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NEVERENDING ♾️ The NEVERENDING Political Discussion Thread

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I'm sure there are instances on a low level where election fraud of some scale occurs. But given the fact that this nation is incapable of getting its collective shit together about virtually anything, how can anyone think national election fraud could occur without people talking and no evidence? I mean c'mon man! This country loves nothing better than a scandal and that would be the juiciest one ever.
 
MD Planner said:
I'm sure there are instances on a low level where election fraud of some scale occurs. But given the fact that this nation is incapable of getting its collective shit together about virtually anything, how can anyone think national election fraud could occur without people talking and no evidence? I mean c'mon man! This country loves nothing better than a scandal and that would be the juiciest one ever.
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I think the same of the moon landing. If staged, someone would have long ago provided concrete evidence beyond my-great-uncle's-neighbor-whose-kid-went-to-a-birthday party-of-the-child-of-the-person-that-catered-food-to-the-stage-crew evidence.
 
NC Legislature passed the Hurrican Helene Relief bill - which was 312 pages long, of which 12 pages were directed at hurricane relief and 300 pages were secretly added that drastically reduces the power of the Governor, Attorney General and Dept. of Education. This is a last minute partisan power grab by the legislature which still has a supermajority until the newly elected ones are installed (& they lose their supermajority). :cursing:
 
btrage said:
Some good information on exiting polling:

www.yahoo.com

How Trump won, according to the NBC News Exit Poll

Donald Trump has been elected the 47th president of the United States, NBC News projects — overcoming polls, prosecutions and other pitfalls that appeared to be standing in his way over a two-year campaign.
www.yahoo.com www.yahoo.com
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A lot of that is pretty notable. When people are dissatisfied, they seek change even if it might not actually improve anything. It let's them have a sense of control and a space to articulate their displeasure. Just think about in local government how often we've seen good councilmembers unseated because people got pissed off about something that had nothing to do with that official.

I think regular people have a hard time understanding and articulating the economic issues, and the fancy folks that do understand it are uniquely bad at communicating it. I also don't think the common measures of economy tell the story especially well, and there's clues in that article. For example, unemployment is low, but a key contributing factor is people that either had to exit the workforce or gave up on the workforce in despair. This seems to be hitting men the most, and is probably a breaking factor. Many are underemployed, with stagnant wages. These should be win themes for democrats, except Harris found herself standing waaaaaaaaay too close to billionaires when she should've tripled down on those populist topics that resonated like corporate greed, lack of sharing the financial success of employers (failure of trickle down), addiction, etc. In that circumstance, people look to place blame. Trump is skillful in a "wolf in sheep's clothing" trope due to him being like a filterless Camel cigarette giving that extra shot of nicotine by saying what they're thinking, and it worked/works. Likewise, the stock market being on fire doesn't mean a whole lot to the paycheck-to-paycheck crowd, and I'm convinced it is an epic bubble caused by zombie algorithms feeding on each other off of "set and forget" indexed mutual funds and ETFs that prioritize short-term gains over long-term sustainability/innovation and reinvestment back into companies.
 
As a liberal elitist that watched MSNBC, I believed them when they said JD Vance just couldn't expand the electoral map in favor of DJ Trump. On air, they said, like, what was he thinking by selecting him, what is up with his strategy, they can't be serious.
 
Wannaplan? said:
As a liberal elitist that watched MSNBC, I believed them when they said JD Vance just couldn't expand the electoral map in favor of DJ Trump. On air, they said, like, what was he thinking by selecting him, what is up with his strategy, they can't be serious.
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I still don't think Vance added anything to the ticket. The states where Vance had any level of influence were breaking Trump already. Maybe he put North Carolina into the win column, but even that is a stretch.

I'll also say that adding Vance doesn't really help implementation of Trump's vision either--Vance has generally not demonstrated any skill in manipulating government systems or executing legislation (or deregulation) while in elected office. He's just another impractical pencil-neck Yale grad that cosplays as an Appalachian "man of the people" while clearly and smugly looking down his nose at them.
 
Suburb Repairman said:
I still don't think Vance added anything to the ticket. The states where Vance had any level of influence were breaking Trump already. Maybe he put North Carolina into the win column, but even that is a stretch.

I'll also say that adding Vance doesn't really help implementation of Trump's vision either--Vance has generally not demonstrated any skill in manipulating government systems or executing legislation (or deregulation) while in elected office. He's just another impractical pencil-neck Yale grad that cosplays as an Appalachian "man of the people" while clearly and smugly looking down his nose at them.
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When JD Vance is done as VP, he and Mike Pence can star in a sitcom titled The Unknown Couple.
 
As we continue to ask why, here is some interesting data from CNN:


The part that amazes me is that Harris got fewer votes than Biden in 45 of the 50 states and that while Harris made up ground in 4 of the 7 battle ground states, it wasn't nearly what Trump did. Finally, look at California. Granted it didn't matter being that it was Blue, but in the popular vote the difference is amazing given her history as a prosecutor there.
 
michaelskis said:
As we continue to ask why, here is some interesting data from CNN:


The part that amazes me is that Harris got fewer votes than Biden in 45 of the 50 states and that while Harris made up ground in 4 of the 7 battle ground states, it wasn't nearly what Trump did. Finally, look at California. Granted it didn't matter being that it was Blue, but in the popular vote the difference is amazing given her history as a prosecutor there.
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The Democrats had a big turnout problem. In hard number of voters for Trump, the numbers aren't all that different. It is reduced turnout for the democrat candidate more than anything. Some of this is probably the result of righteous anger at Trump in 2020 for completely bungling the COVID response. But voters have very, very short memories.
 
michaelskis said:
As we continue to ask why, here is some interesting data from CNN:


The part that amazes me is that Harris got fewer votes than Biden in 45 of the 50 states and that while Harris made up ground in 4 of the 7 battle ground states, it wasn't nearly what Trump did. Finally, look at California. Granted it didn't matter being that it was Blue, but in the popular vote the difference is amazing given her history as a prosecutor there.
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Biden received nearly 2 million more popular votes in CA in 2020 than Harris in 2024. Trump in 2020 and 2024 stayed nearly the same. No fear CA would turn red but 2 million less for Harris is a significant change and being the "local" candidate.
 
Suburb Repairman said:
I still don't think Vance added anything to the ticket.
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That's exactly my point. Trump could have nominated Rudy as his VP and it wouldn't have hurt him. MSNBC served the kool-aid to us liberal elitists. And we drank it. DRANK! IT! ALL!

And then in mid-September, Teamsters President Sean O’Brien was unable to support Harris, and he even said he had internal polling showing the majority of their membership supporting Trump. Harris was cooked way back in September! And MSNBC never followed up on it. It was just a blip, right?! Couldn't be true, right?!

Then, in an attempt to squeeze some blood from the Lots of Hope for Liberal Tears Stone, MSNBC trotted out that Iowa Poll saying that Harris had a lead over Trump. It was obvious that the 47% she enjoyed was NOT A MAJORITY and DID NOT MATTER but they blasted that "news" over and over and over like she won.

Recent news is that Universal is spinning off some of their channels, and MSNBC is one of them. Won't make me feel bad at it if it fails and goes away forever.
 
Maister said:
I would note they were dropped without prejudice. Meaning the cases can be prosecuted once again just as soon as he's finished his term.
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With the rate he's been declining, I'd be surprised if he's still alive at the end of his term, unless they use the 25th Amendment, which isn't likely.
 
Breaking: Stupid instagram account declares that all people in the democratic party are such mean-spirited elitist know-it-alls. Hit the :love: if you agree that not only are you mean-spirited, but also a know-it-all elitist democrat.

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Planit said:
NC Legislature passed the Hurrican Helene Relief bill - which was 312 pages long, of which 12 pages were directed at hurricane relief and 300 pages were secretly added that drastically reduces the power of the Governor, Attorney General and Dept. of Education. This is a last minute partisan power grab by the legislature which still has a supermajority until the newly elected ones are installed (& they lose their supermajority). :cursing:
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Just an update, the Senate and House both convened today at 12p. The House adjourned until Thursday. The Senate is currently taking up the overturn of the veto, and a motion was made to overturn and they were about to vote, but there was outcry from the gallery, so they ordered that the gallery be cleared and have recessed for a bit. You can listen live at the following link – audio link on the left side of the page https://dashboard.ncleg.gov/Audio/2023/S/0/ (NCGA Dashboard)

The Senate then voted to override the Governor’s veto of 382. I believe the House would not take this up before Thursday when they are scheduled to reconvene.
 
With events turning more and more goofy and chaotic regarding a new admin, how many here have trouble figuring out how not to engage MAGA family members?

Our T-Day event was shadowed by pre-agreed policies not to engage on politics.

This week is drawing opinion lines sharper and steeper.
 
JNA said:
Joe Biden Should Step Down.
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Did you see that before Thanksgiving that Nate Silver called for President Biden to step down? I used to think he was meh and somewhat interesting. But now? Not so much. (Michael Lewis, author of Moneyball and the Big Short, interviewed Silver for a podcast episode that came out about a month ago and I was gobsmacked at how neurodivergent Silver came across. And I am being nice.)
 
Wannaplan? said:
Did you see that before Thanksgiving that Nate Silver called for President Biden to step down? I used to think he was meh and somewhat interesting. But now? Not so much. (Michael Lewis, author of Moneyball and the Big Short, interviewed Silver for a podcast episode that came out about a month ago and I was gobsmacked at how neurodivergent Silver came across. And I am being nice.)
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Nate Silver says whatever Peter Thiel wants him to these days. It's a shame really.
 
The CIA and Biden likely played a big role in the Syrian Rebel offensive. Turning the screws on Russia before their boy comes back in January to save them.
 
“Any person or company investing ONE BILLION DOLLARS, OR MORE, in the United States of America, will receive fully expedited approvals and permits, including, but in no way limited to, all Environmental approvals,” tRump wrote Tuesday afternoon on Truth Social. “GET READY TO ROCK!!!”

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Planit said:
“Any person or company investing ONE BILLION DOLLARS, OR MORE, in the United States of America, will receive fully expedited approvals and permits, including, but in no way limited to, all Environmental approvals,” tRump wrote Tuesday afternoon on Truth Social. “GET READY TO ROCK!!!”

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Cartoonish incompetence.

But hey, thats America....
 
Planit said:
“Any person or company investing ONE BILLION DOLLARS, OR MORE, in the United States of America, will receive fully expedited approvals and permits, including, but in no way limited to, all Environmental approvals,” tRump wrote Tuesday afternoon on Truth Social. “GET READY TO ROCK!!!”

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"Drain the swamp" turned into "stop the elites" turned into "rich people can just do whatever they want without oversight."
 
Single Payer is the way. Lower costs, better outcomes.

I don't wish that guy dead, but no one should be making money like that on insurance. Insurance just sucks up money and provides nothing
 
I guess you read where Nancy Pelosi was injured in Europe yesterday and was admitted to the hospital.

I want to make a crass joke about getting medical care in Europe instead of here, but I'll refrain.
 
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