Today In Biden Land

[Kirkland Laing]

This is where I see it another way. It isn't (and has never been) about "manufacturing" candidates. That's precisely the recipe to come up with an artificial, fake fascimile of what a Presidential candidate should be. Sort of like a Miss America beauty pageant. Better the natural, uncoached, un-liposuctioned, un-surgically altered woman... than the manufactured Barbie doll that has been preparing for the occasion with a slew of helpers.

I refuse to believe that somewhere within the 330 million people in the United States (minus the obvious qualification requirements)... there isn't at least a handful of decent, intelligent, decisive, wise, driven, personable, leader-type individuals who could be perfectly capable of developing a following. Nowadays exposure is easier than ever, thanks to the blessing (sometimes curse) of social media.

Yes... I realize that this is a process. No one is going to jump into the POTUS seat without first having scaled the necessary career progression. Although there are a few precedents of past Presidents without much of a prior political career. Others have come from prior careers that no one could have foreseen. My point is... it's not impossible.

Hollywood has produced its share of movies on this topic... one of the better ones being "The Candidate," a 50-year old movie with Robert Redford in the starring role.

If you're right and it is, in fact, impossible... then that's a pretty damning statement on the American public and the political system in general.

Well... that's the reason why Trump could possibly be elected in 2024. The reason he got elected in 2016, IMO, was a perfect storm of unfortunate circumstances. I remember thinking (and probably stating it on this forum) that 2016 was a historically unfortunate choice between Trump and the tremendously unlikeable and untrustworthy Hillary Clinton. And here comes the bombastic narcissist... bouncing all over the debate stages and promising shit that resonated with the masses... like "draining the swamp." A huge portion of the American public swallowed all that shit up like newborn puppies at their mother's teat.

The "radical, bullshit media" may have always existed... but definitely grew bolder and much more visible once Trump took over the Presidency. Of course CNN and Fox News have been for a long time at opposite ends of the spectrum. But once Trump became President, these opposite ends grew infinitely more distant from each other.

I'm also sure there are a bunch of people who would make exceptional candidates out there but the thing is they're not running. Exceptional potential candidates are constantly being scouted by both parties. They're offered a clear run at Governor or Senator in their home state with a glide path to a presidential campaign to try and get them to run. Very few decide to run and the ones that do often turn out to be duds as far as getting elected goes.

I looked and there's only one president who didn't have years of being a regular politician or military service before being elected prez and that's Trump. There were three generals who went straight to prez. Eisenhower was the last. Other than that everybody has had years of political office. Trump however brought a couple of well qualified individuals/gigantic egos out of the woodwork in 2020. The guy who built Starbucks and Michael Bloomberg. Both of them were poison with the voters. Even then Bloomberg had been New York mayor.

In the 2024 election you have an incumbent, which means it's impossible to remove him without a primary that would tear the party apart and result in a lot of incumbent fans staying at home on election day if the incumbent lost the primary or a lot of challenger fans staying at home if the incumbent beat the challenger. Currently Biden does have challengers but they're fringe/looney people. Kennedy is polling well but that's down to his name. Once people hear he's an antivax nutcase he'll become irrelevant. (That's what would normally happen, anything might be possible in this fucked up social media age.)

Here's that explained a little:

https://wapo.st/3Nug9gp



On the other side you have basically a cult and a bunch of cult followers who are going to vote for their leader no matter what. So unless health intervenes this is the contest we have.



I think Fox News basically went nuts when Obama got elected. It was overtly conservative before that but itbecame horrific under Obama. There was no shitty horrible racist angle of attack they wouldn't use. Trump just amped up the crazy. You mean MNBC rather than CNN right? They're the lefties. CNN have tried to play it down the middle and that's left them a poor third place in cable news because the market wants to hear what it wants to hear. CNN just sacked their chief political correspondent recently because he said this, which strikes me as uncontroversial:



https://twitter.com/JohnJHarwood/sta...18081378213891

[Kirkland Laing]

Also:

https://twitter.com/davidfrum/status...80507353395200

[TitoFan]

This is where I see it another way. It isn't (and has never been) about "manufacturing" candidates. That's precisely the recipe to come up with an artificial, fake fascimile of what a Presidential candidate should be. Sort of like a Miss America beauty pageant. Better the natural, uncoached, un-liposuctioned, un-surgically altered woman... than the manufactured Barbie doll that has been preparing for the occasion with a slew of helpers.

I refuse to believe that somewhere within the 330 million people in the United States (minus the obvious qualification requirements)... there isn't at least a handful of decent, intelligent, decisive, wise, driven, personable, leader-type individuals who could be perfectly capable of developing a following. Nowadays exposure is easier than ever, thanks to the blessing (sometimes curse) of social media.

Yes... I realize that this is a process. No one is going to jump into the POTUS seat without first having scaled the necessary career progression. Although there are a few precedents of past Presidents without much of a prior political career. Others have come from prior careers that no one could have foreseen. My point is... it's not impossible.

Hollywood has produced its share of movies on this topic... one of the better ones being "The Candidate," a 50-year old movie with Robert Redford in the starring role.

If you're right and it is, in fact, impossible... then that's a pretty damning statement on the American public and the political system in general.

Well... that's the reason why Trump could possibly be elected in 2024. The reason he got elected in 2016, IMO, was a perfect storm of unfortunate circumstances. I remember thinking (and probably stating it on this forum) that 2016 was a historically unfortunate choice between Trump and the tremendously unlikeable and untrustworthy Hillary Clinton. And here comes the bombastic narcissist... bouncing all over the debate stages and promising shit that resonated with the masses... like "draining the swamp." A huge portion of the American public swallowed all that shit up like newborn puppies at their mother's teat.

The "radical, bullshit media" may have always existed... but definitely grew bolder and much more visible once Trump took over the Presidency. Of course CNN and Fox News have been for a long time at opposite ends of the spectrum. But once Trump became President, these opposite ends grew infinitely more distant from each other.

I'm also sure there are a bunch of people who would make exceptional candidates out there but the thing is they're not running. Exceptional potential candidates are constantly being scouted by both parties. They're offered a clear run at Governor or Senator in their home state with a glide path to a presidential campaign to try and get them to run. Very few decide to run and the ones that do often turn out to be duds as far as getting elected goes.

I looked and there's only one president who didn't have years of being a regular politician or military service before being elected prez and that's Trump. There were three generals who went straight to prez. Eisenhower was the last. Other than that everybody has had years of political office. Trump however brought a couple of well qualified individuals/gigantic egos out of the woodwork in 2020. The guy who built Starbucks and Michael Bloomberg. Both of them were poison with the voters. Even then Bloomberg had been New York mayor.

In the 2024 election you have an incumbent, which means it's impossible to remove him without a primary that would tear the party apart and result in a lot of incumbent fans staying at home on election day if the incumbent lost the primary or a lot of challenger fans staying at home if the incumbent beat the challenger. Currently Biden does have challengers but they're fringe/looney people. Kennedy is polling well but that's down to his name. Once people hear he's an antivax nutcase he'll become irrelevant. (That's what would normally happen, anything might be possible in this fucked up social media age.)

Here's that explained a little:

https://wapo.st/3Nug9gp



On the other side you have basically a cult and a bunch of cult followers who are going to vote for their leader no matter what. So unless health intervenes this is the contest we have.



I think Fox News basically went nuts when Obama got elected. It was overtly conservative before that but itbecame horrific under Obama. There was no shitty horrible racist angle of attack they wouldn't use. Trump just amped up the crazy. You mean MNBC rather than CNN right? They're the lefties. CNN have tried to play it down the middle and that's left them a poor third place in cable news because the market wants to hear what it wants to hear. CNN just sacked their chief political correspondent recently because he said this, which strikes me as uncontroversial:



https://twitter.com/JohnJHarwood/sta...18081378213891

So the question begs asking... what happens in 2028? Yeah, I know it's far away... but I like to think long term. The silver lining to Biden getting too old is that Trump is headed in the same direction... so eventually we won't have to worry about that Orange Clown. But if he somehow gets elected in 2024, he's going to cement in the damage he did after 2016. Except that now he'll be going in with blood in his eyes, looking to exact revenge on everyone who he feels didn't kiss his ass enough or worse... tried to harm him during these years. It'll be a witch hunt of epic proportions.

And all that's standing in the way of that is a Joe Biden who, despite his best intentions, is not going to win the battle against Father Time. It's one thing for our grandparents to lose a little cognizance in their daily lives, where maybe we need to gently take their car keys away from them. It's quite another to slowly lose your mental sharpness as you're trying to lead a global power, especially through difficult and trying times. And heaven forbid something should happen to Biden... 'cause we all know who's waiting in the wings.

But hey... let's throw 2024 down the shitter, like they say... 'cause we all know how that movie is going to play out. What happens from there on out? Again... the specter of the Orange Clown having four years to complete the destruction of the fabric of American society, as he already began doing in 2016... is one of the most depressing thoughts a person can have.

By 2028... do you think there's maybe a chance we could go back to having normal candidates for the Presidency on both ends of the political spectrum?

[palmerq]

If trump gets in again, i would be amazed if he doesn't declare himself some kind of emporer(probably not that title but who knows these days)..of course presidents are only meant to be in twice but he'd be working pretty quick to get that changed and evidence suggests many would go along with it. Biden winning in 2024 is probably the only chance of normalcy but normal is probably long gone now.

[TitoFan]

With voting machines and systems being challenged...
with the electoral vote process being messed with...
with electoral state officials being coerced...

If Trump gets in he will ensure the system gets fixed so that he'll never lose an election again.
Again though... our only saving grace is that he's sort of old himself.
He won't be around forever.

[Kirkland Laing]

So the question begs asking... what happens in 2028? Yeah, I know it's far away... but I like to think long term. The silver lining to Biden getting too old is that Trump is headed in the same direction... so eventually we won't have to worry about that Orange Clown. But if he somehow gets elected in 2024, he's going to cement in the damage he did after 2016. Except that now he'll be going in with blood in his eyes, looking to exact revenge on everyone who he feels didn't kiss his ass enough or worse... tried to harm him during these years. It'll be a witch hunt of epic proportions.

And all that's standing in the way of that is a Joe Biden who, despite his best intentions, is not going to win the battle against Father Time. It's one thing for our grandparents to lose a little cognizance in their daily lives, where maybe we need to gently take their car keys away from them. It's quite another to slowly lose your mental sharpness as you're trying to lead a global power, especially through difficult and trying times. And heaven forbid something should happen to Biden... 'cause we all know who's waiting in the wings.

But hey... let's throw 2024 down the shitter, like they say... 'cause we all know how that movie is going to play out. What happens from there on out? Again... the specter of the Orange Clown having four years to complete the destruction of the fabric of American society, as he already began doing in 2016... is one of the most depressing thoughts a person can have.

By 2028... do you think there's maybe a chance we could go back to having normal candidates for the Presidency on both ends of the political spectrum?

If trump gets in again, i would be amazed if he doesn't declare himself some kind of emporer(probably not that title but who knows these days)..of course presidents are only meant to be in twice but he'd be working pretty quick to get that changed and evidence suggests many would go along with it. Biden winning in 2024 is probably the only chance of normalcy but normal is probably long gone now.

I wouldn't be so sure Trump isn't a player after 2024 if his arteries hold out. His dad made it into his nineties. Probably didn't eat the same diet of KFC and McDonalds although maybe his diet was even worse. My grandad made it into his nineties eating a diet of lamb chops and mashed potatoes with tons of butter melted into them. Liked a drink too. Trump doesn't drink at least not in public.

You're right about the revenge stuff. If he wins in 2024 it's going to be a four year revenge tour and one of the big targets is going to be the election system. They can rig it so badly that fair elections will be a thing of the past and the Supreme Court won't do a thing. Biden won the popular vote in 2020 by 4.5% and only won Wisconsin, Georgia and Arizona by a combined total of 43000 votes. If he'd only won the popular vote by four percent Trump would have won. The GOP can pass a whole load of restrictive laws and take a chunk out of the Democratic vote so that it would be basically impossible to win without Trump's base turning against him.

If he gets back into office again he'll have so many compliant people at the DOJ he'll be thinking about a way round term limits, the Supreme Court won't stop him. Maybe he does what he did with his company and nominates his son to be CEO but everybody knows who's in charge. There are endless options. In his first term he started off with a bunch of conventional rule of law people in all the top cabinet jobs, "all the top people". He gradually replaced them with lesser and lesser characters until by the time he was plotting his insurrection/autogolpe he at least had a few people in key jobs who were behind him on it. If he gets a second term everybody in every top job from the Attorney General on down will be a straight up fascist that will let him do whatever he wants. The head of the FBI, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and the Fed chair will all be replaced. In no time it'll be the biggest shambolic incompetent seething mass of corruption and criminality to the extent that none of the principals could afford the return of anything approaching a rule of law government or they'd all end up in prison. That fact alone will determine the fairness and freedom of future elections.

Just imagine what happens when the inevitable pro democracy demonstrations spring up once the regime criminality gets started. They'll invite the red hat brigade onto the streets and they'll undoubtedly be armed, they'll co-opt the military, the police will help enthusiastically in the vast majority of cases. It doesn't bear thinking about.

[Kirkland Laing]

https://twitter.com/davidfrum/status...39818149191693

[NoSavingByTheBell]

'Umongous Ginormous stock market correction any day now, lookin at > or = 20% so DJIA around a smidge or so above 26,000 ... bout time, its all fake

edit:
on another note, FED is terrified, they will raise 25BP to make it look like it is all calm and measured

[palmerq]

Stocks went up after the interest rate raise today, .25%, but they only said further raises "may" be necessary in the future, pretty funny stuff how all this works, the federal reserve must have to be very careful in choosing their words.

[Kirkland Laing]

Stocks went up after the interest rate raise today, .25%, but they only said further raises "may" be necessary in the future, pretty funny stuff how all this works, the federal reserve must have to be very careful in choosing their words.

Might have to start cutting them to head off bank runs at some point.



Related:

https://twitter.com/MattGrossmann/st...79397116153856





I could post something like this every week. Chip chip chipping at democracy:

https://twitter.com/SawyerHackett/st...92482003423253



You have states like Wisconsin which are battleground states that decide elections. The states themselves are gerrymandered to fuck, Wisconsin has two thirds GOP lock on the statehouse with less than fifty percent of the statewide vote. And they use this to pass laws which will eventually mean no Democrat can ever win a presidential election. This stuff is just ongoing and largely under the radar but it's going to hit a tipping point at some point which will mean game over for fair elections in America. It's a matter of time.