The 2016 US Election (Part III)

[The Romulan Republic]

Joss Whedon has set up his own super PAC to get out the vote.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/201 ... nald-trump

A “shit ton of famous people” have banded together to get US voters to the polls on 8 November. Gathered together by director Joss Whedon, the celebrities made their pitch to the public in a three-minute video titled Important.

The video is the first in a series coming from Whedon’s new Super Pac, Save the Day, which is “dedicated to the idea that voting is a necessary and heroic act” and “committed to fighting the apathy, cynicism, and honest confusion that keeps citizens from using their vote”.

Twenty-seven celebrities in total appear in the video, including Robert Downey Jr, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, Clark Gregg, Cobie Smulders and Don Cheadle from Whedon’s Avengers films, as well as Neil Patrick Harris, Jesse Williams, Julianne Moore, Keegan-Michael Key and a mustachioed James Franco. Stanley Tucci and Hamilton’s Leslie Odom Jr both implore you to register.

Martin Sheen, who played President Bartlet on the West Wing, also featured in Whedon’s video, telling viewers, “We cannot pretend both sides are equally unfavorable”. Cast members from the popular TV show will hit the trail for the Democratic nominee this weekend, according to Ian Sams of the Clinton campaign.


According to the Hollywood Reporter, Save the Day is a pro-Hillary Clinton Super Pac and Whedon has donated $1m toward her efforts in the election. While the video never explicitly mentions Clinton or Donald Trump, it alludes to the Republican nominee. The celebrities said they’re gathered for something important, like “a racist, abusive coward who could permanently damage the fabric of our society”, said Cheadle. Odom Jr added: “Do we really want to give nuclear weapons to a man whose signature move is firing?”

The video also emphasized the impact voting has on the Senate, House of Representatives, local officials, commonsense gun laws and the supreme court. “This isn’t just an election, it’s a tipping point for the country – for the world,” the celebrities say.

Whedon has been involved in politics in the past, notably making a parody ad about Mitt Romney “putting this country back on the path to the zombie apocalypse” with his policies in 2012.

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Whedon’s video is reminiscent of the more positive video supporting Barack Obama during the 2008 election, spearheaded by will.i.am. Celebrities such as Johansson, John Legend, Common and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar sang along to one of Obama’s speeches to show their support.

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The video directs viewers to the website for Whedon’s Super Pac if they do not know how or where to vote. It also – jokingly – promises Ruffalo will do a nude scene in his next movie if they head to the polls, to the actor’s dismay.

“Mark’s gonna have his dick out,” Downey Jr said. “Full Monty,” Johansson added. “Full Marky,” said Harris.

“Make Mark be naked by making your mark on November 8,” Smulders and Tucci added.

Hey, if promising a nude Mark Ruffalo helps stop Trump...

[Flagg]

Rather see a nude Hulk raping Iron Man. I seem to recall someone drawing that... But now it remains... Buried alive... Buried alive... Buried alive...

HAAAAAAAAAVVVVOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOK!!!

[Flagg]

...the most important election in generations...

Every POTUS election cycle people on bot sides of the aisle say this. Every time. Even Clinton vs Fally McFalldown (Dole, '96). The sad part is, and this may be the usual pre-election jitters talking, this time it may be right.

[Grumman]

The video is the first in a series coming from Whedon’s new Super Pac, Save the Day, which is “dedicated to the idea that voting is a necessary and heroic act” and “committed to fighting the apathy, cynicism, and honest confusion that keeps citizens from using their vote”.
...
Martin Sheen, who played President Bartlet on the West Wing, also featured in Whedon’s video, telling viewers, “We cannot pretend both sides are equally unfavorable”.

Fuck off. If you're doing this for Hillary, don't pretend you're doing it to encourage voting in general.

[cosmicalstorm]

Trump might be generating a winning image. Americans like winners so I can see him growing a lot before the election. HRC seems to be failing. At least thats my impression, but I live in my own filter bubble so it's hard to know how objective that feeling is.

If there is another election in the US after this one I really wonder how grotesquely absurd that election will be? I know the comparison to Rome is worn out but it might the final years of the US. Emperors. Caligula. Breadriots. Polarization. The breakup of the current US into several smaller entities could come in a not so distant future in my (crazy?) opinion.
It seems unstable.

[Flagg]

Trump might be generating a winning image. Americans like winners so I can see him growing a lot before the election. HRC seems to be failing. At least thats my impression, but I live in my own filter bubble so it's hard to know how objective that feeling is.

If there is another election in the US after this one I really wonder how grotesquely absurd that election will be? I know the comparison to Rome is worn out but it might the final years of the US. Emperors. Caligula. Breadriots. Polarization. The breakup of the current US into several smaller entities could come in a not so distant future in my (crazy?) opinion.
It seems unstable.

HRC is ahead in the polls, so I dunno where you're getting your information.

[Flagg]

The video is the first in a series coming from Whedon’s new Super Pac, Save the Day, which is “dedicated to the idea that voting is a necessary and heroic act” and “committed to fighting the apathy, cynicism, and honest confusion that keeps citizens from using their vote”.
...
Martin Sheen, who played President Bartlet on the West Wing, also featured in Whedon’s video, telling viewers, “We cannot pretend both sides are equally unfavorable”.

Fuck off. If you're doing this for Hillary, don't pretend you're doing it to encourage voting in general.

Yes. Damn them! The truth is not to be told, you must pretend! Because it's totally not like GOTV efforts target the under 30 crowd who are far more likely to vote for Clinton instead of Sphincter-Face Donnie Douchebag.

And seriously, I'd love to see you go back through your history on this BBS and see how many times you've given a "fuck off" to Republican officials who are passing legislation making it harder for likely Democratic voters to cast a ballot.

[Simon_Jester]

Hm, this is random and kind of silly, but I was in a grocery checkout and I noticed a silly pattern.

Is it just me, or is the National Enquirer (hah!) acting like a Trump subsidiary? It seems like every single issue lately has had their front cover Photoshop be an attack on Hillary Clinton. A week or two ago they were calling her fat, and this week's cover has her done up to look like a sicklier version of Palpatine to go with the "BRUSH WITH DEATH" headline.

[Elheru Aran]

Old news. They endorsed him a while ago.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the ... -enquirer/

It figures, he's basically their political wet dream come to life.

[Dalton]

Donny Jingles is a walking talking Enquirer.

[The Romulan Republic]

Hillary is slowly inching up on fivethirtyeight again.

Here's hoping for a knock out first debate performance next week to keep the turnaround going.

[Mr Bean]

Hillary is slowly inching up on fivethirtyeight again.

Here's hoping for a knock out first debate performance next week to keep the turnaround going.

Now lets be 100% honest now, what would a knock out first debate performance look like?

Trump be proven wrong on the things he says?
Trump flubbing a debate line?
Trump physically attacking Secretary Clinton on stage?

Basically if he ends the evening still wearing pants most commentators will put the debate in the Trump win column.

[U.P. Cinnabar]

Old news. They endorsed him a while ago.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the ... -enquirer/

It figures, he's basically their political wet dream come to life.

The National Enquirer has been dogging Hillary from the time she was First Lady, with everything from lesbian rumors to causing the 1919 World Series.

Much like the "legitimate" media.

[The Romulan Republic]

Hillary is slowly inching up on fivethirtyeight again.

Here's hoping for a knock out first debate performance next week to keep the turnaround going.

Now lets be 100% honest now, what would a knock out first debate performance look like?

Trump be proven wrong on the things he says?
Trump flubbing a debate line?
Trump physically attacking Secretary Clinton on stage?

Basically if he ends the evening still wearing pants most commentators will put the debate in the Trump win column.

There are several things to consider.

One, a lot of the public doesn't pay much attention to politics. The debates will be some peoples' first major exposure to either candidate, their first chance to see for themselves that Trump really is as horrible as people make him out to be.

Two, the commentators can say what they want, anyone who watches will likely see that Clinton is a better debater.

Three, low expectations may all but ensure that Trump is perceived as "winning" the first debate. But I don't know if he can keep playing the "did better than expected" card effectively for the next two if he does well in the first one.

Obama had a widely critiqued first debate against Romney and rallied in the later ones, so a disappointing first debate for Clinton doesn't necessarily sink her campaign.

Four, and perhaps most importantly, is the possibility of Trump losing his cool on stage and saying/doing something bad even by his standards. Attacking Clinton physically is unlikely, though it would be amusing to see him taken down by his own Secret Service detail.

But something like him letting slip the N-word on stage, or advocating concentrations camps for Muslims and Mexicans, while perhaps unlikely, honestly wouldn't shock me at this point.

[Dalton]

It's going to be a glorious shitshow, and it's going to cause monster traffic. Hofstra is my alma mater, and I know how ridiculously busy the whole Island can be.

[Simon_Jester]

Hillary is slowly inching up on fivethirtyeight again.

Here's hoping for a knock out first debate performance next week to keep the turnaround going.

Now lets be 100% honest now, what would a knock out first debate performance look like?

Trump be proven wrong on the things he says?
Trump flubbing a debate line?
Trump physically attacking Secretary Clinton on stage?

Basically if he ends the evening still wearing pants most commentators will put the debate in the Trump win column.

The flip side of that is that people will still be watching the debates. Anything stupid that he does will be seen by tens of millions. Anything particularly ridiculous that he says will go viral.

Most of the time, the only people paying attention to Donald Trump are those who already love him, or at least are prepared to grit their teeth and vote for him because they think Hillary Clinton is a lesbian demon-alien from the planet Xffto. Any time that changes, the media's spin on the debate isn't going to be the only thing in play.

[Wild Zontargs]

Yay, more circus acts.

The Combetta Episode.

Hey Shep, I think the FBI has identified our mysterious VERY VIP, and it might not be Clinton.

Obama used a pseudonym in emails with Clinton, FBI documents reveal

President Barack Obama used a pseudonym in email communications with Hillary Clinton and others, according to FBI records made public Friday.

The disclosure came as the FBI released its second batch of documents from its investigation into Clinton’s private email server during her tenure as secretary of state.

The 189 pages the bureau released includes interviews with some of Clinton’s closest aides, such as Huma Abedin and Cheryl Mills; senior State Department officials; and even Marcel Lazar, better known as the Romanian hacker “Guccifer.”

In an April 5, 2016 interview with the FBI, Abedin was shown an email exchange between Clinton and Obama, but the longtime Clinton aide did not recognize the name of the sender.

"Once informed that the sender's name is believed to be pseudonym used by the president, Abedin exclaimed: 'How is this not classified?'" the report says. "Abedin then expressed her amazement at the president's use of a pseudonym and asked if she could have a copy of the email."

The State Department has refused to make public that and other emails Clinton exchanged with Obama. Lawyers have cited the "presidential communications privilege," a variation of executive privilege, in order to withhold the messages under the Freedom of Information Act.

The report doesn't provide more details on the contents of that particular email exchange, but says it took place on June 28, 2012, and had the subject line: "Re: Congratulations." It may refer to the Supreme Court's ruling that day upholding a key portion of the Obamacare law.

A report on the FBI's June 7, 2016 interview with "Guccifer" confirms FBI Director James Comey's claim that Lazar falsely asserted that he'd surreptitiously accessed Clinton's server.

"Lazar began by stating that he had never claimed to hack the Clinton server. [An FBI agent] then advised that Fox News had recently published an article which reported that Lazar had claimed to have to Clinton server. Lazar then stated that he recalled the interview with Fox News, and that he had lied to them about hacking the Clinton server."

Additional FBI interviewees whose reports were made public Friday included Jake Sullivan, Clinton's policy planning director; Bryan Pagliano, a former Clinton technology aide; Monica Hanley, a veteran Clinton aide who worked for her in the Senate and at State; and Sidney Blumenthal, Clinton’s longtime confidant.

Hanley revealed in her FBI interview that she had no idea where a thumb drive she used to store an archive of Clinton's emails had gone. Hanley searched for the thumb drive, which the FBI described as "something she happened to have laying around the house," several times but was unable to find it.

The interviews provide more insight into Clinton's lack of technical acumen. According to the FBI's Abedin writeup, she "could not use a computer"; Hanley said Clinton had no idea what her own email password was, and had to rely on aides.

The so-called "302" reports also detail FBI interviews with former Secretary of State Colin Powell, former CIA acting director Mike Morell, State Department official Pat Kennedy, State Department Inspector General Steve Linick, Bill Clinton aide Justin Cooper, former diplomatic security chief Eric Boswell and longtime diplomat Lewis Lukens.

Some of the interview reports had the subject's name removed on privacy grounds before the records were released. Many of those people seem to be computer technicians or lower-level State Department officials.

The FBI published 58 pages of documents earlier this month that revealed Clinton had relied on others’ judgment to not send her classified material during email correspondences.

“Clinton did not recall receiving any emails she thought should not be on an unclassified system,” the FBI said in its Sept. 2 report. “She relied on State officials to use their judgment when emailing her and could not recall anyone raising concerns with her regarding the sensitivity of the information she received at her email address.”

But remember, "President Obama only learned of Hillary Clinton's private email address use for official State Department business after a New York Times report, he told CBS News in an interview." Maybe not, depending on what was in those emails.

[Mr Bean]

In other news Politico ran a story called The 37 Fatal Gaffes That Didn’t Kill Donald Trump

Here are the first twenty

Here are 37 of his gaffes that could have been fatal—but somehow weren’t.

1. “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.” June 16, 2015, announcement speech.

2. “He’s not a war hero. He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.” July 17, 2015, Family Leadership Summit in Iowa. Trump was referring to Senator John McCain, a former Navy pilot who was tortured during his five-and-a-half years as a POW during the Vietnam war.

3. “You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever.” August 8, 2015, CNN interview about Megyn Kelly, one of Fox News’ moderators in the first Republican debate.

4. “Well I really watch the shows. You really see a lot of great, you know, when you watch your show and all of the other shows, and you have the generals and you have certain people that you like.” August 16, 2015, interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” trying to name his foreign policy advisors.

5. “Look at that face! Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president?!” September 9, 2015, in Rolling Stone, talking about GOP candidate Carly Fiorina.

6. “It has not been easy for me ... My father gave me a small loan of a million dollars.” October 26, 2015, on NBC’s “TODAY” show.

7. “@mygreenhippo #BenCarson is now leading in the #polls in #Iowa. Too much #Monsanto in the #corn creates issues in the brain? #Trump #GOP.” October 22, 2015, retweet by @realDonaldTrump.

8. “I want to know who are the soldiers carrying suitcases with $50 million? How stupid are we? I wouldn’t be surprised if those soldiers, if the cash didn’t get there.” October 1, 2015, speech in Keene, New Hampshire, suggesting U.S. soldiers embezzled cash intended for disbursement to officials in Iraq and Afghanistan.

9. “Now the poor guy, you ought to see this guy. ‘Ah, I don’t know what I said! I don’t remember!’” November 30, 2015, physically mocks New York Times reporter Serge Kovaleski, who has a congenital condition called arthrogryposis that affects his joints.

10. “I think, for me, nuclear is just the power, the devastation is very important to me.” December 15, 2015, answering a debate question about his priority in the “nuclear triad,” the three ways (air, land and sea) that nuclear missiles can be launched.

11. “The other thing with the terrorists is you have to take out their families, when you get these terrorists, you have to take out their families. They care about their lives, don’t kid yourself. When they say they don’t care about their lives, you have to take out their families,” December 2, 2015, interview on “Fox & Friends.”

12 a. “Is there anyone in this room who doesn’t renegotiate deals? Probably 99 percent of you. Probably more than any room I've ever spoken in.”
12 b. “I’m a negotiator like you folks were negotiators.”
12 c. “You’re not going to support me because I don’t want your money,” December 3, 2015, speaking at the Republican Jewish Coalition.

13. “Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on.” December 7, 2015, reading from a statement by the Trump campaign.

14. “Two Corinthians, right? Two Corinthians 3:17, that’s the whole ballgame. Where the spirit of the Lord—right?—is, there is liberty!” February 18, 2016, speech at Liberty University, citing the book of the Bible that Christians call “Second Corinthians.”

15. “So if you see somebody getting ready to throw a tomato, knock the crap out of ’em, would you? Seriously. Okay? Just knock the hell — I promise you, I will pay for the legal fees. I promise. I promise.” February 1, 2016, rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

16. “If and when the Vatican is attacked by ISIS, which as everyone knows is ISIS’s ultimate trophy, I can promise you that the Pope would have only wished and prayed that Donald Trump would have been President because this would not have happened. … For a religious leader to question a person’s faith is disgraceful. I am proud to be a Christian and as President I will not allow Christianity to be consistently attacked and weakened, unlike what is happening now, with our current President. No leader, especially a religious leader, should have the right to question another man’s religion or faith.” February 18, 2016. Press release from the Trump campaign.

17. “Well, just so you understand, I don't know anything about David Duke, okay? I don't know anything about what you’re even talking about with white supremacy or white supremacists. So, I don't know.” February 28, 2016 on CNN, asked if he’ll disavow the endorsement of former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke.

18. “Lyin' Ted Cruz just used a picture of Melania from a G.Q. shoot in his ad. Be careful, Lyin' Ted, or I will spill the beans on your wife!” March 22, 2016, tweet from @realDonaldTrump.

19. “The answer is that there has to be some form of punishment.” March 30, 2016, at an MSNBC town hall meeting in Green Bay, Wisconsin, discussing what should happen to women who procure illegal abortions.

20. “It's not like, gee whiz, nobody has them. So, North Korea has nukes. Japan has a problem with that. I mean, they have a big problem with that. Maybe they would in fact be better off if they defend themselves from North Korea … Including with nukes, yes, including with nukes," April 3, 2016, interview with Chris Wallace on Fox.

17 more at the link and we expect number 38 any day now.

[Q99]

One of the reasons they aren't fatal?

The media really hasn't been focusing down on them like they should (or, indeed, as they do on things like Hillary's well-troden e-mails, which get rehashed ad infinitum). Something gets said, they'll talk about them, and then... move on to the next thing.

[The Romulan Republic]

One of the reasons they aren't fatal?

The media really hasn't been focusing down on them like they should (or, indeed, as they do on things like Hillary's well-troden e-mails, which get rehashed ad infinitum). Something gets said, they'll talk about them, and then... move on to the next thing.

That and at some point, people get overloaded with it, and each new horrific thing just blends into the general sea of vileness.

Plus some people actually like that he's an appalling dick. Assholes see a kindred spirit who can get away with saying all the things they wish they could get away with saying, and others mistake shamelessness for honesty.

But yeah, the email thing gets hugely disproportionate attention.

What was it Bernie said? "Enough about the damn emails"?

[Darth Yan]

I wish they had had the CP5 at the democratic convention or had them publicly endorse Hillary. The CP5 has long been one of the touchiest things Donald has done. They're lives were wrecked in large part by Donald calling for them to die. Having them might help gain the black vote

[SolarpunkFan]

Debates are tonight, I predict the following:

Trump gives some catchy but ultimately meaningless soundbites. He will detail very little (if any) concrete policies.

Clinton will give concrete and detailed policies.

The press will declare Trump a winner because he didn't act like a total fool, while playing clips of Clinton talking over and over again on the news cycle.

My peers will decide not to vote for Hillary because they're shallow minded assholes who are swayed by style instead of substance. They will not vote for her because she "reminds me too much of my mom/has a grating voice/is boring/isn't leftist enough/is a warhawk/all of the above".

Trump wins the general election handily and the world begins its plummet into Hell.

And the next generation (who will probably have nothing to look forward to but a return to a hunter-gatherer neolithic lifestyle) will ask us why we never stopped such a terrible thing from happening. Why we let such a transparently horrible person grab so much power. Why we never did the right thing even though Trump proved himself to be a hate filled man that would be a disaster from the day he started campaigning and thus giving us ample warning.

[The Romulan Republic]

While I am certainly aware of the worst case scenarios, I'm not going to concede this election lost more than a month from the finish. Especially when Clinton isn't actually behind in most polls.

Even a bad first debate result won't change that (and I don't expect it to be bad for Clinton, so much as widely spun as a Trump win because he managed to get through it without dropping his pants). Obama had a disappointing first debate result in 2012, and he came back strong.

[The Vortex Empire]

My peers will decide not to vote for Hillary because they're shallow minded assholes who are swayed by style instead of substance. They will not vote for her because she "reminds me too much of my mom/has a grating voice/is boring/isn't leftist enough/is a warhawk/all of the above".

You know Millennials support Clinton over Trump stronger than any other age group, right?

[The Romulan Republic]

Fucking hell.

fivethirtyeight's Nowcast has Trump at over 50% chance of victory for the first time.

Polls only and Polls plus still give Clinton a slight edge.

What the fuck is wrong with these dip shits? Do they actually want everyone who isn't an alt Right white heterosexual American Christian man to be stripped of their civil liberties? Or are they buying the mindless swill that "Oh, he won't really be that bad, it couldn't possibly happen here, Congress will control him despite aiding and abetting him and the Tea Party at every turn for years"?