Biden vs. Trump

[_honorentheos]

The second Biden becomes President, if he does, Republicans will pretend to deeply care about the national debt again and a lot of media members will pretend to believe them. Biden has a very long history of being open to and favoring come SS cuts. Those two factors suggest is quite possible Biden might bargain some SS cuts for other policy priorities.

I agree. But it's valuable to recognize both parties should be concerned, though, and after the current insanity abates we will be confronting this very real issue. No crystal ball is required to know the deficit is going to be a dominant story in 2021.

For folks like DT, it's important to realize that these negotiations on tax increases and spending cuts are coming, and they will be deep in both directions. It doesn't matter who is President. We will be fighting economic consequences of the last four months plus the Trump tax cuts coupled with reckless spending for years. I imagine an argument will be made that progressive agendas will need to happen regardless of the timing because there is never a perfect time for that kind of societal change. And that is probably true. But then what? Trump dug a hole that was a handicap before the depressive effects of COVID and the stimulus spending bills blasted that hole deeper. 2022 = 2010 only more polarized and potentially more wild? Odds seem likely so. And then what in 2024? An even worse version of Trump put up against a Democrat who won't have incumbent advantage because there's no way Biden goes four more years? Thinking about it is kind of depressing.

[_honorentheos]

Do you folks think there's any chance for a live remote streamed Trump vs Biden debate?

A chance? Yes. I believe the first debate is scheduled to be held still at a university in Buttigieg's city in Indiana so the physical location still being booked makes it seem like it will be a semi-traditional, in person but distanced debate. But the second location cancelled due to safety concerns so we could see it changed to a live stream remote debate.

[_Jersey Girl]

Do you folks think there's any chance for a live remote streamed Trump vs Biden debate?

A chance? Yes. I believe the first debate is scheduled to be held still at a university in Buttigieg's city in Indiana so the physical location still being booked makes it seem like it will be a semi-traditional, in person but distanced debate. But the second location cancelled due to safety concerns so we could see it changed to a live stream remote debate.

Thank you, honor! I hadn't seen anything about it. Admittedly I took the lazy way out and posted the question. I would love to see the debates be a live stream remote situation. I think it'd result in a more controlled debate and less of a brawl on Trump's part.

[_Chap]

I would love to see the debates be a live stream remote situation. I think it'd result in a more controlled debate and less of a brawl on Trump's part.

One Trump distraction from the issues that would be eliminated in a remote debate, or at least reduced, might be the kind of attention-seeking behaviour he exhibited when he moved up behind Clinton at one point, so instead of the audience listening to the point she was making, they looked at the big guy looming up menacingly behind her.

Mark you, I wouldn't put it past him to pick his nose and eat what he found with feigned relish, if he thought it might get the camera on him while Biden is making a telling point. That's basically how he has always tried to manage the news cycle: for him, it's always better to be on the news for doing or saying something stupid or crazy than for his opponent to be the centre of attention.

If I was on Biden's team, I would demand strict conditions to eliminate or greatly reduce the attention Trump might get from simply acting up, rather than debating seriously.

[_Icarus]

Is it fair to say Biden is probably going to win Wisconsin, Michigan and his home state of Pennsylvania?

Based on current polling it doesn't seem like Trump has much of a chance in those states. If this is true, and we assume Biden keeps all the other states Hillary won, then he's already at 273 electoral votes.

He's currently leading in these states:

Arizona +7
Florida +5
North Carolina +7

And he's in a virtual tie in these states:

Ohio
Texas
Georgia
Iowa


All he needs is one more state.

[_Some Schmo]

If I were debating Trump, I'd take a page out of his playbook and just answer every question asked with, Here's the thing: Trump's a moron. Do you want a moron for president?

Every single answer would contain the words Trump is a moron. It needs to be repeated thousands of times so it might penetrate the thick skulls of one or two of his supporters, and to make the rest of the country feel sane again.

Nobody should ever publicly answer a question about Trump without including the words Trump is a moron, because Trump is a moron.

[_Some Schmo]

An excerpt from the Schmo/Trump debates...

Moderator: This next question is for the current president. Sir, you were asked on State TV, or what others sometimes refer to as "Fox News," what your agenda was for a second term, and you were criticized for not having an answer. Would you like to take the opportunity to answer the question now? Do you have an actual agenda?

Trump: Look, experience is an answer, okay? And I didn't say I didn't have an agenda... you know, a lot of people are saying what a fantastic agenda we have... nobody has had an agenda like ours in the history of this country. People are amazed. And you know... experience is very underrated, very underrated... and they said I would never win, do you remember that? They said I'd never... and no, I don't take responsibility for the China virus, even though the radical leftists wanted to impeach me for a perfect phone call. Completely exonerated.

Moderator: Schmo, do you have a response?

Schmo: Here's the thing. Trump's a moron. It would be nice to have an adult debate where people listened to the question and answered it, but Trump is a moron, which makes it impossible, as you just witnessed. It doesn't matter what you ask Trump; you will receive a moron's answer. A moron can't be anything but a moron, so he has no choice. When you live the life of a moron, all you can achieve is a moronic life.

So my answer is to bring the conversation down to Trump's level, since Trump is a moron and can't be brought up to everyone else's level. I think he understands what I'm saying when I tell him he's a moron, and it's the only message I care for him to receive. It's the only one that matters. The president of the United States shouldn't be a moron, and yet, here we have a moron president.

It doesn't matter how he answers the questions once you realize he's a moron, so you can all stop taking it seriously. Everything he says makes absolute sense when put in the context of a moron speaking who wants to will others to be as fu-cking stupid as he is.

Trump, the entire time Schmo's taking: I'm not a moron, you're a moron... I'm not a moron, you're a moron... I'm not a moron, you're a moron... Daddy, tell them I'm not a moron...

[_Doctor CamNC4Me]

That's... exactly how that'd go. Amazing...

- Doc

[_MeDotOrg]

An excerpt from the Schmo/Trump debates...

While I empathize with your frustration, I'm not crazy about your argument.

First, a definition of terms: The word “moron” was coined in 1910 by psychologist Henry H. Goddard and was derived from the ancient Greek word “moros”, which meant “dull”. Webster defines a moron as a very stupid person. On the I.Q. scale, a moron is usually considered 51-70.

Donald Trump is empirically not a moron. There is a wide spectrum of psychological dysfunction, stupidity if your will, that is not moronic. If I had to guess, I think the word moron is being used not because it is accurate, but because of the response it elicits from Trump. If someone is a moron they are not considered capable of being totally on their own. And that characterization pushes all of Trump's buttons, because it synthesizes much of what Donald Trump fears.

Donald Trump muses about exposing the virus to light inside your body. That whole concept, as wrong as it is, shows a level of cognitive function beyond the level of moron.

I think Trump is easily above average intelligence. By that I mean that I think his I.Q. is north of 100. But when he makes decisions that are seemingly devoid of logic, we call those decisions idiotic or moronic, because we think the mind just doesn't have the horsepower to process the logic. I think his brain has the horsepower, but the fuel delivery system is controlled by Fox News and his narcissism. I think what we call his stupidity is more a function of narcissistic personality disorder than anything else.

In other words, if your were to drop Trump's cognitive ability inside a mind that was NOT ruled by a narcissistic personality disorder, you'd have a person of above average intelligence. The tragedy for Trump and for the country is that narcissism is notoriously difficult to treat. A narcissist process self-critical information without fully digesting it, so they literally have a much harder time learning from their mistakes. He's 74 years old. I don't think he's going to wake up.

[_Doctor CamNC4Me]

MDO,

How do you arrive at his IQ number? Also, north of 100 has a of leeway. Like. Is he 101? Is he a stable 160?

- Doc