No.
(I’m also in this club)
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Bolivian President Luis Arce held a Press Conference saying Juan José Zúñiga the leader of the coup has been arrested by his own troops and the new leader of the army José Wilson Sánchez has ordered all troops to return to their barracks which is now ongoing. It looks like the military coup in Bolivia has failed.
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EDIT:
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This debate is 30 painful, interminable, tortuous minutes in. Holy moly this is rough.
We are doomed.
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An old geezer vs a convicted felon. I miss Obama.
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We have Kamala Harris for a reason. She’ll probably be as good as him as governing and probably better at public speaking, but she probably won’t win a general election because Trump’s spawn would get a coronary over the thought of a black woman being president. For now, it’s either Biden’s raspy weirdly deep voice or damnation.
Let me remind you that Donald Trump sent a mob of his supporters to break into the Capitol Building and still openly endorses their actions. He should have been imprisoned for life immediately after the riot rather than lounging around Mar-a-Lago like a bloated English Duke. But apparently the US electorate has the memory of a goldfish.
Frankly, don’t blame Biden for being the nominee. For all the whinging I heard about his age and that he should step down, I haven’t heard a decent fucking idea for his replacement. Bernie’s even older and has a heart condition, AOC’s a year too young, Kamala’s even more hated than Biden, Republicans talk up California like a horror story so Newsom’s screwed. As flawed as he is, Biden is still our best option. He’s got incumbency advantage and he’s done a decent job so far.
Dropping him now would be throwing all of his achievements out with the old man, give Republicans the chance to say “Hey, Joe’s been demented since 2019 but the Democrats lied, Democrats are so terrible and Trump was so good that Biden needed to drop out” and we’ll have to put our faith in a random nobody with much less name recognition or achievements.
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Things ain’t looking good for old joe
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Typical. Biden gets a cold before a debate and has his voice sound raspy and we’re all doomed. And if he’d been loud and vibrant the pitch would be that he was hopped up on drugs of some kind.
Meanwhile, Trump hasn’t been able to speak in public for months without showing signs of cognitive collapse and what numerous experts say are clear signs of dementia, and he wins the debate because Biden is three years older than him and that’s too old?
Let’s all keep in mind that the purpose of the news media these days is to make money like any other corporate tool, and the way they make money is ratings, and the way they get ratings is to keep people tuning in to their channels or clicking on their links online, and the way they achieve that is keeping everyone in a panic by making them think the worst case scenario every time that doesn’t hold up to actual scrutiny, and the way they do that is to outright lie to you about what happened and what it means. The reason this debate crapped out like it did was because the media hosting it chose not to have any fact checkers on hand, and did not push back on any of Trump’s numerous lies.
If Trump was ever right about any one thing, it was when he said the media are the enemy of the people. He wasn’t right for the reasons he meant, but the statement itself was correct.
Biden could have pointed out the lies and bs but instead looked lost whenever Donnie was blabbering nonsense. He looked lost even when he was talking or trying to form some sort of sentence.
Yeah, everyone should start worrying right about now.
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Yes, but keep in mind, the man is old so he has slowed down some, has had a lifelong stutter, and clearly had something wrong with his throat last night. Pushing back on Trump personally gets nowhere because not only does that make Trump interrupt and go harder, just like last time they debated, but as opponents, you expect them to say the other is lying. It’s when those holding the debates push back that it carrie’s weight, and that is the responsibility of the news media in general, and when they’re hosting a presidential debate in particular.
Is Biden the best choice? Hell no. The whole thing with Gaza has revealed he’s just as corrupt as all the rest and I resent the guy for it, to say nothing of how many steps he’s fallen behind. But, he’s not insane, he’s not out for revenge, he doesn’t have a cult of lunatics following him and even though he’s slowed down, he’s not showing signs of actual dementia or cognitive decline. And most importantly to note, nobody tuned into that debate who had decided to vote one way and then changed their mind when they saw Biden’s performance. No undecides became decided.
In the end, all this did was put back into the public mind that Trump is still the same asshole he’s always been, a reminder that he called the armed forces suckers and losers, and that he is a convicted felon who is still trying to break the law and strip women and minorities of their rights. While this debate could have been a huge boon to the democrats, it flopped, mostly due to the media, and is now being portrayed as a greater disaster than it actually was, and it’s not really going to move the needle much at all, not in the polling averages.
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I can’t find a gif of it anywhere, or even a screenshot, but there’s a scene in the Dexter’s Laboratory movie Ego Trip where the four Dexters from different points in time fight their counterpart Mandarks from the same points in time, and while all the young Dexters and Mandarks are engaging in action-filled physical fights, the old Dexter, who is decrepit and uses a walker to move around, and the old Mandark, who is just a brain in a jar at this point, are just standing there and feebly spewing insults at each other.
It’s a near-perfect representation of the debate last night.
yikes, wtf is that poll?
biden may be old and stumbling but trump literally said putin wouldn’t dare invade ukraine if he was in charge and that he’ll end the war before getting reelected. the guy is unhinged.
not to mention when asked about climate change, he said some shit about water (what?) and then talking about the paris agreement like it was some sort of business deal he wants no part of. absolute lunatic.
biden could’ve vomited, scooped it up and eaten it, vomited again and still would’ve won.
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Just like many other people out there. As much as I hate both of them and Donald’s a psycho, the debate turned out a win for him in the end.
And “people” have a weak historical memory when being provoked by excitement. less than a year and a half ago IRGC was murdering kids on the streets, and as I’m typing this a disturbingly large crowd are voting in the Mullahs presidential election to a “reformist” who already has blood on his hands.
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It was a loss for Biden; that does not make it a win for Trump. Nothing Trump is doing at this point is gaining him new voters, and that’s the only winning that ultimately matters. All last night did was cause some voters to drop Biden, but Trump gained nothing.
Unless democrats announce someone else. I can’t recall the last president who wasn’t in either of these 2 parties and your loss is your opponents gain when there’s only the two of you.
Those that are way to optimistic or just in denial will probably have another cold shower just like the one from 2016. 
Regardless of what this debate had people talking about, Donald Trump is hemorrhaging supporters. From his criminal prosecutions and convictions, from his dementia symptoms becoming plain for all to see anytime he’s in public, from his doubling down on taking reproductive rights away from women. It’ll get worse after his sentencing is handed down, especially if he actually goes to jail or is at least given house arrest. He’s not doing anything to earn back those votes he’s losing from all of this. He is going more extreme, not less, to appeal to moderates and they by definition don’t like extreme behavior.
He is not raising the money he needs to put out ads into the homes of people who don’t consume political news and haven’t decided who to vote for. The money he is bringing in is going to pay his legal fees or for his debts or into his own pockets.
His campaign is full of idiots who have no idea what they’re doing and are only telling him things that keep him sedated and happy, rather than what he needs to hear to form a winning strategy. And his name is gonna be representative of every person on the ballot that has an R next to their name, tying them to a senile convicted felon, and that is going to impact down-ballot races.
Democrats have been over-performing since 2020, and it really kicked into gear after 2022, they have been not only closing the distance, but winning in districts across the country where no Democrat has any business winning. Add in what (admittedly bare-minimum) achievements the Biden administration has made so far, combined with the historically unproductive and wasteful House of Representatives we have now that are doing literally nothing for the people except taking their money and passing few bills that make life harder, and people who don’t want Trump but still want someone extreme and so will vote for RFK Jr… yeah, things aren’t as good for Trump as the media wants to make it seem.
Yeah, Biden flubbed at the debate, but nothing there improved Trump’s chances, and whatever was affecting Biden will likely be cleared up by the next debate and if they see him like he was at the state of the union speech, fears will be alleviated enough to calm folks down. The media is wanting to portray this as a huge thing to panic about so we stay glued to our screens to see what happens next and make them their money from the ratings and ad revenue, despite what’s actually been happening for a while now, and giving in to that panic they’re trying to create is what legitimizes the idea that Trump is imminent, because it causes people to think it’s hopeless and not even bother turning up to vote.
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Damn, you wrote a whole thesis.
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In fairness, it’s as much for myself as anyone else, so it kinda had to be if I’m gonna remind myself to believe the facts and not the panic-juice.
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The votes of the Iranian presidential election are being “counted”, so I might as well give a general idea of what’s going on.
In the beginning, Presidency volunteers sign up and shall be later qualified by the Guardian Council. To quote wikipedia:
Since 1991, all candidates of parliamentary or presidential elections, as well as candidates for the Assembly of Experts, have to be qualified by the Constitutional Council in order to run in the election. For major elections, it typically disqualifies most candidates, as seen in the 2009 election, where out of the 476 men and women applied to the Constitutional Council to seek the presidency, only four were approved.
The Guardian Council consists of 12 men, 6 of whom are suggested by the supreme leader, and the other 6 by the head of judiciary; The head of judiciary himself is directly appointed by the supreme leader. These 12 men should be voted by the parliament, whose members should be first qualified by the Guardian Council in order to participate in elections. So, you’ve got a loop leading back to the Ayatollah. One might say that the Assembly of Experts (mullahs parliament) can “change” the supreme leader, but then again, those fellas must be qualified by the Guardian Council as well. lol.
This time 6 men were qualified, 4 of whom rivaled in the end.
Masoud Pezeshkian
Former parliament representative and minister of health, Heart Surgeon of Turkish/Kurdish decent. He claims to be a reformist. He did the best he could to deny the murder of Zahra Kazemi, and publicly supported the IRGC when it was declared a terrorist organization by the US government. (down below he is wearing the IRGC uniform)
His ethnicity could be valuable to cool down the Kurds/Turks in the west. He’d be the first one of them to become President.
He is leading right now and might as well be chosen. Having the least amount of blood and previous mistakes on his hands, along with being a reformist who wants “a better relationship with the world” makes him the perfect figure in case Trump took back administration.
Saeid Jalili
Deeply retarted principalist diplomat who would be the best puppet for the Ayatollah. as William J. Burns describes him:
He was a true believer in the Iranian Revolution. He was constantly taking notes during the session, and at the same time had a wry smile on his face. Jalili and his colleagues looked at me many times and seemed to find the presence of America worrying. Then he started giving a 40-minute long speech and weaving unnecessary philosophy about the Iranian culture and history, as well as the constructive role it can play in the region. Jalili shockingly blurts out words when he wants to avoid a direct answer, and this was exactly one of those moments. He even mentioned that he is still teaches part-time at Tehran University. But, I was not at all jealous of his students. In the 1980s, he was wounded in the battle with the Iraqis, he had lost part of his right leg and was facing obvious problems in walking."
His rants led to the worst UN security council resolutions against Iran yet. He is currently second, following Pezeshkian by a small margin.
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf
A man of too many faces. Current president of the parliament; formerly mayor of Tehran, head of the disciplinary force (police), head of IRGC air force, and head of Khatam-al Anbiya Construction Headquarters (IRGC).
It’s difficult to find someone with just as numerous economical corruption accusations as him. His name also glows in quite every protest that was broken down by either the police or IRGC.
There were intense negotiations between him and Jalili so either would withdraw for the other to “unite the revolutionaries”, with Ghalibaf being supported by top IRGC commanders. Neither did though.
Picture deliberately chosen for reasons 
Note: His division once fought with an Iranian brigade during the Iraq war. IRGC at its finest 
Mostafa Pourmohammadi
A convict of crimes against humanity, Member of the death committee in the 1988 mass executions, top intelligence authority during the chain murders of intellectuals in Iran, and currently having less votes than the counted invalid votes. That suffices I guess.
Alireza Zakani
Mayor of Tehran, withdrew 2 days ago asking Jalili and Ghalibaf to stop Pezeshkian.
Amir-Hossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi
A nobody who was there to make it an even 6. Withdrew 3 days ago with no proper reasons.
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