GET OUT: US politics November 2020

I love the lot of you.

Christ, that sounds genuinely awful, jon. I wish you silence and sleep.

Thanks. Having worked on a lot of construction sites in my life I had mentally prepared myself for the noise, but I never could have imagine the vibration impacts going on as long and as insistently as they have. It's some sort of foundation bracing system they are using given the limited project site, but it's not the kind of piles I'm used to seeing. Anyway, it's been GREAT to have this overlap exactly with the contentious election and the only time when the entire family is home every day due to the pandemic.

part of my panic disorder is that I can easily talk myself into something happening if I worry about it enough.

in 2017, during the "Muslim ban", when CBP was briefly not complying with court orders, I was barely able to function for a week, thinking democracy had shut down.

i also have OCD and constantly get paranoid about weird, nonsensical things. when I was 29 I convinced myself I had Parkinson's due to twitching/hand spasms I developed purely due to my anxiety. I couldn't even grip things and was taking cold medicine to stop the shaking. this was pre-medication. the medication gets most of it now, but there's some residual absurd obsessions.

Lol

https://www-businessinsider-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.businessinsider.com/trump-michigan-election-lawsuit-poll-watchers-social-distancing-complaints-2020-11?

I really don't think anyone wants to push that and see what happens.

― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Wednesday, November 11, 2020

anyone though?

Hey guys really, here is the new trump voter fraud hot line number: 202 499-4921. Whatever you do, don't prank call!

— Leona Lioness (@LeonaLioness6) November 11, 2020

There is no legal mechanism for the state legislature to act alone and appoint electors. None. https://t.co/IPqtVVdf4Y

— Josh Shapiro (@JoshShapiroPA) November 11, 2020

But can't some dude with a bunch of guns go into his office and say "now you listen heah mistah Josh HUSSEIN Shap-iro, these boys heah are yo new elect-ors, show them to their seats" ?

(Think of Foghorn Leghorn's voice, but picturing the southern sheriff from Live and Let Die.)

What we have heah is a failure to communicate bipartisanly.

what happened to the formerly gay midget cowboy who went to Philly?

Rudy?

every GOP insinuation of voter fraud boils down to this tiktok https://www.tiktok.com/foryou?lang=en#/@mrzesty/video/6688382598718164229

what happened to the formerly gay midget cowboy who went to Philly?

not much since his bombshell exposure that electioneering is real

except for this update two days later

did your daddy take his hat back? you’re such a big boy!

— DC (@guyatkeyboard) November 10, 2020

Yes.

— 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐢𝐧 (@BriscoeCain) November 10, 2020

Amazing. Just seeing this. I’m getting trolled so hard I can barely use this app.

Make no mistake, the radical left is at war with us and they mean to take advantage of our character.

— 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐢𝐧 (@BriscoeCain) November 9, 2020

President-elect Joe Biden has chosen longtime Washington operative Ronald A. Klain as White House chief of staff, sending an early signal that he intends to rely heavily on experience, competence and political agility after a Trump presidency that prized flashiness and personality.

Klain, 59, has been a senior adviser to Democratic presidents, vice presidents, candidates and senators. His appointment marks a homecoming of sorts, since Klain served in the late 1980s as a top aide to Biden when he was chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and ran Biden’s office when he first became vice president.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/klain-biden-white-house/2020/11/11/3c64069a-21d3-11eb-a688-5298ad5d580a_story.html

that seems good, yeah?

I mean presumably it’s better than Rahm Emanuel

that doesn't seem like a bad choice

this election is not going to be overturned

i'm still looking into it, but at first glance, Klain is nowhere near as tall as The Rock, so

I have no opinion. Klain's an old hand, a guy who responded to Obama's virus outbreaks; a DC hack around a while, like every chief of staff. He was Biden's COS when VP, no?

this election is not going to be overturned

So says Karl Rove in the Wall Street Journal, apparently (it's paywalled, but I wouldn't read that shit anyway):

KARL ROVE: “.. the president’s chances in court will decline precipitously when states start certifying results. .. [T]he president should do his part to unite the country by leading a peaceful transition and letting grievances go.”

(via @WSJopinion)https://t.co/Qt6QkKN8Lq pic.twitter.com/OquWDx3CNj

— Carl Quintanilla (@carlquintanilla) November 12, 2020

"letting his grievances go" - things even less likely than Trump winning the election

what happened to the formerly gay midget cowboy who went to Philly?

― akm, Thursday, November 12, 2020 12:24 AM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

fp'd, use better words

President-elect Joe Biden has chosen longtime Washington operative Ronald A. Klain as White House chief of staff, sending an early signal that he intends to rely heavily on experience, competence and political agility after a Trump presidency that prized flashiness and personality.

.. ok

They misspelled servility and thuggishness.

and fascism, and cruelty...

Whoa whoa whoa, three out of four will do.

Nothing wrong with flashiness. Biden would look good in a metallic purple suit.

Mo ballots mo problems

All over in AZ bar the shouting. Next to last Maricopa drop:

Maricopa county has posted 13,143 ballots.
Breakdown:
Biden: 5,826 (44.3%)
Trump: 7,019 (53.4%)

Biden leads Trump in Arizona by 11,635 votes.

— The AZ - abc15 - Data Guru (@Garrett_Archer) November 12, 2020

In response:

I've seen enough. No path back for Trump in AZ. https://t.co/30ms7WY4cb

— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) November 12, 2020

Basically the trendlines aren't there. Final drop tomorrow along with other reports should just confirm it. May be less than a 10K victory in the end but even so.

Wednesday evening update on Biden's leads:

AZ: 13K
GA: 14K
NV: 37K
PA: 51K

He leads Trump nationally by 5.2 million and rising.

As Trump files a lawsuit in Michigan, Biden leads by 146k votes.

This is not a close race, and it gets less close every day as votes are counted.

— Josh Jordan (@NumbersMuncher) November 12, 2020

at times, many among us have expressed the thought that donald trump does not actually want to be president and would do anything to get out of it. i think at various times i may have expressed this thought myself.

Still, Trump has indicated in some of these conversations that he understands Biden will take over the presidency on Jan. 20, Inauguration Day. Rather than talking about a second term, Trump has been matter-of-factly discussing a possible 2024 campaign — an indication that he knows his time as president is coming to an end, at least for now.

“I’m just going to run in 2024. I’m just going to run again,” Trump has been saying, according to a senior administration official who has spoken with him this week.

the president was recently thought of as the most powerful person in the world, and anything they do is by definition news. of course he wants to hang on for dear life and at least give the impression that he could come back. the closer he is that prospect of running again in 2024, the more the story is about him.

this is so pathetic!

Even the possibility of a future Trump run would help keep him relevant — and in the media spotlight — and effectively freeze the GOP primary field. Many of the party’s rising stars and buzzed-about 2024 hopefuls — including Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley and Pence — are unlikely to run if Trump is planning another campaign, Trump allies said.

Despite losing out on a second term, Trump maintains a viselike grip on a large portion of the Republican Party — especially the populist base that helped lift him to power in 2016 and turned out for him again this year. GOP officials and Trump advisers say most elected Republicans are fearful of provoking Trump’s ire.

(from here)

it's hard for me to imagine the left-analog of this

(and the condition of the "left-analog" is that there is some democrat president that is trump levels of awful. i'm not sure what this means, for a democrat, but whatever that is, i can't imagine sitting politicians abetting it, and what's more, grassroots/regular people not fighting back against it within the party. maybe it's dumb to speculate about the left-analog of trump)

having the entire party tied to a dude guaranteed to turn out record amounts of Democrat voters is probably a good thing

More precision on AZ -- the main remaining episodes are in Pina (blue), not Maricopa, so yeah, it's over:

Arizona has less than 25k ballots remaining. The majority of these are in Pima county. pic.twitter.com/dDBG2M0m3T

— The AZ - abc15 - Data Guru (@Garrett_Archer) November 12, 2020

Episodes? Ballots.

there cannot by definition be a left analog

the defining trait of the right since Reagan but ESPECIALLY since Obama is that they do not really give a shit about a single issue outside of someone taking their guns. they root for their politicians the same way shitty sports fans root for their teams. yeah they like it when the Cubs win, but they really fuckin love it when the Cardinals lose. there is no such dynamic on the left

xps:

HRC's lock on Democratic donors and superdelegates certainly deterred others from entering the race for 2016. To this observer, that primary season looked like a coronation.

But it was nothing like the next 4 years will be. HRC in 2014 had little to no influence on downballot Dem primaries. Trump will try to remake the party in his image in 2022.

honestly don't see him getting involved with the RNC in any meaningful way. maybe to bilk their donors but that's about it

Start whispering third party run in his ear.

Republicans are being very disloyal, after all. Not one person arrested in his defense.

"I have to return to my home basement vault now."

Dear @realDonaldTrump-my honored friend-you fought an incredible battle vs all odds and the curse of insidious disease. You battled the back stabbers & our enemies & remade the world in peace & prosperity. You came so close.
Time coming soon to say goodbye with grace & dignity

— Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) November 12, 2020

"what happened to the formerly gay midget cowboy who went to Philly?

― akm, Thursday, November 12, 2020 12:24 AM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

fp'd, use better words
― Give me a Chad Smith-type feel (map), Thursday, November 12, 2020 1:25 AM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink"

would you prefer "cowman"?

The Adventures of Briscoe Cain Jr.

I think there is a comedy-action show in his future. Catchphrase: You've Been CAINed.

Look out libs, you're gonna get CAINed like Charles Sumner in 1856.

Looking forward to the fan-fic of 45's second term, ala Trumpham

This is a sad man

🔥❤️😍👍 https://t.co/IacJv4RydW

— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) November 12, 2020

"Time coming soon?" C'mon, Geraldo, you can do better than that.

A decent graphics person could do a "Homer recedes into the shrubbery" riff on that Tiffany pic. Karl?