2020 US Presidential Election Discussion (primary & general)

[Ithekro]

Originally Posted by OH&S

Not to come across as rude, but this guy sounds like a dick.

The guy being quoted from the Facebook post probably is a dick. I just wanted to show how the other side is seeing things right now.

As for Impeachment, if I understand correctly, the two new Senators from Georgia won't take office until the 19th. So the Republicans will have a majority until than. At which point they will only have the majority because of the Vice President (Pence), but will loose in at noon the next day when Harris becomes VP. Depending on if the two Independent Senators count with the Democrats in the Senate. Otherwise there will be no majority, as it will be 50 Republicans, 48 Democrats, and 2 Independent senators, with a Democrat as the VP.

Harris will actually have to do the job of President of the Senate due to the relatively even split...and having to case her vote in some matters if it is a tie.

Some of Trumps supporters are more Nationalist than anything else. Perhaps also Isolationist. They are definitely against Globalism.

[cyberdemon]

Thing is though that freedom of speech only applies to government censorship. Twitters decision is done by a private business. They don’t have to care about someone’s freedom of speech if it affects the safety of other. If anything, they were way too patient with the things Trump has been saying these last few months.

[KikeLyne]

Great power comes great responsibility.
Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism. - George Washington


The man in question went too far with this incident.
If God gave him special privileges, it doesn't mean he cannot take it back.
Banning him is only trying to sweep the issue under the rug imo. He can still make use of other media outlets at least it will not be as effective as the other media giants.

Armies are used to deter invaders.
Laws are used to prevent crimes.
I wonder how will the government create a new law to prevent another tyrant from coming into power. As well as the punishing the current one.

Also, word around the campfire is that more trouble will brew the closer it is to the inauguration.

Seriously, this man claim he didn't start any wars. Instead ended up starting a war at HOME along with a white flag against a pandemic.

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by Ithekro

The guy being quoted from the Facebook post probably is a dick. I just wanted to show how the other side is seeing things right now.

Bit of a counterpoint, which I admit is problematic:
https://twitter.com/lilithsaintcrow/...93759155838976

Let me explain something to those of you who didn't grow up around violently abusive white supremacists.

*They absolutely do not believe their own bullshit*, but it's useful for them to pretend they do.

(there's a thread of tweets)

[serenade_beta]

Originally Posted by cyberdemon

Thing is though that freedom of speech only applies to government censorship. Twitters decision is done by a private business. They don’t have to care about someone’s freedom of speech if it affects the safety of other. If anything, they were way too patient with the things Trump has been saying these last few months.

I don't know how it specifically works, but I'm sure the traffic Trump generated brought in a lot of advertisement money for Twitter. But now that he is going to no longer be president, they probably saw this as a great opportunity to get rid of such a problematic person with a "convincing" reason.

[mangamuscle]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

They absolutely do not believe their own bullshit

Maybe before fox news that was true for the vast majority (we are talking about millions of people here), but now we can't speak of a cult and also think those people are totally sane. In simple terms, the KKK was not a cult and no doubt lied about their true motives. But here we are speaking about a cult of personality where whatever BS is spoken by trump is defacto reality for them, remember Donald Trump said out loud:

What you're seeing and what you're reading is not what's happening

Any sane people would have snapped at a president that basically is asking to give him free reign on what people believe is true.

[AC-Phoenix]

Originally Posted by mangamuscle

Trump’s planned visit to Rio Grande Valley may occur same day as impeachment vote

So he is going to visit the border the same day he is getting impeached, if this was a slaptick movie he would do as many criminals and cross the border to evade justice. No chance of that happening IRL, right? As a side note, about a year and a half ago we had Evo Morales fleeing from Bolivia after he lost the elections, his political party returned to power with help from our goverment...

Well he could cross the border without permission... Mexican Border patrol will certainly be glad to have him

[Guardian Enzo]

He tried to arrange a "golf trip" to Scotland, but they refused to allow him in. I do think evading arrest is weighing heavily on him.

[The Green One]

Well I'm sure his aides, or what few he has remaining willing to get near him have made it clear he's already courting severe legal danger.

Really it's these aides that are the unsung heroes these days. I can't imagine what a nightmare the last four years have been for these people stuck with this thankless job.

[Guardian Enzo]

Originally Posted by The Green One

Well I'm sure his aides, or what few he has remaining willing to get near him have made it clear he's already courting severe legal danger.

Really it's these aides that are the unsung heroes these days. I can't imagine what a nightmare the last four years have been for these people stuck with this thankless job.

I have no sympathy for them whatsoever. They’ve been enabling a fascist for four years and anyone who works for him - or declined to quit and publicly denounce him - is doing so by choice.

[kayos]

@mangamuscle

Censorship happens when you are pressured to believe something is bad even though you know it's not, but to go against it means you would lose your livelihood and be demonized. Not to mention your life or your family's lives could be endangered too.

So what do you do? You play along and force yourself to believe what you're doing is right to safeguard your own mental health.

[mangamuscle]

@kayos

Translation of your post from Trumpian to plain english:

Bwahhh, I can no longer openly support my terrorist fellows after the capitol hill failed cup, I could lose my job or my business might go bankrupt from the backlash and people will throw me dirty looks at the supermarket for wearing my MAGA hat.

Nope, you wont get my sympathies; as I said before, I had endured for more than a decade a leftist mob playing the victim card, a right wing mob playing the same card is not an improvement. But hey, don't stop for me, all these loser MAGA followers posts are sweet schadenfreude for me.

[Sheba]

Arnold Schwarzenegger chiming in

https://twitter.com/Schwarzenegger/s...49481284874240

Yes, this is a video. You should take him seriously since he is from Austria, you know the country of Hitler, the man worshipped by a lot of those LARPers drunk on QAnon koolaid.

[serenade_beta]

Uh-huh. Anyways, no matter what your cult leader says, don't do anything weird on Inauguration Day.

[Sheba]

Each day with those morons is one day too long. And even after Inauguration. I think a lot of Americans, and I include my cousins, will feel safer if all of those assholes are behind prison bars.

[Anh_Minh]

So... two points regarding censorship:
https://xkcd.com/1357/


https://twitter.com/glakier/status/1348280186685575169

A thread on Trump’s deplatforming and why I think the debate about it reveals the bankruptcy of contemporary free speech law.

[Jaden]

Well, it'll be interesting to see how the new admin deals with Big Tech. Biden himself has been pretty critical of the biggest companies, but at the same time, his cabinet is loaded with their executives.

Trump threatened them with various things about once a year, but never did anything. My guess is it will be pretty much the same.

[coded321]

https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/commen...hington_dc_he/

Posted above is a picture of the moment where Brian Sicknick, the officer who died in the capitol terrorist attack, was mobbed and beaten by the terrorists.
Say what you want about the BLM protests, with cities "burned down", the property damages caused; and yet NOT ONCE, in the many months the BLM protests lasted, did BLM protesters kill an officer. NOT. A. SINGLE. DAMN. TIME. And now, after just one day of right wingers rioting? An officer was killed, beaten to death, by the supposed Blue Lives Matter crowd. Yeah sure, "both sides are the same", BS.

Also note, how police and police unions are being completely dead silent about Sidenick's death. Despite whining and crying about how people were being mean to them during the BLM protests. The silence is telling.

[mangamuscle]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

A thread on Trump’s deplatforming and why I think the debate about it reveals the bankruptcy of contemporary free speech law.

I do not think free speech is broken, I think the internet has made us entitled. We have grown to believe there is such a thing as democratic free speech, as in, free speech for everyone. When TBT that was not the case in the past. At best you could get a top of a soapbox and start to say whatever you wanted (as long as you didn't disturb public peace), but chances are no one will listen to your speech. The news media had no obligation to showcase average joe grievances or opinions about society,

But then came the internet and smartphones and anyone could write blogs and upload videos and it was wonderful, until people starting abusing said freedoms and the moderator was born. The next minute the first cries of "where is my free speech" were heard. Everyone migrated to the place they felt more comfortable, as in, their ideas were not against the owners guidelines.

But then came Trump and his cult followers that abused social media like no man had done before, but since he was the leader of the most powerful country in the world, social media bowed to his power, until now.

I do not think free speech needs to be changed, I think social media companies should be regulated as news media companies to prevent another donald trump to reach the white house.

[aldw]

Originally Posted by mangamuscle

I think to mean cooperation, the term you used is limited to illegal endeavors, you know, the kind that can put you in jail or carry a hefty fine. SO yeah, sometimes the media will cooperate with the government in delaying a news piece or maybe outright never releasing it, but going as far as suppress free speech, I would like a clear example of that.

The borderline between the two gets quite murky due to overlaps between private party ideological fellows and state actors, which includes political lobbying/contributions to self-suppressing undesirable information such as counterarguments during the leadup to the Iraqi invasion, which is what makes this article present an interesting point about censorship (even if I don't necessarily agree with all the things presented).