dreamshark

Minnesota appears to be a blue state from a distance, but (as it pretty much always is) the Minnesota State Legislature is as purple as it is possible to be. This year was even closer than usual - with the Minnesota House balanced on a 67/67 knife edge as they recounted the votes in Shakopee. But wait! Turns out one of the clear DFL winners in a different district DID NOT LIVE IN THE DISTRICT HE WAS RUNNING FOR and was disqualified. So now they have to have a special election for that district. (Can they make that cheater pay for it? He wasn't even subtle about the pretense - rented an apartment but didn't even pretend to occupy it. Congratulations, Bozo, you singlehandedly knee-capped your party). Any Democrat could have won in that district, so after they redo the election the DFL should have the majority. But in the meantime... chaos!

Because now we get to the really fun part: that recount in Shakopee. The Democrat won by FOURTEEN VOTES! Yes, Virginia, sometimes your individual vote DOES count. But wait, it gets better! During the recount it was discovered that 20 mail-in ballots had gone missing! No sign of election fraud here, just an oopsie. Looks like somebody accidentally threw them away sometime after the envelopes were counted and the voter names recorded but before the votes were opened and added to the tally. But wait! Because of all the steps you have to go through to validate mail-in votes, they have the voter names and addresses. So they contacted all the voters and had them come in and testify as to who they voted for, proving that counting those 20 votes would not have changed the outcome of the election. This did not satisfy the GOP for some reason, so they are still wrangling over it, but I think a judge has now ruled that the election results stand.

If you've lost track at this point, it is clear that when the dust settles the DFL will have a majority, so by rights the Speaker of the House should be a Democrat. But the House was supposed to convene ... yesterday? and elect a Speaker, and at this precise moment the GOP has the majority. They think that gives them the right to not only elect their own Speaker but to retain the Speakership for the rest of the term even once the new Democrats show up (not sure why - guess it's in the fine print). But only if they have a quorum to convene, and they don't. Because all the Democrats decided to stay home until next week when they should have a majority again.

But... the GOP , happy to invoke the letter of the law when it means they get to control the Speakership on a technicality, decided they don't need to follow that rule about having a quorum and tried to convene anyway. Turns out that when this kind of thing happens the parliamentarian who gets to decide how the rules work is.... the Secretary of State. Who happens to be a Democrat. So the GOP members voted to BAR HIM FROM ENTERING THE CHAMBER! WTF?? I assume they just made that rule up.

This kind of thing is why I really really think that voting by mail when you don't have to is a bad idea. Not because the procedure is rife with fraud, but just because it has so many steps and each step presents the opportunity for mistakes. Usually it doesn't really matter if a few votes get lost. If this election hadn't been so insanely close nobody would ever have noticed that these votes WERE lost. But every now and then it matters A LOT. In this case it mattered so much that nobody is ever going to believe 10 years from now that this happened because it is such a ridiculous confluence of coincidences and bad sportsmanship. And even a little fraud - not in the voting process itself but that guy who was transparently pretending to live someplace where he really didn't.

I don't like watching politicians talking, but last night's debate seemed so high stakes that I really wanted to know how it went. I don't think I could have stuck with it on my own, but was fortunate enough to be invited to a small watching party with family and friends and some good wine to blunt the agony of listening to anything Donald Trump has to say. [Thanks, y'all!]

Our little group thought that Harris did just fine, but could have been better. It seemed like she spent too much time trying to evade her connection to Biden instead of emphasizing the very considerable achievements of his administration that she intends to carry forward, and connecting those to her own priorities. I would have liked to hear some numbers and specific examples of new jobs that have already been created by the Infrastructure Bill, the CHIPS Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act. Instead of playing defense on fossil fuel jobs she could have emphasized the huge growth in renewable energy jobs, including massive investments in very red states. We liked her Moving Forward election slogan and the way she contrasted it with her opponent's obsessive focus on the past. But I would have liked to hear her emphasize that her very clear values and priorities are more important than detailed policy proposals that (as Trump correctly pointed out) have little chance of passing in a divided Congress. Values matter. Character matters. Trump has made his values and character very clear, and I would have liked to hear that stated a little more explicitly.

She took a more subtle approach to making that point by expertly baiting Trump into increasingly furious and incoherent ranting and rambling as the evening wore on while she maintained a calm and presidential demeanor. And of course, he took the bait every time and revealed himself once again as an unhinged and incoherent bully that nobody in their right mind would vote for. At least that's how he looked to us. But we weren't exactly neutral observers. So we finished up the evening unsure of how "the country" would rate the debate. Should Harris have responded to his [usually off-topic] responses instead of letting him get the last word every time? Were the moderators just playing into his hands by not muting his mike when he just wouldn't shut up? Was her perfectly controlled emotional affect TOO controlled (maybe even boring?). We didn't know.

So I'm relieved to see this morning that the general consensus among close political observers is that Harris resoundingly "won" the debate! Not just left-leaning commentators and the mainstream media that The Right usually dismisses as "radical left," but supposed supporters like Lindsey Graham and Fox News hosts.

As the dust settled, much of the right, instead of celebrating, lashed out at the debate’s ABC News moderators for occasionally having told viewers the truth.
[that's from MSNBC, not exactly a neutral observer. But they're right, that's how the Trump campaign responded].

Last Sunday I attended the DFL District 62 Convention at Washburn High. It was the usual mixture of fascinating and intensely boring. The best part is probably meeting the candidates, or at least seeing them speak in person. And It's kind of interesting to see how government works from the ground up, even the boring parts. One thing about government at this level is that you have a lot of down time in which to get to know your neighbors (much of the time you are sitting in a tight group with the other delegates from your precinct, which in Minneapolis means that they are all people that live within about 6 blocks of you). TIP: try to change seats within the precinct seating every now and then so you don't have to make conversation with the same stranger for 6 hours.

At one point I took a break and went out in the hallway, met some enthusiastic young Samuels volunteers, and the next thing I knew I was creating a sub-caucus for them. (They couldn't do it because they were staff, not delegates). That turned out to be more fun than I expected. We merged with the other Samuels sub-caucus, sent out scouts to Uncommitted/Issues caucuses on the other side of the auditorium, and managed to grow our sub-caucus from 16 to 28. This gave us enough for TWO delegates! And then we had to figure out how to pick our delegates and alternates, which is not as intuitively obvious as you might think. Nobody in our group was very experienced at this, and a couple of the natural leaders that emerged had radically different ideas on how it should be done, but it was worked out peacefully in a surprisingly short time. Kind of like an escape room, with all the emergent group problem-solving. Really, there's nothing in caucus-based politics more fun than a walking sub-caucus.
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On Monday I had a cardioversion procedure at Methodist Hospital to get me out of persistent AFIB (Atrial Fibrillation). It's the 3rd time in 3 years that I have had to do this, which I can live with. If it gets closer together I might consider drug therapy, but the last time I tried that the treatment was worse than the problem, so I'd rather not. Two days before the procedure I impulsively ordered a Kardia Personal EKG monitor so that I would be able to see if the cardioversion worked or not without having to wear a Zio monitor. I'm glad I got it, because (like last year) it took a few hours for my heart to settle down into a normal sinus rhythm. Once it finally managed that, it's been fine, and I feel considerably less anxious about it.
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It is now a month since Richard's pneumonia and he's doing fine. The antibiotic they chose briskly dispensed with the unidentified pathogen, and the lingering cough has finally cleared up. Curiously, a nurse has called 4 or 5 times since he was discharged just to see how he's doing. It's nice to know that they care, but... why haven't they ever called about anything else? Nobody called me to see how my heart was doing after the cardioversions. I don't remember anybody calling him after his hip replacements, or even the heart bypass. How about you? Has any medical establishment ever called to see how you were doing after a medical procedure?

I attended my precinct DFL caucus this year specifically to support Londel French, who is running for MN Senate in 62B. This was mostly out of appreciation for the hard work he put into the short-lived Park Department program to support homeless encampments in the parks during the pandemic. Unfortunately (as usual in recent years) the number of delegate slots allotted to my precinct exceeded the number of attendees at the caucus. So instead of an election or sub-caucus they just passed around a signup sheet. Since I couldn't vote for my candidate at the caucus, I signed up to be a District Delegate so I could do it at the next level.

Today I got an email from my preferred candidate: "Unfortunately, a week ago I had a stroke and since that time I have been focusing on my health and recovery. I have made the difficult decision to withdraw from the DFL convention tomorrow. I am taking the next couple of weeks to continue to focus on my health and will make a decision about whether to continue running for state representative at that time." I am very sorry to hear of Londel's misfortune, especially since he seems to be such an extremely nice guy. But yikes! Now I need to catch up on the other candidates.

As it happened, at about the same time that email went out, Bill Emory knocked on my door. I don't really have much patience for talking to political volunteers, but I am always happy to talk to the candidates themselves, so we sat down in the pleasant spring sunshine on my front stoop and had a chat. I had actually been kind of turned off by his campaign literature (a little too slick? I'm not sure why). But I liked him a lot better in person. I asked him for his priorities. Not not only did I think they were all worth pursuing, I was impressed that he had actual plans on how he wanted to do that, complete with citations of the specific bills he hoped to get passed. One was a bill to provide continued funding for the Tiny House Project in downtown Minneapolis, and one was a bill that would provide funding for the businesses in Minneapolis still trying to recover from the George Floyd riots (something I didn't realize was even on the table at the state level). When I brought up the current day care crisis he had a specific subsidy plan that he wanted to implement, although I don't think there's a bill in consideration for that yet. In general, he seemed to have a combination of compassion and pragmatism that works for me. Actual plans of action instead of slogans. So I think I'll support him, and I'm very glad I got to meet him.

The other two candidates also seem like lovely people who have spent their lives working to provide essential services to the poor and vulnerable. But they seem a little like niche candidates to me, extremely focused on one narrow area or constituency. I wish them both well and would not be sad if either of them wins, but I think I'm going with Bill.

With 2% of the vote in, Nikki Haley is leading Trump by....oh.... almost a percentage point. Yay.

Of course, 20 minutes ago she was leading 100% to 0% (thanks, Dixville Notch).

ETA 7:20 pm. Oh, well. It was fun while it lasted. Still doesn't look like a "double digit win" to me, but the AP is calling it.

.... until Rep Michael McCaul spilled the beans in an interview last night.

Did you know that the much-discussed rule about needing a majority of those voting to elect a speaker is totally arbitrary? It's apparently just one of those rules that the House makes before they start the election. Like the first two hours of every DFL district convention which is spent voting on rules, all of which sound alike to newbies. Then after the 13th ballot somebody stands up and says, "Remember that seemingly inconsequential rule change that we all agreed to at 10am that allows a small adjustment in how we conduct the voting after the 13th ballot...." and it turns out not to have been so inconsequential after all. Anyway, I guess it's like that.

Apparently at any time, the full house can vote to change the requirement for electing Speaker to a plurality instead of a majority. So if a half-dozen Republicans joined all the Democrats in voting for that rule change, on the next ballot Hakeem Jeffries would win. Unless, of course, the Chaos Caucus caved and stopped voting against McCarthy.

Which would seem like their only option at that point. But game theory is tricky when your opponents are nut jobs.

Pretty resoundingly. He was down more than 5 votes by the time they got to G. They're up to the R's now, and he has lost 17. No, wait, 18. And here comes Roy with an off-the-wall vote for someone named Donalds. And now Hakeem Jeffries (the Democrat) is AHEAD of McCarthy. And presumably he will stay there until at least the second ballot. I'm loving this. Presumably McCarthy will win eventually when his right wing gets bored with humiliating him in front of a national audience, but considering how mean some of them are it will probably take a few more ballots before they give in.

And who knows? There's always the possibility that 5 disaffected Republicans will join up with the Democrats and vote in somebody like Liz Cheney.

ETA 12:48pm. Okay, round 1 is done. Jeffries has 212 votes to McCarthy's 203. Now's the time to strike! All they need is 5 moderate Republicans to join the Democrats and elect Liz Cheney. Or maybe someone even more surprising - how about Oprah? Or Dolly Parton. Everybody loves Dolly Parton, right?

... Herschel Walker conceded!!! It was a reasonably gracious, even uplifting, concession speech. He thanked his supporters, urged them to believe in themselves, "never stop fighting for Georgia," and "always always continue to cast your votes." No whining about imaginary voter fraud, no calls to march in the streets or tear down the elections system.

This shouldn't be remarkable, but for a Trump-backed MAGA flag-waving candidate, it was slightly surprising.

While I'm very very very glad that he lost, there is a small part of me that still wonders what would have happened if someone who repeatedly and unapologetically described himself as LIVING IN TEXAS tried to take office as a Georgia Senator. Since it's now a moot point, I suppose we'll never know. But it is against Georgia law.

In other news, Cochise County, Arizona finally gave in and certified their election results. So I guess the midterm elections are finally over.

No mayhem on Election Day. No violence. No intimidating "poll-watchers" in paramilitary garb. No reports of systematic vote-suppression tactics in central cities or communities of color. No riots in the streets, even when they were specifically incited by an increasingly toothless ex-president Trump. Election day proceeded smoothly and peacefully, not just in Minnesota but in every state in the union.
Ticket splitting. Most of Trump's hand-picked election-denying candidates went down in flames, even in states that voted heavily Republican. And even when the crazy-pants MAGA candidate survived, it was usually by a much smaller margin than expected based on the "redness" of the region. This wasn't just a blue wave countering the under-performing red wave - it was voters actually paying attention and consciously rejecting unqualified MAGA candidates. And that's a good thing.
Concession speeches. Right-wing fire-breathing MAGA Republicans making concession speeches. Norm-supporting, ordinary, surprisingly civil, concession speeches. Some of them even on election night, before the vote was 100% counted. And even surly losers like Doug Mastriano (who still hasn't conceded 3 days after the election) did not try to claim that their losses were due to election fraud. (Admittedly that would have been a ridiculous claim in the face of a 14-point loss, but ridiculousness never stopped him before).

I never imagined that I would feel so relieved to simply get through an election cycle without feeling like I was living in a disintegrating third-world country. I didn't realize quite how anxious I was about this day until it came and went so peacefully. Even though we still don't know which party will control Congress and everything will no doubt hit the fan again next week, right now I am able to exhale for the first time in weeks.

I had to drop the van off at Ellwood's Garage to get the brakes fixed, which is conveniently located kitty-corner from my voting station, so I completed both errands at once.

I stopped to say hello to the nice volunteers huddled around a fire circle outside the polling place, and learned to my dismay that they might not be able to do this next year because the City Council has slashed funding to the Kingfield Neighborhood Association (presumably to all of the Neighborhood Associations) to the point where they might have to disband the whole thing. Apparently our local council member, Andrea Jenkins, was completely unsympathetic and suggested that the neighborhood associations should consider funding themselves by selling pot "now that it is legal." (!!) Pot isn't exactly legal in Minnesota, but maybe she meant selling gummies instead of handing out cookies for free?? WTF? My dislike for Jenkins increases the more I learn about her, but there is really no way to vote against her. She was simply installed by the local DFL machine after the previous council member retired and nobody has ever opposed her in the primary, which is where Minneapolis local elections essentially take place.

There were no hostile poll watchers or any other commotion other than a brisk wind fanning the fire circles and threatening to blow down the little pavilion sheltering the cookies and coffee. The polling place was surprisingly busy for 10:30 am in a non-presidential year. I didn't have to wait in line, but every one of the 2 dozen or so voting stations was occupied (I sat at a table instead). And I did have to wait in a short line to submit my ballot. I was number 701. I voted for all the DFL candidates, plus Mary and Marion in the non-partisan races. And also Dawanna and Colin and Sonja, even though their names do not start with "Mar-"

I like voting in person, partly because it's an easy pleasant walk and I like seeing my community doing their civic duty. It's also the best way to ensure that your vote gets counted. But if providing all those ways to vote early means that more people vote, I guess that outweighs the small but not-totally-trivial number of absentee ballots that get spoiled or lost along the way. I'm still proud to live in the state that consistently has the highest voter turnout in the nation. I wonder if Republicans still feel that way, or if they now consider high voter participation to be a mark of shame for their state?

In Hennepin County, where I live, the primary races are crucial. It's mostly a one-party county, so whoever wins the DFL primary wins the election. In many races the whole primary is a sham, with essentially one candidate backed by party leaders (my city council race, for instance). But there seem to be some real contests going on in a few races, and I have very little information about any of them.

There are open seats for two key figures in local law enforcement: Hennepin County Attorney and Hennepin County Sheriff, and I don't quite understand why there is so little news coverage of these crucial races. At first glance, all the major candidates for sheriff seem impressive in one way or another, and I don't have a favorite. Not sure what's going on with County Attorney except that to everybody's relief, the current occupant of the office is stepping down. Mary Moriarty and Ryan Winkler seem to be the two leaders, with Moriarty narrowly securing the DFL endorsement. Moriarty has had a long history as a public defender. I'm not sure how I feel about that. The system needs both public defenders and prosecutors, but can you just switch horses in midstream like that and still be effective in the new role? Winkler currently represents a suburban district in the Minnesota House, which probably puts him a little to the right of Moriarty, but he has an unexpected history of supporting cannabis legalization. Again, both candidates seem impressive, but I haven't tried to delve into their differences.

There is also a credible opponent to Ilhan Omar for 5th Congressional District, although probably a long shot: Don Samuels. He doesn't seem to have a big war chest, but he has a long resume as north side resident, entrepreneur, grassroots community organizer, and former city council member. He is definitely worth a look if you're not crazy about Omar's contentious style. Even if you are a staunch supporter of the incumbent you might want to read Don Samuels' story. He is someone I have long admired. I doubt he can primary a popular incumbent, but I'm pleased to have a chance to vote for him.

Hennepin residents, are there other interesting races I've missed? Any thoughts on the candidates? What about statewide races: anything interesting? Most of our statewide offices already have DFL incumbents in them, so I usually don't pay much attention to those.

That doesn't mean that I WILL be an election judge, just if they're desperate enough to take someone who only wants to work half days at "a precinct near me." Understandably, they state that they give precedence to people who will work any amount of time anywhere they are assigned. Mind you, a full day is a minimum of FOURTEEN HOURS, so I can't be the only old lady that thinks that's more than she can handle. But just in case they come up short on election workers given all the mayhem, I wanted to put myself out there.

Incidentally, they actually pay pretty good money for this job: I think something like $17/hour? So if you are someone who could use some extra cash, it's something to consider. The Election Worker Portal is here.

Living in a one-party town kinda sucks. If you are interested in having a voice in selecting your local government representatives (city council, park board, school board, etc) you have to at least dip your toe into DFL party politics. If you just wait until the formal election, you will usually find that you have no real choices unless you want to vote for a token Republican or some wackadoodle who changed his name to "Captain Jack Sparrow" because he thought it would look nice on the ballot.

Usually I attend my precinct caucus, which gives me at least some minimal input into this process. This year we are doing virtual caucuses, not as a tedious Zoom meeting but as month-long online thing. This has the advantage of making it accessible to people who don't have the time or inclination to give up 3 hours on a random Tuesday night, and the disadvantage of being practically incomprehensible. It looks like I still have zero choice as far as my City Council member is concerned (it's Andrea Jenkins or nobody, and I don't think "nobody" ever wins). But I do care about the Park Board and mayoral endorsements, and I probably should care about the Board of Estimate and Taxation (which has attracted an astonishing four people vying for the endorsement). There seem to be competitive City Council races in Wards 7, 10, and 11. If you are in one of those wards I urge you to join in now. Or if you care about the Park Board, which you should because it impacts your life more than you think.

Anyway, Caucus Registration is open until the end of the month. You can find candidate information here.

After you register you will be asked to rank your favorite 5 or 6 candidates regardless of the office they are running for. This can seem utterly perplexing until you realize that what you are doing is not voting in a straw poll, but sub-caucusing. If enough other people like the same candidates that you did, you are in a sub-caucus. Then, later on, your sub-caucus elects delegates to the district convention (also virtual). I checked out the websites for all the candidates and unexpectedly found one I really liked: Risa Hustad for Park Board, District 6. In fact, I liked her so much that I checked the box saying that I would be willing to be a delegate for her sub-caucus if she gets one.

If anyone cares, my subcaucus rankings looked like this:

Risa Hustad Park Board, District 6
Jacob Frey Mayor
Londel French Park Board at large
Steve Brandt Board of Estimate and Taxation
Aaron Zellhoefer Board of Estimate and Taxation

Crossposts: https://dreamshark.livejournal.com/559131.html

It really looks like the Democrats have tied up the Senate, against all odds! I had hopes but truly didn't think it would happen. Thank you President Chump for all your efforts to cripple the Republican Party on your way out. I don't think we could have done it without you. What a great start to the New Year!Historical nugget:

From some pundit's tweet

The last president to lose the White House, House, and Senate in a single term was Herbert Hoover during the Great Depression. Assuming Jon Ossoff holds on to win David Perdue’s seat in Georgia, President Trump will repeat the ignominious feat 88 years later.

Crossposts: https://dreamshark.livejournal.com/549384.html

The only surprise is that it took so long. Why didn't he get infected when Chris Christie and everybody else in the POTUS cluster did? And with all the state capitols he's been jetting around to, conspicuously unmasked and undistanced? He must be very resistant to the virus. But he persisted and in the end he finally emulated his beloved leader and role model in contracting the infection. He must be so proud. And think of how many people he may have spread it to, coming to a screaming climax with a live interview on Fox News hours before he went into the hospital! Also in the great Republican tradition.

I wonder if anybody is keeping track of the link between COVID infections and political affiliation. Seriously, it seems like a great way to determine if the CDC recommendations actually have any effect at all on retarding the spread. If new infections are not at least 2:1 in favor of Republicans at this point, masks and quarantines probably don't help after all.

Gosh, since most of the Trump campaign's legitimate lawyers have already quit in embarrassment, what are they going to do now? They may have to rehire Sidney Powell.

Crossposts: https://dreamshark.livejournal.com/543370.html

You would think that nothing that could happen in US politics would surprise you any more, but there are still times where you have to double check that you haven't accidentally strayed onto The Onion website. Delightfully, the stories about angry Republican mobs parading around the residence of Georgia's rabidly Trumpist Governor Kemp screaming "LOCK HIM UP!" seem to be true. I die laughing.

It is hard to believe that even Trump and his clown car of discredited lawyers will succeed in throwing the runoff Senate elections in Georgia to the Democratic challengers, but at this moment it is a distinct possibility. Probably won't happen, but I'm going to enjoy the moment.

Crossposts: https://dreamshark.livejournal.com/543166.html

Because Trump has always preferred campaigning to governing, he has set aside his post-election funk to charge into action in Georgia, vowing to campaign tirelessly for the Republican incumbents in those oh-so-important Senate runoff elections. The Georgia Republican party is not nearly as excited about this as he is, since having Trump on the ticket did not work out well for them in the national election, but seems resigned to accepting his "help." But it was particularly amusing to see evidence that all the work Trump has already done in attacking the Georgia election process and (Republican) election officials has convinced a lot of his supporters that there is no point in voting at all.

Gosh, who could have seen that coming? *heh*

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In other satisfying election news, the latest stinging judicial dismissal of the Trump campaign's baseless lawsuits was delivered by a judge who was not just a Republican but a Trump appointee.

“Free, fair elections are the lifeblood of our democracy. Charges of unfairness are serious. But calling an election unfair does not make it so. Charges require specific allegations and then proof. We have neither here,” 3rd Circuit Judge Stephanos Bibas, a Trump appointee, wrote for the three-judge panel, all appointed by Republican presidents.

There's not a lot of glimmers of cheer these days, but you have to admit that was kind of delicious.

Crossposts: https://dreamshark.livejournal.com/541861.html

Maybe I'm crazy, but I'm feeling pretty hopeful right now. The coup attempt has failed. It was way closer than it should have been, but the institutions of democracy withheld the assault. Not a shot was fired; the tide was turned by heroic bureaucrats like Georgia Secretary of State Raffensperger. The fact that he had to sacrifice his career and withstand death threats just to do his job is chilling, but he did it.

I continued to feel very nervous until yesterday when the State of Michigan managed to pull itself together and do the right thing in the face of unthinkably brazen direct pressure by the POTUS. After the shameful spectacle in Georgia I didn't have much faith in the Republican leadership in Michigan and was pinning my hopes on the Democratic governor to save the day. But in the end it was the Republicans who stood their ground in service of democracy and the embattled Democratic governor did not have to make a move. Read the statement from the Michigan legislature's Republican leadership after their visit to the White House and see if you don't feel a bit better. "We have not yet been made aware of any information that would change the outcome of the election in Michigan and as legislative leaders, we will follow the law and follow the normal process regarding Michigan's electors, just as we have said throughout this election."

I am not happy that the Federal court system has been loaded with conservatives, but I think that the fate of Trump's legal strategy to steal the presidency makes it clear that conservative is not the same as Trumpist. More than 30 baseless lawsuits brought by the Trump campaign were ruled against or outright thrown out of court as absurd. Note that the judge that rejected their last big case in Pennsylvania (with a savage 37-page rebuttal of their conduct) was not a Trump appointee but he unquestionably identified as a conservative Republican. And he was clearly fed up to the max.

Trump is now a has-been. His brand as a Big Winner has collapsed and he is already looking frail and pathetic. In two years he will be where Newt Gingrich was in 1998.

Anyway, that's what I think.

Crossposts: https://dreamshark.livejournal.com/541292.html

Election Day came and went, miraculously, with NO right wing intimidation squads at the polls, no Proud Bois carrying guns in the street, and amazingly smooth voting operations. But I've been waiting anxiously ever since for the promised revolution and violence in the streets that the right wing wingnuts have been fulminating about for months. The election was unofficially called on Saturday - nothing. Now it's a week later, and nothing but online frothing and the occasional small counter-protest in response to the joyful celebrations.

Today is the next anxiety point. Trump's supporters have announced a "Million Maga March" in Washington. Fortunately, DC does not allow guns in their streets and they claim they are ready to contain any violence, but it's the first big anti-election demonstration so you've gotta worry. There is much excitement online, and lots of hashtags. But look what happened to #MillionMAGAMarch! *hee hee*

Now I'm hungry.

Crossposts: https://dreamshark.livejournal.com/540474.html

Just read the following statement in an online news article:

President Trump has yet to concede to President-elect Joe Biden, and has repeated unfounded claims about fraud and that the election was “rigged.” His campaign has launched a slew of lawsuits throughout different states challenging election processes.

Okay, you've read that statement a lot in the last week, right? The remarkable thing is: this was from Fox News.

Crossposts: https://dreamshark.livejournal.com/540413.html

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And that's why I vote in person

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Nikki Haley is leading!

The nuclear option nobody knew existed

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Not only did Warnock win the Georgia Senate runoff...

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