The 2020 Presidential General Election thread

Ed, I guess those 20k ballots you got off ebay worked reeeeeeal good. Have you seen any for the runoff yet?

This is partly why I took a break from Facebook from August to the day after the election. There's just too much abysmal stupidity floating around that service. At least two of my "friends" are full-bore Trumpistas and parrot every bit of bullshit that comes out the orange moron's mouth.

One FB "friend" posted yesterday screaming that Biden voters who just hate Trump will destroy his 401k and ruin his chances to buy a house. There was more but....

<runs off to check 401k>

nope, it's doing better now.

Seeing these polls coming out that 70+ percent of Republicans think the election was rigged: I’m sure some of those people are lying, but a solid majority think it genuinely was rigged. We know how strong the cult of Trump is.

Not going to name names but there have been a few people here over the years who scream a pox on both their houses whenever there is partisan fighting. But those of us on the left have been trying to get the word out to say the D’s and the R’s are not equivalent. Pressuring state legislatures to overturn the stated will of the voters is so undemocratic and un-American it could only come from the wannabe autocrats on the right.

It's incredible that despite the decades of evidence that the stock market actually performs slightly better under Democratic administrations, people still believe this trope without questioning it at all.

Whenever you see somebody pushing the "a pox on both their houses" line, you know that one of two things is true: either

a) they haven't actually thought about it at all, and are just thinking "this will make me sound objective and nonpartisan, and people will think I'm informed even though I'm not," or

b) the "house" they sympathize with is demonstrably worse, and they know it.

At least since the 70's, the Republicans have been vastly better at talking themselves up than the Democrats. There's no magic to it, they just know how to appeal to the average American--individualistic, selfish, and self-centered. More than that, not many people (especially white people) enjoy being told they're beneficiaries of systemic racism, sexism, economic injustices, etc. Republicans know that, and they use it.

wtf, way to go brain. Editing.

It's ok...

GA rescinded their premature certification.

They have a creme for that now, from what I hear.

We need to start looking at the allies' playbook post-WW2 to emulate how they suppressed the remaining Nazis and their sympathizers.

Something along the lines of the Nuremburg trials with public executions would be a good start.

do tell, it chafes.

The creme involves Twitter

Any particular reason for the Frenchification of "cream"? We Brits are only used to:

1) Creme Eggs

or

2) bitching about restaurants calling custard "Creme Anglaise" just to sound fancy

There's a vague memory shuffling around in my noggin about an inconsistently enforced Food and Drug Administration rule that says you can't call it "cream" unless it has actual cream in it. So, you'll see "creme" stamped on things made with aerated fats that are designed to mimic things made with actual cream. This body also has no problem with folks selling a cereal called "Grape Nuts" that contains neither.

That's because folk at the FDA call their testicles "Grape Nuts" because they're too fucking small to call "plums".

Mass psychosis.

Why Republican voters say there’s ‘no way in hell’ Trump lost

I think you misunderstand the complaint. It's got nothing to do with the stock market per se.

There is a great fear that Biden / a Democratic administration is going to change the rules for 401(k) accounts that would essentially drain them away or otherwise make them worthless for retirement.

The basis of this fear is the conspiracy theory that Democrats (as premier crypto-communists) want to strip away all private retirement accounts to make everyone dependent on social security or some other form of mandatory government retirement program, because, you know, it's not fair that one person might have more saved up for retirement than someone else.

The real tragedy is the brainwashed belief that somehow Biden (with AOC pulling the strings) will wave a magic wand and suddenly turn America into a socialist paradise.

I think with the "current" Congress (post-election, the 2021-2022 Congress) and current Supreme Court, Biden's Presidency is going to be essentially neutralized at least until the mid-terms.

Naturally I approve of that state of affairs. The test will be the result of the mid-terms in 2022.

Look at the photos of the people in that article.

They're all white, overweight middle-aged people.

“If I’m being manipulated by Trump ... then he is the greatest con man that ever lived in America,” Caleb Fryar said. “I think he’s the greatest patriot that ever lived.”

Like I have to picture the reporter and every editor involved in that story doing spit takes on coming across that quote.

Like even if you love everything that Trump has done and stands for, I don't know how you can be like, "That George Washington guy was ai'ight, but Trump? Now there's someone who really loves his country."

These Republicans are fucking nuts. A full ONE HALF believe Trump won outright?!?!? Not just some Dems attempted to rig a state or some shenanigans, but that he actually won... WTF?!?!

Everything was on super backorder so it just came in today and not before the election but I’m super glad my ballistic plates and plate carrier came in. The carrier is super cheap but better cheap and on hand than a $700 rig you are saving up for.

And?

Some white, overweight middle-aged people watched Star Trek and Doctor Who as youths, y'know!

What came to mind reading this:

You’ve got to remember that these are just simple farmers. These are people of the land. The common clay of the new West...

Georgia has certified the results and the (republican) Sec of State says Biden won fair and square in the middle of the ring. He's also saying he will push for voter ID laws, which will further his campaign to suppress black votes.

That guy is more anguished than most. But he’s seeing the results of changing demographics in the State of Georgia. As people on his side of the aisle are prone to say, if you don’t like it then leave!

It's absurd yes, but it makes total sense when you consider that the President of the United States is repeatedly saying that.

The hyper-patriotism of the USA tied up in worship of your systems and presidents and military power has long being called out as a dangerous thing, this type of situation is the exact reason why.

A wannabe despot, a criminal, an outright liar holding the office of POTUS? No, that couldn't be! The United States of America is the greatest country in the history of the world! We have systems in place, checks and balances that prevent anything like that happening. It couldn't happen here.

For some there is cynical support or ambivalence. Those like @Paladin who would know what is happening but don't really care because ultimately the system only matters to the extent it can deliver the outcome they want.

However for many they have spent their entire lives being indoctrinated into believing their country is special and unique. They saluted that flag every morning in school!

The true consequences of that type of indoctrination don't show themselves under normal circumstances. When people act under standard conventions, following precedent, then things move along as they always have.

Then you have a Trump-like figure eventually appear. They take different forms, use different strategies, but their arrival is inevitable. They break convention, they lie, they undermine the system and a wrench is thrown in the mental works.

Cognitive dissonance throws up a mental wall that the facts bounce up against. The president seems to be corrupt, to be lying, to want to hold onto power despite the people telling him to go. That can't happen here! So if that can't happen here, then he must be telling the truth.