September 26, 2020

Elizabeth Warren claims Trump is 'flirting with treason' and that Republicans are 'a party to it'

Stephen Proctor
Thu, September 24, 2020, 11:29 PM PDT
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/elizabeth-warren-claims-trump-flirting-treason-republicans-party-to-it-062906915.html

...


“When Donald Trump says that he is not necessarily going to accept the will of the voters, he’s flirting with treason,” Warren said in response. “He’s saying, peaceful transition of power doesn’t matter to him. All that matters to him, once again, is Donald Trump and whatever Donald Trump wants.”

Trump and Senate Republicans are making a hard push to fill the Supreme Court seat left vacant following the death of Ruth Bader Ginsberg, and Trump has spoken openly about his desire for the Supreme Court to decide the election. If his nominee is appointed, there will be a 6-3 conservative majority on the court. Trump has been spreading unfounded conspiracies about mail-in voting fraud, something that even his own hand-picked FBI director, Christopher Wray, has said is not happening on a national scale. Some believe Trump is doing this to sow doubt about the results of the election before a single vote is even tallied, giving him an excuse to take the election to the Supreme Court. Republican senators have recently joined Trump in prematurely talking about the Supreme Court deciding the election.

“These Republicans senators, to enable him in that, to support him in that, and to start to talk about the Nov. 3 election as if this isn’t about voters getting their choice, but it’s about Supreme Court justices getting their choice,” Warren said, “means that they are a party to it.”

...

“Lindsey Graham has simply said, ‘Donald Trump has my proxy on this. Senate doesn’t need to look at it. If the president’s good, Lindsey Graham is good.’ Man, there’s a man with a spine,” Warren quipped, “a spine kept in a box somewhere else, because he certainly doesn’t have it to exercise for himself.”...

MORE AT LINK
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We need to hear this everyday and have these sentiments echoed by mainstream editorials etc.

September 26, 2020

Senatorial candidates should play on the honor theme in the South

especially against Graham and McConnell. Honor still has some meaning there culturally and these two especially are acting dishonorably with regard to the SC. McGrath and Harrison should promise they will always uphold their word, unlike their two dishonorable opponents.

September 23, 2020

Biden's best debate strategy

First Trump has really lowered expectations for Joe by claiming he is out of it-- so he goes in perfectly situated.
Here is a debate coach's advice:
https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/23/opinions/debate-advice-for-biden-graham/index.html

Debate coach: The best debate advice Joe Biden will ever get
Opinion by Todd Graham
Updated 6:26 AM ET, Wed September 23, 2020
.....

"There are two styles best suited for Biden. First, he should use humor. Contrary to what may be popular opinion, Joe Biden has always been witty. Using humor to attack, mock and belittle Trump's five weapons is an assertive and clever way to both defend against attacks and take the offensive in any debate against a norm-violating Trump. Literally, mock Trump's ridiculous arguments. Biden's already been doing this. He should continue that in the debates.

The same is true with being insulted or interrupted. Biden knows this will happen. He should have a few well-timed comebacks centered, not on specifics, but on the general notion of Trump's lies and interruptions.

The best part, and my second style tip for Biden: Quotes. Use Trump's own words against him during the debate. Quote him liberally. In Trump's fun house world, there's always a tweet or previous statement where he contradicts himself. After all, as he can remind Trump, "Those aren't my words. Those words were spoken by YOU." And if Biden isn't quoting Trump, then he should be quoting those close to Trump (Republicans, family members, etc.). Imagine using quotes from Ted Cruz and Lindsey Graham -- both of whom turned from Trump skeptics to his supporters -- in a debate against Trump. Imagine using former members of Trump's own administration or estranged family in a debate against Trump.

The bonus of this strategy: Biden remains above it all. And Biden can use this endlessly. "Those were the words of your former defense secretary ... your former chief of staff ... your former national security adviser ... your biggest ally in the Senate..." Wouldn't that be fun! Using Republicans and allies is more persuasive than citing Democrats when criticizing Trump to his face. He cannot so easily dismiss them as "never Trumpers...""
--MORE AT THE LINK

September 22, 2020

Trump's new running mate? Amy Barrett (symbolically)

https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/22/politics/amy-coney-barrett-trump-supreme-court/index.html

Judge Amy Coney Barrett has emerged as President Donald Trump's overwhelming favorite to replace the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, according to several people familiar with the deliberations, who say the President's view was solidified during a lengthy meeting at the White House on Monday....

"A source familiar with Trump's private conversations told CNN that one of his confidants on this issue told him that this pick is so important to not only his legacy but his re-election bid that she will effectively "be your new running mate." "

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I was predicting Lagoa, but it looks like the idea of a super motivated base is what trump wants.

September 19, 2020

GOP sees Supreme Court fight as a boost to vulnerable senators as McConnell presses for vote

https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/19/politics/republican-majority-strategy-vulnerable-senators/index.html
By Manu Raju, Alex Rogers and Ted Barrett, CNN
Updated 5:16 PM ET, Sat September 19, 202

" (CNN)Top Senate Republicans are privately arguing that it would boost their chances of holding the majority in November if their party makes a full-throated effort at confirming President Donald Trump's pick for the Supreme Court, according to multiple GOP sources, despite their past posture that such nominees should not be confirmed in a presidential election year.

Behind the scenes, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is calculating whether he has the votes to quickly confirm Trump's eventual nominee to the Supreme Court, focusing in large part on the party's most vulnerable Republicans facing voters in less than two months. The Kentucky Republican could only lose three senators of his 53-47 majority and still confirm the pick with a tie-breaking vote from Vice President Mike Pence.

The argument, according to Senate GOP sources, is that getting behind Trump's pick will energize the Republican base and woo conservative-leaning voters who are uncertain about backing Trump and the GOP this fall. Opposing the nominee, they argue, will only cause a backlash from their party's supporters and might not be enough to win over Democratic voters who are already inclined to back their opponents.

But moving ahead on a nomination now could anger some voters who may recoil at the GOP's heavy-handed tactics, including in Democratic-leaning states where Republicans face voters in the fall. On balance, though, Republicans say that moving ahead now would be far more beneficial to keeping control of the narrowly divided chamber."
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Could cut boith ways in my opinion. But if McConnell and friends really believe this, they will push ahead full steam.

September 19, 2020

Best guess nominee: Barbara Lagoa-- Cuban-America woman from Florida

She fulfills all of Trump's most important qualifications: she could help him win Florida (Cuban American pride) and will satisfy the fundamentalists as a conservative. Moreover, she sailed through her appointment to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals 80-15 and is only 53.

September 1, 2020

Call to action: Find, challenge publicly, report fake news, videos and photos on social media

Besides getting out the vote, sending money to Democrats and phone banking, a key action is to be vigilant with regards to fake news, videos and photos. Even a short exposure to manipulative media can cause a politically naive swing voter to waver.
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The tech companies apparently need our help because they are not up to the task:

https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/01/tech/trump-facebook-twitter-fact-check/index.html

Republicans are flooding the internet with deceptive videos and Big Tech isn't keeping up
By Donie O'Sullivan and Daniel Dale, CNN Business
September 1, 2020

"A series of deceptively edited and misleading videos shared by prominent Republicans have run up millions of views across Facebook and Twitter in just the past few days. And while both companies have pledged to combat misinformation, their responses to these videos followed a familiar pattern: often they act too late, do too little, or don't anything at all.

Between Sunday and Monday, high-profile Republicans, including President Donald Trump, shared at least four misleading videos online. One that circulated widely was a false video about Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden posted to the Twitter account of House Minority Whip Steve Scalise. After an outcry, including from a person in the video who had words put in his mouth in order to distort what Biden was saying, Twitter took the action it takes in such instances, labeling the video as "manipulated media."

The manipulated media label is just that, however -- a label appearing below the video when people look at the specific tweet to which it has been applied. It's small and potentially missed by users, and though it may potentially make some users pause before sharing a given video, it does not actually stop them if they decide to go ahead anyway....

Neither company appears willing to apply their policies regarding medical misinformation to misinformation from US politicians that could mislead voters or undermine November's election, though (expect perhaps in exceptional circumstances, like someone posting the wrong date of the election). And if the past few days are any indication, that could mean they will continue to serve as conduits and amplifiers for a flood of misinformation."
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Challenging the fake reports/videos/photos is as much on the public, if the enablers of propaganda take limited or no action.
Might be useful to report successful actions against fakes here on DU to help everyone be vigilant and to encourage others.

August 29, 2020

The D (dark) factor and Trump: framing the election between light (Joe) and dark (Trump)

Psychologists have postulated there is a dark factor, correlating with dark elements of personality: narcissism, ego, selfishness, sadism etc.
Trump seems to embody the D factor, as revealed by his behavior and Mary Trump's book. Joe Biden was right to cast the election as one between light (himself) and darkness (Trump), and I think in conversations with others that should be emphasized as much as anything why you support Joe and not Trump.
The frame: The election is between light and dark.

Here is an article:
https://getpocket.com/explore/item/the-dark-core-of-personality?utm_source=pocket-newtab
A website: http://www.darkfactor.org/

A quiz you can take to determine your D score: https://qst.darkfactor.org/


These are the nine traits that comprised their D-factor:

Egoism. The excessive concern with one's own pleasure or advantage at the expense of community well-being.
Machiavellianism. Manipulativeness, callous affect and strategic-calculating orientation.
Moral Disengagement. A generalized cognitive orientation to the world that differentiates individuals' thinking in a way that powerfully affects unethical behavior.
Narcissism. An all-consuming motive for ego reinforcement.
Psychological Entitlement. A stable and pervasive sense that one deserves more and is entitled to more than others.
Psychopathy. Deficits in affect, callousness, self-control and impulsivity.
Sadism. Intentionally inflicting physical, sexual or psychological pain or suffering on others in order to assert power and dominance or for pleasure and enjoyment.
Self-Interest. The pursuit of gains in socially valued domains, including material goods, social status, recognition, academic or occupational achievement and happiness.
Spitefulness. A preference that would harm another but that would also entail harm to oneself. This harm could be social, financial, physical or an inconvenience.

I've added a poll, in case you want to self-report your own D-factor if you take their quiz. We can all guess that Trump is close to 9.

August 25, 2020

Trump's convention offers misleading portrait of his presidency

Analysis by Stephen Collinson, CNN
Updated 5:02 AM ET, Tue August 25, 2020
https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/25/politics/republican-convention-analysis/index.html

Had Donald Trump conducted the kind of presidency portrayed on a truth-bending but stylistically sound first night of the Republican National Convention, he might not be in such a desperate fight for a second term.

The President was presented as a statesman and an inspiration, an almost benevolent force, a friend to Black Americans, an unparalleled hostage negotiator and a shield against an assault on American values who is riding high after a coherent first term in a package designed to appeal strongly to conservative voters. It was an impression of Trump that was often at odds with the reality of the most turbulent divisive presidency in generations -- one that critics see as a threat to American democracy itself.
Trump's most high profile defenders had to project onto Democrats the faults that his accusers see embodied in his approach to politics.
.....
It was a night marked by constant tension between the more aspirational approach of Haley and the full bore anger of the President's son. In many ways, the well-produced opening night exhibited far more discipline than Trump typically shows himself -- most recently in a divisive monologue in North Carolina on Monday morning that contained corrosive claims not backed up by evidence that Democrats were trying to steal November's election. The convention version of the President also bore little resemblance to the daily drama of assaults on the rule of law, divisive racial rhetoric and erratic leadership that fueled Democratic warnings he's a threat to US democracy.

And a slick convention video presented a misleading picture of a pandemic in which nearly 180,000 Americans have already died, exacerbated by Trump's negligence and prioritizing of his political ambitions over science.
Such contradictions pointed to a truism about Trump that may explain his current deficit to Biden (he is down nine points in the CNN Poll of Polls.) The scripted, presented version of the President offered on Monday and in set piece events like the State of the Union address is not authentic and is very likely unsustainable.
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More at the link.
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It's a propaganda fest straight out of Orwell's "1984" or "Animal Farm" designed to rewrite history and trick wavering conservatives into believing Trump is some kind of conservative hero. I almost expected Trump to say it's "Morning in America" as he speaks directly from the "shining city on the hill"-- from Reagan's two most famous optimistic speeches.

August 9, 2020

Trump as Incompetent manager: re: executive orders

Even though Trump has been President for 3.5 years he still doesn't understand how the federal government works or interfaces with the state governments as evidenced by his executive orders (EOs).

There is no way that Trump will be able to get the unemployment money to the states without many months of work-- in the meantime the unemployed will suffer. That's because they can't route the money through the usual unemployment insurance channels. Furthermore, states just don't have the extra funds to chip in $100/week. And what about the businesses that were promised the money to keep their doors open that he is now rerouting to the unemployed-- will they close and add to the unemployment ranks?

This is what Pelosi and Schumer mean when they way that Trump's EOs are "weak and unworkable"-- never mind the serious consequences of taking funding away from SS temporarily or the EO's constitutionality.

The states will probably challenge Trump in court over their Trump mandated contributions--no need for the Democrats in Congress to do it, btw. Just wait until the unemployed don't get their money, etc.

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/schumer-denounces-paltry-unworkable-trump-coronavirus-executive-actions/story?id=72260554