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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM

CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#338676: Nov 10th 2020 at 11:41:49 AM

Uh, he can do exactly what Trump did to destroy the agencies that protected the environment and people.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
archonspeaks Since: Jun, 2013
#338677: Nov 10th 2020 at 12:00:37 PM

[up] Trump hasn’t dissolved any agencies or broken apart any departments. If you want Biden to abolish ICE with the tools of the presidency you’re going to end up disappointed.

He can certainly make their jobs harder, though the agencies in question are by nature relatively insulated from that. They don’t operate the same way as the EPA, for example. Realistically, a meaningful reform program for DHS is going to have to come from Congress.

Edited by archonspeaks on Nov 10th 2020 at 12:01:40 PM

They should have sent a poet.
sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#338678: Nov 10th 2020 at 12:09:25 PM

The President doesn’t have the authority to reorganize the executive branch, so that’s really not something Biden could do. He could try and kneecap DHS through unofficial means, but that would almost certainly not end well.
The leader of the Executive Branch doesn't have the authority to reorganize the Executive Branch?

Edited by sgamer82 on Nov 10th 2020 at 12:09:39 PM

Draghinazzo (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: I get a feeling so complicated...
#338679: Nov 10th 2020 at 12:10:36 PM

So apparently, Jeff Flake is also of the opinion that Cruz, Graham, etc know Trump has lost but they're afraid of Trump's base so they're placating them with canned soundbites about the election.

I think that was more or less obvious already, but it does make me wonder: I don't think Trump is going to look favorably on the GOP whatsoever after this. I think he's going to talk mad shit about them about after all this is over for them abandoning him, because the lip service isn't good enough for him.

I don't really think most of the base will stop voting republican because they have no other choice, but it is a little funny to think about how the GOP is going to have to claim to be on Trump's side, even with the strong possibility of him saying stuff like the party has failed him and didn't do enough to secure his victory. I can't really see that being a good thing though, because the most that would happen is the rest of the conventional GOP establishment being primaried by Trump true believers.

Memers Since: Aug, 2013
#338680: Nov 10th 2020 at 12:10:42 PM

'The NSC's Global Health Security and Biodefense unit' was formed after Ebola hit the US the unit was disbanded by Trump a year before Covid.

The President has a lot of power on that.

CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#338681: Nov 10th 2020 at 12:29:12 PM

The problem is they ARE placating him.

And until its done, this bandaid is half-stuck.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
ironballs16 Since: Jul, 2009 Relationship Status: Owner of a lonely heart
#338682: Nov 10th 2020 at 12:59:59 PM

[up]

Aside from that, they're also fueling the base's view that the election was rigged, leading to that "fun" statistic about 7/10 of Republicans thinking that the election was crooked in some way or other.

And it really doesn't help when we have Mike Pompeo, Secretary of State, firmly in I Reject Your Reality mode by promising "a smooth transition to a second Trump administration".

Edited by ironballs16 on Nov 10th 2020 at 4:00:10 AM

"Why would I inflict myself on somebody else?"
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#338683: Nov 10th 2020 at 1:51:47 PM

This is the best thing of the day. Seriously.

Dean Browning, former Lehigh County Commissioner (that's in Pennsylvania), has just accidentally outed himself as having an alternate Twitter account on which he pretends to be a gay black man who supports Trump. I am not making this up. I wish I could make this up.

Twitter link

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#338684: Nov 10th 2020 at 2:05:43 PM

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/10/technology/qanon-election-trump.html?action=click&module=Spotlight&pgtype=Homepage

Here's an update on Qanon's pitiful wailing about.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
clemont107 Mega Togekiss?! from Land of Missed Opportunities (Experienced, Not Yet Jaded) Relationship Status: YOU'RE TEARING ME APART LISA
Mega Togekiss?!
#338685: Nov 10th 2020 at 2:05:50 PM

[up][up]This is the sort of behavior you would expect from young internet trolls under the age of 30, and not from a person with a normally well-respected position.

[up]It's really scary how Qanon was able to attract the minds of so many younger people. Is it possible for these Qanon followers to get help so they can de-program and essentially stop believing those hoaxes?

Edited by clemont107 on Nov 10th 2020 at 5:08:12 AM

"Wow, no Mega Togekiss in Legends Z-A. Or any non-Froslass new Sinnoh Mega Evolutions. Round of applause, everybody." - Dawn
ScubaWolf from South Carolina Since: Feb, 2020
#338686: Nov 10th 2020 at 2:14:55 PM

[up] That would require therapy among other things. Too bad there's a stigma about that sort of thing in this country.

"In a move surprising absolutely no one"
ShinyCottonCandy Everyone's friend Malamar from Lumiose City (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Everyone's friend Malamar
#338687: Nov 10th 2020 at 2:22:19 PM

Not to mention the fact that they wouldn’t be willing patients, which would make therapy so much more difficult.

My musician page
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#338688: Nov 10th 2020 at 2:26:31 PM

I find telling them their ideas are stupid and insane doesn't work.

Sharing articles about how the con game worked is more likely to cause them to back away.

Especially if you point out its someone making money off them.

Even hardcore Qanonists HATE this.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
LSBK Since: Sep, 2014
#338689: Nov 10th 2020 at 2:30:15 PM

You know, while it is deeply troubling that like 70% of Republicans doubt the integrity of elections just because they're guy lost, I find myself hoping that sentiment sticks around a bit and depresses Republican turnout in those Georgia runoff elections. If they do it to themselves I'm not going to feel bad about it.

Protagonist506 from Oregon Since: Dec, 2013 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
#338690: Nov 10th 2020 at 2:36:14 PM

With groups like that (Qanon, other conspiracies, flat eartherism, fundies, etc), a lot of people make the mistake of trying to debate them on factual grounds. This doesn't really work because they tend to willfully distrust facts from outside sources and they also tend to assign a sort of moral quality to acceptance and denial of facts (disbelieving in their conclusions is morally wrong, essentially).

They start with a conclusion, and data supporting that conclusion is promptly cherry-picked.

Many people tend to simply write them off upon realizing this, but I'd argue the next step is to consider why they have their conclusion and it's so important to them. When you can attack that, you can make progress.

What Phipps suggests I think is also a good strategy, because it essentially turns their common "defense mechanisms" against the conspiracy theory. They tend to dismiss evidence using a certain ad hominen that goes "the speaker is just saying that because they profit from you believing it" (aka "That's what they want you to think!"). By revealing how people profit off of conspiracy theorists, they might then start getting paranoid about whoever their "dealer" is.

Leviticus 19:34
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#338691: Nov 10th 2020 at 2:40:45 PM

I've said before that you gotta ask why a conspiracy theorist needs the conspiracy theory to be true.

Disgusted, but not surprised
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#338692: Nov 10th 2020 at 2:42:49 PM

Also, they're mostly motivated by a level of frustration and powerlessness that comes from living in a system rigged against what they consider to be the common man (themselves). They view themselves as victimized minorities seeing the real world. By making them aware that other people are being duped, they ironically still keep the idea they are smart and see through it while other people are being duped.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
Silasw A procrastination in of itself from A handcart to hell (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
A procrastination in of itself
#338693: Nov 10th 2020 at 2:43:43 PM

There is a risk with Charles’ approach, you’re not actually challenging the conspiracy theorist way of thinking, you’re just redirecting it.

“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#338694: Nov 10th 2020 at 2:46:33 PM

There is a risk with Charles’ approach, you’re not actually challenging the conspiracy theorist way of thinking, you’re just redirecting it.

Babysteps.

You need to get someone out of the muddy hole they're in before you can clean them off.

But I admit, my view on this is informed by the fact I was once a virulently unpleasant The Fundamentalist.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
Silasw A procrastination in of itself from A handcart to hell (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
A procrastination in of itself
#338695: Nov 10th 2020 at 2:56:12 PM

I don’t suggest directly challenging their mindset, my recommendation is to almost ignore their conspiracy theorising and instead help them develop critical thinking skills, which will then enable them to break themselves out of the mindset.

I’m certain that it’s much more cathartic to just point their mindset at a target that rather deserves it, but it’s probably not best for their long-term health, which is something you’re liable to be concerned about when we’re talking about family/close friends.

“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran
Anura from England Since: Apr, 2011 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#338696: Nov 10th 2020 at 3:05:10 PM

So apparently, Jeff Flake is also of the opinion that Cruz, Graham, etc know Trump has lost but they're afraid of Trump's base so they're placating them with canned soundbites about the election.

He who rides the tiger can never dismount, it seems.

A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they will never sit in.
KZN02 The Master of Tediousness (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
The Master of Tediousness
#338697: Nov 10th 2020 at 3:06:10 PM

One reason people believe in conspiracy theories (especially that involves someone or some group is in control) is because the alternative is more frightening; things happen with no way to change it easily.

With a '0', not an 'O'
Draghinazzo (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: I get a feeling so complicated...
#338698: Nov 10th 2020 at 3:10:43 PM

[up][up]It also makes me wonder: from what I understand, part of the reason Trump won the primaries was because there were way too many republicans in the race even towards the end. If they had done what the democrats did with Biden and hedged their bets on one guy, like Cruz for example, would they have been able to prevent him from taking the nomination?

nova92 Since: Apr, 2020
#338699: Nov 10th 2020 at 3:32:17 PM

Washington Post: Postal worker admits fabricating allegations of ballot tampering, officials say

A Pennsylvania postal worker whose claims have been cited by top Republicans as potential evidence of widespread voting irregularities admitted to U.S. Postal Service investigators that he fabricated the allegations, according to three people briefed on the investigation and a statement from a House congressional committee.


The Biden-Harris Transition website has released lists of Agency Review Teams:

Agency review teams are responsible for understanding the operations of each agency, ensuring a smooth transfer of power, and preparing for President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris and their cabinet to hit the ground running on Day One. These teams are composed of highly experienced and talented professionals with deep backgrounds in crucial policy areas across the federal government. The teams have been crafted to ensure they not only reflect the values and priorities of the incoming administration, but reflect the diversity of perspectives crucial for addressing America's most urgent and complex challenges.

CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#338700: Nov 10th 2020 at 3:32:56 PM

I don't think so because the people who vote Republican like Trump's racism.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.

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