2020 General Election: The death march to the White House

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Venomous: Nov 7, 2011

oh, good, we have a general thread now! Time to point out that Mark Blyth is right about most things, and I don't doubt that he's right about Trump winning again:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwSDszG_HXE

It was said ad nauseum in the primary thread, but it bears repeating: Joe Biden is the worst possible candidate that the Democrats could run at this point. He is going to lose to Trump in a landslide, because nobody is enthusiastic to vote for Biden now and even fewer will be enthusiastic to vote for him in November. I don't see him dropping out, and he will ride this train to the worst Democratic loss since 1988.

# ? May 1, 2020 12:48

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# ? Jun 10, 2024 10:15

SimonChris: Apr 24, 2008; The Baron's daughter is missing, and you are the man to find her. No problem. With your inexhaustible arsenal of hard-boiled similes, there is nothing you can't handle.; Grimey Drawer

SimonChris posted:

https://twitter.com/JakeSherman/status/1256185795481919489

Full text of Biden's statement:

"Joe Biden posted:

April was Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Every year, at this time, we talk about awareness, prevention, and the importance of women feeling they can step forward, say something, and be heard. That belief � that women should be heard � was the underpinning of a law I wrote over 25 years ago. To this day, I am most proud of the Violence Against Women Act. So, each April we are reminded not only of how far we have come in dealing with sexual assault in this country � but how far we still have to go.

When I wrote the bill, few wanted to talk about the issue. It was considered a private matter, a personal matter, a family matter. I didn�t see it that way. To me, freedom from fear, harm, and violence for women was a legal right, a civil right, and a human right. And I knew we had to change not only the law, but the culture.

So, we held hours of hearings and heard from the most incredibly brave women � and we opened the eyes of the Senate and the nation � and passed the law.

In the years that followed, I fought to continually strengthen the law. So, when we took office and President Obama asked me what I wanted, I told him I wanted oversight of the critical appointments in the Office on Violence Against Women at the Department of Justice and I wanted a senior White House Advisor appointing directly to me on the issue. Both of those things happened.

As Vice President, we started the �It�s on Us� campaign on college campuses to send the message loud and clear that dating violence is violence � and against the law.

We had to get men involved. They had to be part of the solution. That�s why I made a point of telling young men this was their problem too � they couldn�t turn a blind eye to what was happening around them � they had a responsibility to speak out. Silence is complicity.

In the 26 years since the law passed, the culture and perceptions have changed but we�re not done yet.

It�s on us, and it�s on me as someone who wants to lead this country. I recognize my responsibility to be a voice, an advocate, and a leader for the change in culture that has begun but is nowhere near finished. So I want to address allegations by a former staffer that I engaged in misconduct 27 years ago.

They aren�t true. This never happened.

While the details of these allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault are complicated, two things are not complicated. One is that women deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, and when they step forward they should be heard, not silenced. The second is that their stories should be subject to appropriate inquiry and scrutiny.

Responsible news organizations should examine and evaluate the full and growing record of inconsistencies in her story, which has changed repeatedly in both small and big ways.

But this much bears emphasizing.

She has said she raised some of these issues with her supervisor and senior staffers from my office at the time. They � both men and a woman � have said, unequivocally, that she never came to them and complained or raised issues. News organizations that have talked with literally dozens of former staffers have not found one � not one � who corroborated her allegations in any way. Indeed, many of them spoke to the culture of an office that would not have tolerated harassment in any way � as indeed I would not have.

There is a clear, critical part of this story that can be verified. The former staffer has said she filed a complaint back in 1993. But she does not have a record of this alleged complaint. The papers from my Senate years that I donated to the University of Delaware do not contain personnel files. It is the practice of Senators to establish a library of personal papers that document their public record: speeches, policy proposals, positions taken, and the writing of bills.

There is only one place a complaint of this kind could be � the National Archives. The National Archives is where the records are kept at what was then called the Office of Fair Employment Practices. I am requesting that the Secretary of the Senate ask the Archives to identify any record of the complaint she alleges she filed and make available to the press any such document. If there was ever any such complaint, the record will be there.

As a Presidential candidate, I�m accountable to the American people. We have lived long enough with a President who doesn�t think he is accountable to anyone, and takes responsibility for nothing. That�s not me. I believe being accountable means having the difficult conversations, even when they are uncomfortable. People need to hear the truth.

I have spent my career learning from women the ways in which we as individuals and as policy makers need to step up to make their hard jobs easier, with equal pay, equal opportunity, and workplaces and homes free from violence and harassment. I know how critical women�s health issues and basic women�s rights are. That has been a constant through my career, and as President, that work will continue. And I will continue to learn from women, to listen to women, to support women, and yes, to make sure women�s voices are heard.

We have a lot of work to do. From confronting online harassment, abuse, and stalking, to ending the rape kit backlog, to addressing the deadly combination of guns and domestic violence.

We need to protect and empower the most marginalized communities, including immigrant and indigenous women, trans women, and women of color.

We need to make putting an end to gender-based violence in both the United States and around the world a top priority.

# ? May 1, 2020 12:54

Solanumai: Mar 26, 2006; It's shrine maiden, not shrine maid!

Coincidentally I'm still believing women and Biden going "nu-uh, the people who worked on my staff don't remember me raping anyone" and "her story keeps changing, c'mon!" doesn't change very much no matter how much decorum he drapes it in.

He's spent his career learning how to creep up on women and sniff their hair, that's about all he's learned from them.

e: his deflection from the sealed files that people actually want to see is also not confidence-inspiring. Regardless of what he claims their contents should be.

Solanumai fucked around with this message at 13:00 on May 1, 2020

# ? May 1, 2020 12:57

punishedkissinger: Sep 20, 2017

SimonChris posted:

Full text of Biden's statement:

Ok so hes openly lying about this now

# ? May 1, 2020 12:59

Lame Devil: Mar 21, 2013; Heroes of the Storm
Goon Tournament Champion

It would be hilarious if Biden agrees to this because he genuinely does not remember and then they find the complaint.

# ? May 1, 2020 13:01

Venomous: Nov 7, 2011

Lame Devil posted:

It would be hilarious if Biden agrees to this because he genuinely does not remember and then they find the complaint.

Clearly they're going to memory hole it before it reaches the public eye

# ? May 1, 2020 13:02

Corky Romanovsky: Oct 1, 2006; Soiled Meat

Lame Devil posted:

It would be hilarious if Biden agrees to this because he genuinely does not remember and then they find the complaint.

Wouldn't be surprised if those get "misfiled".

# ? May 1, 2020 13:02

Sarcastr0: May 29, 2013; WON'T SOMEBODY PLEASE THINK OF THE BILLIONAIRES ?!?!?

punishedkissinger posted:

Ok so hes openly lying about this now

I mean, if you think he's a rapist then he's also a liar now, yeah. Dunno if that changes much for anyone on any side of this.

# ? May 1, 2020 13:02

Homora Gaykemi: Apr 30, 2020; by Fluffdaddy

"Totally clears the Presidential nominee. Thank you!"

# ? May 1, 2020 13:04

mdemone: Mar 14, 2001

Lame Devil posted:

It would be hilarious if Biden agrees to this because he genuinely does not remember and then they find the complaint.

That line is only included in the statement because they've already looked and either found/shredded it, or didn't find anything.

No chance he'd say that without knowing what the answer is.

# ? May 1, 2020 13:04

Solanumai: Mar 26, 2006; It's shrine maiden, not shrine maid!

Yeah just to be clear: the files are an easy deflection. They had no obligation to actually keep and file her complaint rather than just making it disappear.

There's more than enough corroboration for her story that something happened to her and whether or not the specific details all match is somewhat immaterial with regards to a traumatic event that occurred 27 years ago as being retold through neighbors and acquaintances. The Larry King call alone is more than pretty much any high profile accusation has had to back it up.

# ? May 1, 2020 13:16

FlamingLiberal: Jan 18, 2009; Would you like to play a game?

punishedkissinger posted:

Ok so hes openly lying about this now

100%

He�s going to have to deny it, even when it�s clear there is plenty of substantiation to her claims.

Dems could have avoided this easily and just picked one of the 20+ people running who have not had a credible accuser

I just don�t want to loving hear them going after Trump on his assault claims while they continue to act like this woman doesn�t exist and/or is lying.

# ? May 1, 2020 13:20

Carew: Jun 22, 2006

Biden is absolutely the worst loving possible candidate they could run against Trump other than Hillary again but I'm not a Biden doomer. Nobody knows how things will play out given that we're in double wild card mode right now.

# ? May 1, 2020 13:26

punishedkissinger: Sep 20, 2017

Sarcastr0 posted:

I mean, if you think he's a rapist then he's also a liar now, yeah. Dunno if that changes much for anyone on any side of this.

He says that she has no corroborating witnesses which is a lie

# ? May 1, 2020 13:30

StratGoatCom: Aug 6, 2019; Our security is guaranteed by being able to melt the eyeballs of any other forum's denizens at 15 minutes notice

punishedkissinger posted:

He says that she has no corroborating witnesses which is a lie

This will be part of a very successful attack ad, likely.

# ? May 1, 2020 13:30

dex_sda: Oct 11, 2012

StratGoatCom posted:

This will be part of a very successful attack ad, likely.

you think republicans would just do that, put their opponent openly lying in an attack ad?

# ? May 1, 2020 13:32

Marxalot: Dec 24, 2008; Appropriator of
Dan Crenshaw's Eyepatch

Venomous posted:

oh, good, we have a general thread now! Time to point out that Mark Blyth is right about most things, and I don't doubt that he's right about Trump winning again:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwSDszG_HXE

It was said ad nauseum in the primary thread, but it bears repeating: Joe Biden is the worst possible candidate that the Democrats could run at this point. He is going to lose to Trump in a landslide, because nobody is enthusiastic to vote for Biden now and even fewer will be enthusiastic to vote for him in November. I don't see him dropping out, and he will ride this train to the worst Democratic loss since 1988.

His book, Austerity, covers the exact brand of horseshit that the Biden admin is going to do to this country when they get in. Our budget is blown all to hell (because of the 'rona)! We need to cut unnecessary spending! Namely, social security and medicare because those are literally the only significant things this lovely government even does anymore aside from military spending. Maybe we can fill in local budget gaps by selling schools off entirely!

e: clarity, I am very tired

Marxalot fucked around with this message at 13:39 on May 1, 2020

# ? May 1, 2020 13:34

Terror Sweat: Mar 15, 2009

Joe Biden isn�t lucid enough to write that statement

# ? May 1, 2020 13:37

VH4Ever: Oct 1, 2005; by sebmojo

SimonChris posted:

Full text of Biden's statement:

Wow that's a whole lot of unrelated, empty bullshit surrounding a limp outright dodge. They're just gaslighting now.

Terror Sweat posted:

Joe Biden isn�t lucid enough to write that statement

Yeah you can actually HEAR all his advisors in that text.

# ? May 1, 2020 13:40

Ague Proof: Jun 5, 2014; they told me
I was everything

StratGoatCom posted:

https://twitter.com/FredTJoseph/status/1255908717620576263?s=19

I'd make some effortpost about how this is, but... seriously, I just can't right now.

Only a bro would have a problem with this. True feminists excuse powerful white men and smear accusers.

Seriously, what the gently caress.

Jimong5 posted:

I was curious so I looked up the 2018 map and it appears it was dems running up the score in blue states. If you go by congressional seats won to decide the state you get a map like this:

Which means Trump could win even with 2018 results.

Gerrymandering.

# ? May 1, 2020 13:40

SimonChris: Apr 24, 2008; The Baron's daughter is missing, and you are the man to find her. No problem. With your inexhaustible arsenal of hard-boiled similes, there is nothing you can't handle.; Grimey Drawer

punishedkissinger posted:

He says that she has no corroborating witnesses which is a lie

He says she has no corroborating witnesses among former staffers, which is technically true but ignores the corroboration from friends, family, and neighbors.

# ? May 1, 2020 13:50

Unoriginal Name: Aug 1, 2006; by sebmojo

relax-o-vision posted:

Don't be dense. Who does the "first group" in the analogy refer to, if not neo-nazis?

Answer the question, please. This is the second time you've evaded giving an answer.

Maybe the first group is rapists, the second group is rape apologists and the third group is advocates.

You just happen to be projecting the Democrat/Republican dichotomy into this analogy because it makes you feel less guilty.

# ? May 1, 2020 13:56

ManBoyChef: Aug 1, 2019; Deadbeat Dad

punishedkissinger posted:

He says that she has no corroborating witnesses which is a lie

usually people commit sexual assault with as many witnesses as possible. Sometimes they even have witness statements notarized.

Why do people suck so much?

# ? May 1, 2020 14:03

VitalSigns: Sep 3, 2011

LionArcher posted:

Everybody calling Biden a rapist, might want to double check a few things.

https://twitter.com/ecmclaughlin/status/1255657392466886657?s=21

I�m not saying she�s lying, or I don�t believe her. But some of this stuff seems... odd.

(USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)

(USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)

https://mobile.twitter.com/ECMcLaughlin/status/1255657397126721536

We need to listen to our survivors

No not the other ones, they're liars

Just me

# ? May 1, 2020 14:03

terrorist ambulance: Nov 5, 2009

VitalSigns posted:

https://mobile.twitter.com/ECMcLaughlin/status/1255657397126721536

We need to listen to our survivors

No not the other ones, they're liars

Just me

SURVIVORS DO THOUGH

THEYRE TROTTING OUT EVERY loving TIRED STEREOTYPE AND RAPE MYTH

THESE PEOPLE ARE loving MONSTERS AND IT MAKES ME SO loving MAD

# ? May 1, 2020 14:05

is pepsi ok: Oct 23, 2002

#metoo might be to most "first as tragedy then as farce" thing ever

# ? May 1, 2020 14:10

FlamingLiberal: Jan 18, 2009; Would you like to play a game?

terrorist ambulance posted:

SURVIVORS DO THOUGH

THEYRE TROTTING OUT EVERY loving TIRED STEREOTYPE AND RAPE MYTH

THESE PEOPLE ARE loving MONSTERS AND IT MAKES ME SO loving MAD

My favorite thing is the conspiracy that Reade is a Russian op. There are a lot of people (on Twitter at least) that believe this

# ? May 1, 2020 14:10

punishedkissinger: Sep 20, 2017

terrorist ambulance posted:

SURVIVORS DO THOUGH

THEYRE TROTTING OUT EVERY loving TIRED STEREOTYPE AND RAPE MYTH

THESE PEOPLE ARE loving MONSTERS AND IT MAKES ME SO loving MAD

Yeah, i'm not sure if these people just didn't learn anything from #metoo at all or if they're just liars.

probably just liars.

# ? May 1, 2020 14:10

Srice: Sep 11, 2011

FlamingLiberal posted:

My favorite thing is the conspiracy that Reade is a Russian op. There are a lot of people (on Twitter at least) that believe this

Fox News has definitely been more damaging overall no question, but it's impressive how in the past few years MSNBC has been doing a speedrun on breaking the brains of its viewers.

# ? May 1, 2020 14:14

Dick Trauma: Nov 30, 2007; God damn it, you've got to be kind.

The billionaires must be laughing at us right now, watching us tear one another apart as we try to make what's left of the system work. All the things that matter to us like voting, healthcare, poverty, mean nothing to them.

# ? May 1, 2020 14:16

FlamingLiberal: Jan 18, 2009; Would you like to play a game?

Srice posted:

Fox News has definitely been more damaging overall no question, but it's impressive how in the past few years MSNBC has been doing a speedrun on breaking the brains of its viewers.

Yeah I think I underestimated their impact, but it�s basically turned into Fox News for the #resistance morons

# ? May 1, 2020 14:17

Condiv: May 7, 2008; Sorry to undo the effort of paying a domestic abuser $10 to own this poster, but I am going to lose my dang mind if I keep seeing multiple posters who appear to be Baloogan.

With love,
a mod

the reaction to biden's rape vs bernie "telling warren a woman can't win" is incredible

news orgs treated it as the rock solid truth that bernie was definitely the biggest sexist in the race when warren came out with her "bernie said something about a woman can't win in a private meeting with me. i refuse to elaborate" poo poo. meanwhile, they have taken ages to even acknowledge reade's claims about biden, and she has multiple corroborating witnesses, AND their treatment of the allegations is downright subdued compared to how bernie was treated. people who believed warren were completely ready to cancel bernie when the claims that he said a sexism came out, and now those same people are saying we can't let a little thing like unwanted penetration stop biden from reaching the highest office in the US.

# ? May 1, 2020 14:20

VH4Ever: Oct 1, 2005; by sebmojo

Dick Trauma posted:

The billionaires must be laughing at us right now, watching us tear one another apart as we try to make what's left of the system work. All the things that matter to us like voting, healthcare, poverty, mean nothing to them.

Tell ya what, THAT'S the loving truth right there.

Relevant: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKUaqFzZLxU

# ? May 1, 2020 14:20

terrorist ambulance: Nov 5, 2009

Me too arose, supposedly, as a response to a failure of legal process and as a way to empower otherwise powerless survivors. As we now see the same failures of legal process replicated and mirrored in "extra-judicial", public relations sphere, it's clear now that metoo is just catch and kill by another name. Another baffle to protect the powerful and, where appropriate, make sure claims can be harnessed to take down the political opposition

Independent of the truth or falseness of her claims, the fact that this is being publicly adjudicated on the basis of provably false stereotypes like "women must report in a timely way and not say anything nice about the offender after the assault" with the ENDORSEMENT of survivors and no pushback from Metoo is proof of that to me

# ? May 1, 2020 14:26

FlamingLiberal: Jan 18, 2009; Would you like to play a game?

terrorist ambulance posted:

Me too arose, supposedly, as a response to a failure of legal process and as a way to empower otherwise powerless survivors. As we now see the same failures of legal process replicated and mirrored in "extra-judicial", public relations sphere, it's clear now that metoo is just catch and kill by another name. Another baffle to protect the powerful and, where appropriate, make sure claims can be harnessed to take down the political opposition

Independent of the truth or falseness of her claims, the fact that this is being publicly adjudicated on the basis of provably false stereotypes like "women must report in a timely way and not say anything nice about the offender after the assault" with the ENDORSEMENT of survivors and no pushback from Metoo is proof of that to me

I think the most telling thing was how Alyssa Milano, who was one of the prominent celebrity #metoo people, went back and scrubbed her Twitter of that stuff once these allegations came out.

# ? May 1, 2020 14:30

Dick Trauma: Nov 30, 2007; God damn it, you've got to be kind.

VH4Ever posted:

Tell ya what, THAT'S the loving truth right there.

Relevant: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKUaqFzZLxU

I started skipping through a George Carlin retrospective and landed on him saying "All businessmen are completely full of poo poo!" and I can't stop laughing.

# ? May 1, 2020 14:31

I AM GRANDO: Aug 20, 2006

terrorist ambulance posted:

Me too arose, supposedly, as a response to a failure of legal process and as a way to empower otherwise powerless survivors. As we now see the same failures of legal process replicated and mirrored in "extra-judicial", public relations sphere, it's clear now that metoo is just catch and kill by another name. Another baffle to protect the powerful and, where appropriate, make sure claims can be harnessed to take down the political opposition

Independent of the truth or falseness of her claims, the fact that this is being publicly adjudicated on the basis of provably false stereotypes like "women must report in a timely way and not say anything nice about the offender after the assault" with the ENDORSEMENT of survivors and no pushback from Metoo is proof of that to me

It's telling how it was almost immediately reduced from a popular mass movement to an occasion for a thin slice of celebrity actors to talk about their specific experience within hollywood. Any possibility for cultural change became neutralized over a span of months by turning the whole thing into an exercise in gossip and scandal rag poo poo.

# ? May 1, 2020 14:39

VitalSigns: Sep 3, 2011

terrorist ambulance posted:

SURVIVORS DO THOUGH

THEYRE TROTTING OUT EVERY loving TIRED STEREOTYPE AND RAPE MYTH

THESE PEOPLE ARE loving MONSTERS AND IT MAKES ME SO loving MAD

Right. Am I crazy or wasn't that criticism leveled against one of Bill Cosby's early accusers, that she praised a rich powerful man who controls careers of people like her after he assaulted her.

Survivors' stories are valid. Unless they didn't react exactly like me. Then they're full of poo poo.

# ? May 1, 2020 14:45

Wicked Them Beats: Apr 1, 2007; Moralists don't really *have* beliefs. Sometimes they stumble on one, like on a child's toy left on the carpet. The toy must be put away immediately. And the child reprimanded.

https://twitter.com/GravelInstitute/status/1256206740061732864?s=20

How can you see something like this and defend Biden? Even if you want to vote for him more than anything, you have to look at this and realize how hosed he is.

He's also claiming any personnel records are private documents and can't be released, which is a lie of course.

# ? May 1, 2020 14:48

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# ? Jun 10, 2024 10:15

KVeezy3: Aug 18, 2005; Airport Music for Black Folk

Pick posted:

That is from her article with her hometown newspaper, The Union. Later, she claimed to have been violated with Biden's hand. These two testimonies are inherently incompatible.

As a person in possession of a vagina, I am also having trouble logistically working out how this played out, but that's part of a continuing conversation with peers in possession of this organ.

quote:

Then, in 1993, when the friend was back in school, she received a phone call from Reade. Reade told her in detail that she had been sexually assaulted by Biden on Capitol Hill. The friend said she believes Reade called her within days of the alleged assault.

The friend said she advised Reade against filing a police report at the time.

The two remained in touch, on and off, over the years, the friend said. Last year, she said she again found herself urging Reade to exercise caution when Reade shared that she was contemplating going public about Biden. At the time, multiple women had come forward to say they had experienced physical interactions with Biden in the past that had made them feel uncomfortable. None of them accused him of sexual assault. The friend said she encouraged Reade to only publicly share her allegation of sexual harassment, which is what Reade ultimately did last year.

"I thought she was safer just talking about the harassment," the friend said. "It was probably bad advice."

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/28/politics/tara-reade-neighbor/index.html

# ? May 1, 2020 14:54

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > 2020 General Election: The death march to the White House

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