[2020 Election] I Won, Says Loser
Bogart
Streetwise HerculesRegistered User, Moderator Mod Emeritus
Streetwise HerculesRegistered User, Moderator Mod Emeritus
They dug up the White House lawn last night and are building a bigger wall around it. In a couple of days we'll probably see some trenches being dug and foxholes being placed into the Rose Garden ready for the final assault.
Anyway, Trump refuses to concede, Barr is making noises about ratfucking the results, and Joe Biden won.
Anyway, Trump refuses to concede, Barr is making noises about ratfucking the results, and Joe Biden won.
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They say the best gambling opportunity is to bet on an event you already know the outcome off and currently the betting markets are offering just that.
The markets are mad.
I made a game, it has penguins in it. It's pay what you like on Gumroad.
Currently Ebaying Nothing at all but I might do in the future.
The worst part is, if you bet against, you're unlikely to get paid out, at least not in the canned goods and ammunition that will be the only things of value at that point.
On a different tack, there was a discussion in the previous thread I was responding to when it was closed, about Pfizer not being part of the governmental response because it would have put profit restrictions (10%?) on the vaccine, and them being Big Pharma, nope, profiteering in a pandemic is their go to.
My question is, is this something a Biden Administration can Defense Production Act on, if they decide to go full Shkreli on, and mark it up to extortion levels?
This is 2020 so I'm going to need some clarification: is this a real thing which is happening?
CNN reporter.
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-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
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As for concerns of the SCOTUS stealing the election. It's not going to happen. There is nothing that Trump can promise them that is a better deal than what they already have. He needs five justices to make it happen and he'd need them to rule that way on multiple cases. I'm pretty sure at least two will tell him to get stuffed and that all we need to join the three liberals. I mean, Barrett and Kavanaugh are probably compromised enough that they may do his bidding, we still don't know who paid off Kavanaugh's debt and Barrett is a fucking loon, but that's all Trump has going for him here. I think Gorsuch is a giant piece of shit, but I suspect he isn't compromised in a way that Trump can work with because when Trump picked him, he was probably picked more as a reward for republicans than being a someone that would do Trump's bidding. Roberts also gets that controlling the court is meaningless if it's seen as invalid and illegitimate and the surest way to make that happen, would be to steal the election for Trump.
Here's the other thing people miss. SCOTUS has no enforcement power period. The only reason SCOTUS's decision have had any clout is that people have been willing to comply. All signs actually point to the military not being on board with a SCOTUS led coup. If you don't have the US military, you don't have a means to do a coup. People kind of forget that one of the reasons the US even exists as it currently does, is that the French were willing to get involved in the revolutionary war, that was back of a foreign power. Modern times also seem to indicate that you need the backing of someone power if you want to overthrow a government and don't get your own military on board. Russia doesn't have the means to do so and the Chinese would likely prefer to work with Biden because it he won't be a potential existential threat. Someone did the run down of what would likely happen if SCOTUS tried this. The coup would likely cost them their majority because everyone that signed on to that would be told to get fucked, face jail time and be removed. Worst case for them, assuming they don't get assassinated by a very pissed off citizenry in DC, is that they get tried for treason, convicted and executed. It also likely costs them some legislative seats because you know a bunch of idiot republicans will be on board. You might even get a scenario where the blue states, that have the bulk of the nation's economy get enough leverage to nuke both the EC and the Senate because neither benefits them and both are a detriment. A coup is an all or nothing gambit that will likely to fail in a way that really fucks the GOP over.
All that said, what the GOP is dong it incredibly dangerous because it might very well get people killed. Just because someone has no shot of winning, doesn't mean they necessarily realize or that they won't be able to act in a way that causes harm.
and the gengars who are guiding me" -- W.S. Merwin
Obviously it's Biden's dog getting settled in.
Nonsense! When did he or his subordinates ever repair a thing they damaged?
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
Oh, I agree. They are quite willing to burn the country down, if they think they'll get to govern over the ashes. It's why if the SCOTUS did attempt a coup, that they would lose seats in Congress because you'd get a group that would gleefully back Trump thus have to get removed when the attempt fails.
The big caveat here is that they have to believe they'll get to rule over the ashes and for that to happen they'd need to have their heads so far up their asses to believe they'd win. I doubt Roberts or Gorsuch are in such a state, I'm willing to bet both realize that there is a ton of disdain for Trump within the military. That patience for GOP ratfuckery is at an all time low. So such a coup would just backfire on them. Besides why go for the unlikely thing that could be a massive blow to their ability do anything for decades and just run with the current setup that not only lets' them continue to ratfuck their nation, but also gives them the most bullshit thing to run. Keep Biden from being as effective as possible and then run on a platform screaming about how the democrats can't get anything done.
That's a smart move if you're a shitty person who is only interested in keeping your Democratic Senate seat in a state that's beet red. Actually having to vote on anything would only cost you votes. Manchin's vote for a Democratic majority leader (assuming that becomes a thing this year) is still valuable, but by not supporting the removal of the filibuster he's basically conceding the legislative agenda to the Republicans. I guess we'll see just how far we can rules lawyer the budget reconciliation process.
I want to think it’s a dog and pony show to whip people up for the runoffs, but...like I said, the guy with the award for professionalism and integrity leaving and citing it in his resignation? That’s what has me thinking they’re cooking something up, and it involves rats and enough lube to fuck the results.
I can has cheezburger, yes?
Ok this made me laugh because it gave me flashbacks to our neighbor growing up.
He would mow is lawn with a push mower to get all of the edging and around the trees and whatnot.
Then he'd do the majority of the lawn on a riding lawn mower.
Next he'd bring out a gas powered trimmer to make sure that everything was just right.
Finally he'd bring the push mower back out and, without it actually running, walk his entire lawn in order to get the pattern in the grass right.
He'd do this every week. All summer. Every year.
To bring this back to the situation at hand I remembered this because I'm trying to imagine my old neighbor's reaction to "Hey, so we're gonna have a hundred or so people on your lawn for a few hours and"
At which point I'm pretty sure the stabbing would start :P
One dude from the Pennsylvania legislature says he talked to the Trump campaign about that, but it'll go to Pennsylvania court and get "asking you as a member of the bar"ed straight in the bucket.
it is technically 48-48 right now and we're also waiting on NC and AK results but that are both very likely to stay R so it is essentially 48-50 and waiting on the GA runoffs
Did we have the same neighbor growing up?
Best Case Scenario - It's to keep the base fired up long enough to try and win the GA runoffs. This isn't great because it means two months of hyper-partisan rhetoric that the election was 'stolen', and drastically increases the chances of stochastic terrorism. As a lesser result, it encourages Trump to delay the transition.
Worst Case Scenario - It's the first step in an attempted coup
Or anything in between could happen.
The harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun.
Because in the instance of that .01% where they start a coup, all bets are off and the country is effectively gone at that stage.
If the Rs hold on to the senate they can kneecap Biden's presidency and unless the Ds play super rough or get their shit together with a quickness Republicans will likely have the trifecta back in as little as four years.
No point in going for a coup when you basically won anyway.
Eject him from the Democratic caucus, strip him of all seniority and move on.
There's no reason to keep him around as a 'Democrat" when he doesn't vote with the party on anything of value.
Let him become a Republican or run as an Independent and run someone else as a Democrat.
Sure you might lose by splitting the vote and getting another Republican, but how is that any different?
It's also possible that he's just playing the politics he needs to.
While I wouldn't bet on it, it's possible that the urge for bipartisanship is met with obstructionism, and Manchin is able to say something like "I wanted a return to the statesmanship of the past. McConnell refuses to do anything but obstruct, and it is hurting Americans, leaving us no choice but to invoke the nuclear option as Americans are hurting, and this shutdown/pandemic/healthcare crisis needs to be dealt with. That doesn't mean the Biden Administrationhas a blank cheque, but I will vote on bills that help the people of this great nation."
Essentially, giving Mitch first swing, and being ready with "fuck around, and find out".
It's possible, even likely, Manchin is just a prick. But I can absolutely see someone who's had to negotiate being a Democrat in West Virginia, a successful one at that, needing to make sure he's not seen as a tool of the left.
And the power that being the 50th vote on a bill would give him, either for pork or to shape each bill? Versus just being a meaningless cog in a machine that does nothing for two years?
I'd say it's less than 50/50, but a bit more than 0.
60% of the time (or whatever). Usually the times when his vote actually would make a difference.
First his vote only matters if we take both GA seats. If we do, Democrats put up some bills, Republicans stall and fart around and very quickly he can pivot to "we tried for bipartisanship but the Rs wouldn't play nice. See ya later, Fil!"
Why is it when we see the right play this game so many of you can spot it a mile away but when it comes from our side the pitchforks instantly come out?
Now, it is entirely possible he fucks us. He wouldn't be the first dem voting against dem interests. But let's wait to pass out torches and pitchforks until he actually decides to vote against his party.
McConnell is likely mostly doing this to keep the heat going for the Georgia runoffs. He'd be content with blocking everything for the next two years in the hopes of repeating the 2010 election results.
Barr though... he's smart enough to recognize that this will be important for the runoff, but also ruthless enough that he might really push things if this gets any real traction. I don't think he believes there's a real chance of overturning the election results, but I don't think he's just going through the motions to keep the base fired up. If nothing else, he's going to do his best to turn the 2020 election into the next Benghazi/emails server.
This could go any number of ways - faithless electors, the GSA refusing to initiate the transition after a Biden vote, etc - but it seems unlikely that Barr is going to be able to produce the evidence needed to substantiate a massive, orchestrated fraud effort or that the SC would make any kind of ruling against the state's right to manage their own elections.
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The point of it is not to find anything, it's just to taint the waters so the next 4 years can be seen as corrupt, like the 4 years spent convincing Obama was not eligible to be president.
That would be very stupid. Manchin would not be replaced by a moderate Republican because they don’t exist in WV, but a swivel-eyed fascist, which is the party norm there.
A leftist Democrat couldn’t win against Hitler there.
We actually need more Manchins not less - conservative Democrat assholes who can win in Red states and vote our way a lot more than a Republican would.
It’s still bad that they are doing it, but after Democrats had spent these last years (rightfully) saying that Trump’s win wasn’t legit. There’s no way Republicans weren’t going to turn around and do the same thing. Because they are petty, childish, assholes.
The base is going to think that no matter what.
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