1 hour ago, caulfield12 said:

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/24/politics/rudy-giuliani-donald-trump-laura-ingraham-coronavirus/index.html

Then there’s Rudy Giuliani, who makes Trump look like Neil Degrasse Tyson almost.

 

The article states how Giuliani is so trusted. It is amazing if that is true.  Also mind-boggling. Same thing about Ingraham.

1 hour ago, caulfield12 said:

Just spoke with my cousin in Huntsville, AL.

It’s crazy to imagine, but seems like ONE of the factors behind the rush to get things restarted across the South is the desire to see SEC Football this season.

There’s almost a perfect correlation with proposed states reopening (I guess you could make a similar albeit more tepid argument for NASCAR) and that particular athletic conference’s geographic spread.

 

That seems highly unlikely to me. They can open up in July and deal with that.

There are four pretty clear reasons they are doing it. One, because they've hooked themselves to Trump's horse train. Two, they fear the backlash of the Trump followers if they don't do this. Three, they want to do everything possible to keep unemployment payments lower. And four, they all have rich friends in business who they want to help, so that they can rely on those rich benefactors come election time.

I have no idea the balance of each of the four things, for each given governor, but those I believe are the main drivers.

 

A serious question from Twitter.

Why are flags not at half mast? Or a week/month of mourning?

42 minutes ago, NorthSideSox72 said:

That seems highly unlikely to me. They can open up in July and deal with that..

 

A couple of thoughts.

Most of the Southern states are safely in the GOP column in November, other than NC/VA and Florida. I can see where DeSantis and Kemp (until this week) felt they owed Trump or at least didn’t want to cross him.  Maybe the relatively warmer weather and getting antsy with cabin fever, maybe it’s the outdoors culture (hunting, boating, fishing, camping), maybe it’s a little bit of that ornery, States’ right streak we’ve seen since the late 60’s/early 70’s and George Wallace, hard to pinpoint exactly.

Two, almost all of the state budgets are closer to being balanced in those particular states than the Northeast, Illinois, West Coast, etc.

What doesn’t make sense is Florida.  Yeah, I get the travel/tourism lobby’s influence, we saw it the other night with the Las Vegas governor’s tone deaf comments.  But the senior population down there is huge.  They vote at the highest rate of pretty much any voting bloc, and have LONG memories.   As soon as Sanders left the race, that state went up for grabs.

Edited April 24, 20205 yr by caulfield12

good thread on testing.

According to Worldometers, today set a new high for positive tests, at almost 38k so far today. This passes the old high from April 4th.

2 hours ago, Balta1701 said:

A serious question from Twitter.

Why are flags not at half mast? Or a week/month of mourning?

The President would have to know what mourning is to order that.

However, I would like them to remain flying high as a symbol of strength/hope. After this is over we can fly them at half mast for period of time for mourning/reflection.

 

9 hours ago, Jose Abreu said:

But this is part of what bothers me. Doesn't saying that he "isn't perfect" in response to his shortcomings, while correct on a literal basis, diminish and/or trivialize the cruelty of rape?

Without trivializing the cruelty of rape, could it be that the ever-changing nature of the accusation, coupled with an abject lack of corroborating accusers means that that accusation is BS?

Hell, the NYT, who made as much hay as possible out of Clinton's emails, reviewed the allegation, and found no evidence of sexual misconduct. Ronan Farrow looked into this, and found nothing. The Me Too folks have found nothing. And, the dirty-digging machinery of  #45 decided that an impeachable Ukrainian allegation was a better bet than this allegation.

 

On balance, I'd say that this allegation seems to be BS. I'm open to have my mind changed, but this one hasn't passed muster as yet.

Edited April 25, 20205 yr by Two-Gun Pete

1 hour ago, Two-Gun Pete said:

Without trivializing the cruelty of rape, could it be that the ever-changing nature of the accusation, coupled with an abject lack of corroborating accusers means that that accusation is BS?

Hell, the NYT, who made as much hay as possible out of Clinton's emails, reviewed the allegation, and found no evidence of sexual misconduct. Ronan Farrow looked into this, and found nothing. The Me Too folks have found nothing. And, the dirty-digging machinery of  #45 decided that an impeachable Ukrainian allegation was a better bet than this allegation.

 

On balance, I'd say that this allegation seems to be BS. I'm open to have my mind changed, but this one hasn't passed muster as yet.

But it’s rape.  There is hardly ever evidence.  There’s just testimony.  And I understand what you’re saying, I do.  It doesn’t pass muster.  
 

But then you watch all those videos of Joe basically molesting children and women.  Nobody can watch that and think that’s okay.  Nobody.  You can’t discard that.  And then his spin doctors just say “oh he’s touchy and affectionate”.   Yea, well not with men.  He’s not nuzzling and sniffing a man’s neck ever. He’s not groping a man’s waist and breast.  He’s doing that to children and women exclusively.  
 

So I get that the law can’t connect the dots from rape accusation to guilt, but a citizen observing those videos of him molesting people can pretty easily make that leap in their head:

”Well I’m watching him be inappropriate with these kids and women on TV...yea I could easily see him taking it further when nobody is looking.  It wouldn’t surprise me I guess after watching all of this.”

This is the narrative Joe Biden supporters are going to have to deal with non stop until Election Day.  This stuff isn’t going away...and it’s probably barely begun.  
 

It’s going to be hard for anybody that has children to watch those videos and cast a vote for that man.  There’s no way I can do it.  The Dems made a huge mistake stealing it from Bernie again.  Woulda been a landslide victory, no rape. 

8 minutes ago, Jerksticks said:

But it’s rape.  There is hardly ever evidence.  There’s just testimony.  And I understand what you’re saying, I do.  It doesn’t pass muster.  
 

But then you watch all those videos of Joe basically molesting children and women.  Nobody can watch that and think that’s okay.  Nobody.  You can’t discard that.  And then his spin doctors just say “oh he’s touchy and affectionate”.   Yea, well not with men.  He’s not nuzzling and sniffing a man’s neck ever. He’s not groping a man’s waist and breast.  He’s doing that to children and women exclusively.  
 

So I get that the law can’t connect the dots from rape accusation to guilt, but a citizen observing those videos of him molesting people can pretty easily make that leap in their head:

”Well I’m watching him be inappropriate with these kids and women on TV...yea I could easily see him taking it further when nobody is looking.  It wouldn’t surprise me I guess after watching all of this.”

This is the narrative Joe Biden supporters are going to have to deal with non stop until Election Day.  This stuff isn’t going away...and it’s probably barely begun.  
 

It’s going to be hard for anybody that has children to watch those videos and cast a vote for that man.  There’s no way I can do it.  The Dems made a huge mistake stealing it from Bernie again.  Woulda been a landslide victory, no rape. 

Trumps been accused of sexual inappropriate things far more than Biden. Trump has been recorded talking about sexually assaulting women.

When I look at my children, I think about their future and the world I want them to grow up in. They deserve better than the world Donald Trump has brought us over the last 4 years.

And Bernie lost again. Nobody stole it from him. Over the last 4 years he could have learned from his mistakes in 2016 and possibly been the candidate. But he didnt and he lost. 

The bleach story is almost hilarious. According to Karen on Facebook you cannot prove it doesn't work. 

9 hours ago, Jerksticks said:

But it’s rape.  There is hardly ever evidence.  There’s just testimony.  And I understand what you’re saying, I do.  It doesn’t pass muster.  
 

But then you watch all those videos of Joe basically molesting children and women.  Nobody can watch that and think that’s okay.  Nobody.  You can’t discard that.  And then his spin doctors just say “oh he’s touchy and affectionate”.   Yea, well not with men.  He’s not nuzzling and sniffing a man’s neck ever. He’s not groping a man’s waist and breast.  He’s doing that to children and women exclusively.  
 

So I get that the law can’t connect the dots from rape accusation to guilt, but a citizen observing those videos of him molesting people can pretty easily make that leap in their head:

”Well I’m watching him be inappropriate with these kids and women on TV...yea I could easily see him taking it further when nobody is looking.  It wouldn’t surprise me I guess after watching all of this.”

This is the narrative Joe Biden supporters are going to have to deal with non stop until Election Day.  This stuff isn’t going away...and it’s probably barely begun.  
 

It’s going to be hard for anybody that has children to watch those videos and cast a vote for that man.  There’s no way I can do it.  The Dems made a huge mistake stealing it from Bernie again.  Woulda been a landslide victory, no rape. 

https://theweek.com/articles/655770/61-things-donald-trump-said-about-women

Explain how, for example, evangelical Christians voted 81% to 16% for Trump over Hillary Clinton...let’s remove Biden from this entirely.

They all had the opportunity to vote for a woman who suffered at the hands of a man most frequently compared to Trump and Dr. Jeffrey Epstein.

How could they do that?  Trump has had multiple divorces, and at least 27 documented cases of sexual assault/harassment violations.  
 

Perhaps the one thing I’ve never heard critics of the Clintons or Obamas say is that didn’t raise their kids well.

Conversely, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a single person not economically or politically tied to Trump who asserted he was an exceptional parent.

Yet all of these factors were consistently ignored. 

 

 

This isn’t an alleged assault contest- nobody should go there.   Just assume everything about all of them is true.  Everything.  Ok have you done that in your head yet?  Ok good.  Are you crying yet?  Good.  Now watch the videos of Biden groping children.  Try to ignore the videos of him groping women and focus on the kids.  How does that make you feel watching him sniffing their hair and petting them?  
 

It’s a deeper level of terrible when you involve the kids.  
 

Like it or not, that’s going to be the narrative until Election Day.  
 

That’s why I’m so pissed America has to pick between these two idiots.  2 rapists and one of them molests children.  This is the best of America?

28 minutes ago, Jerksticks said:

This isn’t an alleged assault contest- nobody should go there.   Just assume everything about all of them is true.  Everything.  Ok have you done that in your head yet?  Ok good.  Are you crying yet?  Good.  Now watch the videos of Biden groping children.  Try to ignore the videos of him groping women and focus on the kids.  How does that make you feel watching him sniffing their hair and petting them?  
 

It’s a deeper level of terrible when you involve the kids.  
 

Like it or not, that’s going to be the narrative until Election Day.  
 

That’s why I’m so pissed America has to pick between these two idiots.  2 rapists and one of them molests children.  This is the best of America?

Unless i am mistaken there are 0 allegations that Biden has ever molested or raped a child.

Maybe that is going to be your narrative, but hopefully for the rest of of society the narrative is going to be which choice gives the best chance for your children to have a normal future to look forward to.

The answer is easy, its Biden. You sound like a Trump operative trying to deflect from facts.

Vote however you like its your choice.

Edited April 25, 20205 yr by Soxbadger

1 hour ago, Soxbadger said:

Unless i am mistaken there are 0 allegations that Biden has ever molested or raped a child.

Maybe that is going to be your narrative, but hopefully for the rest of of society the narrative is going to be which choice gives the best chance for your children to have a normal future to look forward to.

The answer is easy, its Biden. You sound like a Trump operative trying to deflect from facts.

Vote however you like its your choice.

Interesting.  

The "Trump is the lesser of two evils" argument is not going to work this time. Hopefully your vote is based on more sound reasoning.

Another record for cases in Iowa

1 hour ago, Soxbadger said:

Unless i am mistaken there are 0 allegations that Biden has ever molested or raped a child.

Maybe that is going to be your narrative, but hopefully for the rest of of society the narrative is going to be which choice gives the best chance for your children to have a normal future to look forward to.

The answer is easy, its Biden. You sound like a Trump operative trying to deflect from facts.

Vote however you like its your choice.

Playing devil's advocate is not allowed. If you arent against him, you must be with him!!

1 hour ago, Soxbadger said:

Unless i am mistaken there are 0 allegations that Biden has ever molested or raped a child.

Maybe that is going to be your narrative, but hopefully for the rest of of society the narrative is going to be which choice gives the best chance for your children to have a normal future to look forward to.

The answer is easy, its Biden. You sound like a Trump operative trying to deflect from facts.

Vote however you like its your choice.

Meanwhile the President has talked publicly about being sexually attracted to his daughter. 

Can we not turn this thread into something resembling pizza-gate?

1 hour ago, Yearnin' for Yermin said:

Playing devil's advocate is not allowed. If you arent against him, you must be with him!!

That's literally, exactly, to the letter, how we have the worst COVID-19 outbreak in the world. Because people who were against him didn't actually vote for the opposition, and they let their represntatives spend years doing things to restrict other people's voting rights. 

1 hour ago, Yearnin' for Yermin said:

Playing devil's advocate is not allowed. If you arent against him, you must be with him!!

Then who do you think has the best chance to beat Trump and currently is in the race.

3 hours ago, Jerksticks said:

This isn’t an alleged assault contest- nobody should go there.   Just assume everything about all of them is true.  Everything.  Ok have you done that in your head yet?  Ok good.  Are you crying yet?  Good.  Now watch the videos of Biden groping children.  Try to ignore the videos of him groping women and focus on the kids.  How does that make you feel watching him sniffing their hair and petting them?  
 

It’s a deeper level of terrible when you involve the kids.  
 

Like it or not, that’s going to be the narrative until Election Day.  
 

That’s why I’m so pissed America has to pick between these two idiots.  2 rapists and one of them molests children.  This is the best of America?

You can keep saying this - that Biden "molests children" - and there is not a shred of evidence it's true. I've even watched the (creatively edited) videos you are referring to, because some of my Trump-supporting family got into it with me. One can say, at very worst, that he was too eager to put arms around them or speak close to their ears, for someone they didn't know. There is just nothing there.

The only people outraged now, or who will be outraged later, by those videos, are people already bound and determined to support Trump. Which make is a non-issue for the election.

1 hour ago, Heads22 said:

Another record for cases in Iowa

Have you see the comparison of per capita curves for Iowa and Minnesota? They were identical up until the day that MN (and other states) put in place more stringent controls. They are neighbor states with similar cross-sections, especially if you take Minneapolis out of the equation. And starting within a few days of MN's order and Iowa's decision not to lock down, Iowa's curve skyrocketed in comparison in MN. And MN is slightly denser in population so all else equal they SHOULD have been hit harder. It's one of the best, clearest examples of how the shelter in place orders work.

 

38 minutes ago, Balta1701 said:

That's literally, exactly, to the letter, how we have the worst COVID-19 outbreak in the world. Because people who were against him didn't actually vote for the opposition, and they let their represntatives spend years doing things to restrict other people's voting rights. 

Hey Balta, You can't deny (I don't think) that those were two horrific candidates last time and this time? Even worse choices only because God bless him, Biden appears to have mental capacity issues (early Alz?). This isn't just greg watching him lose his train of thought all the time when speaking (did you see his interview with Gore on earth day in which Gore was dumbfounded by Joe's inability to make sense?). I personally feel Warren is going to get the nomination when all is said and done (because of Joe medical issues) and then will probably lose to Trump. Election fraud will be cited (maybe with good reason in this day and age of the Russian/China hacks).