2020 Presidential Election: let the jockeying commence

[Clean]

I heard on the radio that Biden picked Mayor Pete for Sec. of Transportation. That's hilarious. He couldn't fix the pot holes in South Bend, but now he's in charge of the federal highway system. Biden is picking people for their identity, like Kamela and now Buttigieg, not their ability.

 

[Joe Fan]

Interesting that you chose the county map of Red vs Blue that addresses geography rather than the State map that address population.
At last count the population map was ahead by 7M+/- votes and significant general population.

The State map is 25 each but the population map is weighted to the Blue team.

As best I can tell those West Coast deep water ports and railheads are in Blue territory. A minor detour to Panama or Vancouver could fix that for the Red Team.

2020 US Presidential Election Results: Live Map

We get all of Alaska

 

[Monahorns]

The problem is that to entice businesses to stay, they'll want to maintain pretty loose credit in the short term. And once you do that, it's hard to go back.

Not sure how having higher interest rates will affect business location in a real world situation. If just that factor changes then you may be correct. It would make capital harder to come by. However, there are other things you can do to make the State more attractive to businesses financially, taxes and regulations, etc. Also a strong, stable currency is an incentive to for savers, consumers to live in Texas. So I don't see loose credit as a must.

I'm familiar with what states are, and that's what I'm talking about. I'm not sure that a hypothetical Republic of Texas would create state governments (as states are supposed to exist in the United States).

Why are you even bringing it up then? Is anyone talking about doing this? I don't see any reason to do this or I don't see Texas government wanting to do this. However, I wouldn't be against the state granted counties more powers.

 

[Monahorns]

When, therefore, Texas became one of the United States, she entered into an indissoluble relation. All the obligations of perpetual union, and all the guaranties of republican government in the Union, attached at once to the State. The act which consummated her admission into the Union was something more than a compact; it was the incorporation of a new member into the political body. And it was final. The union between Texas and the other States was as complete, as perpetual, and as indissoluble as the union between the original States. There was no place for reconsideration, or revocation, except through revolution, or through consent of the States.

The Constitution does not refer to anything being indissoluble or perpetual. That was a myth that Lincoln created to justify war against the Southern States.

I agree with Deez on all points in his response to my question.

 

[Mr. Deez]

From Texas vs White:
*726 When, therefore, Texas became one of the United States, she entered into an indissoluble relation. All the obligations of perpetual union, and all the guaranties of republican government in the Union, attached at once to the State. The act which consummated her admission into the Union was something more than a compact; it was the incorporation of a new member into the political body. And it was final. The union between Texas and the other States was as complete, as perpetual, and as indissoluble as the union between the original States. There was no place for reconsideration, or revocation, except through revolution, or through consent of the States.
The entire ruling for your review.
Texas v. White, 74 US 700 - Supreme Court 1869 - Google Scholar

I understand that the Supreme Court says that the states can't leave, but it's speaking without any legal text to back itself up. Just because they say something doesn't make it so.

While the Constitution provides for addition of States as approved by Congress there is no exit clause to perpetual union. The precedent is set and the Readmmision to the Union in 1870 by Congress sets Texas as a State.

The Constitution never refers to the union as perpetual. Furthermore, the absence of an exit clause doesn't restrict state power to secede. The lack of a prohibition on the power to secede means that states have it. That's consistent with the clear text of the 10th Amendment and our federalist system of having a federal government of enumerated powers and having state governments of general powers.

And to be clear, I'm not a fan of the Confederacy. My neck isn't red. I don't speak with a southern accent. I don't drink Lone Star, don't chew tobacco, and never had a mullet. I don't have a Confederate flag, and I don't have a bumper sticker that says, "Don't blame me. I voted for Jeff Davis." I support removing the Confederate flags from government buildings. Why? Because the Confederates were trying to protect an evil institution and shouldn't be honored for it.

However, the Constitution says what it says and doesn't say what it doesn't say, and the fact that the South was trying to do something for a nefarious reason doesn't change that. The attempt to give legal legitimacy to the North is simply an attempt to add to its moral legitimacy. It is against the Constitution and intellectually dishonest, even if it's coming from Scalia.

 

[Mr. Deez]

Not sure how having higher interest rates will affect business location in a real world situation. If just that factor changes then you may be correct. It would make capital harder to come by. However, there are other things you can do to make the State more attractive to businesses financially, taxes and regulations, etc. Also a strong, stable currency is an incentive to for savers, consumers to live in Texas. So I don't see loose credit as a must.

They can have a friendly business climate, but many businesses still rely on credit to function at various times. And of course, while higher interest rates encourage savings and discourage debt (which is a good thing in many respects), they make it much harder for people to buy homes. I'm all for saving, but as a practical matter, people need low-interest credit to buy homes.

Why are you even bringing it up then? Is anyone talking about doing this? I don't see any reason to do this or I don't see Texas government wanting to do this. However, I wouldn't be against the state granted counties more powers.

I brought it up, because it was responsive and relevant to the topic at hand. I didn't intend for it to become a controversy and didn't think it would become one. If they wanted to create states (perhaps based on the current court of appeals or SBOE districts), they certainly could. I just don't think they would.

I DO think they would draw long term Senate districts and base them on geography rather than population in opposition to the Reynolds v. Sims, which is one of the most result-oriented, intellectually fraudulent, and partisan pieces of ******** jurisprudence the Supreme Court has ever handed down.

 

[Joe Fan]

The Clintons love them some Smartmatic/Dominion too

 

[horninchicago]

And to be clear, I'm not a fan of the Confederacy. My neck isn't red. I don't speak with a southern accent. I don't drink Lone Star, don't chew tobacco, and never had a mullet.

Just saying...I live in the Chicago suburbs. Plenty of big truck driving, mullet wearing, beer drinking, tobacco chewing rednecks up here. It ain't just The South.

 

[Mr. Deez]

Just saying...I live in the Chicago suburbs. Plenty of big truck driving, mullet wearing, beer drinking, tobacco chewing rednecks up here. It ain't just The South.

I know. It's not just in the South. I've known rednecks and hillbillies all over the place. My nextdoor neighbor is a bit of a redneck, and he's British. Very nice guy. He pulled a dead bird out of the grill of my car with his bare hands.

 

[Monahorns]

They can have a friendly business climate, but many businesses still rely on credit to function at various times. And of course, while higher interest rates encourage savings and discourage debt (which is a good thing in many respects), they make it much harder for people to buy homes. I'm all for saving, but as a practical matter, people need low-interest credit to buy homes.

This is where a more stable monetary/financial policy can be a great advantage. Home prices are super inflated because of the cheap credit system we have. That and the new $s printed to reduce interest rates are given to banks and other who purchase real estate as a value store. The price of houses will come down or stay more or less the same with a better monetary system. That will be more beneficial for people than low rates.

 

[mb227]

I know. It's not just in the South. I've known rednecks and hillbillies all over the place. My nextdoor neighbor is a bit of a redneck, and he's British. Very nice guy. He pulled a dead bird out of the grill of my car with his bare hands.

No. He extracted dinner from your vehicle because you were just going to let it go to waste.

 

[Joe Fan]

“There are six counties that you need to steal. If you steal these six counties around the country, that flips the six states they’re in, which flips the electoral college votes that come with them, which flips the nation. You’ve got to take six places & cheat like crazy there.”​

2020 Election Fraud Is CCP 'Assassin's Mace': Patrick Byrne

 

[Joe Fan]

.... Roberts would have to wear it forever. ....

Told ya about Roberts

 

[Seattle Husker]

Told ya about Roberts

I'm going to say it right now...Lin Wood is a liar. Does anyone believe Justice Roberts really called Trump a "Motherf$cker" on the phone as he claimed in tweets yesterday? Not that the American Bar's disciplinary arm is strong but they have specific rules against defaming judges.

 

[mb227]

I'm going to say it right now...Lin Wood is a liar. Does anyone believe Justice Roberts really called Trump a "Motherf$cker" on the phone as he claimed in tweets yesterday? Not that the American Bar's disciplinary arm is strong but they have specific rules against defaming judges.

Can I believe Roberts would have uttered it? Sure. Do I believe it happened as alleged? Undecided.

The bar for defamation, even in a Bar proceeding, is still a high bar...and I don't see it being hurdled here.

 

[Joe Fan]

Can I believe Roberts would have uttered it? Sure. Do I believe it happened as alleged? Undecided.
The bar for defamation, even in a Bar proceeding, is still a high bar...and I don't see it being hurdled here.

From 2012

 

[Joe Fan]

Gallup Polling from 2012

Americans' opinions of U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts are now much more negative than they were seven years ago, with the most recent reading coming soon after he joined the four Democratic appointees on the court to uphold the U.S. healthcare law. Republicans' favorable rating of Roberts is down 40 percentage points from 2005, while Democrats' is up 19.​

Republicans Turn Against John Roberts, U.S. Supreme Court

 

[Mr. Deez]

now...Lin Wood is a liar.

Either Trump is paying him and Sidney Powell life-changing amounts of money, or he has something filthy on them that would get them thrown in the slammer. Two very successful and pretty respected attorneys have made themselves into total clowns in the name of serving Trump. It's really remarkable.

 

[Seattle Husker]

Either Trump is paying him and Sidney Powell life-changing amounts of money, or he has something filthy on them that would get them thrown in the slammer. Two very successful and pretty respected attorneys have made themselves into total clowns in the name of serving Trump. It's really remarkable.

I can't speak for Lin Wood's background but Powell was a very respectable Federal Prosecutor with what seems to be an equally strong private practice. From what I read she went into the deep end of conspiracies and went into an all out war against the DOJ, specifically their sentencing recommendations, ~10-15 years ago. Now she's full-on QAnon conspiracy theorist and somewhat a darling of that crowd. The fact that she jumped into defending Michael Flynn after he accepted his guilty plea helped get her a fan following. Hearkening back to Powell getting kicked out of the Elite Strike Team by Guiliani told me just how toxic her claims had become.

 

[Mr. Deez]

I can't speak for Lin Wood's background

Lin Wood did God's Work for a long time and was pretty respected, but his big claim to fame came when he represented Richard Jewell incident to the 1996 Olympic bombing. That put him on the map as a national figure, and since then he has built a reputation as one of the top defamation lawyers in the United States. He's quite good at what he does, but since he has gotten tangled up with Powell and Trump, the guy has totally beclowned himself.

 

[mchammer]

Lin Wood did God's Work for a long time and was pretty respected, but his big claim to fame came when he represented Richard Jewell incident to the 1996 Olympic bombing. That put him on the map as a national figure, and since then he has built a reputation as one of the top defamation lawyers in the United States. He's quite good at what he does, but since he has gotten tangled up with Powell and Trump, the guy has totally beclowned himself.

Anyone looking for fame outside their expertise beclowns themselves. Look at Krugman or any Nobel laureate for that matter.

 

[Mr. Deez]

Anyone looking for fame outside their expertise beclowns themselves. Look at Krugman or any Nobel laureate for that matter.

They don't beclown themselves like Wood and Powell did.

 

[mchammer]

They don't beclown themselves like Wood and Powell did.

That is subjective.

 

[Seattle Husker]

Lin Wood did God's Work for a long time and was pretty respected, but his big claim to fame came when he represented Richard Jewell incident to the 1996 Olympic bombing. That put him on the map as a national figure, and since then he has built a reputation as one of the top defamation lawyers in the United States. He's quite good at what he does, but since he has gotten tangled up with Powell and Trump, the guy has totally beclowned himself.

Both of them seem to have drank from the fountain of Trump and will go to any length, say anything and do anything to support his cause. Maybe you are right, they are getting paid by Trump but I'm not sure how much your reputation is worth, especially lofty ones like theirs. My conclusion is that they are true believers. They have traveled down the rabbit hole of QAnon and faithfully believe what they say, even if not supported by any facts. They have faith that eventually they'll be proven correct.

 

[Joe Fan]

Lin Wood did God's Work for a long time and was pretty respected, but his big claim to fame came when he represented Richard Jewell incident to the 1996 Olympic bombing. ....

Still repping Sandman, I believe

 

[Mr. Deez]

Both of them seem to have drank from the fountain of Trump and will go to any length, say anything and do anything to support his cause. Maybe you are right, they are getting paid by Trump but I'm not sure how much your reputation is worth, especially lofty ones like theirs. My conclusion is that they are true believers. They have traveled down the rabbit hole of QAnon and faithfully believe what they say, even if not supported by any facts. They have faith that eventually they'll be proven correct.

They may be true believers. It's just hard to imagine. I also suspect that there's a competition for who gets to be the next Michael Cohen. Ken Paxton is definitely in on that action.

 

[Phil Elliott]

They don't beclown themselves like Wood and Powell did.

Wow - could you just back away from the hyperbole pipe for a bit, please? Do you seriously think all their claims and all the affidavits of election tampering are a bunch of lies? These 2 lawyers are taking on the enormous deep state apparatus on our behalf and you call them clowns? You really think this election was totally on the up and up? SMH.

 

[Horn6721]

Here is Joe Biden in 2007
Essential Fleccas on Twitter: ""How are you gonna keep it from us being able to be in a position where you can manipulate the machines, manipulate the records?... I think we should pass a federal law mandating that the same machines with paper trails be mandatory for every federal election" -Joe Biden, 2007 https://t.co/0fWOVRHXFX" / Twitter

 

[Seattle Husker]

Here is Joe Biden in 2007
Essential Fleccas on Twitter: ""How are you gonna keep it from us being able to be in a position where you can manipulate the machines, manipulate the records?... I think we should pass a federal law mandating that the same machines with paper trails be mandatory for every federal election" -Joe Biden, 2007 https://t.co/0fWOVRHXFX" / Twitter

That security election bill was sitting on McConnell's desk, at least it was for the 6 months leading up to election. I think Krebs said that ~86% of elections had a paper trail, up from low 70s% in 2016.

The presence of a weakness in the voting machines doesn't automatically mean the risk was realized.

 

[Seattle Husker]

They may be true believers. It's just hard to imagine. I also suspect that there's a competition for who gets to be the next Michael Cohen. Ken Paxton is definitely in on that action.

I think this is by definition "beclowning" oneself. "verify under plenty of perjury".