The (no longer) much too early 2024 election thread

[N.E. Brigand]

"Mail-in voting is totally corrupt. Get that through your head."

That's what Donald Trump told his supporters in Michigan tonight.

I think Joe Biden is required to report that statement on his campaign filings as an in-kind donation.

[N.E. Brigand]

Donald Trump tonight announced that if he becomes president, he will:

indemnify all police officers and law enforcement officials throughout the U.S. to protect them from being destroyed by the radical left: people in office that want them to be hurt, that don't want them to look for crime, to stop crime. They can stop crime so fast, but they're told not to. They're told to stand away as people walk with television sets out of department stores that end up going out of business. And we're going to protect those officers and those precincts and in some cases the states, because you can stop that whole phenomena where they walk into--300 guys run into a department store, and they loot it, and it's, like, literally there's not a thing on the shelves. They take millions and millions and millions of dollars out, and inevitably they close the stores. They're closing stores all over the country. You can stop that in one day, in one hour, if you got really nasty and really tough. Once they see things happening that they never thought were gonna happen to them -- and I mean tough -- it'll all stop overnight. There won't be anymore. And your police would love to be the ones that do it, but they're not allowed: they don't wanna lose their homes and their families. They don't wanna lose their pensions.

[RoseMorninStar]

In light of the above post about 'tough' policing, I think I'll post this here:

Video shows Florida deputy repeatedly shoot at man after thinking falling acorn was gunfire

The suspect, who was accused of having stolen his girlfriends vehicle, was unarmed and handcuffed in the back of the police vehicle at the time. Fortunately, the man was unharmed.

[N.E. Brigand]

In a weird, logic-free post, Donald Trump writes today, three days after the death of Russian dissident Alexei Navalny in Vladimir Putin's prison, that Navalny's "sudden death" has made him realize that the U.S. is "a nation in decline a failing nation". This is the only comment that Trump has made about Navalny's death. Naturally he says nothing about Putin.

I think he's just desperate to make Americans feel bad (and then blame their bad feelings on the current administration).

[Dave_LF]

Probably seeing Russia in the news reminded him that he's supposed to be spreading Russian propaganda

[N.E. Brigand]

Some have been working on getting the gerrymandering fixed in Wisconsin for years, if I properly recall. Gill vs Whitford. From Wikipedia:

The 2018 general elections in Wisconsin, following the Supreme Court's decision in Gill which retained the existing districting maps pending hearing of the lower court, further demonstrated significant imbalance in voting profiles. For the State Assembly, 54% of the popular vote supported Democratic candidates, but the Republicans ended up maintaining their 63-seat majority. The efficiency gap, estimated to be 10% in 2014, increased to 15% based on election results.[40]

Wisconsin's governor, Tony Evers, today signed into law new, fair maps that will be used in the November election:

[Frelga]

This is the talking point on the right. Navalny = Trump and if he is convicted he will die in prison.

Also Navalny was killed by the CIA, who infiltrated Russia's most secure prison to keep him from telling the investigators about... They don't know what it is but they are sure it's really bad for the CIA.

[RoseMorninStar]

On Frelga's Post, ohh brother. Tucker Carlson had been singing the praises of Russia too. He should stay there

On. N.E.Brigands post regarding Wisconsin, the maps governor Tony Evers approved are better for the Republicans than what they'd get of it went to the courts. Even so, it's better than what we've had for decades.

[Frelga]

Carlson posted a video of his shopping trip to a Moscow supermarket, presumably one of those that are kept ready to be stocked for the visiting foreigners. He was very impressed at how cheap everything was. His total came to about $100, iirc, which at the current exchange rate is between 30-50% of median monthly income.

To be fair, he was also very impressed by those shopping carts where you put in a coin to release the cart from the chain. The same system that my local store got rid of like 10 years ago when they realized it cost them more in lost sales than it saved in lost carts. So maybe he just hasn't been to a supermarket in 10 years.

[Dave_LF]

That same system is I believe a canonical example of the paradox where light fines lead to more of the undesired behavior (in this case, leaving your cart in the lot instead of returning it to the corral), because it lets people feel that they've paid for the right to do it.

[RoseMorninStar]

Aldi's has those quarter shopping carts. I thought they were everywhere. People always return the 'quarter' carts here. I thought that was the main purpose, so they don't have to pay a worker to constantly corral carts in the parking lot.

I saw that video of Carlson in the grocery store. What a frickin' loser. And he also claims the food/restaurants are SO much better than anywhere in the Unitied States. What the heck? As Fareed Zakaria said, 'Tucker, you really need to get out more.' I just can't imagine what his game is but it's stomach churning. It's not the same thing as enjoying the cultural differences, which I could appreciate, but the petty pitting his own country against, what is often seen as, and adversarial country (or at least it's leader). If he loves it so much, please Tucker, STAY THERE.

[N.E. Brigand]

On. N.E. Brigand's post regarding Wisconsin, the maps Governor Tony Evers approved are better for the Republicans than what they'd get if it went to the courts. Even so, it's better than what we've had for decades.

Yeah, currently the Wisconsin Senate has 22 Republicans and 10 Democrats (with one vacancy) and the Wisconsin Assembly has 64 Republicans and 35 Democrats. Based on the 2020 presidential results, you'd expect that to be much closer to an even split in both chambers: 18 Democrats and 15 Republicans in the Senate and 50 Republicans and 49 Democrats in the House. Now Democrats just have to campaign to get those votes!

[N.E. Brigand]

This is the talking point on the right: Navalny = Trump, and if he is convicted, he will die in prison.

Also: Navalny was killed by the CIA, who infiltrated Russia's most secure prison to keep him from telling the investigators about... They don't know what it is, but they are sure it's really bad for the CIA.

Another conspiracy theory being spun on the fringes is that Navalny died from the Covid-19 vaccine.

[Frelga]

Never mind that MRNA vaccines are not available in Russia (Sputnik is an adenovirus vector based) and Navalny has been imprisoned since January 2021, before mrna vaccines were released in the West.

[RoseMorninStar]

Never mind that MRNA vaccines are not available in Russia (Sputnik is an adenovirus vector based) and Navalny has been imprisoned since January 2021, before mrna vaccines were released in the West.

Fie! You trifle in logic and facts! How dare you!

[N.E. Brigand]

Donald Trump's allies at the Heritage Foundation wish to use a second Trump presidency to:

--end surrogate motherhood
--end no-fault divorce
--invoke the insurrection act to stop protests
--end sex education in schools
--stop policies that "subsidize single motherhood"

[Sunsilver]

--end sex education in schools
--stop policies that "subsidize single motherhood"

So, they are going to stop one of the things that can truly help to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies, then force the mother to bear the child, but refuse to help her during the pregnancy, or help her look after the child once it's born...

Oh, yep, makes PERFECT sense!

Let's hear again, Right to Lifers, how very, very sacred life is to you...

What's next? Banning the Pill for everyone who isn't married?

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Things that you don't expect to hear on CNN but certainly should.

[N.E. Brigand]

Is he stupid? Or is he lying? Part of Donald Trump's genius is you can never tell.



(Donald Trump: "If you have mail in voting, you automatically have fraud." || Laura Ingraham: "Well there's mail-in voting in Florida and you won." || Trump: "That's right.")

[N.E. Brigand]

In that same Fox News event today, Laura Ingraham noted that Donald Trump has spent "a huge amount of time" in court. She asked him specifically about Judge Engoron's ruling that Donald Trump owes $454 million plus $93 million in interest $355 million plus $99 million in interest (and that interest is growing by $87,000 every day, as Laura Ingraham kindly noted). He replied:

"It is a form of Navalny."

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At another point during that event, Trump said, "It would be very hard to cheat in Amaska." I have no idea what word he was going for there.

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Earlier today, Nikki Haley said she's not going to drop out of the race if (when) she loses in the South Carolina Republican primary on Saturday, and her campaign has told reporters that she plans to stay in the race at least until Super Tuesday (March 5). Regarding Trump, she said:

"He's getting meaner and more offensive by the day...He's gotten more unstable and more unhinged...He's completely distracted...And everything is about him. He's so obsessed with his demons in the past that he can't focus on the future Americans deserve."