Campaign 2020

[Mister Tee]

News alert: Anita Hill has come out for Joe Biden.

Best precedent: Debbie Reynolds voting for Elizabeth Taylor for Butterfield 8.

[Sabin]

Okri wrote
Genuinely, do you think it matters? Nihilism isn't an informed choice; certainly not one a member of a marginalized community can make, but fuck me sideways, it would floor me if that moved the needle a jot.

Jason Kanders' words on CNN about the Atlantic article are on point.

I know you didn't call me a nihilist, but for clarification I'm not one. I've spent the bulk of my adult life (until recently) working in political and non-profit fundraising because I didn't like the idea of working a day job that didn't in some way make some kind of difference.

Do I think this revelation matters? I think it matters in this sense: the impression I've gotten over the past month or so is that the unrest in the streets has been helping Trump with Moderate Republicans (and Independents who Biden is already winning) a little bit who are truly put off by what they're seeing. After a generally good week for Biden, I think this story probably keeps some of them in the Biden camp. I can't fathom who else it sways. Trump voters are either his death cult core and they will not be swayed or they wanted to (as Michael Moore memorably and accurately stated) throw a Molotov cocktail at the establishment (oops!). So, there's nothing that can be done about the former. The world has gotten too brown and gay for them. But the latter can be swayed because they've now seen the effects of Trump. They might not like seeing the unrest in the streets but the combination of Biden in the past week and Trump's comments might drag them away. Again, these are Moderate Republicans and Independents. I couldn't tell you how much of the voting population this actually constitutes (mostly because Independents are truly nebulously defined). I'll take all the votes I can get.

So, I guess it matters a little in that it shifts the conversation away from the unrest in the streets back to Trump being unfit for the job. Do I think it matters-matters, like is actually important at this point? I can't understand anybody hearing this and feeling shocked. He called John McCain a loser in 2015. He mocked the Gold Star family. We've read how many books about him at this point? This isn't shocking or surprising. I haven't been shocked or surprised by anything he's said or done since Charlottesville and I'm not going to pretend like I am.

I think I would actually be opposed to printing these He said/She said stories in the first place and urge that they focus more on what he is doing if Trump wasn't such a sui generis combination of inept, stupid, and authoritarian leaning. We might get some combination of them again but not like this. That's why I support them publishing these stories .I's important to print every horrible thing about him at this point to drive home the point that this man is a walking terror. But I'm just exhausted by it at this point.

[Okri]

Wake me up when a tape surfaces of him saying the N-word.

Genuinely, do you think it matters? Nihilism isn't an informed choice; certainly not one a member of a marginalized community can make, but fuck me sideways, it would floor me if that moved the needle a jot.

Jason Kanders' words on CNN about the Atlantic article are on point.

[Sabin]

Wake me up when a tape surfaces of him saying the N-word.

[OscarGuy]

I still don't think it does him in. He could literally stand on Fifth Avenue, shoot someone and not lose his base. He hates the same people they hate. That hasn't changed. Sure, this is the first time Fox News has actively referenced and validated the allegations, but by this point I honestly don't think it matters. His supporters are the ones who think that 180,000 deaths are no big deal. These are amoral deplorables who don't care what he says about others, they just want him to keep pwning the liberals.

[Sonic Youth]

Well, he has reversed himself on the closure of Stars and Stripes but still denies he ever said those things about dead soldiers or even that he ever called McCain a loser which he did in front of millions so I don't think anyone believes him anymore. I think this is the one that does him in.

Yes, but if it does him in, it will be because of how late in his term the allegations surfaced more so than the allegations themselves, IMO.

[Big Magilla]

Quoting someone on Twitter:

"Now Trump is saying he even phoned Melania back in Washington to say how disappointed he was that he couldn’t go to the military cemetery outside of Paris. In fact, Melania was with him in Paris. He just made up his alibi."

I'm waiting for Melania AKA Ilsa the She-Wolf of the SS to confirm the call.

[Big Magilla]

Well, he has reversed himself on the closure of Stars and Stripes but still denies he ever said those things about dead soldiers or even that he ever called McCain a loser which he did in front of millions so I don't think anyone believes him anymore. I think this is the one that does him in.

[Sabin]

It shouldn't be news to anyone, but a lot of his "base" are a death cult.

[Big Magilla]

It shouldn't be news to anyone, but a lot of his "base" are retired servicemen who could poo-poo his brushoffs of individuals but now they (and Fox News for that matter) are realizing he thinks as much of them as did McCain and all the others.

[Sabin]

How is this any kind of shattering news though? He insulted the Kahn family and John McCain. If he had respect for our military, he wouldn't have done that.

What's next: it turns out Donald Trump thinks women are inferior. We know that!

[Big Magilla]

"The Red Mirage" is old news. This is what is grabbing the headlines now:

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-e ... u-n1239324

[Sabin]

I'll be honest: I don't care. I've lost my ability to care what this guy says. I think a lot of people have too. If this shit moved the needle at all, he wouldn't be President in the first place. And all his supporters will say he didn't say it. I would say it does nothing and if I'm being honest I'm just dreading another week of handwringing on MSNBC bemoaning the norms. He's a piece of shit. He's always been a piece of shit. If 40% of the country votes for him and he loses in a Mondaleian landslide, we still kind of deserve him.

Big Magilla wrote
He wins reelection only through trickery, but that trickery is still at his disposal, so we will see.

Or through perception. I just used a new phrase this week: "The Red Mirage."

Basically, Democrats vote using mail-in ballot disproportionately high compared to Republicans, and this year we're going to see more mail-in ballots than we've ever seen before and they're going to take a while to count. While Biden's margins are holding (PA is concerning to me though), it's likely that Trump will appear to be in a much stronger position than he actually is on election night, might declare victory, and start legal proceedings to stop mail-in ballots. I have a hard time believing that the Supreme Court is going to side with Trump on this one, but it's going to be a mess.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C74GXN2 ... e=emb_logo

[danfrank]

I agree with Magilla that this one could do some significant damage to Trump. The diehards will stand by Trump no matter what but the swayables—however few there may be—could definitely be swayed by this. The Atlantic article (a good short read) is both convincing and incredibly damning.

[Big Magilla]

Some of those assholes do occasionally wander over to the three original broadcast networks where it is getting heavy play.

And now his flunky at the State Dept. has ordered the closure of Stars and Stripes worldwide by September 15th. It may not be the greatest newspaper in the world, but it was and is a mainstay for military personnel and their families who are shuttled from post to post all over the world.

So far the congressional Republicans who have supported him through thick and thin have not spoken on the revelations of his calling our country's war dead "losers" and "suckers". This one may be a bridge too far even for them.

He wins reelection only through trickery, but that trickery is still at his disposal, so we will see.