The long awaited day is here! And hopefully the beginning of the end of the Trump Era. The opinion polls are against him, more than they were four years ago when he barely won. But he has a 6-to-3 Republican majority on the Supreme Court, so the trick for him will to be to get the election thrown to the Supreme Court.
President Trump is already putting up a non-scalable wall round the White House.
The Real Clear Politics average of national polls puts Biden ahead by 7.2 percentage points:
- 51.2% Joe Biden (Democrat)
- 44.0% Donald Trump (Republican)
That should be enough to put Biden above both the margin of error and the anti-democratic effects of the electoral college. But we shall see. (Four years ago Trump was down by 3.3 points. That narrowed to 2.1 on Election Day with the electoral college making up the difference. In 1876 Hayes lost the popular vote by 3.0 points and still became president).
FiveThirtyEight gives Trump a 10% chance of winning. That is the same as the chance of rain in Los Angeles on any given day. Four years ago they gave Trump a 28% chance. The polling is supposed to be better now. (Four years ago they undercounted those without a college education.)
We might not know the winner for several days. That is because Pennsylvania and some other swing states do not start counting mail-in ballots till Election Day. And voting by mail has been heavy this year because of the pandemic.
How long it took to project the winner after polls closed in California (at 23:00 EST or 04:00 GMT):
- 2008: 0 minutes (CNN probably knew hours before based on exit polls)
- 2012: 15 minutes
- 2016: 2 hours and 35 minutes
But note these are guesses, mainly based on exit polls, a statistical sampling of voters. The actual vote count could turn out differently if it is close.
Early signs of a Biden landslide: Florida, Texas or Arizona turning blue. Trump won all three states last time. If Trump holds on to those, he has a chance of winning outright.
Trump might try to declare victory before the counting stops. Or stop the counting so he can claim victory. CNN is more likely to be right than Trump, but most Republicans believe him over “fake news” CNN. So, simply by declaring victory Trump makes victory more likely – if only by creating enough doubt and disagreement that the Supreme Court will have to settle it.
I voted at the crack of dawn. I got in line at 6.25am, was the fourth in line. By 7.00am, when the doors opened, there was already a long line. No police, no Army of Trump, no men with long beards and long guns. Just the election workers, all of them women (which I found reassuring I now realize).
I voted for Joe Biden and a straight Democratic Party ticket for reasons explained elsewhere.
– Abagond, 2020.
Update (November 4th, 12:21 GMT): More than eight hours after polls closed in California, there is still no clear winner. In the middle of the night Trump got on TV to claim victory and cry “fraud”, without any evidence. He wants the Supreme Court to stop the vote count in the Rust Belt 3: Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. He was still leading in those states but, with much of the mail-in vote still to be counted and leaning Democratic, he could lose one or more of them and therefore lose the election. Presumably his own exit polling shows just that.
Update (November 5th, 12:12 GMT): Still no winner. Trump lost Wisconsin and Michigan and has been filing lawsuits. He needs four states to win: Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, and Nevada. Biden needs only one of them. They are neck-and-neck in each state, so any of these states could go either way. There have been protests both for and against counting votes. The current map according to the AP:
Update (November 6th, 12:20 GMT): Biden passes Trump in Georgia (!!!!) and is closing fast in Pennsylvania, while maintaining his lead in Nevada. It could be over later today.
Update (13:56 GMT): Biden just passed Trump in Pennsylvania!!! Trump is unlikely to catch up since they are just counting mail-in ballots now, which skew Democratic (Trump told his supporters to vote in person).
Update (November 7th, 12:15 GMT): Still no winner on the fourth morning after the election. Biden is more than 20,000 votes ahead in Pennsylvania, Nevada, and Arizona, but there are still hundreds of thousands of mail-in ballots yet to count. In Georgia he is still ahead, but only by 4,020 votes. The counting continues into the weekend…
Update (22:11 GMT): Biden wins!!! Three and a half days after polls closed in California. He won Nevada and Pennsylvania, which is enough to put him over the top. He could still win Georgia. So far none of Trump’s lawsuits seem to be getting anywhere, but he is president till January 20th and remains a huge wild card.
Update (Friday the 13th): Trump is projected to win Alaska and North Carolina while Biden takes Georgia. That gives Biden 306 Electoral College votes, which by Trumpian standards counts as a “massive landslide”. Trump still has not conceded while his many lawsuits go nowhere. Tomorrow: the Million MAGA March in DC.
My post on The Hair Dye Coup picks up the story from here.
See also:
- Predictions for the 2020 US election
- Why I voted for Joe Biden
- electoral phenomena:
- US Election Day 2016
530
Hate to break it but it’s not looking good.
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“Trump might try to declare victory before the counting stops”
You called it.
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Update: More than eight hours after polls closed in California, there is still no clear winner. In the middle of the night Trump got on TV to claim victory and cry “fraud”, without any evidence. He wants the Supreme Court to stop the vote count in the Rust Belt 3: Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. He was still leading in those states but, with much of the mail-in vote still to be counted and leaning Democratic, he could lose one or more of them and therefore lose the election. Presumably his own exit polling shows just that.
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The moral of the story this go-around is: Respect the Black vote. The road to the white house runs through the Black community, and if you want us to vote for you, give us something to vote for.
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“He was still leading in those states but, with much of the mail-in vote still to be counted and leaning Democratic, he could lose one or more of them and therefore lose the election.”
Are you a prophet? How do you know the absentee votes are leaning Democrat? It’s a baseless claim. You realize that most of the absentee votes are from US servicemen voting from overseas and who are typically conservatives?
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/2016/05/09/military-times-survey-troops-prefer-trump-to-clinton-by-a-huge-margin/
The idea that “absentee votes are leaning Democrat” is Democrat propaganda. You don’t even have to say the absentee votes are Republican leaning. At least be neutral and say that the absentee votes are mixed based on the in-person votes already counted. Neutrality is a virtue in these times of cult-like behaviour on the left and the right.
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I have a very sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. This is the end of America.
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The fact that Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham were re-elected is very telling of how racist America is and how deep seated white supremacy is in Florida with Latinos, especially Cubans, Venezuelans, Argentinians. They don’t see themselves as people of color, they identify as white. And it was a pipe dream think Texas would be flipped from Red to Blue. I am so sad Jaime Harrison lost to grimey, obsequious, Lindsey Graham.
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@ Mary
Me too.
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I was today years old learning that in Australia it’s mandatory to vote.
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I’m sure biff will pop over with some cheering news for you guys. Now, on with the witch hunt. Who’s the bastard who failed to deliver a landslide for Biden? Four years ago the villain was “white racism”.
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“You realize that most of the absentee votes are from US servicemen voting from overseas and who are typically conservatives?”
This is not a normal year. Because of the pandemic, many more people chose to vote by mail than usual. Wisconsin looked red last night but flipped to blue when the absentee ballots were counted because they leaned so heavily Democratic.
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Biden looks like he’s got the Electoral College clinched now, but that’s not the end of this nightmare. Trump has already committed to a coup, and he has hundreds of thousands of police, federal paramilitary goons, and terrorists on his side, not to mention the Republican corruption of the judicial branch. Biden could easily “win” this and then be undone by judicial shenanigans or force of arms. Even the amount of force and repression needed to stop the coup might itself be the end of the republic. No matter what happens, this is an absolute disaster.
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I’ve seen exit polls which claim that Trump lost ground among certain White voters and actually gained among Hispanics and Black Americans compared to 2016. The poorly handled pandemic and its economic consequences likely hurt Trump. It’s entirely possible he would have won easily if it hadn’t happened or if he handled the fallout better.
Here’s an article on Biden and voters of Latin American descent from May
https://news.yahoo.com/biden-campaign-doesnt-consider-latinos-143056489.html
Biden didn’t reach out to them so, of course, they weren’t enthusiastic about him. The funny thing is that he also pretty much took Black Americans for granted too (“if you don’t vote for me you aint Black”). The Biden campaign was wooing never-Trump republicans more than anyone else.
Another 4 years of Trump would be interesting, to say the least, but it would also be interesting if Democrats were punished once again for running another “fear the bogeyman” campaign that was lacking substance. It’s pretty clear that Americans are not really entertaining that anymore.
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I just read an article that said basically what I was thinking: elections that are race-based is exactly what both corporatist parties want. Trump can appeal to racist whites for their votes while the democrats expect to be able to win minority votes by denouncing Trump without doing much else. This allows both parties to avoid addressing the bread and butter issues of the populace while they secure the bag for their wealthy donors.
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@ Anonymous
Watch and see.
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So Biden got more votes then any president in U.S. history yet there was no blue wave and you can’t call his potential win a mandate.
Because of the closeness of the election that also means 70 million Americans are comfortable with the Authortarian right.
Trump also made inroads with Black and Brown voters. Now there might be other reasons that those groups moved right like maybe the Democrats assuming they would naturally vote their ticket while their party was courting never Trump Republicans and reassuring Wall Street.
So I don’t see Biden/Harris moving left, nor the Democrat party as they will want to retain their political power because of the voting strength of the right.
So if there is going to be change then it needs to come from the bottom up. We will need to continue to agitate in the streets in spite of a Biden win and hope to force their hand.
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This is so drawn out but the situation as of now is that:
1) Trump leads in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Alaska and Georgia
2) Biden leads in Nevada
Fox news and AP called Arizona for Biden long ago but others have held off.
88% of ballots have been counted there with Biden ahead 50.4% to 48%.
Including Arizona, the current electoral votes are:
264 for Biden to Trump’s 214.
………………………………………………
If Biden wins any other state (except Alaska with its 3 electoral votes) he gets over 270 and wins the election.
Although Biden is ahead in Nevada, he currently leads by only 0.6% with 75% of ballots counted. Nevada has a greater % of uncounted ballots than any state except Alaska.
……………………………………………….
Trump can win by flipping Nevada and holding on to Georgia, N.C and Pennsylvania (Assuming the Arizona call for Biden is solid).
Trump also leads three states by narrow margins. Georgia is particularly close. That state has counted 98% of ballots but Trump only has a 0.4% (18,098 vote) lead with some Dem-leaning counties’ votes outstanding.
The other Trump leads are not as close but they are still single digit percentages with counting less far along (94% in N.C and 89% in Pennsylvania). PA is expecting to count votes from Dem-leaning counties as well.
………………………………………………..
So Biden currently has more options to win and seems likely to win at this point.
Counting is going slowly in Nevada but if that state holds or Georgia (or N.C or PA) flips it’ll be over.
However, if 2020 decides to “2020”, Nevada (or Arizona) would have to turn for Trump and he’d have to hold on to his leads everywhere else to clinch it unexpectedly.
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Update: Still no winner. Trump lost Wisconsin and Michigan and has been filing lawsuits. He needs four states to win: Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, and Nevada. Biden needs only one of them. They are neck-and-neck in each state, so any of these states could go either way. There have been protests both for and against counting votes.
I added the current election map to the post.
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I should add that Nevada has gone to the Democrats in the last 3 elections.
The last time they lost it was in 2004.
Biden has not yet lost a state Clinton won in 2016.
But I’m hearing it could be days (Friday) before we know Nevada’s final count.
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Trump, Donald Trump. President of the United States of America.
This guy is really remarkable.
He made the wrong choices regarding the novel coronavirus pandemic. First he tried to block the Chinese to come to the USA because of the newly spreading disease, being then criticized as “xenophobe and racist”. Later he choose to turn his back to the disease, tacitly claiming that it didn’t merit his attention, which was focused in recovering the economy, instead. For that he was even ready to give his support to superstitions around it (hydrochloroquine, disinfectants, etc as a cure!) instead of facing the true realities of that disease. Even more, in a incredible show of stubbornness, he maintained – knowingly otherwise – that the use of masks and indeed, other sensible forms of prevention, were unnecessary.
And finally he got the disease himself, being for more than a week outside the political game which was heating in the last weeks of the election campaign. He could have died, and lost everything but instead he survived! Even in time to pursue a vigorous campaign for his re-election. Almost like a mythical fenix coming back from the ashes and arising even stronger than before. So strong that his persona is now disputing very closely the run-up to the Presidency.
Very unusual and remarkable!
At this point we don’t know if he will remain at the top of American politics for more four years, but his story will remain as very interesting to review in the years to come.
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Abagond badly underestimated the popular support for Trump, barring the pandemic, 2020 would have been a landslide for him. Even after major f..k ups he still managed to get 47.99% + (69,115,592 +) of the popular vote instead of the 1/3 vote Abagond claimed.
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I didn’t vote ,nationally or locally.
Not because I don’t care
and defiantly not because of support of the current president ,I didn’t vote for him the first time,
but did vote ,because of my level of ignorance led me to believe a racist white female becoming president
was some type of progress.
I didn’t vote for the same reason I don’t participate in protests and
Neither I nor African Americans need reoperations.
most all protesting, marching or demonstrating inevitably lead to violence abuse and destruction of both lives and property
why I don’t respect black lives matter
the problem amongst African Americans is a deeply entrenched subservience to white people and their culture
you can not expect people to treat you equally and with respect if you don’t treat yourself that way
currently it is common and widespread throughout the African American to refer to oneself and all other black people
by the same racist slur still used by racist white people who originated it ,still use it and with the exact same meaning.
my lived experience is black people esp poor black people regularly using racist slurs against each other and being willing to kill
each other ,but when one these black people gets killed unjustly by the police I’m supposed to sympathize?
currently I had ban “The Root”, cause every other African American author has no problem using this pathologic slur in their articles.
I like youtube as a source of education and entertainment ,among the many pleasures is the film reviews category ,then I noticed
all the reviewers and films are white ,I thought what about black films and along comes a african american reviewer ,doing films
like paid in full etc ,but every other word is n ,so I avoid and ignore until a “normal black person” starts reviewing.
As to reparation’s
A dollar circulates:
6 hours in the Black community
17 days in the White community
20 days in the Jewish community
30 days in the Asian community
Maybe asians jews and other whites should support reparations as they will ultimately benefit the most.
Black people spend 4 percent more money annually than any other race despite the fact that they are the
least represented race and the race that lives in poverty at the highest rate.
Black folks accounted for almost 90% of the overall spending in the beauty supply industry.
Generally speaking, Black people are still living for the moment with a “to hell with the future” mindset when it comes to money.
Too many Black folks tend to only worry about themselves and the money that they have NOW.
current african american /black people – no obligation to the collective
no interest in the progress of their people
intentionally egotist and individualistic about their pursuits
when you can’t enjoy true freedom you try to surround yourself with the symbols of that freedom
if a people believe they are worthless they can only add value to themselves by what they put on themselves and what they buy.
So we African americans can either confront our deeply entrenched subservience to white people and their culture or miss me.
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@ gro jo
Huh? What are you talking about?
SHOULD Trump have lost in a landslide because of his handling of the pandemic? Yes, of course. He is the Herbert Hoover of the pandemic.
But did I think he would actually lose in a landslide? Hardly:
In the map at the top of that post I correctly predicted Trump would hold on to Texas and Florida but lose Wisconsin and Michigan, which implies a close race, not a landslide. The only thing I got wrong so far is Maine-2, just 1 electoral college vote. The only thing that has surprised me is how close Georgia is.
I doubt the pandemic had much effect on the election either way because Trump’s approval ratings have not gone way up or way down because of it, but have meandered between 35% and 45% as they always have for the most part. His followers, like biff, always find an excuse for his terrible performance. And the people like me who blame him, knew he was a dumpster fire long before the pandemic.
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@munubantu
Given how he’s faring so far, he might very well have won easily without COVID-19 and the associated economic downturn. If he still pulls it off, the creator definitely has work for him to do even if that work ends up throwing America into disarray. There will be riotous demonstrations in the streets if he wins (and probably if he loses too, actually, so catch-22).
Anyway, Biden has continued to cut into Trump’s lead in Georgia. It’s down by about 6000 to 12764 votes with 99% of ballots counted. Since the state still hasn’t been called for Trump I assume it’s still mathematically possible for Biden to take it. I don’t know exactly how many ballots are left but he’ll obviously need more than +6000 out of the final 1%.
We continue to wait for a resolution …
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“A third of the country, aka the Trump Cult, will believe, to their dying day, that he won the 2020 election fairly and squarely.”
Trump did a lot better than a third of the voters after a disastrous year. Logic indicates that he resonates with more than ‘a third’ as you have it in the above quote. Trump did a brilliant job on Origin, that SBT(Superlatively Brobdingnagian Tool) still believes Trump’s nonsense about the cause of the pandemic.
When will the witch hunt begin? https://abagond.wordpress.com/2020/11/03/us-election-day-2020/comment-page-1/#comment-497389
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^^^^^
Pinochimao seeking attention again…
Careful, if that nose gets too long you’ll impale your master while “serving” him.
[And I like how you’ve stolen and repurposed my term for you, the original “superlative brobdingnagian tool”. Ah well, what to expect from a soulless puppet.]
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Anyway, on to matters of actual relevance:
Georgia is now basically tied percentage-wise, the difference in votes is not reflected up to the first decimal place. The map has both candidates at 49.4%. The actual vote counts reveal that Trump’s lead in Georgia has shrunk to 665 votes with 99% of ballots in. The state still hasn’t been called so I presume that there are still enough votes to be counted such that the lead could be erased.
Meanwhile, Trump’s lead in Pennsylvania has shrunk to 18,042 votes with 97% reporting. While the trends are going Biden’s way in both GA and PA, Trump still hangs on by a thread in both states. Nevada, where Biden leads by 1.1%, and North Carolina, where Trump leads by 1.4%, have not made much progress since yesterday.
I remember reading that N.C will accept mail-in ballots that arrive by Nov 12 as long as they’re postmarked by election day. (This was upheld by the Supreme Court.) So N.C will take another week to resolve in a close election.
We wait…
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Ha ha, I just realized that Biden needs at least 666 votes more than Trump to flip Georgia.
A 2020 apocalyptic vibe, lol.
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@ Origin
“superlative brobdingnagian tool”
I remember when I first read the above, I was laughing my @ss off while at the same time thinking, “That’s one of the best insults I’ve ever seen.” I truly believe I would’ve had the same reaction even if you had directed it at me. The level of mastery is just that high.
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Just a theory on my part, but I think the pandemic may have actually helped Trump with many voters. I say this based not just on his results but also the number of covidiots who won re-election in state contests.
Humans have a tendency to engage in magical thinking. It is far more reassuring to believe the politicians who are downplaying the pandemic and saying it will vanish any day now, it’s just another flu bug, no cause for alarm.
I think a sizable percentage of the population is engaged in magical thinking right now because it’s the only way they can feel any control over the coronavirus and calm their own fears of the unpredictable. And I suspect this had a significant impact on how they voted.
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@ Solitaire
You have a point here.
I think also that there is the “material factor” in play.
By the “material factor” I mean jobs, joblessness and a perception by many that Trump is The Candidate who really cares about restoring the jobs that many people lost during these months. It’s about a sense of personal security that in modern societies is closely related to jobs.
This is something that many analysts – who oft belong to more white color jobs – do not seem to understand completely or tend to underplay. And if Biden wins, the Democratic party must pay more attention to it too! It’s not only Covid-19!
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White supremacy is the voting drive behind the 47.99% + (69,115,592 +) popular vote of Trump supporters to think this was anything political is a pipe dream. Any rational human being of the global world can see Trump is mentally delayed and the most inept leader in the history pf USA presidents.
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@Solitaire
“I remember when I first read the above, I was laughing my @ss off while at the same time thinking, “That’s one of the best insults I’ve ever seen.”I truly believe I would’ve had the same reaction even if you had directed it at me.”
“Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand” – Mark Twain 😀
@Solitaire
“Humans have a tendency to engage in magical thinking. It is far more reassuring to believe the politicians who are downplaying the pandemic and saying it will vanish any day now”
That’s an interesting point about Trump and COVID-19. Some people may chose to believe Trump’s take that it isn’t any worse than the flu and vote for that “reality”. I just wonder if he would have been in an even better position if the pandemic and the economic downtown never happened. TBH, I’m not even sure on second thought because he did get to send out a stimulus check with his name on it.
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Following up on the counts, apparently Biden has taken the lead in Georgia by about 917 votes with 99% of ballots counted. If he keeps Arizona, Georgia gives him the victory.
While Fox and AP have called Arizona for Biden others have considered it too close to call. Biden’s lead continues to shrink there (~47,000 now, 90% done) but some analysts apparently believe it is likely to hold for Biden.
If Biden loses Arizona and gains Georgia, he goes to 269. In that case Biden will need at least Nevada – where he’s currently leading – to win. However, if they tie at 269, we’ll end up with “Continent Election”.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contingent_election
Now that’s fun stuff.
The House votes for President (D.C doesn’t get a vote) and the Senate for Vice President. The Senators vote individually but the House procedure allows one vote per state delegation.
So it’s entirely possible for the House majority to lose the vote for President if the minority holds the majority of state delegations. Put another way, Wyoming is allowed 1 vote by its single (republican) representative while California with its dozens of (mostly democratic) representatives also gets 1 vote.
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Update: Biden passes Trump in Georgia (!!!!) and is closing fast in Pennsylvania, while maintaining his lead in Nevada. It could be over later today.
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@ gro jo
The third is just his cult. They are not the only ones who vote for him.
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@ Munubantu
I think there are many causes, and you’re right that the economy is one. Also definitely white supremacy and racism, as well as sexism, fear of socialism, single-issue pro-life voters, the extreme polarization of the two major parties, etc.
And as weird as it seems to me, Trump has a cult of personality going. His acolytes love everything about him, including the undignified, combative, and unpresidential way he acts that is so embarrassing on the world stage.
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Is anyone getting any sleep? There’s been an awful lot of commenting during the wee hours lately (excepting Munubantu in a time zone way off to our east, of course).
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@ Solitaire
LOL.
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The pandemic was not going to affect Trump’s political fortunes any more than the Access Hollywood tape. Because nearly everyone’s view of him has been locked into place since at least early 2016.
Trump said it himself in January 2016:
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Update: Biden just passed Trump in Pennsylvania!!! Trump is unlikely to catch up since they are just counting mail-in ballots now, which skew Democratic (Trump told his supporters to vote in person).
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“Pinochimao seeking attention again…
Careful, if that nose gets too long you’ll impale your master while “serving” him.”
SBT, do you usually get off on gay imagery?
“[And I like how you’ve stolen and repurposed my term for you, the original “superlative brobdingnagian tool”. Ah well, what to expect from a soulless puppet.]”
I’m doing my bit to immortalize your creation, glad to see you appreciate it. An artiste has limited control of his work. Like Solitaire, I highly a appreciated your shameless robbery of Jonathan Swift. I’m trying to goad you into further efforts like that one. Say, what became of the doggerels?
“Ha ha, I just realized that Biden needs at least 666 votes more than Trump to flip Georgia.
A 2020 apocalyptic vibe, lol.”
Not surprised you’re the superstitious.
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46% Of white Americans would rather die from whiteness and live under an authoritarian.
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“Like Solitaire, I highly a appreciated your shameless robbery of Jonathan Swift.”
I don’t see how it’s a shameless robbery. Brobdingnagian, like lilliputian, has entered the language and its use is accepted without any mutterings about plagiarism. Check a dictionary if you don’t believe me.
Now if you can prove Jonathan Swift used the exact phrase “superlative brobdingnagian tool,” you might have a case.
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Solitaire, would SBT’s claim have been of interest to anyone if he had not referenced dean Swift’s invention? I think not. I could call him a Gargantuan Gas Bag, barring the reference to Rabelais what charm would such putdown have? I credited SBT, the GGB, for his literary reference and I suspect you enjoyed his putdown for the same reason. I’m I wrong?
I’m not making a ‘case’ I’m just having fun with my favorite Bête noire since jefe either went underground or was “filed away for future reference” by Xi’s minions.
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@ Gro Jo
It’s more than the literary reference. It’s the combination of multisyllabic words with the ultimate blunt single syllable. It’s the rhythm, which is iambic pentameter or pretty darn close. It’s the string of consonants common in swear words because of their sound, but without actual cursing. I could not know the literary reference and still admire the artistry. It’s damn near Shakespearean.
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Solitaire, you little show-off, you know I can’t resist your erudition. SBT was good but it wasn’t better than GGS. Origin has had better luck than his boss, Trump, making something (a putdown) good instead of great. Keep showing off.
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“SBT was good but it wasn’t better than GGS.”
I disagree, although Gargantuan Gas Bag has some nice alliteration going for it.
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Update: Still no winner on the fourth morning after the election. Biden is more than 20,000 votes ahead in Pennsylvania, Nevada, and Arizona, but there are still hundreds of thousands of mail-in ballots yet to count. In Georgia he is still ahead, but only by 4,020 votes. The counting continues into the weekend…
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@gro jo
“SBT, do you usually get off on gay imagery?”
Any “imagery” was entirely your invention. I simply provided the Rorschach stimulation in the form of a popular proboscis-possessing prevaricating puppet and quotation marks. Of course, you know what you’re up to so you told on yourself in detail…
@gro jo
Say, what became of the doggerels?
Now, now.
Just give thanks that there was once a time I thought you worthy of that much mockery.
Mendacious mendicants can’t be persnickety princes. You’ll take what you get and like it.
But I must say, your active “imag”ination and gluttony for punishment does help elucidate the nature of your relationship with your CCP masters.
@gro jo
I’m not making a ‘case’ I’m just having fun with my favorite Bête noire …
You dislike me strongly?
Don’t try to flatter me now!
Sadly, I can’t reciprocate such strong emotions towards you.
But you may immortalize “superlatively brobdingnagian tool” if you wish because I branded you as such at the exact moment I realized you were a total joke.
@gro jo
Not surprised you’re the superstitious.
And I’m not not surprised that, despite being a joke yourself, you can’t detect a joke that’s concordant with the zeitgeist even with an explicit aid, namely, “lol”.
They say it takes one to know what but I suppose that requires a minimum level of autonoetic intelligence. That’s obviously too much to expect from an entity whose expressed opinions are paid for like a bargain-basement strumpet.
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Yeah, the situation with the election is basically unchanged from yesterday. Biden is ahead in 4 of the 5 states that the election could hinge on (NC, GA, PA, AZ, NV) which also haven’t been called by all major news companies. The closeness of the election is the real reason for the drawn out process. Many other states aren’t completely wrapped up but the margin was such that a winner could be projected with certainty.
With regard to Trump’s support, I’m thinking that the hardcore supporters who proudly love him because they detect racism are the ones that show up in polls. They’re a fraction of his total support which is why he always looks so far behind when he’s not.
There seems to be another group of people who may not necessarily consider themselves committed racists but support Trump regardless because he holds positions which coincide with theirs. However they’re also sensitive to the stigma of supporting Trump (or being seen as racists) and don’t wish to be publicly associated with him. They keep quiet but vote for Trump in private.
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Just as I submitted the above post I noticed that the election was called by AP.
Biden was given Nevada and Pennsylvania putting him at 290 electoral votes.
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CBS also called it for Biden by giving him only PA (20 electoral votes) while they still hold off on calling AZ or NV.
https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/2020-election-live-updates-2020-11-07/
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Fox News has called it for Biden too.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-wins-presidency-trump-fox-news-projects
And CNN:
https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-biden-election-results-11-07-20/h_1e0e91d050d44ff57754643e6d9008d2
So I guess we have media consensus.
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Bravo Origin, for a gargantuan gas bag, you’re occasionally funny, not merely laughable.
Do I dislike you strongly? I do dislike you because you are a superstitious liar who believes in magical solutions and blames human f..k ups on malevolence instead of the f..k ups they were. Case in point, your absurd belief that the CPC wielded occult power to determine how the pandemic would play out.
Choke on this video showing how the competence of the CPC in fighting covid-19. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-e6qLb4pwo)
“Pinochimao seeking attention again…
Careful, if that nose gets too long you’ll impale your master while “serving” him.”
That sounds pretty gay to me, but knowing you for the naïf you are I’ll take your word that you didn’t know what you were implying.
“But you may immortalize “superlatively brobdingnagian tool” if you wish because I branded you as such at the exact moment I realized you were a total joke.”
Right, so why are you answering me once again? By the way, why have you resisted debunking the timelines I was kind enough to provide you with? Doing so and inventing cute putdowns makes you merely clever, not serious, but what else can one expect from a sophist in Trump’s pay.
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So, Origin, now that your boss lost how are you going to make a living
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A few hasty thoughts…
Is there some true to the assertion that in a Biden/Harris (in the making) victory, the Black vote was very instrumental/essential? If true, well used power in my opinion. Trump is being punished for showing too much disrespect for Black people.
Anyway, beware of judicial processes already piling… too soon to declare victory!
Another thing: have you noticed that a Trump operative who visited this blog lately, disappeared in the last days?
His last comments were clearly naked propaganda for one party. Gone are the days (years) when said individual was expressing true personal convictions.
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@ Munubantu
“Another thing: have you noticed that a Trump operative who visited this blog lately, disappeared in the last days?”
Shhh! Don’t summon him….
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Lol, The Guardian, a British newspaper, is already pushing him: “In pursuing a twin-track strategy of competition and cooperation, the US has unique strengths. Although the “greatest military the world has ever seen” ended up losing a war against technologically inferior adversaries in Iraq, the US is the only military power that can stop Xi Jinping’s China taking over the Chinese democracy in Taiwan.”
Same old same old.
NPR writing bs about Kamala Harris’ ethnicity:
“”Black women have always been the backbone of this Democratic Party, and oftentimes not valued for our ability to lead,” said Barbara Lee, the congresswoman from Oakland, Calif., who was a co-chair of Harris’ own presidential bid, which she launched in January 2019. “But I tell you now, Black women are showing that Black women lead, and we’ll never go back to the days where candidates only knew our value in terms of helping them get elected. Now they will see how we govern from the White House.”
Howard University Shaped Kamala Harris’ Path To Political Heights
Lee said the moment made her think back to working on the campaign of Shirley Chisholm — the pioneering first Black woman to serve in Congress and who also became the first woman to seek the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination in the 1972 election.
“When Kamala was selected as the vice presidential nominee, I thought about Shirley Chisholm, and I thought about how it took all this time, but how happy she must be,” Lee said.
Glynda Carr, the president of Higher Heights, a group dedicated to building the political power of Black women, described the moment as “game-changing.”
“Kamala Harris’ win is going to change the way we think about what leadership looks like,” she said. “My goddaughters will know the possibilities that exist for their political leadership if they want to pursue that. I was most prideful to see my little goddaughter, who is in pre-K, standing at that TV, one inch away, looking at Sen. Kamala Harris.”
‘Could Have Been Our Own’: Harris Nomination Hailed As Win For Representation
Kamala Harris Pick For VP Is Hailed As ‘A Moment Of Pride’ In India
Harris is also a prominent face of a generation of children of immigrants who are a growing political force in their own right. More than a quarter of American adults today are immigrants or children of immigrants.
“Her background is something that we often celebrate about America, that we are this immigrant melting pot, we are a place where anybody can succeed who can come to America and find opportunity, and her family did that,” said Chryl Laird, an assistant professor of government and legal studies at Bowdoin College.
Biden’s selection of Harris as his running mate earlier this year, and her ascension to the vice presidency, is a nod to the future of the Democratic Party. Her place on the ticket could well pave the way for Harris to become the leader of the party in four or eight years.
The first time that Biden and Harris appeared together as the Democratic ticket, Biden nodded to the history that Harris had made — and the barriers that she could break in the future.
“This morning, all across the nation, little girls woke up — especially little Black and brown girls, who so often feel overlooked and undervalued in their communities. But today, today, just maybe, they’re seeing themselves for the first time in a new way,” Biden said at their first event as political partners.
“It is not without struggle”
Harris herself has discussed, cautiously at times, her own trailblazing status and has acknowledged that the experience of being a “first” or “the only” can often come with its own battle scars.
“When you break things, that can be painful. Sometimes you get cut. Sometimes you bleed,” she has said, reflecting on her own experiences — and on those who came before her. “It will be worth it every time, but it is not without struggle.”
In the closing days of the campaign, Harris was the subject of attacks from the president, who called her a “monster” and a “communist,” and argued that it would be an “insult” if she one day became the first female president. Republican Sen. David Perdue appeared to intentionally mock Harris’ first name at a campaign rally in Georgia.
“If you think of the kind of racist and misogynistic slurs that are hurled at Black women or sometimes even unconscious ideas about who Black women are and how they should behave, or how they should talk, I think she’s the best answer to that,” said Sinha. “In a way, I think it will lead to the country’s healing a little bit after four years of blatant racism and sexism being literally espoused from the highest office in the land.”
Trump Calls Harris A ‘Monster,’ Reviving A Pattern Of Attacking Women Of Color
Harris’ ascension to the vice presidency comes four years after Hillary Clinton’s bruising 2016 loss. And it also comes after Harris’ own much-lauded campaign for the White House fell short of the same goal.
Harris’ campaign began with a flag-draped rally in Oakland, Calif., and she was one of a historically diverse field of candidates, including multiple women and people of color, who vied for the Democratic presidential nomination this year. But Harris dropped out last December, before voting began, and in choosing Biden, her party again opted to elevate another white man.
So Harris did not shatter the “highest, hardest glass ceiling” that Clinton somberly talked about when conceding in the Democratic primary in 2008 and and general presidential election in 2016. But it is a singular feat that a Black woman who is a daughter of immigrants achieves this milestone first, in a country where some may have expected a white woman to break this barrier.
Clinton wrestled with gender and her own history-making status, ultimately giving it a more prominent role in her 2016 campaign than in 2008. As Mirya Holman, a political science professor at Tulane University who studies women in politics, explained, while both campaigns were historic, Harris’ ascent stands apart from the history of Clinton’s campaign.
“Kamala, in comparison, got to kind of do whatever she wants. And part of that, I think, is that she’s not at the top of the ticket. Part of that, though, is that she’s a Black woman and she in that way gets to separate herself from the legacy of Hillary Clinton in ways that I don’t think, say, Elizabeth Warren would have been able to,” said Holman. “And part of it has been a very strategic action on the part of the Biden campaign to really showcase Kamala as a unique, unusual individual and an exciting part of the campaign. Let’s not even talk about history, let’s just talk about how cool she is today.”
Her mother’s legacy
Multiple women pointed to the profound influence of Harris’ mother, Shyamala Gopalan, that led the Californian to this moment. Gopalan, who left India in the 1950s to pursue graduate studies at UC Berkeley, died of cancer in 2009. Her father, Donald Harris, is a professor of economics at Stanford University. The two divorced when Harris was a child, and it is her mother’s impact on Harris — in life and through her death — that is indelible.
“She speaks about how her mother said to her and her sister, ‘You are Black girls,’ ” said Laird, the Bowdoin College professor. “So although she is multiracial, her mother who is Indian is saying to her: ‘You are Black girls, the world will see you as Black girls and you need to understand that you are Black girls.’ And so that is how she lives her life, in an understanding that how she is seen, how she is viewed is as a Black girl.”
Congresswoman Lee, who has known Harris since the 1980s, recalls running into her at a political event after Lee’s own mother died in 2015. Harris, Lee explained, connected with her over their shared experience of grief.
“It was just a moment that demonstrated how caring she was and how she could connect and understand the pain of women, the pain of loss and just what it meant, because she’s been through that experience also,” Lee said. “I think that bodes well for someone who’s a vice president of the United States to be able to connect with people the way she did with me.””
Nothing new under the sun. At least Abagond can rest easy, for now.
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@munubuntu
His last comments were clearly naked propaganda for one party. Gone are the days (years) when said individual was expressing true personal convictions.
This is truly a sad state of affairs to observe with any poster.
Give me an unpopular but genuine opinion over automated propaganda any day.
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I got wine chilling and going to have a nice meal this evening. Stacey Abrams is amazing. Philadelphia is amazing. Let freedom ring.🗽
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Trump is dead but Trump-ism, not yet. So, when will you guys start ‘pushing’ Joe to ‘the left’, you know, universal free healthcare, 60-90% wealth tax on the super rich, mass transit, nationwide high speed rail system, control of financial speculation, reduction of pollution, reform of the penal system, etc.?
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“This is truly a sad state of affairs to observe with any poster.
Give me an unpopular but genuine opinion over automated propaganda any day.”
Just jealous because Trump paid him more than you. That’s what you get for being ‘subtle’.
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I do realize Mitch McConnell and the GOP will be working like the demons they are to make things hard for Biden and Harris. Democrats need to be working hard and strategize. Can’t sit on laurels. There is still so much work to do.
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@ Mary Burrell
“I do realize Mitch McConnell and the GOP will be working like the demons they are to make things hard for Biden and Harris. Democrats need to be working hard and strategize. Can’t sit on laurels. There is still so much work to do.”
Agree. Hopefully those 2 GA Senate seats headed for a Jan. run off will turn Blue. We’d then have the majority.
Joe has a reputation for getting along with some of the Republicans, so maybe we’ll see some civility in Congress. I don’t expect it from Mitch though.
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Mitch is very comfortable simply ensuring that nothing at all gets done
(unless it’s some corporate giveaway or conservative judicial appointment, then he’s as busy as a bee).
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John 19:30,
When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
The nightmare is over. Or almost…
It put a heavy psychological toll on many American families.
Watch an emotional Black father explaining the significance of that liberation after these years of fear and suffering
( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2ScxGsB-ks )
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Update: Biden wins!!! Three and a half days after polls closed in California. He won Nevada and Pennsylvania, which is enough to put him over the top. He could still win Georgia. So far none of Trump’s lawsuits seem to be getting anywhere, but he is president till January 20th and remains a huge wild card.
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@ munubantu
I may be partial, but Biden would be NOWHERE without Black people!! They saved him in the South Carolina primary election in spite of himself and again in the general election. He and other corporate Democrats think the way to win is to kiss up to racist suburban White people, but it was Black people showing up in Atlanta and in northern cities in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin that saved him. And which will determine if Democrats get control of the Senate (the two seats they need to win are BOTH in Georgia).
And be it noted that the last time the Democrats won the presidency without a Black person on the ticket was in 1996. I do not think that is a coincidence.
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@ Origin
I think biff’s opinions are genuine – he truly believes in them – even if they do show little original thought:
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@ Solitaire
When a group is faced with a threat they do not know how to overcome, they can give in to magical thinking:
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I just saw this story, lost in the avalanche of election news:
https://www.npr.org/sections/live-updates-2020-election-results/2020/11/06/932376507/trump-dumps-3-agency-leaders-in-wake-of-election
?
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It just seems unnecessary at this point in the life cycle of the Trump administration.
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@ Origin
Wow. So is he like trying to sneak the Saudis some nukes or nuclear material? This is super suspicious.
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@ Abagond
Maybe in his narcissistic rage he is going to blow us all up. 😱💀
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@ Gro Jo
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This is will not be a peaceful transition. Trump is raging and probably plotting something vengeful. I am sure seeing all the celebrating is driving him insane, more than he already is. I still remember he has the nuclear codes.
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“People in hell want ice water, doesn’t mean they get it.” Patsy Cline, according to the film “Sweet Dreams”.
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I dunno.Trump got 12 million more votes then when he first ran. He birthed a movment that’s not going away and will hinder progressives from getting anywhere politically as the Democrats will be hesitant to move away from the center.
It’s more like Trump laid the ground work for the next populous fascist to come along, only a smarter one then Trump. Some Republicans voted for Biden this round but the right charlatan comes along….
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@ Gro Jo
You asked when progressives will start pushing, not whether it will work.
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@MJB
The irony is that many of the policies associated with the so-called progressives are actually quite popular nationally. However the “debate” often degenerates to playing games with nomenclature…
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@abagond
I think biff’s opinions are genuine – he truly believes in them – even if they do show little original thought:
Yeah, I can buy that biff is typing his true convictions, as shaped by groupthink.
My generalized statement was primarily implicating Pinochimao, who picked up on it without fail. You know what they say about who the shoe fits…
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@ Abagond
“And be it noted that the last time the Democrats won the presidency without a Black person on the ticket was in 1996.”
Interestingly, Joe Biden was the other party on all three of those post-1996 winning tickets.
I think it might be fair to say that not only was Biden helped by having a black vice-presidential candidate, but also by his association with Obama.
Along those lines, this weekend I saw an Obama – Biden yard sign at a neighbor’s house, right next to their Biden – Harris and Black Lives Matters signs. It wasn’t there last Tuesday. My guess is they dug it out of storage after the election was called for Biden.
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An update to Origin’s earlier comment: Trump has now fired the Secretary of Defense, Mark Esper.
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@Solitaire
Yes!
I saw that too.
Is this an “I’m still president!” tantrum?
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@ Origin
Very likely. I think there’s also some “This is all YOUR fault” thrown in. Trump is incapable of accepting blame or admitting his own mistakes, so expect a lot of projecting blame onto his cabinet, his advisors, etc.
Did you see Ben Carson has the ‘rona?
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@Solitaire
Yeah, Carson’s corona’d along with David Bossie who’s apparently leading the “legal effort” to challenge the election results.
It looks like “Splitting Image” is a hidden cam:
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3o0zY-Xyf0)
Regarding Esper, I saw a report that Trump wanted to fire him ever since he didn’t support him during his protester gassing photo-op in DC. Advisors talked Trump out of it thinking it would reflect poorly on his campaign as he was seeking re-election. I guess he’s firing Esper now because he holds grudges and he has nothing to lose.
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Update (Friday the 13th): Trump is projected to win Alaska and North Carolina while Biden takes Georgia. That gives Biden 306 Electoral College votes, which by Trumpian standards counts as a “massive landslide”. Trump still has not conceded while his many lawsuits go nowhere. Tomorrow: the Million MAGA March in DC.
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@ Solitaire
I agree. Especially in the South Carolina primary which turned the tide for him.
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