Rallies: Red or Blue

[Guest]

@MaroonBells said:
Went to a Trump rally yesterday. 

Driving from baseball to a sports bar for lunch, and to catch part of the Viking game, we saw a handful of big ass trucks with Trump flags. Had to roll up my windows to prevent my kids from flipping them off. Good thing I did. As they got in my turn lane, I muttered "don't go to the Hoffbrau, don't go to the Hoffbrau." Sure enough, they pulled into the Hoffbrau, joining about a dozen other big ass trucks with flags. Apparently, the parking lot was going to be the site of a rally after some beer and bar food. 

We were seated in the back and, sure enough, within minutes, we were surrounded by about 60 of the most caricatured Trump nuts. Trump flags worn as capes, blue haired ladies with Trump tiaras, bright red MAGA hats illuminated the dark corners of the bar. As plate after plate of tater tots loaded with cheese showed up at their tables, several other bar-goers were getting more and more uneasy. I heard one say to a man in Trump gear, "grow up." At that, my kids said, "dad, we gotta get outta this place...."

As the song by the Animals ran through my head, I asked my kids what they would give me if I stood on our table and shouted "Trump is a ****ing moron!" "Dad don't. DAD, DON'T!" my kids whispered nervously. I'm somewhat pleased they thought i might. 

Resisting that temptation, I called our server over, "check please." 

I try to stay out of political banter....however.

Similar experience here in Maui.  One afternoon, there was a bunch of Trump folks waving flags etc. by Queen Kaanamahu mall.    I told my son, we are going to drive by, and I want you to just observe.   We drove by.  Then I asked “What do they all have in common”?

Without missing a beat....”They’re all white”.  
He saw none of his Hawaiian, Philipino, Tongan, Samoan, or Japanese friends  or families. ZERO.

I havent had much luck voting.  After the W. / Gore Florida debacle it became clear reform in voter practices was needed.   Next election I voted on the computer at a polling place and TWICE my entry for one candidate was RECORDED incorrectly. (showed incorrectly TWICE on the summary page) I started thinking, “shit, you can program a computer to do ANYTHING....add votes, drop every third vote...whatever....lost ballots, “tossed” ballots, the good probability that any individual or proposition will spend months if not years in court through appeals. And we are all paying for this cluster F.   My vote means nothing.  There is ZERO guarantee its counted for who I intended....if counted at all.  And what in my life will change?  The amount of taxes I pay for going to work every day of my life. Meanwhile, corporations /executives are exempt.  

I havent voted since.  my choice for President this year is between a Wall street bully, and a career politician. with only two VIABLE parties, Ive got more choices on the potato chips aisle.

Vote now:

Tweedle-Dee

Tweedle-Dum

[Guest]

@JimmyinSD said:

@purplefaithful said:
I'm still trying to wrap my head around rallies...Forget about the party, don't rallies just rally your own base?

I dont see that as a way to persuade a voter who's on the fence. Maybe its the media coverage???

Seems outdated to me...

they are designed to try and get your base off its ass and to a voting booth.

it would be interesting to see what it would be like if election day was a national holiday.  I hate all the bullshit holidays we have already but I would support making election day a national holiday so there would be no more excuses.   Polls open 6AM to 8PM local times,  hell make it on a Monday so people have a long weekend and have the polls open for 3 days starting Saturday. Make the process easier in terms of getting people through polling stations so we can eliminate the areas of the process that can allow for tampering.   

I would go so far as to have tabulation machines at every polling station so people can slip their ballots in and get an immediate confirmation that their ballot is valid,  no more hanging chads or other reasons to have any ballot discounted in the future.

what should be a beacon of hope for the rest of the world that doesnt have open elections has become a joke,  time to fix the process so we dont have the nightmare again that I am sure we will be facing after tomorrow... regardless of who wins/loses,  i am expecting to see a whole new level of disgust.

The one issue there is the secrecy of the ballot.  It is a big deal being completely free to vote as you wish and validation could open the door to losing that freedom.
But I agree on the voting holiday. 

[Guest]

@greediron said:

@JimmyinSD said:

@purplefaithful said:
I'm still trying to wrap my head around rallies...Forget about the party, don't rallies just rally your own base?

I dont see that as a way to persuade a voter who's on the fence. Maybe its the media coverage???

Seems outdated to me...

they are designed to try and get your base off its ass and to a voting booth.

it would be interesting to see what it would be like if election day was a national holiday.  I hate all the bullshit holidays we have already but I would support making election day a national holiday so there would be no more excuses.   Polls open 6AM to 8PM local times,  hell make it on a Monday so people have a long weekend and have the polls open for 3 days starting Saturday. Make the process easier in terms of getting people through polling stations so we can eliminate the areas of the process that can allow for tampering.   

I would go so far as to have tabulation machines at every polling station so people can slip their ballots in and get an immediate confirmation that their ballot is valid,  no more hanging chads or other reasons to have any ballot discounted in the future.

what should be a beacon of hope for the rest of the world that doesnt have open elections has become a joke,  time to fix the process so we dont have the nightmare again that I am sure we will be facing after tomorrow... regardless of who wins/loses,  i am expecting to see a whole new level of disgust.

The one issue there is the secrecy of the ballot.  It is a big deal being completely free to vote as you wish and validation could open the door to losing that freedom.
But I agree on the voting holiday. 

not a lot of people keep their politics secret these days anyway.  Maybe if we all had to answer to our neighbors for the way we vote we wouldnt end up with so many turds in office?

[Guest]

@Vanguard83 said:

@MaroonBells said:
Went to a Trump rally yesterday. 

Driving from baseball to a sports bar for lunch, and to catch part of the Viking game, we saw a handful of big ass trucks with Trump flags. Had to roll up my windows to prevent my kids from flipping them off. Good thing I did. As they got in my turn lane, I muttered "don't go to the Hoffbrau, don't go to the Hoffbrau." Sure enough, they pulled into the Hoffbrau, joining about a dozen other big ass trucks with flags. Apparently, the parking lot was going to be the site of a rally after some beer and bar food. 

We were seated in the back and, sure enough, within minutes, we were surrounded by about 60 of the most caricatured Trump nuts. Trump flags worn as capes, blue haired ladies with Trump tiaras, bright red MAGA hats illuminated the dark corners of the bar. As plate after plate of tater tots loaded with cheese showed up at their tables, several other bar-goers were getting more and more uneasy. I heard one say to a man in Trump gear, "grow up." At that, my kids said, "dad, we gotta get outta this place...."

As the song by the Animals ran through my head, I asked my kids what they would give me if I stood on our table and shouted "Trump is a ****ing moron!" "Dad don't. DAD, DON'T!" my kids whispered nervously. I'm somewhat pleased they thought i might. 

Resisting that temptation, I called our server over, "check please." 

I try to stay put of political banter....however.

Similar experience here in Maui.  One afternoon, they was a bunch of Trump folks waving flags etc. by Queen Kaanamahu mall.    I told my son, we are going to drive by, and I want you to just observe.   We drove by.  Then I asked “What do they all have in common”?

Without missing a beat....”They’re all white”.  
He saw none of his Hawaiian, Philipino, Tongan, or Japanese friends  or families. ZERO.

I havent had much luck voting.  After the W. / Gore Florida debacle it became clear reform in voter practices was needed.   Next election I voted on the computer at a polling place and TWICE my entry for one candidate was RECORDED incorrectly. (showed incorrectly TWICE on the summary page) I started thinking, “shit, you can program a computer to do ANYTHING....add votes, drop every third vote...whatever....lost ballots, “tossed” ballots, the good probability that any individual or proposition will spend months if not years in court through appeals. And we are all paying for this cluster F.   My vote means nothing.  There is ZERO guarantee its counted for who I intended....if counted at all.  And what in my life will change?  The amount of taxes I pay for going to work every day of my life. Meanwhile, corporations /executives are exempt.  

I havent voted since.  my choice for President this year is between a Wall street bully, and a career politician. with only two VIABLE parties, Ive got more choices on the potato chips aisle.

Vote now:

Tweedle-Dee

Tweedle-Dum

Tweedle Dee, OK. But Tweedle really, REALLY dumb. 

This weekend I bemoaned the fact that my side didn't have a better candidate, one who could articulate our platform more eloquently and forcefully. A guy like Buttigieg or Ossoff or Obama or JFK. A turtle on a fence post should be able to landslide an imbecile like Donald J. Trump. 

And then I remembered that even JFK, a man who was a brilliant speaker, a true constitutional patriot who supported the civil rights bill (something that we look back on now as obvious), a real man of ideas who should've shone well above his opponent (Nixon)...BARELY won. In fact, he won the popular vote by less than Gore and Hillary did. 

Just served to remind me, once again, that regardless of how good, or comically bad, your candidate is, this country is divided almost evenly, and has been for 60 years--that pretty much 90% of the votes in this country are just never in play. 

[Guest]

@purplefaithful said:
Times Square on Sunday...Trump supporters vs not. 

Sad, sad time for this country, regardless of political leaning

But this stuff has happened before in this country during civil unrest, riots, etc. Vietnam war protests. I think some people don't realize that, they think today is the worst its ever been in the world. Do we forget that in England and Ireland there was domestic terrorism?

"In 1987, the IRA carried out almost 300 shooting and bombing attacks, killing 31 RUC, UDR and British Army personnel and 20 civilians, while injuring 100 security forces and 150 civilians. In 1990, IRA attacks killed 30 soldiers and RUC members and injured 340. In 1992, the figure for IRA attacks was 426."

https://www.history.com/topics/21st-cent...lican-army

Our media here in the U.S. loves to stoke the flames and make everything appear apocalyptic. 

[Guest]

@MaroonBells said:

@Vanguard83 said:

@MaroonBells said:
Went to a Trump rally yesterday. 

Driving from baseball to a sports bar for lunch, and to catch part of the Viking game, we saw a handful of big ass trucks with Trump flags. Had to roll up my windows to prevent my kids from flipping them off. Good thing I did. As they got in my turn lane, I muttered "don't go to the Hoffbrau, don't go to the Hoffbrau." Sure enough, they pulled into the Hoffbrau, joining about a dozen other big ass trucks with flags. Apparently, the parking lot was going to be the site of a rally after some beer and bar food. 

We were seated in the back and, sure enough, within minutes, we were surrounded by about 60 of the most caricatured Trump nuts. Trump flags worn as capes, blue haired ladies with Trump tiaras, bright red MAGA hats illuminated the dark corners of the bar. As plate after plate of tater tots loaded with cheese showed up at their tables, several other bar-goers were getting more and more uneasy. I heard one say to a man in Trump gear, "grow up." At that, my kids said, "dad, we gotta get outta this place...."

As the song by the Animals ran through my head, I asked my kids what they would give me if I stood on our table and shouted "Trump is a ****ing moron!" "Dad don't. DAD, DON'T!" my kids whispered nervously. I'm somewhat pleased they thought i might. 

Resisting that temptation, I called our server over, "check please." 

I try to stay put of political banter....however.

Similar experience here in Maui.  One afternoon, they was a bunch of Trump folks waving flags etc. by Queen Kaanamahu mall.    I told my son, we are going to drive by, and I want you to just observe.   We drove by.  Then I asked “What do they all have in common”?

Without missing a beat....”They’re all white”.  
He saw none of his Hawaiian, Philipino, Tongan, or Japanese friends  or families. ZERO.

I havent had much luck voting.  After the W. / Gore Florida debacle it became clear reform in voter practices was needed.   Next election I voted on the computer at a polling place and TWICE my entry for one candidate was RECORDED incorrectly. (showed incorrectly TWICE on the summary page) I started thinking, “shit, you can program a computer to do ANYTHING....add votes, drop every third vote...whatever....lost ballots, “tossed” ballots, the good probability that any individual or proposition will spend months if not years in court through appeals. And we are all paying for this cluster F.   My vote means nothing.  There is ZERO guarantee its counted for who I intended....if counted at all.  And what in my life will change?  The amount of taxes I pay for going to work every day of my life. Meanwhile, corporations /executives are exempt.  

I havent voted since.  my choice for President this year is between a Wall street bully, and a career politician. with only two VIABLE parties, Ive got more choices on the potato chips aisle.

Vote now:

Tweedle-Dee

Tweedle-Dum

Tweedle Dee, OK. But Tweedle really, REALLY dumb. 

This weekend I bemoaned the fact that my side didn't have a better candidate, one who could articulate our platform more eloquently and forcefully. A guy like Buttigieg or Ossoff or Obama or JFK. A turtle on a fence post should be able to landslide an imbecile like Donald J. Trump. 

And then I remembered that even JFK, a man who was a brilliant speaker, a true constitutional patriot who supported the civil rights bill (something that we look back on now as obvious), a real man of ideas who should've shone well above his opponent (Nixon)...BARELY won. In fact, he won the popular vote by less than Gore and Hillary did. 

Just served to remind me, once again, that regardless of how good, or comically bad, your candidate is, this country is divided almost evenly, and has been for 60 years--that pretty much 90% of the votes in this country are just never in play. 

indeed.  In the first debate, there were SO MANY obvious opportunities where a clever / witty / factual response by Biden could have really helped his cause.  Like when Trump was asked about COVID-19, and Trump says “I’ve had it, I’m better now, doctors tell me I’m now immune to it.”  

Why the Hell didnt Biden say something like, “Im sure everyone is happy that you are feeling better.  But the problem isnt about YOU, its about the tens of thousands of Americans who dont have medical insurance. They dont get the level of care that you or I receive.  What about them?  What about care for the elderly, why are they having prescriptions filled from Mexico?  Why are Americans forced to go to other countries for surgeries that they cant afford in their own nation?  Again, its not about YOU, its about our cirizens, and how we should be working to help THEM.”

but Nope....Biden just states the same old “The current administration has handled the pandemic poorly”

Trump threw a pitch in Biden’s wheelhouse, and Biden whiffed.

[Guest]

No doubt there is media hyperbole...

but I'll stick by my assertion that the division in the country today, hasn't been seen since those 60/70's. Certainly not saying things were rosy between then and now, but now it's just -  badder...

[Guest]

@Vanguard83 said:

@MaroonBells said:

@Vanguard83 said:

@MaroonBells said:
Went to a Trump rally yesterday. 

Driving from baseball to a sports bar for lunch, and to catch part of the Viking game, we saw a handful of big ass trucks with Trump flags. Had to roll up my windows to prevent my kids from flipping them off. Good thing I did. As they got in my turn lane, I muttered "don't go to the Hoffbrau, don't go to the Hoffbrau." Sure enough, they pulled into the Hoffbrau, joining about a dozen other big ass trucks with flags. Apparently, the parking lot was going to be the site of a rally after some beer and bar food. 

We were seated in the back and, sure enough, within minutes, we were surrounded by about 60 of the most caricatured Trump nuts. Trump flags worn as capes, blue haired ladies with Trump tiaras, bright red MAGA hats illuminated the dark corners of the bar. As plate after plate of tater tots loaded with cheese showed up at their tables, several other bar-goers were getting more and more uneasy. I heard one say to a man in Trump gear, "grow up." At that, my kids said, "dad, we gotta get outta this place...."

As the song by the Animals ran through my head, I asked my kids what they would give me if I stood on our table and shouted "Trump is a ****ing moron!" "Dad don't. DAD, DON'T!" my kids whispered nervously. I'm somewhat pleased they thought i might. 

Resisting that temptation, I called our server over, "check please." 

I try to stay put of political banter....however.

Similar experience here in Maui.  One afternoon, they was a bunch of Trump folks waving flags etc. by Queen Kaanamahu mall.    I told my son, we are going to drive by, and I want you to just observe.   We drove by.  Then I asked “What do they all have in common”?

Without missing a beat....”They’re all white”.  
He saw none of his Hawaiian, Philipino, Tongan, or Japanese friends  or families. ZERO.

I havent had much luck voting.  After the W. / Gore Florida debacle it became clear reform in voter practices was needed.   Next election I voted on the computer at a polling place and TWICE my entry for one candidate was RECORDED incorrectly. (showed incorrectly TWICE on the summary page) I started thinking, “shit, you can program a computer to do ANYTHING....add votes, drop every third vote...whatever....lost ballots, “tossed” ballots, the good probability that any individual or proposition will spend months if not years in court through appeals. And we are all paying for this cluster F.   My vote means nothing.  There is ZERO guarantee its counted for who I intended....if counted at all.  And what in my life will change?  The amount of taxes I pay for going to work every day of my life. Meanwhile, corporations /executives are exempt.  

I havent voted since.  my choice for President this year is between a Wall street bully, and a career politician. with only two VIABLE parties, Ive got more choices on the potato chips aisle.

Vote now:

Tweedle-Dee

Tweedle-Dum

Tweedle Dee, OK. But Tweedle really, REALLY dumb. 

This weekend I bemoaned the fact that my side didn't have a better candidate, one who could articulate our platform more eloquently and forcefully. A guy like Buttigieg or Ossoff or Obama or JFK. A turtle on a fence post should be able to landslide an imbecile like Donald J. Trump. 

And then I remembered that even JFK, a man who was a brilliant speaker, a true constitutional patriot who supported the civil rights bill (something that we look back on now as obvious), a real man of ideas who should've shone well above his opponent (Nixon)...BARELY won. In fact, he won the popular vote by less than Gore and Hillary did. 

Just served to remind me, once again, that regardless of how good, or comically bad, your candidate is, this country is divided almost evenly, and has been for 60 years--that pretty much 90% of the votes in this country are just never in play. 

indeed.  In the first debate, there were SO MANY obvious opportunities where a clever / witty / factual response by Biden could have really helped his cause.  Like when Trump was asked about COVID-19, and Trump says “I’ve had it, I’m better now, doctors tell me I’m now immune to it.”  

Why the Hell didnt Biden say something like, “Im sure everyone is happy that you are feeling better.  But the problem isnt about YOU, its about the tens of thousands of Americans who dont have medical insurance. They dont get the level of care that you or I receive.  What about them?  What about care for the elderly, why are they having prescriptions filled from Mexico?  Why are Americans forced to go to other countries for surgeries that they cant afford in their own nation?  Again, its not about YOU, its about our cirizens, and how we should be working to help THEM.”

but Nope....Biden just states the same old “The current administration has handled the pandemic poorly”

Trump threw a pitch in Biden’s wheelhouse, and Biden whiffed.

Yep. This exactly. 

[Guest]

@JimmyinSD said:

@purplefaithful said:
I'm still trying to wrap my head around rallies...Forget about the party, don't rallies just rally your own base?

I dont see that as a way to persuade a voter who's on the fence. Maybe its the media coverage???

Seems outdated to me...

they are designed to try and get your base off its ass and to a voting booth.

it would be interesting to see what it would be like if election day was a national holiday.  I hate all the bullshit holidays we have already but I would support making election day a national holiday so there would be no more excuses.   Polls open 6AM to 8PM local times,  hell make it on a Monday so people have a long weekend and have the polls open for 3 days starting Saturday. Make the process easier in terms of getting people through polling stations so we can eliminate the areas of the process that can allow for tampering.   

I would go so far as to have tabulation machines at every polling station so people can slip their ballots in and get an immediate confirmation that their ballot is valid,  no more hanging chads or other reasons to have any ballot discounted in the future.

what should be a beacon of hope for the rest of the world that doesnt have open elections has become a joke,  time to fix the process so we dont have the nightmare again that I am sure we will be facing after tomorrow... regardless of who wins/loses,  i am expecting to see a whole new level of disgust.

For all our sakes, a clear cut winner sooner than later is important. Not sure we're going to get that or not. We're about 30 hours till 1st polls close now...

[Guest]

All I know is I have never seen cities boarding up because of the election before. DC is one of the many. I have never seen a caravan of vehicles blocking bridges or blocking access for voters. I have never seen a person from a group hit a campaign staffer's vehicle. These are unprecedented times indeed. And that fence around the White House is pathetic and sad.