GET OUT: US politics November 2020

A joy of a read

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/11/14/giuliani-trump-legal-plans-436475

like, not even kidding. i hope democrats have some poll watchers up in there

They do -- the whole structure is set up for it.

The Carter Center is monitoring.

Coda:

Triumph of the Wilt https://t.co/RSbUTwL2EC

— David Frum (@davidfrum) November 14, 2020

Not sure if anybody followed up on this.

https://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2020-54849605

The 43-year-old rapper has conceded after his self-styled "Birthday Party" collected just 60,000 votes out of an estimated total of 160 million.

A friend of mine was concerned about West's presence being enough to tip close states. Told him, at the time, that was preposterous.

I mean, I guess if the 60,000 votes had been limited to three or four key states--not sure where he managed to get on the ballot--he could have made a difference.

Roseanne Barr got 67,000 votes in 2012. Curious whether Kanye will surpass that.

What was delivered https://t.co/Jt7aqRTvqz

— David Frum (@davidfrum) November 14, 2020

Cuck Dynasty

so is pence going to be 45.5 or does he count if he's only doing it for a few days.

I'm still accustoming myself to the realization that Trumpn is the first incumbent kicked out since Poppy Bush, and I smile.

Can he pardon Trump for hypothetical indictments?

xp

This monologue from last night is suitably dismissive. Trump doesn't matter anymore.

As I've been saying, the producers of news need to not only debunk, but actively #decenterTrump.

Last night, Anderson Cooper did a monologue about this very subject. It got surprisingly emotional. Watch: pic.twitter.com/eYHAdu1OQ0

— Jay Rosen (@jayrosen_nyu) November 14, 2020

The move, which was first reported by the New York Times, has distressed top campaign officials and other advisers, who worry Giuliani's Hail Mary ploys will damage Trump's reputation and potentially harm his future political aspirations.

Damage Trump's what now?

Patriotic Goiter (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn) at 12:16 14 Nov 20

I'm still accustoming myself to the realization that Trumpn is the first incumbent kicked out since Poppy Bush, and I smile.

say goodbye to the Donny Trump Interzone

Fun fact that I’ve been deploying in Electoral College arguments — of the 5 presidents elected by the EC while losing the vote, 4 were one-termed. They account for 4 of 11 sitting presidents voted out of office.

Sample size is a bit too small but there’s a certain logic to it.

hate to see it

Trump supporters are now marching toward the Supreme Court, chanting “Fox News sucks!” pic.twitter.com/NoJ5pwPqSo

— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) November 14, 2020

Giving as good as they get

❤️

Fox News anchor asks Fox News reporter: can you hear the MAGA crowd from a couple blocks away?

Answer: Only “faintly” and instead hearing the construction that’s going up “for the inauguration reviewing stand for President-Elect Biden and his family.” pic.twitter.com/14rT10LZYd

— Ryan Goodman (@rgoodlaw) November 14, 2020

🤔

Who is in charge here? pic.twitter.com/GcIuBR5l5P

— Arthur Tarley (@arthurtarley) November 14, 2020

lol

The beagle clearly sees food off in the distance.

To be fair the Warnock one is a shot from a tv ad that I thought made a better point: That the big-money attack ads were about to be unleashed by his opponent and they would claim he was a terrible person who hates puppies.

hearing the construction that’s going up “for the inauguration reviewing stand

why is a stand being built now for an event 20 days into next year

Neat how if you clone the Parler logo just a few times, and rotate...

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1557746764421447&id=100005584152097

You guys would know...

If a sitting press won a second term, he doesn't have another inauguration, right?

Pres, but you knew that..

You always have one

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_inauguration_of_Barack_Obama

There is in fact a second inauguration for reelected presidents. Most of them aren't as notable as the first inaugurations, although Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address (amid the Civil War) is much better remembered than his first.

Trump probably wanted to be elected just so he could have another inaugural turnout he could lie about.

daaaaaamn

"This is a big legal victory," @JacobSoboroff speaks to @AliciaMenendez about the new federal ruling that acting DHS head Chad Wolf was unlawfully appointed and invalidates the DACA suspension. pic.twitter.com/TrXCrUw1d8

— MSNBC (@MSNBC) November 15, 2020

the only thing that gives me hope for the future is the abysmal and astonishing lack of competency of these dipshits. hopefully much of the trump administration's four years of violence can be greatly dismantled in the first six months. the fuckin courts tho

give me a Chad Wolf-type feel (map)

i got into a passionate argument with my mom earlier tonight, about the topic of moving on from trump. i feel like this is deeply connected to the current idea that trump is no longer relevant. my mom wants me to forget about trump and move on. i found this offensive, in the moment. i'm not ready to move on, quite yet. did you just see dad throw the rock at mom? it bruised her leg really bad and she's limping. just move on. let's just move on.

i think i'm still fine with dwelling on what is happening, and who is aiding and abetting it and supporting it

there will be plenty of time to move on, after it's over. it's still happening.

half the Trump signs in my neighborhood are still up, including almost all of the big ones. all the Trump flags are still waving. I guess I wasn't really looking but I doubt the Romney signs remained up a week after he lost the election.

I hope they leave the flags up forever, watching those colors "run" and fade, a ragged reminder years from now of who they still are.

https://i.imgur.com/39XIV3s.jpg

Depending on their circumstances and the nature of trauma Trump's presidency has caused someone, bear in mind that they may be decentering him now that's he lost because another couple of months of living in Trumpworld is unbearable to them. Nobody thinks he's really irrelevant, but his conclusive defeat in the election is definitely license to stop thinking about him for a few months and catch our breath.

Nobody thinks he's really irrelevant, but his conclusive defeat in the election is definitely license to stop thinking about him for a few months and catch our breath.

He's not truly irrelevant until January 21, but after that he will be. I mean, he's not going to have any policymaking role when Biden's president - do you think Mitch McConnell's going to call him up and ask him for advice? Do you think he's going to become some kind of Republican foreign policy elder statesman? They've all known for four years that he's an incurious imbecile; they just hung with him and pretended he was sentient so they could use him to achieve their policy objectives. Before long, even the cult will drift away, because the myth of Trump is all about projecting power, and he has none now.

FWIW I have this ongoing argument with a friend about what happens to the trump "base" now. I think the part of it that wasn't regularly interested in politics is largely going to dissipate -- some of it may fall deeper down the Q hole, some of it may unfortunately go toward white supremacist groups, but I don't think "the Trump base" is really a cohesive force without the Trump presidency. She disagrees and thinks "they own the Republican party now." I just think that people who aren't naturally inclined toward politics and get interested it because of a particular charismatic/cult figure are bound to lose interest when that figure loses power.

Do you think he's going to become some kind of Republican foreign policy elder statesman?

I do, but not in the way the Republican party are looking forward to. Unless New York manages to put his ass in jail, he's going to play GOP kingmaker whether Mitch McConnell likes it or not. But that wasn't my point. For the moment, I'm enjoying my thoughts being uninterrupted by Trump's unceasing bullshit for the first time in more than four years. I have no doubt this new ability to ignore him is going to bring a lot of vulnerable people back from the brink.

I had two near-simultaneous thoughts this morning: 1) as exasperating/infuriating/terrifying as it's been to have a lame duck president act as if he has no intention of leaving the WH, it's actually a really good thing that this dipshit undertook so much legal action, as we now have not just the actual results of the election but also a number of unaffiliated judges saying 'yeah, this fucker is out on his ass on January 20, and 2) there exists no breadth or depth or quantity of proof that will ever convince his most ardent witchchunter general supporters that the results of this election are completely invalid.

Trump is going to be out hustling for cash under every rock he finds and they probably will be able to shake out some dough, never mind if there ends up being any shenanigans going on that have not yet been uncovered (to play their game). It seems like they were profiting quite a bit on the fact that people in certain parts of the planet were renting rooms all over the place from them and mostly leaving the rooms empty. It will be interesting 'who' might end up buying off some of his debt going forward, which is something I could see happening.

I have a hard time believing that whatever plastic hog idol that Trumps charisma is going to wear off any way on his dorky kids and I think his daughter might be more willing to do other things to make money than keep following through in politics.

Maybe they will all just go to Florida. That's where all the dregs settle from the east coast. (que Butthole Surfers 'Going down to Florida')

With their Gov buddy, seems like their kind of place.

One of the few positives about the era of Trump (imo, afaict) is that the GOP's current fascist godhead simply has no heir apparent. There isn't another figure among their ranks with the degree of name recognition and scorched earth sociopathic assholery to effectively take Trump's place among his utterly debased base. Trump's particular blend of 'The Beast as depicted in the Book of Revelations' qualities is (thank fucking christ) pretty goddamn sui generis.

To the extent that Trump is a kind of projected psychosis, I'm not counting on their inability to barf up another one. The siren call of the presidency is certainly enough to make a bigger monster out of any number of regular monsters.

there were a lot of troubling signs long before Trump - willful disobedience of the law, deliberate lies and distortions spread by a well-organized campaign that feigns grassroots origins.

the obvious stuff was the obstructionism (or just outright racism) with Obama, which began prior to Day 1 in office, yes, but the other stuff, like the Bundy family just deciding to make up their own reality and willfully violate the law...and then inexplicably, none of them getting prosecuted. People like Bobby Jindal publicly saying he would not implement a state exchange in Louisiana that was required by the ACA after it was upheld by the Supreme Court....saying he'd just wait for Romney to win and repeal it. all of the Tea Party bullshit at the townhalls for the Affordable Care Act, the disruptions, the "death panel" lies and other deliberate misinformation they spread that circulated like wildfire. The Kim Davis cause celebre. the Hobby Lobby decision.

chances are the next awful GOP President will be smarter and know to respect norms but they could still infect the country with a similar toxic platform. worst of all, idk that any of this dies with age. the young GOP stalwarts seem to be driving a lot of the new extremity.

A smart evil despot who had been watching what was got away with might get ideas of their own and be more successful.

but that person isn't Tom Cotton

no but he may be one of many who have not as yet distinguished tehmself. If one is an intelligent manipulative person do they make themsleves visible under a regime taht is likely to carry a stain for a while or do they wait until th eeejit is ousted and do things a bit more subtly until they reach a position of leverageable power.
Hate to think what is likely to emerge over the next decade or so especially as the GOP hasn't been vanquished. NOt going to be limping off with its tail between its legs as one might have hoped. Hope it is going to be a sign taht momentum does need to be maintained and any form of status quo be closely investigated as to what does need to be changed.
Hope people aren't feeling burnt out already.

& on the other hand would think that a totally decisive victory might have lent to complacency while the vestiges of what had apparently been vanquished regrouped and redoubled their efforts.
Hope America is in some form of recovery but think it may need to watch what is still developing.
Also not be giving great roles in the cabinet to Republicans over progressives.

pre-spring 2016, no one would have bet on Trump's ability to remake the entire Republican base into his image, I wouldn't dismiss anyone in the GOP under the age of 65

They all look like wax figures left out to melt in the summer sun to us... but so did Trump. Maybe the base is content with any kind of owning the libs even if the person selling them that line isn't as cool as The Donald. Harvard lawyer and career bureaucrat/politician Ted Cruz might seem like a painfully awkward dweeb pretending to be a rootin tootin good old boy - but a) it worked for Dubya and b) the hogs who love Trump are exactly the same kind of deeb suburban weak-chinned whiners afraid of the world.

Some freshman Republican will blow a spitball at Biden during his first State of the Union and immediately become the odds-on favorite for 2024.