The US 2020 Presidential Election

[TopHatter]

Not yet. You must first divorce a couple of wives, have an affair with a porn star, say nasty stuff about Mexicans and insult a war veteran for being taken prisoner and attack a gold star family. Oh and have you molested any women lately and bragged about it? That is a requirement.

Oh I wouldn't be done qualifying even then:

"The funniest is that before a show, I'll go backstage and everyone's getting dressed and I'm allowed to go in because I'm the owner of the pageant." ~ Donald Trump, Miss Teen USA Owner

"I remember putting on my dress really quick because I was like, 'Oh my god, there's a man in here,'" ~ Mariah Billado, Miss Vermont Teen USA

"You know they're standing there with no clothes on. ...and you see these incredible looking women. And so I sort of get away with things like that" ~ Donald Trump

"Every time we changed, it was like Trump would find a reason to come backstage" ~ Stacy Wilkes, then age 16

The "law and order" candidate at work, doing what he does best.

[DOR]

Florida newspapers are reporting that The Trumpet has voted in the state primary ... by mail.

[surfgun]

Not yet. You must first divorce a couple of wives, have an affair with a porn star, say nasty stuff about Mexicans and insult a war veteran for being taken prisoner and attack a gold star family. Oh and have you molested any women lately and bragged about it? That is a requirement.

You may be onto something about the affairs.
https://nypost.com/2020/08/17/jill-b...ith-joe-biden/

[TopHatter]

More than 70 Republican former national security officials come out in support of Biden

More than 70 former Republican national security officials, including some former members of the Trump administration, came out in support of Joe Biden's bid for president Thursday, according to an open letter that also offered a scathing rebuke of President Donald Trump's first term in office.

"We are profoundly concerned about the course of our nation under the leadership of Donald Trump," the officials wrote. "Through his actions and his rhetoric, Trump has demonstrated that he lacks the character and competence to lead this nation and has engaged in corrupt behavior that renders him unfit to serve as President."

Some signers include former FBI Director William Webster, former Defense Secretary under President Obama Chuck Hagel and former CIA Director Michael Hayden.

The letter outlines 10 reasons the signers believe Trump isn't fit for the Oval Office.

"Donald Trump has gravely damaged America's role as a world leader," the first point in the letter says. Other items include declarations that Trump is "unfit to lead during a national crisis," "solicited foreign influence," "aligned himself with dictators," "disparaged our armed forces, intelligence agencies, and diplomats," "undermined the rule of law," "dishonored the office of the presidency," "divided our nation," "attacked and vilified immigrants" and "imperiled America's security."

"While we – like all Americans – had hoped that Donald Trump would govern wisely, he has disappointed millions of voters who put their faith in him and has demonstrated that he is dangerously unfit to serve another term. In contrast, we believe Joe Biden has the character, experience, and temperament to lead this nation," the letter reads.

One of the former officials who signed the letter told ABC News that she hoped Trump would rise to the occasion of being president, but in her view, he did not.

"Many of us hoped that Trump, like those before him, would rise to the honor of the office. That the mantel of leadership would weigh heavy on him and lead to a change of behavior. That perhaps the tweeting, the bullying, the coarse language would be set aside behind closed doors and that he would treat the office with the dignity and gravity it deserves. That did not happen," Elizabeth Neumann, former assistant secretary of Homeland Security told ABC News.

"[Trump's] leadership style is chaos; and if you study him -- this is a style that he has used for decades in business," she added. "But chaos at the top of our federal government leads to chaos throughout the government. Some see this as a way to weaken the so-called 'deep state' -- but what it actually does is weaken our security agencies' ability to secure and protect our nation. The botched COVID response is merely the latest example -- but also one of the gravest with the cost being American lives."

The Trump campaign did not immediately comment on the letter.

"Donald Trump's four years in the White House have left America isolated abroad, our alliances in tatters, and autocrats like Xi and Putin emboldened," Biden campaign spokesperson Michael Gwin said in a statement. "This endorsement is a clear sign of both how weak Donald Trump has left the United States globally, and of Vice President Biden's unique ability to pick up the pieces next January by rebuilding critical relationships and standing up for American values and interests against the adversaries that Trump has coddled."

Earlier this week, the former Department of Homeland Security chief of staff under former Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, Miles Taylor, came out in support of Biden.

"Given what I've experienced in the administration, I have to support Joe Biden for president," Taylor said in a video posted and produced by the group Republican Voters Against Trump. "And even though I'm not a Democrat, even though I disagree on key issues, I'm confident that Joe Biden will protect the country, and I'm confident he won't make the same mistakes as this president."

Acting Secretary Chad Wolf blasted Taylor in a statement, accusing him of reversing course for "five minutes of fame."
____________

[Firestorm]

You may be onto something about the affairs.
https://nypost.com/2020/08/17/jill-b...ith-joe-biden/

So Biden found a way to make even an affair boring by ... marrying the woman. Pffft. If he wants the Christian Conservatives to vote for him he needs to up his game and bang a porn star while his wife is pregnant.

[DOR]

Trouble for Trump as Fox News praises 'enormously effective' Biden speech

The Guardian, Aug 21, 2020, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...n-donald-trump

“Under pressure on the last day of the Democratic National Convention, Joe Biden 'hit a home run' with an 'enormously effective' speech that blew 'a big hole' in Donald Trump’s efforts to paint him as a mentally faltering captive of his party’s left wing.”

In other news, Fox News discovered fair and balanced journalism…

“Trump plans to accept the nomination on the grounds of the White House on Thursday, in apparent violation of laws requiring that political campaigning be kept separate from the conduct of office.”


In other news … “Joe wows critics,” the Drudge Report, usually a clearinghouse for the most astringent conservative messaging, exclaimed on Friday morning.


“It was a very good speech,” added Karl Rove, a Republican strategist respected and reviled on either side of the aisle.

In other news, hell froze over, blue moons have become commonplace, stones bleed, the Cleaveland Browns are odds-on favorites to win the Super Bowl, and Porcine Airlines has taken to the sky …

[TopHatter]

“Under pressure on the last day of the Democratic National Convention, Joe Biden 'hit a home run' with an 'enormously effective' speech that blew 'a big hole' in Donald Trump’s efforts to paint him as a mentally faltering captive of his party’s left wing.”

Can't wait to hear Trump's RNC speeches. I wonder if they'll be written out in crayon and/or if they'll involve more "airports in 1776" type genius stuff.

Or maybe something on point, relevant to the desperate needs of a hurting nation. You know, like this:

[Bigfella]

So Biden found a way to make even an affair boring by ... marrying the woman. Pffft. If he wants the Christian Conservatives to vote for him he needs to up his game and bang a porn star while his wife is pregnant.

Actually, Surfgun is giving you the 'nice' version what Trumpers are pushing about Joe & Jill Biden. This is what is actually being put about on conservative websites (I'm not going to put up the link to this filth, I'm sure Surfgun can provide it):

Jill Giacoppa AKA Protestant sounding name Jill Tracy Jacobs met Joe when she was a campaign worker for him during the New Castle Councilman's first Senatorial campaign in 1972. They began having an affair and drove Nelia Biden to hit the bottle. Joe broke up Bill and Jill's marriage after Bill caught Jill cheating on him.

So, they are blaming the Bidens for the death of Joe's wife & daughter while also making some nasty smears about all involved, including the dead woman. I predicted something like this. I keep thinking that nothing more Trumpers can do or say can nauseate me, and I keep getting proved wrong. There is no depth that won't be plumbed when the cult leader is threatened.

[tantalus]

Bonehead,
That's an absolutely fair and reasonable question. I don't take offense at it, at all.
You're correct, I am not fond of Donald Trump or his presidency. "Loathing" would be a better word, in fact.

I am also not a Democrat. Never have been. Never will be. Never claimed to be one. Therefore I don't have the slightest reason to promote a Democrat, let alone sing the praises of a Democrat, to say nothing of listing their accomplishments and/or agendas.

Having said that, I will be voting for Joe Biden this year. Not because I think that Biden knows how to solve the problems facing the nation, or because he's the best man for the job. It is purely and simply because he is not Donald Trump, nor anywhere close to being anything like Donald Trump.

For instance: With the exploding danger of COVID-19 staring the country in the face, I am reasonably confident that Joe Biden will not promote ridiculous conspiracy theories or suggest absurd and dangerous medical treatments, nor consort with and promote those that do.

This is just a small example of why Donald Trump is an existential threat to this country, and why even a pile of shit 6 feet tall would be an improvement, by an order of magnitude, over him.

I could provide example after example, such as how I'm reasonably confident that Joe Biden wouldn't dismiss US intelligence reports of Kremlin-offered bounties on US soldiers. So too, I'm reasonably confident that our hypothetical 6 foot high pile of shit wouldn't dismiss them either. So, pile of shit or Joe Biden, the staggering improvement over Donald Trump is still the same.

Regarding your assertion that "it is obvious that if Biden wins he will soon be declared incompetent", I will point out that Deflection and Projection, whilst the hallmark of 'defending' Donald Trump, are also poor substitutes for facing reality. Joe Biden is a lifelong stutterer, so his slips of speech, which are taken as "evidence" of his "mental incompetence" are to be expected. However, Joe Biden, at last check, does not have dozens of essays from psychiatrists, psychologists, and other mental health professionals describing the "clear and present danger" that his mental health poses to the "nation and individual well being".

Donald Trump however, most certainly does.

In fact, Donald Trump's mental incompetence is on display, day after day. Whether repeatedly claiming that his Bronx-born father Fred Trump was "born in a very wonderful place in Germany" or asserting that soldiers during the American Revolution "took over the airports", it's clear that Donald Trump is either mentally incompetent, or just plain incompetent.

So attempting to deflect onto Joe Biden and tar him with that brush, while amusing, has the distinct whiff of desperation and bullshit to it. Most especially when it requires one to completely ignore the mental state of Donald Trump.

I admire your willingness to vote biden as you are not a democrat. Kudos.

I agree totally with your synopsis of the Big Orange Man.

I don't agree with you on Biden's faculties. I do agree the sentiment that even the worst cast scenario on Biden's decline still makes him the clear and obvious choice. Strange times. It's difficult to know how bad he is, he struggles when he has to think on his feet, when he is challenged, but most people find that difficult with a camera on them, he is a seasoned operator, so it seems he now struggles when he is mentally pushed. By all accounts he did well with his pre planned speech so clearly the extreme theory he is already undergone massive decline is not true. Yet the trend suggets he has declined in the last 2 years.

Pretending he is not in decline can be a negative as people get attracted to the idea that he is after they see clips of him and they conclude they are being lied too. Feeling you have inside knowledge to the truth is powerful. But drawing too much attention too it risks people voting trump, also very bad.

Biden is 78 and is showing clear signs of decline to me. Giving him one of the hardest jobs in the world that requires atleast 4 more years of effort and had many other willing candidates isn't logical or optimal by the democratic party and its voters. Thats just an example of a pitfall of democracy we have to currently accept. The system works despite these failures, in part because these failures are allowed.

[snapper]

A good person in 'decline' is preferable to a morally bankrupt one also in 'decline'.

[tantalus]

A good person in 'decline' is preferable to a morally bankrupt one also in 'decline'.

Good might be a stretch if you believe Tara Reade, find his strange behaviours with other women caught on camera as disturbing or don't like him from a policy perspective. He does excel at not being Donald Trump.

One of the less discussed negatives of Trump is normalising the act of lying and changing what we see as an acceptable standard. Changing how we anchor our perspective. We risk collectively lowering our standards of "good".

[GVChamp]

Tara Reade's accusations are not credible and creepy ain't a crime. Biden has a long history and clearly has something off in his head when it comes to social cues, and he definitely reads like a mental decline in recent years, but there's not really much evidence that he is a Bad Guy.

There is a lot of evidence that Trump is genuinely a Bad Guy, at least by my sensibilities.

No one is getting excited about Biden but he has a great deal more Congressional experience than most of the other candidates and may be able to get a good bit more done. This would have made him a better candidate in, say, 2008 (I would have preferred Hillary to any of the '08 candidates). He probably would have won in 2012 as well and would have slowed down the Democrat's continued decline in Rust Belt states, making 2016 a hell of a lot easier for the Dems than it actually was.

In 2020, he is an obvious transitional candidate that is there to beat Trump and try to keep the various Democratic factions from knifing each other. Overall the Democrats REALLY lucked out in 2020: they have Biden as a de facto candidate who gives a lot of competitive advantages in a lot of areas, they are running against Trump, and they are running against a pandemic. They clearly do not have a path to long-term leadership: Kamala Harris SUCKS, their Vice-Chair in the Senate is controversial Elizabeth Warren, Nancy Pelosi can only remain in power by pledging to surrender power so the Squad has a chance to knife everyone else. While they have a clear demographic advantage, this is not a clear recipe for policy success if everyone in charge is a fucking moron coupled with utter hatred for each other.
Had the GOP nominated other candidates, they would have been much more competitive in 2020. Though, it'd probably still be Biden running, to be honest, and he still would have had an edge with the pandemic.

[TopHatter]

I admire your willingness to vote biden as you are not a democrat. Kudos.

I agree totally with your synopsis of the Big Orange Man.

Thank you, I appreciate the kudos but it's really not that difficult of a decision, given that synopsis of Trump

I don't agree with you on Biden's faculties. I do agree the sentiment that even the worst cast scenario on Biden's decline still makes him the clear and obvious choice. Strange times. It's difficult to know how bad he is, he struggles when he has to think on his feet, when he is challenged, but most people find that difficult with a camera on them, he is a seasoned operator, so it seems he now struggles when he is mentally pushed. By all accounts he did well with his pre planned speech so clearly the extreme theory he is already undergone massive decline is not true. Yet the trend suggets he has declined in the last 2 years.

I won't pretend that a 78 year man hasn't lost at least some of his functionality. I'll leave that sort of blindness to the Trump supporters. Whatever else Joe Biden is, he's still a 78 year old man, with all that that entails.

But, as mentioned, Biden's lifelong stuttering issue can easily masquerade as symptoms of dementia.

Pretending he is not in decline can be a negative as people get attracted to the idea that he is after they see clips of him and they conclude they are being lied too. Feeling you have inside knowledge to the truth is powerful. But drawing too much attention too it risks people voting trump, also very bad.

Biden is 78 and is showing clear signs of decline to me. Giving him one of the hardest jobs in the world that requires atleast 4 more years of effort and had many other willing candidates isn't logical or optimal by the democratic party and its voters. Thats just an example of a pitfall of democracy we have to currently accept. The system works despite these failures, in part because these failures are allowed.

While Biden might be showing signs of decline, there's simply no comparison to Donald Trump. The same holds true when Trump's followers dismiss his pathological lying with the knee-jerk retort: "ALL politicians lie!". Setting aside the fact that Donald Trump is not a politician (a major "plus" that his followers constantly talked up back in 2016), there is, once again, simply no comparison: Donald Trump lies as naturally and as often as he breathes.

The plain and hard fact is that right now there are 2 men running for president: Donald Trump and Joe Biden. Nothing that you or I can say or do will change that plain and hard fact.

So wringing our hands over Biden's shortcomings, real or imagined, is utterly pointless now. This is a binary solution set and the least painful choice, by an order of magnitude, is obvious.

[zraver]

So wringing our hands over Biden's shortcomings, real or imagined, is utterly pointless now. This is a binary solution set and the least painful choice, by an order of magnitude, is obvious.

Its not a binary choice for those of us who are Libertarians. As bad as you think Trump is you want everyone to vote for the guy whose family has made millions of thier connections to him, who wrote the 94 crime bill which basically reinstated the peonage system, voted to restore Jeff Davis and Robert E Lee's citizenship while claiming he did not want his kids growing up in a racial jungle, declared that to be black you had to vote a certain way, declared Indians basically ran 7-11's or drove Taxis, accused a black reporter of being a crackhead for asking a very relevant question, wants to take guns, signed on to a commie manifesto written by Bernie bros, been famously wrong on every major foreign policy decision and whose incompetence in getting a SOFA basically birthed ISIS.... And stop pretending his handsyness with women and girls is not misread social cues, its a complete disregard for the body autonomy of women. Oh finally he appears to be hip deep in using
the FBI as a political weapon at least as it matters regarding Flynn. You want on to vote for that guy?

The Left has no moral high ground.

[TopHatter]

The Left has no moral high ground.

First, welcome back.

I don't give a shit about the Left. Never have. Never will. I will crawl over broken glass to vote a man like Donald Trump out of office.

What's rather incredible that every last thing that you said about Biden, Trump has cranked up past 11....and you simply don't care.

Handsyness with women? Complete disregard for the body autonomy of women? Holy fuck dude, how do you ignore this?