The 2020 Presidential General Election thread

The end of the world? No. The US further sliding into a kleptocratic oligarchy? I think so. My concerns weren't that everything would end in November, but that it would signal an end of the kind of normalcy we've all taken for granted in the past, as the conditions of people suffering the most begin to overwhelm the system's willingness to help them. My concern then, as it is now, is that the dam is already bursting.

We knew Trump wouldn't give a shit, but the big issue was whether or not Biden would actually address the cause of the damage, or whether he'd slap a band-aid on it and declare things better, and the latter is certainly happening. The damn is bursting, and the illusion of normalcy, something I understand people are desperate to see return, will not hold for very long. There are 500,000 dead people and counting, 90,000 since January 21st, just from COVID. Schools are still open, and the major talk isn't about halting the virus to save lives, it's about slowing down the virus to protect the economy. With my own eyes and ears I saw people who, on January 21st, said they could finally go to sleep. People who said they didn't have to care who the Secretary of Education was anymore, or what the US was doing in the Middle East.

Kids are still in cages, but now there's the promise of more cages to hold more people, which is not what we wanted or needed. Oh, they're not concentration camps anymore, they're called "overflow facilities for migrant children."

The promise to halt deportations has already been broken with 28,000+ people deported since Biden took office.

Biden told people "$2,000 checks out the door immediately," if Ossoff and Warnock won GA in January, which became $1400, January became late March or April, and then means tested for those under $40,000.

The Democrats control the House, the Senate, and the Oval Office. We've rejoined the Paris Climate Agreement. Okay, but it's non-binding, so it means nothing in and of itself. Oh, did you know Biden approved 31 fracking permits just in the past few weeks? Much environment. Such climate change.

Biden's stimulus plan, that maybe $1400 sometime in March/April, is built on large cuts to Medicare and farm aid: https://www.politico.com/news/2021/02/13/biden-cuts-medicare-farm-aid-468895

Hey, great news, you can't get help while you're alive, but once you're dead, the government might help pay for your funeral: https://www.cnet.com/personal-finan...s-who-its-for-how-to-apply-and-other-details/

Get cracking on that application process.

We're open to renegotiate with Iran about breaking the nuclear weapons treaty, except they didn't break it first, we did. Biden's plan is being called "coercive," which isn't necessarily good faith.

Instead of shutting down (as I mention earlier) the country in the face of even more virulent, infectious strains of COVID, we're being told to double and even triple mask. No mandatory masking, no shut down, no UBI, no actual relief, but please wear two or three masks.

Biden already broke his promise to back out of aiding Saudi Arabia, so we're going to continue helping them murder Yemeni civilians. A $15 minimum wage, such a small thing to ask for when people need so much more to stay above the poverty line, is off the books according to Biden: not going to happen.

Hell, right at this moment our congress is taking a recess, because apparently there's nothing anyone needs at the moment.

Biden might help you with a $50,000 $10,000 on your student loans, though his administration is siding with Betsy DeVos against loan foregiveness.

"Hey! Joe Biden is closing federal private prisons!" and that's great for the handful that exist, but the vast majority of private prisons are managed at the state level: https://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/private-prisons-united-states/

So, yeah, some things are being done, and it is February, but I think we're looking at the best it's going to get, that it's going to get much worse from here, and that people will try to pretend things are going back to normal. "We'll see," is all I can say.

Sweetie, what miracle were you expecting in 32 days when the first order of business was undoing four years of Trumpism?

I did mention that it's only February, but we're out the gate and Biden's already deflating. The $2,000 then $1,400, then $1,400 for people under $40,000 a year is going to be enough to sink him anyway, because the people he needed to reach was us: the folks who aren't doing moderately well in the midst of a pandemic, and who desperately need help. It's the desperate people who move elections, not the comfortable. Trump won last time because he appealed to populism. Unfortunately, right wing populism is destructive to the most vulnerable, but instead of Biden appealing to people whom the government has stepped on repeatedly for far beyond 4 years, he's running to the center again, and with little prompting from Republicans. This is Joe, the Senator from MBNA, the man who said he would prostitute himself for corporate donations, this is what I expected from him, and I think it's the best we're going to get from him, these pennies for the poor, and bundles of cash for the military industrial complex, energy companies, and banks.

To put it another way: we needed medicare for all right out of the gate. We're getting extended COBRA.

I've been an observer since before you were born. Baby steps are better than quicksand.

We don't have time for baby steps. The Democrats are pros at taking baby steps when they have the power to take long strides. The GOP takes long strides even if they only have the power to take baby steps. So we'll take two baby steps forward, and the GOP will take a dozen strides backwards. It's why Biden is to the right of FDR, and more in line with Reagan.

Whether or not we take baby steps or not, the climate will no longer allow that kind of time. In 10 years, whether we like it or not, drastic change has to happen, or generations will pay dearly so a 78 year old moderate Republican can feel better about not giving the American people "too much." God forbid we have enough money to pay for a month of rent after over a year in a pandemic with half a million deaths.

And the winged penis demons, don't forget the winged penis demons.
And the lava.
And the dogs that shoot bees when they bark.

I'm okay with the winged penis demons.

Ever try to do a Uey with an aircraft carrier? Imagine you're President. What magic wand would you wave?

Doctor Manhattan kills all the fascist bigots and corporate polluters by making their aortas pop in their sleep so they just don't wake up tomorrow.
Step 1. Invent Doctor Manhattan.

That's the only way it will happen magically overnight. I believed it was possible... in my 20s. The reality of the situation usually sets in a little later than that... or not at all.

No one said anything about magic wands. I did point out, however, where he’s already going back on promises less than a month into his presidency.

Again, Oval Office, House, Senate. Democrats control them. Where is the money promised out the door? Why are kids still in cages? No rent relief? Country is still wide open.

90,000 dead since January 21st.

Joe Biden’s not some new hand at this, and it’s not like it was sprung on him out of the blue.

Barely.

The Republicans would have already started moving with it, and they would be succeeding. The Democrats are the only political party I know that can win a majority and still lose.

Yeah, if only we were willing to lie, and cheat, and trample over process....

Today it's "Biden isn't doing enough for the people quickly enough." Last year it was:

All of that’s still true. I didn’t vote for him, either.

They do.

They raid the capital too.
You wanna be an Antifa Punisher?
Hmm?
Hm, tough guy?

How many kids do you think Biden has raped (in a racist manner) since he moved into the White House?


Oh, and ICE has been deporting people against Biden's explicit order, which was blocked by a conservative judge.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino...aso-massacre-witness-hundreds-others-n1256461

Wait, when you become President they wipe the slate clean? Does Bill know this?

Joe Biden released a new order that resumes deportations. That said, I though Joe was the unity candidate? Why isn’t ICE listening? It’s not like Joe Biden’s their enemy. Both he and Obama put away shitloads of kids under their administration.

Here's a list of Biden's executive orders since assuming office.

https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2021/politics/biden-executive-orders/index.html

Funny, I thought he didn't plan to help anyone ever.

That's not an answer. How many kids has Biden the evil predator pedophile raped since January 20th?

Damn Amaris.....I didn't even vote for Biden but now I'm inclined to stand up for the guy.
Welcome to the real world! I know a president can't flip a switch and satisfy everybody, but apparently they can't flip a switch and satisfy anybody.
The president is not your personal Santa Claus. We live in a democracy so everything is a compromise of some level - if there's no compromise we have full-on authoritarian dictatorship. I was concerned about that but your post gave me a better sense of perspective: it can never become that as long as there are enough people that aren't satisfied with what the Democrats (or Republicans or any party) are selling.

So while you are obviously very disappointed in how things are playing out it's a very positive message for me and helps keep my attitude & mental health on track.

Who said he didn't plan to help anyone ever? Sounds like you, because I never said it.

Who made that assumption in the first place? Was it me? No, I never made such an assumption. You were the one who has made the claim, from whole cloth, that Biden rapes children in the White House. I expect you to show your work.

Why would you think the message of "Joe Biden is making this conservative feel comfortable" would be any kind of positive message to someone who sees Joe Biden as too conservative?

Here's the intent of just some of the orders...

Establishes a White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships to coordinate providing community services in partnership with federal, state and local governments and with other private organizations

Expands the United States Refugee Admissions Program and rescinds Trump policies that limited refugee admissions and required additional vetting

Directs relevant agencies to ensure LGBTQI+ refugees and asylum seekers have equal access to protections, requires the Department of State to lead a standing group to respond quickly to international LGBTQI+ human rights abuses and to report annually to Congress on global LGBTQI+ abuses, directs agencies to review Trump administration policies and rescind those that are inconsistent with this memo within 100 days

Revokes Trump’s order justifying separating families at the border and creates a task force that recommends steps to Biden to reunite separated families

Aims to address economic and political causes of migration, works with organizations to provide protection to asylum seekers and ensures Central American asylum seekers have legal access to the United States. Rescinds Trump administration policies and guidelines and also initiates a review of policies “that have effectively closed the U.S. border to asylum seekers”

Rescinds Trump’s memo requiring immigrants to repay the government if they receive public benefits. Elevates the role of the executive branch in promoting immigrant integration and inclusion, including reestablishing a Task Force on New Americans. Requires agencies to review immigration regulations and policies

Reopens enrollment on HealthCare.gov from Feb. 15 through May 15, and directs federal agencies to reexamine policies that may reduce or undermine access to the Affordable Care Act

Rescinds the “Mexico City Policy,” a ban on US government funding for foreign nonprofits that perform or promote abortions

Directs the attorney general not to renew federal contracts with private prisons

Acknowledges the rise in discrimination against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the past year, directing the Department of Health and Human Services to consider issuing guidance on best practices to improve “cultural competency, language access and sensitivity toward AAPIs” in the federal government’s Covid-19 response, and directs the Department of Justice to partner with AAPI communities to prevent hate crimes and harassment

Calls for assistance to those who are struggling to buy food, missed out on stimulus checks or are unemployed

Restores collective bargaining power and worker protections for federal workers, and lays the foundation for $15 minimum wage

That's a whole lot of nothing.

ORLY?

So far, I'm correct.

Amaris has an irrational hatred for Biden that makes your feelings toward Biden seem almost romantic.

Yeah, me and my irrational hatred for the man who wrote the 94 crime bill, 95 security omnibus bill, worked with Strom Thurmond (called him a dear friend), was part of the administration that dropped 26,000 bombs in the Middle East in a single year, caged refugees in concentration camps, has been credibly accused of sexual harassment and sexual assault, has been known as the Senator from MBNA, has been quoted as saying "nothing will fundamentally change," has said he has no empathy for the younger generation, has a history of racism and racist legislation (aside from the 94 crime bill), and has been shown in public touching women and children to the point of their clear discomfort.

You can be a Blue MAGA all you like, but my hatred of Biden's legislative history is legitimate and well founded. You'll have to live with that. Or don't. Your choice, but the difference between you and a Trump supporter is you cloak it in an aesthetic of diversity and tolerance, when there is no such thing. You're the white liberal Malcolm X warned people about, and Joe Biden's the white moderate Dr. King warned all of us about.