"The August 2020 US Politics Thread is highly thought of, but nobody likes me. It can only be my personality. That's all."

I know no one in this thread cares about George Conway zings but I thought this was pretty funny

But Herman, I’m worried that Trump’s the one who’s nuts, and that his derangement and incompetence are getting people killed. Don’t you worry about this, too? https://t.co/vthz42EY6t

— George Conway (@gtconway3d) August 13, 2020

lol

Even NPR can't bothsides this shit away:

President Trump admitted in an interview he plans to block additional funding for the U.S. Postal Service in order to prevent increased voting by mail. https://t.co/5y70Hr7ikO

— NPR (@NPR) August 13, 2020

haha v nice

When the government abandons its people, it’s up to us to rise up and make a revolution. We’re fighting for dignity, for justice, and for our future. Join us at https://t.co/NY8pZcBcFE. #GreenNewDealmaker pic.twitter.com/4V558XjrVw

— Ed Markey (@EdMarkey) August 13, 2020

aight!

love the last line, eat shit joe kennedy

ed is a good dude. i've been phone-banking for him, and i've had a TON of people bust out with weird stories about stuff he's gotten done for them. unfortunately, he can't seem to connect with BIPOC voters, who are pulling hard (and inexplicably) for kennedy.

my theory is that kennedy geared up the campaign machine b/c he thought he'd take warren's seat. but she doesn't need her seat filled, so he's gotta burn through great-grandpa's money somehow.

i know we all worry about joe manchin in a democratic-led senate, but there's not much we can do about that. if you want to do something that might make a difference (particularly on healthcare), send some money to Jess Scarane who is running against anti-M4A chris coons in the delaware senate primary in 4 weeks. very cheap race (primary, small state), so $25 here probably goes further than $500 in the presidential election or the wish fulfilment mcconnell/graham senate races.

https://theintercept.com/2019/11/18/chris-coons-delaware-primary-jess-scarane/

$ -> https://secure.actblue.com/donate/jess-website

Jess Scarane is great, idk what chance she has but her politics are very good and she's very online

thanks for the heads up. would love to seem some good ppl sneak in under the cover of a high-stakes general

also, fucking looool at G Conway tweet

i can't find any polling and i know almost nothing about DE but apparently this endorsement doesn't count for nothing https://www.delawareonline.com/story/opinion/2020/08/05/delaware-jess-scarane-right-choice-u-s-senator/3291017001/

Ken Olin, if you dont know, starred in a medium-sized hit TV series 30 years ago

I think a lot of what we do here is concerned with showing politics is a cold business for cold people. That is the price of progress. You can believe in a politician, support them, even celebrate them without this garbage, which is as endemic in parts of the left as the right. https://t.co/Mh6QNZk1qO

— Richard M. Nixon (@dick_nixon) August 13, 2020

Yeah, except Trump groped his daughter at her wedding.

https://pyxis.nymag.com/v1/imgs/ed8/cba/c72c321ee6f2fd1cf9e28f58901fa82b09-26-wiseguy.2x.rvertical.w330.jpg

https://pyxis.nymag.com/v1/imgs/ed8/cba/c72c321ee6f2fd1cf9e28f58901fa82b09-26-wiseguy.2x.rvertical.w330.jpg

Wrong thread

I dunno, seems like the right thread.

for some reason i don't think nixon would use the word "endemic." i don't know why, it just seemed like a false note in that tweet.

personally I think the real Nixon would be dead

“Finally, I am pleased to report that one of the most successful efforts ever undertaken to improve world health will soon realize its goal-the global eradication of smallpox. This is an activity originally endorsed and consistently supported by the United States. The Eighteenth World Health Assembly in 1965, at the initiative of the U.S. Delegation, adopted a resolution declaring worldwide eradication of smallpox a major World Health Organization objective. When the program began in 1966, 45 countries reported smallpox. At the end of 1973, this number had been reduced to 11. In 1966, smallpox was endemic in 25 countries. Today it is endemic in only four. In the Americas, where smallpox was a devastating disease for centuries, not a case has been reported since April 1971.”

personally I think the real Nixon would be dead

Tell us another happy tale, please. Which level of hell is Reagan currently roasting in?

re: anecdotal postal data posted upthread

Our nieces 400 miles away mailed us 2 stamped envelopes 3 weeks ago and they have yet to arrive.

Arrived today. Postmarked 7/21. All throughout pandemic we'd received these letters in 2-3 days and these last ones took 3 weeks + 2 days to travel 400 miles.

Sent my MN primary vote by recorded fast five-day delivery from the UK on the 5th, showing up as ‘not arrived, not counted’ on Hennepin County voter website. FFS.

Per my dad, a devoted USPS employee – here's what's being done in the name of "efficiency": pic.twitter.com/S84JO2EhAY

— Daniel Rice (@daniel_b_rice) August 14, 2020

I know 538 but this is very useful if you’re trying to figure out how to vote (postal, early, etc.)

http://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/how-to-vote-2020/

TRUMP: Mail is illegal now

DEMOCRATS: Fam, smash that RT if you agree someone should do something about this

— Jason O. Gilbert (@gilbertjasono) August 14, 2020

Holy cow: The *GAO* has determined that Chad Wolf was not lawfully named the Acting Secretary of Homeland Security, and that @HomelandKen (who already is using an inappropriate title) wasn't lawfully appointed even to his *proper* position at DHS.

This is a remarkably big deal. https://t.co/qnR60CCbfs

— Steve Vladeck (@steve_vladeck) August 14, 2020

chad wolf

the brain drain is real - either the trump admin is missing the institutional knowledge that helps to avoid these kinds of mistakes, or the people that know better are letting it happen because they fucking hate him

In the long annals of what went wrong with the impeachment, I feel like "not expanding the inquiry to cover as many possible crimes as could fit" slots in right next to "rushing to get it resolved so the president could act with impunity in an election year."

— Kelsey D. Atherton (@AthertonKD) August 13, 2020

I agree with that but also think that Covid would have ended it anyway

forgive me for blowing your mind:

Oh.

President Trump and Melania Trump have requested mail-in ballots for Florida’s primary election on Tuesday, according to records on the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections website. Records show the ballots were mailed yesterday to Mar-a-Lago.

— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) August 14, 2020

well yeah, but that's because voting by mail is very good and safe in FL, only

It actually is! And we start counting the moment we get ballots. Our leaders put this solid system in place because of the number of seniors, and those seniors until this year.....voted Republican.

but how do you stop all the socialists from intercepting the mail and changing the votes? and what about USPS only delivering democratic ballots and "losing" the ballots from republican neighborhoods? i

This is a remarkably big deal.

Like, what does that even mean anymore? Does it mean they get an asterisk or something?

either the trump admin is missing the institutional knowledge that helps to avoid these kinds of mistakes, or the people that know better are letting it happen because they fucking hate him

Third option: They're doing what they want to do, they don't care, and they're daring anyone to do anything about it.

otm

xxpost Seriously. Remarkably big deals happen almost every day now and ultimately result in remarkably little.

it’s a combination of losing institutional knowledge AND not giving a fuck

TS: speaking ill of the dead vs. wishing dead of the ill?

President Donald Trump's younger brother, Robert Trump, has been hospitalized in New York and is "very ill," ABC News first reported on Friday.

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told ABC that the president is planning to visit his brother, who she said the elder Trump has "a very good relationship" with.

The specific details surrounding the younger Trump's condition remain unknown.

i honestly can't remember where i was listening/reading this last night - here on ILX, in a dream, something on twitter - but wasn't someone just talking about the importance of "rules" in the face of fascism? like one of the most important things is to not forget the "rules" and to keep mentioning them even if it feels hopeless because they're the first things that fascists try to dispose of?

not saying i agree with that. despite not remembering where i heard that or who said it, i do remember thinking "cool idea bro but we're way past that point with trump".

i didn't wish ill on bob trump until i read that he had a good relationship with fuckface. now i assume he's one of the worst people in whatever state he lives in

Chance: Bob Trump has covid, Bob Trump does of covid, Bob Trump has and dies of covid and gives it to his Asshole brother.

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told ABC that the president is planning to visit his brother, who she said the elder Trump has "a very good relationship" with.

i like that she felt the need to clarify that he has a good relationship with his brother, because everyone just assumes he doesn't

Is there any trump that’s cool? People hold out hope for barron but it’s still to be seen. You’d think he’d have one sibling at least who has been critical of him from the start.

They used to say tiffany hated him but she spoke positively of him at the convention. Uncool

it is useful to know if it's the part of the family that is cool with profiting from decades of fraudulent real estate cons, or the part that is cool with writing books about how bad that other part of the family is