UN US Midterm Elections 2018 Megathread - Blue Wave or Red Tsunami? Because you know we need one.

November 6th, 2018.
You have less than one month to sperg about the midterm elections.

Hot Takes :
Tis the end of Drumpf!

It's been an inauspicious beginning to the voting season for Mr Trump and his Republican Party, which continue to struggle under the weight of near-constant self-imposed crises and chaos.

http://archive.is/1rEYe

Could the US midterm elections break Trump's presidency?

President Donald Trump. Source: AAP


Voting in the US midterm elections is now underway.

UpdatedUpdated 27 September
By Rashida Yosufzai, Nick Baker
In this article...

• What are the midterms?
• What do the polls predict?
• Why do these elections matter?
• How could recent developments affect things?
• Could Trump be impeached?
• Will the youth vote make a difference?
• What does it mean for Australia?

Americans have started to cast their ballots in a vote that could shape the rest of Donald Trump's presidency.

Although the US midterm elections are technically held on 6 November, early voting has already started in a handful of states.

Minnesota was the first state to allow early in-person voting on 21 September, with a handful of key states following, including New Jersey, California and Arizona.


Thirty-five states and the District of Columbia offer some form of early voting, meaning every day until 6 November counts for Democrats and Republicans.

It's been an inauspicious beginning to the voting season for Mr Trump and his Republican Party, which continue to struggle under the weight of near-constant self-imposed crises and chaos.

80 per cent chance of winning back the chamber.

Republicans have a 1 in 5 chance of keeping control of the House, while Democrats have about a 4 in 5 chance of winning control of the House. https://t.co/lyNh30TEIw pic.twitter.com/O38qtMPpIz

— FiveThirtyEight (@FiveThirtyEight) September 25, 2018
The Senate though is likely to be retained by the Republicans.

According to CNN, the Democrats are defending some two dozen seats, including 10 in states where Mr Trump secured victory in 2016, and five of those where he won resoundingly.

FiveThirtyEight gives the Democrats just a 30 per cent chance of taking the Senate.

Trump's election one year on: What do Americans think of him now?[/paste:font]


The Democrats could also use their numbers to set up House select committees targeting the president.

"They will have an opportunity to set up special panels and committees to essentially smear President Trump," United States Studies Centre research fellow Dougal Robinson told SBS News in April.

Mr Robinson pointed to the Benghazi committee set up by the Republicans against Hillary Clinton in 2014 to further investigate the fatal 2012 terrorist attack on two US government facilities in Libya.

Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.

Once seen as cruising to an easy vote - fulfilling Mr Trump's key promise to stack the Supreme Court with conservative justices - a string of sexual assault allegations has turned the Kavanaugh decision into all-out political war.

According to CNN's national political reporter Eric Bradner, the scandal and lukewarm response from some Republicans to Mr Kavanaugh's accusers could "drive suburban women away in midterms".

I have no doubt that, if the attack on Dr. Ford was as bad as she says, charges would have been immediately filed with local Law Enforcement Authorities by either her or her loving parents. I ask that she bring those filings forward so that we can learn date, time, and place!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 21, 2018
Analysts also point to Robert Mueller's investigation as an ongoing potential source of political curveballs.

Mr Mueller has already indicted more than 30 people in connection with his probe into whether members of Mr Trump's campaign colluded with Russia to help get the real estate tycoon elected.

And speculation has swirled in recent days that Mr Trump may fire embattled deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein - who oversees the Russia collusion probe.

Doubts over how long Mr Rosenstein can keep the job have swirled since shock media reports that he once suggested secretly recording Mr Trump to collect evidence for ousting him under a constitutional amendment for presidents unfit to remain in office.

Mr Rosenstein's firing - and Mr Trump possibly putting someone more pliable in his place - would set off alarm bells over the future independence of a probe, which has the potential to rock both the midterms and the entire Trump presidency.

US wants ‘partnership, not domination’ in Australia and region[/paste:font]


A report co-authored by Mr Robinson predicted after the midterms, Congress would be highly unlikely to support a US re-entry to the Trans-Pacific Partnership - a trade deal between 11 Pacific nations including Australia and New Zealand which Mr Trump pulled the US out of last year.

Another issue that may affect Australia is that if the Democrats retake the House, it is likely to lead to lower defence spending.

Additional reporting: AAP, AFP

This article was originally published in April 2018 and updated in September 2018.

How will Trump keep his voter base energized? "More Winning."
http://archive.fo/VkaHH

TRUMP HAS A TWO WORD RESPONSE WHEN REPORTER ASKS HIM HOW HE WILL KEEP GOP BASE ENERGIZED
5:52 PM 10/10/2018
Benny Johnson | Reporter At Large

President Donald Trump made portions of the White House press corps chuckle with his response on how he intends to keep Republican voters fired up after the ultimately successful confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

“How do you keep your base energized now that you have this Kavanaugh victory?” one reporter asked. Tuesday was the first day that Kavanaugh sat on the court after a contentious battle over his nomination.

“More winning,” Trump said.

Trump was leaving the White House on his way to a campaign rally Tuesday night when he took questions from reporters in the White House driveway.

The president was also asked about the mobs of paid progressive protesters that took over Capitol Hill during the contentious debate over Kavanaugh’s confirmation. Trump was specifically asked about the intense “energy” of the protesters.

“A lot of those were paid protesters. You saw that they are all unhappy because they haven’t been paid yet,” Trump alleged about the protesters. (RELATED: Trump Has A Theory Why The Anti-Kavanaugh Protesters Are So Mad)


Trump brought up his new trade deal with Canada and Mexico as a major policy win. “Our deal with Mexico and Canada was fantastic,” Trump said. “China wants to make a deal so badly. We will see where it goes. But I don’t think they are ready.”

Trump Will Lose 60 Seats in the house... Unless... Please Visit My Site
http://archive.fo/zHe4o

MATT DRUDGE WARNS OF MIDTERM BLOODBATH: TRUMP TO LOSE ’60 SEATS IN THE HOUSE LIKE OBAMA DID’
2:41 PM 09/14/2018
Peter Hasson | Reporter

Conservative news giant Matt Drudge on Friday made a somber prediction about Republicans’ chances in the November midterm elections, predicting President Donald Trump will see his party lose 60 seats in the House of Representatives.

Drudge, who runs the influential Drudge Report, compared the upcoming midterms to the electoral bloodbath Democrats suffered in the 2010 midterm elections under former President Barack Obama.

Screenshot/Twitter

“Trump and Obama both have 47% approval at this time of presidency, according to Rasmussen. Trump will also lose 60 seats in the House like Obama did during first midterm!” Drudge wrote on Twitter. (RELATED: Democrats Should Immediately Abolish ICE After Retaking Congress)

He added cryptically: “Unless…”

Democrats have to gain 23 House seats in November in order to flip the lower chamber. Democrats have an 83 percent chance of retaking the House, according to FiveThirty Eight.

Follow Hasson on Twitter @PeterJHasson

Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

The Weird :
Mark Taylor "Red Tsunami Prophecy"
http://archive.fo/KJjj2

Mark Taylor (The Trump Prophecies): Most Important Midterm Elections In All Of US History
July 30, 2018 29 3159


Mark Taylor says the upcoming 2018 elections are the most important mid-term elections in all of America’s history. Here’s why…

Mark Taylor interviewed by Greg Hunter on USA Watchdog

Mark Taylor, author of the popular book “The Trump Prophecies,” contends, “If you are part of the army of God, you need to be ready also because there are going to be politicians that are going to resign. We have had the biggest number of resignations probably in history. This midterm election is going to be huge. This is going to be a red tsunami. They keep talking about the blue wave. I think it’s going to be a blue drip, a leaky faucet, and that is all they are going to get. You have had more resignations than we have ever seen. Now is the time to go in and capture this ground and hold it for the Kingdom of God. . . . It’s not a left or right thing. God is moving us towards a place of righteousness. That’s what’s happening right now. So, he’s going to be replacing these people. If you are called to be a judge, senator, congressman or a council person, I don’t care what level local, state or federal, take your place and get ready. If you are in the Army of God and you don’t vote, you need to get off your behind and register to vote. These are going to be the most important midterm elections in America’s history—period.”

In closing, Taylor says, “I don’t think there is going to be another Democrat in the White House for a long time, if ever again. I believe you are seeing the death of the Democrat party right now.”

Join Greg Hunter as he goes One-on-One with Mark Taylor, co-author of “The Trump Prophecies,” which has been made into a movie that is releasing in early October.

Donations: https://usawatchdog.com/donations/

 

[Iwasamwillbe]

Not gonna lie, it's very satisfying seeing these voices get de-platformed. I missed the type of dialog that wasn't dominated by Jordan Peterson incels rightfully inviting the "ism-tossing".

It's good to know that you support the removal of wrongthink, comrade.

 

[Marvin]

I actually have more contempt for East Coaster Lefties than West, despite the West Coasters being more pants shitting exceptional. Mainly because there's an even stronger sense of elitism from East Coast lefties and a deeper level of hypocrisy over all. Yeah, pretend you give a shit about the poor and black people; just keep to your developments and avoid them as much as you can barring when you go to your cafe.

Well, I suppose what I respect is that they've got leadership and they know where they're going. They're not obliged to listen to every Tom, Dick and Harry who wanders through their door rambling about free college tuition and making it a workplace violation to ignore someone's xir pronouns.

Of course, that's somewhat undemocratic. I think booting out Bernie is a shitty use of the same powers that would be used to shut down, say, land confiscation.

The west coast dems choose extreme populism and the east coast dems are more like the mafia.

Of course, I don't like either of them. So it doesn't really matter. I just like that, while they're in power on the east coast, we're not beset by trannies and they don't let antifa wreck the cities on this coast, compared to say Portland or San Francisco.

I don't think it matters anymore, the integrity of our voting system no longer exists.

Our voting system is extremely decentralized. Localized attacks, while troublesome, don't really reflect on the vast majority of it.

Agreed. To bring it back to the theme of the thread. They're "recounting" in Broward, long after the votes have been tainted and other votes destroyed. The Left knew what it was doing. Stall, defy, taint and keep the press out. It'll cause a disruption and suspicion, but you know the law is recount not re-vote, so whatever damage you did will stick.

We are well and truly fucked.

It should be noted that no votes were lost (in this particular fuckup). They retained scans of the votes but destroyed the physical copies. Still shitty and worrying, but just a slight correction.

I'm not aware of any votes being tainted. Tainted in what way?

Edit: Lol maybe I'm thinking of the last Broward county fuckup. Goddamn, they should've pressed charges after that guilty verdict.

If they bitch about how major cities aren't completely dominated by Democrats, it's a fucking Caution Sign that "centrist" to them basically is code for "insufficiently committed to the progressive cause, but I haven't found enough dirt to smear them as a racist yet".

It'll become a snarl word in its own way soon enough.

 

[mildly_miffed_69]

The robot and @Regret are way more polite than I will be.

People who vote Democratic are low IQ, low information automatrons that support a party that has become the Republican party of the 1980s. Democrats are the party of pro-war corporatists, media shills, censorship loving, de-platforming, social media mobs, who are working to steal elections for those that are 100% anti-Bill of Rights.

The people quoting me seem to not have read the content of my post. My decision is based entirely on being informed, but, my sources aren't TruePundit, Drudge, or YouTube skeptics. After many conversations (not just in an online echo chamber, but :powerlevel: in person as per my work) with people who feel similarly to how you feel, what you described is exactly how I'd describe Republican voters this cycle. It's disingenuous at best to claim the electorate in the bottom 10 states for education are not "low information automatrons" voting for their tribe, and their tribe only.


As for:

• pro-war "corporatists"? Wasn't Mattis the faved "Mad Dog" pick for Secretary of Defense? The rhetoric at the beginning of this administration was that we would "destroy ISIS", which only led to an indefinite remain in Syria, and a resurgence of ISIS recruitment. War isn't very simple, it turns out. And being pro-war is a uniquely non-partisan, very American thing between establishment Democrats and Republicans;
  
  
• media shilling? What's wrong with using MSM to further your agenda? With Fox News being the highest rated and most-watched cable network 15 years in a row, you tell me;
  
  
• censorship loving? Because you can't say "nigger" on your favorite video game without getting banned, I'm assuming;
  
  
• de-platforming†, social media mobs? Just use Gab lol;
  
  
• 100% anti-Bill of Rights? You mean the 2nd Amendment? Like when DT floated the idea of taking away guns without due process?

† (I agree social media conglomerates shouldn't wield this much power in curtailing speech, however.)

Supporting the Democrats is begging for the rise of Socialism in America because of "muh feelings".

I don't know how to approach this statement. It's dumb.

Progressivism is a mental disorder that is destroying the American family in the name of trannies and faggots and soon the only solution is going to be a violent one.

Woah there, buddy. "The only solution is going to be a violent one"? Hopefully you're as competent as @FuckYou in enacting your ideological revenge.

 

[RodgerDodger]

What pisses me off about the Georgia elections is the fact that Hank Johnson won again for the House. And it isn't so much the fact he's Democrat as much as it is that he's a really stupid man.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=bs23CjIWMgA
This fucker won with 79% of the vote.

Johnson is sadly a fair representation of his District. Remarkably he is also a vast improvement over his lunatic predecessor. The wildly unloved Cynthia McKinney.

 

[Marchesa of the Vast]

I like how it's the most intentionally abrasive and extreme post that gets the reply.

 

[Yandere Science]

My decision is based entirely on being informed, but, my sources aren't TruePundit, Drudge, or YouTube skeptics.

Your source is the United Nations:

pro-war "corporatists"? Wasn't Mattis the faved "Mad Dog" pick for Secretary of Defense? The rhetoric at the beginning of this administration was that we would "destroy ISIS", which only led to an indefinite remain in Syria, and a resurgence of ISIS recruitment. War isn't very simple, it turns out. And being pro-war is a uniquely non-partisan, very American thing between establishment Democrats and Republicans;

Are you really using the UN as a source? Really?
Nevermind that ISIS holds no territory anymore, this is the map from December of last year:

https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-...d-trump/trump-isis-territory-losses-near-100/

Furthermore, James Mattis is not known as a bloodthirsty war-monger, and the last time a President gave a hard timeline on an ME pull out, we got ISIS. See: Iraq 2011

According to data from a private defense and security group, the Islamic State controls 93 percent less terrority today than it did at the start of 2015, and 89 percent less since Trump took office.

Without territory ISIS is just another run-of-the-mill pack of angry muslims.

DT floated the idea of taking away guns without due process?

You know that's done all the time when you're stopped by cops, right? When they ask you to step out from your car while they run your plates or check whatever they stopped you for. Or when they detain you for 24 hours before pressing charges. When you are denied parole after being charged...

President Trump floated the idea of temporarily holding people's guns if they're suspected of mental health problems until after a hearing/trial. They wouldn't've been able to ban someone from owning guns, nor would they have been able to keep the guns, until after due process was met. The only reason to not pass such a law is because of the bureaucratic mismanagement that would see so many guns lost(stolen), and hearings delayed. The problem wasn't the potential EO, or law, but the corruption and incompetence combined with the anti-gun sentiment amongst the bureaucracy that would have seen it turned into a shit-show.

Then there's also the whole "Hate Speech isn't Free Speech" anti-1A stuff, the whole "Listen and Believe" anti-due process thing,

 

[Tranhuviya]

It's disingenuous at best to claim the electorate in the bottom 10 states for education are not "low information automatrons" voting for their tribe, and their tribe only.

Ah, the sweet smell of elitism. Riddle me this. Who should have the franchise? If you answer anything less than "every US citizen who isn't a felon," congratulations! You are no better than those who instituted literacy tests and poll taxes!

 

[mildly_miffed_69]

Ah, the sweet smell of elitism. Riddle me this. Who should have the franchise? If you answer anything less than "every US citizen who isn't a felon," congratulations! You are no better than those who instituted literacy tests and poll taxes!

It's not elitism. I absolutely want states with shit educational infrastructure to be able to improve their own situations, but as of right now, those who keep getting elected in their local, county, and state governments feel alright keeping it the same or worse.

Unless it's possible to monopolize "good education", and all of those resources are going to hubs in blue states? Or is "good education" just a myth perpetuated by the "liberal elites" getting Ivy League degrees? I've heard both, so I'm not sure what angle you're coming from.

 

[Yandere Science]

Ah, the sweet smell of elitism. Riddle me this. Who should have the franchise? If you answer anything less than "every US citizen who isn't a felon," congratulations! You are no better than those who instituted literacy tests and poll taxes!

"Every US citizen over 21."

 

[Tranhuviya]

Unless it's possible to monopolize "good education", and all of those resources are going to hubs in blue states? Or is "good education" just a myth perpetuated by the "liberal elites" getting Ivy League degrees? I've heard both, so I'm not sure what angle you're coming from.

The latter. College - modern college, anyhow - exists mostly to keep you in debt.

Now, answer the question.

"Every US citizen over 21."

If you're old enough to kill some stranger halfway across the world, you're old enough to vote.

 

[mildly_miffed_69]

The latter. College - modern college, anyhow - exists mostly to keep you in debt.

I don't think college "exists to keep you in debt"; I think the student loan debt crisis is a lot less one-dimensional than the predatory college conspiracy.

If you're old enough to kill some stranger halfway across the world, you're old enough to vote.

I agree.

you are acting like midwestern america is some kind of africa tier shithole
im not american but i'm pretty sure that this is not the case

I actually lived in the Midwest for a while, and visited Flint for :powerlevel: reasons. The people are just fine (though the isolation does some weird shit when it comes to their belief systems), but local governments can be mismanaged, corrupt messes. I don't think this is that controversial of an opinion?

 

[Tranhuviya]

I don't think college "exists to keep you in debt"; I think the student loan debt crisis is a lot less one-dimensional than the predatory college conspiracy.

Answer the question.

 

[mildly_miffed_69]

Answer the question.

What was the question?

 

[Spooky]

I'm not aware of any votes being tainted. Tainted in what way?

There were some bad votes that got mixed in with some good ones in some of provisional ballots IIRC and the woman refuses to pull the batch.
She allowed ballots with non-matching signatures to be counted.
She wouldn't say how many votes had even been cast even though they were days past deadline.
She was found guilty of destroying ballots before a recount to favor Debbie Wassermann Schultz.
She wasn't allowing republican reps to oversee the review of questionable/damaged ballots as is law.
She has been actively blocking the media out.
She has blown past the court order dates to comply.
Mail ins were supposed to be accounted for 30 min after polls close but weren't even fully accounted for for days.
An independent dem leaning guy found improper handling of ballots (private vehicle transport and such)

There's definitely something going on in Broward... as usual

It's disingenuous at best to claim the electorate in the bottom 10 states for education are not "low information automatrons" voting for their tribe, and their tribe only.

This is not an honest take. The only honest takes are that everyone does this or people know how to vote in their best interest. I tend to side with the latter.

"Every US citizen over 21."

Can we push it to 25 and require ID's? 21 would be an improvement though and much more reasonable.

 

[Absolutego]

Also I'm still baffled about our supposed moderate here. I get people's issue with Jordan Peterson being a bit looser with his morals in not defending the far right or being a bit of a shekelgrabber. I don't get the idea that trying to fix the broken incel result of single mother households is somehow terrible for society and needs to be purged off the internet.

""Moderate"" has always been a sheepskin for ideologues to pretend they're anything else.

If someone has an opinion on Jordan Peterson that goes beyond "he's a milquetoast conservative spouting off grandpa-tier life advice for incels when he isn't regurgitating Jungian psychobabble", they're not a moderate. Anyone who thinks he's some kind of menace to society is a fool who likely subscribes to meme politics of one flavor or another.

 

[Yandere Science]

If you're old enough to kill some stranger halfway across the world, you're old enough to vote.

The only reason we lowered the age of enlistment was because of WWII.

 

[Ruin]

Political moderates are cucks and I have no idea why everyone masturbates over them. There is nothing inherently brave or principled about being too lazy or cowardly to have any firm convictions.

If you can't formulate an opinion over even basic policy fuck off and don't vote.

 

[Iwasamwillbe]

The people quoting me seem to not have read the content of my post.

I think they actually have.

My decision is based entirely on being informed, but, my sources aren't TruePundit, Drudge, or YouTube skeptics.

I love how you assume these are the sources of everyone who is Republican, has Republican views, or supports Donald Trump here.

After many conversations (not just in an online echo chamber, but :powerlevel: in person as per my work) with people who feel similarly to how you feel, what you described is exactly how I'd describe Republican voters this cycle.

This is anecdotal evidence. If you seriously believe the relatively small segment of people you talked to is representative of late-2010s Republicans as a whole, you're in for a rude awakening.

It's disingenuous at best to claim the electorate in the bottom 10 states for education are not "low information automatrons" voting for their tribe, and their tribe only.

And since this is apparently obvious fact, you can surely provide links to the mountain of proof and evidence that supports this.

pro-war "corporatists"? Wasn't Mattis the faved "Mad Dog" pick for Secretary of Defense? The rhetoric at the beginning of this administration was that we would "destroy ISIS", which only led to an indefinite remain in Syria, and a resurgence of ISIS recruitment. War isn't very simple, it turns out. And being pro-war is a uniquely non-partisan, very American thing between establishment Democrats and Republicans;

As @Yandere Science has evidenced, ISIS has almost no territory and no power anymore. And being pro-war may be a uniquely non-partisan thing between neoliberals and neoconservatives (or "establishment Democrats and Republicans", as you put it), it isn't to the vast majority of people in the US, whether Republican or even Democrat (though not so sure on the Dems right now).

media shilling? What's wrong with using MSM to further your agenda? With Fox News being the highest rated and most-watched cable network 15 years in a row, you tell me;

Do you not understand what the mainstream media is doing right now? Belching out propaganda to further leftist agendas, while shitting out intellectual diarrhea to farm ratings. Working in cahoots with the DNC to engage in intellectual Charges of the Light Brigade against Trump.

If politicians of any kind use the MSM to further their agendas, instead of the MSM simply doing independent and preferably objective, fact-based reporting (saying preferably because we all have our biases), then it's not news, it's propaganda.

censorship loving? Because you can't say "nigger" on your favorite video game without getting banned, I'm assuming;

Nice strawman there. The point is Democrats and SJWs attempting to deplatform people from sites such as YouTube for saying and doing things that go against the Leftist Narrative, the very existence of Antifa, people like Maxine Waters calling for harassment of Trump supporters and Republicans, etc.

de-platforming†, social media mobs? Just use Gab lol;

† (I agree social media conglomerates shouldn't wield this much power in curtailing speech, however.)

Somebody's very confused here.

100% anti-Bill of Rights? You mean the 2nd Amendment? Like when DT floated the idea of taking away guns without due process?

@Yandere Science already addressed this, moving on.

It's not elitism. I absolutely want states with shit educational infrastructure to be able to improve their own situations, but as of right now, those who keep getting elected in their local, county, and state governments feel alright keeping it the same or worse.

Wait.

Hold on.

You keep saying that states in "flyover country" have shit educational infrastructure, and that they're oh-so terrible...

Yet I don't see it.

Chicago, Illinois, NYC, New York, San Franciso, California, et al, are all filthy hellholes with godawful education except for certain "rich people spots", and Democrats have an exclusive hold in those locations. So any point you could make about the correlation between Republicans, "flyover country", and low education is shot dead in the water there.

Unless it's possible to monopolize "good education", and all of those resources are going to hubs in blue states? Or is "good education" just a myth perpetuated by the "liberal elites" getting Ivy League degrees? I've heard both, so I'm not sure what angle you're coming from.

I'm just in awe right now at how you seriously believe that only blue states get "good education" (of which I would beg to differ myself). Where are you getting this information anyway?

 

[Corbin Dallas Multipass]

Prior to 2016, I could feel alright being defined as a "moderate" and walking over the invisible line between "right" and "left" without issue. This is no longer the case for me.

A lot of people I used to work with (who you'd call conservative) consider my positions to be hyper-progressive simply because I don't align with the president, no matter what it is. Only after 2017 has someone said to my face that not wanting to import Islam is "leftist", but okay.

The unfortunate reality is that, in my personal opinion, modern day R candidates are attempting to ride off of populism instead of actual policy, feeding into the hands of the narrative of the "left" everyone's afraid of. The "new right" shares none of the values that prevented me from being a "liberal", and current establishment Dems are technically the closest in ideology at the moment. Just a hypothetical: if I had to choose between a 2020 authoritarian right vs 2020 authoritarian left, I'd be forced to choose the left for the sake of my own best interests. It sucks, but that's where we're at.

I know this is an unfavorable view on KF, but I don't really browse these boards for the imaginary forum points, so. I hope this explains my position a little, @It's HK-47.

After seeing your stated positions, I don't see how you could call yourself a moderate. If you were moderate what would left wing be?

I shit talk Trump constantly, and am considered a conservative by those who I discuss politics with. Of course, I tend not to discuss politics with complete idiots, so that helps. But I've not seen any requirement here to love trump, otherwise you're a hyper progressive. I think I've mentioned this before, but I voted for Hillary.... I argued in favor of BLM. And still people seem to address my arguments in good faith.

The thing is, you seem to be just as disingenuous as the people you're complaining about. You're building strawmen, what is this narrative of the left that everyone's afraid of? It's certainly not on the mainstream media, because it's nonstop fuck trump all the time everywhere but fox news. The left that people are scared of is the media that openly wants to shape narratives, the desire for rampant censorship of speech they disagree with.

That's the thing about the right. They're not going to make laws to prevent you from arguing against their policies. They're the ones still saying "I may not like what you say, but I'll fight for your right to say it". The left says "I don't like what you say so I'm going to fight you". That aligns with your best interests? OK, well, maybe it does, but don't expect people to like you if your best interests involve forcing people to act in them.

I change my own beliefs constantly, usually small shifts, but there's always more information, more perspectives. Even though I think you're being a bit dishonest, you could totally sway my views with a quick paragraph and a link to evidence of your claims. I certainly have bias, but I also don't want to be wrong. I have a strong affinity with objective truth and reality, so I don't like to lie to myself for my own pride.

We're not all just shit slingers. Or at least, even while we're slinging shit, the grains of truth still sink in occasionally.

 

[Absolutego]

Political moderates are cucks and I have no idea why everyone masturbates over them. There is nothing inherently brave or principled about being too lazy or cowardly to have any firm convictions.

If you can't formulate an opinion over even basic policy fuck off and don't vote.

There's a difference between """moderates""" that mostly call themselves such as a cover for the fact that they are deep in the tank for one cause or another and want to intellectually jerk themselves off, and people who don't wholly subscribe to one politics team or the other on all issues and have a more a-la-carte take on politics.

Describing moderates as "people with no firm convictions" is some political fanboi take. Stop treating politics like sports teams, that's half of how this environment got so bad. I'd argue if you 100% agree with one political side or another and have literally zero deviations from the party platform you're the one without any firm convictions.