Comments by "Steve Valley" (@stevevalley7835) on "The Young Turks" channel.

The amazing thing, to me, is the Muslim mayors of Hamtramck and Dearborn Heights, MI, have endorsed Trump. Trump, who, in 2016, advocated banning Muslims from entering the US. Do they really think their endorsements of Trump will protect them?
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As soon as Harris got the nod, I expected we will see the most blatantly racist GOP campaign in my memory, and I'm 70.
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It has crossed my mind that the covid diagnosis is a cover story, while Biden goes home and reconsiders his candidacy. But then, I though he would use the interview a few weeks ago to announce his withdrawal. The narrative about the attempt on Trump has shifted from "he's so brave!". "he's so strong!" to "Trump is chosen by God". I hear variations on that theme at the convention repeatedly "protected by God", "spared by God", "he is part of God's plan". Anyone of strong faith, who believes that everything is God's will, regardless whether an independent or Democrat, will have a hard time arguing against the God narrative about Trump. The GOP is weaponizing Harris, saying words to the effect "Biden will never make it through another term. Do you want Harris for a President?". I expected a more blatant, racist, dog whistle, like "you don't want another of those people as President", but she is being used against Biden. And the Democratic party is tearing itself apart. The election was probably over last Saturday, the moment Trump got off the floor and pumped his fist, so the rest of it probably doesn't make any difference.
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Seems that Trump knows his target audience. And his target audience doesn't grasp economics. He tells them what they want to hear, which is bigotry. The TV ads almost exclusively pound Harris about the border, the border being a dog whistle tuned to attract racists.
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Last thought, on Biden's fractured speech patterns, Packman has made Trump's fractured speech patterns a routine feature of his pieces, for a few years. I think the implicit message that attracts Trump voters is he will make America white again. And Biden's implicit message is that he isn't Trump. Forget about soaring rhetoric. Politics in the US has been distilled down to the level of a person with an IQ of 50.
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A popular narrative in the GOP, for several years now, has been "the US is a republic, not a democracy". I heard that come from the mouth of a candidate for Governor in Michigan, a few years ago. So, they seem to think that a republican form of government, and democratic processes, like voting, are mutually exclusive.
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Just a reminder: Bush 41 invaded Panama, and overthrew the government.
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I would suggest that historical norms to not apply. We never had a former POTUS running again, in recent history. We never had a former POTUS who tried to overthrow the government running before. That being said, numbers are meaningless without context. 28% say the country is on the right track now. I found an article in the Salt Lake Tribune from July 2020, quoting an AP poll that showed only 20% thought the country was headed in the right direction. So, as bad as the polls are for Biden/Harris, Trump's "right direction" poll was worse.
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In fairness, comparing Joe reading a speech off a teleprompter, four years ago, to Joe, thinking on his feet now, is not right. He can still sound good, when he is reading a script, just like Reagan did.
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Same as many other speeches at the convention. It isn't "Trump is a good guy". The message is "Trump is the chosen of God". May as well extend the argument: elections don't matter, because Trump is the chosen of God. Constitutional limits on Presidential power don't matter, because Trump is the chosen of God. Trump is above and beyond a mere President, because he is the chosen of God.
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If Harris is meticulous about record keeping, like I am, she would still have her 1983 tax return, with the W2 showing where she worked.
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Yes, Dearborn has a vary large Middle Eastern population. The city used to host an Arab Festival, until Christian extremists kept showing up, trying to create an incident. A few years ago, some gun nutters walked into the Dearborn PD headquarters, to complain about being rousted, because they had been walking down the street brandishing assault rifles. They walked into the police station, still carrying their assault rifles, tactical vests, and wearing face masks. There were immediately about six policemen, with guns drawn, ordering them to drop their guns. I live near Dearborn. These incidents have been local news.
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Bush 41 invaded Panama, in 89, overthrew the government, and hauled the head of the Panamanian government back to the US to face a criminal trial. Historical tidbit: the US bought the Virgin Islands from Denmark, in 1917.
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The "traditional family values" narrative has been GOP bedrock since at least Bush 41. The notion that there is something fundamentally wrong with anyone who does not conform to the church going, straight, married, with children, lifestyle. As for Project 2025, recall the "Plan For A New American Century", which was authored by several members of the Bush 43 administration. One of the first priorities of PNAC was the invasion of Iraq, and overthrow of Saddam. The document said that it would probably take a "Pearl Harbor scale" event to get the mob behind that program. 9/11 provided the event. Bush fabricated the excuses, and made the invasion of Iraq happen.
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He has always had a plodding delivery, when he was talking about something he didn't really care about. He would get more animated when spewing bigotry and ridiculing people. Of course, he is nearly as old as Biden. The speech went to about midnight EDT. Maybe it was past his bedtime?
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@terancetheindomitable9701 my point is, as poor as the Biden administration's poll number is, Trump's was worse. The historical numbers the piece cites are an incumbent running against a newcomer, rather than incumbent vs a preceding incumbent who already has a track record as POTUS. The database for this situation is very thin. The only POTUS to serve non-consecutive terms was Grover Cleveland, winning in 1884 and 1892. Cleveland won the popular vote in 1888, but Harrison won the majority of electoral votes.
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@philliphessel6788 that "republic, not a democracy" bit was a favorite of Robert Welch. the founder of the John Birch Society. He felt "we the people" should not be allowed to vote, because we might vote for Communists. Did you know that the parents of Justice Thomas' wife were ardent Birchers?
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My nightmare "everyone sucks 2.0" scenario is holding up. Politico reported on a poll that shows the best alternate Dem would be Hillary. The poll showed Hillary beating Trump 43 to 41, and a Hillary/Harris ticket 43 to 40 percent. The hardest voting decision I ever had to make was in 2016: which corrupt megalomaniac? I see that coming around again. Gah!
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Specifically, boat engines. I think the smell Trump was referring to was the stench of two stroke outboards, which are now illegal in much of the country, due to the oil they dump in the water. Four stroke outboards both don't stink like two stroke engines, they are also quieter.
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