megaplayboy

46 minutes ago, unclevlad said:

I'm beginning to think it *possible* that Trump resigns, but I can't be any more definite than that.  Everything we believe about him says it can't happen but the pressures from all over, including places like the Wall St Journal, might mean he does.  And Trump has said, he's not going to the inauguration.  Just as well.  The best case right now would be for Trump to resign and slither out.  I think Biden could shake hands with Pence...maybe not the most cordial handshake ever but not the worst.  Not with Trump.  

 

Also...I don't know flag protocol details but if you fly a flag, I'd think it appropriate to fly it at half mast today.  A Capitol police officer died today from injuries suffered Wednesday.  

To be more specific, the officer was beaten to death by "patriots" using a fire extinguisher.  

This is utterly shameful and every protester who stormed into the building should be facing serious charges for this.  And Trump should be completely finished for this in any political sense.

4 hours ago, Old Man said:

If you see someone who looks like this, JUST...WALK AWAY. 

On 12/31/2020 at 8:22 PM, BoneDaddy said:

Good news! As far as the doctors setting the global standard for treating my cancer can tell, I currently don’t have cancer. 
 

Happy New Year Everyone!

Turned out to be good enough odds.  Thank all the gods, even the Old Ones.  On a critical fail this cancer pulls out the old Iron Crown tables. 

Very glad to hear that.  Survival rates have gone up dramatically in the last few decades, and eventually, hopefully, all but the worst case scenarios will be highly treatable.  

On 6/22/2020 at 9:22 PM, Lord Liaden said:

Oh, just in case anyone missed it, "light bearer" is a common English translation for, "lucifer." 😈

I have a campaign NPC megahero in Germany named Der Morgenstern whose archenemy is NeoMephisto.  The two beings' origin starts when a sorceror/alchemist named Faust struck a "powerful demon lord" in the chest with the Spear of Destiny and a piece of it stuck in his heart...

There's kind of a Sentry/Void dynamic going on there.  

1 hour ago, unclevlad said:

 

If you ask me, domestic terrorists.

 

And my gosh, what does it take to get through to these idiots?  By WorldOMeters, today's the first day we'll top 200K new cases and 3000 deaths.  We already have, with over an hour left in their statistical day.

 

I'm venting.  I know they don't listen.  But it is so insanely stupid, and so insanely costly.  And targeting families is moving into jackboot territory.

It's sort of mind-boggling that we're on track for maybe passing WW2 in total US deaths by Inauguration Day(also the anniversary of the discovery of the first case here), and a significant chunk of the population still believes it's an overblown hoax.  

20 hours ago, Pattern Ghost said:

This is what we'll see:

 

https://www.q13fox.com/news/rally-goers-and-counter-protesters-clash-in-olympia-one-person-arrested

 

Scale may vary.

 

I do like the way they're patriotically beating other Americans with the flag. Go 'murica!

NSFW--dirty words

DJ Shadow - Nobody Speak feat. Run The Jewels (Official Video) - YouTube

5 hours ago, Lord Liaden said:

To be honest, you see this kind of infighting among white supremacists all the time. They make a lot of noise, but when it comes to action they're too angry, undisciplined, and insecure to cooperate effectively. It's why I never bought into the fear of a civil war under loser Trump's provocation. Sure, there could be localized violence, but large-scale coordination is beyond them.

 

Even the violence may be overrated. Movements like these tend to draw people who love to talk tough, but lack the stomach for real risky confrontation.

Stochastic terrorism is a bigger threat going forward than organized terrorism.  Organized terror groups can be tracked, infiltrated and disrupted, but "lone wolves"(inspired by extremist ideologies) are harder to stop and still capable of doing a lot of damage.  

Basically, you get faster, stronger, tougher, with bigger energy attacks, maybe even some boost to your senses and combat skills(a CV boost).

The alternative to Aid is Multiform, with perhaps some limitations imposed on the requirements for assuming the form and for holding it.

Meanwhile they're insisting that all ballots be counted in Arizona.  

This thing is basically over, but the margins will have an impact down-ticket(the Senate is not settled completely, e.g.)

6 minutes ago, archer said:

Centerists House Democrats are talking about ousting Pelosi from the Speakership. They blame her for not going after Trump earlier on impeachment charges and for not attacking him more strenuously during the election. (She did seem to drop out of sight a lot more than I would have expected. And it's not unusual for the membership to blame the leader for losses or for smaller than expected gains.)

 

And they think that a fresh face might be better able to negotiate with Republicans in the House and Senate to shepherd through President Biden's legislation.

 

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/524503-centrist-democrats-talk-leadership-changes-after-negative-election-results

It seems like an unnecessary fight.  She already agreed that this next term would be her last in Congress and as Speaker.  

100 million votes "banked" before election day.  Amazing.  We're headed for all-time record turnout, especially considering that the old records from pre-1920 didn't include 18 year olds, women, people of color or, in some cases, non-landowning white males.  We need to continue early voting and make mail in voting universal, do motor voter registration everywhere and end disenfranchisement of ex-felons who've paid their debt to society.  

On 10/28/2020 at 11:23 PM, Pattern Ghost said:

 

He walks out on the interviewer. The video linked is 20 minutes, including intro and comments. They also interview the VP candidates. So, not too much Trump time in that one.

 

 

 

It's by post date here.

 

And then there's Boston . . .

What is up with this "Your replies have been merged?" thing? Those were two separate topics that are now irrevocably mushed together.

Make that three. No, four most likely.

 

Yeah, the problem is that SCOTUS may rule that ballots received after election day, even if it's postmarked before election day, don't count, an inconceivable ruling in the Before Time.

If you still have your mail ballot or absentee ballot, walk it in to a drop box.  DO NOT PUT IT IN THE MAIL BECAUSE IT'S TOO LATE NOW.   Alternatively, bring it with you to the polling place and vote in person instead.  Some states require you to turn in your unsent absentee ballot in order to vote in person.

1 hour ago, ScottishFox said:

 

I'd have to pick a time period after we rolled out the 1964 Civil Rights Act. 

 

The 80s and 90s were pretty great as I recall.

The last great thing I can recall is the year same sex marriage became legal across the country.  June 26, 2015.  I believe that's also the month Trump declared his candidacy for president.  

48 minutes ago, archer said:

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/522752-kushner-black-americans-have-to-want-to-be-successful

 

White House senior adviser (and Trump son-in-law) Jared Kushner said today a Fox News interview that in order for the president’s policies to be most effective, Black Americans must want to succeed.

 

“One thing we’ve seen in a lot of the Black community, which is mostly Democrat, is that President Trump’s policies are the policies that can help people break out of the problems that they’re complaining about. But he can’t want them to be successful more than they want to be successful.”

 

 

Yeah, the problems black people face in this country are that they don't want to be successful very much.

It's the "shiftless, lazy blacks" trope.  And, sadly, there are plenty of white folks who silently nod their heads in agreement, and don't believe they're being racist, just "realistic".  See, those ugly negative stereotypes, in their minds, are largely "true", and therefore it can't possibly be racist for them to believe such things.  Archie Bunker writ large.  It's kinfolk to the same mindset that disregards scientific experts when those experts tell them inconvenient truths. 

4 hours ago, Pariah said:

 

Margins of victory in the popular vote are interesting, but not particularly meaningful. Popular vote does not, and has not ever, determined who becomes the President. The President has always been elected by the States through the Electoral College, never by popular vote. Good, bad, or indifferent, those are the rules. Continuing to talk about the popular vote, while interesting, is not particularly meaningful.

Strategies to win the EC while losing the popular vote, OTOH, strike one as a bit obscene.  "we know the other party is more popular at the national level, but here's a way we can win by threading the needle with narrow victories in a handful of battleground states".  Once a party rationalizes that, it's a short hop to rationalizing minority rule in general, which is yet another step on the way to authoritarianism and tyranny.  

17 hours ago, archer said:

 

https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/largest-landslide-victories-in-us-presidential-election-history.html

 

10. Herbert Hoover defeats Al Smith, 1928 (17.41% margin)

9. Franklin Roosevelt defeats Herbert Hoover, 1932 (17.76% margin)

8. Andrew Jackson defeats Henry Clay, 1832 (17.81% margin)

7. Ronald Reagan defeats Walter Mondale, 1984 (18.21% margin)

6. Theodore Roosevelt defeats Alton Parker, 1904 (18.83% margin)

5. Lyndon Johnson defeats Barry Goldwater, 1964 (22.58% margin)

4. Richard Nixon defeats George McGovern, 1972 (23.15% margin)

3. Franklin Roosevelt defeats Alf Landon, 1936 (24.26% margin)

2. Calvin Coolidge defeats John Davis, 1924 (25.22% margin)

1. Warren Harding defeats James Cox, 1920 (26.17% margin)

 

Wow, lived through three of those. Let's make it four.

Only one of those involves a challenger beating the incumbent, 1932.  That's the marker imo.  If Biden even comes close to that mark, it's a real "come to Jesus" moment for the GOP.  Do they steer away, or do they hit the gas as they near the cliff?  

7 minutes ago, archer said:

Pennsylvania Supreme Court unanimously ruled that mail ballots cannot be discarded based on a perceived mismatch between signatures appearing on a voter's application and their actual ballot.

 

The decision came in response to a request by Pennsylvania’s Democratic Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar for clarity on the Keystone State’s mail ballot rule.

 

https://thehill.com/regulation/522496-pennsylvanias-top-court-deals-blow-to-gop-by-tossing-signature-matching-rule

 

As much as I deplore the voter suppression efforts of the Republicans, not being allowed to discard a ballot due to a very obvious signature mismatch is an open invitation to fraud. Matching the signature is really the only way for an election board to verify it was the actual voter who filled out that ballot and not someone else.

 

What this ruling says is that even if they get 10,000 or 100,000 ballots all signed with the same handwriting with the same kind of pen, none of the ballots can be tossed.

 

At least make the people who might try to defraud the system put some work into ATTEMPTING to alter their handwriting.

There's a great deal of variance in people's handwriting, and the people processing these ballots aren't necessarily handwriting experts.  Plenty of opportunity for mischief going the other way to just let them toss the ballots.  If need be, put them in a pile and count them provisionally until you can evaluate them further.

3 hours ago, TrickstaPriest said:

 

I've been assuming he's been ADD/ADHD for a long time.  He's very clearly frustrated an incredible amount of his staff with his inability to focus.  It also explains his rambling diatribes, heavy twitter and tv usage, etc...  He's unable to prepare, practice, do anything that takes any amount of concentration or time.  He completely adlibs everything and tries to wing everything he runs into. 

 

He has ADHD and he's absolutely refused to do anything about it, behaviorally or otherwise.  So maybe it's good that they put him on that.

 

People talked about cognitive decline, but I pretty much pegged it at ADHD for a good long while.

You can have ADHD and still focus.  

42 minutes ago, ScottishFox said:

Easily my favorite of the debates to date.

 

Probably my favorite of the debates in the last 8 years.

 

The moderator was spectacular.  Bring her back.  For everything.  Kudos to her.

 

I kind of agree with Archer that Joe's defenses to some of the accusations were a little light. 

Just saying "Not True!" isn't going to sway people who are concerned with the recent email dust up which was recently reinforced by the testimony of Bobulinski and the junior partner in prison.

 

I think Joe's overall demeanor was more likable and I think his performance should brush away any of the dementia concerns.  He held up very well.

Easily the more likable candidate of the two.  If you're concerned about personality and presentation from the president - Joe made a good case.

 

Out of all of Trump's blathering I found his attacks along the lines of, "You were VP for 8 years and didn't do anything." or "You've been a politician for 47 years and didn't do anything." hit the mark.

Biden admitting his crime bill from 26 years ago was a mistake is particularly bad since he's had 2.5 decades to fix it and hasn't.

 

Also, I was SO impressed by the moderator.  She is awesome.

One of the elements of "didn't do anything" is the assumption that the person in question had the unilateral ability to do things.  Generally speaking, with a two party system, 3 branches, 2 chambers, numerous veto points, they don't.  It also tends to be a cheap "gotcha" move when said politician obviously doesn't have time to talk about all the various incremental measures they did enact/propose/support.  

It amazes me that Trump doesn't get more pushback on the "I can't release my tax returns while they're under audit" bs.  First, it would be his lawyer advising him not to, not his accountant.  Second, there's literally nothing legally stopping him from releasing his returns and it's hard to see how it would affect his audit in any material fashion.

12 hours ago, ScottishFox said:

 

Honestly, it's more an indication of how many refugees we've accepted from California and New York.

Texas has been increasingly purple over the last several years.  I think Cruz only beat Beto O'Rourke by 3-4%.

 

Once Texas flips blue it will be Democrat everything for the foreseeable future.

Karl Rove had an effective strategy to expand the appeal of the Republican party, but it was foiled when the base rejected the immigration reform proposals of Bush's early 2nd term.  The RNC wrote a post-mortem after Romney's defeat in 2012, advising the party what it needed to do to survive and thrive going forward.  Instead the base tripled down in 2016 and won a fluke victory.  There are a few stages of internal reform a party can go through: Superficial(changing tone, message, messenger); Moderate(altering some policies and deemphasizing the less popular policies); Major(reversing the most unpopular policies and softening other policies to broaden appeal).  I'd expect Republicans to go through these stages incrementally, by making superficial changes in 2024-2028, moderate changes in the 2030s, and major changes in the 2040s.  If they don't, they are indeed doomed in any system where you need to win a majority of the vote in order to hold and maintain power.

1 hour ago, Lord Liaden said:

Trump maintains bank account in China, says NY Times . This story apparently derives from the Times' analysis of Donald Trump's tax returns.

 

 

By this point, anything Trump accuses someone else of doing, we should suspect he's projecting what he's doing himself.

There's already an acronym, EAIAC(Every Accusation Is A Confession).