I’m not allowed to have Taiwanese citizenship, since I’m an American of European descent and therefore blocked from becoming an entitled member of the Elite Taiwan Dual-Citizenship Diaspora, which means I can’t vote in Taiwan’s elections. So I only pay enough attention to make sure I’m not drowning in crucial information later. I don’t have much of an opinion in any direction about CSC. If I were him I’d be planning my retirement, but I’m not him. I don’t know very many people who don’t like him, outside people on this forum who cite “financial ruin” based on his policies. But I’m blocked from voting because Taiwan has immigration policies that actively discriminate against all but their own esteemed race.
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And that was fecking stupid. As I said, he knows nothing about anything except teeth. In particular, he doesn’t know anything about epidemiology or psychology. We’ve now got an entire bloody country full of people who are utterly convinced that as long as they keep their faces covered, they’re safe from the lurgy.
He should have reassured people. Telling people that a mask isn’t going to do anything useful is known as the truth. And when you tell people the truth, you build trust. Telling people silly lies makes them all go slightly crazy in the head in the head.
Masks are not “vital PPE”. It’s hazardous plastic waste, and a threat to people’s physical and mental heath. I don’t want this to turn into another thread where we fling scientific papers back and forth, but there are plenty of policy decisions we can flag up as objectively stupid without doing that. Plastic barriers in restaurants. Arbitrary business closures. Telling people to stay indoors (away from the harmful influence of Vitamin D and physical exercise). The continual tsunami of fear washing out of the TV. None of this was helpful.
Didn’t expect you’d have anything even remotely resembling a thoughtful rebuttal.
Well yeah. I mean, I try not to get too invested in this because, of course, I can’t vote either. But it’s still utterly depressing to watch Taiwan descend this fast into a cesspool of superstition, demagoguery, and (frankly) mental illness. The repercussions of this little episode are going to be felt for years, and that CSC should be actually rewarded for his disgraceful little performance really sticks in my craw. But it’s the world we live in now. The architects of the UK’s dismal failure at handling COVID (Jonathan Van-Tam and Chris Whitty) were knighted. Jenny Harries is now a Dame Commander. It’s not just Taiwan where this bizarre shit happens.
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Okey dokey.
Guy
So how are things looking in terms of polling and party popularity as we move closer to the November elections? Nathan Batto at Frozen Garlic has put out a new post looking and the numbers to try to figure out what might happen in the fall.
Guy
Shower the elderly electorate with money. 
Will the elderly permanent residents be eligible? We’ll see.
So, vote-buying then. What a surprise.
He could’ve made it easier and just opened up the borders and make that his “saving grace” toward his beloved Taiwanese, but no, money is the key. Not surprising. Both sides do it.
(damn, Yup, the tooth fairy will be leaving a little something for all the well-behaved voters this year.
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I’m still waiting for the numbered system to be used. I don’t think “Okey, Dokey!” was on the list though.
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Taipei major election will likely be won by Wayne Chiang, Taipei is still a blue city.
Apart from that, DPP will have a decent run, Tsai remains popular.
I know, but it is basically a blue city. Wayne Chiang is better at selling himself than the sacred pig was.
I guess he’s slightly better at the fake humility thing, but that’s about it.
Yeah, but how did CSB win twice and Dr. Ke? It’s not that clear. Votes can be split between blue factions to give green the win. We’ll see.
CSB only won Taipei mayor once.
First election Ke Wen-Zhe ran against the worst possible candidate. Second time he tacked light blue and utilized splits in the blue camp, along with the power of incumbency.
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He won twice, which you even say above in a different way.
He also did what I said, is that he utilized a split in the blue camp.
He won twice as President, however there are greener areas in Taiwan than Taipei.
He utilized a split in his first 2 wins, and likely the assassination attempt in the last one.
Correct, as president, once as mayor. Huang Da-chou was an idiot. Had no chance when he ran against CSB.