US Politics

for a moment I thought he is talking about this.

https://twitter.com/BFriedmanDC/status/1322536616154583040?s=19

1 Attachment

"Collecting democrat votes one dead stiff at a time"

My Texan friend told me he voted Trump because he wants a democrat Senate and Congress to impeach him and then Pence,so a spanner gets thrown into the political system.

I hope that this is not a common plan among American people.

Does this include the Native Americans killed by the settlers?

They weren't Christians and they were rather dusky of hue, so I'm guessing not.

I take it all the Merkins killed by other Merkins don't get a look in on this day of remembrance? Despite their epically vast numbers.

Trumpers are picketing Bill Barr's House for not arresting any Bidens.

The Texas Republican Party's response to the Biden bus incident.

1 Attachment

Just when I was starting to get mildly optimistic about the election, seeing the pictures of Washington businesses being boarded up in preparation for the result has dashed that. It's insane.

I think I chose the wrong week to give up drugs

I'm not sure, but I think I must just have started taking them. :)

What's the Texas bus story? I am hearing stories of attempts to ram it off the road, but only seing documentation of the surrounding drivers being loud and obnoxious. The latter being OK in my opinion.

I suspect thats its a little exaggerated. Some vehicles were damaged in the incident though so clearly some dicky dangerous stuff happened. I suspet the main issue is that it could have been a lot worse.

it could have been a lot worse.

Which is a slippery slope rhetorically. Many of the objections to the BLM protests were pearl clutching speculations as to what disasters this could have led to.

I live in an incredibly liberal part of California. No doubt some rich republicans, but no Trump lawn signs near me.

Yesterday we had a trump caravan drive through our little town and residents were not happy. I could hear but not see it from where I live. It went on for ages. Just incessant beeping. And they call themselves the silent majority 🙄 the least silent group of people I’ve ever heard.

I can’t even sleep right now. Just filled with an overwhelming sense of dread and anxiety over this election. As I’m sure many others are, too.

Armed people chasing political opponents is not exactly the same as demonstrations.

The moment people think it's ok to intimidate political opponents with threats of violence, be it directly or indirectly, something is very wrong.
You read the text on that trumper hearse?

The moment people think it's ok to intimidate political opponents with threats of violence

I dread to think what some polling stations will be like. Surely there'll be widespread targeting now, almost without penalty, as it's effectively been sanctioned.

The moment people think it's ok to intimidate political opponents with threats of violence

Being lucky enough to view this from a distance, it's a fascinating insight into how this stuff unfolds and norms shift.

I'm sure if you spoke to some of these individuals one by one, gave them an eg of a hypothetical country and asked them if they thought that intimidating opposition was conducive to a democracy they'd say no and recognise it as wrong.

But once people get gassed up there's no telling where it ends.

When you're there, a lot of the US seems more of a developing world country in terms of infrastructure and condition of cars. Sadly it looks like it's heading that way in political terms too.

Armed people chasing

I guess this is the bit that's not exactly black and white, the video doesn't seem to show any guns/weapons, certainly not being waived around - and the chasing seems more like a kind of childish 'in-your-face ner-ner' type action (even the white car that got hit by one of the pickups looks to have been trying to squeeze between the pickup and the bus without enough room).

I hate feeling like I'm defending Trumpists, but also don't like this kind of hyperbole in already uncertain times - feel like it can prompt unnecessary escalation (if they're bringing guns they we'll bring guns too etc. etc.)

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/armed-trump-fans-biden-bus/

hope that doesn't sound too both-sides'y..!

I can't really tell, far away and not exactly an expert. Somehow I hope that even the idiots get that threatening people outside polling stations isn't ok.
But then all they do is check if the socialists are cheating.
It's a scary prospect.

the video doesn't seem to show any guns/weapons

Same. If I later on today see images taken from inside the bus of a gun pointed at them, or closeup filming of very deliberate manoeuvres to push them off the road, then sure the matter is settled as far as I am concerned.
My comment isn't really on what actually happened, I have no way of knowing. My concern is what I see in my left/liberal echo chamber where plenty of people draw very firm conclusions based on the exact same material I am seeing. Which to me is in no way conclusive.

It's Texas. I think we can safely assume that they were armed.
And even if they weren't, does that make this stuff ok? Beeing loud and visible is different from blocking someone's way.
And maybe "armed supporters chasing" is hyperbole, and it probably doesn't help.
But should you continue all nicely and balanced when the other side is lying constantly?

My threatening political opponents remark wasn't specifically about the bus incident, but more a general one.
Enough guns on show paramilitary stuff in the last months I think to assume that it happens, and social media is full of it.

From what I understand while the convoy was parked up on the side of the road waiting for the Biden bus some of the occupants were seen walking around with AR15s and pistols in holsters. This shouldn't really matter in that it is legal and relatively normal behaviour in Texas if those people had the appropriate permits.

The thing that is unacceptable is dangerous driving which supposedly happened. This is what could have hurt somebody. At the moment there's very little video evidence of this but various members of congress have said that it happened. I guess the FBI investigation will find what did and did not actually happen.

At very least, even if its not true that vehicles were used to change the path of other vehicles, there should be no place for intimidatory tactics such as waiting for an opponents campaign bus and surrounding it.

My concern is what I see in my left/liberal echo chamber where plenty of people draw very firm conclusions based on the exact same material I am seeing. Which to me is in no way conclusive.

Kinda agree. You see the same thing with stuff like that Robinson video the other day.

I think the risk is that when you use hyperbole, you give space for people to discuss whether it was that bad, or if it's exaggerated. The main takeaway is that the state of play now is so fucked that people are trying to prevent mainstream* political opposition from being able to normally campaign.

*not that I think it would be acceptable for non-mainstream, but that you're talking about views that were seen as the norm just 5yrs ago.

Here's a video of one of the trucks with a Trump flag bumping into the side of a car without any flags
https://twitter.com/ericcervini/status/1322546782572859395

Doing the fb rounds.

1 Attachment