Mega-Thread: 2020 United States General Election

[PACOX]

In case anyone missed it, AOC streamed herself playing Among Us with Omar and some prominent streamers all on their best behavior.

VOD: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/776770697

It was great. I asked this question earlier during the pandemic but are there people who are more center who have adapted to social media? Because I remember Warren doing Instagram stories before they really really became a thing everyone with a public image uses. Sanders runs multiple streams a week. I knew about Harris 5 years ago because of her media presence.

I would like to follow more center-oriented officials on the internet but I see them engaging as much.

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I don't know if that is true or just Democratic Party-mania.
A case can be made for either. Yes, I don't trust Trump in maintaining democracy within the USA or not being power-hungry enough to continue his 'openly crime-spree' with the law, but I've yet to see him do anything anti-democratically that hasn't been slapped down by the Supreme Court (even by his own appointments).

The worst Trump has done so far:
- fearmongered about immigrants and unsuccessfully tried to close the borders
- maintained the status quo where police brutality is concerned
- lightly enabled far-right groups to continue acting like bell-ends
- mishandled the Covid situation (but not to the extent that there is much evidence that other nations around the world handled it much better)
- gave rich people some tax breaks
- nepotism-ed the fuck out of the White House
- protected a few of his cronies to make money from the USA government

Most of those points are points a conservative Democratic President would've made or have made in the past too.
If Trump is supposed to be a Hitler, he's a very tame one. More like a Hitler-on-training-wheels, for a toddler democrat to try and practice dealing with.

Someone like Biden would maintain the troubles you listened. He doesn't perpetuate them but doesn't take the steps to elimate them. He brings a can of raid to a roach infested house - at least the roaches aren't going to spread.

Trump emboldens them, and he has only gotten more encouraging and brazen in the last few months. He praised armed people who marched on government buildings because of mask mandates while gassing innocent protesters walking back to their cars for a photo-op.

You can say Biden will leave a mess but it will be mitigable, Trump will burn down the house and unleash the roaches into the streets.

- Immigrants - He separated families who have lived in the country for years. Theres actual concentration camps at the borders where people are denied basic sanitation, due process, and subjected to percdures against their will. There are kids who will be wards of the state until they are 18 and likely just thrown onto the streets (in Mexico or the US) with nothing to their names if Trump gets his way - just because their parents dared to cross the border.

- Where Biden might not do much to correct police brutality, Trump encourages it. He says he'll send federal troops to back up police facing local criticism Trump's way of protestors is straight from the handbooks of dictators. And as we've seen repeatedly, officials who oppose him end up on lists.

- Trump hasn't lightly enabled far-right groups. He erased federal oversight on said groups and calls them allies. He encourages them then pats them on the back pretends he somehow ignorant to their latest crimes and conspiracies to commit crimes.

- The world has mishandled COVID but the US has yet to see a plateau. That or we're in our 4th wave while others are talking about the 2nd.

- Tax breaks. A crisis that spans decades that he didn't start, so he has that one.

- Nepotism and corruption. Biden won't end of this, hell only clean out the obvious rats. So theres that.


He's done all of this while facing reelection. Presidents grow bolder in the 2nd term because they no longer have to worry about playing office to remain in office. Like a disgrunted employee who knows he is going to be laid off in two weeks. The filter is gone, politics are thrown out the window. The only thing holding him back is his integrity, and that file can't be found anywhere.

[Inuyaki]

ROFLMAO this has to be a joke right you only forgot

- Packed the courts with patsies to pass his policies.
- Fully supporting white supremacists, domestic terrorists and conspiracy theorists.
- Foreign influence peddling.
- Indebted to foreign powers.
- Stated article 1 let's him do whatever he wants, has argued in court that the president is above the law.
- Created an armed unit to attack civilians.
- Mass spying including drone surveillance on US soil of protesters.
- Corruption on a massive scale including being the president with more convicted felons in his cabinet than anyone else, embezzlements etc.
- Illegally took the power of the purse from congress to build his border wall.
- Using the entire government as part of his campaign.


I can go on talking about concentration camps, handmaiden supreme court nominee that will rubber stamp everything he wants etc. If you don't think the guy that loves dictators and does everything to emulate them isn't a threat to democracy I don't know what to tell you. The guard rails of democracy are creaking they won't survive another 4 years of Trump.

Yeah, this.


During primaries I was also on the fence about Biden (I can't vote anyway because European), because I thought he might not do enough and be too easy to attack for the right. And the next "Trump" that is not as stupid will then burn the country down. Especially since Trump can be blocked in a lot of things with the Dems controlling the House (as already seen over the last 2 years).

Since then I am convinced that Trump can still do enough damage so that 4 more years will burn the country down anyway. So might as well gamble with Biden and hope the right does not gain enough track over the next 4 years.
Better having a chance at saving the country than just giving up on it, I guess.


(Also Biden went a little bit too the left after the primaries, which kinda surprised me. Credit where credit's due)

[DingDongKing]

Wall Street Journal now trying to do their bit on the Hunter Biden 'scandal'.

The Bidens and China Business
The story won’t go away without explanation, even if the Veep wins.

Most of the media is ignoring the emails found in Hunter Biden’s laptop, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t news (1). Joe Biden has an obligation to answer questions about his son’s influence-peddling and his own financial dealings—notably regarding China.

The New York Post last week obtained the contents of a laptop purported to belong to Hunter. The Post has been transparent that it obtained its copy of the hard drive from Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who says he received it from the owner of a Delaware computer-repair shop, where it was abandoned in 2019. Mr. Biden derides this as a “smear campaign,” while House Intelligence Chair Adam Schiff calls it without evidence “Russian disinformation.”

Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe says the government has no intelligence to support the disinformation claim (2). A repair-shop order from April 2019 contains Hunter’s name and what appears to be his signature. The shop owner supplied a subpoena showing the computer and hard drive were seized by the FBI in December 2019. And the Biden campaign hasn’t said the emails are phony (3).

The emails regarding Hunter’s business in Ukraine have been widely reported (4). But as intriguing is a May 2017 email thread that includes a discussion about “remuneration packages” for six people as part of a business deal with a now-defunct Chinese energy titan, CEFC China Energy. The Chinese company was international news a few years ago, after the U.S. government charged a CEFC-funded organization with money laundering, and its CEO was detained by Chinese authorities. CNN reported in 2018 that “at its height” CEFC was “hard to distinguish” from the Chinese government.

According to the emails, both Bidens were in line in 2017 to benefit from a deal with CEFC. One email appears to identify Hunter Biden as “Chair/Vice Chair depending on agreement with CEFC.” It also refers to financial payments in terms of “20” for “H” and “10 held by H for the big guy?”

Fox News says it has confirmed the veracity of the email with one of its recipients and that sources say the “big guy” is Joe Biden (5). An August 2017 email from “Robert Biden” (Hunter’s legal first name) crows that the original deal was for $10 million a year in fees, but that it had since become “much more interesting to me and my family” because it included a share of “the equity and profits.” The Biden campaign says the Veep’s tax returns don’t show any involvement with Chinese investments.

The Democratic-media refrain is that even if these latest emails are real—again, the Bidens don’t deny their authenticity—they fail to prove Mr. Biden broke any law. But felonies aren’t the minimum standard for political behaviour (6). Mr. Biden was a private citizen in 2017 but was considering a presidential run. A transaction that would have made him—or his son—partners with an entity tied to the Chinese government raises questions about judgment and how he would handle China as President.

Joe Biden ought to clear the air on this China business in his own political interest. Is he the “big guy” in the email? What happened with the deal? China will be one of Mr. Biden’s toughest foreign-policy challenges, and the unexplained documents won’t go away once he’s elected. If Republicans hold the Senate, you can bet there will be more digging. (7)

President Trump, as usual, is muddying the story with inappropriate demands that the Department of Justice investigate a potential crime. But the real burden here should be on Mr. Biden and the press. Perhaps Joe Biden wasn’t involved, and Hunter was using his father’s name to advance his own business interests. But it’s also possible that Joe Biden was aware of the CEFC business and was unwilling to tell his son that he couldn’t trade on his father’s name and position. (8)

Whatever the truth, the public deserves better than Mr. Biden’s Trump-like dismissal of the CBS reporter who so far is the only one brave enough to ask about the emails. (9)

1) That's literally what it means. It's not news. It's a hail-mary.
2) Ratcliffe is a political appointee.
3) A campaign doesn't need spend 24/7 factchecking GOP disinfo.
4) They've been claimed to be 'real' by only FOX, NYPost and now apparently the WSJ. All Murdoch media.
5) Lol. Okay.
6) This the Lindsey Graham 'rule', which only seems to apply to Democrats. Trump has broken laws, abused power and been impeached but isn't just running for re-election, but was acquitted. All of a sudden now, unsubstantiated claims = political behaviour. What a load of pearl clutching.
7) What happened to Ukraine? Abuse of power? Abusing the office? Oh right. Didn't stick. Try China now.
8) Lots of mental gymnastics there.
9) He's the only one who always likes to ask 'trigger' questions. Sure, Biden should address it. But he doesn't need to make a spectacle.

Honestly, the WSJ didn't even have the courage to byline this. 'Editorial Board'. Says all you need to know. It's another Murdoch moonshot.

[postman1782]

Wall Street Journal now trying to do their bit on the Hunter Biden 'scandal'.



1) That's literally what it means. It's not news. It's a hail-mary.
2) Ratcliffe is a political appointee.
3) A campaign doesn't need spend 24/7 factchecking GOP disinfo.
4) They've been claimed to be 'real' by only FOX, NYPost and now apparently the WSJ. All Murdoch media.
5) Lol. Okay.
6) This the Lindsey Graham 'rule', which only seems to apply to Democrats. Trump has broken laws, abused power and been impeached but isn't just running for re-election, but was acquitted. All of a sudden now, unsubstantiated claims = political behaviour. What a load of pearl clutching.
7) Lots of mental gymnastics there.
8) He's the only one who always likes to ask 'trigger' questions. Sure, Biden should address it. But he doesn't need to make a spectacle.

Honestly, the WSJ didn't even have the courage to byline this. 'Editorial Board'. Says all you need to know. It's another Murdoch moonshot.

Ratcliffe is technically illegally appointed. Just like the head or should be former head of DHS Chad Wolf. They are both illegally appointed. The DNI REQUIRES the director to have intelligence experience, but the only experience that the ratfucker Ratcliffe has, is Congress. He doesn't have Intelligence experience.

Also, not surprising this is labeled as an opinion hitpiece.

[beanman12345]

Wall Street Journal now trying to do their bit on the Hunter Biden 'scandal'.



1) That's literally what it means. It's not news. It's a hail-mary.
2) Ratcliffe is a political appointee.
3) A campaign doesn't need spend 24/7 factchecking GOP disinfo.
4) They've been claimed to be 'real' by only FOX, NYPost and now apparently the WSJ. All Murdoch media.
5) Lol. Okay.
6) This the Lindsey Graham 'rule', which only seems to apply to Democrats. Trump has broken laws, abused power and been impeached but isn't just running for re-election, but was acquitted. All of a sudden now, unsubstantiated claims = political behaviour. What a load of pearl clutching.
7) What happened to Ukraine? Abuse of power? Abusing the office? Oh right. Didn't stick. Try China now.
8) Lots of mental gymnastics there.
9) He's the only one who always likes to ask 'trigger' questions. Sure, Biden should address it. But he doesn't need to make a spectacle.

Honestly, the WSJ didn't even have the courage to byline this. 'Editorial Board'. Says all you need to know. It's another Murdoch moonshot.

opinion piece by WSJ - Biden could might we just don't know but maybe is working with china!
News piece by NYT - Trump is paying taxes in China trying to work with them.

Biden has actually released his taxes, nothing with china. Trump won't release his taxes, one reason cause he's working with China, also fraud etc etc.

[DingDongKing]

Ratcliffe is technically illegally appointed. Just like the head or should be former head of DHS Chad Wolf. They are both illegally appointed. The DNI REQUIRES the director to have intelligence experience, but the only experience that the ratfucker Ratcliffe has, is Congress. He doesn't have Intelligence experience.

Also, not surprising this is labeled as an opinion hitpiece.

opinion piece by WSJ - Biden could might we just don't know but maybe is working with china!
News piece by NYT - Trump is paying taxes in China trying to work with them.

Biden has actually released his taxes, nothing with china. Trump won't release his taxes, one reason cause he's working with China, also fraud etc etc.

They published another article by Holman W Jenkins Jr. It's too stupid to even bother with. The author is the same guy who said this a couple years ago, when Trump was getting caught out regarding all the Russia funny business. It's a telling representation of the GOP and how it views the world.

In any case, you are not a partisan to realize that partisan opportunism, more than any real evidence of a Trump conspiracy with Mr. Putin, drives the Russia narrative. Every president, including Donald Trump, has a duty to fight for his political existence. In our two-party system, where the parties serve as a check on each other, Republicans have a duty to help him mount a defense against those who would destroy him, at least until they decide the partisan cost of Mr. Trump exceeds the benefit.

What I find insightful about the above, is that it's an exercise in hypocrisy. Let's for a second assume that Biden has done ALL the things they're saying he's done. Then all the newspapers who are apparently glazing over this and in cahoots with the Democrats, are doing exactly what the GOP would do for their candidate. So even if everything were true, the GOP is just upset that their own weapons would be used against them.

[postman1782]

opinion piece by WSJ - Biden could might we just don't know but maybe is working with china!
News piece by NYT - Trump is paying taxes in China trying to work with them.

Biden has actually released his taxes, nothing with china. Trump won't release his taxes, one reason cause he's working with China, also fraud etc etc.

Yep, and there is no reason for Hunter Biden to give his laptop to a computer repair shop, 3000 miles from his home? Especially when I guarantee the Beau Biden Foundation most likely has on staff tech support that could fix it better than this guy and without violating privacy laws by copying his hard drive. Not to mention the signature for it, doesn't even look like it says Robert or Hunter Biden.

[DingDongKing]

Yep, and there is no reason for Hunter Biden to give his laptop to a computer repair shop, 3000 miles from his home? Especially when I guarantee the Beau Biden Foundation most likely has on staff tech support that could fix it better than this guy and without violating privacy laws by copying his hard drive. Not to mention the signature for it, doesn't even look like it says Robert or Hunter Biden.

This part did crack me up. 'But Hunter Biden signed it!' Says who?

[Monster Hunter]

This part did crack me up. 'But Hunter Biden signed it!' Says who?

ultimately i knew it was going to be a load of bullshit because it makes the one mistake America always makes, it over exaggerates its self a few years ago if i asked 90% of people even here in the Uk who joe bidden was let alone who his son was most wouldn't have a clue, hell most people here don't even know who the current vice president of the USA is, so that chance that some random in a tech shop in Ukraine even knowing who hunter was is slim to 0.

[DingDongKing]

ultimately i knew it was going to be a load of bullshit because it makes the one mistake America always makes, it over exaggerates its self a few years ago if i asked 90% of people even here in the Uk who joe bidden was let alone who his son was most wouldn't have a clue, hell most people here don't even know who the current vice president of the USA is, so that chance that some random in a tech shop in Ukraine even knowing who hunter was is slim to 0.

It's an endemic issue in the US at large. One step too far.

[Monster Hunter]

It's an endemic issue in the US at large. One step too far.

Its a pattern of behaviour in a way. But pre the election asking some one outside the usa who Biden was is like me asking a USA citizen who is the current minister of health on the UK.

Even now if hinter Biden walked upto me in the street and punched me in the dick I still wouldn't know who the hell it was as I've never even seen a picture of him.

What that tells me is that this whole thing must be a constructed smear, because it required knowledge of a person that isn't general knowledge outside the USA suggesting that it must be specifically targeted no matter if the data gathered in the end is valid or not, the motive is clearly and obviously malicious, not as the narrative trys to say that it was dumb luck.

Problem is as an outsider who up till recently knows I didn't know who the hell Joe bidden or his son was its obvious how laughable the narrative there pushing is because of just that one flaw in there lie, but to an American who tbh probly thinks the people who are famous to them are famous to everyone in the world, or at least hasn't even considered that alot of famous people in the USA, especially politicians arnt actualy world famous as in recognisable out side the usa.

So the whole thing is like me saying the son of the parliament house speaker went to a computer repair shop in Kansas and the shop clerk recognised him and cloned his hard drive finding evidence he had been embezzling funds... its ludicrous

[strangewidth]

Its a pattern of behaviour in a way. But pre the election asking some one outside the usa who Biden was is like me asking a USA citizen who is the current minister of health on the UK.

Even now if hinter Biden walked upto me in the street and punched me in the dick I still wouldn't know who the hell it was as I've never even seen a picture of him.

What that tells me is that this whole thing must be a constructed smear, because it required knowledge of a person that isn't general knowledge outside the USA suggesting that it must be specifically targeted no matter if the data gathered on the end is valid or not, the motive is clearly and obviously malicious, not as the narrative trys to say that it was dumb luck.

Hasn't the government put all you northerners in cages yet?

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This is very much the main purpose for it. QAnon nutjobs specifically try to show they're out for justice for children against paedophiles

Reminded me of all the crazy Russian bullshit conspiracy theories you people have been peddling.

[DingDongKing]

Its a pattern of behaviour in a way. But pre the election asking some one outside the usa who Biden was is like me asking a USA citizen who is the current minister of health on the UK.

Even now if hinter Biden walked upto me in the street and punched me in the dick I still wouldn't know who the hell it was as I've never even seen a picture of him.

What that tells me is that this whole thing must be a constructed smear, because it required knowledge of a person that isn't general knowledge outside the USA suggesting that it must be specifically targeted no matter if the data gathered in the end is valid or not, the motive is clearly and obviously malicious, not as the narrative trys to say that it was dumb luck.

It's a combination of the two. It's relying on some people being up with the scandal and others being gullible enough to see 'Biden' and fall for it.

Thing is, no actual Government department has given it credibility as of yet. Ratcliffe is a fucking tool, and counts for nowt.

[Felya]

Reminded me of all the crazy Russian bullshit conspiracy theories you people have been peddling.

The one that got a bunch of Trump staff in jail and then Trump abused his power to get some out? The one where Russians were caught stealing 500k registration records on swing states? You are comparing that to a PC with a Biden sticker on it or Giuliani and Bannon admittedly sitting on child porn for a year?

[DingDongKing]

The one that got a bunch of Trump staff in jail and then Trump abused his power to get some out? The one where Russians were caught stealing 500k registration records on swing states? You are comparing that to a PC with a Biden sticker on it or Giuliani and Bannon admittedly sitting on child porn for a year?

Ignoring him and report. Burner account for someone who's been banned.

[Felya]

Ignoring him and report. Burner account for someone who's been banned.

I know, but there is no one left to tortu... I mean to argue with...

I checked... nothing else to bitch about. lol

[Monster Hunter]

Hasn't the government put all you northerners in cages yet?

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Reminded me of all the crazy Russian bullshit conspiracy theories you people have been peddling.

Dunno but keir starmer keeps sending us these questionnaires, if you get chance at the next Labour rally could you ask him to stop spamming us its rather annoying and bad for the environment using all this paper.

[strangewidth]

Dunno but keir starmer keeps sending us these questionnaires, if you get chance at the next Labour rally could you ask him to stop spamming us its rather annoying and bad for the environment using all this paper.

He's nothing to do with me. I'd have thought you'd be a fan of his since he believes in nothing at all.

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The one that got a bunch of Trump staff in jail and then Trump abused his power to get some out? The one where Russians were caught stealing 500k registration records on swing states? You are comparing that to a PC with a Biden sticker on it or Giuliani and Bannon admittedly sitting on child porn for a year?

Now you are reminding me of the Benghazi stuff. Just stop going on about it no one fucking cares.

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Ignoring him and report. Burner account for someone who's been banned.

Yeah that. Can't have people with intelligence challenging your recycling of dumb tweets.

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Ratcliffe is a fucking tool, and counts for nowt.

I agree, the Potter films were his best work.

[Felya]

Now you are reminding me of the Benghazi stuff. Just stop going on about it no one fucking cares.

How? Did Trump spend 13 hours on the stand defending him self, as Hilary did? I thought he wrote a note, saying he doesn’t remember anything. I think Trump replaced Sessions, who him self recused from the investigation, with Barr... who didn’t act on evidence muller outlined. Instead, just hours later, sucking off Trump.

How many people were indicted over Benghazi? How many went to jail? Did some foreign country steal voter registration records in Benghazi?

The reason it reminds you of Benghazi, is because of your ‘must defend oligarchs at all cost’ bubble... Trump can afford better defense than you...

Edit: In fact... he can pay for it, out of his bank account in China.

[Monster Hunter]

It's a combination of the two. It's relying on some people being up with the scandal and others being gullible enough to see 'Biden' and fall for it.

Thing is, no actual Government department has given it credibility as of yet. Ratcliffe is a fucking tool, and counts for nowt.

Yea true, but there's no credibility to give it really.

Trumps hoping for a hilary home server moment, but unlike the home server thing where it was a debate about the severity and how seriously people should have taken her lapse in basic common sense for some one at her security clearance, but she had done what she was accused of, this accusation againdt Biden is just stringy as fuck and smells of Russian bullshittery,

Russia wants trump as president, because he makes the USAs allies not like america and he's anti nato, in the last 4 years Russia and China have made massive geopolitical gains, the trust of nato members in the USA which to be fair was eroding before trump will take decades to rebuild and the gains China and Russia have made will take even more decades to roll back as it is, but if there's 4 more years a trump Russia knows by the end america won't have anywhere near the respect or geopolitical pull with its allies it needs to keep Russia and China in check.

Thats what this is all about really behind the scenes.