The 2022 Midterms

[shadow puppet]

Biden says that gas was over $5 when he took office (It was actually $2.39) and just crickets from the media.

$2.39?!! Not where I live. LMAO.

 

[Edd]

Maybe if we had an honest media this wouldn't be needed. But we don't.

Trump exaggerates the size of a crowd at his rallies and the media jumps on his "lies". Biden says that gas was over $5 when he took office (It was actually $2.39) and just crickets from the media.

I estimate Trump lies 150x more than Biden, if I were trying to quantify this false equivalency.

 

[Herdfan]

$2.39?!! Not where I live. LMAO.

That is the EIA average for the country.

https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=EMM_EPMR_PTE_NUS_DPG&f=W

 

[Herdfan]

I estimate Trump lies 150x more than Biden, if I were trying to quantify this false equivalency.

Which misses the point. Biden lies and the media ignores it. Trump has nothing to do with the media coverage of Biden.

If your kid came home and told a lie to your face, would you care if one of the other kids told more lies to his parents? Probably not.

 

[Edd]

Which misses the point. Biden lies and the media ignores it. Trump has nothing to do with the media coverage of Biden.

If your kid came home and told a lie to your face, would you care if one of the other kids told more lies to his parents? Probably not.

Trump makes it impossible to ignore, comparatively. He’s a compulsive liar and that’s newsworthy because he was the president. It’s newsworthy that he’s an aspiring dictator, I swear. It’s newsworthy that he’s a sociopath.

 

[shadow puppet]

That is the EIA average for the country.

You didn't list that in the quote I replied to.

 

[lizkat]

Every time I swear to ignore the horse-race aspects and the polls I eventually forget I've done that and click into FiveThirtyEight and then end up wanting to slit my wrists over D prospects for the midterms.

Unlike in the Senate, Democrats will have to do more than just win the majority of toss-up races to control the House. In fact, there are now 219 seats that our model rates as lean Republican, likely Republican or solid Republican, one more than the 218 needed for a majority. So even if Democrats won all the toss-ups, it wouldn’t quite be enough. To keep the House, Democrats will need for our model to be systematically underestimating them.

Meanwhile what "our model" in the above quote translates to, at the moment, is that FiveThirtyEight gives the Dems only a 19 in 100 chance of keeping the gavel... and his column today was talking about trying to quantify chances of their having underestimated (again) Republican prospects...

Well I'm happy the first World Series game is tonight. When I ordered groceries today, it seems that I fell off the potato chip wagon so I'm going to munch my way past both my regret for having stumbled into FiveThirtyEight today, and any possible missteps by the Phillies as they take on the Astros in Texas tonight.

 

[Renzatic]

Trump exaggerates the size of a crowd at his rallies and the media jumps on his "lies". Biden says that gas was over $5 when he took office (It was actually $2.39) and just crickets from the media.

Fact check: Biden falsely claims the most common gas price was over $5 when he took office | CNN Politics

President Joe Biden has made another false claim about gas prices.

www.cnn.com

Biden Falsely Claims Gas Prices Were 'Over $5' When He Took Office

Biden made the remarks in Syracuse as part of highlighting an investment made by the U.S.-based company Micron.

www.snopes.com

Biden’s false talking point on when gas hit $5 a gallon

High gasoline prices have been a political challenge for President Joe Biden and Democrats in this midterm election year

www.politifact.com

Biden says the price of gas was 'over five dollars' when he took office, data shows it was $2.39

President Biden said that the price of gasoline was “over five dollars” when he first took office in January 2021, but the actual price was less than half of what he claimed.

www.foxbusiness.com

Biden falsely says the price of gas was $5 when he took office

President Joe Biden misstated the average price per gallon at a speech in Syracuse, then said inaccurately it was $5 a gallon when he took office.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Biden claims gallon of gas typically cost $5 when he took office

President Biden on Thursday misstated the typical cost of gas in America when he took office, claiming it was twice what the average price was.

www.washingtontimes.com

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2022/10/27/biden_gas_prices_are_down_from_over_5_when_i_took_office.html

Biden Claims Gas Price Was $5 When He Became President; It Was $2.39

"Today, the most common price of gas in America is $3.39, down from over $5 when I took office," Biden said.

www.ibtimes.com

Fact check: Viral image does not show gas prices the day Biden took office

A regular gallon of gas wasn't below $2 the day Biden took office, and presidents have little influence over fuel costs, contrary to one viral post.

www.usatoday.com

...hell, you get the idea. Yeah, the media never said a word about Biden's lie, so long as you just listened to your friends talk about how biased the media is, and didn't take 5 seconds to look it up yourself.

Though another major differentiator to visibility between Trump and Biden is that Biden boldly lies once, gets called out, then will likely never say it again, while Trump tends to double down and endlessly repeat the lies he gets caught over. So while this is a big deal now, we'll all have forgotten about it in a week, while with Trump, we'd eventually hear that gas was actually $10 when he took office, and the fake news doesn't want you to know the truth about how bigly he's driven down prices.

 

[lizkat]

Though another major differentiator to visibility between Trump and Biden is that Biden boldly lies once, gets called out, then will likely never say it again, while Trump tends to double down and endlessly repeat the lies he gets caught over.

But but but see when Biden lies, it's special, it's a countable lie uttered by a demon Democrat. Those are worth their weight in gold... at least to Republicans.

Trump on the other hand has lied so many times even God doesn't keep track any more. Once that counter hits all 9s it just jams and you're done, although it may look like you're getting a free ride until that interview at the Pearly Gates and whammo, there's that pesky maxed-out jammed lie counter...

 

[Renzatic]

…although it may look like you're getting a free ride until that interview at the Pearly Gates and whammo, there's that pesky maxed-out jammed lie counter...

I think Ike Saint Pete will give Trump a pass, considering how hard he owned those baby murdering democrats.

Cuz, come on, we all know good deeds don’t do shit for getting you into heaven.

 

[lizkat]

I think Ike Saint Pete will give Trump a pass, considering how hard he owned those baby murdering democrats.

Cuz, come on, we all know good deeds don’t do shit for getting you into heaven.

Depends on which god(s) of which denomination of which religions are in charge of the gate on the day one's number comes up.... St.Pete takes orders from whoever has the key to the lightning bolt codes that day.

 

[Herdfan]

Fact check: Biden falsely claims the most common gas price was over $5 when he took office | CNN Politics

President Joe Biden has made another false claim about gas prices.

www.cnn.com

Biden Falsely Claims Gas Prices Were 'Over $5' When He Took Office

Biden made the remarks in Syracuse as part of highlighting an investment made by the U.S.-based company Micron.

www.snopes.com

Biden’s false talking point on when gas hit $5 a gallon

High gasoline prices have been a political challenge for President Joe Biden and Democrats in this midterm election year

www.politifact.com

...hell, you get the idea. Yeah, the media never said a word about Biden's lie, so long as you just listened to your friends talk about how biased the media is, and didn't take 5 seconds to look it up yourself.

Though another major differentiator to visibility between Trump and Biden is that Biden boldly lies once, gets called out, then will likely never say it again, while Trump tends to double down and endlessly repeat the lies he gets caught over. So while this is a big deal now, we'll all have forgotten about it in a week, while with Trump, we'd eventually hear that gas was actually $10 when he took office, and the fake news doesn't want you to know the truth about how bigly he's driven down prices.

Thanks for the links. Of the top 3, only Snopes had it on its front page. You had to search for it on CNN and Politico. So it seems they write the article and simply don't put it where most of their casual viewers can see it.

 

[lizkat]

Politico

Yeah, well Politico been done gone slippin' to the right a bit lately so... they are no longer sure who the heck their readership is, else I wouldn't occasionally now find myself glancing up at the URL to see if I'm actually still reading their stuff.

But, you could be right.

 

[Huntn]

I would say the exact same thing about the Dems.

Damn it, sure you would, you’re in full blown GOP defense mode. They are both the same, but I’m voting for Poison for President. They are no worse than the clearly worse Democrats.

We will, collectively deserve what we get because of our terrible choices. You won’t be able to escape it,

 

[lizkat]

We will, collectively deserve what we get because of our terrible choices. You won’t be able to escape it

I am a bit alarmed over having run into a few quotes from Democrats who said they voted early and WROTE IN a candidate because tired of voting for Dems they dislike (for whatever reason be it policy or personality).

Yeah it's a voter's perfect right (although in some states depending on the law, your write in for a particular slot may not end up counted) to write in a choice instead of choosing between or among named candidates on the ballot, but... for Dems, this might be one of the less great times to decide to help the Rs win an election by writing in a non starter like your Aunt Louise.

Same with what I think about voting 3rd party this year, unless in a state with fusion tickets, like in NY where Dems will often run on the Dem line and on the Working Familes Party line as well.

If you lean to the Dems but you don't get out there and vote for a Democrat in the House (and Senate, if your state has a Senate race in 2022), then you have not thought out what the negative effect on your life may be when a Republican you voted for may represent a flip of not only that seat but of one or both houses of Congress.

All said and done though, you are right in your post. We are entitled to vote as we see fit, even if our view was somehow warped and we end up voting against our own rationally viewed interests. Collectively we'll deserve what we get, even if some of us worked harder than others to try to get Americans to think their vote through in 2022, and to want our votes to help preserve actual will of the people in election outcomes and in governance. The Republicans have made it clear they just mean to win, whether or not the votes go that way. Democrats need to turn out and vote for the Democratic Party candidates for Congress in 2022, clothespin on nose or no.

Sigh... still, one can lead a horse to water, but not make it drink.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

Which misses the point. Biden lies and the media ignores it. Trump has nothing to do with the media coverage of Biden.

If your kid came home and told a lie to your face, would you care if one of the other kids told more lies to his parents? Probably not.

I’m listening to the book Profiles in Ignorance which tells the journey from ridiculing ignorant politicians to celebrating them. It focuses almost exclusively on Republicans but the author notes as soon as Democrat ignorance rises to the level of starting trillion dollar wars, contributing to a million people dying from a public health issue, and inspiring people to attempt to overthrow the government they’ll make sure to write a book about it.

I was too young to marvel at the ignorance of Reagan but he really was top notch, famously misquoting people, what was said or who said it, just pulling "facts" out of his ass, and pretty much waged a war against educated people his entire political career. As the author put it, he had about as much to do with the fall of the Soviet Union as he had to do with the fall of disco. Even by his standards you can’t both claim a system is doomed to failure and then take credit for when that failure happens. A good part of his mythology is based on characters he played in movies and not his real life. Given all that it’s no surprise Trump became the leader of the party.

A lot of the Republican establishment was originally horrified by Reagan’s ignorance in his presidential run but between his acting experience and gifted handlers (and shit economy, familiar?) they were able to claim victory and has become their blueprint ever since. As long as Republican’s keep thier heads wedged up Reagan’s ass and Democrats up Clinton’s most of us are screwed.

 

[lizkat]

Did you see the reports on the fuckwits hanging around near the voting dropbox in Mesa, AZ? Filming people's tags, etc., their own faces covered up, a couple had weapons.

Election officials say armed "vigilantes" watching over ballot drop box in Mesa, Arizona

Two voters have filed complaints of voter intimidation to the Arizona state secretary in the past few days.

www.axios.com

DoJ has now filed a statement of interest in a court case about the Arizona dropbox "watchers."

Feds concerned about armed people at Arizona ballot boxes

WASHINGTON (AP) — Reports of people watching ballot boxes in Arizona, sometimes armed or wearing ballistic vests, raise serious concerns about voter intimidation, the Justice Department said Monday as it stepped into a lawsuit over the monitoring.

apnews.com

Threats, intimidation and coercion are illegal under the federal Voting Rights Act, even if they doesn’t succeed, the government’s attorneys wrote. While lawful poll watching can support transparency, “ballot security forces” present a significant risk of voter intimidation, the court documents state.

“While the First Amendment protects expressive conduct and peaceable assembly generally, it affords no protection for threats of harm directed at voters,” U.S. government attorneys wrote.

The filing runs counter to a judge’s order Friday. U.S. District Court Judge Michael Liburdi found the allegations present “serious questions” but it wasn’t clear they were a ”true threat” to specific people or groups and barring them could violate the watchers’ freedom of speech.

Liburdi is a Trump appointee and a member of the Federalist Society, a conservative legal organization.

The Arizona Alliance for Retired Americans is appealing the order in the swing state with several closely contested races this year.

The group sued a group calling itself Clean Elections USA after reports that people were watching 24-hour ballot boxes in Maricopa County, including some who were masked and armed. A separate suit was filed in rural Yavapai County, where the League of Women Voters alleges voters have been intimidated by three groups, including one associated with the far-right anti-government group Oath Keepers.

The two cases were merged and the Justice Department filed a statement of interest Monday. Attorneys for Clean Elections USA did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

 

[Huntn]

Did you see the reports on the fuckwits hanging around near the voting dropbox in Mesa, AZ? Filming people's tags, etc., their own faces covered up, a couple had weapons.

Election officials say armed "vigilantes" watching over ballot drop box in Mesa, Arizona

Two voters have filed complaints of voter intimidation to the Arizona state secretary in the past few days.

www.axios.com

Are they being allowed inside? I‘m not condoning this, nor am I saying it is right or legal, but if they are out on the street I’ll question how intimidating this actually is other than making people nervous.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

Are they being allowed inside? I‘m not condoning this, nor am I saying it is right or legal, but if they are out on the street I’ll question how intimidating this actually is other than making people nervous.

If I was going grocery shopping and as I pulled up I noticed some armed masked men meandering around the parking lot I'd probably keep driving. Just sayin.

 

[lizkat]

Are they being allowed inside? I‘m not condoning this, nor am I saying it is right or legal, but if they are out on the street I’ll question how intimidating this actually is other than making people nervous.

Why on earth should one have to feel NERVOUS about showing up to cast a ballot in the USA?