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comment by am_Unition
am_Unition  ·  96 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Dear Joe, it’s time to go

Ronald Reagan has entered the chat

No but you've made my point for me. Why do people not realize Trump is American Hitler? Because CNN et al is too busy calling for Hitler's rival to step down. Whether their primary motivation is fear of lawsuits, pursuit of tax breaks for the ruling class, or Axelrod's personal ideology is not terribly relevant, the result is the same.

He doesn't even have dementia. He's old. Do you know anyone with dementia? I do. It's not something that comes and goes, and it's far worse than anything I've ever seen Joe do.





thenewgreen  ·  94 days ago  ·  link  ·  

With he exception of FOX News, and even they’ve been more anti-trump the past year, every msm outlet has been very much reporting about the dangers of trump since 2016. The difference is, people don’t buy it. The media landscape has changed so much. People have figured out how it works. For example, he mentioned that if he isn’t elected there would be an economic bloodbath (as related to Chinese auto imports particularly) and the MSM just segmented the, “bloodbath,” part. Out of context it is scary stuff. They do this A LoT!

To be clear, the right does this too. Recently Joe Biden looked like he was confused and couldn’t find a chair or that at worse he was defeating in his pants. The right had a field day online with this.

People are disillusioned with the entire system. Our media has failed us. Our candidates are atrocious. Biden is not mentally fit for the job. I don’t care if it, “comes and goes.” Xi, Putin, Netanyahu and other leaders are sharp as a tack. We deserve the same. You couldn’t pay me to vote for Trump or Biden. I don’t think I will ever vote for another RNC or DNC candidate. I’m done. I will work hard to get a third party candidate elected. This cycle and beyond. All else is Stockholm syndrome. The parties are remarkably similar. Both run up the debt to unforgivable levels and rarely mention it as the threat that it is. We need to be rid of Citizens United. We need ranked choice. We need a cap on campaign spending. We need term limits in Congress. We need to dismantle the revolving door between private and public sector. For example, the head of the FDA during Covid is now on Pfizer's board. We are a mess and thinking either party will change that, or even wants to is ridiculous.

am_Unition  ·  93 days ago  ·  link  ·  

It's hard to really know what the context for the "bloodbath" comment was. I've seen the raw clip. After he says the "100% tariffs" bit, he then says "if we don't win, that'll be the least of it, it'll be a bloodbath for the whole country". Yes, the msm focuses far too much on small soundbites, but I can't really convince myself that they're in the tank for biden when there is a massive disconnect between economic indicators and crime statistics vs. perception of both. They have done a poor job of explaining the true threat of Trump, and the editorial decisions, especially with some of the headline selections and choice of stories to focus on, betray their poor grasp of history and overall naivete in this moment. And that's the best case scenario, unknowingly enabling fascism.

    Xi, Putin, Netanyahu and other leaders are sharp as a tack. We deserve the same.

We're not in a position to judge the mental acuity of fascist foreign regime leaders who meticulously control the information that is released about them via state media. I'd take a bumbling old man over a sharp (or whatever Trump is), aspiring fascist any day of the week.

    The parties are remarkably similar.

Insomuch as they're corrupt hyper-capitalists, agreed, but one demands a fascist oligarchy instead of a democratic oligarchy. I'm no lib, I'm an independent, probably socialist-dem, who feels that the most effective way to defeat the fascism element is voting dem right now. MAGA and the GOP will have to be politically vanquished completely before a new party can arise in our stupid-ass political system. Dismantling the oligarchy will require democracy.

I agree with so much of what you've said, but at this moment, it is politically impossible to make a push for it. And I'm sorry, but obviously I don't think RFK is the one to be the torch-bearer, either.

thenewgreen  ·  83 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    It's hard to really know what the context for the "bloodbath" comment was.
it’s not hard at all. The speech is available to watch in full context. Free yourself from “clips.”

    I'm no lib, I'm an independent, probably socialist-dem, who feels that the most effective way to defeat the fascism element is voting dem right now

One of the key tenets of fascism is the forcible suppression of opposition. Right now the DNC that you’re supporting is litigating to keep Kennedy and Cornell west off of the ballot in my state. The board of electors here is all dem. They’ve agreed to not certify the signatures for Kennedy and west. They have certified the ability for the right leaning independent candidates though. Odd. Also, they’ve denied Kennedy secret service protection even though he has double digit support, credible threats to his safety etc. Furthermore they agreed to debate outside of the purview of the debate commission, colluding with CNN to set criteria for exclusion tailored to keep indoor dent candidates off of the stage.

Furthermore, they ostracized any candidate that dared to primary Biden, effectively ending any opposition. Thereby stealing your right to choose your democratic candidate. Now, I suspect, they will wait until the last minute to choose their candidate (with no input from you or any other constituents).

Who are the facists here?

Biden may come across as a gentle grandpa but he’s a war monger. And he’s senile. A dangerous combo.

I feel amazing re my support for Kennedy. At 19% nationally now. The tide will turn. And if it doesn’t, I’ll remain proud of my support for him. To vote for either Biden or Trump is to vote against your own personal liberties.

b_b  ·  96 days ago  ·  link  ·  

He doesn't have dementia. He has age related cognitive decline, which isn't great either. I think he's going to last in the race until the first set of high quality, post-debate opinion polls come out. I think this actually might be a best case scenario for America. The behind-the-scenes fight right now should be Witmer v. Josh Shapiro, with no other serious contenders. Both upper midwest pragmatist governors who are very popular in relatively evenly dem-gop split states. Either would be formidable, assuming it's not too late to mount a serious campaign. I think Trump is more like America's Maduro--stupid and incompetent but with an authoritarian's disposition. But I don't like gambling America's future on a guy who probably isn't fit to be president now, let alone 4 years from now, when the vanquishment of America's Maduro is there for the taking with the right candidate.

cgod  ·  96 days ago  ·  link  ·  

They only way he isn't the Dems candidate is if he dies.

b_b  ·  96 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I agreed with you 100% until the day after the debate. The editorial boards of every major newspaper in the country, liberal and conservative, are urging him to step aside. That’s not nothing. I gone it even odds at this point.

am_Unition  ·  96 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Newsom wants it too, I think, and any discussion that cuts out Kamala, well, I can think of at least one person who's gonna take issue with that. And potentially many other Black Americans.

It is too late to mount a serious campaign, though. Swapping out Joe for another candidate undermines the legitimacy of future primaries, and it's already been reported that the Heritage Foundation (project 2025 authors) is looking into using a late election cycle candidate swap to bolster any potential election suits should Trump lose. And I've yet to see a convincing poll-tested analysis that shows another candidate being able to take on Trump. Yes, the "generic dem" polls better, but as soon as you slap a name on it, the favorability drops by something like 20%, is my current understanding.

edit: here is polling from yesterday

It isn't some sort of pro-Biden hysteria driving my concerns here, I want to assure everyone. I'm not terribly fond of him. The only thing that matters is beating Donald Trump, and I think Biden's still the best shot we have. It's unfortunate.

For posterity: 1930s Germany also didn't take Hitler at his word, either, btw. They thought it was rhetorical bombast, that he was an un-serious, comical figure.

mk  ·  95 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I won’t for Biden or Trump. I’d very likely vote for a different democrat. I assume there are lots of independents like me.

am_Unition  ·  95 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Let's do a vote swap, I vote independent in my state and you vote dem in yours, cool?

mk  ·  95 days ago  ·  link  ·  

But I don’t want Biden to be president. If I did, I would just vote for him. I feel like I’m setting a very low bar but I don’t think he’ll survive 4 years, and he’s in serious cognitive decline. I don’t think he’s currently fit for office. He has the nuclear codes. The Ukraine situation is going to probably come to a head in the next few years. He can’t even admit his own decline, and his admin is unable to act rationally. Both candidates are extremely unfit. I’m not voting for either. I don’t want to be beholden to one brand of insanity over another. This has gone too far. No thanks. I’ll be quietly prepping. Happy to consider a replacement though!

am_Unition  ·  95 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Buden's cognizance is indeed a serious concern, but dawg. Dawg. There is a solid order of magnitude in the disparity of my Biden vs. Trump assessment. I'm worried we will be wishing for presidential dementia in under a year. I gotta get outta here, this place is like ground zero for detainment centers. Only San Diego might rival south Texas.

mk  ·  95 days ago  ·  link  ·  

The DNC will be to blame. Maybe me a bit, but mostly the DNC. Particularly because Trump is going to win by a wide margin.

If you don’t want Trump, your issue isn’t really with me.

Maybe that’s tautological.

Devac  ·  95 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Since it's likely Biden won't last four years, due to death or decline, wouldn't banking on strong vice president taking over be a good strategy? That's still a thing and US didn't instate tanistry or some shit?

am_Unition  ·  95 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Yes that's absolutely correct. Our 25th amendment also allows for removal if a large number of persons very near to an active POTUS make the call. Welll, for now.

Devac  ·  95 days ago  ·  link  ·  

So is this a winning move? Vote Biden, elect the prick, hope the VP can score at least a 10 on Glasgow Coma Scale? 'Cause this sounds better than the alternative and less wasteful than independent in your climate. I'm sure mk will 'rebuke' this with some meaningless faux-profound tautology, at least he does that whenever talking to me, but you can use this as... amunition (ba dum tsh!).

am_Unition  ·  95 days ago  ·  link  ·  

  shots fired

That's my plan, limping this Old Dog Named Joe across the finish line. Like dragging him by the collar (Kristi Noem is taking interest). Harris would do a fine job. Like not really, there's still the uh capitalism thing, but the only way towards serious progress is through a dem victory. Living to vote another day. Sucks, of course. Before Palestine, Joe was the most unmistakably progressive president since FDR. And now it sucks to vote for him. A little. Quite a bit, really. Oh and my vote doesn't matter because of where I live. Trying to sneak out of here before the electric grid collapses, an especially noteworthy imminent collapse among a very promising field of other imminent collapses.

I feel bad because I know how good Poland might look if, say, a POTUS gave you half of Ukraine and constantly makes it clear that he doesn't give a shit about America, much less Europe.

But yeah man, we're cooked. We are kooky cooked cookadiddle-do, the ash is turning gray. It's ok, I'm making really good art

Devac  ·  95 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Nah, throwing your vote into the pile matters wherever you are. We recently had a Sołtys (like county-level official for rural areas) election where the difference between candidates was 6 votes (out of 250-someting voters). Sure, it's not the same league, our Sołtys is 47 and kicks ass as a public servant, but may POTUS match her importance and prestige one day. Your vote is no less important than mouthbreather's next in line.

    I know how good Poland might look if, say, a POTUS gave you half of Ukraine

LOL, come on, that's basic even by my understanding of geopolitics. Ukraine is neither his/America's to give nor ours to take. Also, combining it with Poland would cause a civil war faster than most of you can spell 'Volhynia'.

am_Unition  ·  93 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Dude you need to tell your friends that an American tried to singularize a singular word (soltys).

Devac  ·  93 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Nah, I told you already: we're pretty understanding of this. Hell, we have plurals of collective nouns, like 'the police' (nominative singular: policja, plural: policje), so go and wrap your head around that. It's like Latin, but much weirder and less regular. You're fine.

And good one, but what would we do with whole three lie-bear-ians?

am_Unition  ·  93 days ago  ·  link  ·  

The well-boy is key to lie-bear-yun stability. We're all about the 1/3 nuclear family and superbreeders.

Devac  ·  93 days ago  ·  link  ·  

If you shuffled the words and were about 1/3 families and nuclear superbreeders, it'd be sustainable even without lye-baer-oons.

am_Unition  ·  95 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Send the Solty over, if you can, thanks.

I have once again ruined communication with a proverbial "you". I am talking about Trump giving Putin Ukraine. Even some of it. Putin lives and breathes mid-20th century Soviet expansionist propaganda. If he thinks the US is noncommittal enough with NATO, I think you have Moldova as a warning case, and then maybe latvia and estonia but god knows belarus is a done deal.

b_b  ·  95 days ago  ·  link  ·  

That poll actually shows the opposite of what the poster purports it to show. Trump’s highest average is against Biden, and though each of the other candidates is weaker in nominal terms than Biden, the “don’t know” is significantly wider. As the election approaches, those don’t knows will break dem if they’re given a decent candidate, trump’s approval ratings such as they are.

am_Unition  ·  95 days ago  ·  link  ·  

OTOH, Trump has not yet affixed the right-wing media upon a different target. It's all terribly unknowable.

But I will tell you what I do know. We don't deserve this. Nobody deserves this.

And I know that if Trump wins, I will need to seek a judge to rule on whether we can play guitars in The Camps or not.

mk  ·  96 days ago  ·  link  ·  
This comment has been deleted.
mk  ·  96 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Yes, I do know something about dementia and he actually looks like he’s in an early stages. Could be vascular. But even if it’s not “dementia” his cognitive decline is bad, very very bad for someone past the average life expectancy running for president. Trump isn’t an excuse for that. CNN didn’t cause everyone to see it and say omg beyond hosting the debate that the Biden campaign wanted.

am_Unition  ·  96 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Again, just as with Feinstein, the Biden campaign and entourage is unfortunately in large part now a protectionist racket. Careerists preserving their jobs. Biden shouldn't have ran again.

The "no live fact-checking" stipulation was agreed to by the Biden campaign. So yeah, they're obviously idiots. Whoever prepped him also erred terribly, and tried to prioritize memorizing stats and facts way down in the weeds. That's obviously not how to best Trump in this format of exchange.

The stupidest timeline.