US election 2020 thread

[Raheem]

Nevada are just about ready to publish the Jimmy Carter v Ronald Reagan result.

Christ. If Pennsylvania goes rogue and Nevada's EC votes go to Reagan...

 

[petee]

american joke

 

[elbows]

This is much more like the sort of thing I'd assume to be likely at this stage.

Trump may accept results but never concede he lost, aides say

“He’ll acknowledge the results and that we’ll never know how accurate they are," a Trump adviser tells NBC News.

www.nbcnews.com

“Do not expect him to concede,” one top aide said. More likely, the aide said, “he’ll say something like, ‘We can’t trust the results, but I’m not contesting them.’”

Another adviser said that after the legal battles and recounts, the closest the president is likely to get to a concession is, “he’ll acknowledge the results and that we’ll never know how accurate they are.”

“But we’re not there yet,” the adviser said.

In the meantime there is also growing frustration inside the White House — what allies described as “embarrassment” as well as “uncertainty and doubt and confusion” — over the president’s refusal to acknowledge the election result and chart a path forward.

“This is unsustainable,” another aide said.

“He’s setting himself up as the main opposition leader,” one ally said. Aides expect him to leave open the possibility of running in 2024, effectively freezing the GOP field.

To underscore his power in the Republican Party, aides are encouraging Trump to be heavily involved in the Senate runoff race in Georgia, including holding a rally in the state soon. (NBC News has said the results of the state's other Senate race is still "too close to call," and it, too, may go to a runoff.)

People close to the president said he plans to continue amplifying his message of widespread fraud in the election, despite no evidence of that. And whatever acknowledgement Trump makes about Biden taking over on Jan. 20, it is likely to include a grievance that the election is just the latest in a series of attacks on him, in line behind the Russia investigation and impeachment.

Reacting to Biden senior counsel Bob Bauer’s comments Tuesday that Trump’s long-shot lawsuits are “theatrics,” one White House official said, “It’s not wrong for the Biden team to call it theater.”

This official says many members of the White House staff are actively looking for new work, despite a directive from the top that any political appointee searching for a new job should be fired.

 

[bimble]

Yep, seeing reports that he’s talking about running for 2024, whether to sell more hats or because he thinks he has a chance whatever. That passes for good news I think. Am not planning to freak out anymore unless something real and surprising happens.

Meanwhile all is not well inside the proud boys.

Proud Boys Infighting Sees Leading Member Form Breakaway Neo-Nazi Group

Kyle "Based Stickman" Chapman announced Proud Goys while attacking chairman Enrique Tarrio on Telegram.

www.newsweek.com

 

[JTG]

John McCain has his revenge

 

[existentialist]

John McCain has his revenge

"FAKE NOOS "

 

[planetgeli]

Late news. This is the one AP called about 6 months ago now.

 

[JTG]

Late news. This is the one AP called about 6 months ago now.

Yeah, far too early! There's only 12k votes in it now and the gap has been steadily shrinking every day

 

[teqniq]

State Department is preventing Biden from accessing messages from foreign leaders

 

[two sheds]

You'd imagine there'd be a good clearout of the trumpist twats when Biden gets in.

 

[JTG]

I can't read it because they want me to sign up but it appears that Evil Karl Rove has written a thing in the WSJ saying there's no way Trump overturns the result.
Can't do a coup if even all the other evil people think you're a loser

 

[Monkeygrinder's Organ]

I expect there'll be an article in the Guardian about how reasonable and sensible Karl Rove is any moment.

 

[Yossarian]

I can't read it because they want me to sign up but it appears that Evil Karl Rove has written a thing in the WSJ saying there's no way Trump overturns the result.
Can't do a coup if even all the other evil people think you're a loser

He does some gloating about the race being a lot closer than expected before acknowledging:

Mr. Trump is now pursuing legal challenges in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona and Nevada, and there will be an automatic recount in Georgia, given Mr. Biden’s 0.29-point lead there. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is correct that Mr. Trump is “100% within his rights” to go to court over concerns about fraud and transparency. But the president’s efforts are unlikely to move a single state from Mr. Biden’s column, and certainly they’re not enough to change the final outcome.

There are only three statewide contests in the past half-century in which recounts changed the outcome: the 1974 New Hampshire Senate race, the 2004 Washington governor’s contest, and the 2008 Minnesota Senate election. The candidates in these races were separated, respectively, by 355, 261 and 215 votes after Election Day.These margins aren’t much like today’s. Mr. Biden led Wednesday in Wisconsin by 20,540 votes, Pennsylvania by 49,064, Michigan by 146,123, Arizona by 12,614, Nevada by 36,870 and Georgia by 14,108.

To win, Mr. Trump must prove systemic fraud, with illegal votes in the tens of thousands. There is no evidence of that so far. Unless some emerges quickly, the president’s chances in court will decline precipitously when states start certifying results, as Georgia will on Nov. 20, followed by Pennsylvania and Michigan on Nov. 23, Arizona on Nov. 30, and Wisconsin and Nevada on Dec. 1. By seating one candidate’s electors, these certifications will raise the legal bar to overturn state results and make it even more difficult for Mr. Trump to prevail before the Electoral College meets Dec. 14.

TV networks showed jubilant crowds in major cities celebrating Mr. Biden’s victory; they didn’t show the nearly equal number of people who mourned Mr. Trump’s defeat. U.S. politics remains polarized and venomous. Closing out this election will be a hard but necessary step toward restoring some unity and political equilibrium. Once his days in court are over, the president should do his part to unite the country by leading a peaceful transition and letting grievances go.

 

[bimble]

State Department is preventing Biden from accessing messages from foreign leaders

It’s not just his messages they’re refusing to hand over, it’s money and other things too, like intelligence briefings.

Biden Transition Seeks Donations as Trump Administration Withholds Funds

The Biden transition committee is asking for donations up to $5,000 as the Trump administration refuses to release millions in funds.

variety.com

Republican senator says he will step in if Biden doesn't have access to intelligence briefings by Friday

Oklahoma Republican Sen. James Lankford said Wednesday that he will intervene if the Trump administration has not allowed President-elect Joe Biden access to presidential daily intelligence briefings by the end of the week, one of the first rights of a presidential candidate after winning the...

www.cnn.com

 

[bimble]

Here's a pretty convincing theory that would explain why trump's been so busy firing people at the national security agency.
It says its his ongoing obsession with THE RUsSIA HOaX : he wants reams of documents declassified (and uploaded onto the internet) to prove to the world that he's the most innocent man who ever lived, and has been running into resistance because the CIA doen't want to be presented as part of his little partisan war or to have details on their sources and methods all over facebook.

Trump allies clash with top intelligence officials in quest to declassify more Russia documents

As President Donald Trump and his allies continue to publicly dispute the outcome of the election, they are also quietly seeking to discredit the Russia investigation that has cast a dark cloud over the administration for more than four years.

edition.cnn.com

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

Gone down massively in recent years, hasn’t it? And it’s distribution has changed to be far more in favour of the federal government

It has. I think it used to be almost $10K a year.

 

[imposs1904]

Yep, seeing reports that he’s talking about running for 2024, whether to sell more hats or because he thinks he has a chance whatever. That passes for good news I think. Am not planning to freak out anymore unless something real and surprising happens.

Meanwhile all is not well inside the proud boys.

Proud Boys Infighting Sees Leading Member Form Breakaway Neo-Nazi Group

Kyle "Based Stickman" Chapman announced Proud Goys while attacking chairman Enrique Tarrio on Telegram.

www.newsweek.com

Who gets custody of the Fred Perry polo shirts in the Proud Boys split?

 

[Sue]

Who gets custody of the Fred Perry polo shirts in the Proud Boys split?

Fred Perry hopefully.

“Fred was the son of a working-class socialist MP who became a world tennis champion at a time when tennis was an elitist sport. He started a business with a Jewish businessman from eastern Europe. It’s a shame we even have to answer questions like this. No, we don’t support the ideals or the group that you speak of. It is counter to our beliefs and the people we work with.”

Fred Perry withdraws polo shirt adopted by far-right Proud Boys

Company distances itself from US fascist group as it halts sales of garment in North America

www.theguardian.com

 

[imposs1904]

Fred Perry hopefully.

“Fred was the son of a working-class socialist MP who became a world tennis champion at a time when tennis was an elitist sport. He started a business with a Jewish businessman from eastern Europe. It’s a shame we even have to answer questions like this. No, we don’t support the ideals or the group that you speak of. It is counter to our beliefs and the people we work with.”

Fred Perry withdraws polo shirt adopted by far-right Proud Boys

Company distances itself from US fascist group as it halts sales of garment in North America

www.theguardian.com

I hope so.

I've got about 10 Fred Perry shirts in my closet.

 

[killer b]

I hope so.

I've got about 10 Fred Perry shirts in my closet.

it's only the black ones with yellow accents that the Proud Boys appropriated anyway. And tbh even those won't suggest anything to 99.99% of people.

 

[ska invita]

You'd imagine there'd be a good clearout of the trumpist twats when Biden gets in.

with all the firing that seems to go on at this level,i do wonder what contracts people have that they can just be kicked out at a whim

 

[ska invita]

I expect there'll be an article in the Guardian about how reasonable and sensible Karl Rove is any moment.

i look forward to seeing his water colours on Oprah

 

[frogwoman]

with all the firing that seems to go on at this level,i do wonder what contracts people have that they can just be kicked out at a whim

All the staff get switched over when the transition occurs. In the early years of trumps presidency a lot of those posts were left vacant for ages as he didn't pick anyone

 

[agricola]

Steven Colbert takes a look into the Dean Browning comedy / scandal:

 

[bimble]

I enjoyed this. No news in it, just reassuring ridicule.

The Spectacle of Trump’s Unsuccess

That America’s first authoritarian commander-in-chief appears to be going out as “Richard III” directed by Corky St. Clair is a relief, but it’s also a testament to just how nourished Trump has been by the mere spectacle of success more than the thing itself.

newlinesmag.com

 

[ska invita]

All the staff get switched over when the transition occurs. In the early years of trumps presidency a lot of those posts were left vacant for ages as he didn't pick anyone

thanks for that
i was thinking more specifically about how many people Trump fired over the last 4 years.

 

[two sheds]

with all the firing that seems to go on at this level,i do wonder what contracts people have that they can just be kicked out at a whim

I worked for an American company once, there was no security of tenure at all - I think that's standard although you'd think at the top it would be different. I wouldn't be surprised if Trump's given the people he's appointed long guaranteed contracts with severe financial penalties if they're finished though.

 

[ska invita]

I worked for an American company once, there was no security of tenure at all - I think that's standard although you'd think at the top it would be different. I wouldn't be surprised if Trump's given the people he's appointed long guaranteed contracts with severe financial penalties if they're finished though.

these authoritarian-enabling neo-colonialist disaster-capitalist politicians really need to get unionised.

 

[fucthest8]

Am not planning to freak out anymore unless something real and surprising happens.

Glad to hear it. I hope you'll take this in the spirit that it's meant, but really, nothing you can do - literally, in the correct sense, nothing - can affect what happens anyway, so why do this to yourself?
Go back to watching cartoons, go for a long walk, have a wank - have several wanks - anything but doomscrolling your way through the minutae of events that you cannot influence

 

[frogwoman]

Here's a pretty convincing theory that would explain why trump's been so busy firing people at the national security agency.
It says its his ongoing obsession with THE RUsSIA HOaX : he wants reams of documents declassified (and uploaded onto the internet) to prove to the world that he's the most innocent man who ever lived, and has been running into resistance because the CIA doen't want to be presented as part of his little partisan war or to have details on their sources and methods all over facebook.

Trump allies clash with top intelligence officials in quest to declassify more Russia documents

As President Donald Trump and his allies continue to publicly dispute the outcome of the election, they are also quietly seeking to discredit the Russia investigation that has cast a dark cloud over the administration for more than four years.

edition.cnn.com

Yeah I don't think more transparency at the CIA is a bad thing but this is just about Trump's vindictiveness rather than anything else