All purpose news and politics thread part VI: This Is Not The Time For Posing

[BeastieRunner]

Ratings only accurately reflect the Boomers.

The combined Neilson ratings for TV of all the other generations equals less that half the Boomers.

They are still the only demo that watches TV.

The rest all stream.

So whoever wins, means they have the old people vote.

[Farealmer]

This is a gross sentiment I've seen put up by some people. People clearly unaffected by this Administration's awful policies.

Must be nice to sit on the sidelines and chuckle while people are dying.

This, i didn't think we'd get drop by liberals doing the stuff the drop by cons have been doing since Donny got elected. But I guess that's how some people cope with the world becoming more and more a place only for people like Mets, while most of the rest of us get our rights to life and liberty stripped away. But hey since Biden isn't Bernie it must mean he is evil incarnate!

[Joker]

It's pretty nice seeing Texas come out in record numbers, given the suppression attempts taking place there. Will be interesting to see how the state votes this year.

[Ragged Maw]

Cool story. I'mma keep this edge handy for the next time I need a close shave.

The way I see it, The candidates of the two major parties are likely serving the interests of two competing or in some cases, similar sets of private interests (For instance, perhaps private prisons and farming conglomerates on the Republican side and silicon tech giants and banks on the Democratic side) Whoever wins, the corresponding “team” of the winner benefits more and it’s up in the air which demographic of ground level joes/jills gain or lose something indirectly from the primary beneficiaries. Cynical, I know. But that may as well be how the system works now, for good or ill. My suggestion: observe which fat enterprises are supporting who and guesstimate what their aims are and who may or may not be harmed as consequence of their endeavors should their favorite win.

It’s not that major politicians can’t still care about the people, it’s just that chances are they gotta make their respective baskets of private bigwigs happy first in priority, lest they fail to get any starting momentum. And sadly, even should they fulfill this requirement, it can rather easily result in it screwing over those very people they were hoping to provide support to.

[babyblob]

Today I went and cast my ballot in person. I brought my absentee ballot and the letter I received like they asked me to. I had to fill out a paper that said I have no intention of casting an absentee ballot even though I requested one. I had to cast what is called a provisional ballot. It was a fast line. Not sure how much good my vote in my county will do as this is hardcore Trump country. There is even a pending lawsuit because one of the cities in my county used city money to put a "This is Trump country" sign below the welcome to the city sign.

I am just glad I got my vote in.

[Iron Maiden]

Tendrin, got your PM but your inbox is full. But looks like there is no need for a reply now!

[Bruce Wayne]

I think our Governor would be in trouble if he was up for election this year. His botched handling of Covid and the voter suppression efforts of ordering one ballot box per county are highly unpopular. The opening and closing of certain businesses and going against local officials when they wanted stronger COVID social distancing, and mask mandates from the start created the spikes and re closures that left businesses in the lurch and people died from the spikes in cases.

Sure but Abbott isn't the sole problem. You have business owners and local officials who rebelled against the lockdown from the start. Abbott can be blamed for hastily reopening, letting the virus spread out of control, trying to open up schools as fast as possible and apparently handing out a contact tracing contract to one of his donors that ended up getting us nothing. But you have people on all levels who were anti-lockdown who don't seem to take the virus seriously and think facemasks are "fascism". He is the public face of the problem, but there is an entire party of people trying to normalize the pandemic and rebelling against any sort of controls to curtail the virus.

[kidfresh512]

Sure but Abbott isn't the sole problem. You have business owners and local officials who rebelled against the lockdown from the start. Abbott can be blamed for hastily reopening, letting the virus spread out of control, trying to open up schools as fast as possible and apparently handing out a contact tracing contract to one of his donors that ended up getting us nothing. But you have people on all levels who were anti-lockdown who don't seem to take the virus seriously and think facemasks are "fascism". He is the public face of the problem, but there is an entire party of people trying to normalize the pandemic and rebelling against any sort of controls to curtail the virus.

I never said he is the sole problem. But, he specifically ridiculed and undermined local elected officials who warned against opening too early. And he told them the mask mandates etc they wanted to enforce could basically be ignored by the public. He officially limited the capacity of elected local officials to take any stronger measures to listen to science and protect citizens. Then our Lt Governor making politicized comments like older people would gladly sacrifice themselves to keep everything open for the young didnt help.

Then you add to that the efforts local officials wanted to keep people safe voting. And his order to go with voter suppression and limit county dropboxes rather than help give voters options to stay safe in a pandemic.

[babyblob]

I never said he is the sole problem. But, he specifically ridiculed and undermined local elected officials who warned against opening too early. And he told them the mask mandates etc they wanted to enforce could basically be ignored by the public. He officially limited the capacity of elected local officials to take any stronger measures to listen to science and protect citizens. Then our Lt Governor making politicized comments like older people would gladly sacrifice themselves to keep everything open for the young didnt help.

Then you add to that the efforts local officials wanted to keep people safe voting. And his order to go with voter suppression and limit county dropboxes rather than help give voters options to stay safe in a pandemic.

The Guy from W.H.O. gave the anti mask movement a shot in the arm when he said the lockdowns were a mistake that helped no one. And that masks didnt really help. Fox news has been playing that clip every fifteen minutes it seems. My aunt brings up that statement everytime we leave the house. Went nuts on a Walmart greeter when she was told she had to wear a mask and used that as an example.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

With 2-3 weeks left its a given were gonna see ANYTHING Trump can use and his administration to fire at Biden. With the probe closed , the e-mail saga looking to be a fake deal and more. He's gonna fire anything he can to get at Joe Biden to try and win. Were entering the 4th quarter of this game and its coming down to trying to force a turnover.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

The Guy from W.H.O. gave the anti mask movement a shot in the arm when he said the lockdowns were a mistake that helped no one. And that masks didnt really help. Fox news has been playing that clip every fifteen minutes it seems. My aunt brings up that statement everytime we leave the house. Went nuts on a Walmart greeter when she was told she had to wear a mask and used that as an example.

In my opinion, that guy from WHO was a flaming moron. Nearly 220,000 people in America died WITH masks and the lockdown in place, without one or both, that number easily triples, or more. Had those precautions resulted in pain? You bet, but the alternative would’ve been far worse, and everyone who’s not buying the **** Faux News is selling knows that too.

[BeastieRunner]

With 2-3 weeks left its a given were gonna see ANYTHING Trump can use and his administration to fire at Biden. With the probe closed , the e-mail saga looking to be a fake deal and more. He's gonna fire anything he can to get at Joe Biden to try and win. Were entering the 4th quarter of this game and its coming down to trying to force a turnover.

[kidfresh512]

Commentary: I won’t work in Attorney General William Barr’s Justice Department any longer

After 36 years, I’m fleeing what was the U.S. Department of Justice — where I proudly served 19 different attorneys general and six different presidents. For the last three-plus decades, I have respected our leadership regardless of whether we were led by a Republican or a Democrat. I always believed the department’s past leaders were dedicated to the rule of law and the guiding principle that justice is blind. That is a bygone era, but it should not be forgotten.

Unfortunately, over the last year, Barr’s resentment toward rule-of-law prosecutors became increasingly difficult to ignore, as did his slavish obedience to Donald Trump’s will in his selective meddling with the criminal justice system in the Paul Manafort, Michael Flynn and Roger Stone cases. In each of these cases, Barr overruled career prosecutors in order to assist the president’s associates and/or friends, who potentially harbor incriminating information. This career bureaucrat seems determined to turn our democracy into an autocracy.

Really interesting Op ed. He drags Barr for filth. I mean call him disgruntled is the easy out. He isnt lying about Barr's very public slavish devotion to Trump to the point of acting like his personal lawyer

[BeastieRunner]

Barr rolled on Reagan when H.W. got involved.

I can see him being akin to WikiLeaks for Trump if he fires him, re-election or not.

Trump has to keep Barr at this point.

You don't fire the person that buries your skeletons ...

[The Cool Thatguy]

Barr rolled on Reagan when H.W. got involved.

I can see him being akin to WikiLeaks for Trump if he fires him, re-election or not.

Trump has to keep Barr at this point.

You don't fire the person that buries your skeletons ...

This assumes Trump is that thoughtful...