The Race For 2024

[Politesse]

At the beginning of her campaign, she came out swinging. People were vague on her policies, but strong on rejection of Trump and his plans for the country. It was working.

She surged because people were happy that Biden was no longer running. It wasn't specific to her.
And yes, she based her campaign initially on "memes and vibes". As Maya Rudolph's Kamala said: "the lyrics are vague, but the vibe slaps". Coconut trees, being a brat, Republicans are weird.

She should have stuck with it.

You can't build a campaign just on "memes and vibes" long term. And yes, she did fumble the dismount onto a more grounded phase of the campaign.

I do not believe that this is about swaying Republican voters to her side. That is unlikely in any case. What's at issue is how many people are coming to the polls.

It's not just Republicans, although I do think some Republicans are swayable. It is mostly Independents, who are plurality of the electorate.

Like it or not, the Democratic base is not enough to win. And neither is appealing to people like you who on the left even in a place like California.
She needs to win states Hillary lost in 2016 - Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin. If possible Arizona and Georgia too. Nevada was won by Hillary and also Biden, but is a tossup now. She needs to appeal to voters in these states, not run up the score in NY, IL and CA.

Doesn't look like it's working.

 

[Derec]

Even down under we know who Mercedes-Benz are.

I thought you all drove around in Holden Utes.

I'm sorry you have no Aussie Rules.

We don't know how to paint a perfect ellipse on the pitch.

Footy is always important (well, perhaps not the Yank version of bum-sniffing).

For my money, even NFL beats basketball and baseball.

 

[ZiprHead]

Just posted.

Maddow’s bombshell reporting: Trump trying to pay Stormy Daniels to be quiet again

Rachel Maddow breaks down her bombshell reporting on how Trump is once again trying to pay Stormy Daniels to be quiet.

www.msnbc.com

 

[Derec]

Doesn't look like it's working.

That's because she is reverting to her 2019 form and dividing instead of adding.
Legalizing marijuana should be a slam dunk that would appeal to a wide swath of the electorate. Not only potheads or those who would try it if legal, but also a lot of people who do not think law enforcement resources should be wasted on something like this when we have an epidemic of retail theft for example.

What does she do instead? She ties it to a narrow appeal to black men, instead of to everyone. Black men are, what, ~7% of the population.

 

[Derec]

Yes. The Constitution allows for enslavement as punishment for a crime, a "loophole" (actually a very intentional compromise by its framers) that nearly all states use to justify practices that would be illegal had abolition been universal and unqualified.

Not exactly "enslavement", but you lose your freedom in prison, yes.
If this passes, how soon until prison abolitionists sue arguing that the very idea of custodial sentences violates it?

 

[Derec]

If you mean the far-left DA of Alameda County, she is not being recalled "for being too Black[sic]" but for being too soft on crime

Bullshit. The recall campaign began before she'd even been elected, it has nothing to do with her conduct in office.

Even if this is so ([citation needed]), it does not demonstrate that the reason for the recall was her skin color and not the "progressive" platform she was running on. Again, there have been attempts to get rid of white DAs too. What ties them together is leftist politics, not race.

 

[Derec]

You are greatly mischaracterizing prison labor, as I think you know. You may not realize the extent to which prison is hardly "free room and board."

It's certainly not free for us the taxpayers. In fact, it is very expensive. So forgive me if I think that the inmates should pitch in.

But do I think people should be allowed to "sit on their asses" while involuntarily detained by their government, without facing cruel and unusual punushment for their supposed reticence? Yes. Yes, I absolutely do. This is America. You want someone to work for you?

How about work for their own needs instead of expecting that DOC employees wait on them hand and foot? Laundry, kitchens, infirmary, library; I do not see why inmates should not be expected to pitch in.

Produce your goods? Put out the wildfire behind your house? Offer them sufficient pay to make it worth their while.

I think there should be some payment too, of course. But helping out with workings of the prison too, making food or running the library for fellow inmates, should be expected if somebody is able bodied.
Making stuff for external use, or doing things like firefighting, should not be expected. It should be voluntary and more generously remunerated.

 

[Derec]

A glance at a map revealed that the exit door was about as far away as our lodging, so out the back we went, crossed some tracks, climbed a fence and voilá, there we were in a bigtime barrio.

When was that? Crossing railroad tracks would not land you in a "barrio" from GWCC today, or anytime I've been in Atlanta.
If you go the other way, west across Northside Dr., you would enter a hood called the Bluff. Better Leave U Fucking Fool, apparently. Although even The Bluff is gentrifying.

 

[ZiprHead]

I think there should be some payment too, of course. But helping out with workings of the prison too, making food or running the library for fellow inmates, should be expected if somebody is able bodied.
Making stuff for external use, or doing things like firefighting, should not be expected. It should be voluntary and more generously remunerated.

Prison labor wages in the United States are typically low, and vary significantly by state:

• Average hourly wage
  In 2023, the average hourly wage for prison labor in Colorado was $0.97, while in Oklahoma it was $0.08, Missouri $0.06, and Louisiana $0.03.
  
  
  
• States that don't pay prisoners
  Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, South Carolina, Mississippi, and Texas do not pay prisoners in their state correctional facilities.
  
  
  
• Inmates working for state-owned businesses
  In 2017, inmates working for state-owned businesses earned between $0.33 and $1.41 per hour, which was about twice the amount paid to inmates who worked regular prison jobs.

One phone call home for christmas can eat up more than a days wages.

 

[Elixir]

One phone call home for christmas can eat up more than a days wages.

Probably not worth it then. It’s not like they were going to get a ton of great Christmas presents.

 

[Swammerdami]

I don't know why everyone thinks I overestimate the power of the vote, when I'm the only one here who doesn't buy the idiotic premise that winning in November is "all that matters". Like, I am well aware of that. Are you? Fascism cannot and will not be defeated in the ballot box.

Are you using some off-beat or confused definition of fascism? Fascism typically succeeds BECAUSE of the ballot box (or other popular power), when demagogues push prejudices which "democratically" overwhelm leadership by rational good-spirited statesmen.

When fascists do come to power, they usually revise political rules to make their power long-lasting. We already see that in the U.S. where "red" states have been routinely changing rules to keep a Democratic majority out of power.

In the (increasingly unlikely) event that Harris-Walz win next month's election, the threat of fascist take-over will not disappear overnight but should diminish over time. Victory by Trump-Vance OTOH will immediately escalate Russian influence in Europe and that of other fascists around the world; and it is likely to represent the end of America's great experiment in democracy.

 

[Politesse]

When fascists do come to power, they usually revise political rules to make their power long-lasting.

As is already happening. Numerically, the Trump machine has been losing all along. Again and again. But here we are, on the brink of once again electing Trump president against the will of a strong majority of our citizens. Seizing control of Congress against the will of most of our elected representatives. Seizing control of the Supreme Court by refusing to following Constitutional law as regards appointment and daring anyone to do anything about it. And if you want to know how they plan to continue to widen the gap between what they know the will of the citizens to be and that which they desire to impose, they published their plans in detail in a not-so-secret document that Trump pretends not to know about. If, as seems almost certain, Trump is about to be re-elected, the path to their goals is more straightforward for them. But their plans have been in motion since long before Trump was a politician at all, and they will continue to pursue them regardless of the results of the election. Trump has been effectively president of a large portion of the country for eight years now, and short of a well-timed cardiac arrest, I don't see that situation changing anytime soon. Sitting back on our heels as citizens and just trusting that electing Harris will be enought to stem the tide certainly won't change anything. We cannot afford to fall asleep again. We need, in short, to get woke to our situation, and to the considerable peril our democratic system is in.

 

[Politesse]

As we speak, some friends of mine are getting savagely beaten by park police in the Capitol, and their horses abused. Why? Because they showed up to observe Indigenous People's Day. A holiday our government supposedly acknowledges now. Of course, they are allegedly blocking a thoroughfare, which as you know is a capital crime in the Capitol, so everyone is fine with the violence. You block a street, you get beaten, right? Even if you're a fucking horse. The officers who are beating these brave women and their animals do not, in theory, work for Trump. They work for Debra Haaland, herself Native, and she works for us the people under the supervision of Joe Biden. Yet here we all are. Yes, we all need to vote, and for the Democrats. But the Democrats have no power to save us from ourselves if we sit on our laurels while Trump and his people seize estate after estate within our government through no democratic process of any kind. The insurrectionists are happy to take an electoral victory when that is a possibility, but they do not give up just because they've lost an election.

 

[starwater]

Opinion | Kamala Harris’ Fox News interview was a combat sport

The vice president gave as good as she got in a contentious 30-minute interview on the conservative network.

www.msnbc.com

Kamala sat down the with enemy - and called it a draw.

Typical male interrupting a female trying to speak. Baier said, well I had to interrupt because she wasn't answering (in the way I wanted).

 

[Elixir]

Opinion | Kamala Harris’ Fox News interview was a combat sport

The vice president gave as good as she got in a contentious 30-minute interview on the conservative network.

www.msnbc.com

Kamala sat down the with enemy - and called it a draw.

Typical male interrupting a female trying to speak. Baier said, well I had to interrupt because she wasn't answering (in the way I wanted).

That was spectacular. Harris revealed that Baier was a mysogynistic bully who was trying to interview himself, answering his own questions and trying to keep Harris from answering questions. He showed videos that did not show what he was representing, and was visibly panicked when Harris called him out on it. It was delicious to see his surprise at being “set straight” and called out on his dishonesty by a woman armed with FACTS.
She likely alienated a lot of trumpsuckers by being a “nasty woman” (citing facts) but those morons were never going to abandon Orange Jesus no matter what.

 

[Henry-Finland]

Didn't you guys do that even before the Civil War?

To be more specific, what this ballot measure would eliminate is forced labor within the prison system, which is not at present prohibited by either state or federal law. Hopefully, just for a few more weeks.

I was quite taken aback, when I saw a photo of a Call-Center in a women's prison.
It is like in Russia, even if they have other sorts of jobs. (I can tell quite a lot of the Russian prison-system as I was a teacher in one.)
Year 2002 the prisoners were paid 11 kopecks per day.
Or does this payment mean that they are not slaves? In Russia they have to work, otherwise they do not get food.

I wonder what they pay in a US prison?

 

[Henry-Finland]

You are greatly mischaracterizing prison labor, as I think you know. You may not realize the extent to which prison is hardly "free room and board."

It's certainly not free for us the taxpayers. In fact, it is very expensive. So forgive me if I think that the inmates should pitch in.

But do I think people should be allowed to "sit on their asses" while involuntarily detained by their government, without facing cruel and unusual punushment for their supposed reticence? Yes. Yes, I absolutely do. This is America. You want someone to work for you?

How about work for their own needs instead of expecting that DOC employees wait on them hand and foot? Laundry, kitchens, infirmary, library; I do not see why inmates should not be expected to pitch in.

Produce your goods? Put out the wildfire behind your house? Offer them sufficient pay to make it worth their while.

I think there should be some payment too, of course. But helping out with workings of the prison too, making food or running the library for fellow inmates, should be expected if somebody is able bodied.
Making stuff for external use, or doing things like firefighting, should not be expected. It should be voluntary and more generously remunerated.

I think you have never been in a prison? I believe that not all prisons are like "the Hollywood prisons"? I know that there are prisons with a tennis court etc. Those are for the "Wall Street -criminals".

Prisoners In Finland Live In Open Prisons Where They Learn Tech Skills​

Also other Nordic countries have such prisons, but every country has also traditional prisons.
If e.g. this murderer in the video tries to escape or drink alcohol, he can't study at the university anymore. He would be put in a "normal" prison.

Russian prisons are either from tzar time or a model that they made after WWII. (I've been in three Russian prisons.)

 

[TSwizzle]

Opinion | Kamala Harris’ Fox News interview was a combat sport

The vice president gave as good as she got in a contentious 30-minute interview on the conservative network.

www.msnbc.com

Kamala sat down the with enemy - and called it a draw.

Typical male interrupting a female trying to speak. Baier said, well I had to interrupt because she wasn't answering (in the way I wanted).

Harris is fucking clueless.


Baier: You've been in office for three and a half years.
Harris: And Donald Trump is running for Office
Harris: We both know what I am talking about
Baier: Actually I don't, what are you talking about?



Baier: When did you notice Biden was losing it?
Harris: panic sets in, goes off on a rant about Trump

 

[Elixir]

Harris is fucking clueless.

Bauer is a misogynistic bully who got his comeuppance. She “manhandled” him.
Sorry your feelings are so hurt that you are (remain) reduced to vacuous insults.

 

[Henry-Finland]

Opinion | Kamala Harris’ Fox News interview was a combat sport

The vice president gave as good as she got in a contentious 30-minute interview on the conservative network.

www.msnbc.com

Kamala sat down the with enemy - and called it a draw.

Typical male interrupting a female trying to speak. Baier said, well I had to interrupt because she wasn't answering (in the way I wanted).

I was very pleased when I saw how firmly she stood her ground. I think she will be a good president. Of course, everything depends on the weather on the election day etc.