BF2S Forums Presidential Election 2016

In light of the above I'd like to reference the video I posted on p.278  'American Psychosis' - the speaker does a fantastically eloquent job of highlighting the importance of the humanities and their study in a society, among other things.

Last edited by Larssen (2020-11-17 07:49:57)

uziq wrote:

exactly this. the politics of resentment only flow one way. dilbert is probably genuinely the most resentful person on this forum and one of the most resentful people i've ever interacted with. white collar people or 'arts hipsters' don't spend the time or energy on all that useless fucking hating. who cares? i don't think the people dilbert obsesses over even think about his beloved engineering.

The only thing I'm resentful of is having useless morons in positions of responsibility and sneering at the rest of us as they fuck everything up.

It wasn't exactly a convincing win, I imagine BLM turned off a lot of centrists.

Dilbert_X wrote:

It wasn't exactly a convincing win, I imagine BLM turned off a lot of centrists.

it wasn't a landslide, but it was absolutely a convincing win.

he won the popular vote and he won as many electoral college votes as trump did in 2016. he unseated an incumbent, no mean feat.

BLM/AOC might have turned off some demographics in some areas, like latin voters in miami dade, but equally it flipped long-red states to blue in places like GA. go figure.

Another one bites the dust...

Trump ousts Homeland Security cyber chief Chris Krebs, who called election secure
https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-ousts- … 35199.html

Anyway I probably get to look forward to four years of people, through half-smirks, complimenting the Democrats on the masterful job they did at underhandedly stealing the election (much in the same spirit of Hillary being an evil genius spymaster whose repugnant tactics were admirable even if she failed). "You gotta hand it to them!"

Don't want to get caught being inconsistent in your attachment to strong-man figures, I suppose.

SuperJail Warden wrote:

This is probably why we shouldn't worry too much about Trump pulling off a military coup at the last second. The people with the power to do so are smart enough to know you can't trust your future to Twitter man. Eisenhower probably could have pulled it off though.

People are worried that Biden won't be able to remove Trump's political appointees, who serve at the pleasure of the president, at the pentagon. He could probably easily do so. Even if Trump wanted to stage a "military coup," I don't think he has enough support from them to do so. The simplest explanation is probably enacting long planned petty vendettas against people who pushed back against his policies and proposals.

To stage a coup you first need significant support from military and intelligence establishments. Trump has neither.

Besides, the modern strongman playbook isn't one of sudden coups and overthrows. It's a gradual erosion of the judiciary and democracy. See Orban, Putin, Erdogan - they've all perfected that way of amassing power. Crucially, with overwhelming popular support.

Last edited by Larssen (2020-11-18 03:15:21)

Dilbert_X wrote:

I predict his last act will be to take a shit on the rug in the oval office.

I could see him stealing something like art, statues, or fine china.

aren't the state of new york investigating him for tax offences already? isn't that why he keeps butting heads with the governor?

He has a whole range of financial crimes under investigation in NY in both federal and state courts. He is literally an unindicted co-conspirator in that case that sent his personal lawyer to prison. I believe he has cases in federal, civil, and state court related to other things. He doesn't get along with the governor of NY because the governor is a democrat who doesn't kiss his ass and Trump hates states that don't vote for him. The governor of NY is also fairly popular in his state and has his own tough guy persona despite being the son of a famous governor of the state. At least he doesn't want to destroy the poor like a Republican would want to.

I don't think Trump would be imprisoned like some people fantasize about but I think he would have to face genuine legal punishment related to his lifetime of prior legal offenses. Trump is nothing like Nixon and this isn't the 70's anymore. Biden isn't going to pardon Trump and the SCOTUS even if half appointed by Trump aren't going to ruin their reputation in his defense. They already have their lifetime appointments. They don't need to kiss his ass anymore. Same with Trump pulling off a resign and have Pence pardon him move at the last minute thing. Pence would have a brighter future by throwing Trump under the bus. He would be hailed by forgetful liberals as a "National Hero". He would get the John McCain treatment.

The only people who are willing to sacrifice for Trump are the dumb and desperate. No one with a future is going to put it on the line for a man who will throw you under the bus on Twitter.

Honest question: doesn't a pardon require a known criminal offense to have taken place? What exactly would Pence be pardoning Trump for? I don't know that a comprehensive list of the possible indictable offences can be made, and if it can, it's loooong. I doubt the Republican Party is looking to double-down on Trump at the moment, having lost an election and all.

Pochsy wrote:

Honest question: doesn't a pardon require a known criminal offense to have taken place? What exactly would Pence be pardoning Trump for? I don't know that a comprehensive list of the possible indictable offences can be made, and if it can, it's loooong. I doubt the Republican Party is looking to double-down on Trump at the moment, having lost an election and all.

No one knows how it would work. The Constitution really doesn't clarify how it works. It would be up to SCOTUS.

Only federal crimes AFAIK.