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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
Except Flordia saw a massive spike in turnout between 2016 and 2020, including a spike of re-enfranchising almost 20% of the disenfranchised black men in the state, a solidly democratic demographic.
So no, it wasn't that, and we kind of have to learn to accept that its not just "voter suppression" that keeps making democrats loose, higher turnout, even when you lower the barriers on solidly democratic groups has been demonstrated not to provide that significant of an advantage.
The call that it was a fear of socialism is probably quite accurate when you sit down and have a look at flordia's demographics, with its huge amount of senior citizens who would have lived through the red scare, and Cuban amaercians who are allergic to socialism even being uttered.
...
And I say this as some one who quite wants the implementation of quite a lot of socialist ideas, we aren't going to get any where if we don't acknowledge that even if people like the ideas, the word makes them recoil.... Fuck McCarthy.
Edited by Imca on Nov 18th 2020 at 5:45:51 AM
I'd really prefer that the last four years were some deranged coma dream, for starters.
Some of the more staunch Q supporters have began to commit suicide
, die after taking bogus remedies
or turn against their own family members (too many examples in that subreddit to count).
How can anyone deal with something like that?
The pandemic is obviously terrible but eventually we'll have the option to take the vaccine, but how can you make this craziness go away? Especially since everyone can now see how easy it is to make anyone believe even the most absurd stuff. At this point it's not just a matter of blaming the internet and social media, but rather understanding how is it so easy even for apparently well-adjusted people to be indoctrinated with almost no effort.
"Effective Altruism" is just another bunch of horsesh*t.I really am glad that even though Trump won Florida this time, he still lost the election. And I don't think he will be running again in 2024 due to his ailing health, so Dems would be facing against Republicans running under a "lower-energy" candidate without the "popularity" (meaning insane cult idolatry) of Donnie.
"Wow, no Mega Togekiss in Legends Z-A. Or any non-Froslass new Sinnoh Mega Evolutions. Round of applause, everybody." - DawnI think the voter suppression narrative is getting a little overwrought, to be honest. Its claims seldom backed by rigorous evidence and it's waved around in a fashion that is oddly reminiscent of the Trumpian "voter fraud" narrative.
One thing I have been wondering is whether the persistence of Cuba's and Venezuela's socialist regimes keeps the issue alive ... although I suspect that in the far future unmitigated climate change may begin to supplant it.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard FeynmanYeah, I think this election did refute the idea that higher turnout always helps Democrats, or that voter suppression/other ways of cheating are the only way Republicans keep power.
That said, only about 80,000 people reenfranchised by Amendment 4 voted this election.
Edited by nova92 on Nov 18th 2020 at 5:54:05 AM
I, am a bit less sure of that, I personally give it 50/50 odds of this either Humiliating Trump into not trying agian, or him running in each election until the day he dies or gets a second term...
I don't think his health is going to stop him until he falls over, and also I think that people might be relying on that a little bit too much like they are "he is totally going to get arrested as soon as he leaves office guys", sure his diet may be insanely unhealthy, but it is entirely possible for a person to live a long and healthy life while engaging in unhealthy habits, they aren't a guaranteed thing, it just makes it way more likely for you to have bad health, but again not a guarantee.... and well... karma doesn't really exist.
The sad fact of the mater is it is quite possible that other then the covid situation Trump is perfectly averagely healthy for some one in his 70s, and we won't be seeing any justice on that front either, the universe isn't a story... it isn't rigged to get give good endings or deserving punishments, and.... well we kind of need to brace for that or we are just going to be disappointed.
Quick napkin math says there was 340,000 dis-enfancised that would have been effected by that measure any way, so 80,000 turnout from that even after that state's government did its best to kill it is still pretty good.
Well not great, obviously the 340,000 in full would have been much better, but 80,000 is a huge chunk out of that in a hostile government.
Edited by Imca on Nov 18th 2020 at 6:00:06 AM
You can totally blame social media and the Internet. As it does with most things, it accelerated and amplified something that's always been an issue with human society.
Propaganda and disinformation campaigns and conspiracy theories were things long before the Internet was a thing.
It is stupidly easy to get people to believe in a lie if it's a lie they really want to be true. Our own brains do most of the work for the propagandists.
Edited by M84 on Nov 18th 2020 at 10:33:35 PM
Disgusted, but not surprisedThing is, why the hell would anyone want to believe in the existence of a secret cult of Satanic pedophiles?
Like, demonizing people you already were already predisposed to hate is one thing, but from the way I've heard QAnon described it's not necessarily hard-core lifelong conservatives that have been the ones getting sucked in.
I get the appeal of conspiracy theories on the political fringes, but I've never understood the causal factors in this particular case compared to, say, birtherism having a clear origin in racism/Islamophobia.
Edited by nrjxll on Nov 18th 2020 at 8:43:40 AM
Longtime Minnesota state senators quit DFL caucus
Sen. Tom Bakk of Cook, a Senator since 2003 and former DFL candidate for governor and former DFL Senate Majority leader, and Sen. Dave Tomassoni of Chisholm, a Senator since 2001, say their move is designed to become more bipartisan and moderate.
Now it appears there was much more to that move because both Bakk and Tomassoni will get committee chairmanships. Those positions can only be appointed by Republican Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka.
Nice to know they've traded principles for power. They were probably spooked by Peterson losing this year, but ugh.
Edited by nova92 on Nov 18th 2020 at 6:54:40 AM
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Because it gives people a clear, unquestioningly evil target to fight against. It is similar to how Nazis are the go-to evil character if you want a villain who no one will feel remorse for murdering in cold blood. Pedophiles is just the next best thing for Qanon, probably because Nazis cleave rather closer to home for them.
Aye, QAnon has gained a strong following of UFOlogists
. And they have gained inroads - or at least attempted to - in groups that are sincerely about child protection
.
One thing I have been wondering about, incidentally, is whether QAnonism can gain a foothold into more mainstream Republican politics. Not only through explicitly pro-QAnon candidates but also thanks to Tweets like these mentioned in this article
. Or at least, they have the same tendency to put out accusations of paedophilia.
Yeah, but I was talking about mainstream Republicans such as Ted Cruz (Ok, mainstreamish...) who is mentioned in the article I linked before not about local Republicans or backbench House members. And if memory serves, this isn't the first time that Cruz has falsely claimed that a California law was legalizing paedophilia.
Yes, I've seen complaints by genuine child protection groups that QAnon is interfering with their work.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard FeynmanCNN:
Gov. Kristi Noem of South Dakota plays politics and continues to downplay the threat of COVID as the virus ravages her state.
She was campaigning in New Hampshire as cases in South Dakota skyrocketed and hasn't instituted a mask-mandate or put the state under lockdown or done anything at all. It's appalling how little she seems to care. About 7% of the state's population has contracted COVID, the highest in the country aside from neighboring North Dakota.
Because it's not about CP. It's about wanting to arrest someone with a different political position than their own. Hence why an entire political party is accused of being Satan-worshipping pedophiles. Also, in some cases as mentioned above, projection.
Edited by speedyboris on Nov 18th 2020 at 8:22:26 AM
Also, the Qanoneers' King Donald the First was best friends with billionaire and convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, so them praising Donnie as a champion against child trafficking is really, really stupid.
"Wow, no Mega Togekiss in Legends Z-A. Or any non-Froslass new Sinnoh Mega Evolutions. Round of applause, everybody." - Dawn- No Senate? No problem, progressive group tells Biden.
- 4 more years: Trump freezes 2024 presidential field
New Consensus, a left-wing think tank led by Ocasio-Cortez’s former chief of staff Saikat Chakrabarti, Justice Democrats’ co-founder Zack Exley, and organizer Demond Drummer, argues that Biden could team up with the Federal Reserve and Treasury Department to provide trillions of dollars of low-interest loans to build the “industries of tomorrow” and help small businesses suffering because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The group’s memo
...
Biden’s Build Back Better plan looks to create millions of jobs by revitalizing the manufacturing industry, building green infrastructure, revamping the country’s caregiving system, and fostering racial equity.
New Consensus’ memo calls on the president-elect to take several major steps to make that a reality: First, create a “National Development Council,” which includes the Federal Reserve chair, Treasury secretary and Cabinet members, to craft an economic development strategy and identify projects that advance it.
Second, form a “National Development Bank” — or use the existing Federal Financing Bank — to make financing plans for those proposals. And then, they said, regional Federal Reserve banks should be empowered to administer the local projects in their backyards, instead of having the Federal Reserve Bank of New York or Boston managing everything.
...
“In the ’08 bailout, the PTSD I would say is that the Fed gave all this near-zero-interest money out — the result of that was we saved the banking system, but we didn’t actually build anything new,” Chakrabarti in an interview. “As opposed to in the past, when we spent all this money, we built the interstate highway system. We built the Apollo space program. ... So there’s this chance this time to do it right.”
The think tank also said Biden should take a page from President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal and pursue economic development projects in every congressional district in the nation.
...(excerpt)
...
While Trump’s loss was supposed to trigger a Republican Party reset, his flirtation with a 2024 bid ensures he’ll remain the dominant force in the party and cast a shadow over anyone looking to succeed him. Even the possibility of Trump running again will impede other Republicans from laying groundwork for their own bids — lest they upset Trump and his tens of millions of supporters, many of whom are convinced the election was stolen.
...
Those who’ve worked for Trump — Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley — are in perhaps the toughest spot of all. Each would have to maneuver around the soon-to-be-former president after spending the last four years aligning themselves with him.
But some argue the three would benefit from the president freezing the 2024 field. Pence, Pompeo and Haley have used their roles in the administration to establish national profiles, build donor networks and deepen their ties to conservative activists. In the event Trump eventually decides not to run, they would start out a primary with advantages over others who are further behind organizationally.
...
But for many would-be Republican candidates, building a national political apparatus could prove tricky — or worse — with Trump in the 2024 mix. Strategists might be fearful of being blacklisted during a second Trump term if they work for another potential candidate. Then there’s the task of courting donors, who could be reluctant to get crosswise with Trump.
...
“The prospect of a run by President Trump in 2024 will put a pall over other prospective candidates cultivating donors,” said Northern Virginia-based GOP contributor Bobbie Kilberg, who voiced eagerness for the party to move on from Trump.
It “perplexes me since we could have numerous excellent candidates who should not be put on hold for years,” she added.
More public actions, like taking trips to early voting states like Iowa or New Hampshire, could be perceived as an open affront to Trump and potentially alienate his voters.
...
The prospect of a future Trump bid is already forcing would-be 2024 hopefuls to respond. Rubio told reporters last week that Trump would “certainly be the frontrunner and will probably be the nominee” if he ran.
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) was more evasive during a Fox News appearance, saying, “I know everyone likes to speculate on the next election, but I think we should put this election on the books before we move on to that speculation.”
... (excerpt)
An example of the 'New Consensus' thinktank exploring ways for the next administration to be effective without the senate, and how Trump holding open the possibility of running in 24 is casting a shadow over the GOP field even now. In short, the possibility is potentially disrupting the ability of other candidates to gain donors and build support.
Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives
First, I am glad that even if the Dems lose the Senate (I think the Dems' chances of attaining the Georgia seats are rising), Biden will still be able to get stuff done against the GOP's reactionary efforts.
And second, that's assuming Donnie is still alive by 2024. Personally I don't think he will last long after leaving the White House not only because of his bad health habits and beliefs that exercise is bad, but also because he caught the Covfefe virus and barely recovered.
"Wow, no Mega Togekiss in Legends Z-A. Or any non-Froslass new Sinnoh Mega Evolutions. Round of applause, everybody." - Dawn

Well what else were they going to do - vote for a DEMO(n)CRAT? Admit - tacitly or publicly - that they made a mistake in voting for Trump, in believing that he would actually improve things? Acknowledge that they were wrong and try to make amends? ([studio audience gasps in horror]) Nope, praise Supply-Side Jesus and pass the Flavor-Aid!
Edited by Reflextion on Nov 18th 2020 at 8:35:23 AM
Someone did tell me life was going to be this way.