Master-Debater131

Ive said, and will continue to say, that what Trump pulled was horrible. But you cannot look at what Biden did last night and think that was OK. It was a purely Trumpian performance straight out of the demagogues playbook. For a speech supposedly warning about the creeping fascism of MAGA it was full of its own fascist overtones. It was completely unbecoming of the office of POTUS, and when Trump pulled crap like this you, and everyone else on these boards, were losing your minds. And you know it.

Ive got no problem with politicians using a stump speech to go on the attack. But that wasnt this. This was a POTUS using his podium in a prime time address to go on a campaign speech. When Trump did stuff like this he was routinely blasted, and rightfully so. The POTUS podium is separate from the Political Podium. POTUS Podium should be treated with the respect it deserves. After Trump it was already disrespected, and all Biden did last night was continue to lower the bar.

Plenty of Palpatine "I am the Senate" vibes. For a prime-time address it was pretty disgusting actually. This was a campaign rally, not an address to the nation. He used the military as a prop (something we were told was completely unacceptable under Trump), attacked anyone who didnt agree with him, and did his absolute best to demonize huge chunks of the population. This wasnt a unifying speech by a man who pledged during the campaign to unify the country, it was divisive as hell. He completely lowered himself to Trumps level in this speech. The only thing missing is a shitty tweet and his transformation into Trump is complete.

For a speech where he was trying to paint anyone who opposes him as fascist, he sure picked an odd backdrop. Like, you are projecting an image that draws a direct line back to some of the darkest times in human history while demonizing anyone who doesnt support you. Im no fan of the MAGA-Cult, but this wasnt great either. Whoever decided that this was the look that he needed for this speech should be fired.

As for the topic itself, its not so much going topless thats the problem, its what happens after. Guys already stare, if you are topless you may as well crank that up to 11. The creeps will be out in force. Plus, the sun. You ever have a sunburn on your chest? Its not fun. Now imagine having a sun burnt nipple and having to wear a bra the next day. There is absolutely nothing enjoyable at that. The slightest movement and its pain. Even with sunscreen they burn easily. Super annoying really. I have no problem if others want to go topless, and I think a lot of our laws around that are dumb. But I'm keeping mine covered up.

Good. Now get back in the garage and change my oil.

This point really needs to be emphasized. Putin expected NATO to fracture when he attacked Ukraine. Instead NATO is more united now than at any point post 9/11 and has expanded with Sweden and Finland. Even Germany has, reluctantly, come along. To say he miscalculated is a massive understatement. We are seeing a rejuvenation of NATO that no one could have predicted even a year ago.

Couple of new polls out in the last two days which are interesting and worth flagging. First, in AZ where Trafalger has Lake up by 1. Thats a surprise to me because she is such a freaking horrible candidate. Arizona is pretty purple still, but man would this be a shock. Not a lot of polling in this one yet so the RCP average still has Hobbs up 1. https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2022/governor/az/arizona_governor_lake_vs_hobbs-7842.html This flies in the face of the Senate race where Kelly has a very comfortable lead in his race. https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2022/senate/az/arizona-senate-masters-vs-kelly-7390.html I dont expect vote splitting here (or anywhere really), and Im more willing to believe that Dems sweep AZ than some crazy split where they vote for Kelly but then split and vote for the wacko Lake. That would be a truly crazy result. The other one is in GA where two polls have now shown Walker in the lead. https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2022/senate/ga/georgia-senate-walker-vs-warnock-7329.html This one is less of a surprise to me. I continue to believe that Walker will win thanks to the down-ballot effect that Kemp will have on him. Kemp is a strong candidate and is going to win reelection and will drag a much weaker Walker over the finish line with him. The RCP average still has Warnock up, but the polls have shown some clear movement toward Walker recently. I also dont see any reason to change my predictions overall either. I still think the GOP win the house, although not with huge margins anymore, and the Dems hold the Senate.

Seems pretty dumb honestly. We already paid for these, we should be sending them out. If someone wants to have them then let them have them. What good do they do going to a landfill? I get that not everyone wants to have these tests, but for those of us who do, whats the harm in sending them out until we empty the warehouse?

I think they still are effective for those with personal responsibility. Before I go to a large event or see a bunch of friends in an enclosed space I test. If I was exposed then I test. Going to meet some people who are older or immunodeficiency, I test. Its all about being responsible. I dont want to be the person who is a walking petri dish of covid going to Broncos games. Will I personally stop the virus? No, its here forever. But if I can not spread it myself then I will consider that a small victory. Im also in a good spot where if I am sick or exposed I can just work from home. Its just routine with my company now. If you are sick or exposed, work from home that week.

Friday is the LAST DAY to get free covid tests. https://www.covid.gov/tests Each household is eligible for up to 3 separate orders. So even if you have ordered them before, and have a few still lying around, you can get a 3rd order for free. After Friday its up to you to place your own order. I just put in my 3rd order so that I have a good stockpile of tests for the coming fall and winder surges.

Rigging an election involves changing votes to directly effect the outcome Influencing an election is using your power to impact, and change, peoples opinions in an attempt to change the outcome of the election. Facebook influenced the election, they did not rig it. Ive got a loooootttttt of problems with the Media and Social media influencing elections and politics, but they didnt rig anything. They absolutely control the narrative and have a political slant that is clearly to the Left, but they arent rigging anything. Just trying to influence it.

The heavily redacted affidavit was released today. And, uhhhhh, holy crap. Trump is saying the word "nuclear" doesnt appear anywhere, and he may be right. But thats small beans compared to what the affidavit does mention. The documents seized wernt just highly secret, they were some of the most closely guarded secrets any nation could hold. Things like how we spy on outer, less friendly, countries and how we gather sources around the world. This is pretty damn bad.

non-partisan redistricting commissions arent always great. We have one and all it did was basically lock all of our Reps in place. Theres maybe 1 competitive district here now because the new lines drawn by the independent commission locked in the incumbents.

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/daughter-putin-propagandist-killed-car-232947496.html?soc_src=community&soc_trk=tw Daughter of Putin Propagandist Killed in Car Bomb Outside Moscow, Reports Say Yup, car bomb got her but not her dad. Shes pretty famous in Russia for being a pro-Putin mouthpiece. This is going to cause some serious fallout.

Reports are coming in that there was an assassination attempt on Alexander Dugin, one of Putins closest advisors. It doesnt appear to have gotten him, but it apparently got his daughter.

Russia allegedly tells nuclear power plant workers to not go to work Friday amid concerns of a planned incident https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/russia-says-may-shut-zaporizhzhia-nuclear-plant-shelling-continues-rcna43673 ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine — Russia has allegedly told workers at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant not to show up to work Friday, Ukrainian military intelligence has exclusively confirmed to NBC News. This comes amid allegations and speculation from both Russia and Ukraine that an incident is being planned Friday at the plant. On Thursday, Russia threatened to shut down the plant, warning that there was a risk of a human-made disaster due to alleged continued shelling by Ukraine. But Ukraine has a completely different story, according to Andriy Yusov, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s Main Intelligence Directorate. “There is new information, it arrived about half an hour ago, that for tomorrow, August 19, there is an order for the majority of the staff not to go to work,” Yusov told NBC News. Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, Yea I dont like this. Sure seems like Putin is about to intentionally cause some sort of nuclear disaster at this plant.

Welp, I didnt think the NFL could fuck this up but somehow they did.

Yea, it really does. Lots of people are talking about Walker and if his brains are mush. Soooooo yea, health absolutely matters when it comes to Senate races. Can ignore it all you want, but its absolutely a factor.

Your correct that it doesnt usually matter in other races, like House races, but it absolutely matters for Senate races. Most people cant tell you who their Rep is, but a huge chunk can name their Senator. Its just a much higher profile position, and that brings extra scrutiny.

Not saying they will vote Oz, they may not vote at all. I still expect Fetterman to win, likely in a walk, but his health issues absolutely scrambled things a bit. It happens in any race where they are potential health issues. Remember all those people asking if McCain was healthy enough? Its absolutely a legitimate question. Theres a poll that the GOP released today showing Fetterman up 18, so even if a decent number of people think his health issues are enough to note vote for him hes very likely going to win.

That decentralized power makes it tougher to stop though. Its pretty easy to grab some guys, some guns, and drive into a city and cause chaos. Democratic rally in a city? Just load on up and go do a ton of damage. And no, Democrats are not a center right party. Manchin is fairly Center, but he is far to the right of the majority of the Democrats. It doesnt matter that Democrats may be considered Right compared to European countries. In the US, they are the left wing party. The US has always been a center-right country, and thats the lens that matters when discussing the standing of our two political parties.

It wouldnt look like the Civil War where there is a clear North vs South battle map drawn. When you look at the country the divide isnt North vs South, its City vs Rural. There are deep blue dots surrounded by a sea of red. Drive 30 minutes outside of most major cities and you see MAGA signs all over the place. So any potential violence would be drawn up with those lines in mind. It could be a series of attacks by people driving into the city, hitting targets, then leaving. Insurgency tactics that we have seen in Iraq and Afghan. It would be tougher for the reverse to happen because rural living is much more sparse. Sure, you would have some battle lines drawn up by states, but even in Blue states they would be dealing with insurgency attacks throughout the entire war. Blue cities in Red states could do the same, but that rural dispersion factor makes those attacks less successful. If the Red states stopped shipping food to the Blue states then Cities would quickly collapse. Blue states dont have that same leverage over Red states. Sure, you can stop sending in cell phones and TVs, but that doesnt have the same immediate impact as losing food does. Theres a huge question about what sort of numbers of people would actually get involved. Tons of people talk shit online, but would they really fight? Doubtful. Oh and also our Military. It may splinter a bit, but it would pretty quickly put down any insurgency launched by either side. For all the talk about a Civil War happening, its just not going to happen. If anything it'll just be a series of attacks and political assassinations for the foreseeable future until both sides retreat from their extremes and actually try and govern from the more popular middle.

Ahhhh, ok that makes more sense. That was going to be my other point actually. He pretty much blasts his location to his followers at all times