Headlines “Politics” [read the OP before posting]

[vonFiedler]

Did some smod actually change the author of this post???

Yes

 

[Bughouse]

Doesn't seem too many people have posted predictions, so I thought I'd share mine.

large

Right now I see Maine's 2nd, Ohio, and North Carolina as the closest things to tossups. If they all swing blue, then Biden gets a win somewhere between Obama's 2008 and 2012 wins. If they all swing red, then it's a narrower win than 2012. My gut right now says all blue, but I could easily change my mind tomorrow. Regardless, none are necessary to get to 270, in my view, since I see all of the upper midwest, Arizona, and Florida as unlikely to go red.

As tempted as I am to even consider GA and TX to be in play, I think best case Biden still loses them by ~1-2 points.
That said, I expect GA to go straight red or straight blue across the presidential race and both senate races. Perdue and Loeffler/Collins are all just too closely tied to Trump for me to think there will be much ticket splitting. So if GA did somehow swing, I expect an easy blue senate majority with Warnock and Ossoff.

 

[Ashaebi]

I hate that the media and journalism is so fucking inept in the face of fascism that people like Deceit are allowed to exist. Just woefully miserably misinformed and no ability to challenge it by standards he would deem acceptable.

The logic is entirely fucking circular. "Oh the protestors are all violent criminals and the only reason you don't see a lot of violent crime or violent crime arrests in association with them is actually because the police aren't allowed to arrest them." Even in the videos that Fox News shows the violence is unilaterally being committed by police. The worst you'll see is fires set to effigies as a symbol of protest. The fascists like Tucker Carlson gleefully point out how much like a warzone portland is and says "it's because of the protestors though not the militaristic police." P.S. if it were an actual war the police have been factually committing war crimes in their repeated destruction and gassing of medical tents set up by the protestors.

What about the African American retired cop that was killed defending a Saint Louis local pawn shop during the looting. Does his life matter or will you disregard him simply because it didn't fit the BLM narrative?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna1223386

Also just curious if you hate the media and journalism in general which majority of your media outlets are already left leaning, then where do you get your news, facts and info?

 

[Ashaebi]

The fact you can support Trump of all people and then claim to care about racism is absolutely mind-boggling

I'm an person of color and if I told you I like Trump, (even though i can't vote because i'm not american), have I automatically forfeited my right to talk about race relations and racism? Please respond honestly. What about non-caucasian Trump supporters? Have THEY forfeited their right to talk about racism.

 

[Ashaebi]

I'm genuinely curious to hear: what makes you support Trump despite 1) his belief climate change is a hoax and 2) the fact his response to Covid has led the US to become far and away the world leader in deaths (currently standing at 167,000), given the importance of these two issues on a global scale?

While Trump is obviously wrong and unreasonable to think Climate Change is a hoax altogether, I'm totally with you on that but think about it this way. You live in the first world, your electricity usage is significantly above the average individual on the planet, it's likely you have a TV, a bunch of household appliances, a gas guzzling car, smartphones, tablets, computers etc. So in that own regard you preaching about the environment itself is already rather ironic. In fact allow me to show you these links that might surprise you.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/may/7/climate-skeptics-more-eco-friendly-global-warming-/
https://relevantmagazine.com/creati...ikely-to-be-eco-friendly-than-true-believers/
https://maven.io/pursuit-of-happine...-alarmists-or-skeptics-9Ya3e9vyvk-_KKRXoKGxWA
https://psmag.com/environment/mission-compostable

Ironic isn't it? Well here's my theory why environmental skeptics are actually more eco friendly than alarmists and i'll summarize it in the following words - It's much easier to preach than to put money where your mouth is.

I certainly do not identify as an alarmist and I am not a skeptic, I'm as dead center as you can get considering if both sides of the extremes are skepticism and alarmism and I can tell you as an average joe people would much rather see self proclaimed environmentalists lead by example and cut their own emissions. You can shout all day 'we need carbon taxes' but this just means your energy bill goes up and ultimately any climate policy will sooner or later come back and bite your own tail. So how about environmentalists eat a humble pie and let your own carbon footprint do the talking? Otherwise you'll be like prince Harry and Meghan Markle in the United Kingdom who were preaching how we need to combat climate change while at the same time using a private jet.

Lastly is what makes you think China's figures regarding COVID19 are accurate?

 

[termi]

What about the African American retired cop that was killed defending a Saint Louis local pawn shop during the looting. Does his life matter or will you disregard him simply because it didn't fit the BLM narrative?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna1223386

This is from NBC btw. Please give a feedback.

BLM is a response to the political reality that black lives are systematically undervalued. what exactly about this story is challenging that narrative?

Lastly is what makes you think China's figures regarding COVID19 are accurate?

what makes you think your own country's figures are accurate?

 

[Ashaebi]

BLM is a response to the political reality that black lives are systematically undervalued. what exactly about this story is challenging that narrative?

I totally agree, they ARE undervalued and a second victim within the span of a few weeks is TOTALLY necessary...

It's equivalent to be saying - Black lives matter so much to us we need to sacrifice another one in cold blood so that our point can be made.

The hypocrisy is through the roof. Unless you arrange a nation scale riot in the name of David Dorn, the retired african american cop killed defending a pawn shop being looted.

 

[Ashaebi]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violence_and_controversies_during_the_George_Floyd_protests

Also, 30 casualties killed during the riots so far. Do THEIR lives matter? At least a handful of them were african american too.

 

[Myzozoa]

What about the African American retired cop that was killed defending a Saint Louis local pawn shop during the looting. Does his life matter or will you disregard him simply because it didn't fit the BLM narrative?

I would rather mourn all the other nonwhite ppl's lives he likely ruined doing cop-er things then shed tears for the cop. I think it's sad that you want to use this person's death to further some narrative about how black lives matters=bad, I guess his death is just the final opportunity for white ppl to exploit this person who made his living by implementing a system of race relations where affluent white ppl profit from incarcerating black kids . Evidently black people are entirely interchangeable and identical according to this way of thinking, which is the way of thinking that sees black ppl as a means to an end, because otherwise it would be an obvious error to assert that any one black person and particularly one who was a cop is representative of the overall situation for black people in America.

I crack up at your climate change stuff errytime tho, like by all means continue to not shower or w.e it is, the US military and various corporations will certainly be pleased that you're falling in line and not trying to impose legislation on any of their polluting since you're busy owning 'climate alarmists' for taking showers. You could try not posting online using any electronic device to further lower your carbon footprint, but then I would have no aeshebi climate takes to laugh at and that would be sad. Just keep up the good work and I'm sure someone will be along to give you a cookie you for all your good climate behaviors in no time.

 

[Ashaebi]

I would rather mourn all the other nonwhite ppl's lives he likely ruined doing cop-er things then shed tears for the cop. I think it's sad that you want to use this person's death to further some narrative about how black lives matters=bad, I guess his death is just the final opportunity for white ppl to exploit this person who made his living by implementing a system of race relations that affluent white ppl profit from. Evidently black people are entirely interchangeable and identical according to this way of thinking, which is the way of thinking that sees black ppl as a means to an end, because otherwise it would be an obvious error to assert that any one black person and particularly one who was a cop is representative of the overall situation for black people in America.

Ok two problems here, you don't know David Dorn and you don't have a shred of evidence that he ruined other 'non white ppl's lives doing cop-er things'. That is just a false assumption. Secondly is I am ethnically Asian, you literally assumed I'm 'white' for bringing up the news regarding his death to 'profit from' something i guess? Whatever that means itself is rather racist don't you think.

 

[Ashaebi]

https://feu-us.org/behind-the-climate-pledges/

https://climateactiontracker.org/countries/usa/
"We expect US GHG emissions in 2020 will be 10%–11% lower than 2019. Restricted travel mobility has impacted the transport sector, which is responsible for the largest share of GHG nationwide, decreasing the consumption of motor gasoline by 24% in the second quarter of 2020 compared to 2019, year-over-year.

Natural gas consumption is also expected to decrease by 3% in 2020 from the 2019 average, mainly because of lower consumption in the industrial sector. Electricity consumption in the US will decline by more than 4% in 2020. The EIA estimates that coal-fired electricity generation will fall by 31% in 2020, natural gas increase by 3% and generation from renewable sources will increase by 10%."

This is all not to mention that the US's emissions of greenhouse gases and CO2 was already lowering prior to the pandemic.

To be totally fair it wouldn't be wrong to at least do SOMETHING positive. Like drive less, walk or take a bike, be more conservative on your energy consumption. Teach people to do more recycling, advocate for bigger recycling bins. I'm also totally for renewable energy like solar power, although i'm a little worried about the life of birds when using wind turbine farms.

There's technically nothing wrong with advocating for renewable anyway regardless if you thing climate change is a hoax or doomsday inflicting. I happened to be dead centre of both.

 

[Myzozoa]

Not even tho. I'm just saying you're drinking the same koolaid as white supremacists and doing the work of white supremacists, which is turning antiblackness into some form of sensational and deeply flawed news-reel ready intellectualism. You certainly don't have to be white to be an anti-black racist, it is perfectly possible to be an asian and do antiblack racist work as you have demonstrated itt.

If you review my post you can read that I actually did not identify your race in any part of it. I did however say that you instrumentalized this person's death to craft a narrative about a project, BLM, that you disagree with, and I also said that white ppl profit from the infinite uses found for black ppl's lives such as in creating narratives out of their deaths that are meant to discourage and condemn black political organizations.

 

[Ashaebi]

'I think it's sad that you want to use this person's death to further some narrative about how black lives matters=bad, I guess his death is just the final opportunity for white ppl to exploit this person who made his living by implementing a system of race relations that affluent white ppl profit from.' - AKA implying I'm exploiting his death and therefore a Caucasian.

You absolutely DID assume my ethnicity of being white. Otherwise that statement at all will have no bearing to me or anyone on that regard.

I can totally join the fight against legit racism and injustice against african americans yet not be a part of the Black Lives Matter movement. You know not all african americans support the BLM movement right? Some even are downright critical of it.

Once again you're wrong.

 

[Ashaebi]

But anyway, back to the election itself. Digressed too much. Whoever wins i just hope the losing side don't throw a tantrum. Just accept the election results and move on. You don't need more drama. You don't need more emotion.

 

[PDC]

it's likely you have a TV, a bunch of household appliances, a gas guzzling car, smartphones, tablets, computers etc. So in that own regard you preaching about the environment itself is already rather ironic. In fact allow me to show you these links that might surprise you.

yeah the best way to derail an argument about climate change is to use a medley of strawmen and ad hominems to dismiss your opponents argument. i find it perplexing that people believe you can still be a centrist on an issue like climate change -- there really is no alternative and moderate changes won't result in a satisfactory ending. billions of people using cars and electric goods does not compare to the massive emissions and pollution derived from the real offenders of climate change, the massive corporations which enable such a mode of production. comparing the actions of an individual who utilizes electricity and technology in the 21st century to these corporations is incoherent at best and at worst a copout to prevent any sort of change. a common argument against progress is supposed engagement; you posit that because we engage in activities that may result in marginal pollution we are just as culpable as offenders infinitely worse than any single person can be. there is no reasonable comparison between the actions of an individual and an entire mode of production. blaming me or you for driving a car for the reason the planet is heating up is such a defeatist attitude. guess we should do nothing after all, since this climate change is inevitable anyway. there is nothing ironic about bkc's statement because our daily routines are not the argument here.

hmm curious, you [do something that is unavoidable in modern society] yet claim to be against pollution???

here is another curious inquiry. i wrote a report for the UN in the past year on climate change in the pacific. in the coming decades, i guarantee you are going to see massive migration from these communities across asia/europe because the massive swathes of coastal lands becoming uninhabitable by rising sea levels and temperature. let me be clear: the first world does not suffer a doomsday scenario immediately from climate change, but rural areas in the developing world certainly do. i also assume that you're probably against mass migration, so man are you in for a surprise when millions are people are displaced from their homes.

on your point about david dorn, it is a shame he had to die. it is a shame he felt motivated to risk his life protecting property, and a shame somebody had to take it for those same reasons. it's also a shame a 5-year old kid who got shot by some maniac had to have his death be plastered across the media for being a victim of "anti-white racism" and be used to attack blm.

of course some black people are against blm, you can probably find anybody with a contrarian viewpoint on literally any issue ever. i'm sure some black people were against the freeing of the slaves and against the civil rights movement too. if those events were in the modern televised age, i'm sure you would see a black person on fox news yelling for 20 minutes a night about how the freeing of the slaves/civil rights acts were actually racist like they do now for blm. it pays well, and is a grifter's game to play the opposition. blm is hardly even an organized movement, very little about it is centralized and much of its work comes from grassroots organizing. blm has a disparate agenda which is to direct attention to the systemic injustices black people have faced throughout history.

also dude i don't care if you're asian or white or whatever but you can still use anti-black language and sentiments, being "anti-black" isn't exclusive to being white, although it does derive from white supremacy.

anyway,

 

[PDC]

fuck u crux don't :haha: react my post

 

[Ashaebi]

yeah the best way to derail an argument about climate change is to use a medley of strawmen and ad hominems to dismiss your opponents argument. i find it perplexing that people believe you can still be a centrist on an issue like climate change -- there really is no alternative and moderate changes won't result in a satisfactory ending. billions of people using cars and electric goods does not compare to the massive emissions and pollution derived from the real offenders of climate change, the massive corporations which enable such a mode of production. comparing the actions of an individual who utilizes electricity and technology in the 21st century to these corporations is incoherent at best and at worst a copout to prevent any sort of change.

Ironically enough these companies are the same companies are the ones putting gas in your cars, putting power in your houses that power your TV, kitchen house appliances, putting gas in your ubers, putting gas in airplanes that you use for your holidays. You are actually just as guilty as the corporations you claim are the biggest culprits contributing to climate change because you purchase products/utilize their services to a certain degree, even the factories that assemble your smartphones are actually interconnected with these giant corporations you claim are so hurtful to the environment. Exxon mobile is a giant oil dumper and same with shell. They pollute a loot of marine life actually. Walmart's factory lines are huge but it's likely you utilize their services at least currently or in the past. There's a random chance YOU yourself have been using them without knowing. So you're not actually as innocent as you think.

You remind me of skeena Rathor of extionction rebellion.

Also why is calling out BLM hypocrisy somehow 'anti-black'? Why is calling out injustice when David Dorn was killed somehow now 'anti-black'? If anything it is the exact opposite.

 

[PDC]

You are actually just as guilty as the corporations you claim are the biggest culprits contributing to climate change because you purchase products/utilize their services to a certain degree

hmm curious, you [do something that is unavoidable in modern society] yet claim to be against pollution???

Walmart's factory lines are huge but it's likely you utilize their services at least currently or in the past. There's a random chance YOU yourself have been using them without knowing. So you're not actually as innocent as you think.

 

[willempju]

I'm also totally for renewable energy like solar power, although i'm a little worried about the life of birds when using wind turbine farms.

Small nitpick: wind turbines are only the fourth cause of death for birds in developed countries. The number one cause of death, by a HUGE margin, is domestic cats (numbers 2 and 3 are being hit by traffic and by buildings). So if you are worried about birds, you should be campaigning for people to keep their cats inside and not bring it up when discussing wind mills.

 

[Machoke]

Also just curious if you hate the media and journalism in general which majority of your media outlets are already left leaning, then where do you get your news, facts and info?

plz direct me to the mainstream media outlets that are promoting actual left wing ideals like workers controlling the means of production, abolishing private insurance for single payer universal healthcare, and removing our military presence from countries we're enacting regime change in.
I'll wait. : )

 

[Hipmonlee]

Just thought I'd have a go at veering this topic away from responding to (what I am going to generously assume are) bad faith pro trump posts.

So, I am not an American, so I dont get a vote. But I have posted in Smogon politics threads over a long period of time. And it seems to me that each time the candidates on both sides get worse and worse. (And each time the bad faith Smogon posters get worse and worse too)

Is Biden even gonna shut down the concentration camps? A quick google suggests his plan is just that he wont put kids in them. I try not to be too dogmatic, but I would hope that we should all be able to agree that the line needs to be drawn somewhere long before we get to concentration camps.

I haven't heard any suggestion yet that Biden has any intention of doing anything to improve living standards for Americans other than undo everything Trump did. IE make things as bad as they were when they were so bad Trump got elected. Is electing Biden actually a better plan than like, electing a democratic senate and congress and immediately impeaching Trump?

Anyone game enough to actually make the case that people should actually vote for Biden without mentioning Trump?

 

[billymills]

I haven't heard any suggestion yet that Biden has any intention of doing anything to improve living standards for Americans other than undo everything Trump did. IE make things as bad as they were when they were so bad Trump got elected. Is electing Biden actually a better plan than like, electing a democratic senate and congress and immediately impeaching Trump?

Anyone game enough to actually make the case that people should actually vote for Biden without mentioning Trump?

No. Democrats have again banked everything on 'not Trump' being enough, and frankly it should be. (Now that people have experienced Trump.)

Trump isn't really the problem. Most of the issues with Trump are that he enables senate republicans to do whatever they feel like.

Biden isn't a candidate that is going to fix everything, it's just that he'll enable other democrats to pass policy.

If you look at it that way, I find it disingenuous that you can't find reasons to vote for Biden. I think it's extremely obvious that democrats have a better position on healthcare and on the environment. These are two extremely important issues and the difference between the parties could not be larger.

Beyond that, there are plenty of democratic reasons to vote Biden. Republicans have, for years, attempted to make it more and more difficult to vote. Trump has invited multiple other countries to interfere in elections personally (Russia, Ukraine, China, Brazil last I checked, maybe more?).


If you look at all the issues, yes you can find issues where Biden is almost as bad as Trump, but seriously look at the big picture. On all the important and urgent issues, Biden and the democrats are far far better.

 

[Celticpride]

I haven't heard any suggestion yet that Biden has any intention of doing anything to improve living standards for Americans other than undo everything Trump did. IE make things as bad as they were when they were so bad Trump got elected. Is electing Biden actually a better plan than like, electing a democratic senate and congress and immediately impeaching Trump?

Anyone game enough to actually make the case that people should actually vote for Biden without mentioning Trump?

If you're asking if I’d rather have President Biden (and a Democratic controlled senate) or President Mike Pence (and a Democrat controlled senate), I’d take the former. It’s also unlikely that the Dems win control of the senate without winning the presidency - split ticket voting really isn’t a thing these days, and I don’t see AZ and NC going for Trump and a Dem senator. If AZ and NC go Dem, Trump would have to run the table in WI, MI, PA, FL and OH to win out. So like, the electoral realities of getting a Democrat controlled senate almost necessitate Biden winning, some close to unprecedented split ticket voting, or a very odd combination of swing state results.

 

[termi]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1296342455260860416

team biden is already making "we'd love to give you basic social services but muh deficit" noises in advance. crazy how the deficit seems to just not be a problem at all whenever a republican government gives massive tax breaks to the rich but when a democrat who's supposed to implement relatively "progressive" policies it's suddenly such a big deal. again if you seriously care about oppressed people in america you need to abandon electoralism in the most openly corrupt country in the west and start organizing yourself around more radical causes

 

[GatoDelFuego]

What if we hmmm....idk...actually reversed the corporate tax cuts?