"Will you shut up, man?" US Politics October 2020

I plan on Wednesday morning doing what I always do on Wednesday mornings -- my laundry.

any tips for getting out blood stains?

our local art movie theater was showing Idiocracy that night for people who didn't want to subject themselves to the election results. the movie was timed so that by the time it got out, you'd know who won, most likely.

i think they felt comfortable doing it as most patrons of that place lean leftish, as do the owners, as a Hillary victory was pretty much assumed by the time they scheduled it. Many of the patrons were people who probably voted Hillary but did so while holding their nose, or just didn't want to watch the molasses-speed election results.

I keep imagining how they reacted when they left the theatre and found out what happened.

my laundry

^ sanity in action

On Election Night 2016, my local volunteer run little theater showed "American Honey". Not sure when it started but it let out around like 7:30 PM EST.

I entered the theater from one America and exited into a different America.

Unfortunately Idiocracy is, like, 70 minutes long. The should show it on a loop.

Then stayed up all night freaking out and commiserating with friends and family.

everybody is banned from looking at that NYT live probability tracker tool thingy this year

My strategy for sanity. Assume Trump wins outright on Election night. 2nd most likely scenario, too close to call and Trump steals election in court. Other possibility includes Biden winning. Least likely outcome, so I’m not considering it as a real option. This way I won’t be disappointed. Always expect the worse outcome. The “rules” no longer apply.

oh hey you're back

might do an online movie marathon group stream

btw if the landslide is so big that Trump actually is losing ON election night, he will totally pivot and say "but there's lots of mail ballots out there, valid ones!"

i am just going to pick up my guitar and play "I Cum Blood" over and over again for 4 hours

My friend is placing a large bet on Trump to win as what he calls an "emotional hedge" which he claims is a thing in sports betting.

Meantime

The president, in NC, has distracted himself from talking about how unfair the polling is and his false claim public polling is designed to talk about pretend stories of people going to the movies on election night, then something about Hillary Clinton and T-shirts.

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) October 24, 2020

Earlier, he said pollsters are trying to "depress you" so people don't vote.

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) October 24, 2020

i'm so sick of these damn pollsters trying to depress me

My friend is placing a large bet on Trump to win as what he calls an "emotional hedge" which he claims is a thing in sports betting.

― thousand-yard spiral stairs (f. hazel), Saturday, October 24, 2020 1:57 PM bookmarkflaglink

lol it totally is. "if I lose the bet, the best result happens and I am happy to be out the money. if I win the bet, we are truly and utterly fucked, but at least I have more money to deal with my misery".

i've done those often.

I can only imagine how bonkers his rallies will get in the home stretch.

Looks like Maggie knows her present gig is about to close its doors and she isn't concerned any more about maintaining her insider access at the WH. Jeez, I'd bet that of all the people who work in close proximity to Trump about 90% of them can hardly wait to throw a shovelful of dirt on his coffin and walk away.

Neanderthal

he will totally pivot and say "but there's lots of mail ballots out there, valid ones!"

Of course.

The other thing he will do is go immediately into lawfare in e.g., Pennsylvania, saying "wait no we need to challenge all of those because most them were cats and dead people and dead cats and dead people's cats!"

But as usual I'm with Raymond Cummings.

Results will likely be inconclusive. Go to bed early. Get someone to hide your phone, your tablet, your computer, and the TV remote.

Following minute-by-minute updates is a recipe for madness. "Well, Bob, with 2% of precincts reporting, Candidate A is up by 10 percent in rural Burpleurp County. BUT WAIT, now we're up to 5%, and Candidate B is up by three. Candidate A is going to have to do really well with the lacrosse moms in the suburbs of Derpville to gain back that ground."

"OH WAIT, this just in. Schmeck County is reporting a massive lead for Candidate B! Those voters are known to be more blurpservative, though. Perhaps the backgammon dads and the hazelnut farmers in the surrounding townships will narrow the gap. Susan, back to you."

No. Never again will I watch that shit. I'll mix myself a large melatonin and bourbon, and be blissfully asleep by 9:15.

(nice display name, YMP)

Back and forth, back and forth:

New: The Texas Supreme Court has temporarily reinstated Gov. Abbott's ban on multiple drop sites for mail-in ballots, pending full review of an appeals court ruling that would allow counties to set up these sites — response briefs due Monday pic.twitter.com/dL2e1CmK9Y

— Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) October 24, 2020

(This is all a little unusual simply because Texas numbers are as noted massive already. Arguably they're trying to stem a tide but is that even feasible at this point?)

Yeah, I can't put myself through what I put myself through four years ago. Almost done constructing the Farraday cage around our apartment and I've been working out my jaw so I'm ready to chew through the cable line when the time comes.

The Texas GOP is fighting desperately to retain control of the Texas House... it's a redistricting year, and if the Dems can flip 9 TX House seats the GOP won't be able to gerrymander the shit out of the state. Which would cost them about half a dozen seats in the US House.

anything will be better than 2016, when I was on a business trip in Starkville, MS, alone in a hotel room, wanting to claw my eyes out and having nobody to vent with

Governor Abbott would probably prefer a Democratic President, since he can noisily rail against the intrusive feds again (just watch him refuse any federal COVID aid if it comes from Biden or Democratic legislation). His favorite target during the Trump years has been Austin, and punching down at them isn't nearly as effective as punching up at Biden will be.

I plan on Wednesday morning doing what I always do on Wednesday mornings -- my laundry.

I have a doctor's appointment at 8:30 the morning of November 4. TBD whether I'll be pestering him for a powerful opioid prescription or not.

(Got my flu shot today, for those of you who find human health as interesting as cats.)

It's important to protect your cats against delayed feeding resulting from human influenza.

I took both Tuesday and Wednesday off. That Day After in 2016 was the one of the worst days I ever had at where I work, a regional business newspaper.

This year, I'll be voting in person since Election Day is also my birthday. I'm calculating that I've got three such days in my lifetime: the first time I voted in 1992, next month, and my 75th birthday in 2048. I guess 2076 could also be on the table, but a 103-year-old man probably shouldn't be voting for next week's breakfast menu, much less the next president.

I plan to spend the evening drinking a bottle of Four Roses while pacing in front of the television all night, pointing dramatically at the numbers and scaring the children.

I’m refusing all meetings on Tuesday in pathetic protest my company’s refusal to make it a holiday

Governor Abbott would probably prefer a Democratic President, since he can noisily rail against the intrusive feds again

Remember Jade Helm?

Good times, good times.

Governor Abbott Mitch McConnell would probably prefer a Democratic President, since he can noisily rail against the intrusive feds again

I ain't foolin' either. McConnell, Cornyn, and the other GOP solons probably want a breather as much as the rest of us. Now they can pivot back to deficit hawk mode.

McConnell looks like he might be dead by the end of the year tbh so I imagine he’s particularly keen to get things over with.

I’m refusing all meetings on Tuesday in pathetic protest my company’s refusal to make it a holiday

Local field organizers for the Biden campaign in Miami Springs get surprise visit from @BarackObama. pic.twitter.com/IQWGdqFKc7

— Bianca Padró Ocasio (@BiancaJoanie) October 24, 2020

Say what you will about the guy, but just his silhouette walking down the street in shirtsleeves seemed downright iconic.

Anyway, how many back and forths has that been in Texas? Abbott reduced the number of boxes, then a court overturned, then another court reversed the reversal and he reduced the numbers again, then a court overturned *that* and let the boxes come back, and now it's reversed *again*? I'm confused where we stand there.

After the 2016 election there was such a pall everywhere I went, but 4 years of Trump plus Covid has cast a perma-pall on everything. The biggest bummer is that if he loses this time we can't have a party. America needs a break.

I'm sure you're all just dying to read another one of these:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/oct/24/more-enthusiastic-than-2016-voters-standing-by-donald-trump

thanks I hate it

Texas is very restrictive on who can vote absentee, the one box/county move was more for show than anything - you have to be 65+ or out of the area for the entirety of early voting and Election Day, the signature match on registration vs ballot is supposed to be pretty hardcore.

I can well believe that, among the voters who thought Trump was a great nominee in 2016, he has delivered them to a fever pitch of incitement excitement.

if you vote with an erection the vote still only counts once, maybe zero if the pages are stuck together

They might feel a sudden need to "tuck in their shirts," ifyoukniwwhatimean

Just cast my early vote in the outskirts of Philadelphia County, PA. It was...kind of jarring.

If you have option of *early voting*, do it!! If my experience was at all representative, Nov 3rd may be insane.

Short 🧵 1/5

— Alex Imas (@alexoimas) October 24, 2020

Just a reminder to report any poll interference to 866-OUR-VOTE. 866ourvote.com

Sorry, LIES. 866ourvote.org

I'm just gonna call 976-EVIL.

I attended my first Cubanas Con Biden roadside rally -- in the heart of my deep red part of unincorporated Miami-Dade County. I actually agreed to wear the Baby Trump costume (fresh out of the box) for about twenty minutes. At first the size of the Trump rally on the other side of the park dispirited me; then on our side more and people arrived with flags and signs. I counted 110 people, everyone socially distanced with plenty of space and masked (at the Trump event it looked like more than half the crowd said fuck off to the masks). We got "Commuistas!" yelled at us by the usual stereotypes: every MAGA-ite must own or lease the biggest truck he can find. But the number of honks, thumbs-ups, whoops -- encouraging.

Yeah there were more trucker rallies for Trump around Philly today