The US 2020 Presidential Election & Attempts To Overturn It

[Parihaka]

Thank you! Much appreciated! :-)
Well if you have a plan, at least that's a start. Have to start somewhere and without a plan, I wouldn't have gotten very far. It wasn't terribly complicated, it started off in the grocery store and then just getting outside.

Now that I've been doing it for a few months, it's a pretty ingrained habit. Tough going last week though, my parents came down from Chicago and things slipped a bit. Fortunately my weight stayed the same.

Yeah it's that habit I've got to get into. Where I work is the bottom of a gorge. Where I live is at the top of a gorge. I've just got a cheap second hand bicycle, and even in my vaulted position of manager I don't get an assigned park. I am doing the math, the ride up at the end of the day will suck for the first week, but needs must.

[Double Edge]

I Know What’s Wrong With Trump

Let me introduce myself.
I am a retired speech/language pathologist. For more than two decades, I spent every workday diagnosing and treating language disorders. I have helped people with a wide variety of communication deficits. I was very good at my job.
That’s why, in spite of the fact that I’ve been out of the field for several years, I am completely confident when I write that Donald Trump is exhibiting a serious language disorder.

Great, he can't speak well. Bush had this problem too.

Know what would be killer.

An article titled the opposite

'I Know What’s Right With Trump'

Burning question the world has been asking ever since he got elected

What do your people see in him

Why do they vote for him

A politician who can't speak well yet still wins elections.

Unheard of : O

Most of us have stopped asking and just accepted it and gearing up for round 2

And whatever that will bring...

This is not an America is getting dumber sort of thing.

It's happening in other countries as well.

[TopHatter]

Great, he can't speak well. Bush had this problem too.

This is nothing like Bush, nor merely "not speaking well"

I can tell that you either didn't read the article (fair enough, it's pretty long) or don't comprehend the meaning of "serious language disorder"

The author is talking about Aphasia: a deficit in a patient’s ability to communicate effectively in everyday life.

Bush would mangle a word here or there. But he, like Trump in his younger years, could at least speak coherently. He could also comprehend things quite well. The current Trump clearly does not.

Read the following out loud and tell me how coherent you sound whilst doing so:

Trump was asked:

“Mr. President, are you demanding that the fed chairman lower interest rates?”

Trump replied:

“No, I don’t demand it but if he used his head he’d lower ’em. In Germany, they have a zero interest rate and we do compete. Much stronger than Germany but we do compete with Germany.
In Germany, they have a zero interest rate. And when they borrow money, when you look at what happens, look at what’s going on over there.
They borrow money, they actually get paid to borrow money. And we have to compete with that. So, ah, if you look at what’s happening around the world, Jay Powell and the Federal Reserve have totally missed the call, I was right and just about everybody admits that. I was right.
He did quantitative tightening, he shouldn’t have done that. He raised interest rates too fast, too furious. And we have a normalized rate, I, we call it that. And now we have to go the other direction.
We’ll see if he does that. If he does it, you’ll see a rocket ship, you’ll see….. And if he doesn’t, we have a very strong economy.” “But we could have. We could be, we could be in a place that this nation was seldom at if we had interest rates cut by the federal reserve. The Federal Reserve has let us down. They missed the call. They raised it too fast and they raised it too high and they did quantitative tightening and they shouldn’t have done the tightening and they shouldn’t have raised them to the extent that they did. We could have had some raising but nothing like what they did.”


Here's another one:

“Mr. President, do you have any second thoughts about escalating the trade war with China?”

“Yeah. Sure. Why not? Might as well, might as well.”

Once again, he completely failed to understand the question. A question which was then repeated by a different journalist, to which he replied,

“I have second thoughts about everything.”

Did he even understand the meaning of “second thoughts”? I am not at all sure.

'I Know What’s Right With Trump'

Burning question the world has been asking ever since he got elected

What do your people see in him

Why do they vote for him

A politician who can't speak well yet still wins elections.

He's a salesman, marketeer, self-promoter and carnival barker without peer.

Anything of actual substance, he's completely lost.

Most of us have stopped asking and just accepted it and gearing up for round 2

Part of gearing up for round two is educating yourself on what kind of man Donald Trump is. Not enough people did that in round 1 and it's cost us dearly.

[TopHatter]

Yeah it's that habit I've got to get into. Where I work is the bottom of a gorge. Where I live is at the top of a gorge. I've just got a cheap second hand bicycle, and even in my vaulted position of manager I don't get an assigned park. I am doing the math, the ride up at the end of the day will suck for the first week, but needs must.

That's exactly what I need more of: Increase in altitude whilst walking...unfortunately Florida is flat as a board :-(

Occasionally, I'll use a treadmill at work in lieu of walking the hospital perimeter and increase the elevation to a 4 or 5% grade. The resistance does amazing things, although I can barely feel my legs afterwards.

[Double Edge]

This is nothing like Bush, nor merely "not speaking well"

Today you say that. Back then Bush was the worst and they mocked him and kept on mocking him. Then the 2004 elections were up and of course Kerry was going to win. I'm on a strictly CNN diet here. There is no fox and i'm not using the web to watch video because there was no youtube back then.

And then the results came out and of course Bush won and there I was thinking how did that happen. Still clueless as to how things work. Did not now about WAB in those days either.

I can tell that you either didn't read the article (fair enough, it's pretty long) or don't comprehend the meaning of "serious language disorder"

The author is talking about Aphasia: a deficit in a patient’s ability to communicate effectively in everyday life.

Bush would mangle a word here or there. But he, like Trump in his younger years, could at least speak coherently. He could also comprehend things quite well. The current Trump clearly does not.

I'll tell you why I stopped reading. Because in his 2nd term Bush pushed for the nuke deal with India.

You have any idea the level of distrust between the two countries at that time ?

Bush faced obstacles but he & Condi worked through them. Guys on my side did too. Their allies pulled support closer to deal signing and they had to scramble to find people to keep govt from falling. They succeeded.

Deal signed. Course the opposition here bashed it. Ignored them.

I felt very dumb at the end of this experience because here i was told this guy could not talk right but look at what he pulled off.

Things that are done these days with the US are unheard off ten years ago. That is what Bush did.

No clued up Indian will ever bash Bush.

What might Trump pull off ? a military alliance with India. Who knows.

India now has access to similar tech as NATO allies do. Unthinkable a few short years ago.

Only thing missing is a wedding ring : )

Every US military company wants to open up shop in India because that is the only way for them to compete with Russia.

Read the following out loud and tell me how coherent you sound whilst doing so:

Trump was asked:

“Mr. President, are you demanding that the fed chairman lower interest rates?”

Trump replied:

“No, I don’t demand it but if he used his head he’d lower ’em. In Germany, they have a zero interest rate and we do compete. Much stronger than Germany but we do compete with Germany.
In Germany, they have a zero interest rate. And when they borrow money, when you look at what happens, look at what’s going on over there.
They borrow money, they actually get paid to borrow money. And we have to compete with that. So, ah, if you look at what’s happening around the world, Jay Powell and the Federal Reserve have totally missed the call, I was right and just about everybody admits that. I was right.
He did quantitative tightening, he shouldn’t have done that. He raised interest rates too fast, too furious. And we have a normalized rate, I, we call it that. And now we have to go the other direction.
We’ll see if he does that. If he does it, you’ll see a rocket ship, you’ll see….. And if he doesn’t, we have a very strong economy.” “But we could have. We could be, we could be in a place that this nation was seldom at if we had interest rates cut by the federal reserve. The Federal Reserve has let us down. They missed the call. They raised it too fast and they raised it too high and they did quantitative tightening and they shouldn’t have done the tightening and they shouldn’t have raised them to the extent that they did. We could have had some raising but nothing like what they did.”

So i'm not the best person to be asking this because

- lower US interest rates mean dollars flow into my country in search of better returns helping lower the Rupee to dollar exchange rate. Desirable. A president for this means i get to buy things from your country for less than if you raised interest rates because then the dollars flow out of my country raising the exchange rate.

- the english isn't slick its informal & colloquial. Remember how companies relaxed dress codes and had casual days. How you did not have to refer to your boss always as Sir or people with their formal titles and can be on first name terms. How you don't have to be in suit and tie all the time. All these formalities went out of fashion in the 80s. This is the same thing.

I get completely what he is trying to say and so should you. He is talking about the cost of borrowing. He is saying for American cos. to compete with German companies the rate offered to American companies should be as low or as close to the German rate. Because those loans have to be repaid. The way he says is less important compared to WHAT he is saying. Every american company competing with german companies would support what he said.

Why does Trump say India is a tariff king. Because our companies have still higher borrowing rates so the govt has to impose tariffs to offset the difference. The question going around in India is why in hell isn't our PM saying what this guy is !!!

Here's another one:

Mr. President, do you have any second thoughts about escalating the trade war with China?”

“Yeah. Sure. Why not? Might as well, might as well.”

Once again, he completely failed to understand the question. A question which was then repeated by a different journalist, to which he replied,

“I have second thoughts about everything.”

Did he even understand the meaning of “second thoughts”? I am not at all sure.

The man is in the spotlight, gets so many questions, hostile ones and things thrown at him. Is he going to slip now & again. Yeah. So would you & me. I'm surprised it does not happen more often given the pressure he's put under.

He's a salesman, marketeer, self-promoter and carnival barker without peer.

Anything of actual substance, he's completely lost.

He seems to enjoy himself at his rallies. There is something there that appeals to people. Much as you despise him people around the world are interested in duplicating this guy's tactics.

Part of gearing up for round two is educating yourself on what kind of man Donald Trump is. Not enough people did that in round 1 and it's cost us dearly.

has it ? your economy isn't doing too bad right now.

There was a guy here who said there would be a recession in a year or so. Well, its happening where i am now.

See, what usually happens is the US gets into one, then the world follows, US recovers and the rest does too. But just not as quick.

The hard part with the second term is he will shift his tactics. Listening to him when he goes polling might give some idea.

I don't think it will be the same plan as the first term. If it is then people know by now how to deal with him.

But he likes keeping people guessing. So there will be some shifts.

[Parihaka]

That's exactly what I need more of: Increase in altitude whilst walking...unfortunately Florida is flat as a board :-(

Occasionally, I'll use a treadmill at work in lieu of walking the hospital perimeter and increase the elevation to a 4 or 5% grade. The resistance does amazing things, although I can barely feel my legs afterwards.

That's it, but I can't do the gym thing, I just get bored. I have to incorporate it into my normal day. I would and have just walked down and up but it's 40m at a brisk walk downhill and considering I start at 6am I'd rather spend that time in bed. So, 5 minutes downhill and slow grind back again :-)

[surfgun]

So long, Julian!
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-50975356

[TopHatter]

That's it, but I can't do the gym thing, I just get bored. I have to incorporate it into my normal day. I would and have just walked down and up but it's 40m at a brisk walk downhill and considering I start at 6am I'd rather spend that time in bed. So, 5 minutes downhill and slow grind back again :-)

Even walking outside, I have to be listening to my favorite YouTube Channels. I guess I'm addicted to information input or something :-( Being on the treadmill is 10x worse because the scenery is just blank wall.

[TopHatter]

Today you say that. Back then Bush was the worst and they mocked him and kept on mocking him. Then the 2004 elections were up and of course Kerry was going to win. I'm on a strictly CNN diet here. There is no fox and i'm not using the web to watch video because there was no youtube back then.[

I'm not talking about what people said about Bush back then. I'm talking about Bush's actual speaking and comprehension abilities compared to Trump's today. They are nothing alike. Trump shows consistent signs of mental impairment.

So i'm not the best person to be asking this because

- lower US interest rates mean dollars flow into my country in search of better returns helping lower the Rupee to dollar exchange rate. Desirable. A president for this means i get to buy things from your country for less than if you raised interest rates because then the dollars flow out of my country raising the exchange rate.[

The substance of the response wasn't my point. It was Trump's rambling, disjointed and nonsensical reply.

- the english isn't slick its informal & colloquial. Remember how companies relaxed dress codes and had casual days. How you did not have to refer to your boss always as Sir or people with their formal titles and can be on first name terms. How you don't have to be in suit and tie all the time. All these formalities went out of fashion in the 80s. This is the same thing.

This has nothing to do with slickness, informality, etc. A woman explained to him that her family was dead. His response was to ask "Where are they now?"

He seems to enjoy himself at his rallies. There is something there that appeals to people. Much as you despise him people around the world are interested in duplicating this guy's tactics.

Well, yes, of course he enjoys himself at his rallies. The entire building worships him and hangs on his every word. As a textbook narcissist, he's naturally going to enjoy it.

His tactics to engage and maintain the support of his base are simple:

• Blame others and divide on racial lines.
• Relentlessly demonize opponents
• Unceasingly attack objective truth
• Relentlessly attack mainstream media
• Use lies blur reality
• Orchestrate mass rallies to show status
• Embrace extreme nationalism
• Make closing borders a centerpiece
• Embrace mass detention and deportations
• Reject international norms
• Attack US domestic democratic processes
• Attack the judiciary and rule of law
• Glorify the military and demand loyalty oaths
• Proclaim unchecked power
• Relegate women to subordinate roles

has it ? your economy isn't doing too bad right now.

Cost isn't always measured in dollars and cents. Or rupees and paise, as the case may be.

But speaking of dollars and cents, the US has had to bail out American farmers to the tune of $28 billion in two years, the highest in 14 years.

The hard part with the second term is he will shift his tactics. Listening to him when he goes polling might give some idea.

I don't think it will be the same plan as the first term. If it is then people know by now how to deal with him.

But he likes keeping people guessing. So there will be some shifts.

That's not the hard part, it's the easy part. There will be no shifting of tactics because he doesn't know of any other tactics. He will continue as before, only with more disastrous results, because every rational adult in his Administration is long gone. All that are left are sycophants, yes-men and idiots. The only brake on Trump's behavior will be McConnell and the GOP Congress. (See the Doral Resort fiasco). People know how to deal with them now, but with the solid support of the Senate, Trump doesn't have to face the consequences of his actions, provided they don't cost the GOP the votes of their base.

[statquo]

"In order to get elected, @BarackObama will start a war with Iran."
-Donald Trump, tweeted Nov 29, 2011

“Now that Obama’s numbers are in a tailspin watch for him to launch a strike in Libya or Iran. He is desperate."
- Donald Trump, tweeted on Oct. 6, 2012

“Don’t let Obama play the Iran card in order to start a war in order to get elected – be careful Republicans!”
- Donald Trump, tweeted on Oct. 22, 2012

“Remember that I predicted a long time ago that President Obama will attack Iran because of his inability to negotiate properly – not skilled!”
- Donald Trump, tweeted on Nov. 12, 2012

[surfgun]

Included is a video of a 29 year old Senator describing himself as a token and one should not assume that he is not corrupt. https://www.theblaze.com/unleashed/j...ntent=wbjdoveb

[DOR]

DE,

lower US interest rates mean dollars flow into my country in search of better returns helping lower the Rupee to dollar exchange rate.

When more capital flows into an economy with an adjustable exchange rate, the local currency tends to rise in value (more demand for it) vis-a-vis the benchmark ($).

So, all else being equal (it never is), increased FDI into India should force an appreciation, thereby making exports less competitive.

[TopHatter]

Trump Is The Most Unpopular President Since Ford To Run For Reelection

Pretty impressive...and I'm sure he'd be bragging about beating Obama on this particular poll if he knew about it.

[TopHatter]

Americans Aren’t Rallying to Trump

So that was not exactly the Cuban missile crisis.

In apparent retaliation for the killing of Iran’s top terror commander, Iran fired short-range ballistic missiles in the direction of military bases inside Iraq. The missiles inflicted no casualties on U.S. or allied forces.

The truly horrible news seems instead to be an accident: the crash of a Ukrainian Airlines flight to Tehran, which killed all 176 people aboard. The largest group among them consisted of 63 Canadian nationals. The cause of the crash remains uncertain. As of early this morning, the Iranian authorities had recovered the aircraft’s black boxes, but said they did not intend to send them to the plane’s manufacturer, Boeing. If a poorly aimed rocket struck the plane, then Iran has truly escalated the crisis. Otherwise, a night that opened with bellicosity closed in the shared grief of accidental tragedy.

But imagine that Iran had gotten luckier (or unluckier) with its missile aiming. Or that the Iranian regime had chosen—or still chooses—a more lethal response to the killing of Qassem Soleimani. Where would we be then?

The Trump administration and its supporters seem to have hoped for a “rally around the flag” effect from the killing of Soleimani. This did not happen. The fundamental geology of Donald Trump’s presidency remains unchanged: A large majority of Americans do not trust him, do not support him, and will not follow him. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has complained that European allies do not support the Trump administration’s actions. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell laments that Democrats in Congress will not support the president either.

The first poll after the killing of Soleimani shows 53 percent of Americans disapproving of Trump’s handling of Iran, a number similar to what other polling registered in September and October. What has changed is that 39 percent “strongly disapprove” of Trump’s policy—a number up 10 points since before the Soleimani killing. Americans do not want war with Iran, and they do not trust Trump to lead such a war if it erupts.

Trump’s governance itself is legally in question right now. The president has been impeached. Unlike the Clinton impeachment of 1998–99, this process commands the approval of a majority of Americans. On average, more than 50 percent believe the Senate should remove Trump from office. That’s not sufficient to force the Senate to respond, especially not a Senate majority that itself was elected with the support of only a minority of Americans. But it’s certainly sufficient to deprive the president of the legitimacy to lead the nation to war.

The United States finds itself in the dangerous situation of having a president in power but without authority.

He is the least trusted president in the history of polling. Two-thirds of Americans regard him as dishonest. Sixty-one percent say he does not respect democracy.

With the departure of Secretary of Defense James Mattis at the end of 2018, there is no figure left in the administration who does command broad respect from the public, Congress, or American allies—who can credibly step forward and say, “This time, the president is not lying.”

Even the White House press secretary has given up. Unlike her two predecessors, who lied to the media’s face, the current holder of the office, Stephanie Grisham, has abandoned press briefings entirely.

The president, any president, is both the leader of his party and a representative of the entire nation. As the nation polarizes, it becomes harder and harder to combine those roles. But unlike his predecessors, Trump has never tried to do the second job. Even as he sought support from Democrats in Congress, the president retweeted one of his most provocative supporters equating Democrats in Congress to Iranian terrorists. Former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, ever more brazenly campaigning to replace Vice President Mike Pence on the Republican 2020 ticket, gave an interview on Sean Hannity’s radio show in which she said nobody except Democratic Party leaders and presidential candidates mourned the death of Qassem Soleimani. (Meanwhile, one of the president’s strongest supporters in the Senate, Rand Paul, and one of Trump’s favorite TV hosts, Tucker Carlson, actually spoke out in opposition to the strike.)

Trump supporters are trying to re-create the atmosphere of 2003, to claim the high ground of patriotism and defense of the nation. That can never work for them, because at every turn they and the country confront the weird hold Russia’s Vladimir Putin seems to hold over the U.S. president. Trump defenders angrily denounce the facts of the Trump-Putin connection as a “hoax,” but the country does not believe them. As of mid-summer 2019, only 35 percent of voters accepted the president’s claims of “exoneration.” A majority believe that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to help Trump; a plurality believe that Trump colluded with that effort.

A president regarded by so many Americans as Putin’s puppet cannot plausibly wave the flag against domestic opponents.

Trump himself seems to intuit the danger—which is why he always flinches from foreign-policy confrontations at the last minute, first with North Korea and now with Iran. When you know you’re driving a stolen car, you want to avoid collisions.

But Trump’s supporters in Congress and on TV have not kept up with the times as well as their boss. They imagine it’s still 2003—or maybe 1969. But that history has passed by. When Fox talkers call on all Americans to unite behind the president, they have to carve out mental exceptions for close to half the country. Not New York State or New York City: President Trump has said he hates them “even more than I should.” Not the state of California, home to one out of every eight Americans: “a disgrace to our country.” Not the city of Chicago: “embarrassing to us as a nation.” Not the city of Baltimore: “a rat and rodent infested mess.” Not the city of Atlanta: “in horrible shape and falling apart.”

Trump has never aspired to the job of president of all the United States. He does not understand the job. He cannot do the job. And now the job needs to be done.

Earlier in the Trump administration, it was said that the president was fortunate to have never encountered a crisis not of his own making. Over three years, however, he has contrived to make a great many crises: a trade war with China, a betrayal in Kurdistan, a diplomatic debacle on the Korean peninsula, the ongoing thralldom of Trump to Putin, and now the approach to war with Iran. National crises become no less dangerous for being the fault of the U.S. president rather than some foreign aggressor. Happily, the Iran crisis is paused, at least for the moment. None of these national self-harms will be resolved, however, until this sham president leaves office. Link
_______________

[Wonderful Plans]

Trump continues to destroy the US reputation with the rest of the world and for that reason the US will suffer even more if Trump is given 4 more years.

This at a time when China benefits hugely with the world turning against the US because of Trump and his renegade actions against so many countries, including the US's allies.

I oppose your assumption.

Trump has strengthened the U.S. economy and attacked foreign spies and corruption relentlessly, cut off aiding America's enemies and took a stand against our neighbors abusing their proximity to our civilian population. He's building a border wall, crushing socialism and reassuring Americans that yes, their rights matter and they can be American without a fear of foreigners traipsing through and targeting them.

The U.S. reputation is much better than most free countries and is markedly better than it was during Bush and Obama.