2024 Presidential Election Thread - Let's keep the party going.

[TheStoicPaisano 9840]

Still a fuckstick. 
 

Waiting on potatoe. 

Edited March 15 by TheStoicPaisano

[Red Five 40449]

Mike Pence and Dick Cheney. The last two republican VPs won't endorse the republican nominee. Keep 'em coming. 

(Not that it would help, but looking at you, W.)

[Js1 83619]

22 minutes ago, YGIFS said:

My goodness Pence, you really are suffering from battered woman's syndrome.

[atomheartbevo 89044]

7 minutes ago, Red Five said:

Mike Pence and Dick Cheney. The last two republican VPs won't endorse the republican nominee. Keep 'em coming. 

(Not that it would help, but looking at you, W.)

Given that he’s trashed W and his dad, you’d think this one would be a slam dunk.

['stache 21589]

Fuck off Dick, you and your friends played a huge role in accelerating this bullshit, including trashing the “mainstream media” at every turn and flat out lying about the catalysts for the Bush wars. It’s not like his old ass is going to change anyone’s minds. Just shut the fuck up and die you old bitch.

[SizzleChest 8243]

3 minutes ago, 'stache said:

Fuck off Dick, you and your friends played a huge role in accelerating this bullshit, including trashing the “mainstream media” at every turn and flat out lying about the catalysts for the Bush wars. It’s not like his old ass is going to change anyone’s minds. Just shut the fuck up and die you old bitch.

[Bozo_Casanova 25903]

12 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

Given that he’s trashed W and his dad, you’d think this one would be a slam dunk.

And he didn’t do anything for George P, if that still matters to them.

[SubliminalHorn 6403]

10 minutes ago, 'stache said:

Fuck off Dick, you and your friends played a huge role in accelerating this bullshit, including trashing the “mainstream media” at every turn and flat out lying about the catalysts for the Bush wars. It’s not like his old ass is going to change anyone’s minds. Just shut the fuck up and die you old bitch.

[DigglerontheHoof 20595]

At this point, IDGAF what they did in the past; any Rs who oppose Trump are a good thing.  Cheney is a piece of shit, no doubt.  But, fuck, every single bit of opposition is needed to keep that evil orange fuck out of office. 

[tx 3 putt 75521]

50 minutes ago, TheStoicPaisano said:

Still a fuckstick. 
 

Waiting on potatoe. 

fuck you mother fucking human piece of shit !!!!!!!

[Gatorubet 29764]

33 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

fuck you mother fucking human piece of shit !!!!!!!

if he wants to do some good in his last moments on earth, he needs to bang the anti-Russia gong, Bigley, with every former Republican president and vice president.  

Someone needs to tell the regards that if Russia controls the wheat from Ukraine, then their avocado toast will cost more.

[HornOnTheBayou 8855]

I kind of hope Cheney changes his mind and endorses Trump. Maybe they could become friends. They could go on vacation together, maybe out hunting. I don't know, just tossing out ideas.

[Fudge Nuggets 18995]

2 hours ago, Red Five said:

Mike Pence and Dick Cheney. The last two republican VPs won't endorse the republican nominee. Keep 'em coming. 

(Not that it would help, but looking at you, W.)

No way W is saying anything.  Dotard is the only reason he’s not the worst and most hated former President in history.

[StassneyHorn 6446]

2 hours ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

And he didn’t do anything for George P, if that still matters to them.

Not entirely true, we got perhaps the greatest beer koozie ever made

And I will pay top dollar to anyone who managed to get one

Edited March 16 by StassneyHorn

[BevoAbyss 1963]

46 minutes ago, Fudge Nuggets said:

No way W is saying anything.  Dotard is the only reason he’s not the worst and most hated former President in history.

And yet, tons of Surly posters voted for W, twice! I am sure he's still a god in Dallas. (For the record, I have never been a Republican and did not vote for Reagan, the Bushes, or Trump.)

W is a liar, war criminal, and evangelical idiot whose "Compassionate Conservativism" was a sham and mask for the his "Faith-Based Initiative" -- i.e. let's get the government in the theocracy business and end the wall between Church and State. His idiocy, evangelicalism, divisiveness, war crimes, and sports ownership paved the way for Trump, big time.

And now this Rembrandt of Dallas has a book of paintings: Out of Many, One: Portraits of America's Immigrants. Of course, his White House policies were far from Y Pluribus Unum. I am sure SMU and his library will be celebrating this genius. Hell, they'll build him a museum or art gallery!!

If W really believes in the title of his book, he should be denouncing Trump/MAGA/GQP all across the media landscape. He would have a platform in all major media. And yet he says nothing. 

 F*ck W and the Trump-loving fascists in Dallas and its burbs.

Edited March 16 by BevoAbyss

['stache 21589]

1 hour ago, Gatorubet said:

if he wants to do some good in his last moments on earth, he needs to bang the anti-Russia gong, Bigley, with every former Republican president and vice president.  

Someone needs to tell the regards that if Russia controls the wheat from Ukraine, then their avocado toast will cost more.

If he wants to salvage even an ounce of respectability he’d flat out admit the lies he and Rove and friends spewed back then and release the playbook where they consider their voters dumb and easily to manipulate and that they know their policies are bad for those people but knew they were too stupid to care. Then he’d hang himself on live stream, and not the quick break your neck hanging, the slow convulsing suffocating type of hanging. Otherwise he can fuck himself in his fat fucking ass.

[Gatorubet 29764]

13 minutes ago, BevoAbyss said:

  F*ck W and the Trump-loving fascists in Dallas and its burbs.

I assume he painted this endearing moment

[Horn Dog 9473]

3 hours ago, 'stache said:

Fuck off Dick, you and your friends played a huge role in accelerating this bullshit, including trashing the “mainstream media” at every turn and flat out lying about the catalysts for the Bush wars. It’s not like his old ass is going to change anyone’s minds. Just shut the fuck up and die you old bitch.

It is truely amazing that out of the last string of republican presidents, Nixon  probably is the one that did the least to fuck our country 

Edited March 16 by Horn Dog

[Bojack 2023]

1 hour ago, HornOnTheBayou said:

I kind of hope Cheney changes his mind and endorses Trump. Maybe they could become friends. They could go on vacation together, maybe out hunting. I don't know, just tossing out ideas.

What a sweet summer child I was back when something like the Vice President shooting a guy in the face was still something of a scandal.

[Bozo_Casanova 25903]

54 minutes ago, Horn Dog said:

It is truely amazing that out of the last string of republican presidents, Nixon  probably is the one that did the least to fuck our country 

Bush Sr is the best president of my life. From there it goes

Clinton
Nixon
Obama
Ford
Reagan

Trump (worse for the country)
W Bush (body count)

Edited March 16 by Bozo_Casanova

[gmr548 16315]

12 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

Nixon
Obama

[Bozo_Casanova 25903]

9 minutes ago, gmr548 said:

EPA tho

[Horn Dog 9473]

29 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

Bush Sr is the best president of my life. From there it goes

Clinton
Nixon
Obama
Ford
Reagan

Trump (worse for the country)
W Bush (body count)

Bush Sr. promoted cultural war bullshit (Willie Horton), enabled the religious right GOP takeover, and nominated Alito, so be did more than his fair share to get us where we are today

[Bozo_Casanova 25903]

51 minutes ago, Horn Dog said:

Bush Sr. promoted cultural war bullshit (Willie Horton), enabled the religious right GOP takeover, and nominated Alito, so be did more than his fair share to get us where we are today

I didn’t have great options. 

[Fudge Nuggets 18995]

12 hours ago, Bojack said:

What a sweet summer child I was back when something like the Vice President shooting a guy in the face was still something of a scandal.

But in true GQP fashion, he suffered zero consequences.  His victim even had to apologize to him for getting shot in the face.

Edited March 16 by Fudge Nuggets

[David Dennison 17800]

13 hours ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

Bush Sr is the best president of my life. From there it goes

Clinton
Nixon
Obama
Ford
Reagan

Trump (worse for the country)
W Bush (body count)

You really don't think Clinton, Obama, and Biden were/are better than Bush the Elder?

Edited March 16 by David Dennison

[C-Man 26734]

Experts war-gamed what might happen if deepfakes disrupt the 2024 election and things went sideways pretty quickly. So we've got that going for us ...

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/war-game-deepfakes-disrupt-2024-election-rcna143038

Quote

It’s Election Day in Arizona and elderly voters in Maricopa County are told by phone that local polling places are closed due to threats from militia groups.

Meanwhile, in Miami, a flurry of photos and videos on social media show poll workers dumping ballots.

The phone calls in Arizona and the videos in Florida turn out to be “deepfakes” created with artificial intelligence tools. But by the time local and federal authorities figure out what they are dealing with, the false information has gone viral across the country.

This simulated scenario was part of a recent exercise in New York that gathered dozens of former senior U.S. and state officials, civil society leaders and executives from technology companies to rehearse for the 2024 election.

The results were sobering.

“It was jarring for folks in the room to see how quickly just a handful of these types of threats could spiral out of control and really dominate the election cycle,” said Miles Taylor, a former senior Department of Homeland Security official who helped organize the exercise for the Washington-based nonprofit The Future US.

Dubbed “The Deepfake Dilemma,” the exercise illustrated how AI-enabled tools threaten to turbocharge the spread of false information in an already polarized society and could sow chaos in the 2024 election, multiple participants told NBC News. Rather than examining a singular attack by a group or hostile regime, the exercise explored a scenario with an array of both domestic and foreign actors launching disinformation, exploiting rumors and seizing on political divisions.

The organizers and participants in the war game spoke exclusively to NBC News about how it played out.

They said it raised worrisome questions about whether federal and local officials — and the tech industry — are prepared to counter both foreign and domestic disinformation designed to undermine public confidence in the election results.

Current U.S. officials say privately they share those concerns and that some state and local election agencies will be hard-pressed to keep the election process on track.

The exercise illustrated the uncertainty surrounding the roles of federal and state agencies and tech firms seven months before what is expected to be one of the most divisive elections in U.S. history. Does the federal government have the ability to detect an AI deepfake? Should the White House or a state election office publicly declare that a particular report is false?

Unlike a natural disaster, in which government agencies work through a central command, America’s decentralized electoral system is entering uncharted territory without a clear sense of who’s in charge, said Nick Penniman, CEO of Issue One, a bipartisan organization promoting political reform and election integrity.

“Now, in the last few years, we in America are having to defend assaults on our elections from both domestic and foreign forces. We just don’t have the infrastructure or the history to do it at scale because we’ve never had to face threats this severe in the past,” said Penniman, who took part in the exercise.

“We know a hurricane is eventually going to hit our elections,” said Penniman. But in the exercise, “because patterns of working together haven’t formed, few people understood exactly how they should be coordinating with others or not.”

In a mock “White House Situation Room” around a long table, participants played assigned roles — including as directors of the FBI, CIA and the Department of Homeland Security — and sifted through the alarming reports from Arizona and Florida and numerous other unconfirmed threats, including a break-in at a postal processing center for mail-in ballots.

Conferring with the tech companies, players who were “government officials” struggled to determine the facts, who was spreading “deepfakes” and how government agencies should respond. (MSNBC anchor Alex Witt also took part in the exercise, playing the role of president of the National Association of Broadcasters.)

In the exercise, it was unclear initially that photos and video of poll workers tossing out ballots in Miami were fake. The images had gone viral, partly because of a bot-texting campaign by Russia.

Eventually, officials were able to establish that the whole episode was staged and then enhanced by artificial intelligence to make it look more convincing.

A woman walks past a "Vote Here" sign at Miami Beach City Hall in Miami Beach, Fla., on Oct. 19, 2020.Eva Marie Uzcategui / AFP via Getty Images file

In this and other cases, including the fake calls to Arizona voters, the players hesitated over who should make a public announcement telling voters their polling places were safe and their ballots secure. Federal officials worried that any public statement would be seen as an attempt to boost the chances of President Joe Biden’s re-election.

“There was also a lot of debate and uncertainty about whether the White House and the president should engage,” Taylor said.

“One of the big debates in the room was whose job is it to say if something’s real or fake,” he said. “Is it the state-level election officials who say we’ve determined that there’s a fake? Is it private companies? Is it the White House?”

Said Taylor, “That’s something that we think we’re also going to see in this election cycle.”

And although the war game imagined tech executives in the room with federal officials, in reality, communication between the federal government and private firms on how to counter foreign propaganda and disinformation has sharply diminished in recent years.

The once close cooperation among federal officials, tech companies and researchers that developed after the 2016 election has unraveled due to sustained Republican attacks in Congress and court rulings discouraging federal agencies from consulting with companies about moderating online content.

The result is a potentially risky gap in safeguarding the 2024 election.

State governments lack the resources to detect an AI deepfake or to counter it quickly with accurate information, and now technology companies and some federal agencies are wary of taking a leading role, former officials and experts said.

“Everybody’s terrified of the lawsuits and ... accusations of free speech suppression,” said Kathy Boockvar, former Pennsylvania secretary of state, who took part in the exercise.

The New York war game, plus similar sessions being carried out in other states, is part of a wider effort to try to encourage more communication between tech executives and government officials, said Taylor.

But in the world outside the war game, social media platforms have cut back teams that moderate false election content, and there’s no sign those companies are ready to pursue close cooperation with government.

State and local election offices, meanwhile, face a significant shortage of experienced staff. A wave of physical and cyber threats has triggered a record exodus of election workers, leaving election agencies ill-prepared for November.

Concerned about understaffed and inexperienced state election agencies, a coalition of nonprofits and good-government groups are planning to organize a bipartisan, countrywide network of former officials, technology specialists and others to help local authorities detect deepfakes in real time and respond with accurate information.

“We’re going to have to do the best we can — independent of the federal government and the social media platforms — to try to fill the gap,” said Penniman, whose organization is involved in the election security effort.

Boockvar, the former secretary of state, said she hopes nonprofits can act as a bridge between the tech companies and the federal government, helping to maintain communication channels.

Some of the largest AI tech firms say they are introducing safeguards to their products and communicating with government officials to help bolster election security before the November vote.

“Ahead of the upcoming elections, OpenAI has put in place policies to prevent abuse, launched new features to increase transparency around AI-generated content, and developed partnerships to connect people to authoritative sources of voting information,” said a spokesperson. “We continue to work alongside governments, industry partners, and civil society toward our shared goal of protecting the integrity of elections around the world.”

The internet, however, is filled with smaller generative-AI companies that may not abide by those same rules, as well as open-source tools that allow people to build their own generative-AI programs.

Voters cast their ballots at a polling location inside the Museum of Contemporary Art on Nov. 8, 2022 in Arlington, Va.Nathan Howard / Getty Images file

An FBI spokesperson declined to comment on a hypothetical situation, but said the bureau’s Foreign Influence Task Force remains the federal lead “for identifying, investigating, and disrupting foreign malign influence operations targeting our democratic institutions and values inside the United States.”

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said it’s working closely with state and local agencies to protect the country’s elections.

“CISA is proud to continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with state and local election officials as they defend our elections process against the range of cyber, physical, and operational security risks, to include the risk of foreign influence operations,” said senior adviser Cait Conley.

For many of those in the room for the exercise, the scenarios drove home the need to develop an ambitious public education campaign to help voters recognize deepfakes and to inoculate Americans from the coming onslaught of foreign and domestic disinformation.

The Future US and other groups are now holding talks with Hollywood writers and producers to develop a series of public service videos to help raise awareness about phony video and audio clips during the election campaign, according to Evan Burfield, chief strategy officer for The Future US.

But if public education campaigns and other efforts fail to contain the contagion of disinformation and potential violence, the country could face an unprecedented deadlock over who won the election.

If enough doubts are raised about what has transpired during the election, there’s a danger that the outcome of the vote becomes a “stalemate” with no clear winner, said Danny Crichton of Lux Capital, a venture capital firm focused on emerging technologies, which co-hosted the exercise.

If enough things “go wrong or people are stuck at the polls, then you just get to a draw,” Crichton said. “And to me that is the worst-case scenario. ... I don’t think our system is robust enough to handle that.”

 

[Bozo_Casanova 25903]

53 minutes ago, David Dennison said:

You really don't think Clinton, Obama, and Biden were/are better than Bush the Elder?

In a word, no. Clinton‘s legacy is deeply compromised by his personal failures and the bulk of his economic accomplishment was facilitated by tough choices made by George Bush and Paul Volcker. I think we tend to conflate Clinton’s highly competent stewardship with the glorious climax of the American Century.
Obama was good individually but his lack of political skill led to mostly squandered opportunity at a pivotal time.
 

The case for Biden is still being presented, but I think he’s in Nixon territory now and could pass Bush for me. It likely depends on circumstances outside his control plus how Ukraine plays out, and whether his current political bet works out. If he’s wrong about that one that’s it for the Republic. 

[Earl Haffler 568]

 

Edited March 16 by Earl Haffler

[Red Five 40449]

Laugh it up Dotard. You fucked a porn star while your wife was pregnant. 

[David Dennison 17800]

13 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

In a word, no. Clinton‘s legacy is deeply compromised by his personal failures and the bulk of his economic accomplishment was facilitated by tough choices made by George Bush and Paul Volcker. I think we tend to conflate Clinton’s highly competent stewardship with the glorious climax of the American Century.
Obama was good individually but his lack of political skill led to mostly squandered opportunity at a pivotal time.

The case for Biden is still being presented, but I think he’s in Nixon territory now and could pass Bush for me. It likely depends on circumstances outside his control plus how Ukraine plays out, and whether his current political bet works out. If he’s wrong about that one that’s it for the Republic. 

Iran-Contra doesn't move the needle at all?

[chainsaw 9668]

50 minutes ago, Earl Haffler said:

 

Good thing Marvin Gaye's estate is famously non-litigious

[Bozo_Casanova 25903]

1 hour ago, David Dennison said:

Iran-Contra doesn't move the needle at all?

Of course it does, but he was operationally complicit in that as vice-president. 

[Underdog 28229]

1 hour ago, Earl Haffler said:

 

A Presidential Candidate. 

[hobbes2702 12535]

16 hours ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

Bush Sr is the best president of my life. From there it goes

Clinton
Nixon
Obama
Ford
Reagan

Trump (worse for the country)
W Bush (body count)

lol wut?

[Art Vandelay 1705]

15 hours ago, Horn Dog said:

Bush Sr. promoted cultural war bullshit (Willie Horton), enabled the religious right GOP takeover, and nominated Alito, so be did more than his fair share to get us where we are today

Alito was nominated by W. But Bush Sr. nominated Clarence Thomas, so your point stands.

[David Dennison 17800]

35 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

Of course it does, but he was operationally complicit in that as vice-president. 

#IranContraPardons

[hobbes2702 12535]

5 minutes ago, David Dennison said:

#IranContraPardons

What’s a little treason among friends.

[TexEx15 17325]

Good thread in response to Nate’s tweet.

[bolverk 29095]

7 minutes ago, TexEx15 said:

Good thread in response to Nate’s tweet.

Many of us have quit Twitter for good (or until Elmo has to sell it) and can no longer read threads. Can you post the whole thing here? If it's too long, try putting it through the Thread Reader app and then post.

[Gatorubet 29764]

2 hours ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

Obama was good individually but his lack of political skill led to mostly squandered opportunity at a pivotal time.

Perhaps you forgot that the Turtle pledged his mission was that anything Obama wanted, he could not get. I’d love to hear what political skill could have overcome that.

Also, I guess we could blame Obama for being a Negro. He refused to stop doing that throughout his entire presidency.

[Js1 83619]

The polls with tiny sample sizes? Didn’t that poll of black voters with a huge sample show 92-8 for Biden?

More “the results are wrong, the polls are right” from the polling nerds trying to be pundits. 

[Bozo_Casanova 25903]

42 minutes ago, David Dennison said:

#IranContraPardons

Yes I’m aware

[Longhorn_Fan68 33723]

21 hours ago, DigglerontheHoof said:

At this point, IDGAF what they did in the past; any Rs who oppose Trump are a good thing.  Cheney is a piece of shit, no doubt.  But, fuck, every single bit of opposition is needed to keep that evil orange fuck out of office. 

the enemy of my enemy or some shit. they can all rot in hell (if you believe in that sorta thing) but in the meantime, yeah, throw the rest of us that still have some time to spend here a fucking bone.

[Bozo_Casanova 25903]

28 minutes ago, Gatorubet said:

Perhaps you forgot that the Turtle pledged his mission was that anything Obama wanted, he could not get. I’d love to hear what political skill could have overcome that.

Navigating opposition is the single measurement of political skill.

but, For example, when he had a veto-proof senate majority in 2009 he could have immediately passed a true universal healthcare plan. Instead he dithered around, tried to do cap and trade first, failed, attempted to accommodate Grassley and McConnell when there was no need, and failed to punish them when they stabbed him in the back, meanwhile staying on the sideline and hoarding campaign cash while his house delegation went begging during the lead up to the 2010 midterms.

and that was just the first 2 years. He didn’t get the nickname “MiddleMan” for nothing.

[David Dennison 17800]

3 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

Navigating opposition is the single measurement of political skill.

but, For example, when he had a veto-proof senate majority in 2009 he could have immediately passed a true universal healthcare plan. Instead he dithered around, tried to do cap and trade first, failed, attempted to accommodate Grassley and McConnell when there was no need, and failed to punish them when they stabbed him in the back, meanwhile staying on the sideline and hoarding campaign cash while his house delegation went begging during the lead up to the 2010 midterms.

and that was just the first 2 years. He didn’t get the nickname “MiddleMan” for nothing.

How was he going to pass a true universal healthcare plan with Joe Lieberman in the Senate?

[cactusflinthead 27229]

33 minutes ago, bolverk said:

Many of us have quit Twitter for good (or until Elmo has to sell it) and can no longer read threads. Can you post the whole thing here? If it's too long, try putting it through the Thread Reader app and then post.

[cactusflinthead 27229]

There's no 5. I looked again 

[Js1 83619]

Just now, David Dennison said:

How was he going to pass a true universal healthcare plan with Joe Lieberman in the Senate?

I think people forget how conservative that 60 seat Dem caucus was. 2024 Joe Manchin would be center left in that caucus. You had Dems from LA, Arky, Alaska, Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and West Virginia. Plus “independent” Lieberman and a party flipper in Specter. 

[Bozo_Casanova 25903]

38 minutes ago, David Dennison said:

How was he going to pass a true universal healthcare plan with Joe Lieberman in the Senate?

Yes. Good question. How would a mere president possibly squeeze the Democratic Senator most closely associate with the securities and investment industries in fall/winter 2009? That’s a real head scratcher!