American politics

[milo]

The constant attacks on mail votes has a secondary objective: The GOP (and probably quite a few Democrats as well) wants to get rid of the US Postal Service. I'm sure that's entirely down to their belief that privatisation is good and nothing to do with the bribes involved when awarding the contracts.

His main interest in attacking postal votes is voter suppression

 

[thfcsteff]

Call it what you want, a politician with more experience and more willingness to play along gets more done.

Obama's intentions were admirable, his ability and experience were lacking.

The pile of brick that was left for him to undo before he could even get to what he wanted was nearly insurmountable. If you know anything about American politics, you'll know the GOP are not about to entertain anything close to bipartisan behavior. He actually did extraordinarily well by the country during his time. I was no fan of bank bailouts, neither drones, but those were both acts of true bipartisanship. I have never seen a republican presidency yield close to the same.

 

[thfcsteff]

The federal and political system has been systematically degraded since Reagan. That was one of his his main ambitions. There is now an overwhelming majority of politically appointed positions, often held by utterly incompetent people, instead of professionals. And the GOP now only consists of ass lickers.
The state of that country is unbelievable!

On point. Bingo. In fact, from what little I know of US Presidential history, I would wager that Trump thinks of himself as more Taft than twit (if he even knows who Taft was!)...

 

[thfcsteff]

Should do what i did when i got rejected. Walk away muttering their lezzas here tonight before going home for a kebab and a toss.

Now, laugh as you may at this thought, I firmly believe this is within his regular wheelhouse TBH.I mean, Drumph does have much previous...no, Chich, I think the missing link (and the place where you could help him) is to suggest the fine feeling of quality sheer black nylon on the thigh, followed by a warm river of top-drawer custard poured slowly over his head as he nudges his choady tidger (because it WILL be tidger)...

 

[thfcsteff]

Good points but in 2 years I think there's the possibility of doing more than he did. He should have ended the drone programme for instance, shut down Guantanomo Bay all of which he gave speeches promising he'd do.

Then you have to look at the 2010 mid terms, if he was doing so well and doing such a great job why was there such a large swing? (I don't actually know as don't follow US politics enough but he had quite a large majority at the time).

I agree on both Gitmo and drones, but sadly, the way this system is set up, he had his balls in a vice from the first day. No power without compromise, and I firmly believe that the only way he could advance any form of national healthcare was to "compromise" on those areas you name. Both were enormous money makers for a few.

As for the midterms, all I can say is people lack patience and awareness. The scale of brick he walked into was enormous.

 

[Jordinho]

His main interest in attacking postal votes is voter suppression

I think his primary objective is to get his excuses in early. He will never admit to losing, so it will have to be "stolen" from him.

Even if the election is somehow delayed, he will no longer be president on 20 January 2021.

 

[braineclipse]

You make that sound like a conspiracy.

It shouldn't be surprising that a party who (rightly) believes in small government reduces the size of the government.

Ah yes. The small government party of massive military spending, militarised police forces, the death penalty, no abortions, blatant religious support, controlling which bathrooms people can use, huge prison populations, the war on drugs. Should I go on?

OK then, also the party of locking up children, extensive gerrymandering, voter suppression, blocking vote by mail. And that's without getting to Trump and his "small government" ideas, but in the interest of brevity I'd rather not start listing them.

All of this whilst being generally against policies that are cost effective in the long run. The kind of stuff that helps people in the long term whilst saving everyone money because there wouldn't be as many criminals, addicts, people on welfare etc.

Small government up my... excrement ejector (bet you don't have that one on your list of words the advertisers don't like).

 

[milo]

I think his primary objective is to get his excuses in early. He will never admit to losing, so it will have to be "stolen" from him.

Even if the election is somehow delayed, he will no longer be president on 20 January 2021.

I agree with that. Voter suppression is a long-term Republican aim, not specific to Trump, for the same reasons that the Conservatives are doing it in the UK.

 

[Jordinho]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1288930701442768896

 

[Jordinho]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1288843391065882629

 

[Robbo]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1288843391065882629

#pizzagate

 

[Danishfurniturelover]

I agree with that. Voter suppression is a long-term Republican aim, not specific to Trump, for the same reasons that the Conservatives are doing it in the UK.

Genuine question. Are postal votes open to manipulation?

The only corruption in regards to voting in the uk were to do with the lot in elephant and castle.

 

[milo]

Genuine question. Are postal votes open to manipulation?

The only corruption in regards to voting in the uk were to do with the lot in elephant and castle.

Any form of voting is open to abuse but instances both here and in the States are very low. Making it harder for people to vote does far more damage and disenfranchises the poorest and most vulnerable.

 

[Danishfurniturelover]

Any form of voting is open to abuse but instances both here and in the States are very low. Making it harder for people to vote does far more damage and disenfranchises the poorest and most vulnerable.

Why does it stop the poorest? Im not trying to be provocative i have not postal voted before.

 

[Kandi1977]

Why does it stop the poorest? Im not trying to be provocative i have not postal voted before.

Because there are only certain places you can vote in person, and Trump is reducing the number of polling stations by the minute! You have to get there somehow, and it will then be difficult for poor and disabled people to get there. Fewer polling stations also means longer queues, thus you have to be away for a longer period of time to vote. If you have 5 little kids at home in the ghetto, that is not an option.

 

[braineclipse]

Why does it stop the poorest? Im not trying to be provocative i have not postal voted before.

Voting takes time. Poorer people living more month to month may not afford taking that time off work or other important activities to actually vote.

During the pandemic this effect can be made greater. Longer lines before actually casting your vote. Increased financial strain.

The pandemic also causes other issues. The poor are (relatively speaking) more likely to suffer health problems that increases the risk if they catch the virus. More likely to live with more family members means it's more likely they would expose a family member to risk.

Relying on public transport further increases both the time spent and the risk of being exposed to the virus.

In total this disenfranchises the poor, to a greater extent than it does the more affluent. Which will of course be exploited by politicians with some control over how the voting happens.

 

[Rorschach]

Any form of voting is open to abuse but instances both here and in the States are very low. Making it harder for people to vote does far more damage and disenfranchises the poorest and most vulnerable.

Yep, postal voting is almost impossible to defraud on a scale that will have any meaningful effect whatsoever. That's why no one tries it. Voter suppression works far better for the GOP/Putin/Trump.

 

[thfcsteff]

I agree with that. Voter suppression is a long-term Republican aim, not specific to Trump, for the same reasons that the Conservatives are doing it in the UK.

There is a very dangerous outlier here, which is that a top Trump donor was chosen to head up the USPS earlier this year. He has -effectively- bought the national postal service, and will doubtless use every last ounce of chicanery to fudge with the postal ballots. Very, very dangerous...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...cde93c-8fd4-11ea-8df0-ee33c3f5b0d6_story.html

 

[Jordinho]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1288999251322773504

 

[SteveAWOL]

Voting takes time. Poorer people living more month to month may not afford taking that time off work or other important activities to actually vote.

During the pandemic this effect can be made greater. Longer lines before actually casting your vote. Increased financial strain.

The pandemic also causes other issues. The poor are (relatively speaking) more likely to suffer health problems that increases the risk if they catch the virus. More likely to live with more family members means it's more likely they would expose a family member to risk.

Relying on public transport further increases both the time spent and the risk of being exposed to the virus.

In total this disenfranchises the poor, to a greater extent than it does the more affluent. Which will of course be exploited by politicians with some control over how the voting happens.

Astonished to see the queues at Georgia primaries let alone reading about faults with voting machines, the sort of thing I’d expect to see in a third world country!

https://twitter.com/x/status/1287087207887626241