The 2024 U.S. Presidential race

[Cindy Claveau]

Everything Trump says he knows "more about than anybody"

The big picture: President Trump says he's an expert on a lot of things, including ISIS, taxes, technology, nuclear arms and even Sen. Cory Booker.

• Campaign finance: "I think nobody knows more about campaign finance than I do, because I'm the biggest contributor." (1999.)
• TV ratings: "I know more about people who get ratings than anyone." (October 2012.)
• ISIS: "I know more about ISIS than the generals do." (November 2015.)
• Social media: "I understand social media. I understand the power of Twitter. I understand the power of Facebook maybe better than almost anybody, based on my results, right?" (November 2015.)
• Courts: "I know more about courts than any human being on Earth." (November 2015.)
• Lawsuits: "[W]ho knows more about lawsuits than I do? I'm the king." (January 2016.)
• Politicians: "I understand politicians better than anybody."
• The visa system: "[N]obody knows the system better than me. I know the H1B. I know the H2B. ... Nobody else on this dais knows how to change it like I do, believe me." (March 2016.)
• Trade: "Nobody knows more about trade than me." (March 2016.)
• The U.S. government system: "[N]obody knows the system better than I do." (April 2016.)
• Renewable energy: "I know more about renewables than any human being on Earth." (April 2016.)
• Taxes: "I think nobody knows more about taxes than I do, maybe in the history of the world." (May 2016.)
• Debt: "I’m the king of debt. I’m great with debt. Nobody knows debt better than me." (June 2016.)
• Money: "I understand money better than anybody." (June 2016.)

 

[Cindy Claveau]

Some Republican-led states refuse to let Justice Department monitors into polling places

WASHINGTON (AP) — Some Republican-led states say they will block the Justice Department’s election monitors from going inside polling places on Election Day, pushing back on federal authorities’ decades-long practice of watching for violations of federal voting laws.

Officials in Florida and Texas have said they won’t allow federal election monitors into polling sites on Tuesday. And on Monday, Missouri filed a lawsuit seeking a court order to block federal officials from observing inside polling places. Texas followed with a similar lawsuit seeking to permanently bar federal monitoring of elections in the state.

The Justice Department announced last week that it’s deploying election monitors in 86 jurisdictions across 27 states on Election Day. The Justice Department declined to comment on the moves by the Republican-led states, but filed court papers urging the judge to deny Missouri’s request.

 

[Isabeau]

Everything Trump says he knows "more about than anybody"

Sure, Jan (6th)

 

[Isabeau]

‘Collapse is how we win’: US far right aims to make gains on election division

A longstanding tenet of the far right, with roots in The Turner Diaries (one of the inspirations for the Oklahoma City bombing), is to commit acts of terrorism to accelerate the collapse of central governments. But since the Obama and Trump presidencies, the broader neo-Nazi movement has grown and seen entrenched political divisions as the possible accelerant to the Balkanization of the country or a “second civil war”.

“Accelerationism is loud right now and this pining for war is very present,” said Clara Broekaert, a research fellow at the Soufan Center who keeps tabs on the global far right. To her, these extremists wanting “collapse and violence” are a problem for before and after election day.

 

[Free]

Some Republican-led states refuse to let Justice Department monitors into polling places

Nothing suspicious there.

 

[Free]

Absolutely fucking agreed.

This Place Is All Fucked Up | Defector

It doesn’t appear to have been close. Georgia flipped for Trump. Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, too. The Blue Wall crumbled like Jericho’s. Just about everywhere voted redder than in 2020. Young people went right. New York City went right. The polls said what they said, but then Americans went to...

defector.com

 

[Beebo Brink]

Absolutely fucking agreed.

The next time someone on this forum whines that the Dems need a "truly progressive" candidate, remind me to beat them with a large stick. Progressive? Hell, we can't even get a centrist candidate elected because that is too radical for the American electorate.

 

[Free]

The next time someone on this forum whines that the Dems need a "truly progressive" candidate, remind me to beat them with a large stick.

I'm going for a walk tomorrow to find that stick, and will keep it handy at all times.

 

[Katheryne Helendale]

I'm going for a walk tomorrow to find that stick, and will keep it handy at all times.

I find a Louisville Slugger works wonders.

 

[Free]

I find a Louisville Slugger works wonders.

It looks like my walk will lead to the closest DICK'S Sporting Goods store.

 

[Free]

Wagatwe Wanjuki (@wagatwe.com)

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bsky.app

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Wagatwe Wanjuki (@wagatwe.com)

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bsky.app

It puzzled me at the time that no one seemed to be making much of Trump's ignorance -- actual or feigned -- of how tariffs work, and how everyone let him get away with it. Tariffs are paid by the importer. Whether the importer absorbs them, or passes them on to the customer, or (rarely) the exporter picks them up is up to the individual importer and exporter, but that's how it works. Wasn't this discussed when Trump starting imposing tariffs on the US's allies last time round?

 

[Free]

It puzzled me at the time that no one [in the news media] seemed to be making much of Trump's ignorance -- actual or feigned -- of how tariffs work

Edited for correctness.

 

[Beebo Brink]

Wasn't this discussed when Trump starting imposing tariffs on the US's allies last time round?

When you have people who didn't even realize until Election Day that Biden had dropped out of the race, you also have a substantial portion of the population who doesn't understand tariffs and pays no attention to discussion of tariffs. Profoundly deep ignorance abounds in this country on all matter of important topics.

Modern society is complex, the mechanics of it are complex. Even I -- college-educated and with sufficient leisure to read/watch news several hours every single goddamn day -- struggle to keep up with everything I need to know to be "informed". For all the Americans with a piss poor education and an aversion to reading in general and keeping up with news in specific, there are vast blank areas in their world view. And I use the term "world" in a very limited sense, since their world often exists of their local community and little else outside of it. Even state politics is beyond a lot of people's range of interest, even though it has even more direct impact on their lives than national policies.

I believe that part of what underlies the pervasive fear and anger that consumes the U.S. is people being overwhelmed with information and change. The pace and quantity of it is beyond the ability of many people to handle, above and beyond the demands of their (often chaotic) personal lives. Trump, with his folksy self-assurance and simplistic answers, reassures them that he can tame this terrifying world for them.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Edited for correctness.

That's what I don't understand, probably because our non-broadcast news media are so much more consciously partisan than are yours. Over here, if a party so much as hints at something that's going to affect people's pockets the other side and their supporting media are all over it, and the two parties spokespeople are arguing about it every chance they get.

 

[Beebo Brink]

That's what I don't understand, probably because our non-broadcast news media are so much more consciously partisan than are yours. Over here, if a party so much as hints at something that's going to affect people's pockets the other side and their supporting media are all over it, and the two parties spokespeople are arguing about it every chance they get.

Rupert Murdoch's Fox News is ubiquitous in the U.S. It plays in doctor's office, bus stations, restaurants, and even on military bases. They cut deals with cable companies that puts Fox in basic service packages, the better to reach all sectors of the country.

Fox News manipulates viewers by strident emphasis on ILLEGAL ALIENS ARE ATTACKING YOUR DAUGHTERS and other fear topics and by omitting details, like tariffs don't work the way Trump claims they work.

People who only get the news from TV, and that TV news channel is always Fox, have a very skewed perspective. And they don't even know just how badly divorced from reality Fox has left them.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Rupert Murdoch's Fox News is ubiquitous in the U.S. It plays in doctor's office, bus stations, restaurants, and even on military bases. They cut deals with cable companies that puts Fox in basic service packages, the better to reach all sectors of the country.

Fox News manipulates viewers by strident emphasis on ILLEGAL ALIENS ARE ATTACKING YOUR DAUGHTERS and other fear topics and by omitting details, like tariffs don't work the way Trump claims they work.

People who only get the news from TV, and that TV news channel is always Fox, have a very skewed perspective. And they don't even know just how badly divorced from reality Fox has left them.

Another difference, I think, between the US and the UK is that, for whatever reason, our elections seem always to be far more about the economy than are yours. Whatever the other issues may be, you can be sure that both sides' economic and fiscal policies, and their effects on the NHS, education and the like, will be picked apart by both their opponents and the media.

 

[Noodles]

Wagatwe Wanjuki (@wagatwe.com)

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bsky.app

Womp womp.

At this point, I don't care anymore. Lets embrace the Trump stupidity and let these people get fucking wrecked. Sorry about the collateral damage, but maybe, just fucking maybe, these idiots will wake the fuck up.

I dount it though.

 

[Cindy Claveau]

Modern society is complex, the mechanics of it are complex. Even I -- college-educated and with sufficient leisure to read/watch news several hours every single goddamn day -- struggle to keep up with everything I need to know to be "informed". For all the Americans with a piss poor education and an aversion to reading in general and keeping up with news in specific, there are vast blank areas in their world view. And I use the term "world" in a very limited sense, since their world often exists of their local community and little else outside of it. Even state politics is beyond a lot of people's range of interest, even though it has even more direct impact on their lives than national policies.

All that, PLUS apparently the majority of voters don't even bother to follow the news so they know what's happening!

My stepson confessed that he voted Trump despite having a degree and holding a professorship at a major university. Now his wife will not speak to him, and the entire rest of our family has him on "hate watch" for being so damned dumb. He claims he never even heard of Project 2025.

He will.

 

[Isabeau]

All that, PLUS apparently the majority of voters don't even bother to follow the news so they know what's happening!

My stepson confessed that he voted Trump despite having a degree and holding a professorship at a major university. Now his wife will not speak to him, and the entire rest of our family has him on "hate watch" for being so damned dumb. He claims he never even heard of Project 2025.

He will.

Did he say what his reasons were?

Mostly, people point to the borders (immigrants), less money in their pockets, and/or abortion(religion).

I mean, if he says he never heard of project 25, then he must not have read up on much, so what made him do it?