People that you've never heard of, people that are in the dark shadows -- US Politics September 2020

xpost hopefully corresponding bumps on their foreheads after people took a mallet to them

y'know what's really gonna be 'fun', is if Biden does win, and then COVID is finally contained, and everybody looks forward to finally feeling peace but instead, the PTSD starts to kick in for hundreds of millions of people

Bryan Cranston being brought in for questioning

https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2020/09/19/report-package-containing-ricin-addressed-to-white-house-seized-by-authorities/

People should care more about court packing and statehood and stuff, and those threats should be made, and they should be done, but this is the right approach to the election itself imo:

NEW: The Biden campaign strategy to deal with the passing of RBG and a Supreme Court vacancy: Focus on health care and defending Obamacare

A 2018 midterms playbook redux.

W/ the @katieglueck @thomaskaplan @GlennThrush @jmartNYT squadhttps://t.co/pyjoJLsQEu

— Shane Goldmacher (@ShaneGoldmacher) September 19, 2020

Biden campaign strategy to deal with the passing of RBG and a Supreme Court vacancy: Focus on health care and defending Obamacare

Hmmm. Seems to me that if The Federalist Society picks the next SC justice and the Senate Republicans seat the nominee on the court before Jan. 2021, then it is certain that the ACA will be firmly in place on Election Day 2020. With all current benefits in place there won't be much tangible backlash against the Republicans from voters on that issue. Then, the newly-degraded SCOTUS can kill the ACA later on and act as a political heat shield for the Republicans, by absorbing the public's anger.

Well possibly but I don’t think there’s a better option before the election.

It's one thing to run on "they want to sell you out if you let them, so don't let them" and another to run on "well, you don't feel it yet, and your vote today can't prevent anything bad, but trust me, they have already sold you out, so don't vote for them."

i barely understand your point, which may be correct, but i think you're overestimating the average voter

We need a feel-good story:

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/09/18/metro/how-transsexual-satanist-anarchist-trolled-new-hampshire-voters/

This was smart to say

https://www-forbes-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.forbes.com/sites/tommybeer/2020/09/20/trump-threatens-to-issue-executive-order-preventing-biden-from-being-elected-president/amp/?

https://www.forbes.com/sites/tommybeer/2020/09/20/trump-threatens-to-issue-executive-order-preventing-biden-from-being-elected-president/

Susan Collins might scowl and offer a strong rebuttal to that kind of talk!

The people wigging out over it are wasting their breath. He routinely says he might do things at rallies that he knows he can't cos his voters like it. Then he doesn't do anything.

Most of the harmful shit he's done hasn't been telegraphed like this

I’m Joe Biden and I approve this message. pic.twitter.com/TuRZXPE5xK

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) September 20, 2020

That's good! More of that, Joe.

whoa

that right there is one of the best political ads in US history

Just a little ... schadenfreude? Perspective? I don't know, but I stumbled on this and while I in no way agree it's nice to be reminded that the other side feels the same way.

https://www.facebook.com/dan.bongino/posts/3553283938097675

The New York Post reports:

New York City was among three cities labeled “anarchist jurisdictions” by the Justice Department on Sunday and targeted to lose federal money for failing to control protesters and defunding cops, The Post has learned.

Portland, Ore., and Seattle, Wash., were the other two cities on the list, which was approved by US Attorney General William Barr.

“When state and local leaders impede their own law-enforcement officers and agencies from doing their jobs, it endangers innocent citizens who deserve to be protected, including those who are trying to peacefully assemble and protest,” Barr said in a statement set to be released Monday.

Just a little ... schadenfreude? Perspective? I don't know, but I stumbled on this and while I in no way agree it's nice to be reminded that the other side feels the same way.

little bit of a dark, everything-is-meaningless lol at how it only takes two comments on this post for everyone to start agreeing that hillary clinton personally murdered antonin scalia

dan bongino's head looks like one of those expensive japanese watermelons grown into the shape of a cube

Really good, if somewhat depressing, interview with Ilhan Omar.

Barr should have been impeached right after Trump. Dude scares me at a level Trump doesn't (and even Sessions didn't)

yeah when people talk about their fear of competent fascists in the GOP I immediately think of Barr

yikes

Have any of your Republican colleagues ever reached out, publicly or privately, and said the use of violent imagery or language toward you is not OK? No. There are really no dissenters. We have now had a few death threats that have been very publicized where people have been arrested and are incarcerated for it. I can’t remember a public statement or private comment of support.

Really? No Republican member of the House or Senate has ever offered any words of support? Nope

been a while

Odds of stimulus checks: Down

Odds of government shutdown: Up https://t.co/yXXoJUPrqE

— Jeff Stein (@JStein_WaPo) September 21, 2020

According to 538, the only time in the last two years that Trump's approval rating has dropped below 40% was in January 2019, as the last shutdown dragged on.

that time it was undeniably trump's shutdown. it was all about money for his fucking Wall. he owned it completely. this time the democrats are likely to take the blame if it happens. i'm inclined to think Pelosi is playing at brinksmanship to deflect accusations that Democrats cave in too quickly.

A wild document. Felony collective punishment for anyone who attends a protest where property is damaged, while vehicular murder or manslaughter is effectively legalized. Plus if your city council acts to reduce the police budget, the state defunds everything. https://t.co/0scGoFd1XO

— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) September 21, 2020

jfc

Ice-T is...not wrong?

‘Tradition’ is Peer Pressure from dead people.

— ICE T (@FINALLEVEL) September 21, 2020

It never fails to amaze me how much of a hard-on the "pro life" party gets for being allowed to plow people down with their pickup trucks.

Is there a band yet called Toppling Monuments? Or maybe a podcast.

this time the democrats are likely to take the blame if it happens.

why?

if the government shuts down then the story will be that instead of agreeing to the Senate relief bill, containing hundreds of billions of dollars in relief, the House shut down the government, costing billions instead. but my belief is that Pelosi has watched every single government shutdown blow up in the face of the party deemed responsible for it and she will finally throw in her hand at the last minute, with the statement that Democrats tried, but Republican intransigence was to blame for not getting peple what they desperately need. This outcome is easily the most likely in my view.

how do you imagine it playing out differently?

Did the Democrats get blamed for not signing on to that bullshit Senate covid relief bill last week or whenever? At this point the lines are so demarcated that it's hard for me to believe the Dems get blamed for anything, per se. Anyone they lose with a light visible at the end of the tunnel was never going to vote for them anyway.

As of last week (and this one) the government is still funded.

i imagine all house dems getting run over by a pickup truck with a flag in it xp

legal in Florida!

Stand and Be Ground!

https://www.thedailybeast.com/redstate-covid-troll-streiff-is-actually-bill-crews-and-he-actually-works-for-dr-anthony-fauci

is this even real

The sticking point for the CR appears to be big ag subsidies, no relief beyond that is on the table AFAIK

Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, who has long called for criminal justice reform measures, said he was not in contact with Republican leadership in the run-up to the announcement. Brandes said it is unclear to him why Florida’s current laws are insufficient in dealing with unruly protests.

“I can’t see someone who throws a brick at law enforcement not getting six months without a mandatory minimum,” Brandes said, noting early Monday afternoon that he had not read the entire proposal. “While I agree we have to support law enforcement 100 percent, we also have to recognize the right afforded to citizens to peacefully protest.”

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article245895445.html

For whatever little it's worth, the Lincoln Project people are coming out against confirmation of a SC justice before the election. Still don't trust those MF-ers as far as I could throw them, but it's surprising to see. I dunno, christ, at this point I'm clinging to any little thing I can.

Manchin joined the after-the-election team.

so if Biden wins, are we to assume that the after-the-election would vote No during the lame duck period? because their statements seem carefully designed to leave that possibility open

would not put it past collins or murkowski or manchin or anything of these people to just install a federalist society judge directly after receiving a beatdown at the polls

So far those Lincoln assholes have not wavered one inch from their Negate Trump and his enablers stance.

For whatever little it's worth, the Lincoln Project people are coming out against confirmation of a SC justice before the election.

They're also going after Lindsey Graham.

We’re raising another $1 million to expose Lindsey Graham.

Thanks to you, his race is a dead heat as voters are now finally recognizing the extent of his cowardice.

Lindsey is petrified at the threat of a Trump tweet.

Let’s remind him who he answers to: https://t.co/DXX2Id5AJh pic.twitter.com/YFhVL4GvrU

— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) September 21, 2020

I don't trust any of these "we should let the winner of the November election pick the next justice" stances for a second. I could totally see a scenario where someone like Barrett delivers a seemingly moderate or at least even-keeled confirmation performance and suddenly those senators completely change their tune to "well, now that we've all had a chance to listen to Ms. Barrett I think everyone would agree she is an excellent choice and so she has my blessing." in that sense I think Kavanaugh's diaper fit was maybe the best thing that could have ever happened to the GOP because everyone else is going to look good by comparison