2022 US Midterms

[NapLajoieonSteroids]

On the flip side, Donald Trump has really ushered in an age of incredible whining.

Being wronged (real or imagined) is not a campaign platform. When people are worried about gas prices, it's not time to talk about poll numbers.

The man is still using the same stump speech from 2016. There are no new ideas and I don't think he's learned a single lesson from his previous experience [can't teach an old dog new tricks].

Resentment is a real ugliness brewing.

And all these "new" pundits making a killing off of it are as much of a drag on the party as the old guard.

----

and the finger points back at me. I can talk about cowardice all I want but it is equally cowardly and stupid to ghetto-ize oneself. The Republican or right wing media complex is its own enemy.

[Typhoon]

The US Republican party is its own worst enema.

[crashtech66]

I'll be very blunt and rude about my opinion of the Trump question: I think all this scapegoating is cowardly and just inviting the old vipers back into the room. I am certain the starboard media's push to hang it on trump is being paid for the old gang.

I'll even preface it with I am not sure Trump should run again for a myriad of reasons; but all the hamlet-psychodrama about le grande orange is real pathetic stuff.

So yes, it is well noted that people don't like his bloviating. But a number of us will never forget how, when given the chance to govern with both houses and the presidency, the party grandees sabotaged themselves to spite their own electorate.

The difference is durian wind versus people who either wish to harm us or will sell us out for their social circles.

You're welcome to be as cynical as you wish about media motives. Perhaps some of them are on the take, though I think mostly they just tend to be led by their own biases. But I tend to trust the sources I use, and the pattern that emerged is hard to miss: Those who swore fealty to Trump and stayed true to the "stolen election" narrative tended to lose. Independents in particular are no longer receptive to this messaging, if they ever were. Perhaps there is another explanation for this unprecedented midterm failing, if so, I haven't heard it yet. If conservatives want to continue to use Trump against the traditional party establishment, I think they better get used to losing bigly.

Anyway, what modern politician tries to enforce loyalty to themselves so brazenly and publicly as Trump? Maybe that's how an empire is run, but it's not how politics is done. It's (swear word redacted) gross.

[Doc]

The US Republican party is its own worst enema.

There is a lot going on under the radar that is not very apparent. In any event the Democrats lost. Maybe more so in the long run than there would have been had there been a red Tsunami. BTW Biden lied about it being 24 years since the party of the POTUS lost so little in the Mid terms. In 2002 GW Bush gained control of the Senate.

Also it might be weeks before the vote counting is finished.

https://freespoke.com/election/2022?mtm ... G9JgAAAA==

[crashtech66]

...In 2002 GW Bush gained control of the Senate...

Ease up on the Kool-Aid, that was right after 9/11 and everyone was in shock and circling the wagons. Biden's unpopularity and the bad economy combined with the usual midterm effect should have had the GOP making much larger gains. I'm sure you know this at some level, it's just hard to admit how craptastic the Republicans are right now.

[Doc]

...In 2002 GW Bush gained control of the Senate...

Ease up on the Kool-Aid, that was right after 9/11 and everyone was in shock and circling the wagons. Biden's unpopularity and the bad economy combined with the usual midterm effect should have had the GOP making much larger gains. I'm sure you know this at some level, it's just hard to admit how craptastic the Republicans are right now.

Biden claimed otherwise. The 911 part makes one wonder...

[crashtech66]

...In 2002 GW Bush gained control of the Senate...

Ease up on the Kool-Aid, that was right after 9/11 and everyone was in shock and circling the wagons. Biden's unpopularity and the bad economy combined with the usual midterm effect should have had the GOP making much larger gains. I'm sure you know this at some level, it's just hard to admit how craptastic the Republicans are right now.

Biden claimed otherwise. The 911 part makes one wonder...

(snip)

I hope we can stipulate that Biden's pronouncements are now good only as punchlines. No one should be taking him seriously, I especially hope other world leaders realize this fully.

[Doc]

...In 2002 GW Bush gained control of the Senate...

Ease up on the Kool-Aid, that was right after 9/11 and everyone was in shock and circling the wagons. Biden's unpopularity and the bad economy combined with the usual midterm effect should have had the GOP making much larger gains. I'm sure you know this at some level, it's just hard to admit how craptastic the Republicans are right now.

Biden claimed otherwise. The 911 part makes one wonder...

(snip)

I hope we can stipulate that Biden's pronouncements are now good only as punchlines. No one should be taking him seriously, I especially hope other world leaders realize this fully.

I could hope they don't, but I am sure they do.

[Zack Morris]

The testosterone study is a nice troll but we all know that it is conservative men who lack testosterone, hence their dislike of sex, compensation via guns and impractically large trucks, and beta-male clamoring for a daddy figure like Donald Trump to save them.

I've been hearing that young voters are becoming a more reliable factor than ever before, which if true heralds real trouble for the GOP's toxic conservatism. It isn't appealing to the diverse, educated younger generations that will replace dying GOP voters.

[Doc]

The testosterone study is a nice troll but we all know that it is conservative men who lack testosterone, hence their dislike of sex, compensation via guns and impractically large trucks, and beta-male clamoring for a daddy figure like Donald Trump to save them.

I've been hearing that young voters are becoming a more reliable factor than ever before, which if true heralds real trouble for the GOP's toxic conservatism. It isn't appealing to the diverse, educated younger generations that will replace dying GOP voters.

Good night !! Good to see you Zack. Looking forward to your peer reviewed study on lack of conservative Huevos. Personally mine tend to obstruct my walking.

BTW I had a question for you a while back but damn if I can remember what it was now. Anyway I am planning to run for Senate in 2024. By the 2026 election I should be ready to replace Biden. ;p I am fully for/against Fracking and am counting on your support.


Oh now I remember the question... Who am i?

[Parodite]

GOP: to abort or not to abort

It seems to me the Repubs have been busying themselves exclusively with banging hypocrite Dems and the woke madness cult, pointing to inflation, the Biden crime family, all in their own echo-chamber. That to vote Repub one only has to consider how terrible the Dems are. Well, that turned out not to be enough.

To win in the USA as a Repub party you might need to actually promote what you are in favor of and why, not just pointing out how evil your opponent is. Maybe try empathize with youngsters who are brainwashed into believing that global warming is an existential threat and experience deep anxiety because of it? How would an adult help them relax, get them interested in Michael Shellenberger, among others, with different and more nuanced views?

Matter of fact: Repubs are low on empathy and more rational on average. Which is why young unmarried women, perhaps the most vulnerable and easily stressed, seek refuge in the Democrat tent. You might love those girls and women, feel for them and want to offer them something better. Maybe they sense you really care! Or just laugh at them, their woke idiocies… and decide that to abort them all might be the best solution. The GOP comes off as a cold, uncaring party. Maybe they just are. The party of facts, not feelings.

[Zack Morris]

It seems to me the Repubs have been busying themselves exclusively with banging hypocrite Dems and the woke madness cult, pointing to inflation, the Biden crime family, all in their own echo-chamber. That to vote Repub one only has to consider how terrible the Dems are. Well, that turned out not to be enough.

What's not to like about Democrats now? Full employment, functioning institutions, and sensible foreign policy.

To win in the USA as a Repub party you might need to actually promote what you are in favor of and why, not just pointing out how evil your opponent is. Maybe try empathize with youngsters who are brainwashed into believing that global warming is an existential threat and experience deep anxiety because of it? How would an adult help them relax, get them interested in Michael Shellenberger, among others, with different and more nuanced views?

Yeah, we know clearly what they're in favor of because they tout it all the time:

- Anti-LGBT discrimination
- Disenfranchisement: stripping people of their voting rights and instituting totalitarian sham elections rubber-stamped by party apparatchiks
- Increased incarceration, including privatization of the prison system creating further disincentives
- Relaxed gun control
- Militarization of schools
- Robber baron capitalism: aggressive deregulation
- Serfdom: elimination of popular and essential social welfare programs, including Social Security, and generally tipping the scales against employees and in favor of employers in all matters
- Theocracy: dismantling the wall between church and state, allowing Christian indoctrination into classrooms and special privileges for religious (read: Christian) organizations
- Curtailment of reproductive rights
- Wasteful defense spending justified by manufactured threats
- Xenophobic immigration policies
- Increased suburban sprawl and unsustainable cities that reward conservative local property developers and construction industries

Matter of fact: Repubs are low on empathy and more rational on average. Which is why young unmarried women, perhaps the most vulnerable and easily stressed, seek refuge in the Democrat tent. You might love those girls and women, feel for them and want to offer them something better. Maybe they sense you really care! Or just laugh at them, their woke idiocies… and decide that to abort them all might be the best solution. The GOP comes off as a cold, uncaring party. Maybe they just are. The party of facts, not feelings.

The degree to which conservatives are obsessed with wokeness and identity politics is hilarious. It's all they talk about amongst themselves while the rest of the population lives their best lives.

You see, Parodite, the reason conservatives are losing is not just because they're total betas -- although they certainly are that -- it's because they're a malignant tumor on the body politic.

[Typhoon]

...In 2002 GW Bush gained control of the Senate...

Ease up on the Kool-Aid, that was right after 9/11 and everyone was in shock and circling the wagons. Biden's unpopularity and the bad economy combined with the usual midterm effect should have had the GOP making much larger gains. I'm sure you know this at some level, it's just hard to admit how craptastic the Republicans are right now.

Biden claimed otherwise. The 911 part makes one wonder...

This "testosterone" study, as it the case with most observational studies, should be tossed in the bin due to a too small sample size and probably lack of control of confounding factors.

[Doc]

...In 2002 GW Bush gained control of the Senate...

Ease up on the Kool-Aid, that was right after 9/11 and everyone was in shock and circling the wagons. Biden's unpopularity and the bad economy combined with the usual midterm effect should have had the GOP making much larger gains. I'm sure you know this at some level, it's just hard to admit how craptastic the Republicans are right now.

Biden claimed otherwise. The 911 part makes one wonder...

This "testosterone" study, as it the case with most observational studies, should be tossed in the bin due to a too small sample size and probably lack of control of confounding factors.

Given that the participants were given testosterone it is understandable that the study has a small study size. But it certainly raises questions.

Now if Say J&J did a study of whether or not their COVID Vaccine caused blood clots. before they gave out millions of doses.

OR say Pfizer and Maderna did study on the infertility their vaccines might cause https://www.bib.bund.de/Publikation/202 ... weden.html

Fertility declines near the end of the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence of the 2022 birth declines in Germany and Sweden

Bujard, Martin; Andersson, Gunnar (2022)

BiB Working Paper 6/2022. Wiesbaden: Bundesinstitut für Bevölkerungsforschung

Cover "Fertility declines near the end of the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence of the 2022 birth declines in Germany and Sweden"

Publikation herunterladen (pdf, 1MB)
Following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, several countries faced short-term fertility declines in 2020 and 2021, a development which did not materialize in Scandinavian and German-speaking countries. However, more recent birth statistics show a steep fertility decline in the aftermath of the pandemic in 2022. We aim to provide data on the unexpected birth decline in 2022 in Germany and Sweden and relate these data to pandemic-related contextual developments which could have influenced the post-pandemic fertility development. We rely on monthly birth statistics and present seasonally adjusted monthly Total Fertility Rates (TFR) for Germany and Sweden. We relate the nine-months lagged fertility rates to contextual developments regarding COVID-19 mortality and morbidity, unemployment rates, and COVID-19 vaccinations.

The seasonally adjusted monthly TFR of Germany dropped from 1.5-1.6 in 2021 to 1.3-1.4 in 2022, a decline of about 14 %. In Sweden, the corresponding TFR dropped from about 1.7 in 2021 to 1.5-1.6 in 2022, a decline of almost 10 %. There is no association of the fertility trends with changes in unemployment, infection rates, or COVID-19 deaths. However, there is a strong association between the onset of vaccination programmes and the fertility decline nine months after of this onset. The fertility decline in the first months of 2022 in Germany and Sweden is remarkable. Common explanations of fertility change during the pandemic do not apply in its aftermath. The association between the onset of mass vaccinations and subsequent fertility decline indicates that people adjusted their behaviour to get vaccinated before becoming pregnant, as societies were opening up with post-pandemic life conditions. Our study provides novel information on fertility declines in countries previously not affected by any COVID-19 baby bust. We provide a first appraisal of the COVID-19-fertility nexus in the immediate aftermath of the pandemic.

Or if they had done a study to determined if the vaccines prevented the transmission of COVID as was so widely claimed at the time of the vaccine rollouts.

So on what scientific study was this based on?:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YfXjI1Kh6Y

_YfXjI1Kh6Y

What study? NO STUDY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnxlxzxoZx0

mnxlxzxoZx0

"The Speed of Science"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xD9qEdHFIE
0xD9qEdHFIE

[Zack Morris]

That fertility study must be some kind of joke and no one is going to waste time giving you a bikeshedding on the obvious reasons why.

And if you recall, it was the Trump administration that oversaw accelerated vaccine development. Which was the right thing to do. It was pushed through as fast as reasonably possible. Since then, the risks (e.g., myocarditis) have become better understood, but still largely a non-issue.

[Typhoon]

Let's stay on topic: US Midterm Election 2022 and its aftermath.

[crashtech66]

Trump's in, and I'm out. All Dems need to do is run somebody reasonably good to get my vote. Lord help us all if Joe runs again, I honestly don't think he has it in him. So odd that Dem partisans can't see him for the shambling dotard that he is. Actually that's the one of only scenarios where I could conceive of voting for Trump, if they run Joe or the cackling Kamala.

[Typhoon]

Well, I see the US has finally finished counting the ballots, more or less, for the US midterm elections.

Considering the economy, the US Republicans are probably fortunate that the much predicted "Red Wave" was more of a spotting:

http://www.shadowstats.com/alternate_da ... ion-charts

Yeah, we know clearly what they're in favor of because they tout it all the time:

- Anti-LGBT discrimination

Interesting that this item starts your list as it is hardly a significant concern for the majority of Americans according to polls.

On the other hand, it is understandable that people would be put off by:
assertions that there are more than two biological sexes - genders, contrary to science
claims that "people", not just woman, can become pregnant and breast feed
men who have gone through puberty competing as "women" in women's sports and winning against women who have dedicated years of training
in other words, the ongoing denigration of women and motherhood
placing LGBTs on a pedestal which deriding 97% of the population, heterosexuals.
claims that being male - masculinity - is "toxic"

Disenfranchisement: stripping people of their voting rights and instituting totalitarian sham elections rubber-stamped by party apparatchiks

In democratic nations, the right to vote is a right accorded to only citizens of such nations.
Providing proof that one is a US citizen in order to be able to vote is "disenfranchisement". How bizarre.
In Japan, every citizen, age 18 and above, is mailed a voting card which they present at a polling station. Simple.
Vote counting is done within 24 hours.

- Increased incarceration, including privatization of the prison system creating further disincentives

Compared to other developed nations, the US has very violent subpopulations.
For example, blacks constitute about 14% of the population, black males about 7%, yet are responsible for over 50% of violent crimes and murders according to the FBI. The majority of violent crime is inner city black-on-black crime in cities such as Chicago, St. Louis, Baltimore, New Orleans, etm., all of this have had a Democratic lock on local and state politics for decades. By comparison, homicide as a leading cause of death is not even in the top three for whites, asians, and hispanics.

The refusal of certain, some now recalled, US district attorneys / prosecutors to prosecute property and violent crimes.

- Relaxed gun control

The American obsession with and mythology of guns is something of a mystery to foreigners.
While the rare mass shooting makes the news, the usual body count is comparable to a typical Chicago weekend [or Baltimore, or St. Louis, or New Orleans, etm.]. The most common weapon used is a stolen or unregistered handgun. The leading cause of death for US black men between the ages of 15 and 34 is homicide. About 50% for US black males age 15 to 19. All according to the US CDC. Not by whites, not by asians, not by hispanics, not by the police, but at the hands of other black men. An abject reality studiously ignored by the US MSM.

- Militarization of schools

No idea what you mean here.

- Robber baron capitalism: aggressive deregulation

The rise of "robber baron capitalism" started in the 1980's and has gone on during both US Democratic and Republican admins.
The rare repeal of an Act of Congress, in this case, the Glass-Steagall Act - separation of commercial banking and investment banking - was signed into law by Clinton. Both US Democrats and Republicans are actively involved in private equity.

- Serfdom: elimination of popular and essential social welfare programs, including Social Security, and generally tipping the scales against employees and in favor of employers in all matters

I had no idea US Social Security has been eliminated. One learns something new every day.
The export of US industries and jobs overseas has occurred during both US Democratic and Republican admins.

- Theocracy: dismantling the wall between church and state, allowing Christian indoctrination into classrooms and special privileges for religious (read: Christian) organizations

"Woke" politics is a form of secular religion. Promoting it in public schools while failing to educate students, inner city students graduating innumerate and functionally illiterate, seems insane to an outsider.

- Curtailment of reproductive rights

A uniquely American issue. No comment.

- Wasteful defense spending justified by manufactured threats

The rise of the "military industrial complex" and its influence started with the Vietnam War and has continued across both US Democratic and Republican admins.

- Xenophobic immigration policies

Polls show that the majority of Americans, being descendants of immigrants themselves, are open to legal immigration.
However, charactering the flood of illegal immigrants at the southern border as "xenophobic" is bizarre at best.
Every nation reserves the right to decide as to who can qualify as an immigrant.

- Increased suburban sprawl and unsustainable cities that reward conservative local property developers and construction industries

A number of major industries have recently left Chicago due to the rise in violent crime.
What rational person would want to live in a dangerous sh*thole?
I lived in Chicago during the time of peak violent crime / murder in the early 1990's, the difference from today was the probability of being mugged and / or shot walking along, say, the "Magnificent Mile" was effectively zero. This from someone who considered Chicago their second home.

http://heyjackass.com/

The issue of crime was responsible for the recent US Republican gains in the true-blue state of New York.

[Typhoon]

Trump's in, and I'm out. All Dems need to do is run somebody reasonably good to get my vote. Lord help us all if Joe runs again, I honestly don't think he has it in him. So odd that Dem partisans can't see him for the shambling dotard that he is. Actually that's the one of only scenarios where I could conceive of voting for Trump, if they run Joe or the cackling Kamala.

The US admin is currently being run by the admin Chief of Staff, Ron Klain, someone who believes that Twitter posts represent reality.

If DeSantis is not elected as the US Republican candidate then the party will have again demonstrated that they are their own worst enema.

[Doc]

Trump's in, and I'm out. All Dems need to do is run somebody reasonably good to get my vote. Lord help us all if Joe runs again, I honestly don't think he has it in him. So odd that Dem partisans can't see him for the shambling dotard that he is. Actually that's the one of only scenarios where I could conceive of voting for Trump, if they run Joe or the cackling Kamala.

The Democrats don't have anyone to run at this point.

[Doc]

That fertility study must be some kind of joke and no one is going to waste time giving you a bikeshedding on the obvious reasons why.

And if you recall, it was the Trump administration that oversaw accelerated vaccine development. Which was the right thing to do. It was pushed through as fast as reasonably possible. Since then, the risks (e.g., myocarditis) have become better understood, but still largely a non-issue.

Well since I have serious side effects to the vaccines I guess we will just have to disagree,

[Parodite]

If Trump wins the GOP primaries he will lose from any Democrat in 2024. DeSantis has a good chance, but might decide to let the Trump train pass and aim at 2028.

If Repubs can't convince voters to not vote democrat (a talent they indeed completely lack), they might also consider to just let the Dems destroy the USA and be the favored party to rebuild.

Another option might to be to consider breaking up the USA. No point in people working and living together with completely different value systems and opposing ideas about how to run an economy.

[Nonc Hilaire]

DeSantis won Florida because he is an outstanding governor and his opponent was a disaster when was a Republican governor.

Party switcher Crist was a last minute placeholder for Gillum, who was the Dem groomed for governor but who destroyed himself in a gay orgy/drug scandal. Dems had to run somebody knowing whoever it was would lose.

Florida did not flip red on national issues.

[crashtech66]

The Democrats don't have anyone to run at this point.

Neither does the GOP, in essence. Maybe Trump has 80% of conservative voters at best. Let's say 90%. And that is it. He's going to get his ample hindquarters handed to him, unless by some kind of divine intervention, he learns that it's not all about him and the "stolen" election.

[Doc]

The Democrats don't have anyone to run at this point.

Neither does the GOP, in essence. Maybe Trump has 80% of conservative voters at best. Let's say 90%. And that is it. He's going to get his ample hindquarters handed to him, unless by some kind of divine intervention, he learns that it's not all about him and the "stolen" election.

Handed to him by who? Tulsi Gabbard? With the coming collapse, being a democrat candidate for POTUS is going to be a no go out of the gate. There will be no amount of cheating by the Democrats to make up the numbers to win.