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

[Kuro no Shinigami]

But despite Trump being a total disaster, he still leads amongst white voters (much much lower than 2016 though)

That's putting aside the fact that he's an obnoxious, corrupt bully that doesn't respect the rule of law. The man is totally uncouth so I'm genuinely disturbed that he still leads the polls amongst white voters. among

He also still has the support of the law enforcement police even though he doesn't respect the rule of law. In fact, the National Association of Police Organizations endorses Trump who breaks the law for his benefit and for political gain.

https://nypost.com/2020/07/16/nation...ndorses-trump/

A coalition of police unions and associations across the country is endorsing President Trump’s re-election bid, recognizing his “steadfast and very public support” of law enforcement officers.

The National Association of Police Organizations, which represents more than 1,000 police units and associations nationwide, threw its support behind Trump in a letter released Wednesday acknowledging his “continued strong support” of cops tasked to protect Americans.

[PaulBullion]

He also still has the support of the law enforcement police even though he doesn't respect the rule of law. In fact, the National Association of Police Organizations endorses Trump who breaks the law for his benefit and for political gain.

https://nypost.com/2020/07/16/nation...ndorses-trump/

That's because the Police is used to the rule of law not applying to them or other people in power.

[Mister Mets]

I am not comfortable with all these projections as I worry it might result in complacency. What's more, that doesn't take into account Republicans emptying the arsenal of dirty tricks to change the results in their favor. Democrats need to ignore this nonsense, act like Biden is DOWN ten or more points and fight like demons to help him win.

It's probably better to act like it's a close election. If Biden were down ten, Trump would be coasting to reelection, which would likely depress Biden's turnout.

There is a healthy sense for Trump's critics, that every vote matters, both in the sense that no one wants to take anything for granted, but also that it is important to send a signal in a blowout election. It is better if Trump loses by eight percent than by five percent, to show that his approach was soundly rejected.

It is also worth noting that numbers are subject to change. Maybe the polling will be consistent and Biden will win by 8-12 percent of the popular vote, swinging Florida, Wisconsin, Pennylvania, Michigan and Arizona, while making it close in Texas, and Georgia. But as Trump has been hurt by his reaction to a national emergency, there is always the possibility that his numbers will recover if there's a sense that he has things under control, and we all know he would be willing to lie to get voters to believe that.

[Mister Mets]

I don't think I'm qualified to answer, but I'll give my brief brief anyway (legal joke).

It seems to me that one side, conservatives, sees the Constitution as fixed, literal, and immutable. Much as many Evangelicals see the bible as fixed, literal, and immutable.

The other side, Liberals, sees the Constitution as a framework or a foundation. That, as times change, the interpretation of the Consitution must change with it. That those founding fathers who wrote the original Constitution, while being brilliant in many ways and farsighted in some, could not possibly have seen far enough into the future to anticipate everything. Admittedly, there are some things that they should have done, however the fact that they left some sections open and vague did create room to adapt it in the future.

The conservative view would be that the constitution can be changed, through the amendments process.

It is also worth noting that many legal matters aren't constitutional questions. The legislature has a lot of leeway on policies.

It was an interesting article though it doesn't supply any evidence to back up its claim. It does make sense though. Generally speaking country club Republicans (White collar/William Buckly/Thurston Howell) tend to lean libertarian, and are therefore part of the socially liberal gentry class, as the article states on issues of gender and immigration. While the rural evangelical, and white working class base tend to be much more socially conservative on the issues above.

In terms of left wing jurisprudence, traditionally both the center left & right look at the law objectively, as it is written word for word, though it is often cited that liberals tend to leave more room for interpretation, which is why Franklin Roosevelt attempted to stack the Supreme Court in his favour in order to implement the New Deal that was being blocked by a conservative supreme court.

When you move to the far left, objectivity breaks down because you enter the realm of "Critical Legal Theory" Those who prescribe to this theory believe that practicing legal objectivity is not possible because people are unconsciously bias when approaching the law as a result of their race, gender and social class. Thus those who prescribe to critical legal theory often become the liberal "activist judges"

There is merit to this argument, as this is what the article is essentially saying in regards to conservative liberals belonging to a gentry class, and therefore often dissenting and voting socially liberal.

I however am weary of critical legal theory because it essentially favours subjectivity over objectivity, which then turns the law into an exercise of pure political power and ideology. I think the center left option of being more open to interpretation (Visa vi the New Deal) as opposed to the more rigid hardline word for word interpretation of the constitution often administered by conservative judges, is the best route to take.

A problem with critical legal theory is that it gives conservative justices the opportunity to use the same rationale to get their preferred policy outcomes.

There is some legal commentary suggesting that current conservative justices use originalism and textualism as fig leafs and that their votes are usually pretext, but it would still be worse to have judges who don't care about it at all, and become truw right-wing activist judges

[Tami]

Meadows says the Trump administration is readying a new executive order to expand the federal takeover of cities based on alleged lawlessness: "Attorney General Barr is weighing in on that with Secretary Wolf, and you'll see something rolled out on that this week."

Twitter Link

[worstblogever]

Twitter Link

I guess we're about to find out how high fascism is polling these days with the populace.

[Tami]

Saw a news report of another shooting, and it is making me wonder. I'm wondering who is doing the shooting? I haven't heard of any arrests or any other mention of who is behind it.

So, if it turns out to be White people with ties to Alt-right, White Supremacist groups, then they might be doing this to give Trump and excuse to send in his secret police to round up innocent people and protestors.

If it is anything else, gang-related for example, then they are just playing into Trump's hands and might as well be with the group mentioned above.

[Robotman]

I understand Trump was interviewed by Chris Wallace this morning, and it was an absolute clusterfuck consisting of lies, prevarications and made up **** from Caramel Caligula.

Asked if he would accept the election results if he lost:

“It depends. I think mail-in voting is going to rig the election. I really do.”

Wallace then asked: "Can you give a direct answer, you will accept the election?"

"I have to see, look, I have to see, I'm not just going to say yes, I'm not going to say no, and I didn't last time either," Trump replied.

[worstblogever]

A second poll in as many days is out that has Biden not just up 15%... but with a whopping 55% of registered voters. Polling over 50% is considered solid, but that would be the largest of any presidential election winner since Reagan thrashed Mondale in 1984 and got 58.8% to Mondale's 40.6%.

[Robotman]

I think we’re all in need of inspiring/uplifting stories right now.


John Lewis and the Freedom Riders

[Malvolio]

Asked if he would accept the election results if he lost:

“It depends. I think mail-in voting is going to rig the election. I really do.”

Wallace then asked: "Can you give a direct answer, you will accept the election?"

"I have to see, look, I have to see, I'm not just going to say yes, I'm not going to say no, and I didn't last time either," Trump replied.

Translation: "If I win, it was fair and square. If I lose, it was rigged."

[Tami]

Kanye West Held His First Campaign Presidential Rally in South Carolina, And It Went As Well As You’d Expect

Kanye West held his first presidential campaign rally at the Exquis Event Center in North Charleston, South Carolina on Sunday. The hour-long event saw Kanye deliver a series of rambling, often times, incoherent remarks in which he sought to explain his policy positions.

Beginning around 5:00 p.m. local time, Kanye took a makeshift stage wearing a bulletproof vest and with his head shaved to say, “2020”. From the onset, it became clear that the event was not well planned. There was no microphone or podium in place for him to speak into, and his shouted comments were often drowned out by the jeers of the audience.

Throughout the event, Kanye welcomed various rally-goers to the stage to share issues that were important to them. He would use their comments as a jumping off point to share his own stances. For example, after a young woman accused social media of brainwashing children, Kanye launched into a diatribe about how prescription drugs were also altering societal’s conception of reality. He also proudly boasted about his own 132-point IQ and how he went “to the hospital because my brain was too big for my skull.”

At another point, Kanye railed against Black iconography used by white organizations, specifically citing Harriet Tubman as an example. “She didn’t free the slaves, she had them go work for other white people,” he remarked.

During one of the most surreal moments of the rally, Kanye began crying after revealing that his wife, Kim Kardashian, had considered an abortion prior to the birth of their first child. Between tears, Kanye said that if it had not been for a “vision of God,” he would have allowed his first child to be “murdered.”

[Kuro no Shinigami]

I thought Kanye dropped out?

Oh well, so who's his running mate? Kris Jenner?

Who's his secretary of state? Dennis Rodman?

Will he appoint Rudy Guiliani as his attorney-general?

[Robotman]

Kanye West Held His First Campaign Presidential Rally in South Carolina, And It Went As Well As You’d Expect

Some were theorizing that this was a ploy by Kanye and Trump to siphon off black voters from Biden but it may actually shift some of Trump’s base. Bat-**** crazy conspiracy theorists. Trump plays well with the mentally unhinged.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Saw a news report of another shooting, and it is making me wonder. I'm wondering who is doing the shooting? I haven't heard of any arrests or any other mention of who is behind it.

So, if it turns out to be White people with ties to Alt-right, White Supremacist groups, then they might be doing this to give Trump and excuse to send in his secret police to round up innocent people and protestors.

If it is anything else, gang-related for example, then they are just playing into Trump's hands and might as well be with the group mentioned above.

During the riots in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder, it had been reported that there had been bad actors, mainly white anarchists among the protestors who sparked the violence and destruction, perhaps history is repeating itself here. Whether or not those shooters are in cahoots with Trump or acting on their own, it’s all meaningless in the end if we’re looking at martial law.

Kanye West Held His First Campaign Presidential Rally in South Carolina, And It Went As Well As You’d Expect

Sounds like a first class clusterfuck. Can’t say I’m surprised.