Presidential Debate + RFK

[Husseinisdoingfine]

4 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

Empire of Chimps is exactly what politics is. And Trump is the orangatang lord.

 

[zazen]

Mind the gap between rhetoric and reality

The Western hypocrisy in regards to democracy, free speech and human rights will have you thinking Westerners don't value their own Western values - but its the elites who don't. Every day people may have values, elites have interests. Power brokers weaponise the values of the populace as a smokescreen for their own gain. They wear these values like a cheap halloween costume.

This domestic sleight of hand shows up in Western foreign policy also. Spreading democracy and liberty is a guise for global dominion. The elites have perfected the art of harnessing the good hearts of the many to funnel power and profits into the hands of the few. Campaign promises, emotional appeals, manufactured consent with a complicit media, token gestures and scapegoating are all the tools of politics.

The tragedy is that the energy, passion, and genuine desire for positive change exhibited by ordinary citizens are real. But in the hands of cynical power, these become just another resource to be exploited. This exploitation of goodwill creates a feedback loop of polarised extremes - either despair and apathy or tribalism and anger. As people witness their efforts repeatedly twisted or nullified, they retreat from civic engagement, or become engaged in a tribalistic way full of anger against the 'other' side of the political aisle they lay blame to.

Westerners are raised on lofty notions of democracy, freedom, and human rights, only to witness their nations routinely violate these principles both domestically and abroad. This grand canyon between rhetoric and reality creates a pervasive sense of disorientation, disillusionment and disenchantment. Whats packaged to Westerners about their society, isn't whats found once the wrappers open. They struggle to reconcile the high-minded values they've internalised with the often brutal realpolitik practiced by their governments. In a cruel twist, many individuals internalise this discord, believing the fault lies within themselves rather than the system that surrounds them. This is where leftism creates a atmosphere of shame, guilt and self loathing over the West's past and current injustices.

To remedy this, its important to realise that this feeling of malaise and cognitive dissonance isn't because of you, its because of whats around you. It's not your state of mind, it's the state of affairs of the structure you live in. In light of Leo's recent video on traps, heres one to be mindful of: don't internalise the contradiction and cognitive whiplash caused by the difference between public ideals and private interests. Quite literally, you need to mind the gap between rhetoric and reality - be mindful enough to separate elite interests and actions from the peoples - or else conflating what your country does with what you or your neighbour are will lead to nihilism, confusion, tribalism and in the case of leftists, self flagellation. 

Edited June 29 by zazen

[hundreth]

14 hours ago, aurum said:

Stay the course people.

I agree it didn't look great for Joe. But calls for him to step down are absurd.

He is still the best option at this point.

Let's look at what's absurd. Before the debates, Biden was behind in the polling. After the debates, he's way behind in the polling. Trump consistently does BETTER than polling indicates. 

Biden has one foot in the grave and will be destroyed in the election.

It is absurd to continue with him.

[aurum]

23 minutes ago, hundreth said:

It is absurd to continue with him.

And what is your alternative solution?

[mrPixel]

1 hour ago, hundreth said:

It is absurd to continue with him.

I agree, but what alternative do we have?

[Jodistrict]

This reminds me of the last days of the great Roman Empire where the last emperor was a boy with his mother behind the throne.  We now have a situation where the sitting president is a senile old man who poops in his pants and his rival is a convicted felon.

This indicates that America is actually an empire run from the top down by elites who have chocked off the democratic process.  Just imagine what it should be like.  In a powerful country like America you should have at least 100 fully qualified people in their 40s with incredible resumes running for president.  They would go all over the country debating each other and talking to groups and crowds.  Out of the healthy competition, an incredible vigorous leader would emerge to run the country. 

Instead we have the pathetic choices given to us by a professional class serving money and power.  They are obsessed with control so cut off all possibilities and this is what we are left with. 

[Hardkill]

3 hours ago, hundreth said:

Let's look at what's absurd. Before the debates, Biden was behind in the polling. After the debates, he's way behind in the polling. Trump consistently does BETTER than polling indicates. 

Biden has one foot in the grave and will be destroyed in the election.

It is absurd to continue with him.

Again, it would be a disastrous electoral mistake for the Democrats if he dropped out, because if that happened then the party will become greatly divided and weakened. People will really began to question the governance of the party holding the white house. 

Here some examples of what you can expect to hear from millions voters around the country if he drops out of the race and then the Democrats have a bloody, miserable open convention for choosing another nominee:

 

"They can't even agree among themselves, how can they govern effectively?"

"The party is in disarray, and it's a mess. They can't seem to get their act together anymore."

"The party is in chaos, they don't have a unified vision or leadership."

"The party is torn apart by infighting and can't get anything done."

"They're too busy fighting each other to focus on the country's problems."

"The party is in disarray and lacks leadership."

"The infighting is crippling their ability to lead and make decisions."

"They're so divided, they can't even pass their own legislation."

"They're too focused on their own internal struggles to care about the people's needs."

"They're so focused on their own power struggles, they're neglecting the needs of the people."

"The party is being held hostage by its extreme wings, they're not representing the majority."

"They're tearing themselves apart from the inside out, it's a political circus."

"The party is being torn apart by its own factions, it's a total disaster."

"The party is so divided, it's like they're working against themselves."

"This is absolutely embarrassing! I've never seen a political party decide this late in the game to lose faith in their own leader. Unbelievable!"

 

Essentially, it would be like 2016 all over again, if not worse. That's one BIG reason why the Dems lost to that world-class buffoon back then.

 

Here are the immense electoral advantages of being an incumbent president being able to run for re-election: 

• Bully pulpit: has a unique platform to shape the narrative, set the agenda, and dominate the media cycle like an incumbent president can.
• Executive experience: Able to claim exceptional executive experience and credibility by already having been the POTUS.
• Natural constituency: Incumbent presidents have a natural constituency within their own party, which can provide a base of support
• Top name recognition: The incumbent POTUS automatically has such exceptional name recognition throughout ALL of the country that is impossible for any non-incumbent presidential candidate to match.
• Momentum and aura of inevitability: Incumbent presidents get to claim credit for all of their accomplishments and momentum, which can be very, very difficult for a non-incumbent to match.
• Ownership of the incumbent's legacy: While Trump has at times successfully leveraged his outsider status and has had a certain kind of anti-establishment appeal, voters even still in this day and age prefer the familiarity and stability of an incumbent over the uncertainty of an outsider.
• Unrivaled fundraising ability: Incumbents can tap into established PACs, which provide significant funding and support. The incumbent's party provides established financial support, infrastructure, and donor networks. Incumbents have established relationships with high-dollar donors and bundlers, who can collect and bundle contributions from multiple sources. Incumbents receive contributions from companies and individuals with government contracts or seeking favorable treatment.

 

To be clear, being the incumbent presidential candidate does not guarantee re-election. If his performance and luck are lacking, then he will lose re-election, exactly like how Trump lost re-election to Biden in 2020. Biden's performance and luck this time around are still looking good now for his electoral prospects and incumbency in his case would help turn his supposed "bleak" prospects into victory for him and his party in power. Look at Truman in 1948, when almost everyone thought back then that he would lose to the non-incumbent GOP candidate, Dewey. Yet, Truman won another presidential term handily because he was the incumbent president and his performance and luck during his first term as president were good.

Edited June 29 by Hardkill

[Merkabah Star]

[Merkabah Star]

Whoever they put up is basically a sacrifice for the Trump God. Maybe Newsom doesn’t want to run at such short notice, I wouldn’t if i was him.

So that leaves Kamala as the sacrificial lamb.

🤡

anyone thinking Biden can go on needs to check their meds. 

[Leo Gura]

7 minutes ago, Merkabah Star said:

Joe forever!

[Yimpa]

Like staring into a woman’s eyes, frozen in each others’ gaze… It’s like winning an election. 

Edited June 29 by Yimpa

[Merkabah Star]

 

[Merkabah Star]

29 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

Joe forever!

Joe Forever Gone!

[lostingenosmaze]

1 hour ago, Leo Gura said:

Joe forever!

Joe's Bidone, Trumped by a set of stairs if not by Donald himself

Edited June 29 by lostingenosmaze

[UnbornTao]

What about Michelle Obama?

Edited June 29 by UnbornTao

[Husseinisdoingfine]

1 hour ago, Leo Gura said:

Joe forever!

You’re still going to be voting for Joe Biden? Even after this disastrous debate performance?

 

Edited June 29 by Husseinisdoingfine

[Juan]

#makepresidentsyoungagain

 

[Raze]

2 hours ago, Hardkill said:

Again, it would be a disastrous electoral mistake for the Democrats if he dropped out, because if that happened then the party will become greatly divided and weakened. People will really began to question the governance of the party holding the white house. 

Biden is losing to Trump in polls, other Democrat options are winning by a lot, that’s literally all there is too it, everything you said here is just speculation that doesn’t even have precedent. Why would you bet on the off chance replacing Biden will cause divisions rather than the polls we have right now.

If you were Trump who would you want to run against? The person whose debate just got panned everywhere or someone 20-30 years younger than you?

Edited June 29 by Raze

[Juan]

11 minutes ago, Husseinisdoingfine said:

You’re still going to be voting for Joe Biden? Even after this disastrous debate performance?

We all have our bad nights, there is time to recover. If you’re somebody conscious, with high values, the answer should be obvious that Joe better win over a big liar like Trump. 

Edited June 29 by Juan

[aurum]

2 hours ago, Hardkill said:

Again, it would be a disastrous electoral mistake for the Democrats if he dropped out, because if that happened then the party will become greatly divided and weakened. People will really began to question the governance of the party holding the white house. 

Here some examples of what you can expect to hear from millions voters around the country if he drops out of the race and then the Democrats have a bloody, miserable open convention for choosing another nominee:

 

"They can't even agree among themselves, how can they govern effectively?"

"The party is in disarray, and it's a mess. They can't seem to get their act together anymore."

"The party is in chaos, they don't have a unified vision or leadership."

"The party is torn apart by infighting and can't get anything done."

"They're too busy fighting each other to focus on the country's problems."

"The party is in disarray and lacks leadership."

"The infighting is crippling their ability to lead and make decisions."

"They're so divided, they can't even pass their own legislation."

"They're too focused on their own internal struggles to care about the people's needs."

"They're so focused on their own power struggles, they're neglecting the needs of the people."

"The party is being held hostage by its extreme wings, they're not representing the majority."

"They're tearing themselves apart from the inside out, it's a political circus."

"The party is being torn apart by its own factions, it's a total disaster."

"The party is so divided, it's like they're working against themselves."

"This is absolutely embarrassing! I've never seen a political party decide this late in the game to lose faith in their own leader. Unbelievable!"

 

Essentially, it would be like 2016 all over again, if not worse. That's one BIG reason why the Dems lost to that world-class buffoon back then.

 

Here are the immense electoral advantages of being an incumbent president being able to run for re-election: 

• Bully pulpit: has a unique platform to shape the narrative, set the agenda, and dominate the media cycle like an incumbent president can.
• Executive experience: Able to claim exceptional executive experience and credibility by already having been the POTUS.
• Natural constituency: Incumbent presidents have a natural constituency within their own party, which can provide a base of support
• Top name recognition: The incumbent POTUS automatically has such exceptional name recognition throughout ALL of the country that is impossible for any non-incumbent presidential candidate to match.
• Momentum and aura of inevitability: Incumbent presidents get to claim credit for all of their accomplishments and momentum, which can be very, very difficult for a non-incumbent to match.
• Ownership of the incumbent's legacy: While Trump has at times successfully leveraged his outsider status and has had a certain kind of anti-establishment appeal, voters even still in this day and age prefer the familiarity and stability of an incumbent over the uncertainty of an outsider.
• Unrivaled fundraising ability: Incumbents can tap into established PACs, which provide significant funding and support. The incumbent's party provides established financial support, infrastructure, and donor networks. Incumbents have established relationships with high-dollar donors and bundlers, who can collect and bundle contributions from multiple sources. Incumbents receive contributions from companies and individuals with government contracts or seeking favorable treatment.

 

To be clear, being the incumbent presidential candidate does not guarantee re-election. If his performance and luck are lacking, then he will lose re-election, exactly like how Trump lost re-election to Biden in 2020. Biden's performance and luck this time around are still looking good now for his electoral prospects and incumbency in his case would help turn his supposed "bleak" prospects into victory for him and his party in power. Look at Truman in 1948, when almost everyone thought back then that he would lose to the non-incumbent GOP candidate, Dewey. Yet, Truman won another presidential term handily because he was the incumbent president and his performance and luck during his first term as president were good.

Good breakdown.

We are 5 MONTHS from November. No new candidate is being selected. It’s Biden or Trump at this point, so take your pick.