US Politics Thread |OT| SAD TRUMP

[thisismyusername]

Oh, that's the trigger. I had to ask off-site for it because I thought Esch just used imgur for it.

I'm dying at Cenk's face during this video. Just "WOAH! WOAH! NO STOP!" from it.

[naff]

 

https://twitter.com/DCTF_Tim/status/1221915033011138569

[kingv]

The Team Trump argument is really not that Trump didn't do anything wrong, but impeachment itself shouldn't be a thing that is allowed to happen

Two things stuck out to me about the GOP arguments tonight.

1) one of the lawyers said that the impeachment articles did not even allege a crime, and thus this wasn’t a valid impeachment, then that same lawyer, in the same speech read a passage from the impeachment articles that said something about this being a crime.

2) Ultimately, they seem to be saying this is not a valid impeachment because it doesn’t allege a violation of US criminal code. This is effectively saying that Congress and the courts have literally no power over the President as long as he doesn’t violate A criminal law. He can violate regulations and laws passed by Congress with impunity, with no recourse as long as he can find somebody to do it for him. That’s an insane point of view.

Made all the more by two of the members of the defense team having the exact opposite opinions on impeachment during the Clinton trial.

Imo the gop is going to get rekt in 2020.

No matter how eloquently stated their arguments are very poor, and Bolton’s book is going to help cut a lot of really damaging ads.

[benjipwns]

Any ideas for the custom Bloomberg t shirt I'm going to order? This is for the Nevada caucuses.

I asked a certain billionaire "how much for my vote?" and all I got was this t-shirt.

[james]

So um this is the ugliest group of supporters I've ever seen.

We need to do better Bernie

https://mobile.twitter.com/BenPu_nbc/status/1221975566380945408

[Flannel Boy]

Any ideas for the custom Bloomberg t shirt I'm going to order? This is for the Nevada caucuses.

I asked a certain billionaire "how much for my vote?" and all I got was this t-shirt.

I read the words “Bloomberg” and “Terminal” and got excited!

[benjipwns]

I'm for Bloomberg because somebody needs to control THESE GUNS!

and there's like arrows and you flex

[benjipwns]

It's probably way too obscure of joke, but I just thought of that "Wait for... " PS3 chalkboard image. Only all the dropped out "name" candidates (Gillibrand, Harris, Hillary, etc.) are crossed out with Bloomberg as the one left.

Or maybe it could be hoped for candidates: Abrams, Michelle Obama, Oprah, Mark Cuban, Hillary, etc. with only Bloomberg left.

[FStop7]

https://twitter.com/mysterysolvent/status/1221996534147035137

Rudy getting a taste of the future.

[benjipwns]

https://twitter.com/BenPu_nbc/status/1221978229050920960

[thisismyusername]

https://twitter.com/mysterysolvent/status/1221996534147035137

Rudy getting a taste of the future.

Ya love to see it.

[Transhuman]

I think you're forgetting about Bernie's secret weapon

spoiler (click to show/hide)

he's not Hillary

[close]

[Mandark]

The prospect of both the modern republican and democratic parties dying with the rise of Bernie is getting me WET.

Narrator voice... They didn't die.

A lot of people are rooting for Sanders to get through one party's primary with 25-30% of the vote* thanks to some game theory paralysis on behalf of his opponents, but also expecting him to lead this crushingly popular mass movement that will replace or cow all the incumbent legislators.

To be fair, all the candidates are obligated to pretend they'd be able to get their agendas through, and it's not any more ridiculous a fantasy than Joe Biden's plan to charm the GOP into voting for a public option, or Warren banking on getting even more Dems in during the midterms.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

*Presumably >50% once it gets winnowed to a couple candidates.

[close]

[benjipwns]

Did you guys see/it get posted how they're going to report three results for Iowa? They're copying the GOP but adding another step and keeping the 15% requirement.

In the GOP Iowa caucus they do a straw poll, that's the reported vote %, but it actually doesn't mean anything, there's another process to select the delegates. This is how Romney/Santorum "tied" in 2012 with 24.53% and 24.56% of the vote, but Ron Paul won nearly all the delegates (22 out of 28 with Romney getting the rest).

Usually the Democrats simply report the delegates (or rather the "delegate equivalents" since it's not actually delegates to the national convention but the county conventions), and a % is derived from that. For example in 2016, Hillary got 23 delegates and Bernie got 21 delegates from Iowa. Their 49.8% and 49.6% "vote %" was derived from this, not any kind of poll, which was actually determined by Hillary winning 700.5 delegate equivalents and Bernie winning 696.9 delegate equivalents.

This year however the Democrats will be taking two straw polls, the first is for everyone and will be reported. Then the 15% requirement kicks in and eliminates any candidate who can't get over that. A second straw poll will be held at that point, this will also be reported. THEN they will decide the delegate counts and report this.

So in theory you could see results that look like this...
First Poll: Sanders 25%, Biden 22%, Buttigieg 17%, Warren 14%, Klobuchar 9%, Yang 3%, Steyer 3%, Gabbard 2% (this is the current RCP average rounded up)
Second Poll: Biden 25%, Sanders 25%, Klobuchar 18%, Buttigieg 17%, Warren 15% (I purposely did this to keep Warren in and move Biden and Amy for America up)
Delegates: Biden 11, Klobuchar 9, Sanders 9, Warren 6, Buttigieg 6 (delegates are not awarded purely at the state level but at the state level and then in each district, I did it all at the state level then rounded Bernie and Pete down, while Amy and Warren rounded up so that the results would again change)

Two "winners", three second and third placers! Democracy, whiskey, sexy!

[Mandark]

Yeah think I saw a story that the Sanders campaign was going to focus on the straw vote number because they expect to be able to win that. Other campaigns will probably just boost whichever number is most favorable for them.

[benjipwns]

I have no idea how the media will report it if it turns out similar to my example or worse there's three winners. They got burned in 2012 declaring it for Romney, when Santorum then won when the count was finished a few hours later. You know outlets like Politico are going to be rushing to declare it first.

For fuckery purposes I'm hoping the Democrats release each result as it's finished, not waiting to release all three at the end.

[Mandark]

There's always an impulse to be the first to put a checkmark next to a name but I think lots of the media is fine with "chaos! no clear winner as dems in disarray" as the story.

[benjipwns]

"IOWA: Klobuchar surges to unexpected third, Biden holds strong at second"

[benjipwns]

March 3rd is what really matters anyway, especially with California in the mix. Impeachment should ideally be over by then.

edit: Caucus/primary dates for james and anyone else:
February 3 - Iowa
February 11 - New Hampshire
February 22 - Nevada
February 29 - South Carolina
March 3 - Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia
March 10 - Idaho, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Washington
March 17 - Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Ohio

If things are not culled mathematically by that point we probably have to wait until April 28th for Maryland, New York and Pennsylvania to do it.

There's a total of 57 contests this year.

[Occam]

https://twitter.com/mysterysolvent/status/1221996534147035137

Rudy getting a taste of the future.

This can't be current, it's 40°F in New York and the protesters in the video aren't even wearing coats.

[benjipwns]

It's from May 2018:

[Nintex]

so Bolton dropped off one copy of his manuscript to the White House, copies got made, and his team is claiming the leak came from inside the White House itself

Trump John Barron leaked it for the drama.

At least CNN is having a good laugh
https://twitter.com/SteveKrak/status/1221988232528826369

[Kunai With Chain]

https://twitter.com/HondaWang/status/1220846280496336897

Wax on wax off?

[Himu]

The Team Trump argument is really not that Trump didn't do anything wrong, but impeachment itself shouldn't be a thing that is allowed to happen

It's so baffling.

[Occam]

https://twitter.com/HondaWang/status/1220846280496336897

Wax on wax off?

I see they got Meryl Streep for the role of "sensei". Which religion is "sensei"?

[Occam]

The Team Trump argument is really not that Trump didn't do anything wrong, but impeachment itself shouldn't be a thing that is allowed to happen

It's so baffling.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jury_nullification

Jury nullification (US) or a perverse verdict (UK)[1][2] generally occurs when members of a criminal trial jury believe that a defendant is guilty, but choose to acquit the defendant anyway because the jurors also believe that the law itself is unjust,[3][4] that the prosecutor has misapplied the law in the defendant's case,[5] or that the potential punishment for breaking the law is too harsh. Some juries have also refused to convict due to their own prejudices in favour of the defendant.[6]
Nullification is not an official part of criminal procedure

[benjipwns]

Bonnie Myotai Treace is a Zen priest, the founder and teacher of Hermitage Heart, and was the abbot of the Zen Center of NYC; she leads training in Black Mountain, North Carolina. She is particularly known for her work in women's spirituality, poetry, and the nexus of mind and environment. Myotai Sensei was the first Dharma successor of John Daido Loori, Roshi, in the Mountains and Rivers Order, having received shiho, dharma transmission, from him in 1996. Serving and training for over two decades eventually as vice-abbot of Zen Mountain Monastery, she was the establishing teacher and first abbess of the Zen Center of New York City. At the Monastery she was the Vice Abbot, the first director of Dharma Communications, editor of Mountain Record, and in charge of the affiliates of the Mountains and Rivers Order.

Treace holds an advanced degree in literature, was a lobbyist for women's issues, and an analyst with the Potomac Research Institute specializing in hydromechanics.

In 2016 Myotai gave shiho or dharma transmission to Phil Sengetsu Kolman, Sensei, and named John Kyoman Weiczorek as Dharma Steward of Hermitage Heart.

Treace is the author of several books, among them: "Winter Moon: A Season of Zen," and "Empty Branches." She's also had chapters in "Water: Its Spiritual Significance" (Vons Fitae Press), The Art of Just Sitting: Essential Writings on the Zen Practice of Shikantaza, and "Lotus Moon: The Poetry of Rengetsu", along with many other writings. Myotai's teachings have appeared in various Buddhist publications, including Buddhadharma: The Practitioner's Quarterly, The Mountain Record and in several editions of The Best Buddhist Writing. She is a member of the American Zen Teachers Association.

[Himu]

The Team Trump argument is really not that Trump didn't do anything wrong, but impeachment itself shouldn't be a thing that is allowed to happen

Two things stuck out to me about the GOP arguments tonight.

1) one of the lawyers said that the impeachment articles did not even allege a crime, and thus this wasn’t a valid impeachment, then that same lawyer, in the same speech read a passage from the impeachment articles that said something about this being a crime.

2) Ultimately, they seem to be saying this is not a valid impeachment because it doesn’t allege a violation of US criminal code. This is effectively saying that Congress and the courts have literally no power over the President as long as he doesn’t violate A criminal law. He can violate regulations and laws passed by Congress with impunity, with no recourse as long as he can find somebody to do it for him. That’s an insane point of view.

Made all the more by two of the members of the defense team having the exact opposite opinions on impeachment during the Clinton trial.

And then they said there's no evidence to convict but won't allow more evidence.

It's so transparent.

[benjipwns]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jury_nullification

You're giving them too much credit.

[kingv]

I have this insane anxiety that Sanders is gonna end up getting the nomination and Trump wins again OR Literally anyone else gets it and Trump still wins because of Bernie holdouts not voting or voting for Trump due to insanity. I’m doing a write in vote and then checking myself into the mental hospital election week. It’s 2016 all over again.

I don’t get the Sanders anxiety. He’s polled to beat trump consistently since 2015. The only other candidate you can say that for is Biden.

Biden is the one that makes me the most nervous, because even though he polls well, his primary strategy seems to be to hide from the public eye and coast on name recognition. Good luck with that strategy in the general.

[Himu]

I have this insane anxiety that Sanders is gonna end up getting the nomination and Trump wins again OR Literally anyone else gets it and Trump still wins because of Bernie holdouts not voting or voting for Trump due to insanity. I’m doing a write in vote and then checking myself into the mental hospital election week. It’s 2016 all over again.

I don’t get the Sanders anxiety. He’s polled to beat trump consistently since 2015. The only other candidate you can say that for is Biden.

Biden is the one that makes me the most nervous, because even though he polls well, his primary strategy seems to be to hide from the public eye and coast on name recognition. Good luck with that strategy in the general.

His campaign is also keeping his lid tight. He rarely speaks at interviews or gives public addresses. It's mostly private donors. He's running with the same exact strategy Hillary did.

If Biden gets the nom, Trump will win, and the Democrats will refuse to self reflect...again.

[Mandark]

no need to self-reflect if bernie manages to lose to hillary clinton and joe fucking biden back to back?

[Cauliflower Of Love]

no need to self-reflect if bernie manages to lose to hillary clinton and joe fucking biden back to back?

 

[Himu]

no need to self-reflect if bernie manages to lose to hillary clinton and joe fucking biden back to back?

Please don't do this!

[benjipwns]

I'm not worried, Terry McAuliffe will be coming off his second term then and ready to team up with Gavin Newsom for a bold new era of redistributing the means of production.

[Mandark]

Of course Bernie would win against the Eastern Conference champion AFC champion Republican nominee, he's just had some bad luck early in the bracket, running into competitors who are tough matchups for his style of play. If the Dems changed the rules to re-seed each round this wouldn't be an issue, plus the refs aren't exactly helping.

[benjipwns]

Bernie had a heart attack, if he was fully healthy, the matchups would be completely different.

[Mandark]

Bernie had a heart attack, if he was at full health...

Pre-Crisis Bernie would be polling at like 75%.

[Nintex]

The Trumps and the Republicans are just too good at this game.
https://twitter.com/IvankaTrump/status/1222126462347681793


Ted Cruz now has the most popular podcast on iTunes
https://www.politico.com/amp/news/2020/01/27/ted-cruz-podcast-105808

The podcast, titled “Verdict with Ted Cruz” features Cruz and Michael Knowles, a conservative political commentator, and is taped at the end of the Senate impeachment trial every day, even if that means 2 a.m. So far, it’s had more than 500,000 downloads and has even earned a retweet from Trump promoting it. It’s now the number one podcast on iTunes, surpassing “The Joe Rogan Experience” and the New York Times’ “The Daily.”

[Great Rumbler]

https://twitter.com/HondaWang/status/1220846280496336897

Wax on wax off?

Sad to see Tilda Swinton getting replaced by Meryl Streep in the next Dr. Strange movie.

[Nintex]

1984 is childs play compared to these bois.

Ep. 6 - The Bolton Bombshell
Verdict with Ted Cruz

A leak from John Bolton’s leak throws impeachment into chaos, President Trump’s legal team comes out swinging, and Senator Cruz sends at least one reporter up a wall.

[benjipwns]

One thing about Trump/Biden is imagine how many candidates there's going to be next time between the two parties.

[Cauliflower Of Love]

Is a mock caucus like the dress rehearsal?

[Nintex]

One thing about Trump/Biden is imagine how many candidates there's going to be next time between the two parties.

Cruz/Rogan - Constitutionalists

Jones/Stone - GOP

Don/Ivanka - Trump Party

Chelsea/Michelle - Democrats - arrested

Kanye/Kanye - Evangelicals

Snoop/Oprah - Greens

Like in Putin's Russia you'll have controlled opposition 

[Cauliflower Of Love]

Some Democratic National Committee (DNC) members and supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) are venting frustration at DNC Chairman Tom Perez over his initial appointments to the committees that will oversee the rules and party platform at the nominating convention in Milwaukee later this year.

Sanders’s allies are incensed by two names in particular: former Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), who will co-chair the rules committee, and Hillary Clinton’s former campaign chairman John Podesta, who will have a seat on that committee.

The Sanders campaign unsuccessfully sought to have Frank removed from the rules committee in 2016, describing him as an “aggressive attack surrogate for the Clinton campaign.”

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/480174-sanders-allies-in-new-uproar-over-dnc-convention-appointments


Fucking bernie bros.

The Sanders campaign did not respond to a request for comment, but national co-chair Nina Turner blasted the appointments in an interview with progressive online news channel Status Coup, calling it “an embarrassment” and a “slap in the face.”

“If the DNC believes it’s going to get away in 2020 with what it did in 2016, it has another thing coming,” Turner said.

 

[benjipwns]

SOMEBODY STOP HIM

[benjipwns]

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/01/28/bloomberg-progressives-leftists-2020-dnc-106712

Bloomberg's rise sets off alarms on the left
Fearful he's avoiding scrutiny, progressives are pressing the DNC to change its debate rules so Bloomberg would be forced to confront his rivals.

Progressive allies of Elizabeth Warren have approached the Democratic National Committee to lobby for an unusual cause: including billionaire Mike Bloomberg in upcoming presidential primary debates.

The move, described to POLITICO by a co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, reflects the desire of liberal activists to pin down the former New York mayor, who has avoided verbal combat with his opponents by waging a self-funded campaign that plays by its own rules. But the entreaty also speaks to progressives' growing unease with Bloomberg's relative success: After spending hundreds of millions of dollars, he has vaulted into double digits in national polls and amassed a giant staff of A-level operatives.

Bloomberg has risen steadily in national polls, surpassing Pete Buttigieg and nearly doubling Amy Klobuchar’s standing. On Monday, Bloomberg eclipsed Klobuchar in congressional endorsements, with many of the supporters arguing he’s uniquely positioned to beat Trump in the swing states Democrats need to recapture the White House.

"I'd be fine with him being on the debate stage because I think that instead of just putting your money out there, he's actually got to be on the stage, and be able to go back and forth so that voters can evaluate him in that way," Klobuchar told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" on Tuesday, when asked about POLITICO's reporting.

"I think he could have done it if he wanted to get some donors, and if he wanted to be on the ballot in the early states, but he didn't want to do that," Klobuchar said. "So that means you have to wait until the Super Tuesday time. But I don't know when that debate is scheduled, but there better be one."

Adam Green, of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, said he approached the DNC last month to talk about including Bloomberg in future debates. Bloomberg’s polling meets the party’s criteria for inclusion, but his refusal to raise money from outside donors — even in minuscule increments — means he can’t meet the qualifying threshold. Green proposed altering the rules so that Bloomberg would be included.

“Imagine a hypothetical world where Bloomberg bought himself 30 percent and he’s the frontrunner in the polls. Would you really not think voters would want to hear what he has to say and see him get some scrutiny on the debate stage?” Green asked.

[benjipwns]

Even with his record ad spending, which reached $270 million on Monday

holy fucking shit

[Cauliflower Of Love]

That's some AAA trump-esque reverse psychology.


Next week: DNC propeses pledge signing.

[Mandark]

I'd managed to avoid direct political advertising from the primaries until Bloomberg started buying spots on the LeBatard podcast.

[Trurl]

Jesus, I had no idea that Bloomberg was worth 60 billion dollars.  I assumed it was more like 8 billion.

[Cauliflower Of Love]

What position would bloomberg play in bernie's cabinet?

[benjipwns]

What position would bloomberg play in bernie's cabinet?

Blood for the Blood God.

[EightBitNate]

Where is Bloomberg’s rise coming from? Buttigieg’s decline isn’t that large and all the other moderates have been relatively stable.

[Nintex]

Where is Bloomberg’s rise coming from? Buttigieg’s decline isn’t that large and all the other moderates have been relatively stable.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

[EightBitNate]

Where is Bloomberg’s rise coming from? Buttigieg’s decline isn’t that large and all the other moderates have been relatively stable.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Yeah but just looking at polls it isn’t immediately apparent. Biden is pretty much the same as before Bloomberg entered the race, which is unfortunate.

Hmm actually I think I underestimated how much Buttigieg is tanking.

[Joe Molotov]

Jesus, I had no idea that Bloomberg was worth 60 billion dollars.  I assumed it was more like 8 billion.

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1222184371932798976

[Trurl]

Yeah, with a quick comparison it looks like he made 30 billion dollars the last 3 years.

So if he were to spend 2 billion dollars it would be like buying a 20K car after getting 300K dollars.  Except the car is a national election.  Holy shit.

And even that's really misleading because of marginal utility of money in regards to effecting his quality of life (at his point it's zero) and the nature of wealth.  It's literally nothing to him.

[Tripon]

Where is Bloomberg’s rise coming from? Buttigieg’s decline isn’t that large and all the other moderates have been relatively stable.

Just tons of positive ads and buying as much as space as possible. Same thing with Steyer. My brother mentioned that he likes Steyer and I was what the fuck, how do you even know him. Then I took a vacation and stayed at a hotel with cable and realized that there's Setter/Bloomberg ads on pretty much every channel.

But you wouldn't even know this unless you were still an active TV viewer

[El Babua]

I'd managed to avoid direct political advertising from the primaries until Bloomberg started buying spots on the LeBatard podcast.

Living in Florida, I've been seeing his ads during every fucking sports game.

Even then, I was surprised af to listen to his ad on the LeBatard podcast considering ESPN's "No Politics" rule in place. I guess the local hour isn't under network jurisdiction lol