Don't get me wrong here, But I LIKE Donald Trump.

[kgwilson]

One thing that always intrigues me is that Americans consider themselves to have the greatest democracy in the world when in fact they rank No 25 under the EIU world democracy index and are actually considered a flawed democracy. The way their system works seems pretty flawed to me as well although I have not researched the Economic Intelligence Units process of determining this.

 

Trump seemed determined to move towards Authoritarianism by garnering support from a fanatical group who cared little for truth and justice but the majority of republicans who voted for him were more concerned about the enemy of Socialism than they were of Trump so turned a blind eye. I was surprised to find out that about 100 million Americans are evangelical Christians and almost all are exclusively republican. This puts them in the same boat as fundamentalist muslims or any other fanatical religious nut job religions. What goes on inside the vocal beer bbq & guns mob heads is a mystery as well.

 

Most Americans I have come to know and those I was in business with when I was there were fine people but there was always an undercurrent that I did not get close to, nor did I want to.

Edited November 7, 2020 by kgwilson

[old man emu]

2 hours ago, Jerry_Atrick said:

OK.. so that does not bode well for Biden, then?

Too true.

[red750]

I read where a comment or tweet by Trump in 2018 lost him support in Arizona. When Sen. John McCain, an AZ hero died, Trump said "Why are they flying flags at half mast for that loser? You're not a hero if you get captured, you are a loser."

[Jerry_Atrick]

Looks like Biden has it in the bag... They are calling Pennsylvania with 99% and what I guess pundits are saying is it is unassailable at this stage.. Arizona is narrowing to Trump and my news says 90% counted... If it goes to Trump, that still leaves Biden with over 270 votes, however, Georgia is uber-close and still not done, and Nevada is only 80% counted. If those 2 were to go the other way, it becomes Trumps (Georgia has about 8,000 mil votes to count last time I heard and if there is a hangover formm 2016, then even though Trump stuffed around with the senior brass, I wouldn't be so sure of the rank and file). Nevada is anyone's guess, but I suppose they are in early and mail-in ballots, so they it would be all over red rover for Trump-et... I still think this is too close to call, but I am happy to have my pre-election predications wrong.

[Jerry_Atrick]

Nevada called.. It's all over red rover....

 

As they say in the US, "I would rather be dead than red"... (supposed to refer to communism, but the irony - if only the yanks knew what the word irony actually meant).

[Marty_d]

Given Biden's age, if he wins the election it wouldn't be surprising if he did fall off the perch during his presidency.

 

You mentioned faithless Electoral College voters before @Jerry_Atrick and mentioned that you thought they might have had their vote overturned - not according to what I heard on RN the other day, they mentioned cases of proven faithless voters being reprimanded and fined, but their votes remained as they had cast them!  I think it depends on the different laws in different states.

 

All of which makes me extremely grateful that we have a single voting system run by a single government body.  Yes we have problems with our democracy but I'd much rather ours than theirs.

 

[old man emu]

In some States, faithless Electoral College members can be replaced with those who toe the line.

 

This method of election sure makes a mockery of the concept of democracy. I bet even the Chinese have "first past the post" for their representatives in the country's parliament, despite there being only one Party.

[onetrack]

Anyone want a truckload of Trump election merchandise? Now going for 5c for a 20 foot container load! I guess the sellers can console themselves with the profits they made early on.

I guess it could all be hastily modified to express something different. How about a cup saying "Enjoying my Hot Cup of Trump Supporter Tears"?

 

https://www.referralcandy.com/blog/2016-elections-merchandise/

[kgwilson]

1 hour ago, old man emu said:

In some States, faithless Electoral College members can be replaced with those who toe the line.

 

This method of election sure makes a mockery of the concept of democracy. I bet even the Chinese have "first past the post" for their representatives in the country's parliament, despite there being only one Party.

That's why USA is classified as a flawed democracy & at No 25 in the world. It crossed the line from full to flawed in 2016. Partisanship & Trump were the main reasons given although it had been declining for years due to declining trust in government.

[octave]

this sums up the current situation I think

 

https://vimeo.com/221380805

[red750]

I don't know if this will work for you bt here goes. A GIF of Donny's reaction.

 

https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fthumbs.gfycat.com%2FEllipticalEarlyKillerwhale-size_restricted.gif%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR210EMm_w8Yt_1ySmDVDuMKVqzT40Rg-1ZRU6NkDVT_rLZ-9pXycoJgKyM&h=AT3eVQGc_CBDUWK3kqsSjltxoXNdzFhblWFUnIg8-n_yWlxv-PTO0MoJl60eXM_c81oSAvmLY0Rw9c-90-81MZyfydj2o1qYOg-Lzx0Jja6E9ZGUiNaAnVGgPTshsZZDZk6y

[red750]

21 hours ago, Yenn said:

he should be found incapable of being President and replaced by Pence,

Why would you wish that on anyone? That science denying fundamentalist ratbag woould take everyone back to the 16th century.

[willedoo]

3 hours ago, old man emu said:

This method of election sure makes a mockery of the concept of democracy. I bet even the Chinese have "first past the post" for their representatives in the country's parliament, despite there being only one Party.

It's always debatable how fair first past the post is here in Australia. On the face of it, it might seem fair but is not representative where there are lots of choices. If ten candidates run for a seat, eight get 10% of the vote, one gets 9% and one gets 11%. The person elected holds office with only 11% of votes and 89% of the electorate not wanting them. Some might say that's democratic and fair but it's the reason we have preferential voting here.

 

You would think in a national presidential election first past the post on a public count would be fair if the only serious contenders were the two big parties.

 

 

Edited November 8, 2020 by willedoo

[willedoo]

1 hour ago, red750 said:

Why would you wish that on anyone? That science denying fundamentalist ratbag woould take everyone back to the 16th century.

One good thing about the result is that it's a trifecta getting rid of the fools Pence and Pompeo as well. The Three Stooges are getting the boot.

[Jerry_Atrick]

Would have been better if it were Biden inthe picture, bit still good:

[willedoo]

I'm sure Hillary is a Star Trek fan. She always wears that hair helmet and strange suits.

[red750]

Madame Tussauds Berlin throws the wax figure of Donald Trump into the trash. - Yahoo News

 

[Yenn]

No doubt there will be much rejoicing by the media and most of the people of the rest of the world, who actually watched the election, but don't forget that Trump is still president. The video in the kindergarten was just about an honest picture of what is happening and still going to happen.

Presidential decrees will be issued and much noise made by Trump, but with a bit of luck the republican party will combine with the democrats to get rid of him before inaugration day. If they don't I can see real trouble ahead for both republicans and also democrats.

I like the comment about the three fat fools. Pence was the invisible man, but that is nothing new. L B Johnson was the same until J F K was assasinated and Biden seldom appeared when he was V. P.

Pompeo always appeared to me to have changed his name, he was really Pomposuo by birth.

[Yenn]

I have just seen on the news that the American TV Stations have declared Biden the winner. Is the USA run by TV stations? Do they run the elections? If so we can see what is wrong with the system. I would have thought that even in the US they would have waited for an "official" declaration from whoever controls the electoral system.

Would we accept Anthony Green of the ABC telling us that our election was won by whoever?

[Jerry_Atrick]

M understanding is that in Austrslia, there is rarely a declaration by the AEC before leaders (usually) concede and claim victory..when the numbers released result in a foregone conclusion. The US equivalent declare the numbers and the TV networks report them and when it is calculated a contestant has an unassailable lead, they call it.. but it is not official. And it is for our consumption. The contestants should be using their own calculations from their own version of the various state electoral commissions before declaring... It is not official, which is why Trump is able not to concede.

[octave]

it is never official until the electoral collage has voted, this is a little while away.  It is usual to concede or  to claim victory when it is no longer mathematically possible for the result to change.

[Old Koreelah]

9 hours ago, willedoo said:

It's always debatable how fair first past the post is here in Australia. On the face of it, it might seem fair but is not representative where there are lots of choices. If ten candidates run for a seat, eight get 10% of the vote, one gets 9% and one gets 11%. The person elected holds office with only 11% of votes and 89% of the electorate not wanting them...

Some countries have run-off elections a week after the first poll. Might work there, but Australia is vast; some people drive hours to get to a polling place.
I like our preferential system. It means if your first choice doesn’t get up, you get to vote for your second preference and so on.

[Jerry_Atrick]

The memes are going to be coming thick and fast... last one I will put here - any others, I will put in Funny Pictures:

[red750]

I'm fed up to the back teethwith all this US election jibber jabber and the talking heads on TV bashing my ears with their opinions. Well I would be if I had any back teeth. I'd rather watch repeats of Everybody Loves Raymond, Big Bang Theory or The Golden Girls, and half of them are dead.

 

My wife and son storm around proclaiming the sins of the world have been delivered on poor ole Donny, while my daughter is extatic at the apparent result.

 

Saints preseve us!

[old man emu]

This was created in October after the first debate. It's prophetic.