Paid Members Chris B Posted October 1, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted October 1, 2020 1 hour ago, CavemanLynn said: There's also the dichotomy of both Trump's and Johnson's characters, in that both are presented as blustering idiots, yet, to have manipulated so many people so well for so long, they MUST be highly, highly intelligent. I think Trump is neither as stupid as most people think nor anywhere near as intelligent as he or his supporters think. He's certainly not the 5D chess guy. I'm halfway through Bob Woodward's new book, and a few people note in it that Trump is really smart. And there's an element in which he is - I remember Stephen Colbert trying to catch him out with quotes in the past, and whether they were him or Colbert's old satire character. And Trump nailed it every time - he's very aware of what he's said and, often, the context he said it in. (He also, obviously, lies and denies he said things). The thing is that Trump may be smart in some ways, but he's also extremely ignorant. And he has zero interest in learning about things he doesn't care about - which is basically anything that doesn't serve him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted October 1, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted October 1, 2020 3 hours ago, BomberPat said: I think we've mistaken brazen corruption and privilege for intelligence, to be honest. I spent years thinking that Johnson was a master manipulator hiding behind the character of a buffoon, but every available bit of evidence suggests that he's extremely lazy, and just not that bright. He's been allowed to fail upwards for his entire career, because money and the right connections are a tremendous insulator against consequence. Trump is exactly the same, only historically running with dodgier characters than Johnson - and I at least believe Johnson has some genuine political ideology, while Trump is purely motivated by self interest and petty spite. In terms of pulling the strings - yeah, there's the likes of Steve Bannon and all kinds of dark money influences that it's right to be concerned by, but the majority of the people "pulling the strings" aren't powerbrokers with grand schemes, they're major corporations and media magnates wanting to make money, with no ideology or vision beyond that. 2 hours ago, Chris B said: I think Trump is neither as stupid as most people think nor anywhere near as intelligent as he or his supporters think. He's certainly not the 5D chess guy. I'm halfway through Bob Woodward's new book, and a few people note in it that Trump is really smart. And there's an element in which he is - I remember Stephen Colbert trying to catch him out with quotes in the past, and whether they were him or Colbert's old satire character. And Trump nailed it every time - he's very aware of what he's said and, often, the context he said it in. (He also, obviously, lies and denies he said things). The thing is that Trump may be smart in some ways, but he's also extremely ignorant. And he has zero interest in learning about things he doesn't care about - which is basically anything that doesn't serve him. The other thing to bear in mind about Trump and BJ is that they are from the exact demographic that Western society is programmed to favour in every single aspect. Rich, WASPish, hetero, cis, higher in social class, firmly established in society. It's cliché, but they are playing life on the easiest possible setting to have in their respective countries; in Trump's case, THE easiest possible setting as he was born and raised in the richest and most powerful country in the world. Consequently, they are forgiven very easily for their numerous fuck-ups and given disproportionate kudos for their few successes by a society designed to do so. With Trump, there is the added dimension that he and his family very likely have links with organised crime - he's playing life on the easiest setting and the cheat codes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members JNLister Posted October 1, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted October 1, 2020 While the whole "delayed counting because of postal voting" thing will likely be a shitshow with a potential for legal shenanigans, there is the possibility of it being hilarious if Biden gets a landslide win. You could easily have results on election night that make it clear he's definitely winning (eg North Carolina and Wisconsin are called with him winning by several points), but then get two or three weeks of Trump being tortured with almost daily announcements of another key state falling before Biden gets to the Electoral College majority. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators neil Posted October 2, 2020 Moderators Share Posted October 2, 2020 On 9/30/2020 at 3:50 PM, LaGoosh said: The weirdest thing about the USA is their constant terror of anything resembling socialism. Referring something as socialism is an easy way to get most of the country against it. Americans have it ingrained in them going back generations that socialism bad, freedom good. So anytime something is painted like the government is "forcing" you to do something then its like "THATS SOCIALISM!!!". It happens even with pretty educated people who lean more liberal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Wiseau Posted October 2, 2020 Share Posted October 2, 2020 (edited) I just posted this in the Coronaviris thread but it's worth posting here too - the leader of the free world President Trump and the first lady have tested positive for Covid 19. That'll surely affect his campaigning if nothing else. Or is he going for the "man of the people, brave President Trump overcame this virus and with his leadership we all can" angle? Edited October 2, 2020 by Harry Wiseau Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Rob Lowe Posted October 2, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted October 2, 2020 He's usually too proud to even hint at the slightest weakness or error. I'm really surprised he would admit to catching it. He's going to be 'cured' by his bullshit vaccine a week before the election isn't he? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wordsfromlee Posted October 2, 2020 Share Posted October 2, 2020 I reckon he’ll use this as an excuse to try and postpone the election Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members stumobir Posted October 2, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted October 2, 2020 (edited) What would happen if the orange buffoon croaked it before the election? Assuming Pence would replace him, would he then be the Republican candidate on 3rd November or would there be grounds for a postponement? National mourning(lol) etc. Even if he pulls through, I can already hear him shouting about how it was no worse than a cold and he was barely ill but it would have definitely killed Sleepy Joe. Saying all this, I’m calling FAKE NEWS!!, there’s no way Melania has been close enough to him for the past 4 years to catch anything. Edited October 2, 2020 by stumobir Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Chris B Posted October 2, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted October 2, 2020 If a satirist had written that Trump would be given Covid by someone called Hope, you'd be thinking 'nice try, but tone it down'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members quote the raven Posted October 2, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted October 2, 2020 8 minutes ago, stumobir said: What would happen if the orange buffoon croaked it before the election? Assuming Pence would replace him, would he then be the Republican candidate on 3rd November or would there be grounds for a postponement? National mourning(lol) etc. Even if he pulls through, I can already hear him shouting about how it was no worse than a cold and he was barely ill but that it would have definitely killed Sleepy Joe. Saying all this, I’m calling FAKE NEWS!!, there’s no way Melania has been close enough to him for the past 4 years to catch anything. “I fought off the chinaaaaaa virus, not to bad few days off bit cold. But thanks to my massive immune system big huge immune system doctors said best immune system they ever saw I’m back” you can almost hear it now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 2, 2020 Share Posted October 2, 2020 It'll be easier to mute the fucker if the next debate has to be on Zoom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members JNLister Posted October 2, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted October 2, 2020 The election can't be postponed without a law by Congress and I don't think the Democrats are in a cooperative mood there right now. It's too late to change the ballot papers as some people are already voting. It doesn't actually make any immediate difference as you aren't technically voting for Trump or Biden, you're voting for a batch of electoral college members. They then pick the President by writing down a name at a state meeting and then posting the papers off to Congress. So in this case the Republican National Committee would pick a new candidate (almost certainly Pence out of convenience) and tell the electoral college voters to pick him. The really messy bit is if somebody dies in the three week gap after the electoral college vote but Congress does the official count. Congress should then count all the ballots, including for the dead guy, announce the dead guy as the winner, and then constitutionally his VP pick would become the President-elect and take over on inauguration day. In this case Pence would already be President finishing out Trump's first term, but would then start a new term on inauguration day. However, if Congress chooses not to count the dead guy's ballots, you get a shitshow. Assuming we're talking about scenarios where Trump won the election, then you have a massive argument about whether Biden needs to win a majority of the 538 potential electoral college votes or the ones that have actually been counted. In the latter case he's President. In the former, you then go to Congress choosing between the three people with the most electoral college votes. Theoretically Biden's the only one, so he wins. However, if you get a faithless elector they could write in somebody else's name (maybe even Pence) and Congress might pick them instead. To add to the confusion, in the "Trump wins election but dies" scenario, Pence will be elected as VP without any problem, so you could end up with Biden -- having lost the election -- as PM and Pence as his VP. Which would be fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Jazzy G Posted October 2, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted October 2, 2020 Somebody tweeted this out a couple of weeks ago, allegedly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members tiger_rick Posted October 2, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted October 2, 2020 Nature of the world now. Suppose this conspiracy stuff was always there but it was limited to the nutter in the pub who liked to sit under the dart board. When Boris got his Covid, 90% of the replies were people calling it fake news and people demanding we all show him some compassion. All nutters. Not enough people just replying 🤞. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Houchen Posted October 2, 2020 Share Posted October 2, 2020 2 minutes ago, tiger_rick said: Boris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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