Prelude to the Apocalypse

[Ed Oscuro]

Skykid and quash: Attack of the selective short-term memories™

Part two, quash. A little less contemptuous than Skykid...but only a little.

You talked about yourself first, lol. And I invented nothing: this was where I called home for over a year.

What? Why are you posting where you lived? I'm not stooping to the level of trying to judge your life experience. First of all, I only held the false hope that perhaps something would get through Skykid's determination not to allow any perspectives into the discussion that aren't his. I shouldn't have tried, of course, because Skykid will turn to dust when he feels he's lost an argument.

The discussion should be about the facts and interpretations - not trying to sniff each other's tailholes to judge who has the most street cred. I've said that I've got real-life experience with trying to help people, not with being poor myself; I'm not going to spend my time giving you further opportunities to be abusive.

When did I say there was no difference? I just said they're both equally out of touch,

If somebody asks me this question, I am going to be damn sure not to start out with "they're both equally out of touch."

Good grief, how can you not see how vague and unhelpful that is? I've been trying to pry some answer out of you on whether there's a distinction, but even now you're not really committed, offering a distinction without much difference. It's great that you've sort-of clarified that now, but here we are. Progress!

Also,

Good news everyone! Rick Perry is out of the race. Fuck'n PARTY TIME.

[Skykid]

EDIT:

Just forget it.

[quash]

The discussion should be about the facts and interpretations - not trying to sniff each other's tailholes to judge who has the most street cred. I've said that I've got real-life experience with trying to help people, not with being poor myself; I'm not going to spend my time giving you further opportunities to be abusive.

Good, maybe we're getting somewhere now. Let's talk about facts and interpretations, not experience with helping the poor, being poor, or whatever else. You never know who's on the other end of the keyboard, after all.

If somebody asks me this question, I am going to be damn sure not to start out with "they're both equally out of touch."

Because you have chosen to take a side. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but the least you can do is acknowledge that yes, you would prefer if we elected a Democrat, even if only marginally so. I believe you've said as much multiple times already.

Good grief, how can you not see how vague and unhelpful that is? I've been trying to pry some answer out of you on whether there's a distinction, but even now you're not really committed, offering a distinction without much difference. It's great that you've sort-of clarified that now, but here we are.

What's vague about it? We all know the major issues both parties disagree on but neither one has put forth any tangible solutions. Hence why Trump is surging in the polls, because fuck the status quo and any progress is better than none.

[antron]

because fuck the status quo and any progress is better than none.

"progress" implies a knowledge of direction, does it not?

[BulletMagnet]

"progress" implies a knowledge of direction, does it not?

The same way "freedom" is supposed to denote a meaningful degree of self-determination in the direction one's existence takes regardless of individual origin, as opposed to keeping less efficient light bulbs and vat-sized sodas on store shelves, but you know where and how the word most often pops up in this day and age.

[BryanM]

did u kno rich people have an opinion on Trump too? >

"I don't know anyone who is a Donald Trump supporter. I don’t know anyone who knows anyone who is a Donald Trump supporter. They are like this huge mystery group,” the CEO said. "So it's a combination of shock and bewilderment. No one really knows why this is happening. But my own belief is that the laws of gravity will apply and those who are prepared to run the marathon will benefit when Trump drops out at mile 22. Right now people think Trump is pretty hilarious but the longer it goes on the more frightening it gets."

[BryanM]

"Supporters of Bush say they still believe that the former Florida governor’s numbers will begin to move when the campaign starts deploying some of its huge war chest to run television ads in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and other early primary and caucus states. "

lul just lol

[Ed Oscuro]

just estatic that the miss universe #4 called Jabe a "serious candidate" on the eve of Trump buying the pageant from NBC

The loser in this story, immigrants / latinos

[BryanM]

Heeey guys, another episode of the Trump show tomorrow. Carson could beat his "asshole conservatism" with his "compassionate conservatism", but he's going to need every vote possible to do it. The libertarians backing Bush and Walker are not going to withdraw their candidates (they can't believe they can't buy America. That would be a rejection of everything they've ever believed). So. Trump is the nominee now.

The comments on this video should help convince you I speak truth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-nfueovttc

The only thing that can torpedo Trump is a 47% moment where he admits he isn't going to build a wall or deport everyone in the country.

[Mischief Maker]

The comments on this video should help convince you I speak truth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-nfueovttc

Holy shit, forget the comments, look at all the people with antisemitic avatars. That's commitment!

Is this what home-schooling is doing to America?

[BryanM]

Is this what home-schooling is doing to America?

Slavery is still constitutional and was still being done out in the fields in the 1950's.

We still have a long, long way to go : (

(But ya, isolation within cults keeps the hate alive. Bush III supported ACE schools with government funds - ACE schools feature child abuse prominently.)

[Ed Oscuro]

The only thing that can torpedo Trump is a 47% moment where he admits he isn't going to build a wall or deport everyone in the country.

If it comes off as that he can't do it, which we have every reason to believe would be the angle, I don't think that would be his 47% moment.

If he said "I don't really believe in building a wall, that'd be a silly waste of money" I still think that wouldn't do much to dent his chances. Many people wanted a debate about immigration and he brought it.

[BryanM]

Trumpadump only one that knows the flat tax is stupid.

Oi, I need to unplug from this shitshow or I'ma burn out. We got months to go. This is really one of those times OCD is torture.

[Squire Grooktook]

I just want to throw out there that I was a home schooled individual and am a perfectly well adjusted and mature hermit.

[BryanM]

Trump is ahead of Clinton by 6% in Florida. 6 fucking percent.

There's going to be a real election next year. Anyone who thinks today's shitshow HURT the republicans at all doesn't know politics.

I just want to throw out there that I was a home schooled individual and am a perfectly well adjusted and mature hermit.

Did they tell you that Jesus's top priorities are abortion and gays instead of feeding the poor and healing the sick, or was it a more rational kind of childhood?

[Squire Grooktook]

Preeeeety rational. I think. The choice was more influenced by how badly my older brother fucked up in public school.

[supergrafx77]

Trump is ahead of Clinton by 6% in Florida. 6 fucking percent.

Just to clarify, is this a bad thing?

[BryanM]

Trump is ahead of Clinton by 6% in Florida. 6 fucking percent.

Just to clarify, is this a bad thing?

Trump: A real American Hero Dude

Thought I already noted how crazy it is that he's arguably more liberal than Clinton. Universal healthcare, maybe raising taxes on some finance guys, and infinitely better on the Iraq war.

Ann Coulter is laying down bits of correct punditry every now and then this cycle. Ann Coulter (or the character she plays) is more sane and liberal than the GOP now. Reality is broken.

[BulletMagnet]

Didn't watch the debate but got a chuckle out of this.

[Ed Oscuro]

The thing I can't fathom about Trump are the flirtation-with-death every minute. I get it's a part of his shtick, and he's wealthy enough he doesn't have to care if NBC pulls Miss Universe (he owns it now, which seems to have made him happy enough). But why did he have to mention, for example, vaccination?

Ironically, this does more damage to Ben Carson, who just revealed himself to be a very narrowly focused neurosurgeon who doesn't know basic things about other fields of medicine, in stupidly agreeing with Trump that "we give vaccinations too fast." Will he next say that you should only take half your antibiotic prescription? At least he disagreed with trump on autism, but c'mon, that's actually the less pressing public health concern - if somebody doesn't want a vaccination because of stupidity reasons, they can argue with their doctor. But talking up the "vaccination schedule is too fast" angle reveals a gap in the knowledge of some doctors, and that's concerning.

We always expected Trump to be crazy, but hearing crazy coming from one of the legion of reasonable drones is another thing, naturally

[BryanM]

Trump is the least crazy person on that stage.

We've been brain washed by the media to take the others on that stage "seriously". Most of them want to actively work toward the extinction of the human species.

“Jacques,” he said, “You and I share a common faith. You’re Roman Catholic, I’m Methodist, but we are both Christians committed to the teachings of the Bible. We share one common Lord”
Chirac said nothing. He didn’t know where Bush was going with this.
“Gog and Magog are at work in the Middle East,” Bush said. ‘’Biblical prophecies are being fulfilled.”
Gog and Magog? What was that?, thought Chirac.
“This confrontation,” Bush said, “is willed by God, who wants to use this conflict to erase his people’s enemies before a new age begins.”

Vaccines? Who cares about vaccines when these guys want to kick off the apocalypse?

this does more damage to Ben Carson

Gotta keep reminding yourself this is a worst person in the world contest.

This is why they don't say Trump is crazy and can't be trusted with the nukes. The base WANTS to use the nukes. They've focus group tested this shit forwards and backwards.

[Ed Oscuro]

Trump is the least crazy person on that stage.

It's interesting, isn't it?

In terms of ability to hold consistent views and dress in a "reasonable person's" skin, he certainly looks crazy.

In terms of "what are all his views, taken together," which is the question I was asking earlier, he seems to be at least in the game.

I'm not willing to back off on the immigration thing and the comments about women are also not wonderful, but it is an interesting sign of how self-absorbed the top professionals are in this country that you can't even discuss reasonable fiscal policy with them.

It would be nice if they could talk about something like the expansion of municipal broadband, where doctrinaire privatizing activism has killed off a good for the people. I like to think he'd support letting the people in TN and NC choose what their local tax dollars go to.

[BryanM]

Oh shit, Ivanka Trump really will be 35 in 2017. I, I thought she wasn't going to be legal when I mentioned her before...

... this explains why he waited so long. At first I assumed it was just because it was the perfect moment for him to finally stick his dick in the mashed potatoes, but there are other forces at play here.

[Ed Oscuro]

Couple links:
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/20 ... trump.html - in agreement with Bryan
http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/graph ... ted-trump/

[Mischief Maker]

Well Scott Walker's out.

As a Wisconsinite, all I can say is you motherfuckers dodged a bullet.

[BryanM]

A pretty good article about the rise of the Sandman.

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/20 ... trump.html - in agreement with Bryan

I want to stress this in no uncertain terms. Anyone who thinks that there's no chance that Trump could win is dangerously ignorant. They told you he'd be a nobody when he announced, and when Ann Coulter (of all damn people) and I said he'd be a somebody, we were laughed at. Frankly, if you can't see the many viable pathways Trump has before him to win, you're either completely out of touch with humans, haven't thought this through at all, or are completely void of imagination.

I'll walk our brothers and sisters who're stuck in this false model of reality ghetto as best I can:


TRUMP IS THE STRONGEST GOP CANDIDATE

The chosen ones, Bush or Walker, have a very limited coalition. It's called the republican party. Their highest aspiration is to get the same exact people who voted for Romney last time - the reality is they would probably perform even worse than he did thanks to demographic changes. The Romney coalition is a loser's coalition. The Romney strategy is a loser's strategy.

Trump has a wonderful coalition of assholes, idiots, racists, and bored people. While many a republican is an asshole idiot racist, not all asshole idiot racists are republicans. They still have room to tap more of these people out. Most dangerous are the "bored people". You present such a person a choice between Clinton and Trump, there is no choice there at all.

Don't believe me? Why is he doing better in the general election polls than every other GOPer then?


CLINTON IS NOT A POLITICIAN

A politician is someone who wins elections. Unlike Sanders, a man who's been through the crucible over a dozen times... Clinton has been elected to office once. In basically a automatic win engineered by the establishment to give her "street cred" with the kids so she could be installed as president later. She has no idea how to campaign.

Trump would completely destroy her during debates. He's killing nearly a dozen men more battle-tested than Clinton, making them look like children, what chance does she have? He will hit her from directions she can not foresee or comprehend, doing damage to her she won't be able to anticipate. Her foundation is a thousand overpaid consultants who don't understand the weapon Trump wields, as it's a weapon beyond the ability of such vampires to understand: TRUTH

What defense does Clinton have against the fact that she represents Wall Street and not people? What trite advantage does she have among idiots who only care about having "the first female president" when Ivanka is running rear guard?

Even in the best scenario for Clinton, where Trump actually turns out to be a secret ninja operative for her campaign (difficult to believe - it's far too subtle and effective for her campaign. I believe Trump is his own dog) or he doesn't really want to win he just wanted to have some fun giving our political system an enema... where he basically renounces everything racist he's said before, and just stops even pretending to be trying. Like, say, someone asks him a question about the Israel-Palestine conflict, and he just answers them with a 3 minute rambling speech about his favorite kind of chicken sandwich?

Even in that scenario, I honestly can not say for sure he'd lose. Clinton can go no where but down, he can go no where but up.


Latinos are not a monolithic group

Just a couple points here.

1. His racist comments aren't exactly new or anything. People already know. There is no imaginary latino voting bloc just yearning to vote GOP as soon as they stop being so racist. Maybe he can convince a couple people to register and vote against the party earlier in their lives than they would have on their own, but such an effect will probably be negligible. If 3 decades of hate didn't get them to register, why would 1 comment by 1 asshole be enough to kick them in the pants?

2. Not all latinos are Mexicans. It's racist to lump them all together - their backgrounds vary wildly.


The only reason you doubt he has any electoral mojo is because it's yet to be proven (in how many years are we given an actual choice about anything?) and the establishment doesn't want it to be true.

As a Wisconsinite, all I can say is you motherfuckers dodged a bullet.

You poor bastard.

Good thing our smear campaign sunk his battle ship before it could leave port. From #1 to dead within a month, no man has fallen so far so fast.

[BryanM]

[Rob]

Anyone who thinks that there's no chance that Trump could win is dangerously ignorant.

Dismayingly apparent. He would be a very fitting choice for the large slice of America that doesn't care about anything but celebrity and money or Hee Haw.

People who would vote for Trump out of "boredom" should at least attempt to do something about their sad lives.

[ProjectAKo]

Trump can only save one country at a time. I can sense the anger in a lot of you folks but you're just gonna have to wait your turn.

[Ed Oscuro]

Well, despite what the pollsters are saying, I'm also not very sure that Trump couldn't win. The demographics don't add up for him, though.

Still, don't bet completely against old money winning the race. I don't expect Clinton to win it all, or Biden, but despite the uncomprehending response to his candidacy, there will be many people who would still prefer that same-old to Trump.