The 2024 U.S. Presidential race

[Noodles]

1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+ one more.... it sadly adds up quickly now.

Trump shows for years already that he isn't really capable for the job, Biden starts to show that too (and sadly more than once).
One can't just close their eyes for that forever, because it is totally inconvenient that this is happening at this moment in time. The man is getting too old.

America has somehow ended up with two presidential candidates unfit for that utterly important job the next 4 years. That is the real situation IMHO.

What? Nooooo. 300+ million people and somehow these two are the ONLY two who are "qualified."

They surely wouldn't run unqualified people!

 

[Innula Zenovka]

The difference is the power behind the throne. Biden's government will keep him in check while protecting the Constitution, their wealth, and the US vested interest in world power. Trump's government will execute an Octavian Maneuver to transition our Republic into a dictatorial state including a self appointed successor who will eventually eat the orange face clean off the bones, replace Lincoln's statue, and institute a true state religious worship of the martyr.

This is the choice that we face. These are the options. Fixing will not occur.

The concern isn't about what Biden may or may not do should he be re-elected.

It's about what Trump will do if he wins, and whether Biden is still capable of defeating him.

It may well be that fixing will not occur, but the people in whose hands it is to fix this, if fixing is at all possible, or even desirable -- senior party figures and the major donors to the Democrats' presidential campaign -- don't seem to have got the message, and the rest of us simply have to watch while they faff about.

Something is very badly wrong with a system in which Trump and Biden are the only candidates, and in which it seems perfectly possible Trump will win.

 

[Veritable Quandry]

At this point, Harris is the alternate to Biden. Anyone not on the ticket would be the result of party leaders inagurating a candidate. We are also at or near ballot deadlines in several key states. Waiting for the scheduled party convention would be past the deadlines. There are mechanisms for replacing a Presidential candidate after the convention if the become disqualified, but they involve replacement with the VP nominee.

However, fivethirtyeight has shown almost no movement in polls. Candidates are still separated by less than the margin of error.

 

[Cindy Claveau]

I got a disturbing text from my adult daughter this morning. She's been watching mainstream news and now isn't sure she can vote for Biden!

Imagine my flabbergast. Contemplate my confusion. This girl has at times been more liberal than me (she's a college grad too!). And now she even suggested she may not vote at all.

I, being the wise and ancient mother, reminded her to "not let perfect be the enemy of good enough", and that if she votes anything other than "D", she's basically voting for Trump.

Then I suggested that if Joe kicks off during his term, we will have our first black female president! Kinda back our way into it

Her answer was "Yeh." That's it.

Parenting doesn't get easier when they're on their own.

 

[Soen Eber]

I went into photoshop and made a palimpsest of the Trump immunity decision overwriting the U.S Constitution, if anyone would like a copy for use as a screen saver or for posting. I don't have anyplace to store images that wouldn't get overwritten with a storage site's logo so I'd appreciate it if someone would post a copy here, please. I made it 640x406 but I still have the original which is 2500xsomething if you'd like a larger image with better resolution or the original .psd file.

A palimpsest is from medieval times, when an unimportant parchment would get scrapped of most of it's ink so it can be overwritten with some new content. It's not hard to create in Photoshop, just a question of using the proper mode to overlay two images.

 

[Essence Lumin]

I went into photoshop and made a palimpsest of the Trump immunity decision overwriting the U.S Constitution, if anyone would like a copy for use as a screen saver or for posting. I don't have anyplace to store images that wouldn't get overwritten with a storage site's logo so I'd appreciate it if someone would post a copy here, please. I made it 640x406 but I still have the original which is 2500xsomething if you'd like a larger image with better resolution or the original .psd file.

A palimpsest is from medieval times, when an unimportant parchment would get scrapped of most of it's ink so it can be overwritten with some new content. It's not hard to create in Photoshop, just a question of using the proper mode to overlay two images.

I don't have a particular use for it but I can give you a safe clean storage place for it on the web.

 

[Isabeau]

If you’re from a state with low voter turnout, this may interest some of you.

Postcards To Voters

Join People Across The United States Writing Postcards To Voters

postcardstovoters.org

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Don't know what US readers make of this:

History will condemn American progressives if their cowardice grants Trump a second term

Please sign-up as a free or paying subscriber.

nickcohen.substack.com

Free to read AFAIK, but here's a link anyway

Evernote Link

 

[Katheryne Helendale]

It's about what Trump will do if he wins, and whether Biden is still capable of defeating him.

It's not an ideal situation, for sure. But at this late stage of the game, there is nobody else out there capable of instantly spinning up a campaign and unifying the Democrats. Basically, it's Biden or bust.

Biden has the experience and the leadership, and he's got a whole cadre of knowledgeable advisors to help him run the country. He's also got a very capable VP who can step in and take control if, God forbid, something happens to him.

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

Jim Wright on this: Raggedy Man

 

[Katheryne Helendale]

Don't know what US readers make of this:

History will condemn American progressives if their cowardice grants Trump a second term

Please sign-up as a free or paying subscriber.

nickcohen.substack.com

Free to read AFAIK, but here's a link anyway

Evernote Link

I disagree wholeheartedly with the writer that Biden is in this for vanity reasons. He's in this because he feels an obligation to keep Trump from regaining power. Should he have let someone else be the candidate instead? Perhaps. But who? That's something Democrats can't seem to agree on.

But the point is now moot; that ship has long ago sailed. The best thing we can do right now is to unify behind Biden and turn out in record numbers to vote. Anything less than that will had Trump a victory and end American democracy as we know it.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

I disagree wholeheartedly with the writer that Biden is in this for vanity reasons. He's in this because he feels an obligation to keep Trump from regaining power. Should he have let someone else be the candidate instead? Perhaps. But who? That's something Democrats can't seem to agree on.

But the point is now moot; that ship has long ago sailed. The best thing we can do right now is to unify behind Biden and turn out in record numbers to vote. Anything less than that will had Trump a victory and end American democracy as we know it.

I understand that the Democrats should have thought about this a year or so ago, rather than now, but surely it must have occurred to somebody that relying on the assumption that a man of Biden's age would be able to undertake the burdens of office as well now as he was four years ago was a rather risky strategy.

Somebody must have given some thought to the possibility that his health might fail, possibly quite suddenly, before the election. Maybe not.

 

[Soen Eber]

Here it is - Thanks, Essence, for hosting this!

 

[Essence Lumin]

Exclusive: Meta removes Trump account restrictions ahead of 2024 election

 

[Free]

Exclusive: Meta removes Trump account restrictions ahead of 2024 election

Oh, good news...

 

[GoblinCampFollower]

WATCH: Biden holds campaign event in Detroit as Democrats debate his possible withdrawal from race

President Joe Biden on Friday forcefully defied the growing number of critics in his own party who have called on him to exit the race, pivoting to warnings about a second Donald Trump term and declaring he was “not done yet.”

www.pbs.org

Here was a much more successful example of Biden speaking. He really rocked it at this rally but I'm worried it will get minimal coverage in places most undecided voters look for news. He stuttered a little bit still, but was clearly much stronger. Most people seem to only be seeing the bad highlights of Biden.

 

[Veritable Quandry]

The press has been fucking terrible, playing up every minor slip by Biden and ignoring Trump's public speaking.

 

[Sid]

WATCH: Biden holds campaign event in Detroit as Democrats debate his possible withdrawal from race

President Joe Biden on Friday forcefully defied the growing number of critics in his own party who have called on him to exit the race, pivoting to warnings about a second Donald Trump term and declaring he was “not done yet.”

www.pbs.org

Here was a much more successful example of Biden speaking. He really rocked it at this rally but I'm worried it will get minimal coverage in places most undecided voters look for news. He stuttered a little bit still, but was clearly much stronger. Most people seem to only be seeing the bad highlights of Biden.

One can expect that a president can deliver a good speech, press conference or debate.
It is only special news if he of she fails somehow to do so. That is normal too.

Joe Biden is sadly too often in the news for that reason lately. And that is worrisome, not because he is in the news, but why he is in the news.

 

[Veritable Quandry]

No one makes a perfect 45-90 minute speech. No one. He is still a better public speaker than Trump any fucking day of the week. It is news because the Republican owned press makes it news.

 

[GoblinCampFollower]

One can expect that a president can deliver a good speech, press conference or debate.
It is only special news if he of she fails somehow to do so. That is normal too.

Joe Biden is sadly too often in the news for that reason lately. And that is worrisome, not because he is in the news, but why he is in the news.

The public is getting a very cherry picked view of things that isn't realistic. It's not realistic that you can be in front of the public every day and not make gaffes. Biden has always been known for gaffes and his stutter. It's not the powerful evidence of dementia that people think it is.