arch_8ngel

Absolutely true, and more importantly, the more the left rails on his racism, the more entrenched the right becomes in a "we're not racist" counter-argument that rallies them together. While it is certainly true that he says a lot of things that resonate with genuine racists, it really isn't a very productive line of attack.

I got a good chuckle today from Trump saying, verbatim, that he "had to beat off congress".

My thought is that Microsoft must be shouldering the financing on these, and still paying the stores their normal cut, since their margin on the consoles is obviously much higher. And from rough numbers I saw mentioned, it doesn't REALLY work out to 0% APR, does it? It's not as abusive as classical rent-to-own, but it definitely didn't look like 0% financing.

That is certainly how it sounded in the releases I read, I agree. Will be interesting to see what the reality of the deal actually is.

Yeah, there is absolutely the valid point that it takes a lot less to move the value of a share of GME today than it did a year ago. Still... +45% (plus whatever momentum carries through for the rest of this run) is bonkers when their announcement amounts to a point-of-sale upgrade and a deal to sell XBox consoles on an apparently rent-to-own basis. (haven't seen any details, if there are any, on what the "partnership" actually entails in a financial sense) EDIT: but don't get me wrong -- I'm genuinely happy for your that hanging in there worked out

I have my doubts. The pandemic response will still be fresh enough of a memory, and Pence was the head of the taskforce that mismanaged it. If Trump loses this election, I'd put even money on Pence's career basically being over entirely.

Well, the reality here is there was apparently an enormous short squeeze that was kicked off by the news which certainly helped the upward momentum. But in the current age of meme stock buying kids on Robinhood, you're probably right that "stonks only go up" or whatever it is the kids say

Yeah, that part of the "partnership" makes no sense at all, in terms of benefiting Gamestop, unless they're being paid MORE by Microsoft than they would have made on the margin in console price plus average attach rate. I'll have to read more about this as they clarify what the "partnership" entails, but it basically just sounds like they were converted to a Microsoft distribution center for "free" Xbox consoles that bundle with a subscription for a bunch of online gaming content.

Next generation backward compatibility was already known and priced in with the previous bump in price, right? Without this announcement of some kind of not-quite-clear "partnership" with Microsoft, they were worth 40% less (and after-hours it is even higher). Or was XBox compatibility not known yet? I haven't really kept up with the current gen console news.

Then you should know you don't want to take dexamethasone unless you absolutely have to!

Absolutely unbelievable surge in Gamestop today... currently up 44% on the day - due to a "partnership" with Microsoft. Have to say that is out of left field, and it isn't even entirely clear how it benefits Gamestop, since the bulk of the announcement just sounds like Gamestop employees are going to be using Microsoft hardware/software for store operations.

It absolutely IS for you to say, and for me to say, or ANY voter to have an informed opinion on and have their say. Don't be ridiculous.

Why do you act like it is mutually exclusive to not be happy about how the WHO handled things and to not be happy with how Trump has handled things? While you can blame the very earliest news about the virus on the WHO, you really can't blame any of the last 7 months on them, when the CDC has been under immense political pressure from Trump, and Trump himself has been a force for chaos completely and utterly failing to provide meaningful leadership and his appointed czar on the issue Pence being fairly useless in overcoming Trump's chaotic messaging. You can only blame WHO so far into this thing before we all just have to accept that yes, they're responsible for allowing the initial outbreak to occur -- but how it was handled from that point forward is squarely on the shoulders of each country's leadership.

WHAT? I am not expecting anything unreasonable or impossible. I am expecting the guy to set a good example of good behavior, like ANY responsible grown-up should right now. I am expecting him NOT to make campaign stops WITHOUT A MASK after he has a known positive test prior to reporting that he was ill. I am expecting him NOT to irresponsibly downplay the illness after he receives the best quality care on planet earth. That isn't too much to ask. And it is pathetic that we have come to expect so little of the president.

It isn't a matter of my biases to point to Trump's behavior in just the last week has ridiculously irresponsible and callous. I would be interested to hear ANY defense of Trump apparently knowing he had tested positive on Wednesday, but failing to doing anything about it until Friday night, all the while acting as a super-spreader. I would be interested to hear ANY defense of Trump's discharge remarks about how it wasn't that bad, despite him struggling to breathe at the time AND knowing he had medical treatments that are NOT widely available as a means of intervention. That is the peak of being disconnected from what typical people would be navigating if they get sick from Covid-19. And that is before you look back further and see how long he has downplayed mask wearing, when he has a unique level of influence over a segment of the population that otherwise won't follow local rules on those types of issues. (and to have gone so far as the night before his diagnosis, MAKING FUN OF Biden for wearing a mask all the time) This entire time, Trump could have been doing some good and attempting to dismantle conspiracy theories, rather than continuing to feed into them.

Even well after correct information was available, do you think Trump has ever had an effective message or set a good example related to handling the active pandemic? Or would you be willing to admit that Trump has set a terrible example and even made fun of people who are trying to follow good practices, and then, when he himself gets sick, he gets the best treatment on the planet (during which time he holds a maskless event where he is visibly struggling to breath) and STILL goes on to boast about how the virus is no big deal? This guy has followers that pay attention to what he does and says, and Trump has squandered every opportunity he has had to steer things in the right direction.

So you place no in-the-present blame on Trump for after contracting the virus going on to actively downplay the severity, while having spent a week exposing all of those around himself? Unbelievable.

You mean how Trump singlehandedly spread the disease around the white house staff?

Well that didn't age well...

If true, way to completely squander his last best opportunity to regain some semblance of credibility with respect to the handling of the pandemic. "Oh, I just had a weekend of the best treatment available on the planet, and I still had to go on supplemental oxygen -- you plebes will be just fine". I mean, I'm well insured and well capitalized enough to demand the necessary treatment if I get sick... but a "yuge" portion of his base is going to be shit out of luck if they are similarly obese or old as the president and get sick like he did. EDIT TO ADD: and out of his inner circle that he decided he'd recklessly infect, I'll be genuinely surprised if Christie pulls through.

You seem to be treating it as if you have to pick either extreme to support, but you don't. I can support neither extreme, and still think that the government should be putting its focus into actively policing the more problematic of the two (i.e. cracking down harder on white supremacist groups).

Donald Trump's portrayal of himself is the complete antithesis of someone willing or able to ask for "redemption" of any kind, because the man will not accept blame for ANYTHING. He would have to be willing to admit that he was wrong at some point, which just isn't going to happen. I'm not holding out any hope that him catching Covid-19 will change his tune, either.

Good. Unfortunate that he couldn't have just said that in the first place.

They claim they are "western chauvanists", however you want to unpack that.

I would have pretty high confidence that he at least survives the primary illness. But I wouldn't be surprised if the long-term effects give an obese senior citizen like him a stroke in the next couple of years. That is, I would be that it substantially increases the risk that he doesn't survive a 2nd term, or does so at a greatly diminished physical capacity (which for a guy at his weight and age is a downward spiral).