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

[Gray Lensman]

Was she ever? Every potential VP name that comes up just seems like out of left field speculation to make headlines more exciting.
Biden is way too boring for that, I'm sure he's going to pick Harris. That's the safe predictable pick, and that's the kind of guy he's pitching himself as.

That's what I'm thinking too. The only other option that might fit for him seems to be Duckworth, but I think she is more of a long shot than Harris. I also think the revelations about Bass have inadvertently helped Harris since Bass was being advanced as an "anybody but Harris" alternative.

[Mister Mets]

I think it only matters in how much Trump can wield the information against her to garner votes for the Republican Party. To be friends with a Communist doesn't seem to be as damning as to be friends with say a white supremacist.

I am more perturbed by her “comandante en jefe,” comment in 2016. That shows that she hasn't outgrown the radicalism of her 20's when she was a frequent flyer to Cuba. More importantly though, picking a candidate that has pro Cuba sentiments could cost Biden a lot of votes in Florida. She could be a risky choice.

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/0...bass-vp-341931

Being friends with someone whose political views are unlike yours is typically not a problem, but choosing to honor them in the Congressional record is a little weird.

You have a good point that Trump might use this against the Democrats if Biden were to pick her. A few days ago, there was the question about why the Daily Caller chose to bring up her speech at a scientology center, when it would be in Republicans' best interests to have these discussions the week after Biden has chosen her as a running mate.

There are a few possibilities. It could be that the Daily Caller figured it was their duty to bring this to public attention even if it could hurt their side. More likely, they figured that enough dirt was going to come out on her that she wouldn't be Biden's running mate, and this way they make a high-profile Democrat look bad. It's also possible they figured that Karen Bass wouldn't be a terrible running mate, that a sixty-something African-American woman who has friends all over the Democratic party, doesn't have any ambitions for running in 2024 (which makes her the preferred second choice for anyone who does want to run) and who has a compelling personal story, might not be a bad choice for the ticket. Unlike Sanders, she seems very willing to abandon previous positions for the good of the party, and some of the controversies aren't stuff that anyone's going to care about (Most voters, especially the typically poorly informed swing voters, aren't going to know much about Scientology.)

My point on her shortcomings is to consider the relevance of this stuff coming about, and wondering if she is just an exceptionally bad politician, or if this is what you would find if other Democrats in Congress or state legislatures got a similar level of scrutiny. Is she somehow more likely to have strange allies than all the Democrats who recently served in the California State Assembly, and didn't have the political talent to get elected Speaker? Is she somehow weirder than everyone else in the Congressional Black Caucus who hasn't been selected to chair the group that currently has 55 members?

[shooshoomanjoe]

trump claims the Beirut explosion was an attack. But it comes from trump so we don't know yet whether it's true or not.

“I’ve met with some of our great generals and they seem to feel that it was — this was not some kind of a manufacturing explosion type of event — this was a — seems to be, according to them they would know better than I would — but they seem to think it was an attack,” Trump said. “It was a bomb of some kind.”

[achilles]

trump claims the Beirut explosion was an attack. But it comes from trump so we don't know yet whether it's true or not.

“I’ve met with some of our great generals and they seem to feel that it was — this was not some kind of a manufacturing explosion type of event — this was a — seems to be, according to them they would know better than I would — but they seem to think it was an attack,” Trump said. “It was a bomb of some kind.”

He's probably thinking of the assassination of a prior Lebanese Prime Minister some years back with a giant truck bomb. A number of people have wondered if it was like that. Personally, I doubt it. Probably just a Hezbollah munitions dump exploding from negligence.

[Steel Inquisitor]

She also made sure to add a eulogy to Oneil Marion Cannon, former USA Communist Party leader, to the congressional record.

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/0...-leader-391455

There's other stuff in their background.



I wonder how much of this is the shortcomings of one notable politician (former leader of a California state legislative body, current chairwoman of a prominent Congressional group) and how much of it is just the lack of scrutiny people get when they're not seen as contenders for national office.

Every politician has skeletons, her's just are in contention now because she has national attention and they're just so strange and she hasn't got the good will to burn like Harris. Either would have knocked her out of contention, this is a one two punch of bad decisions.

[The no face guy]

Being friends with someone whose political views are unlike yours is typically not a problem, but choosing to honor them in the Congressional record is a little weird.

You have a good point that Trump might use this against the Democrats if Biden were to pick her. A few days ago, there was the question about why the Daily Caller chose to bring up her speech at a scientology center, when it would be in Republicans' best interests to have these discussions the week after Biden has chosen her as a running mate.

There are a few possibilities. It could be that the Daily Caller figured it was their duty to bring this to public attention even if it could hurt their side. More likely, they figured that enough dirt was going to come out on her that she wouldn't be Biden's running mate, and this way they make a high-profile Democrat look bad. It's also possible they figured that Karen Bass wouldn't be a terrible running mate, that a sixty-something African-American woman who has friends all over the Democratic party, doesn't have any ambitions for running in 2024 (which makes her the preferred second choice for anyone who does want to run) and who has a compelling personal story, might not be a bad choice for the ticket. Unlike Sanders, she seems very willing to abandon previous positions for the good of the party, and some of the controversies aren't stuff that anyone's going to care about (Most voters, especially the typically poorly informed swing voters, aren't going to know much about Scientology.)

My point on her shortcomings is to consider the relevance of this stuff coming about, and wondering if she is just an exceptionally bad politician, or if this is what you would find if other Democrats in Congress or state legislatures got a similar level of scrutiny. Is she somehow more likely to have strange allies than all the Democrats who recently served in the California State Assembly, and didn't have the political talent to get elected Speaker? Is she somehow weirder than everyone else in the Congressional Black Caucus who hasn't been selected to chair the group that currently has 55 members?

I think your right on the 2024 ticket, Biden has expressed that he has no desire to run a second term, (if we can take his word for it) which means picking a VP candidate who can win in 2024 becomes all the more important.

Trump is culturally further to the right than any modern President I can think of, so if it were not for Florida, her views this election wouldn't be a problem, having her run for President in 2024 would, particularly if she is up against a moderate Republican.

On a personal level, the scientology is a red flag for me if not a disqualifer, you already have a President who engages in irrational conduct and tweets weird theories, I don't think the United States can afford another. At the end of the day, I think Americans are tired of the circus show in the White House, and just want a return to normalcy, someone who shows up turns the lights on and gets the factory quietly working, so I'm sure he will pick someone else as VP.

[mogwen]

I think your right on the 2024 ticket, Biden has expressed that he has no desire to run a second term, (if we can take his word for it) which means picking a VP candidate who can win in 2024 becomes all the more important.

Trump is culturally further to the right than any modern President I can think of, so if it were not for Florida, her views this election wouldn't be a problem, having her run for President in 2024 would, particularly if she is up against a moderate Republican.

On a personal level, the scientology is a red flag for me if not a disqualifer, you already have a President who engages in irrational conduct and tweets weird theories, I don't think the United States can afford another. At the end of the day, I think Americans are tired of the circus show in the White House, and just want a return to normalcy, someone who shows up turns the lights on and gets the factory quietly working, so I'm sure he will pick someone else as VP.

Boring is the new sexy!

[The no face guy]

Boring is the new sexy!

Lol, after four years of Trump it is.

[Kuro no Shinigami]

Was she ever? Every potential VP name that comes up just seems like out of left field speculation to make headlines more exciting.
Biden is way too boring for that, I'm sure he's going to pick Harris. That's the safe predictable pick, and that's the kind of guy he's pitching himself as.

Harris seems like a decent choice, although I hear she is not popular with the police since she refused to pin the death penalty on a cop killer. Anyways she may be still the best bet for a running mate. She is in the senate for only three and half years.

[Kuro no Shinigami]

Between her Scientology stuff and positive views of Castro she is a disaster because she's either an idiot or a liar.

I personally wish he'd pick Tammy Duckworth but because she's not black she isn't getting serious consideration. Duckworth has the experience and most importantly to me the credibility since no one can ever question her bonafides when it comes to military action given what she went through. Even on things I don't agree with her on I can't help but respect her for her sacrifice and the fact she served unlike draft dodgers like Bill Clinton and Trump. So since it has to be a black female the only one I find acceptable of the names being bandied about is Kamala Harris. She has the experience and credibility to step in as president if necessary and given Biden's seeming dementia and age there is a good chance she might have to. Plus whoever gets nominated is almost certainly the 2024 candidate for president since even if Biden is still alive I'm not sure he's going to mentally fit to run again. Demings and Bottoms are both way too inexperienced to president and Susan Rice, while having good experience, has way too much baggage and might drag the ticket down.

If Biden win the election but is deemed mentally unfit to carry the duties of the most powerful office in the world, they will try the 25th Amendment.

Tammy Duckworth is a good choice. But Tulsi Gabbard is another option. She is also a veteran who served a tour of duty in Iraq. She is a Hindu and a Samoan-American.

[Tendrin]

If Biden win the election but is deemed mentally unfit to carry the duties of the most powerful office in the world, they will try the 25th Amendment.

Tammy Duckworth is a good choice. But Tulsi Gabbard is another option. She is also a veteran who served a tour of duty in Iraq. She is a Hindu and a Samoan-American.

She's also deeply anti-gay, believes cooky conspiracy theories, has a history going back with a deeply anti-gay pastor, has ties to and is an apologist for the Hindu nationalist movement in India, and is very okay with anything that hurts Muslims.

Casting her as vice-president would be a disastrous move. Tulsi isn't even hanging onto her house seat.

If you want someone with bonafides, you go for Duckworth, not Tulsi. Biden's already secured her endorsement so he doesn't really need to secure the support of or unite the 1% of voters who were into her into his coalition.

Harris has her own problems, but she's smart and would be an effective agent in the role. I like Duckworth, myself, but I've said before I think that the core constituency of the Democrats being black, a black person on the ticket is important. Dems, and the left generally, need to be ready for and to accept black leadership at all levels of government and within leftist movements themselves.

[Robotman]

Was she ever? Every potential VP name that comes up just seems like out of left field speculation to make headlines more exciting.
Biden is way too boring for that, I'm sure he's going to pick Harris. That's the safe predictable pick, and that's the kind of guy he's pitching himself as.

There were a number of political commentators who said that when Harris’ Wiki page was seemingly professionally edited a few weeks back (it was edited 408 times in a three week span) it was a big sign that she was going to be the VP choice. For the general public, when the pick is announced, the most common source for information about the person chosen is Wikipedia.

The Intercept wrote:

In 2016, The Atlantic published an article about Wikipedia edits and how a burst of activity could foreshadow Hillary Clinton’s vice presidential pick, noting that Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine’s page had seen significantly more edits than any other candidate’s in the weeks leading up to the announcement. The article also cited a 2008 Washington Post report about Sarah Palin’s Wikipedia page seeing more than 65 edits in the hours leading up to John McCain’s announcement.

So it could be that Harris is pretty much the chosen VP but the Biden campaign wisely doesn’t want to draw media coverage away from Trump’s horrendous handling of the pandemic, his racist comments, etc. Let Trump continue to dig his own grave and delay the announcement until right before the DNC. They throw out a few new names to keep people guessing and potentially raise the political standing of those individuals in the process.

Biden is enjoying a significant lead in the the polls. A safe pick is probably the way to go right now.

[BeastieRunner]

I'm fine with Harris but I want Duckworth.

Harris / Duckworth was a ticket I could get behind.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Trump Tries To Recast Second Surge In COVID-19 Deaths As Achievement For U.S.

“We’re last, meaning we’re first,” Trump said in an interview with Axios, referencing unclear statistics. Only in Trumpworld would bullshit like that even remotely makes sense.

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White House Sued For Not Providing Sign Language Interpreter At COVID-19 Briefings

The failure violates the First Amendment and federal law for Americans with disabilities, the National Association of the Deaf says in its lawsuit. After reading that piece, it occurred to me that I rarely saw interpreters at ANY White House briefings. Then, something else came to mind: why bother since the only thing that comes from those briefings, especially when Trump gives them were lies anyway.

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ER Doc Taunts Trump By Preparing A Coronavirus ‘Manual’ Just For Him

Dr. Stephen Samples shows off “How To ‘Rona” in scathing interview.

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In non-coronavirus news:

Kris Kobach Loses Kansas GOP Senate Race, To Republican Relief

Rep. Roger Marshall will still face a competitive general election against Democrat Barbara Bollier. See ya, Kris! Don't let the door hit you were the Good Lord split you!

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‘Straight Out Of North Korea’: Chris Hayes Rips Trump’s ‘Deceitful Propaganda’

The MSNBC host said the president is leading a “full, concerted effort ... to undermine the legitimacy of the election.” Trump can't run on his record which is pathetic, so he's resorted to cheating instead.

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Twitter Users Mock Trump For Mispronouncing Yosemite

The president accidentally turned the name of the famous national park into an ethnic reference. Only in Trumpworld could something like this happen.

[PwrdOn]

Biden should never have committed to picking a woman as his running mate so early on. For one thing, it framed the entire selection as finding someone to "balance" the ticket against his own very white, very male self, rather than just picking the best possible candidate who just so happened to be a woman, so the whole process just reeks of tokenism. For another, it really exposed just how few good choices he really has, which is quite distressing given that this is supposed to be the party that promotes women's interests yet they can't scrounge together more than a handful of female leaders who are ready to be one heartbeat away from the Oval Office. Whatever you think of Harris, under normal circumstances she wouldn't even be in contention since the only notable moment of her entire campaign was when she clowned Biden in that debate, the fact that she hasn't been disqualified just for that and in fact remains something of a front runner shows how few good alternatives he has right now. Stacey Abrams would have been a good choice, but she also came out publicly at one point saying she didn't want to play second fiddle to Biden. Susan Rice has never run for office before, and Demings, Bass, and Bottoms are not nationally known figures and would excite the base about as much as Tim Kaine did. Yeah he could still pick a white woman too, but the pundit sphere has been under the assumption that she'd be black for so long that it'll feel like a betrayal if she isn't, and let's not even imagine the rage that would ensue if he went back on his word and picked a man, which I'm sure he wishes he could at this point. Of course he could always do something crazy like picking Michelle Obama or something like that, guess you could praise them for being bold there but ehhhhh...