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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
The Best Worst Psychonaut
Biden: "We're going after China in the wrong way. China is stealing intellectual property. China is conditioning being able to do business in China based on whether or not you have 51% Chinese ownership. That's got to end. I spent a fair amount of time when I was vice president with President Xi because the president wanted me to get to know him. He's no democrat with a small 'd' at all."
I see. No explicit reference to authoritarianism or cyber-warfare, but I can see an implication at the end. Doesn't seem too bad overall. I guess Biden might want to keep more overt and broad criticism under wraps until he's actually in office, just in case.
"If you think like a child, you will do a child's work."
Queen of Good Things, Honest
They did not push Clinton.
In 2016, the Russians were found to be attempting to push the campaigns of Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders, and Jill Stein. They wanted anyone but Hillary Clinton and were trying (ultimately successfully) to sink her campaign. Their propaganda was aimed at convincing people to either a) vote Trump or b) not vote Clinton, because they were voting for Stein or because "The DNC screwed Bernie so fuck the Democrats!"
But they ultimately wanted Trump in the office. We know that because they made extensive efforts to groom him for a political relationship with Putin in the months leading up to the election. Now, I've been one of Bernie Sanders's staunchest critics in this thread, but even I think it bears noting that there is no evidence of a similar effort being made with him.
The Russians weren't trying to cause aimless havoc and just make everyone mad at each other. They had a very specific goal in mind that they were ultimately able to pull off. And it has paid dividends, even if they didn't get everything they wanted out of it 'cause Trump's too stupid to understand spy talk.
My Tumblr. Currently liveblogging Haruhi Suzumiya and revisiting Danganronpa V3.
They did try to stoke to Clinton side on social media, but with the aim of Clinton loosing, not winning like the aim was with Trump.
I’d bet that there were instances of ‘Clinton supporters’ online being assholes to Bernie supporters, with the ‘Clinton supporters’ actually being either Russian trolls or people radicalised by Russian trolls.
Worth noting that it was just a few months ago that some Chinese officials had admitted privately they wanted Trump to win because his wrecking American relationships with other countries was considered a plus for China.
The Best Worst Psychonaut
You know, given how my home country is even worse than America in this regard, I almost hope that Trump actually does it and then loses, then maybe that'll convince our politicians that being anti-Trans might have electoral consequences.
"If you think like a child, you will do a child's work."
That implies that people who turn bigotry into a political selling point are actually capable of learning.
Welcome to Estalia, gentlemen.
Redmess
What an awful thing to hope for...
Optimism is a duty.
Oh, bother.
What, for him to lose?
Because let us face it. He will almost certainly do it. Remember that he ultimately let that military ban thing go through. Trump has no regard for trans rights.
Disgusted, but not surprised
Lost in Space
It should be apparent by now that Republicans have abandoned any semblance of attracting the political middle and have gone hard right. They're playing to the absolute worst of their base, hoping to stir up enough enthusiasm to overcome Biden's lead. It's entirely predictable. They are no longer capable of governing or creating policy, so they now fully merge with the monster they created.
We should expect nothing less than scorched-earth politics through the election.
Edited by Fighteer on Aug 7th 2020 at 9:24:23 AM
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Apparently that's not really about their base, it's about more conservative leaning Democrats.
Still, I'd expect them to do it, whether it could help or hurt, because when you get down to it Trump and Republicans can't not try and attack marginalized people. It's like, there whole thing at this point, what other plays do they have?
The Best Worst Psychonaut
Oh, I'm not giving them that much credit; I'm not expecting them to learn, I'm expecting them to strategically draw attention away from it. ...I suppose that's also learning, but it's a different kind of learning, at least. :V
"If you think like a child, you will do a child's work."
Redmess
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
No, hoping that he will crack down on trans people in the hope that it will discourage British politicians to not do the same if (and it is an if) Trump loses. Aside from the terrible message it would send if he won, I think trans people already face quite enough persecution without being used for political games like this.
In other news (not sure if this was already mentioned):
Edited by Redmess on Aug 7th 2020 at 3:30:04 PM
Optimism is a duty.
Oh, bother.
Look, the point is that Trump is likely to do it anyway. So why not hope that it helps lead to a defeat?
Edited by M84 on Aug 7th 2020 at 9:29:36 PM
Disgusted, but not surprised
What claim did Trump make that could be worse than "ingesting bleach will cure Covid?"
Redmess
Bad as Trump is, it is still tasteless to hope for the mistreatment of people to have a positive effect.
That children are immune from the coronavirus. It is the misinformation part, rather than the content, that did it.
Edited by Redmess on Aug 7th 2020 at 3:31:23 PM
Optimism is a duty.
Don't jinx it.
At least there are influential people in Trump's circle who believe a Transphobia agenda isn't going to win them any points.
Demographics and public opinion has shifted significantly on these issues. This isn't 2004, where you can run this as a wedge issue alongside abortion.
And while trans issues don't have the quite the support level as gay ones, I doubt its going to do much.
Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
The Best Worst Psychonaut
Yeah, you're right, it smacks a little of accelerationism. I apologise. I think it was a knee-jerk reaction because I just found out I voted for a transphobe and I felt a little nauseous because of it.
That being said, since I'd be very surprised if Trump didn't do it at this point, I still hope it would send a powerful message if he lost despite it, or even better, because of it.
Edited by PresidentStalkeyes on Aug 7th 2020 at 2:38:58 PM
"If you think like a child, you will do a child's work."
I see. No explicit reference to authoritarianism or cyber-warfare, but I can see an implication at the end. Doesn't seem too bad overall. I guess Biden might want to keep more overt and broad criticism under wraps until he's actually in office, just in case.
Out of curiosity, how would/should he bring either up?
"Sandwiches are probably easier to fix than the actual problems" -Hylarn
The Best Worst Psychonaut
Honestly, I'm not sure. If he's critical of the PRC on those particular fronts (which he might not be, for all I know), I can understand staying quiet about it for now. It's not like he has a shortage of things to campaign on right now.
"If you think like a child, you will do a child's work."
Redmess
The trans community on this forum may never forgive you if he wins, though...
Optimism is a duty.
That's fair enough.
As you say I imagine he's focusing on campaigning and it makes sense to avoid focusing too much on any particular topic.
Edited by Fourthspartan56 on Aug 7th 2020 at 6:48:05 AM
"Sandwiches are probably easier to fix than the actual problems" -Hylarn
Oh, bother.
For me, it is more hoping that the USA is not as transphobic as the people in Trump’s campaign pushing this believe. I do not want Trump to pursue this strategy, but I fear it is likely to happen.
Edited by M84 on Aug 7th 2020 at 9:51:30 PM
Disgusted, but not surprised
Redmess
I fear it will just stoke more transphobia amongst his base. No good will come of this.
Optimism is a duty.
Edited by ShinyCottonCandy on Aug 7th 2020 at 6:13:11 AM
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