Mega-Thread: 2020 United States General Election

[Setheria]

I kind of feel echoes of The Producers with Trump. Maybe this is actually just the best comedy show ever made in the history of the world and he really is playing 511231D chess. Just not how we thought.

It's like he's doing his best to be the worst possible President there is to try but enough people still love him. No matter how fascist he goes, they go with him.

[gondrin]

Well, here is something that would honestly fit as a Trump campaign message. Some of it he has rumored to actually do.

[Rhlor]

can someone give me updated data from arizona? As I understand it, Biden wins by more than 13 thousand votes and there are less than 18 thousand votes left to count. if that's the case just for statistics it's impossible for trump to win in arizona

[Poopymonster]

He hasn’t been on since the 5th... I think he drank tears and finally moved on...

You mean underwent apotheosis and ascended to a higher form. I miss that guy.

[Mihalik]

Considering the reshuffling in the Pentagon...I'm pretty sure the GOP is testing the waters for a coup.

[PhaelixWW]

can someone give me updated data from arizona? As I understand it, Biden wins by more than 13 thousand votes and there are less than 18 thousand votes left to count. if that's the case just for statistics it's impossible for trump to win in arizona

This article indicates 46.7k votes left in AZ.

[Iphie]

Considering the reshuffling in the Pentagon...I'm pretty sure the GOP is testing the waters for a coup.

Please, don't say such scary things. I want to believe it won't get that far...

[Elenos]

Looks like Nancy Pelosi is going to have a 4 seat majority ( 222 overall seats ) according to current results on NY Times.

That's pretty bad. I really wonder how she'll manage to win the majority vote required to be speaker again since there were over a dozen democrats who voted against her last time around, and 10 of those are coming back to Congress.

[Mihalik]

Please, don't say such scary things. I want to believe it won't get that far...

I want to believe it won't get that far too.

1. But the past couple of days the DoJ essentially indicated its intention to interfere with vote counting. The guy responsible for election security at the DoJ resigned. Almost all the legal challenges brought to court have been thrown out, but that hasn't stopped the DoJ.

2. Mark Esper who all his faults resisted using the military to put down protests was promptly fired (sure it could just be a case of Trump being a petty bitch). The people responsible for essentially setting the strategy at the Pentagon were all fired. The main strategy guy was replaced by an OG "Obama is a Muslim brotherhood plant" conspiracy theorist who threatened various democrats with public executions.

3. The person responsible for initiating the legal transition process is refusing to do so, denying Biden access to government officials and excluding him from direct communication to government departments.

4. Pompeo simply declared that there will be no transition to Biden, just a new Trump administration. No ifs, buts, or "we are still counting". Straight up denied transition.

5. We are at a junction where no amount of recounting is going to change the outcome. Still the Trump legal team is trying to deny Pennsylvania its electoral votes.

There's more, but I don't have time now. I don't understand what the fuck is the Democratic Party or the media are doing. They should be screaming foul and coup 24/7.

[Redwyrm]

Please, don't say such scary things. I want to believe it won't get that far...

What is really scary is how the chaos in the Pentagon, and including the refusal of the White House to help with the Biden's transition team, is going to affect the country's ability to effectively protect itself from terrorist attacks.

Trump is basically holding the White House hostage at gun point

[nonameelf]

Looks like Nancy Pelosi is going to have a 4 seat majority ( 222 overall seats ) according to current results on NY Times.

That's pretty bad. I really wonder how she'll manage to win the majority vote required to be speaker again since there were over a dozen democrats who voted against her last time around, and 10 of those are coming back to Congress.

She won't. She only made it to be speaker again by promising it'd be the last time.

[Thekri]

I want to believe it won't get that far too.

1. But the past couple of days the DoJ essentially indicated its intention to interfere with vote counting. The guy responsible for election security at the DoJ resigned. Almost all the legal challenges brought to court have been thrown out, but that hasn't stopped the DoJ.

2. Mark Esper who all his faults resisted using the military to put down protests was promptly fired (sure it could just be a case of Trump being a petty bitch). The people responsible for essentially setting the strategy at the Pentagon were all fired. The main strategy guy was replaced by an OG "Obama is a Muslim brotherhood plant" conspiracy theorist who threatened various democrats with public executions.

3. The person responsible for initiating the legal transition process is refusing to do so, denying Biden access to government officials and excluding him from direct communication to government departments.

4. Pompeo simply declared that there will be no transition to Biden, just a new Trump administration. No ifs, buts, or "we are still counting". Straight up denied transition.

5. We are at a junction where no amount of recounting is going to change the outcome. Still the Trump legal team is trying to deny Pennsylvania its electoral votes.

There's more, but I don't have time now. I don't understand what the fuck is the Democratic Party or the media are doing. They should be screaming foul and coup 24/7.

It is possible there are some addled minds in the White House that believe a coup is possible, and think they are setting the groundwork for it. It isn't possible though. This damages our security infrastructure, and puts countless lives at risk, but it doesn't do a damn thing to keep Trump in office past Jan. 20th.

The democrats should absolutely not be screaming about the possibility of a coup. That is the sort of violent and destabilizing rhetoric that sets the stage for actual political violence. This transition is going to be messy, petty, and completely lacking in class, but it won't be violent unless we make it that way.

[Mihalik]

They know it requires more than the civilian leadership being on board... right?

In theory.

Again the issue is this.

Hypothetical situation. Come January, Trump simply refuses to leave power.

The DoJ (which also ultimately controls the FBI) refuses to remove Trump, prosecute Trump or acknowledge Biden's status as President.

The DoD follows the example of the DoJ after everyone from the CIA to the DoD have been effectively purged.

So what now?

Biden forms a "shadow administration" but the different government departments refuse to recognize his authority at the top levels.

Congress can't do jack as the Senate won't table it.

So what now?

How do you propose to resolve this? How do you untangle this mess?

Because it's clear as shit that expecting the Republicans to fucking do the right thing is wasting your time.

Let's say you have a massive wave of protests... The DoJ let's loose its army of bagmen and simply just ignores the courts. Red state governors will gleefully call in the National Guard.

What is the command echelon of the military going to do? They have no real civil authority or legal path to intervene. A bunch might resign but others might get replaced by loons and some others might just do as they are told.

How do you propose to resolve this?

Let's not delude ourselves, I'm not Kokolums with his loony conspiracy theories. I don't think there would be a civil war. I think eventually people will just resign themselves to the state of affairs and carry on hoping this will eventually by miracle resolve itself.

Of course this is an absolute worst case scenario, but it is a plausible enough.

I really think the Democrats need to fucking get on it and head it off as quickly as possible as aggressively as possible.

Tell the population to get out and start protesting the Senate Republicans now to accept Biden as President elect.

Be on TV 24/7 telling people what's going down and what could go down. Indirectly tell our foreign allies that they should hint that they would refuse to work with an illegitimate administration. Etc.

Last time Biden was asked about this he just said that the Republicans will accept him as President, and I quote "They will". Have you been paying attention for the past 12 years?

[Felya]

Are you saying California citizens want rampant homeless issues and streets covered in human feces and used heroine needles while nancy pelosi enjoys her high end ice cream out of her $22,000 fridge? If so then San Francisco and LA are doing amazing jobs.

Hope you don’t mind... the response in the other thread was too confining to stay on topic.

To the part about complaining about Palosi’s refrigerator being 22 k... wtf? Seriously... 22k is probably less than Trump charges American people for a single trip for him to play golf at home.

This wealth shamming as you support a billionaire, is just bizarre... speaking of bizarre:

[Belize]

[Ihttps://i.imgur.com/kex1f8I.png[/IMG]

... Preparing to win the state...?

Uuhh... Aight.

[Felya]

How many straws can one man grasp at?

Since I had to take a double take... It was posted today...

[Breccia]

Race car driver Danica Patrick offers a bounty on election fraud ca...hold on.

(checks news)

Texas Lt Gov Dan Patrick offers a bounty on election fraud cases. Specifically, $25,000 for evidence that leads to a conviction, up to $1,000,000 total, and the case can be anywhere in the country.

"He has a million dollars of his own money to spend on this?"

Well, to a certain extent, that doesn't matter. Election fraud cases are rare, and everything we've seen so far was either a lie, a computer error that was caught by the time it was turned into a conspiracy theory, or affected a very small number of cases. As we've recently seen, hearsay within hearsay has as much effect on a court case as my dick -- people just kind of assume it's there, but I'll get in trouble if I present it before the judge. So he probably won't pay a single bounty.

But, it's his campaign's money.

"He can do that?"

He sure sounds confident that he can spend his re-election funds from a Texas run on, say, a court case in Philadelphia.

"What kind of evidence of fraud would someone have that would hold up in court?"

I have no idea.

"Why would someone have evidence of voter fraud in an election this close, and hold back on presenting it for over a week now, then see this headline and say well shit, I want me that 2020 Honda Accord level of money?"

I don't think an honest person would have evidence of a felony, and wait a week hoping for a bounty, then turn that evidence in. That sounds pretty shady to me. I'd also suspect the evidence was created purely for the payoff.

"Legally, what if someone brings up evidence of a Republican committing voter fraud? Can he withhold the bounty?"

Yeah, probably. This isn't the Wild West anymore, even in Texas. This looks and sounds far more like political posturing than an actual legal act, which being the Texas Lt. Gov, he doesn't have law enforcement ability anyhow.

- - - Updated - - -

How many straws can one man grasp at?

Sigh.

"Possibly illegal" means literally nothing. If it was illegal, find the criminal charge, and enforce it. Like, right now. Just get off the golf course, and do it.

[Paranoid Android]

I have come across do many false claims and flat out lies, ranging from 2000 election to this year. Almost all from some official GOP, not a crazy random.

You know why?

They know they can. 20 plus years of Fox and right wing media know they have sheep. Watching 4 years of Trump they saw what you can get away with.

Don't ever tell the most dangerous thing to our democracy in past 20 years was Fox news. I know hyperbole and slippery slope argument. Yet one day, maybe now this ignorance may bring down our democracy.

Tye

[Breccia]

NBC News projects Trump wins Alaska.

..yeah, nobody cares.

[Kathranis]

NBC News projects Trump wins Alaska.

..yeah, nobody cares.

I wonder how many idiots are celebrating that as a big win for Trump today.