Trump's HBO Interview

[c.d.]

The misalignment of the Florida ballot also resulted in some good trash talk by senior citizens, a number of whom thought they were voting for Gore but actually voted for Bush. Bush supporters mocked them for being senile and said that if they couldn't figure out the ballot they shouldn't be voting in the first place. They replied **** you punk. I've lived through stuff you can only dream about and wait till you get old.

c.d.

[c.d.]

Hello Wick,

Florida also screwed up their ballot in that it wasn't aligned properly. Some people (especially senior citizens) thought they were voting for X but it turned out that because of the misalignment of the names on the ballot they actually voted for Y. Pretty much a fiasco all around.

I do give credit to Gore for conceding. He could have contested the results and really torn the country apart.

c.d.

[Wickerman]

Thankyou RJ, there's something I'd never heard of.
And here's me thinking Abby was using a euphemism about some massacre in Chad (Africa), I was hesitant to ask.

Ah, also c.d., thankyou, two for the price of one!

[c.d.]

A hanging what?

Is that an American expression?

A hanging chad is an expression that was unfamiliar to most Americans until the Bush/Gore presidential election. Although Gore won the popular vote overall because of the electoral vote the election hinged on the winner of Florida's electoral votes. If memory serves me the recount showed Bush winning the state and hence the election by a mere 500 votes. When the vote was recounted they found that certain precincts in the state had used a type of punch that pushed out a little circle of paper next to the candidate's name. But sometimes the punch didn't completely push out the entire little piece of paper and left some of it hanging. These were called hanging chads. So controversy ensued as to whether these actually counted as a vote for that particular candidate. After much controversy Gore conceded and Bush became president.

c.d.

[rjpalmer]

Hi Wick.

On some American ballots, one punches out their choice from a little perforated rectangle. I want candidate X, so I punch out his rectangle with a pencil, or whatever tool I'm using.

The election of Gore v. Bush Jr was contested, particularly in Florida, where GW's brother was governor. Every ballot was recounted. It became a matter of contention whether ballots that weren't entirely punched-out deserved to be counted. Some of the ballots had a "hanging chad," where the voter obviously wanted to vote for candidate X, but didn't press firmly enough to entirely remove the rectangle from the ballot.

Hence, "hanging chad" had become part of the folklore of national elections.

[Wickerman]

A hanging what?

Is that an American expression?

[Abby Normal]

i sense a hanging chad like debacle coming

[jason_c]

Our ruling: Missing context

We rate the claim that mail-in ballot fraud in New Jersey is a sign of bigger issues as MISSING CONTEXT, based on our research. It’s true that charges of corruption have been made in a local New Jersey election conducted by mail. But assertions by Judicial Watch about how that case shows a systematic problem with voting by mail are not supported by their evidence. The article fails to note that several states have voted entirely by mail for as many as 20 years with fraud cases being an extreme rarity, and that states have protections in place to ward against election fraud.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...le/5493078002/

More trouble in Detroit surrounding absentee ballots. Yet we are meant to believe something like only 0.00004% of such ballots are fraudulent.

https://eu.freep.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/08/27/absentee-ballot-processing-detroit-errors/5635528002/

[Wickerman]

Everybody's getting in on the act.....

• China "prefers that President Trump - whom Beijing sees as unpredictable - does not win re-election", the statement says, and has been "expanding its influence efforts" ahead of the vote
• Russia is seeking to "denigrate" Mr Biden's candidacy and other members of a perceived "anti-Russia 'establishment'". Mr Evanina added that some other actors linked to Russia "are also seeking to boost President Trump's candidacy on social media and Russian television"
• Iran is trying to "undermine US democratic institutions", Mr Trump, and "divide the country" ahead of the vote by spreading disinformation and "anti-US content" online. Their efforts are driven partially by a belief a second term for the president "would result in a continuation of US pressure on Iran in an effort to foment regime change"

https://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2020-53702872

[Wickerman]

Actually I am pretty sure Canada is the same.

It would make sense, we do follow British customs & laws quite close.
But, I have to be honest, I've never looked into it, never had reason to.

[GUT]

That's OK GUT, I confuse people all the time.

I half expected you coming back with - Canadian politics are about the same. Which, if true, should be embarrassing for me except for the fact I have shown no interest in our politics, I don't have an issue in the way things are going here.
Trudeau is doing a fine job, except for his legalizing of Pot, I didn't agree with that.

Trump though keeps getting upset with Canada and tries to push Trudeau around. I've heard that Trump's closest advisers don't like Canada because we have been able to control COVID-19 much better than the US. We even keep our borders with the US closed because the US can't be trusted to follow common sense (not all of them of course), but Trump isn't interested in protecting his people, never has been, it's a shame 40% of the population can't see the wood for the trees.

Let's hope he is gone this November then we can all breathe easier, in more ways than one.

Keep 'em out!

Actually I am pretty sure Canada is the same.

[Wickerman]

Sorry I always thought you were in England.

That's OK GUT, I confuse people all the time.

I half expected you coming back with - Canadian politics are about the same. Which, if true, should be embarrassing for me except for the fact I have shown no interest in our politics, I don't have an issue in the way things are going here.
Trudeau is doing a fine job, except for his legalizing of Pot, I didn't agree with that.

Trump though keeps getting upset with Canada and tries to push Trudeau around. I've heard that Trump's closest advisers don't like Canada because we have been able to control COVID-19 much better than the US. We even keep our borders with the US closed because the US can't be trusted to follow common sense (not all of them of course), but Trump isn't interested in protecting his people, never has been, it's a shame 40% of the population can't see the wood for the trees.

Let's hope he is gone this November then we can all breathe easier, in more ways than one.

Keep 'em out!

[GUT]

I left England about 40 years ago...

Sorry I always thought you were in England.

[Wickerman]

One last try since I am probably doing a piss poor job explaining it. If Trump wins the popular vote in say California by even just one vote he wins all of California's 55 electoral votes. When the electoral college convenes, California's representative in the Electoral College is required by law to cast all of California's electoral votes for Trump. He can not change the election results in California. The same goes for all the other members of the electoral college. They have to cast their votes for the candidate who won the popular vote in their state not the candidate who got the most popular votes overall in the country.

c.d.

Thankyou for you're perseverance c.d., take the weekend off

[Wickerman]

But Wick England has a similar System, parts A can win 51%of the seats by a handful of votes each, lose the others by a landslide and still form government.

I left England about 40 years ago...