Quincy

Rihanna vs. Fergie

Republicans were harassing Biden for giving a strong state of the union speech. Some said he was hopped up on energy drinks and I’m pretty sure at least one of them said it was Mountain Dew

So far the only attacks they (republicans) have on Kamala are that she wants to ban plastic straws and that they don’t like how she laughs

Part of it is the religious angle. Many say he’s been chosen by god and that the fact that the bullet from his would-be assailant narrowly missed his head only further solidifies that. As well as being instrumental in overturning Roe v. Wade. It’s hilarious because Trump represents just about everything imaginable that goes against “Christian” values. Yet the Christian right almost unanimously glorifies him.

I think so. We were really close to doing so in 2016, but a historically disliked candidate with baggage was running against a surging populist. Not to mention she was horrible at campaigning, acted like an elitist and chose a terribly boring VP candidate. Kamala is undoubtedly an upgrade, especially with her prosecutorial background. Assuming she doesn’t hold back, she’ll take Trump to town in a debate. If he’s even willing to debate her.

He’s donated to democratic candidates in the past. This wasn’t even the first time. He wasn’t even a “republican” until he started pandering with the Obama birth certificate nonsense.

It won’t make it anywhere in the courts. A democratic nominee hasn’t even officially been selected or accepted yet. If this happened after the convention, and/or state filing deadlines, it would be a different story. It might still be a little messy, but as long as they act quick and there are no surprises at the convention (think unity), it should be fine. They’re just terrified to run against a younger candidate and a woman of color

I think this is going to be huge. In the early aftermath, many are throwing their support behind Kamala, including Biden, prominent politicians and even the Clintons. If Democrats align in strong support leading up to the DNC, the process will be easy and will project confidence. Stand united. The energy and momentum will surely sway away from Trump. The news cycle in the coming days is going to be all about Biden and Harris. The ridiculous RNC will barely be a footnote. It seems most likely that the VP pick will be from a swing state. Don’t expect Newsom or AOC. I just hope it’s an exciting pick and not a repeat of 2016 when Hillary chose Tim Kaine This is exactly what the democrats need. Excitement. And how about all those people who said they didn’t want Trump or Biden? Now they have another viable option.

Welp. Amazon music lyrics have failed me yet again. I stand corrected! I should have known better and that makes sense. At least what I’ve been singing was right all along It must be AI generated lyrics because this isn’t the first time they’ve had wrong lyrics for her

Idol of roses, iconic soul vs. I know the roses, I’ve counted so -Bel Air To this day I still sing iconic soul even though I know those aren’t the words

This is a fair assessment. I remember thinking she was a great pick for VP, but I was quickly disappointed by how soft she appeared once in office. She was barely ever in the public eye prior to recently, in any substantial way, when they should have been using her to be tough up against Trump. It’s like none of the strategists thought they should have a VP act strong and tough, when the president is increasingly perceived as weak and frail. Why are democrats so bad at politics?

The thing is, social media may seem hugely influential, but it often amplifies voices, opinions, etc. that don’t reflect the majority. For example, it seemed like Bernie Sanders was hugely famous (especially online) and destined for the democratic nomination in 2020. We all know what happened. As much as we may be in tune with social media, younger generations, etc., it’s really the older people that vote more. Younger Americans are understandably fed up with this system and many choose to not bother voting, or vote for a third party candidate out of protest or frustration. The Clintons had been despised for what, 15-20 years back in 2016? Kamala has only been in the public eye for about four years. Honestly, even in that time frame, she wasn’t in the spotlight as much as some vice presidents are. The U.S. is so polarized that I’d estimate 90% of the voting population has their mind made up, regardless of candidate, but for their “team.” It’s the 5-10% of the middle/unaffiliated that sways the election. Most national elections come down to a handful of votes (perhaps a few hundred thousand) in 3-6 states. Because the electoral college is stupid. This is the 3rd presidential cycle in a row where both candidates are more unfavorable than favorable. Anyway, I don’t think that Kamala would be much better than Clinton. Nor do I think she’s worse. Hillary was very bad at campaigning. She largely ignored swing states, where she should have focused more energy. She came off as very elite and pretentious. It’s no wonder Trump won in 2016. Kamala may seem weak in some ways and her perception by some progressive voters is undeniable, but I don’t think she’s any worse than Biden - an aging, old man who’s clearly losing it. She’s stronger, younger and has the prosecutorial background, that I think would give her a huge edge when going up against Trump. Assuming Biden steps down from the race, it’s going to inject a lot of energy and excitement into the contest, by default. If they were to skip over her, when she’s literally next in line, it would probably backfire. I say they put her on the top of the ticket and pick another younger democrat for VP. Also recall that Hillary picked one of the most boring, old white men in all of politics for her VP candidate… please don’t make that mistake again.

This has pretty much been the stance of the far right from day 1. It’s just scary the whole Republican Party is swaying in that direction. And that the Supreme Court is going to, potentially, support that movement

It’s unlikely to happen so soon, especially with him being ill, but it would have been a brilliant move to announce it during Trump’s RNC speech. Steal the headlines and attention from him. Something like this will probably take a few days for his team to carefully curate. I also don’t think he’s “up” for making a dramatic announcement like that right now. He sounded terrible yesterday, even for his own standards. I may be proven wrong, we’ll see. The sooner the better. Don’t drag this out too much longer.

The time has come. It likely came a long time ago, but later’s better than never. He’s isolating with Covid right now. I wouldn’t be surprised if he comes out early next week to make the announcement after it passes. I could see him saying that he had time to reflect during his illness and that combined with the rhetoric of the RNC and some of his close allies confronting him, that he has to do anything it takes to ensure Trump isn’t elected president again. And that the only way to do that is to not seek re-election. We’ve got to stop putting old people in power, especially old, white men. Sorry, not sorry. Maybe this will be the catalyst that makes that more of a thing for 2028 and beyond.

Let’s see how they come out at the RNC over the next few days after this event. Trump has apparently said he’s going to change his tone to more of a unity message. I’m very skeptical. Like him or not, it would be better to use this to bring the country together, than to use it to scare people into voting for Trump. There are already many on the right trying to spin this as divine intervention. Or that he’s immortal and can’t even be taken down by bullets

They still sell other types of guns and rifles. They stopped selling handguns and high capacity ammunition. I believe most of what they sell now is geared toward hunting.

I live Oklahoma and as I travel around through here and nearby states, you often see convenience type stores that do sell guns. Huge signs up on the road and in strip malls. It’s crazy to me.

Even just the key takeaways would be appreciated. In the past I’d go to Twitter or something, but social media is so toxic and vile in this moment that I can’t handle it. We all have our disagreements on here, but I appreciate that we can have a civilized discussion

I would if I wasn’t at work. I hope I can get the play-by-play on here

Mental health is likely a factor. Something that we don’t talk about enough when it comes to gun violence and mass shootings.

Yeah, I don’t even like guns, but I don’t think they should be fully banned. At least ban high capacity automatic and possibly semi automatic weapons that are capable of killing mass numbers of people in a short period of time. Why should any everyday citizen be able to get their hands on weapons of war? I think a rational case can be made for guns for hunting and self-defense.

Maybe some good can come out of this horrific event if it initiates meaningful gun control conversations. Can you imagine if Trump came out even lukewarm for some modest gun control? He’d win in a landslide. I always thought from the beginning that if he played off as a moderate populist, he could have been insanely popular. Instead, he went down the far right rabbit hole and appealed to what, 30-35% of Americans? I’m genuinely curious to see how he responds to this in the coming days. Does he become more unhinged? Does he shock republicans and come out for some gun control? Either way, I sincerely hope that he does not encourage violence or indirectly lead to more of it.

If that image is accurate, the trajectory looks like it would take it near the bottom of his right ear, except images show blood at the top of the right ear. Three possibilities: 1. This bullet missed him and glass shards later resulted in a cut later on. 2. This is a doctored image 3. Maybe this bullet grazed him and he was still hit by glass shards later on. The angle seems oddly low if it were coming from a roof top. Also, sources say the gunman shot off as many as eight rounds before being taken out. It’s possible that numerous bullets flew by Trump and somehow he was only hit by one, and/or by other airborne objects. Maybe the photo caught a bullet that missed him. I still think either the gunman had bad aim, or there was gunfire in multiple directions in the chaos at the same time. How you shoot eight rounds with such inaccuracy is strange, unless it was truly some amateur operation. (Which is possible) Social media is chattering about law enforcement “ignoring” reports that a suspect with a gun was creeping onto a nearby roof. Secret service was probably aware and taking quick action. It’s such a fluid situation, it could take a minute to both relay information and take action. What do you want them to do, scream and cause mass panic/stampede and probably more injury and death? The conspiracy theories will run rampant no matter what.

Not totally ruling this out, but based on images and forensic suggestions, glass shards still makes more sense than a bullet hitting his ear. I don’t know for a fact what happened, but I think it’s completely rational to think that even if his injuries were caused by glass, that he would spin it as taking a direct hit by a bullet. Just because he says something on his social media platform does not make it a confirmed fact.