Eighteen percent believe there is “a covert government effort” for the pop icon to help President Biden win re-election, according to a Monmouth University survey.
    • themeatbridge@lemmy.world
      4119·
      9 months ago

      Biden’s faculties are questionable. Trump’s are, as well. I worry that Biden will not be up to the task, but I also think he’s our best chance of beating Trump.

      We need to beat Trump not because he is forgetful or senile, but because he is a treasonous bigot who would (for the second time) seize as much power and money for himself as he possibly can while selling state secrets to foreign intelligence agencies. He’s also a rapist, a liar, a thief, a charletain, a narcissist, and a petulant, violent piece of shit. He cannot be President again. He must go to prison.

      • Rapidcreek@lemmy.world
        335·
        9 months ago

        Besides the occasional gaffe and speech impediment please tell me what Biden facilities are questionable.

        • assembly@lemmy.world
          261·
          9 months ago

          Bindens been a pretty damn good president as far as I can tell. He inherited incredible amounts of disfunction and an economy that was predicted to enter a huge recession and yet he turned the ship around. His speech gaffs are explained by his childhood stutter that he has worked very hard to resolve.

        • Bdtrngl@lemmy.world
          223·
          9 months ago

          He’s 25 years past “retirement” age in a high stress, high responsibility position: it’s good to be questioning if he’s up to the job. That said Trump’s mental and psychical failings are much more concerning and that’s totally ignoring the whole racist, fascist thing.

          • popcap200@lemmy.ml
            121·
            9 months ago

            Yeah, but if Biden has to resign, he has Kamala as backup. If Trump becomes president and resigns due to mental issues, God knows what awful human we’ll be stuck with.

              • DigitalTraveler42@lemmy.worldEnglish
                1·
                9 months ago

                Apparently her and Jared want nothing to do with Trump’s administration if he wins, they haven’t been seen near him since leaving the white House too if I’m recalling correctly.

                The Saudis made Jared richer, I wonder what strings that $2 billion had attached to it.

          • iquanyin@lemmy.world
            1·
            9 months ago

            it is good, but all i need to do is watch him do his job to know he is up to it. a thousand people saying “well, maybe he’s not” doesn’t change what i see.

          • Rapidcreek@lemmy.world
            15·
            9 months ago

            Somebody said today that John Stewart was funnier before he got wrinkles…

            See how that works?

            No, he really didn’t p9int to diminished B8den facilities

        • betterdeadthanreddit@lemmy.worldEnglish
          25·
          9 months ago

          He’s human like the rest of us and we all degrade over time. I don’t gamble but would bet the future of the country that we’re still on the “able to be POTUS” side of the curve rather than the “filling my pockets with cottage cheese because my brain is rotting in my skull” stage. Doesn’t make him my ideal choice for many reasons not directly related to his age but I’ll happily vote for Biden this November.

          Additional note because this is the internet and we're allowed to (maybe even supposed to) be pedantic here:

          Difference between “faculty” and “facility” since the comment you replied to used one and you’d used another. They’re similar but not the same. I could also be falling into one of these traps.

          • Rapidcreek@lemmy.world
            52·
            9 months ago

            Yet you still lack an answer to my question. The best you can come up with is “he’s old” therefore lacking in some way. You can’t be specific because there are no specifics.

            • betterdeadthanreddit@lemmy.worldEnglish
              3·
              9 months ago

              Correct, I have not identified the things I see as his flaws since I think they don’t interfere with his ability to do the job. Also not the person you’d replied to before.

        • themeatbridge@lemmy.world
          19·
          9 months ago

          I think he’s showing more signs of dementia than anyone wants to admit, but my greatest concern is his lack of leadership. We need progressive voices making persuasive arguments and shouting down the narcissism and bigotry coming from moderates.

          Biden is not that. He’s spent more time in politics on the wrong side of history than the right one, and even at his best he has never been one to stand on principle and demand action. If he did wake up one day and decide to start fighting for future generations, he’d be laughably bad at it.

          His memory, his wit, his gravitas, his voice, his authority, all of it is tied together, and all of it suffers with every gaffe or lapse.

          • iquanyin@lemmy.world
            1·
            9 months ago

            i agree. it’s why would prefer bernie (also old but i don’t care about that) or elizabeth sanders. both of them willing and able to take on “the system” but especially bernie. biden has done much better than id expected, but he’s not bold in term erament and he’s no socialist like bernie. that said, he’s also not senile and man, i’m tire of people mouthng propaganda about it with no evidence.

            • themeatbridge@lemmy.world
              21·
              9 months ago

              Bernie has endorsed Biden. I’d love to vote for Bernie, but he isn’t running. Biden is our best option.

      • iquanyin@lemmy.world
        9·
        9 months ago

        i’ve seen on evidence of biden having questionable faculties. has he tripped? yeah. have you ever done that? yeah. he also has a life long speech impediment. that has zip to do with how sharp his mind is. i go by actions and he’s gotten more done for more people than possibly any president in my lifetime. he responds to current events quickly and on point (tho i don’t agree with him on everything, but so what?) alll ive heard to support otherwise is just that, people saying it. and i first saw it in right wing propaganda.

      • DogPeePoo@lemm.ee
        71·
        9 months ago

        The overarching point needs to shift to which ADMINISTRATION will work toward helping America, instead of destroying democracy.

        The President is merely a figurehead.

      • jandar_fett@lemmy.world
        2·
        9 months ago

        It’s much worse than that. Trump can’t be president again because he will quite possibly be the last president thr US will ever have, at least until he dies of cheeseburger overdose.

      • iquanyin@lemmy.world
        2·
        9 months ago

        if you watch at video, a lady who went to prison for that is the only one he interviewed who woke up to how dumb it was.

  • gloss@discuss.tchncs.de
    52·
    9 months ago

    Eighteen percent believe there is “a covert government effort” for the pop icon to help President Biden win re-election, according to a Monmouth University survey.

    Why would they need a covert operation? It’s already well known she’s favors the Democrats and hates Trump. Why the need for a conspiracy layer to it? I’m sure the Biden team would be thrilled if she endorsed him, but that’s not “a covert government effort”. It’s so stupid.

    • AllonzeeLV@lemmy.world
      33·
      9 months ago

      Anything to make it sound nefarious, because to Republican voters, everyone is as dishonest, tribal, and ammoral as they are.

      This is all Fox “News” and other conservative outlets do all day every day, take the news and add sinister innuendo to it. If Biden were doing a state visit to the UK, Fox would almost certainly say “Biden flees overseas to avoid American’s scrutiny of his administration’s failures” or the like. If he had that state visit planned but canceled it due to some urgent matter, the headline would be “Biden cancels state visit. Health concerns? What’s he hiding?”

      Republicans basically spin any positive or neutral information about their many enemies, everyone outside their in-group, as an attack on them. Republicans have no empathy, so of course the sun moon and stars all revolve around them in their view.

      • GladiusB@lemmy.world
        4·
        9 months ago

        They think they are the real ones and that any opposition is hate. Rather than, ya know, feeling sorry for them.

    • SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca
      1·
      9 months ago

      Yeah but the needed to covertly rig football games to make Taylor Swift popular. Because nobody heard of Taylor Swift before a few months ago, right?

  • AllonzeeLV@lemmy.world
    51·
    9 months ago

    So is the conspiracy that she’s being coerced? Because she’s a billionaire in the land of legal political bribery, so she has the means to tell our politicians what to do far more than the other way around. She’s allowed to have and to express a political opinion, just like any other random person.

    You ever notice everything and everyone Republicans don’t like is a conspiracy against them?

    “OW! Stubbed my toe! God damned wall corner is a leftist plot to injure me so I can’t vote for the fuhrer!”

    Sorry, the soft serve machine is being cleaned right now.

    “Did Brandon get to you?! Who sent you to deprive me of soft serve?! Fucking Pelosi?!”

    • Telorand@reddthat.com
      29·
      9 months ago

      Because she’s a billionaire in the land of legal political bribery, so she has the means to tell our politicians what to do far more than the other way around.

      Yes, but don’t you see? She’s a woman, and therefore needs to be told what to do and think by the super smart and totally handsome male politicians. /s

      • AllonzeeLV@lemmy.world
        25·
        9 months ago

        The funniest bit about this Taylor Swift thing if you think about it is that Modern Republicans love the negative attention they get for all of their hateful causes, they literally try to make people outside their in-group hate them for their own amusement. They welcome the rest of America’s disgust of them as a badge of honor. It’s in their rhetoric, threatening “Give me an excuse to shoot somebody” door signs, and “fuck your feelings” bumper stickers.

        They’re blowing a microchip over Taylor because hatred is their brand, positive popularity is something they’ve always shunned and devalued, and now their ENEMIES have most of the popular figures they drove away, leaving them with… well… kid rock.

        They want to be hated, and they want to win, at the same time. So it’s literally offensive and not fair to them, and anything not fair to them is a “conspiracy,” that social popularity is relevant in an election. 😂

    • Admiral Patrick@dubvee.orgEnglish
      17·
      9 months ago

      Devil’s avocado here, but it must be nice to go through life with nothing ever being your own fault. There’s always a convenient plot against you, and you’d be a billionaire running a casino on the moon if it weren’t for {insert scapegoat here}.

    • Omgpwnies@lemmy.worldEnglish
      3·
      9 months ago

      Of course it’s Pelosi, she can’t let anyone else get their grubby paws on her precious ice cream! /s

    • darth_helmet@sh.itjust.works
      1·
      9 months ago

      If there is a conspiracy happening to stop these idiots from further footgunning the country, where do I sign up? Are there tryouts?

  • Asafum@feddit.nl
    32·
    9 months ago

    Written another way: “At least 1 in 5 Americans are exposed to unreasonable amounts of dangerous and persuasive propaganda.”

  • TSG_Asmodeus (he, him)@lemmy.worldEnglish
    28·
    9 months ago

    I’m Canadian, and every time I hear a stat like this I think of the following quote:

    “Living next to you is in some ways like sleeping with an elephant. No matter how friendly and even-tempered is the beast, if I can call it that, one is affected by every twitch and grunt.” -Pierre Trudeau to Richard Nixon

  • Ekybio@lemmy.world
    25·
    9 months ago

    Im reading this as: Nearly 1 in 5 people will reliably vote for Trump

    Good: Trump only has 1/5 of people fooled and there is hope

    Bad: 1/5 peoples live would be improved by lobotomy

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
      4·
      9 months ago

      Im reading this as: Nearly 1 in 5 people will reliably vote for Trump

      You’re discounting the number of RFK Jr voters and Sovereign Citizen “Voting is just a trick to get you to create joinder” folks in this mix. Also, the guaranteed number of chucklefuck respondents who reply “Yes, and that’s good actually”.

      Good: Trump only has 1/5 of people fooled and there is hope

      Plenty of Trump support has nothing to do with QAnon-tier witch hunts. I’ve got Trump neighbors who are entirely in it because they think he’ll be good for the Houston O&G economy. Its the “Climate Change is a hoax and only Trump will protect our jobs” folks plus the “Illegal Immigrants are going to rape my daughter and hot box my son with the dankest Chinese fentanyl” folks who are the backbone of the campaign.

      The “Taylor Swift is a 12-Dimensional Psychic Parasite Channeling the Spirit Ghost of Joseph Stalin” crowd are merely the most exotic and lurid supporters.

  • kromem@lemmy.worldEnglish
    22·
    9 months ago

    There’s some people who are highly suggestible. Like to the point it’s arguably a disability.

    There was an interview with Trump supporters that captured one that other day that’s worth a look to understand what’s going on:

    https://youtu.be/Ud3btbISggA?t=06m08s

    You can watch as the person interviewing him about falling for scams over and over jokingly tells him to walk off in a given direction - and then the dude just starts to, until he realizes his car is in the other direction.

    • acetanilide@lemmy.world
      11·
      9 months ago

      I think that’s kind of misleading.

      It looks to me more like he is just looking in that direction (even if he does take a step or two). He was more asking/saying, well why should I go that way when my car is this way. Not, oh shit, my car is actually this way.

      • kromem@lemmy.worldEnglish
        8·
        9 months ago

        If you watch the entire interview with him, I don’t think it’s at all misleading to portray him as highly suggestible.

        The dude falls over himself agreeing with whichever way the wind blows in an interview about how he keeps being taken advantage of by scams.

        In that broader context, him shuffling off several steps in the direction some guy jokingly told him to head off in really shouldn’t be discounted with a parenthetical.

    • MagicShel@programming.dev
      31·
      9 months ago

      I wish we could find the gene for critical thinking and apply a little gene therapy to every fetus. Imagine Cletus and Sally Bobbi Anne having a toddler who questions bible stories and plays along with the Santa thing because they are so excited when he pretends to buy into their bullshit.

      • iquanyin@lemmy.world
        3·
        9 months ago

        a good education and ripping away church tax breaks would go a long way. and jailing megapreacher con men just like any other con men.

  • EtherWhack@lemmy.world
    14·
    9 months ago

    Well, of course it’s real. The 49ers are from one of the most liberal areas in the US. So, yeah they were fine with taking a loss if it means Biden’s pawn can help his agenda. /s

    • nova_ad_vitum@lemmy.ca
      8·
      9 months ago

      Keeping those details vague is intentional. The purveyors of such conspiracy theories know that the worst thing they can ever do is make a clear falsifiable statement.

    • BigBenis@lemmy.world
      51·
      9 months ago

      They thought she was going to endorse Biden at the end of the Super Bowl and that the White House had rigged the game for the Chiefs to win in order to maximize the spectacle and coverage.

      • cosmicrookie@lemmy.world
        4·
        9 months ago

        I mean… She endorsed him last time around so I don’t know why it should be a secret for anyone really. But even then, I can’t see why anyone would change their vote, duento a singer or idol

        • Crikeste@lemm.ee
          41·
          9 months ago

          She is a self proclaimed democrat. For her to announce support for Biden is like announcing that tomorrow is Friday. We already fucking know, dude.

    • SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca
      2·
      9 months ago

      Something to do with rigging football games to make Taylor swift popular (because she wasn’t popular already, I guess?) so she could endorse Biden so he can get re-elected.

      But I’m kinda more interested in the one where she’s a vampire.

    • Psythik@lemmy.world
      1·
      9 months ago

      The flaw in your reasoning is that you’re using Google. Stupid people don’t research things, so of course you’re not going to find anything.

  • Jo Miran@lemmy.ml
    10·
    9 months ago

    My local organic food and supplement store sells Cordycep supplements. Articles like this make me want to start taking fungus supplements in the hopes that I might become patient zero.