Trump

[TheGlyphstone]

No one is going to want to be the first to stick their neck out and throw cards in his favor, with how he's getting skunked in the courts.

[Haibane]

Would anyone really be so bold as to be a faithless elector? Wouldn't the world come down on their heads? And Biden will have 306 votes so we are looking at 37 votes to be faithless, meaning at least 3 states worth of voters would have to act like that. Is there some safeguard in the US democratic system that would just say "No. No. No, you're not doing that, its the end of democracy. Its what happens in Russia, Belarus and other places where there is nothing but corrupt and wicked men."

[Regina Minx]

Would anyone really be so bold as to be a faithless elector?...

Happened last time.

[TheGlyphstone]

Would anyone really be so bold as to be a faithless elector? Wouldn't the world come down on their heads? And Biden will have 306 votes so we are looking at 37 votes to be faithless, meaning at least 3 states worth of voters would have to act like that. Is there some safeguard in the US democratic system that would just say "No. No. No, you're not doing that, its the end of democracy. Its what happens in Russia, Belarus and other places where there is nothing but corrupt and wicked men."

No faithless electors have ever swayed the outcome of an election in the country's history. They happen occasionally, as cited, but it would be unprecedented for them to actually matter.

And like I said, politicians are by their nature cowardly creatures. They're not going to risk their own skins unless they can be assured of support, which they can't count on.

[Haibane]

But 2016 didn't affect the result. Here we are talking about a seriously organised attempt by the clearly defeated party to alter a complete win for the other party to their own candidate. That's never happened before has it?

Edit before I hit the post button and saw that TheGlyphstone has posted...

Okay, I see that what I asked hasn't happened which is very reassuring.

[legomaster00156]

A party has never been a cult of personality before.

[TheGlyphstone]

Do you really think any GOP politicians are genuinely part of Trump's cult? Or just wearing the mask to keep the shared loyalty of his actual cultists?

[Deamonbane]

Do you really think any GOP politicians are genuinely part of Trump's cult? Or just wearing the mask to keep the shared loyalty of his actual cultists?

I don't think there are any true believers among the GOP. Not many among the Democrats either. The reason why so many of them are standing by Trump because even with Trump out of office, his cult is still a massive chunk of their electorate.

[Oniya]

Do you really think any GOP politicians are genuinely part of Trump's cult? Or just wearing the mask to keep the shared loyalty of his actual cultists?

We'll know for sure by the inauguration.  I keep seeing these Republican governors pushing back, and it's like they realize that he no longer has the power to really do anything to them anymore.

(I'm also remembering that every time he's campaigned for a candidate - like he is in Georgia - they've lost.  Juuuuuust sayin'.)

[TheGlyphstone]

So he can punish them for disloyalty by campaigning on their behalf. Thats a conundrum...

[elone]

Trump's rally in Georgia was supposed to be for support for the Republicans running for senate. Instead he spoke only about his greatness until the very end. The rest is lies and bull.

Kind of a waste of time to listen to him, but look the crowd, no masks hardly anywhere. I guess the Democrats will rule Georgia, because all the hard core Republicans will be dead.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4w--Vhjteg

[Haibane]

There's a QAnon believer in the upper house isn't there?

[gaggedLouise]

Giuliani has tested covid positive. Perfectly logical from his behaviour over the last month and from the earlier string of outbreaks.

If Rudy and his close team had paid any heed to the guidelines of the CDC they would now all be going into quarantine and more or less giving up their judicial crusade. Ain't gonna happen, of course: they will continue on the road with new events and new hearings, infecting hundreds and thousands of new people. Absolutely bonkers! 

[TheGlyphstone]

There's a QAnon believer in the upper house isn't there?

Greene has tried to distance herself from the pro Q comments she made in 2017....but politician, so sincerity is impossible to judge.

[Missy]

meh, Q-Anon is fundamentally irrational. It's like saying someone tried to distance themselves from the pro-Nazi comments they made in the past.

Like really can I count on your abilities in either case anyway?

[Haibane]

Hannah Arendt was born in Hanover, Germany in 1906 and was a secular Jew. She lived through the rise of fascism and WWII and became a political thinker. In her 1951 book "The Rise of Totalitarianism" she wrote:

"the ideal subject of totalitarian rule is... people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction (i.e., the reality of experience) and the distinction between true and false (i.e., the standards of thought) no longer exist."

It struck me that this is exactly what is happening in the Cult of Trump and its alarming to see this trend was identified over 70 years ago.

I am not sure if non-UK IPs will see this link to a discussion of a BBC Radio 4 broadcast but worth a read if you can:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/5NvjlzbsFz59wRWgyBh8dBz/what-hannah-arendt-can-teach-us-about-totalitarianism

[Haibane]

Biden declared winner of Georgia for a third time:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-us-2020-55224511

Trump is quoted as saying, "If I lost, I'd be a very gracious loser." This is, of course, one of the most self-evident lies in all his presidency. 

[Beguile's Mistress]

That is why he won't admit defeat.  He is a total stranger to grace of any sort!

[Missy]

Trump is a loser, a sore loser and all signs point to him bringing down anyone he can with him. To be honest the Republican base is one of the most majorly dulled down group of people I've ever heard of, it's no surprise they picked to elect someone equally as dumb. Stupidity is literally what they see in him, literally, and it's because of stupidity they'll follow him off the edge of the earth. It's much more of a question now of whether or not the Republicans will be able to dissuade their base from following an impulsive imbecile or-

*microwave dings* The Popcorns ready!!

[Beguile's Mistress]

I thought I smelled something good.

[TheHangedOne]

And you know that tons of people will end up blaming Biden, and it won't matter how much you try to logic it away.

[Sofia Grace]

And you know that tons of people will end up blaming Biden, and it won't matter how much you try to logic it away.

Same way he'll get blamed for the tax hikes coming in January...

[Chaeronea]

Stupidity is literally what they see in him, literally, and it's because of stupidity they'll follow him off the edge of the earth.

And the sooner they do so the better.

[Haibane]

And the sooner they do so the better.

Except they will be dragging the rest of us with them... (climate change deniers, anti-vaxx, right-wing militia power, etc, etc, etc)

[Laughing Hyena]

I checked the subject of faithless electorals. Trump would need around 40 faithless electoral votes to win. Last election had 7 faithless electors.

The record high was 63 and that was when Horace Greeley died before the electoral vote to place but after the popular vote. The highest when both candidates were alive was 23, when Virginia faithlessly abstained from voting for victorious Democratic vice presidential nominee Richard M. Johnson. Giving him a result of 269 electoral votes. This went to the Senate for a tiebreaker and Johnson won.

In short Trump needs black magic. He needs double of the record to win and six times of last year's faithless electoral to win. Just to give a small bit of context.