The election is rigged!

debsey

Thu, Oct 13 2016, 11:33 am

That's like asking "Are you a Trump supporter?" If you're a Trump supporter, you're likely to believe that the election is rigged and that's why he lost. If you are not, you are likely to believe that he lost fair and square.

I think there's a lot of underhandedness and lack of transparency in politics, and I think that both sides are guilty of inappropriate conduct, so much so that it kind of all balances out. His cheating will balance out her cheating.

Ultimately, there's a G-d Who runs the world, and I don't think He's too impressed with either of them. But "Lev Sarim V'Melachim B'Yad Hashem." I don't get the energy people put into politics.

Jeanette

Thu, Oct 13 2016, 11:37 am

debsey wrote:

Well that's the question really. Are there trump supporters who are at least somewhat in touch with reality or is the brainwashing complete.

gold21

Thu, Oct 13 2016, 12:02 pm

Of course I would accept that he lost fair and square. His history of mistreatment of women isn't looking wonderful at the moment. Even I, technically a supporter, wouldn't vote for him with the way things stand right now.

But it ain't over til it's over. Right? So I'm not asuming anything about his future win or loss yet.

ally

Thu, Oct 13 2016, 12:27 pm

Jeanette wrote:

Well that's the question really. Are there trump supporters who are at least somewhat in touch with reality or is the brainwashing complete.

I'm not a supporter of Trump. And I can't imagine he will win ( but I never thought he'd get this far either).
But I think you have to be brainwashed not to see the significant role that a biased mainstream media has played in this election.

Jeanette

Thu, Oct 13 2016, 12:39 pm

ally wrote:

for the past few months trump has been going around saying that the only way he can lose is if there's widespread cheating and voter fraud. And he is encouraging his supporters to sign up as "election watchers." So I wonder if his supporters are lining up behind this or will they hold trump himself responsible if he loses.

moonbeam

Thu, Oct 13 2016, 12:53 pm

Jeanette wrote:

Well that's the question really. Are there trump supporters who are at least somewhat in touch with reality or is the brainwashing complete.

I dunno. Are there Hillary supporters who are at least somewhat in touch with reality, or is the brainwashing complete? Tongue Out

Personally I don't like either one. But it's pretty obvious that things are being worked in Hillary's favor, and also that this country is full of people who no longer know how to think.

I find there really is no point in discussing it anymore though, because everyone is firmly planted in whatever camp they are planted in and people just get angry if you try to say something about their candidate that they don't like.

Jeanette

Thu, Oct 13 2016, 12:57 pm

eemachana wrote:

I dunno. Are there Hillary supporters who are at least somewhat in touch with reality, or is the brainwashing complete? Tongue Out

Nobody is forcing trump to say the crazy things he says. Maybe you could argue that the tape was strategically released to downplay the dnc email revelations. But it wasn't the media that forced trump to tweet wild things at all hours, to pick completely uneccesary fights and keep them going long past the point of normalcy, to say rude things about women, minorities and just about everyone else. This is not spun by the media, its people reacting to who trump is.

shoshanim999

Thu, Oct 13 2016, 1:07 pm

Im not a conspiracy theorist, but in a way, I believe the election rigged. Sort of. Let me explain:

Those tapes of Trump saying those things about woman is a virtual death blow. His candidacy is over. I wouldn't be surprised if Hillary had these recordings long time ago before Trump was the republican nominee. She held them back in the hopes Trump wins the nomination and then at the perfect time, 30 days or so before the election, make them public. Had these tapes came out 6 months ago Trump would not have gotten this far. It probably would have been Cruz as the nominee. Even had the tapes been released 6 weeks ago in theory there might have been time for him to recover, although very unlikely. Instead, the tapes were released after he became the Republican nominee and a few short weeks before the election just about giving Hillary the easiest path to the white house imaginable. Bottom line is that the timing of these tapes couldn't have been more perfect for Hillary.

sourstix

Thu, Oct 13 2016, 1:31 pm

shoshanim while your right. trump really should not have gone so far. we really should have had someone more respectable then him to begin with. I wish there was someone better then him and hillary. unfortanately its hillary this time. I do believe she will win. no I do not like her. I dont like her policies at all. I actually lean alot to republican. but this was a disaster. and never in the past have I seen such a disaster for running candidates. I was upset in the past at what was considered a candidate but this far outweighs them all. what a shame that america cant show better. I am sure there is but we are not seeing them.

ally

Thu, Oct 13 2016, 2:15 pm

Jeanette wrote:

It wasn't clear that this is what you were asking in your op.
I don't think this is an issue.
I think the role of the media is much more interesting.

Miri7

Thu, Oct 13 2016, 3:37 pm

This "election rigging" thing has me really concerned, as now that he sees that he is quite likely to lose, he is undermining the voter's faith in the validity of our elections. That could have dire consequences. One great thing about our country is our smooth transition of leadership. Each new president arrives at the white house to find a letter from the prior president. Obama got his from Bush, and on back (not sure when the tradition started).

No matter how vicious the election, the losing candidate will concede. The only real fracas over the validity of the election in my memory was the whole hanging chad thing in Florida, and that was all played out on the national stage. The Supreme Court got involved, and while people did criticize that involvement, it was all pretty civil compared to what's going on now.

Across the county voter ID laws have been found to be voter suppression laws, as an example, those in NC were found to be outright attempts to rob the african american population of their voting rights. The court said they were clearly motivated by racism and attempt to block black votes. Voter fraud is actually not that much of a "thing" - people being denied their right to vote is more prevalent than folks trying to vote twice, etc. I agree with the idea that we need good electronic voting systems that create a paper trail and are less vulnerable to hacks.

But I do feel that this movement to discredit the election process, and the distrust of scientific polls is scary. The polls show Trump losing support because of all the things Trump has said and done, not because the polls are rigged. I mean, the man has given a lot of people reasons not to support him.

Notsobusy

Thu, Oct 13 2016, 4:30 pm

shoshanim999 wrote:

That may very probably be true, but he still has only himself to blame if he loses. And his supporters can blame themselves. He never hid who he was, I don't think anyone was surprised to hear any of these things about him. Are any of his supporters even claiming it's not true, or are they just saying it doesn't matter?

And for those who blame the biased media, it's the biased media who got him where he is today. If not for them covering every time he opened his mouth, he would not be the candidate today. He got millions worth of free advertising from the biased media. So if he took advantage of it until now, by saying more and more outrageous things, he can't blame them when it stops working for him.

tichellady

Thu, Oct 13 2016, 4:54 pm

shoshanim999 wrote:

I don't see anyone reputable claiming that Hillary Clinton had anything to do with the release of the tapes but let's say it is true and she was involved - doesn't she have the right to choose timing that is strategic for her? Not that it really matters because the this is all hypothetical

Laiya

Thu, Oct 13 2016, 5:00 pm

shoshanim999 wrote:

Arguably, wiki leaks did the same thing; released all of those thousands of possibly damning emails exactly now, for the same reason. And voters can decide which of the two scandals they are more bothered by.