lin Wood, Rittenhouse’s attorney, told Newsweek.

Wood on Wednesday called the campaign’s inclusion of Rittenhouse “reckless.” :

“The only thing that saves Chris Wallace is that he did not use Kyle’s name or likeness. @JoeBiden & his campaign recklessly did. Meets the ‘of and concerning’ requirement of libel law. Joe is going to be sued,” he tweeted

 

[HamburgerBoy]

Trump got the China pozz. Kamala Harris will get to debate Nancy Pelosi.

 

[CiG]

https://twitter.com/RosyGSpeers/status/1311683810258563074

finally a convincing argument

We all know why you're convinced by this.

Trump got the China pozz.