Trump is planning an October surprise — insiders say he wants to ‘redo 2016’
 

[URL]https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/trump-election-predictions-joe-biden-2016-clinton-b421144.html[/URL]
[QUOTE]"In defense policy circles, it’s said that an often-made mistake by both civilian and military leaders is to get caught “fighting the last war”.
The same is frequently true in politics, but it’s unclear whether Donald Trump has gotten that memo.

With fewer than eight weeks remaining until Americans go to the polls on election day — and even less time until Americans in most states can begin voting early — the President’s re-election campaign has spent countless dollars and person-hours trying to recapture the lightning-in-a-bottle circumstances that handed him the presidency 1,401 days ago.

The circumstances under which Americans will choose who will lead the country for the next four years could not be more different from those under which they voted in 2016. Nearly 200,000 Americans have lost their lives to a novel virus that has frequently spread unchecked while the sitting President mocks those who take precautions advised by the government he heads. More people are out of work than at any time since Herbert Hoover ran for re-election against Franklin Roosevelt, and for the first time since the 1960’s, the civil rights of Black Americans are at the forefront of Americans’ collective consciousness. Oh, and much of America’s west coast is — wait for it — literally on fire.

Yet whether it’s through stoking racial unrest then harnessing the images of it to frighten white voters; trying to push a long-shot, third-party candidate onto the ballot to split Black voters off from the Democratic party; or trying to generate an aura of corruption around his Democratic opponent by way of innuendo about his opponent’s family, much of Trumpworld’s collective energy seems to be directed towards the nigh-impossible task of recreating the conditions of 2016.

No single component of the witches’ brew that was 2016 was more pivotal to Trump’s victory than ex-FBI Director James Comey’s October 28 letter to members of Congress advising them that the FBI was reopening its investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server. And no subject — other than Donald Trump’s re-election itself — is more important to the President and his supporters than discrediting the investigation into what Comey’s predecessor, ex-Special Counsel Robert Mueller, called Russia’s “sweeping and systematic” campaign of interference on Trump’s behalf.[/QUOTE]

Lindsey Graham, Political Parasite
 

[url]https://lincolnproject.us/video/parasite/[/url]
The video will emphasize the designation. It also shows Lindsey calling #45 all sorts of nasty names when he was still attached to John McCain, and flips to him publicly kissing up to Agent Orange. :yucky:

[QUOTE=kladner;561368][url]https://lincolnproject.us/video/parasite/[/url]
The video will emphasize the designation. It also shows Lindsey calling #45 all sorts of nasty names when he was still attached to John McCain, and flips to him publicly kissing up to Agent Orange. :yucky:[/QUOTE]I am shocked -- [i]shocked![/i] that blowfly maggots would be portrayed as parasites -- or that Lindsey Graham would be compared to them.

Feeding on carrion is [i]scavenging[/i], not parasitism. And, unlike either Senator Graham or his current host, scavengers perform a valuable service.

[QUOTE=Dr Sardonicus;561386]I am shocked -- [I]shocked![/I] that blowfly maggots would be portrayed as parasites -- or that Lindsey Graham would be compared to them.

Feeding on carrion is [I]scavenging[/I], not parasitism. And, unlike either Senator Graham or his current host, scavengers perform a valuable service.[/QUOTE]
Yes. You are right. I think showing lots of slimy things was more important to the producers than accuracy.
And yes, comparing honest scavengers to Lindsey does libel them. EDIT: Or is it slander if the comparison is visual and implicit?

[QUOTE=kladner;561523]Yes. You are right. I think showing lots of slimy things was more important to the producers than accuracy.
And yes, comparing honest scavengers to Lindsey does libel them. EDIT: Or is it slander if the comparison is visual and implicit?[/QUOTE]Yes, of course, it was about the imagery. As long as accuracy isn't relevant, footage of hagfish would be good, too.

In the actual parasite department, such things as bot flies, sea lampreys, scabies, and mange might have a suitable "yuck" factor. Perhaps lymphatic filariasis, AKA elephantiasis, would be even more apt.

Perhaps the maggots consuming the fox carcass is an apt analogy for what's in store for the good ol' USA. Make America Maggot Appetizers! At this point, though, such an outcome seems inevitable, regardless of how the upcoming election goes.

I don't think insects would have legal standing to file a defamation suit. In this instance it would be libel, because the defamation is published. Slander is spoken defamation.

[QUOTE=Dr Sardonicus;561544]In the actual parasite department, such things as bot flies, sea lampreys, scabies, and mange might have a suitable "yuck" factor. Perhaps lymphatic filariasis, AKA elephantiasis, would be even more apt.[/QUOTE]
Or a Presidentially connected parasite: [URL="https://www.cartercenter.org/health/guinea_worm/index.html"]the Guinea Worm[/URL].

[QUOTE=Uncwilly;561548]Or a Presidentially connected parasite: [URL="https://www.cartercenter.org/health/guinea_worm/index.html"]the Guinea Worm[/URL].[/QUOTE]
That thing is really a horror. :ick:

[QUOTE=Uncwilly;561548]Or a Presidentially connected parasite: [URL="https://www.cartercenter.org/health/guinea_worm/index.html"]the Guinea Worm[/URL].[/QUOTE]Well, that just shows how dictatorial those Dems are. Imagine, telling people they can't jump in the water to get some relief! I guess I know which candidate the Guinea Worms would vote for!

We just returned from voting.

Do you think the order in which candidates are listed on the voting screen matters?

Should they be in alphabetical order? Random? Your registered party first?

Where we live there were a lot candidates for President. We think three or four per screen.

FWIW, we are registered as independent.

[SPOILER]Trump was first. We had to scroll through several screens to find Biden.[/SPOILER]

:unsure:

Voting using a machine has many risks on its own.
In this case, putting one of the dominant candidates first and the other much further down means
you can guess who people voted for by how long it takes them as well!

To Xyzzy, which state is that in?