2020 Democrats

[Gyfts]

The TV ratings for the DNC are way down this year and the ratings decline has accelerated as the week progressed. The DNC also had to duplicate enthusiastic voters on their live stream, presumably because they were unable to find 30 voters who were excited to vote for Harris/Biden.

I don't understand people who actually watch these things. Didn't care for the RNC or DNC last year. It's political pandering. I saw clips of Obama's speech and the platform democrats are running on is essentially "orange man bad".

In a head to head match up strictly based on policy, I think Trump wins.

[theymos]

The whole convention had a real fascist flavor. The core theme could be summed up as "strength through unity." Tammy Duckworth's speech in particular made me think of Starship Troopers...


I was apparently in a masochistic mood, since I watched most of the convention. It was certainly better than past conventions, but only because it was shorter and more focused. Lots of glitches, and the whole thing was very fake-feeling. As I read back through the schedule now, the only things that I can really remember as being well-done were:
 - Several of the professionally-produced "commercials", like the John Lewis biography.
 - The roll call was less painful than usual, though still boring and pointless.
 - Jill Biden's speech was well-delivered, and the content may have struck a chord with some people.
 - Barack Obama's speech. The man is one fine orator, and the content was generic but probably attractive to many people.
 - The short thing with Cory Booker and other Dem candidates near the end. It was super fake, but I still chuckled.
 
The constant weaponizing of Beau Biden's death disgusted me. I'm not sure if most people would notice this, though, since most people wouldn't have sat through the whole convention to see them bring it up literally dozens of times.

While Biden's acceptance speech didn't stick out as a disaster, the content was shallow, and it was delivered rather poorly. Since it was pre-recorded, if that's the best take that they were able to get, then it continues to indicate to me that Biden isn't in great condition.

Policy-wise, it's clear that the Democratic party wants to become the old Bush-era Republican party, but with some identity politics smeared on top. Pro-war, pro-status-quo, supporters of the administrative state, corporatist, blind nationalists, etc. If I was eg. a Bernie supporter, I'd be incredibly disappointed, and I'd feel little reason to support the party.

Maybe it makes some sense electorally, but I don't think that Biden's "strength through unity" message is very attractive to most Americans, who are at their core deeply divided. How are you going to unite a country where a third of people think that a different third of the country are deplorables, and vice-versa? Most people want to crush the opposition, not to unify. Traditionally this'd be "fixed" by starting a war or something, but I'm not even sure that having a big outside enemy to unify against would remove the division very much in today's world.

I'd guess that the convention was mildly effective. Among the handful of people who watched it, it will increase turnout for Biden supporters, and the nationalist message might've attracted some boomers and gen-Xers who were on the fence. It was a particularly effective message for the midwest swing states, which are quite nationalist. Since almost nobody watches these conventions, the effect of this one event is limited, but it shows the direction that the Biden campaign is going in, and this direction is IMO a reasonably intelligent way of playing the cards they have.

I'll be interested to see how the Republican convention compares. On the one hand, the Democrats were preparing for this for longer, though on the other hand Trump's biggest area of expertise is TV production. The Trump campaign really needs to stop making "Biden is a radical socialist" their main line of attack, since this is totally not how Biden is portraying himself, and the argument therefore rings false even to someone who's only barely paying attention. Trump can't win with only a pumped-up base. It's looked to me for a while as though the Trump campaign is actively trying to lose, so I'm not expecting much. If it's a big disaster, I hope that it's at least an amusing disaster.

[PrimeNumber7]

The TV ratings for the DNC are way down this year and the ratings decline has accelerated as the week progressed. The DNC also had to duplicate enthusiastic voters on their live stream, presumably because they were unable to find 30 voters who were excited to vote for Harris/Biden.

I don't understand people who actually watch these things. Didn't care for the RNC or DNC last year. It's political pandering. I saw clips of Obama's speech and the platform democrats are running on is essentially "orange man bad".

In a head to head match up strictly based on policy, I think Trump wins.

I think a party’s base and donors are the primary audience to the conventions. I would say that convention attendance and viewership is one metric for enthusiasm. It could also measure a campaigns ability to raise money.

While Biden's acceptance speech

One thing I noticed was that Biden said he would give the “resources” for schools and businesses to “reopen” on his first day of his presidency.

This strongly implies that school closures and continued lockdowns are politically motivated and intended to hurt Trump.

Hopefully there will be strong backlash at the polls against local officials who instituted the lockdowns this November. This may well be the case, there was a MN poll released yesterday that shows Trump tied with Biden in a state that has voted Democrat in Presidential elections for the past 44 years.

[TwitchySeal]

While Biden's acceptance speech

One thing I noticed was that Biden said he would give the “resources” for schools and businesses to “reopen” on his first day of his presidency.

This strongly implies that school closures and continued lockdowns are politically motivated and intended to hurt Trump.

"We’ll make sure our schools have the resources they need to be open, safe and effective."  That's what he said during his acceptance speech.

[PrimeNumber7]

While Biden's acceptance speech

One thing I noticed was that Biden said he would give the “resources” for schools and businesses to “reopen” on his first day of his presidency.

This strongly implies that school closures and continued lockdowns are politically motivated and intended to hurt Trump.

"We’ll make sure our schools have the resources they need to be open, safe and effective."  That's what he said during his acceptance speech.

If only Trump had thought of giving schools additional resources to open safely.

Teachers unions are demanding things such as medicare for all, higher taxes, defunding the police, bans on charter schools (and many other things that have nothing to do with opening schools) in order to open schools back up. Is this what Biden is referring to?

[TwitchySeal]

While Biden's acceptance speech

One thing I noticed was that Biden said he would give the “resources” for schools and businesses to “reopen” on his first day of his presidency.

This strongly implies that school closures and continued lockdowns are politically motivated and intended to hurt Trump.

"We’ll make sure our schools have the resources they need to be open, safe and effective."  That's what he said during his acceptance speech.

If only Trump had thought of giving schools additional resources to open safely.

Teachers unions are demanding things such as medicare for all, higher taxes, defunding the police, bans on charter schools (and many other things that have nothing to do with opening schools) in order to open schools back up. Is this what Biden is referring to?

That wasn't the first time you've made untrue claims that could've been easily verified, perhaps it's time to consider looking into using other sources.  And even then you should really verify stuff before posting it as fact. 

Anyway...moving on.

Here's the statement that The National Education Association (largest union in the country) released after endorsing Biden: http://www.nea.org/home/75963.htm

Here's the statement that The American Federation of Teachers (third largest union in the country) released after endorsing Biden: https://www.aft.org/news/aft-endorses-joe-biden-democratic-nominee-president

[Spendulus]

While Biden's acceptance speech

One thing I noticed was that Biden said he would give the “resources” for schools and businesses to “reopen” on his first day of his presidency.

This strongly implies that school closures and continued lockdowns are politically motivated and intended to hurt Trump.

"We’ll make sure our schools have the resources they need to be open, safe and effective."  That's what he said during his acceptance speech.

If only Trump had thought of giving schools additional resources to open safely.

Teachers unions are demanding things such as medicare for all, higher taxes, defunding the police, bans on charter schools (and many other things that have nothing to do with opening schools) in order to open schools back up. Is this what Biden is referring to?

You are looking for reason and logic in things Biden says?

[PrimeNumber7]

If only Trump had thought of giving schools additional resources to open safely.

Teachers unions are demanding things such as medicare for all, higher taxes, defunding the police, bans on charter schools (and many other things that have nothing to do with opening schools) in order to open schools back up. Is this what Biden is referring to?

That wasn't the first time you've made untrue claims that could've been easily verified, perhaps it's time to consider looking into using other sources.  And even then you should really verify stuff before posting it as fact.  

<>

The Los Angeles teachers union is demanding:

<>
an immediate moratorium on new charter schools
<>
the passage of Medicare for All, new state-level wealth taxes in California

I would ask again, are these the "resources" that Biden is promising to give the teachers unions in order to reopen schools? If not, then what specifically is Biden going to do to get schools reopened that Trump is not already doing?

[TwitchySeal]

If only Trump had thought of giving schools additional resources to open safely.

Teachers unions are demanding things such as medicare for all, higher taxes, defunding the police, bans on charter schools (and many other things that have nothing to do with opening schools) in order to open schools back up. Is this what Biden is referring to?

That wasn't the first time you've made untrue claims that could've been easily verified, perhaps it's time to consider looking into using other sources.  And even then you should really verify stuff before posting it as fact.  

<>

The Los Angeles teachers union is demanding:

<>
an immediate moratorium on new charter schools
<>
the passage of Medicare for All, new state-level wealth taxes in California

I would ask again, are these the "resources" that Biden is promising to give the teachers unions in order to reopen schools? If not, then what specifically is Biden going to do to get schools reopened that Trump is not already doing?

He detailed his plan on his website, his medium blog and various op-eds speaches and interviews.  

If you're interested I would start here: https://joebiden.com/caregiving/,  https://joebiden.com/education/, https://joebiden.com/empowerworkers/

I was just pointing out that your response to Bidens acceptance speech was not based on something that he actually said.  I'm not sure who convinced you he said what you claimed, and it's not really a big deal, but now you know for the future to verify information from them before repeating it.

While Biden's acceptance speech

One thing I noticed was that Biden said he would give the “resources” for schools and businesses to “reopen” on his first day of his presidency.

This strongly implies that school closures and continued lockdowns are politically motivated and intended to hurt Trump.

"We’ll make sure our schools have the resources they need to be open, safe and effective."  That's what he said during his acceptance speech.

[Spendulus]

Teachers unions are demanding things such as medicare for all, higher taxes, defunding the police, bans on charter schools (and many other things that have nothing to do with opening schools) in order to open schools back up. Is this what Biden is referring to?

Good question. It's certainly what the teachers' unions think they need "In order to open back up." Or just what they want anyway, but for convenience they are pigeonholing the wish list under COVID.

[squatz1]

Teachers unions are demanding things such as medicare for all, higher taxes, defunding the police, bans on charter schools (and many other things that have nothing to do with opening schools) in order to open schools back up. Is this what Biden is referring to?

Good question. It's certainly what the teachers' unions think they need "In order to open back up." Or just what they want anyway, but for convenience they are pigeonholing the wish list under COVID.

.... I think this is some teachers union calls. Though I don't think that this is an overreaching idea of all teachers unions across the nation.

I totally (and I think many others do) understand there concerns regarding opening back up. They're obviously going to be worried as they're trying to keep their teachers (the members of the union) as safe as possible. That's why the teachers pay those union dues.

Makes sense to fight back in some areas and demand more protection.

[Gyfts]

Perhaps democrats are out of touch but I find it interesting that Don Lemon of CNN just now recognizes that polling number show people don't support these rioters and looters. As if we needed poll numbers to confirm this.

https://thehill.com/homenews/media/513742-cnns-lemon-warns-of-democratic-blind-spot-on-riots-it-shows-up-in-the-polling

I'll be fair and make a good faith assumption that most democrats obviously don't support these rioters and looters, but I haven't seen democratic politicians condemn them on strong terms either, or act on whatever condemnation they given with substantive action (like supporting law enforcement in arresting these rioters and providing them the resources to do so).

[squatz1]

Perhaps democrats are out of touch but I find it interesting that Don Lemon of CNN just now recognizes that polling number show people don't support these rioters and looters. As if we needed poll numbers to confirm this.

https://thehill.com/homenews/media/513742-cnns-lemon-warns-of-democratic-blind-spot-on-riots-it-shows-up-in-the-polling

I'll be fair and make a good faith assumption that most democrats obviously don't support these rioters and looters, but I haven't seen democratic politicians condemn them on strong terms either, or act on whatever condemnation they given with substantive action (like supporting law enforcement in arresting these rioters and providing them the resources to do so).

Makes sense, this is actually something that the GOP is trying to capitalize on right now with suburban voters which is the group of voters that they have been losing for sometime now. 2018 showed that the GOP needed better messaging or they were going to not have much of a chance against the Dems in the coming years.

This is the point that they're going to drive home, and this is something that reasonates with people. Talk about the horrible crime that occurs, get some videos and display them of people being knocked out by rioters, show burning buildings / cars, etc.

That sort of storyline is what they're aiming to go down this election cycle, they want suburban voters to think that if Biden is elected then this sort of madness will spread from the urban areas into the suburban areas -- a very scary thing to tell voters.

Poll numbers agree with the GOP here, and if they do proper messaging on this then they may walk away with a win in November.

[TwitchySeal]

Perhaps democrats are out of touch but I find it interesting that Don Lemon of CNN just now recognizes that polling number show people don't support these rioters and looters. As if we needed poll numbers to confirm this.

https://thehill.com/homenews/media/513742-cnns-lemon-warns-of-democratic-blind-spot-on-riots-it-shows-up-in-the-polling

I'll be fair and make a good faith assumption that most democrats obviously don't support these rioters and looters, but I haven't seen democratic politicians condemn them on strong terms either, or act on whatever condemnation they given with substantive action (like supporting law enforcement in arresting these rioters and providing them the resources to do so).

Makes sense, this is actually something that the GOP is trying to capitalize on right now with suburban voters which is the group of voters that they have been losing for sometime now. 2018 showed that the GOP needed better messaging or they were going to not have much of a chance against the Dems in the coming years.

This is the point that they're going to drive home, and this is something that reasonates with people. Talk about the horrible crime that occurs, get some videos and display them of people being knocked out by rioters, show burning buildings / cars, etc.

That sort of storyline is what they're aiming to go down this election cycle, they want suburban voters to think that if Biden is elected then this sort of madness will spread from the urban areas into the suburban areas -- a very scary thing to tell voters.

Poll numbers agree with the GOP here, and if they do proper messaging on this then they may walk away with a win in November.

It's more a matter of Republicans successfully spinning it than Democrats not actually caring.  Trumps just using the old 'say it over and over again till eventually people will believe you and start to repeat it' trick, and it's working.  Protests = Riots, Dems support protests therefor Dems support Riots therefor if Biden wins the whole country will look like Afghanistan in 2005 so Vote for Trump unless you want that to happen.

In reality Democrats have denounced many of the things Trump says they support, Biden has been explicitly against the whole defund the police movement from the beginning, and Trump is going out of his way to piss people off.

[Gyfts]

It's more a matter of Republicans successfully spinning it than Democrats not actually caring.  Trumps just using the old 'say it over and over again till eventually people will believe you and start to repeat it' trick, and it's working.  Protests = Riots, Dems support protests therefor Dems support Riots therefor if Biden wins the whole country will look like Afghanistan in 2005 so Vote for Trump unless you want that to happen.

In reality Democrats have denounced many of the things Trump says they support, Biden has been explicitly against the whole defund the police movement from the beginning, and Trump is going out of his way to piss people off.

NY elects to defund police by 1 billion - https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/07/01/new-york-city-budget-billion-nypd-defund-police/5354307002/

Seattle elects to defund police by 50% but fails - https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/aug/22/seattle-police-department-defund-reform City council now propose smaller budget cuts.

LA city council defunds police - https://abc7.com/defund-the-police-lapd-los-angeles-mayor-eric-garcetti/6289037/

Minneapolis intent to abolish police (delayed, thankfully) - https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/06/us/minneapolis-police-abolish-delay/index.html

Austin city council votes to defund police - https://www.texastribune.org/2020/08/13/austin-city-council-cut-police-budget-defund/

I'm sorry, but this isn't a Republican spin. This is the democratic platform in 2020. Joe Biden is against defunding the police because he can't defund the police...The federal government does not have the authority to defund city PD's.

Joe Biden, like fucking clock work, releases out this piss poor tweet condemning violence - https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1298697722304888833

Of course, he was no where to be found when Minneapolis sustained 500 million in damage after George Floyd's death nor did he condemn Portland rioters that had been rioting for 3 months. No where in this video Biden put up does he detail a plan to counteract violence, he merely says "stop pls" so that he is shielded from the political liability of these riots.

He's a spineless coward that is only condemning violence because polls show that ordinary Americans are not okay with these cities being lit on fire by BLM radicals. Fortunately for Biden, Americans are dumb enough to think he cares. He again is insinuating that the Jacob Blake shooting was unjustified without knowing any of the facts and continues to regurgitate this idea that the shooting was only done because of systemic racism which does nothing but add fuel to rioters.

Ted Wheeler specifically told DHS to remove their federal troops after antifa rioters attacked a court house for weeks. This is democrats refusing basic law and order. Jenny Durkins of Seattle allowing some LARPers to take over a 6 block area of Seattle called "CHOP" resulting in numerous assaults and the deaths of two black kids and having the audacity to tweet at Trump claiming its a "democracy" is quite literally supporting rioters.

[squatz1]

Perhaps democrats are out of touch but I find it interesting that Don Lemon of CNN just now recognizes that polling number show people don't support these rioters and looters. As if we needed poll numbers to confirm this.

https://thehill.com/homenews/media/513742-cnns-lemon-warns-of-democratic-blind-spot-on-riots-it-shows-up-in-the-polling

I'll be fair and make a good faith assumption that most democrats obviously don't support these rioters and looters, but I haven't seen democratic politicians condemn them on strong terms either, or act on whatever condemnation they given with substantive action (like supporting law enforcement in arresting these rioters and providing them the resources to do so).

Makes sense, this is actually something that the GOP is trying to capitalize on right now with suburban voters which is the group of voters that they have been losing for sometime now. 2018 showed that the GOP needed better messaging or they were going to not have much of a chance against the Dems in the coming years.

This is the point that they're going to drive home, and this is something that reasonates with people. Talk about the horrible crime that occurs, get some videos and display them of people being knocked out by rioters, show burning buildings / cars, etc.

That sort of storyline is what they're aiming to go down this election cycle, they want suburban voters to think that if Biden is elected then this sort of madness will spread from the urban areas into the suburban areas -- a very scary thing to tell voters.

Poll numbers agree with the GOP here, and if they do proper messaging on this then they may walk away with a win in November.

It's more a matter of Republicans successfully spinning it than Democrats not actually caring.  Trumps just using the old 'say it over and over again till eventually people will believe you and start to repeat it' trick, and it's working.  Protests = Riots, Dems support protests therefor Dems support Riots therefor if Biden wins the whole country will look like Afghanistan in 2005 so Vote for Trump unless you want that to happen.

In reality Democrats have denounced many of the things Trump says they support, Biden has been explicitly against the whole defund the police movement from the beginning, and Trump is going out of his way to piss people off.

I don't know if I fully agree with the fact that Democrats are denouncing the rioters (not disagreeing with the Trump allegations though) It seems as if they want to ignore the fact that there are some rioters in the midst of these protesters, using this as a time to destroy / steal as much as you possibly could.

Republicans are spinning it, yes, like anything else. They're trying to make it seem worse then it actually is, but some of those horrible videos do truly speak for themselves in regards to seeing how horrible some of the destruction is and how devastating it is to people / businesses. Showing those videos is a way to get voters to come out and vote.

But that's just my view on all of this, heh.

[TwitchySeal]

I'm sorry, but this isn't a Republican spin. This is the democratic platform in 2020.

Actually it's not.  There are democrats that support it, but that doesn't make it the Democratic platform.  The plan is to increase funding for training and psychologists and stuff like that without building a whole new program from scratch (which is what defund the police actually means).

If you're interested in literally reading the DNC platform: https://democrats.org/where-we-stand/party-platform

If you want a quick summary (pretty unbiased imo): https://www.wsj.com/articles/heres-where-the-democrats-stand-on-police-funding-marijuana-and-medicare-11596052231

In case you don't want to click a link, he's the first bullet point:

KEY TAKEAWAYS
1. The Democratic Party platform opposes defunding police, despite growing pressure from Black Lives Matter activists.
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and the Democratic Party platform committee do not support defunding police and shifting the money to public service programs. Black Lives Matter organizer Patrisse Cullors, who is pushing for funding to be shifted from police departments to organizations that help marginalized communities, said Monday: “The Democratic Party of today will be remembered as the party of complicity.”

Joe Biden is against defunding the police because he can't defund the police...The federal government does not have the authority to defund city PD's.

They have the authority to use federal funding, legislation and federal law enforcement support as leverage to pressure local governments to cooperate.  That's a lot of leverage.

Of course, he was no where to be found when Minneapolis sustained 500 million in damage after George Floyd's death nor did he condemn Portland rioters that had been rioting for 3 months. No where in this video Biden put up does he detail a plan to counteract violence, he merely says "stop pls" so that he is shielded from the political liability of these riots.

He spoke about, wrote op-eds about it, addressed the issue in his policy pitches.  If you didn't listen or read any of that, but you did listen to Trump, I can understand why you'd think otherwise.  If you're interested in details, here are more than you could ask for: https://joebiden.com/joes-vision/

If you actually care (I don't think you really do) you should put a little effort into listening what he has to say for himself instead of believing what his political opponents tell you he's saying.  It's not as entertaining as Trump on twitter or at a podium, but it's comprehensive and detailed.

Joe Biden, like fucking clock work, releases out this piss poor tweet condemning violence - https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1298697722304888833

I really hope you're in the minority that seems to get more pissed off by tweets like this than the actual shootings. The way this shit keeps happening is embarrassing. for the country and it's getting worse, not better.  I'd much rather have a president tweeting stuff like this instead of rage tweeting lies and creating more anger that ultimately just divides us even more and fuels the chaos.

Code:

Once again, a Black man — Jacob Blake — was shot by the police. In front of his children. It makes me sick.

Is this the country we want to be?

Needless violence won’t heal us. We need to end the violence — and peacefully come together to demand justice.

[/quote]

[Gyfts]

If you're interested in literally reading the DNC platform: https://democrats.org/where-we-stand/party-platform

If you want a quick summary (pretty unbiased imo): https://www.wsj.com/articles/heres-where-the-democrats-stand-on-police-funding-marijuana-and-medicare-11596052231

I'll once again revert back to my laundry list of cities attempting to dismantle or defund the police. Again, Biden, as I've said before, doesn't have authority to defund the police nor does the DNC on a federal level have any authority to dictate what their democratic governors do.

To be frank, I don't care what Biden's stance on defunding the police is. He's shown he's willing to stand by to rioters and looters just to please the radical left and literally hours after the Jacob Blake shooting reaffirmed that Blake was killed because of systemic racism and that the officers must be held accountable.

He immediately implied guilt without knowing the facts and attributed malice in the officer's intentions right off the bat. Once again, this reaffirms rioters.

They have the authority to use federal funding, legislation and federal law enforcement support as leverage to pressure local governments to cooperate.  That's a lot of leverage.

He'd run into way too many constitutional hurdles by dictating how local cities allocate their budgets or threatening to revoke federal funds if cities don't defund the police. You are right to an extent, the federal government can bully their way into any policy proposal -- in fact, that's the reason why the age minimum for alcohol is 21 (Federal government threatened to revoke federal funds if states changed it to 18). But again, Biden can't feasibly go down this route.

If you actually care (I don't think you really do) you should put a little effort into listening what he has to say for himself instead of believing what his political opponents tell you he's saying.  It's not as entertaining as Trump on twitter or at a podium, but it's comprehensive and detailed.

This isn't an refutation to Joe Biden only condemning violence once it affects his poll numbers while standing idle as riots happen across the country, including Portland which is going on nearly month 3. I actually do care, believe it or not. But I'm also not a fool in taking Biden's word for his condemnation of violence while offering no plan to counteract these rioters whilst also spreading this baseless accusation that Jacob Blake was killed with malice intent due to racist cops without even having all the facts.

I'll ask you again. Where was his condemnation months ago when all this violence was taking place after George Floyd's death? Why is Joe Biden immediately jumping the gun and insinuating the officers were racist and that Jacob Blake was shot because of malice? Why did Joe Biden say the cops should be held accountable, implying guilt?

I really hope you're in the minority that seems to get more pissed off by tweets like this than the actual shootings. The way this shit keeps happening is embarrassing. for the country and it's getting worse, not better.  I'd much rather have a president tweeting stuff like this instead of rage tweeting lies and creating more anger that ultimately just divides us even more and fuels the chaos.

Code:

Once again, a Black man — Jacob Blake — was shot by the police. In front of his children. It makes me sick.

Is this the country we want to be?

Needless violence won’t heal us. We need to end the violence — and peacefully come together to demand justice.

No, this is not what I want the country to be which is why I will unequivocally stand with you in demonstrably unjustified shootings of anyone, black, white, ect. If a person gets shot and it turns out to be unjustified with all the facts laid on the table, I'm right there with you in demanding justice. Shooting of Walter Scott? 100 percent unjustified and the pos cop is rotting in jail currently. Shooting of Botham Jean? 100 percent unjustified and you will never see me supporting that officer's actions.

In this instance, Jacob Blake (based on preliminary evidence) wasn't some innocent unarmed black man that was shot for no reason. He had a criminal record that police were informed about, allegedly. He refused basic legal commands and was fighting with the officers, and then he reached downward into a car. I can't demand justice for shooting that was most likely justified. You'd think Blake, for the sake of his kids, would comply with legal commands but apparently not.

[Spendulus]

If you're interested in literally reading the DNC platform: https://democrats.org/where-we-stand/party-platform

If you want a quick summary (pretty unbiased imo): https://www.wsj.com/articles/heres-where-the-democrats-stand-on-police-funding-marijuana-and-medicare-11596052231

I'll once again revert back to my laundry list of cities attempting to dismantle or defund the police. Again, Biden, as I've said before, doesn't have authority to defund the police nor does the DNC on a federal level have any authority to dictate what their democratic governors do.

I think it's fine to point out what the ACTIONS of Demo governors and mayors are doing, and to note that few or NONE of their congress critters or organizations have rejected violence and mayhem. "Defund the Police" doesn't have to be in the National Democratic Platform for it to be something that Democrats are promising and doing right now.

It is what it is.

I'm sorry, but this isn't a Republican spin. This is the democratic platform in 2020.

Actually it's not.  There are democrats that support it, but that doesn't make it the Democratic platform.  .....

Violence is part of what the Democrats are condoning right now. I would not doubt the lying cunts have some words written on a document somewhere to cover themselves if someone says they are condoning violence.

So why waste peoples' time?

[TwitchySeal]

This isn't an refutation to Joe Biden only condemning violence once it affects his poll numbers while standing idle as riots happen across the country, including Portland which is going on nearly month 3. I actually do care, believe it or not. But I'm also not a fool in taking Biden's word for his condemnation of violence while offering no plan to counteract these rioters whilst also spreading this baseless accusation that Jacob Blake was killed with malice intent due to racist cops without even having all the facts.

I'll ask you again. Where was his condemnation months ago when all this violence was taking place after George Floyd's death? Why is Joe Biden immediately jumping the gun and insinuating the officers were racist and that Jacob Blake was shot because of malice? Why did Joe Biden say the cops should be held accountable, implying guilt?

I'll answer you again.
Biden in May, 4 days after GF died:

Protesting such brutality is right and necessary. It’s an utterly American response. But burning down communities and needless destruction is not. Violence that endangers lives is not. Violence that guts and shutters businesses that serve the community is not.
The act of protesting should never be allowed to overshadow the reason we protest. It should not drive people away from the just cause that protest is meant to advance.

It's obvious you don't believe that systemic racism against black Americans is an issue worth taking to the streets over, and that's another discussion entirely.  But you act as if anyone that supports the movement secretly knows that systemic racism doesn't exist and are motivated by ulterior evil motives.  The same goes for democrats in general.  Disagreeing with their opinions on the direction the country doesn't justify the outrage.  It's as if you've convinced yourself that they know that your opinion is right and there's is wrong and they continue to push their wrong opinion maliciously.  This is why when Biden or anyone shows any support for people protesting or defends the right to protest these days, you believe they're encouraging violence and looting. It's just not true.