Delay the Election ... ?

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Trump tweets ...

With Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good), 2020 will be the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history. It will be a great embarrassment to the USA. Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???

-- from @realDonaldTrump​

Democracy is in the crosshairs.

Any time Trump tweets something outrageous like this, it's useful to see what he's trying to distract us from.

In this case, it seems the thing he was trying to push out of the news cycle was the announcement that came out about 15 minutes before his tweet:

America's economy just had its worst quarter on record - CNN

Trump, who styles himself an economic genius and the most pro-business president ever, is presiding over the worst economic downtown in the history of the United States.

He wants to hide this fact, so he says things that he knows will push this testament to his incompetence out of the headlines.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

Any time Trump tweets something outrageous like this, it's useful to see what he's trying to distract us from.

"It's simply (or primarily) a crass attempt to distract" is an oft repeated trope. It's also politically naive. At the very least it discounts Trump's need and desire to suppress the vote and delegitimatize the electoral process in the minds of a sizable minority of Americans.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

"It's simply (or primarily) a crass attempt to distract" is an oft repeated trope. It's also politically naive.

It's also not what I said. Try reading more carefully and don't jump to conclusions.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

"It's simply (or primarily) a crass attempt to distract" is an oft repeated trope. It's also politically naive. At the very least it discounts Trump's need and desire to suppress the vote and delegitimatize the electoral process in the minds of a sizable minority of Americans.

It's also not what I said. Try reading more carefully and don't jump to conclusions.

Nor did I claim that you did. Try reading more carefully and don't jump to conclusions.

 

[tytlyf]

Any time Trump tweets something outrageous like this, it's useful to see what he's trying to distract us from.

His helpers at Fox will spend a tiny portion of the day on the story and ignore it moving forward. Instead, Fox will revert to black people and Chicago violence for weeks on end.

 

[Mr Spinkles]

I doubt that he will be a "nobody." In fact, I suspect that the moment his presidency ends, the analyses of it will commence, and they won't be pretty.

I actually think if Trump loses, he will continue to agitate. Unleashed from the responsibilities of being president (notwithstanding how seriously he takes them), unaccountable to real-world consequences of his decisions or to the advice of actual experts, he could become more annoying than ever.

Particularly with an aggrieved and paranoid base of supporters licking their wounds after an election they believe to have been “the most fraudulent in history”.

The only consolation post election, if he loses, is that no matter how much he continues to agitate as a TV personality, he will at least no longer have the awesome power of the White House in his control. But sadly I don’t think this man will ever become a “nobody” as long as 30-40% of Americans want to buy the xenophobic bigotry and thuggery he’s selling.

 

[Riders]

You think Trump was a 'nobody' before he became President? Most of the world actually knew who he was before he ran. Even the Simpsons recognized his potential twenty years ago.

I knew who he was and was disgusted when I watched him and his other wife on Geraldo 20 years ago or so. That's rare for me to know who one the billionaires or multimillionaires are, I am not usually that vested in money. So he was pretty popular. I always thought he was sexually deprived with his Marla, having affairs on his wife yea well.

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

I actually think if Trump loses, he will continue to agitate. Unleashed from the responsibilities of being president (notwithstanding how seriously he takes them), unaccountable to real-world consequences of his decisions or to the advice of actual experts, he could become more annoying than ever.

Particularly with an aggrieved and paranoid base of supporters licking their wounds after an election they believe to have been “the most fraudulent in history”.

The only consolation post election, if he loses, is that no matter how much he continues to agitate as a TV personality, he will at least no longer have the awesome power of the White House in his control. But sadly I don’t think this man will ever become a “nobody” as long as 30-40% of Americans want to buy the xenophobic bigotry and thuggery he’s selling.

HE may continue to be an irritant -- but no longer being a sitting President, and therefore indictable, I think he's going to attract a lot more legal attention. He might not find that a pleasant thing, but it could be interesting news viewing for the rest of us (except Fox, of course).

 

[Watchmen]

As a lifelong mail-in voter, I recognize the risks of vote by mail WITHOUT proper checks and security. Many states have the system and security down, which took many years to develop. Many do not. Why is it so concerning to want to ensure the states jumping into the voter by mail bandwagon so so through valid and secure means?

 

[Mr Spinkles]

As a lifelong mail-in voter, I recognize the risks of vote by mail WITHOUT proper checks and security. Many states have the system and security down, which took many years to develop. Many do not. Why is it so concerning to want to ensure the states jumping into the voter by mail bandwagon so so through valid and secure means?

That wouldn’t be all that concerning, perhaps, if that was what he said. But that’s not what he said.

Read what he said and stop making up excuses for this guy.

 

[Watchmen]

That wouldn’t be all that concerning, perhaps, if that was what he said. But that’s not what he said.

Read what he said and stop making up excuses for this guy.

I’m talking about mail in voting. Not about what Trump said. I’m sharing my own views on the issue. Not making excuses.

 

[Mr Spinkles]

I’m talking about mail in voting. Not about what Trump said. I’m sharing my own views on the issue. Not making excuses.

Ah, I misunderstood you then.

I realize your question may have been rhetorical, but to answer it anyway, I don’t think it’s too concerning to want to ensure states do their elections accurately and securely.

Out of curiosity, did someone say that would be concerning? Or were you just registering an observation (because you are a mail in voter)?

 

[Watchmen]

Ah, I misunderstood you then.

I realize your question may have been rhetorical, but to answer it anyway, I don’t think it’s too concerning to want to ensure states do their elections accurately and securely.

Out of curiosity, did someone say that would be concerning? Or were you just registering an observation (because you are a mail in voter)?

I’ll have to find the interview, but I heard the person in charge of vote by mail in Washington state on NPR a few weeks ago. She said mail-in voting can be safe and secure but that it took the state a long time to fully develop its system. She expressed some concern over states without such experience trying to put such a system together just months before the election.

 

[Mr Spinkles]

I’ll have to find the interview, but I heard the person in charge of vote by mail in Washington state on NPR a few weeks ago. She said mail-in voting can be safe and secure but that it took the state a long time to fully develop its system. She expressed some concern over states without such experience trying to put such a system together just months before the election.

Thanks. And to be clear has anyone expressed concern about the desire to ensure the safety and security of mail in voting? I thought you asked why anyone would be concerned about that - just wondering if someone had expressed such concern or if you were just pre-empting it.

Clearly we’re far afield from what Trump said ... like any good lie, there’s always some grain of truth behind his irresponsible and self serving exaggerations / nonsense. And I fully acknowledge that grain of truth, which I hope everyone agrees with, is the safety and security of elections is an important topic.

 

[Watchmen]

Thanks. And to be clear has anyone expressed concern about the desire to ensure the safety and security of mail in voting? I thought you asked why anyone would be concerned about that - just wondering if someone had expressed such concern or if you were just pre-empting it.

Clearly we’re far afield from what Trump said ... like any good lie, there’s always some grain of truth behind his irresponsible and self serving exaggerations / nonsense. And I fully acknowledge that grain of truth, which I hope everyone agrees with, is the safety and security of elections is an important topic.

Just preempting. I think we all can agree vote integrity and security is important.

 

[Tambourine]

It's also not what I said. Try reading more carefully and don't jump to conclusions.

I don't know about you, but for me it looks fairly obvious why a sitting President would try to undermine the legitimacy of a coming election that will, in all likelihood, see him ousted, and potentially prosecuted for fraud or worse.

 

[Riders]

Is this the first election we've ever had mail in voting? I know it cant be. ,Have we had problems with mail in being fraudulent in the past? How did we handle it then?

 

[Shadow Wolf]

That's a supremely generous characterization of his mental state. He's very consistent in wanting power and will say or do anything he can to hold onto it.

If that were the case he would have shirked the Covid response onto the states. He's basically someone who loves the idea od being a rockstar, buys a guitar, rately practices, doesnt take lessons, and spends all day admiring rockstars and talking about doing rockstar things.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Yes, he was a nobody. Just like the most fake celebrities are.

I nobody isn't able to sell their name.