So with no clear winner, does this mean that Scalia and Thomas get to decide who is Prime Minister?
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by John Cole| 36 Comments
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Come for the politics, stay for the snark.
Dear Washington Post, you are the darkness now.
Republicans choose power over democracy, every day.
Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?
Technically true, but collectively nonsense
Second rate reporter says what?
Today in our ongoing national embarrassment…
Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.
Nothing says ‘pro-life’ like letting children go hungry.
Let’s bury these fuckers at the polls 2 years from now.
Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.
They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.
We’re watching the self-immolation of the leading world power on a level unprecedented in human history.
Of course you can have champagne before noon. That’s why orange juice was invented.
“Perhaps I should have considered other options.” (head-desk)
Since we are repeating ourselves, let me just say fuck that.
I really should read my own blog.
Radicalized white males who support Trump are pitching a tent in the abyss.
In my day, never was longer.
Fuck these fucking interesting times.
Hi god, it’s us. Thanks a heap, you’re having a great week and it’s only Thursday!
Every decision we make has lots of baggage with it, known or unknown.
Let the trolls come, and then ignore them. that’s the worst thing you can do to a troll.
You passed on an opportunity to be offended? What are you even doing here?
Democracy cannot function without a free press.
asiangrrlMN
NO! They already fucked up our country–don’t let them do it to another one.
Morning, Cole. How’s Tunchie?
Rosalita
good morning…what political nonsense and market nightmares await us today?
Rosalita
@asiangrrlMN:
Yeah John we need a Tunch fix or two…
cleek
another day, another pile of cat barf to clean up.
Rosalita
@cleek:
as Tbogg says, it’s a good thing they’re cute
asiangrrlMN
@Rosalita: Same as it ever was, same as it ever was! I have two cats warming my lap as I type, and I am eagerly awaiting the predicted snow that is supposed to fall later this evening.
Cuteness: No kidding. I tell my boys that every day.
@cleek: Ugh. Does this happen frequently?
R-Jud
The UK is getting the hang of this elections thing! Televised debates, shady polling place shenanigans leading to people disenfranchised– throw in some bunting and some animal mascots for the parties, and they’re good.
This elections outcomes tree explains the options. I’m kind of sad that nothing on there requires that they have to roll a cheese or toss a caber to decide supremacy.
Rosalita
@asiangrrlMN:
I have Noah every morning when I check BJ
talking heads… excellent idea… time for fire up the ipod and get ready for work
asiangrrlMN
@Rosalita: Aw, Noah is a handsome boy! He looks like a lover, not a fighter! In other words, I don’t expect he will smother you in your sleep.
The only problem is, I need to make the coffee, which means disturbing the kittehs.
cleek
@asiangrrlMN:
happens multiple times every week.
i think one cat has stopped being able to handle the dry food we leave out, but she eats it anyway, then voms it up.
asiangrrlMN
@cleek: Oh, poor baby! That’s sad for her and frustrating for you!
PaulW
I guess all those protest votes for the Dalek Emperor is screwing up results…
SadOldVet
Your statement is a gross misrepresentation of Clarence Thomas.
He does not decide anything. His role is to be Scalia’s shadow and follow whichever direction Scalia decides to take.
Bill E Pilgrim
I think “hanging Chad” means something else there.
kwAwk
Wasn’t actually Sandra Day O’Connor’s decision? The other 8 are just window dressing.
Skepticat
Funny for the day:
http://www.gocomics.com/nonsequitur/
Rey
Whatever happens with the UK elections will be bad news for Obama and good news for Repubs, according to the US media.
John, today is my Bday- I need a Tunch and Lily pic before I become so incoherent on Merlot that I can’t remember my name or my age- which is probably a good thing!
Tattoosydney
@R-Jud:
Ah yes, but you’re forgetting the decision of the House of Lords in Pitt v Fox, which says that if no party can form government within 7 days of the election, then the monarch has to decide who gets to be Prime Minister by drawing different coloured balls out of a hat…
burnspbesq
One similarity between the American and British right wings: each seems to have a seemingly inexhaustible supply of purity trolls. The Brit version have emerged from their basements, covered in the Brit equivalent of Cheeto dust, to claim that had they had a leader in the grand Thatcherite tradition rather than a dissembler and triangulator like Cameron, they would have won an outright majority.
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/jamesdelingpole/100038553/so-much-for-camerons-cuties/
Sigh.
burnspbesq
In case you missed it, Afghanistan sent a team to the world championships in 20/20 cricket. Yeah, they lost all three of their group-stage games and were eliminated, but the fact that they showed up is pretty remarkable.
Glen Tomkins
No, you effing peasant, it means that I, your Queen, get to say who’s the next PM.
Look, I’ve listened to this “reigns but does not rule” crap for quite long enough. Well, the worm has turned, bitchez. Kiss the ring!! Or you’ll get the rotting corpse of Richard Nixon as your next PM!
HRM (and don’t you forget it)
The Queen
R-Jud
@Tattoosydney:
The Sorting Hat Solution. Right. “And the leading party is… Hufflepuff!”
burnspbesq
Not sure whether it can be pulled off (they would need the support of regional parties and the one lonely Green MP in order to get a working majority), but a Labour/LibDem coalition government would be worth it just to see the heads of every member of the Telegraph’s editorial staff spontaneously combust.
D-Chance.
Cole,
Wanna take a shot at a rebuttal of McCarthy and the “oh, no! We shouldn’t make it public that the ter’rist is cooperating without being tortured!” whine?
I know it’s akin to shooting fish, but I haven’t seen the appropriate ass-ripping response as of yet from any of the other left-leaners. I think they’re too busy slapping their desks and doubled over in hysterics…
Bill H
Well, according to Chris Matthews’ “Let Me Finish” last night, the British system is a model of efficiency and effectiveness and should be admired and adored. He waxed poetic on it at some length and wound up by saying,
“We could take a few lessons from them.”
Chris Matthews is an idiot.
R-Jud
@burnspbesq: I actually think your scenario is more likely than a Lib/Con coalition. Brown’s made the friendliest noises so far in terms of forming a coalition with the Lib Dems– offering full referendum on electoral reform, Clegg’s pet issue. Cameron’s offer to Clegg was really a non-offer and I kind of think he’s trying to form a minority government.
Watching the pound fall through the floor. I’m really glad I get paid in dollars at the moment. We’ll be paying off our only UK credit card this month, I think…
Jay C
@D-Chance.:
Yes, I love it that McCarthy’s column is titled “Disgraceful Leaking” – my advice to him would be: “change your Depends more frequently”….
fucen tarmal
in a related story, bootsy collins and george clinton are urging the media to address the situation in the united kingdom as a “well hung parliament”. in return they will be happy to pronounce the united kingdom, one nation under a groove, and give up the funk, for as long as it is required to reestablish the mothership connection.
Remember November
I’m getting into a tit for tat with Big Hollywood’s Adam Baldwin.
http://twitter.com/johnnymags/
I love how when you pay these big hollywood types a compliment, they gloss over it.
guess that’s why he plays d-bags most of the time.
Linda Featheringill
Just read an account of the oil in the Gulf at WSJ.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703338004575229864184350730.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsThird
Included was a first-hand report from a guy who said that the oil at the shoreline was riding low in the water and he feared such oil would wash underneath the booms.
I’m not sure about the chemistry/physics of this. Of course, if the oil were weathered and churned a bit at sea, it might turn into something a little heavier. Maybe?
burnspbesq
@R-Jud:
The guy who may end up in a really interesting predicament here is Gerry Adams.
Sinn Fein typically wins four or five seats in the House of Commons, which it then refuses to take up because, committed Irish Republicans that they are, they can’t stomach taking an oath of loyalty to the Queen.
As the coalition-building process gets hairier and hairier, at some point Labour is going to start thinking about what sort of
bribespromises it might make in order to get SF to take its seats and be part of a coalition government. The SF manifesto calls for giving Ulster the same 12.5 percent corporate income tax as the Republic, but I don’t see how that can be done without a major, major devolution of power to Stormont. If the offer is such that it can be spun as a major step toward independence (which would be the same thing as a major step toward reunification, given the demographic trends in Ulster), who knows what Adams might do?Brachiator
@R-Jud:
It’s an interesting time for anyone who gets paid in either pounds or euros. Thank God for the Canadian dollar. Or is that just loonie?
@burnspbesq:
The Scottish Nationalists are flexing a bit of muscle.
You say you want a devolution,
Well, you know,
We’re all doing what we can.
Will
No, for that scenario to play out, there would have to be a clear winner who they are both rooting against.
Cacti
Whatever happens, it will be good news for John McCain and Obama’s (next) Katrina.
Jade Jordan
Mr. Cole,
You, Tunch and Lily have been Swagga Jacked by America Blog. They now have a new pet page.
I guess John A. will have to take a break from dogging Obama because he didn’t keep all of his first term promises in the first month in office to do pet therapy.
Your pet content was first and will always be the best.
Calouste
@Brachiator:
All the minor parties in the House of Commons are pretty much on the left. The only ones that could do a deal with the Conservatives are the Democratic Unionist Party, but they only have 8 seats and are in a bit of a hitch as their party leader lost his seat. The DUP is socially conservative, but it’s voters are mostly working class and Northern Ireland is fairly dependent on some large government agencies that have been transferred there over the years to boost the economy after the Troubles finished. And Cameron rather stupidly said before the elections that he would make big cuts to those.
IMO a LibLab minority government with Brown gone and vote-by-vote support of the minor parties is the most likely outcome. And in any case, another election within 2 years and probably sooner.