2026 Mid-Term Elections

[Derec]

I mean, he did it.

How do you know? Were you there?

He probably doesn't feel any more guilty for it than Derec does for any of his crimes or human trafficking, though.

What "human trafficking"? Note that illiberals conflating adult, consensual sex work with "human trafficking" is the same tactic as homophobes equating adult, consensual gay sex with pederasty.

Then, I find it utterly unsurprising that Derec is defending this creep,

I am not defending him. Iff he did what is alleged, he is a very bad man and deserved to be convicted of the initial charges at trial.
However, unlike you, I do not presume to know what happened. The fact that the jury was deadlocked 7-5 suggests that the case was less than clear-cut.

What I am defending though is prosecution offering a plea deal after a mistrial. That is very common in the criminal justice system, and should not be used against Paxton as some kind of Helen Lovejoyesque political cudgel.

when despite no court having found Martin of Floyd guilty of anything,

By Floyd you mean the Hero of the Movement George Floyd? He was convicted of aggravated robbery and served 6 years in prison. He also
Is Martin supposed to be Trayvon? Evidence suggests he attacked Z, and that it was self-defense.

he's all too ready to impugn character based on much thinner mere claims and emotional arguments.

And you are quick to impugn the character of fellow IIDB members?

 

[laughing dog]

And then came up with such a sweet plea bargain that the judge rejected it. Which suggests perhaps he received special consideration.

Judges review and demand them amended all the time. I see no reason to think it is "special consideration" rather than how prosecutors felt about the prospects of winning a retrial.

That’s not the song you sing when if the defendant is either black or a woman.

I didn’t say he was guilty. I said he was a creep.

If he isn't guilty of what is alleged here, how is he a creep?

He pled guilty to “creepy” misdemeanors. I doubt his accusers is delusional or mistaken about everything. He did something very creepy which him a creep in my book.

 

[ZiprHead]

Evidence suggests he attacked Z, and that it was self-defense.

You keep saying this and you know it's not true.

 

[Derec]

That’s not the song you sing when if the defendant is either black or a woman.

You are projecting because that's what your Ilk does. For example Jarhyn who thinks that for example George Floyd is not "guilty of anything".

He pled guilty to “creepy” misdemeanors. I doubt his accusers is delusional or mistaken about everything. He did something very creepy which him a creep in my book.

People sometimes plead guilty even when innocent. That's especially when facing a long prison sentence at trial.
And you are ignoring the possibility of deliberately lying, which happens, even with children.

Now, of course, he also could be guilty of the initial charges, in which case he is far worse than "creep".

 

[Derec]

You keep saying this and you know it's not true.

I know it's true. I don't want to rehash all that here, but we talked about it extensively on the old forum. You can look through the archives if you are in a masochistic mood.

 

[Derec]

You assumed I was literal. Again, I do not live under a _figurative_ rock. Nor do others here.

I was being facetious. And of course you have been under a figurative rock if you never heard of Piker, given the attention he has been receiving lately.

 

[Derec]

If anyone lives under a rock, it's going to be me probably... But I'm also one of the more active "leftist" voices around here, and I tend to know at least a little bit about "leftist" candidates in various races.

He is not a candidate, but he has had many leftist candidates on his stream, and has physically campaigned with some, for example Abdul El-Sayed (you've heard of him, right?) and Cori Bush.
Cori Bush brings controversial streamer Hasan Piker to St. Louis May Day rally as Democrats publicly split

That said, if I hear a name of a "leftist" politician for the first time from a Republican,

Which "Republican" would that be?

the conclusions I almost invariably reach are: the candidate does not matter in the least to a race; some other candidate the Republican did not name scares the everliving shit out of them.

Possible. But I am not a Republican, and I am afraid of a MAGA-like hostile takeover of the Democratic Party by the islamolefist faction.

 

[Derec]

We need to eliminate all billionaires by taxing them down to size.

And how do you propose that could be done in practice?

Let's say you want to confiscate all wealth >$1G. Most of Bezos' wealth is in Amazon stock. So does the federal government now own Amazon or does this expropriation trigger a mandatory sale? The latter would collapse not only the value of Amazon stock but every single company that any billionaires have a significant stake in. It would lead to chaos.

 

[Derec]

Project 2025 is fake nothing burger but this Piker guy is yuuuggggeee!

You know, we can recognize one thing as bad without automatically having to pretend another, unrelated thing, must therefore be either good or insignificant.

 

[Derec]

I live (down)under the third rock from the Sun, and had never heard of Piker until I read this thread.

Given that you live in the Land Down Under, where the women glow and men plunder, I will give you a pass.
But my fellow USians have no excuse, especially those who claim to read midwestern papers.

 

[Derec]

See, this utterly reeks of a selected opposition. They would prefer Piker be the candidate because they think he is defeatable, so they are blasting his name everywhere.

Sigh. Piker is not a candidate. He is a streamer popular with the Gen Z.
But he has gotten political credibility because many Dems, especially those on the Left, are going on his stream and some are also physically campaigning with him.

In some respects, I think any time we hear a name first from Republicans, we should ask ourselves WHY we are hearing a name from Republicans.

He has not become prominent because of Republicans. Cori Bush is not a Republican. Neither is Abdul El-Sayed. Neither are AOC, Zohran Mamdani, nor the other Democrats who went on his stream.

 

[Derec]

The issue I have is you love to bring this shit up for left-wing, but not much recognition on the right-wing.

Note that I compared the threat of an islamoleftist takeover of the Democratic Party with the MAGA takeover of the Democratic Party.
As noted, Piker online influencer of questionable influence on the primaries (you could feel free at any moment to provide data supporting said influence). [/quote]
What kind of data are you looking for? Streaming figures? Or what?

Pete Hegseth running the US military.

But he is not really a big influence over the "2026 midterm elections".

 

[Derec]

Not the one I read. The largest section is on the USA.

USA may command more attention than any single country, but it is still a publication with an international and economic focus, and is thus going to not be as involved in the nitty gritty of US electoral politics than say NY Times or Detroit Free Press.

Mn Star Tribune, sometimes St Louis Post Dispatch or Chicago Tribune.

St. Louis Post Dispatch:
Controversial podcast star Hasan Piker stirs political pot at St. Louis May Day rally

Chicago Tribune:
After being stopped and questioned at O’Hare, Twitch star Hasan Piker says he isn’t changing political commentary
What one campaign rally in Michigan reveals about young voters ahead of the midterm elections

Could not find anything about him from MN ST. Not sure why the Star Tribune is ignoring him. In any case, two of the regional newspapers you mentioned, as well as national newspapers have covered Piker's influence.

 

[Derec]

You think some online “influencer” will have more effect on potential voters that a clusterfucking warmongering white Christian nationalist Secretary of War?

Is Hagseth campaigning with Mike Rogers, or what is the point of your continuing whataboutism?

 

[Don2 (Don1 Revised)]

You assumed I was literal. Again, I do not live under a _figurative_ rock. Nor do others here.

I was being facetious. And of course you have been under a figurative rock if you never heard of Piker, given the attention he has been receiving lately.

No.

 

[ZiprHead]

You assumed I was literal. Again, I do not live under a _figurative_ rock. Nor do others here.

I was being facetious. And of course you have been under a figurative rock if you never heard of Piker, given the attention he has been receiving lately.

I've not seen him getting any attention at all.

 

[laughing dog]

That’s not the song you sing when if the defendant is either black or a woman.

You are projecting because that's what your Ilk does. For example Jarhyn who thinks that for example George Floyd is not "guilty of anything".

Mr Floyd was not guilty of anything that merited the sadistic treatment by Mr Chauvin. In fact, according to your standards, Mr Floyd was not guilty of anything that day since he was not convicted of any crime that day.

You really aren’t fooling anyone.

He pled guilty to “creepy” misdemeanors. I doubt his accusers is delusional or mistaken about everything. He did something very creepy which him a creep in my book.

People sometimes plead guilty even when innocent. That's especially when facing a long prison sentence at trial.
And you are ignoring the possibility of deliberately lying, which happens, even with children.

All possible. I don’t think either is probable. Just like it is possible posters go to great lengths to defend white male rapists.

 

[laughing dog]

Not the one I read. The largest section is on the USA.

USA may command more attention than any single country, but it is still a publication with an international and economic focus, and is thus going to not be as involved in the nitty gritty of US electoral politics than say NY Times or Detroit Free Press.

You’d be surprised.

Mn Star Tribune, sometimes St Louis Post Dispatch or Chicago Tribune.

St. Louis Post Dispatch:
Controversial podcast star Hasan Piker stirs political pot at St. Louis May Day rally

Chicago Tribune:
After being stopped and questioned at O’Hare, Twitch star Hasan Piker says he isn’t changing political commentary
What one campaign rally in Michigan reveals about young voters ahead of the midterm elections

Could not find anything about him from MN ST. Not sure why the Star Tribune is ignoring him. In any case, two of the regional newspapers you mentioned, as well as national newspapers have covered Piker's influence.

I said I sometimes read the Stl or Chicago Tribune. They have covered him, not his influence. I know a number of people who you probably would call Democratic Socialists. None of them have heard of this blowhard.

 

[Toni]

We need to eliminate all billionaires by taxing them down to size.

And how do you propose that could be done in practice?

Let's say you want to confiscate all wealth >$1G. Most of Bezos' wealth is in Amazon stock. So does the federal government now own Amazon or does this expropriation trigger a mandatory sale? The latter would collapse not only the value of Amazon stock but every single company that any billionaires have a significant stake in. It would lead to chaos.

Tax is not confiscation any more than charging for gasoline is confiscation.

Amend the tax code. Quit allowing luxury vehicles, residences, yachts, airplanes and helicopters as business expenses.

We used to tax the wealthy at very high rates. Now Bezos pays less in tax than you or I do.

Also increase corporate tax. Penalize corporations that move offshore. Or ‘offshore.’ I’m not any kind of accountant much less a tax accountant.

 

[laughing dog]

You think some online “influencer” will have more effect on potential voters that a clusterfucking warmongering white Christian nationalist Secretary of War?

Is Hagseth campaigning with Mike Rogers, or what is the point of your continuing whataboutism?

If you think that the only way to affect potential voters is to campaign for candidates, then you know nothing about politics.

My point is similar to JH's: you carry on about minor figures on the "radical left" while ignoring or excusing radical right wing people in power.