The US 2020 Presidential Election & Attempts To Overturn It

[Ironduke]

Drake Custer is a union man who, along with about 30 of his buddies, had an Old English “K” tattooed on their chests about 15 years ago. It stands for “Keokuk”, a deflated Mississippi River manufacturing town of 10,000 tucked into the south-east corner of Iowa that Washington and Des Moines forgot.

“We know who we are,” said Custer.

They make syrup from corn starch, steel wheels and rubber seals at an average wage of $18 per hour. People keep leaving in search of something better – in 1960, the town was 60% bigger. It’s the story of the midwest, decline and depopulation, frustration and anxiety.

I was born in a town that has faced similar economic circumstances in recent decades - the population has gone from 11,000 when I was born, to 8,000 today. All outlying towns have lost population as well, some up to half.

Iron mining was the backbone of the economy, with an even larger number of people employees in supporting industries (e.g. machine shops, metal fabrication, mechanics, etc).

In presidential elections, the congressional district the town is in went majority DFL (Democrat) for 80 years straight, before going Republican in 2016. Like a lot of industrial regions, the district voted Republican for the first time in living memory.

The economic situation there didn't improve much under Obama, beforehand, it had gone from bad to worse between the mid-70s and 00s, to very bad during the recession, then back to the same general level of bad it had been in prior to 2008.

The situation now is same shit, different bowl. They're not any better off under Trump either, despite his promises of a total renaissance that would completely revitalize industrial regions that have fallen on hard times, bring them back to full employment with lucrative wages last seen in the 60s and early 70s, bring every manufacturing job back, etc.

Like I said, things didn't get better off under Obama, but at least Obama didn't bullshit them about some pie in the sky.

[TopHatter]

The situation now is same shit, different bowl. They're not any better off under Trump either, despite his promises of a total renaissance that would completely revitalize industrial regions that have fallen on hard times, bring them back to full employment with lucrative wages last seen in the 60s and early 70s, bring every manufacturing job back, etc.

That's the most depressing part about Trump: That people were so taken in by such an obvious con man.

The 2016 popular vote is only a partial salve to that kind of brutal truth about people.

[TopHatter]

Jared Kushner says he can't for sure 'commit one way or the other' to the November 2020 election due to COVID-19 — 'but right now that's the plan'

The US presidential election is on November 3, but when asked if it would still be held then, Jared Kushner, the US president's son-in-law and White House senior advisor, was not fully committal.

As Business Insider has noted, it is not possible for the White House to unilaterally postpone an election — although Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, has worried it is something that President Donald Trump might well try.

Trump could, however, publicly undermine the legitimacy of the vote, as he has done with baseless claims that casting ballots by mail will enable widespread fraud.

Asked Tuesday if he could see pushing back the vote, Kushner told TIME that November was "too far in the future to tell."

"It's not my decision to make, so I'm not sure I can commit one way or the other," he said. "But right now that's the plan."

Kushner had been asked if another surge in coronavirus infections could delay the election.

"Hopefully by the time we get to September, October, November, we've done enough work with testing and with all the different things we're trying to do to prevent a future outbreak of the magnitude that would make us shut down again," he said. "I really believe that once America opens up, it'll be very hard for America to lock down again."

In a statement issued later in the day to NBC News, Kushner said: "I have not been involved in, nor am I aware of any discussions about trying to change the date of the presidential election."

At least 81,600 people have died in the US due to COVID-19, with an additional 1,547 deaths reported on Tuesday, according to The Washington Post. Reported deaths peaked April 21, when there were 2,845 fatalities — compared to 2,416 deaths on May 5 — but public health experts have warned that the US is not conducting enough tests to safely restart the economy, raising the threat of a fierce resurgence.
____________

Huh! Who knew that Jared Kushner had a say in whether or not the United States holds its Presidential Election.

"It's not my decision to make, so I'm not sure I can commit one way or the other," he said. "But right now that's the plan."

There's no need for him to commit to anything. He should've ended his statement at the bolded part, full stop.

[TopHatter]

Donald Trump Jr. Smears Biden With Baseless Instagram Post: "Just Joking Around"

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s eldest son on Saturday posted a social media message suggesting Joe Biden was a pedophile, an incendiary and baseless charge that illustrates the tactics the president is turning to as he attempts to erase Biden’s early advantage in key state polls.

Donald Trump Jr., who is one of his father’s most prominent campaign surrogates, put on Instagram a picture of Biden saying: “See you later, alligator” alongside an image of an alligator saying: “In a while, pedophile.”

When a reporter shared the Instagram post online, the younger Trump, echoing one of his father’s tactics, wrote on Twitter that he was only “joking around” and noted that he had included emojis of a laughing face.

Yet in the same Twitter post, he also reprised his original insinuation. He accused the former vice president of “unwanted touching” alongside a collage of photographs of Biden showing affection for children. The misleading images were mostly taken from public swearing-in ceremonies at the Capitol, where the former vice president warmly greeted lawmakers and their families.

Biden has been accused by some adult women of inappropriate behavior but he has never faced any suggestion of misconduct with a child. Trump himself faces roughly two dozen accusations of sexual misconduct, and in the “Access Hollywood” tape from 2005 bragged about sexually assaulting women and grabbing them by their private parts.

Trump Jr.’s inflammatory and baseless claim, which he shared with his 2.8 million Instagram followers, comes as his father and the reelection campaign have sought to weaken Biden and attack other perceived enemies with an onslaught of allegations and insinuations rarely seen in modern elections.

The 73-year-old president has, for example, purchased a series of Facebook ads openly accusing his 77-year-old Democratic rival of being “old and out of it,” as one of them puts it. And the president himself has said much the same, stating Thursday that Biden “doesn’t know he’s alive.”

Trump’s scorched earth campaign strategy comes as little surprise — he has broken an array of norms during his three years in office. But his offensive has taken on a new urgency as the country reels from the health and economic devastation wrought by the coronavirus, and Biden enjoys a modest lead in the battleground states that will decide the election.

A spokesman for the president’s campaign did not respond to an email message asking if they condone the younger Trump’s message.

Andrew Bates, a spokesman for Biden, said: “No repulsive, manipulative tactic will change the subject from how almost 90,000 Americans have paid for Donald Trump’s coronavirus negligence with their lives and how the booming economy he inherited from the Obama-Biden administration is now suffering from Depression-level job losses.”

Trump Jr., 42, is affiliated with his family’s real estate business. But he spends much of his time on his father’s political efforts and is ubiquitous on social media, where he often posts barbed memes about Democrats that can go beyond even the president’s accusations and insinuations. The eldest Trump son is also more of a dedicated conservative than his father and often gives voice to some of the more extreme elements of the right.

Further, Trump Jr. is something of an early warning system for Republican lines of attack. For months, he has been posting material questioning Biden’s mental acuity and accusing him of being “creepy,” as he wrote again Saturday.

In an interview with Axios earlier this year, Trump Jr. acknowledged his father sometimes calls him to tell him he’s being “too aggressive” in his attacks.

But the younger Trump said with a smile that he tells his father he “learned it by watching you” and claimed the president often is more jealous than irritated. “He just wanted the material. He was mad I beat him to the punch.”
___________

[statquo]

Anytime Trump and his followers call Joe a pedophile and bring up accusers, all the Democrats have to do is post this picture:

[surfgun]

Biden states to black interviewer if he were to vote for Trump, that he “ain’t black.”
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/bid...amagne-tha-god

https://news.yahoo.com/joe-biden-tel...131358528.html

[Gun Grape]

Dropped her like a hot potato.

Lawyer says he's no longer representing Biden accuser Tara Reade

A lawyer who represented Tara Reade, the woman who has accused Joe Biden of sexually assaulting her in 1993, announced Friday that Reade is no longer his firm's client.

Doug Wigdor said the decision to no longer represent Reade was made on Wednesday, the day after CNN published an extensive investigation about Reade's background and past statements. In the report, CNN first revealed problems with Reade's claim that she received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Antioch University in Seattle; the school denied to CNN that she ever graduated from the university.
Wigdor had sent CNN a lengthy statement on Monday responding to numerous questions related to the story. However, Reade directly contacted CNN on Monday night to discuss the issue of her degree from Antioch, telling a CNN reporter that she had asked for and received permission from Wigdor to reach out directly.

What? She lied and represented herself as an "Expert Witness"? Lied about her education and work experience. Lied about her position on the Senators staff? Could have helped send innocent people to jail

Say it ain't so

On Monday, Reade had told CNN that she received a bachelor of arts degree from Antioch University in Seattle under the auspices of a "protected program," personally working with the former president of the school to ensure her identity was protected while she obtained credits for her degree. She also said that she was a visiting professor at the school, on and off for five years.
But a spokesperson for the university told CNN that Reade "attended but did not graduate from Antioch University" and that she was never a faculty member, but she did provide several hours of administrative work.
University officials confirmed with former university president Toni Murdoch that no special arrangements existed, university spokeswoman Karen Hamilton said.
An Antioch University official also told CNN that such a "protected program" does not exist and never has.
Reade graduated from Seattle University School of Law in 2004, gaining admission to the school through its Alternative Admission Program.

Defense lawyers in California are reviewing past criminal cases in which Reade testified as an expert witness, according to The New York Times.
The lawyers told the Times they are concerned over inconsistencies in her education credentials and that her testimony may have improperly influenced the outcomes of their trials.
According to the Times, Reade participated in cases in Monterey County courts for nearly a decade as a government witness on domestic violence. Reade had testified in a 2018 trial that she received a liberal arts degree with a focus on political science when she was asked questions about credentials presented on her resume, according to a trial transcript the Times obtained.
According to the Times, lawyers became concerned after CNN first reported about discrepancies in Reade's education background.
She also told the court that she worked in domestic violence prevention for decades, starting off as a legislative assistant in Biden's office when he worked on the Violence Against Women Act, according to a trial transcript the Times obtained. Reade was a staff assistant in Biden's office, according to a congressional staff list at the time, which is a different position.
The Times reported that Reade maintains that she did not misrepresent her credentials and that she does have a bachelor's degree.

The Monterey County public defender's office has started examining the cases involving Reade and drawing up a list of clients potentially affected by her testimony, Jeremy Dzubay, an assistant public defender in the office, told the newspaper. Roland Soltesz, a criminal defense lawyer in Monterey, told the Times that he believes Reade's testimony significantly swayed the outcome of that 2018 trial in which his client received a life sentence for attempted murder, arson, and armed robbery. He is now looking to reopen the case, according to the Times.
The Sixth District Appellate Program, which makes appeal lawyers available to low-income defendants, is also reviewing all the cases involving Reade, according to the Times.

[tbm3fan]

Dropped her like a hot potato.

Lawyer says he's no longer representing Biden accuser Tara Reade



What? She lied and represented herself as an "Expert Witness"? Lied about her education and work experience. Lied about her position on the Senators staff? Could have helped send innocent people to jail

Say it ain't so

Ah, what's Surfgun to do now. Oh, it is something about ain't black which fails in comparison to his guy calling Mexicans rapists, Africa being shit countries, and women being nothing but. The hypocrites are gathering now...LMAO

[surfgun]

Who do you think you are? Corn Pop!?

[surfgun]

Joe fibbing as usual.
https://www.naacp.org/latest/naacp-s...ent-joe-biden/

[TopHatter]

Who do you think you are? Corn Pop!?

Holy shit, an actual post...!

Irrelevant and nonsensical, but an actual post!

[TopHatter]

Joe fibbing as usual.
https://www.naacp.org/latest/naacp-s...ent-joe-biden/

Ah there we go, back to business as usual.

[surfgun]

All one needs is a length of chain from a Delaware Public Pool to go up against Corn Pop and his rusty straight razor that he collected from the nearby rain barrel after he knocks it into the curb to put that special edge on it. From the mind of -Joe Biden.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oihV9yrZRHg

[TopHatter]

All one needs is a length of chain from a Delaware Public Pool to go up against Corn Pop and his rusty straight razor that he collected from the nearby rain barrel after he knocks it into the curb to put that special edge on it.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oihV9yrZRHg

That's nice, ever think of stringing together a coherent sentence?

[surfgun]

Now don’t try to be “a lying dog face pony soldier!” -From the school of: Joe Biden