General Trump hilarity free-for-all thread

[Bruno]

Did I hear this right?

Chris Wallace: "Are you willing, tonight, to condemn white supremacists and militia groups and to say that they need to stand down..."

Trump: "Proud Boys, stand back and stand by! But I'll tell you what, somebody's got to do something about antifa and the left."

[Cain]

That's what he said. He also encouraged his supporters to go intimidate people at the polling stations and refused to say he would wait as long as it took for all votes to be counted before declaring he had won the election.

[Bruno]

Yep.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWiH-oiUW_s

He said "gimmie a name" and Biden said "Proud Boys", and then he said that.

[Bruno]

That's what he said. He also encouraged his supporters to go intimidate people at the polling stations and refused to say he would wait as long as it took for all votes to be counted before declaring he had won the election.

Right? Poll watchers, wtf does that even mean? Appoint yourself an official and go interrogate people?

[Cain]

Yes. That's exactly what it means. And throw out anyone who looks "suspicious" to your paranoid, fevered mind.

[Bruno]

I'm voting on the first day of early voting, but that almost makes me want to go on election day just cuz I wish a motherfucker would.

Maybe I'll get lucky and a motherfucker will, anyway.

[The Wizard Joseph]

Yes. Stand by and stand back. Give me time. I don't need a whole lot.

Will watch debate tomorrow, but truly my intent presumes mucho apparent disorder. Smoke, shadows blah blah blah

Sang my life out karaoke style as a birthday gift to myself. I have decided two things. 1 study virology to phd. Thesis sarscov2. 2 if I get covid and live every bit of it will be a clue to me. Then my blood will be full of antibodies. If it cripples me ok. If it represents or reinfects ok. All of it data. I won't seek it, but I will not stop until done.

On topic: Trump is over. Just not quite aware of it yet.

Gnite

[Cramulus]

that was a pointless debate.

nobody learned anything, each media outlet has already constructed its own version of what happened, and I sincerely doubt anyone's minds were changed.

But maybe we are past the days when debates have winners and losers.

[The Wizard Joseph]

that was a pointless debate.

nobody learned anything, each media outlet has already constructed its own version of what happened, and I sincerely doubt anyone's minds were changed.

But maybe we are past the days when debates have winners and losers.

I keep telling folks my theory that, sadly, the age of reason is closing to a new Mythic era wherein the best, most engaging BS is the dominant motivator. This does NOT mean there is no truth, merely that being able to know it at a glance can be tricky. Also you may never know if you saw a paranormal event or high stage magic larp stunts for an exceptionally fun and advanced, entertaining dual arg card game as a violence outlet/proxy or some shit.

[LMNO]

But maybe we are past the days when debates have winners and losers.

To be quite honest, I'm not sure I can remember the last time a debate changed my mind about a candidate, outside of one or two primaries.

[chaotic neutral observer]

It occurs to me that watching the debate with the sound muted might have actually made it more informative (not to mention palatable).  I.e, just watching the candidates' body language and facial expressions.  Much of the audio was just low-quality noise.

I feel sorry for anyone who has to caption that.

[Cramulus]

But maybe we are past the days when debates have winners and losers.

To be quite honest, I'm not sure I can remember the last time a debate changed my mind about a candidate, outside of one or two primaries.

sure - I've never been undecided by the time a debate happens
but I do remember many debates where there was a consensus about who won or lost

now, the construction of reality is more explicit - each outlet reports their preferred interpretation

It occurs to me that watching the debate with the sound muted might have actually made it more informative (not to mention palatable).  I.e, just watching the candidates' body language and facial expressions.  Much of the audio was just low-quality noise.

I feel sorry for anyone who has to caption that.

one of the things that really kills me about these debates is that people think shit like body language and "coming off as alpha" actually matters


like, we all know on some level that Trump talking over Biden for 90 minutes doesn't actually mean anything.
But we accept that people are persuaded by arbitrary, symbolic bullshit, so when we discuss the debate, we elevate the importance of "looking good on camera"


I just thinking back to Jon Stewart on Crossfire, when he talked about how the presidental election is a process, and it's not about selecting the best president, its about selecting the guy who is best at that process.

[chaotic neutral observer]

It occurs to me that watching the debate with the sound muted might have actually made it more informative (not to mention palatable).  I.e, just watching the candidates' body language and facial expressions.  Much of the audio was just low-quality noise.

I feel sorry for anyone who has to caption that.

one of the things that really kills me about these debates is that people think shit like body language and "coming off as alpha" actually matters

Well, I'm not claiming that.  Leaving the audio off would have been less hard on my nerves, and if I treat the whole debacle as a character study, watching them without the distraction of the background noise would have given me a different perspective.  How the candidates felt the debate was proceeding might have been more interesting than what they were actually saying.

The images I recall most clearly are:

Biden addressing the camera directly.
Biden looking down and laughing.
Trump looking sideways, with a belligerent and idiotic expression on his face (he makes it very easy for news publishers to select unflattering pictures).

Is any of that important to the American public?  I dunno.  I find it interesting, though.

like, we all know on some level that Trump talking over Biden for 90 minutes doesn't actually mean anything.

I was slightly surprised at Trump's apparent inability to stay on topic, or adhere to anything resembling normal debating etiquette.  I guess he's always been like that, but I didn't know he'd gotten that much worse.

[Cain]

Yeah, the body language was interesting. Biden clearly decided early on that debating Trump was a fool's errand, and instead decided to talk with the audience directly.

[The Johnny]

It occurs to me that watching the debate with the sound muted might have actually made it more informative (not to mention palatable).  I.e, just watching the candidates' body language and facial expressions.  Much of the audio was just low-quality noise.

I feel sorry for anyone who has to caption that.

one of the things that really kills me about these debates is that people think shit like body language and "coming off as alpha" actually matters

like, we all know on some level that Trump talking over Biden for 90 minutes doesn't actually mean anything.
But we accept that people are persuaded by arbitrary, symbolic bullshit, so when we discuss the debate, we elevate the importance of "looking good on camera"
[...]

It really matters a lot, but not in a direct face value sense, rather in the "what is this guy's communication strategy" sense.

Trump having no composure and acting like the psychotic wanna-be-alpha animal that he is, shows exactly how he acts all the time in practically every setting. At least Biden has some ammount of self-awareness when there isnt some female to sniff below the radius of social distancing measures.

Having said that, the goalposts of the debate mean nothing, what trascends is their respective aesthetics and emotional message, which brings us back to the original point, in which watching the debate without audio might be more informative than hearing it.