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You are here: Home / Past Elections / 2020 Elections / Saturday Morning Open Thread: The Race Gets “Serious”, Come Tuesday

Saturday Morning Open Thread: The Race Gets “Serious”, Come Tuesday

by Anne Laurie|  September 5, 20207:45 am| 244 Comments

This post is in: 2020 Elections, Biden-Harris 2020, Open Threads

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Saturday Morning Open Thread

(Signe Wilkinson via Philadelphia Inquirer)
.

Joe Biden addresses QAnon conspiracy theorists: "I've been a big supporter of mental health. I'd recommend people who believe it should take advantage of it while it still exists in the Affordable Care Act." pic.twitter.com/v3xzA49zfc

— The Recount (@therecount) September 4, 2020

Saturday Morning Open Thread: The Race Gets "Serious", Come Tuesday

(John Deering via ArkansasOnline)
.

https://t.co/AbvotV7qZk pic.twitter.com/1UXK92D4ne

— Matt Davies (@MatttDavies) September 4, 2020

Everyone here needs to chill out about "complacency." Of all the things to be worried about, Democrats not being fired up enough should rank someone around global warming reversing too fast and getting stuck in a rapidly expanding ice cap.

— Tentin Quarantino (@agraybee) September 3, 2020

pic.twitter.com/kRzXh7PpzV

— mike luckovich (@mluckovichajc) August 28, 2020

could really inspire some fun are-you-telling-on-yourself conversations with neighbors:

which one is the normal one?

well. which one do you think is the normal one?

— kilgore trout, non mini-stroke haver (@KT_So_It_Goes) September 4, 2020

In the most volatile 2-3 weeks for the campaign since June, the Trump-Biden polls have moved… one point, maybe two? Come on, I don't see how people can look at these numbers and conclude that 1988/1992-style polling upset is even a remote possibility.https://t.co/O6Lknvo6Kp

— G. Elliott Morris (@gelliottmorris) September 4, 2020

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Previous Post: « COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Friday/Saturday, September 5-6
Next Post: And my time is a piece of wax »

Reader Interactions

244Comments

  1. 1.

    germy

    September 5, 2020 at 7:50 am

    White House to bar agencies from ‘Un-American’ race-related training

  2. 2.

    debbie

    September 5, 2020 at 7:51 am

    I’m beginning to think the October Surprise will be on Trump, not Biden.

  3. 3.

    Matt McIrvin

    September 5, 2020 at 7:55 am

    The danger isn’t so much that Biden’s lead collapses, it’s that Biden’s lead holds all the way to the end and Trump “wins” anyway, because the vote was so fucked up and Trump has friends in the cops, the Nazi militias and the courts.

  4. 4.

    germy

    September 5, 2020 at 7:57 am

    @debbie: 
    The russian bots or whatever they are were probably stunned into silence by this latest trump scandal. But I’m sure they’ll be working furiously over the next few days and weeks on some nonsense (maybe more Hunter Biden?) and leak it to their collaborators in the U.S. media.

    Will they be effective this time? I doubt it.

  5. 5.

    debbie

    September 5, 2020 at 8:00 am

    @germy:

    I think they won’t because they won’t be able to overcome the past almost four years worth of lies and over-exaggerations.

  6. 6.

    germy

    September 5, 2020 at 8:00 am

    Meanwhile, Republicans are flailing.

    https://nomoremister.blogspot.com/2020/09/laser-focused-on-issues-american-people.html

  7. 7.

    germy

    September 5, 2020 at 8:03 am

    Anti-vaccine figure partners with Roku after YouTube banned him for sharing dangerous coronavirus misinformation

    Del Bigtree claims Roku shares “in our vision of providing a new space for you to get real news, real science, transparent, and uncensored.”

  8. 8.

    NotMax

    September 5, 2020 at 8:05 am

    Well, that answers the question of what to do Tuesday.     :)

    On September 8th, CBS All Access is holding an all-day streaming event to commemorate the 54th anniversary of the premiere of the original Star Trek television show.…
    [snip]
    For US-based fans, the day will kick off early at 3AM ET, and feature a marathon of episodes from eight different Star Trek TV shows. At 3PM ET, the marathon pauses for global panels, hosted by Wil Wheaton aka Wesley Crusher, and Mica Burton (daughter of TNG star LeVar Burton) as well as other stars from the franchise. Then the marathon resumes at 6:30PM ET and runs until midnight.

    The event will stream free on the Star Trek website, and doesn’t require a CBS All Access subscription. Source

    Although the jaded inner voice prognosticates it to be stuffed to the nacelles with overpromotion of the newest programs to try enticing folks to shell out for the service.

  9. 9.

    sanjeevs

    September 5, 2020 at 8:06 am

    In case you were wondering why the stock market is on a tear (from the FT)

    SoftBank is the “Nasdaq whale” that has bought billions of dollars’ worth of US equity derivatives in a series of trades that stoked the fevered rally in big tech stocks before a sharp pullback on Thursday and Friday, according to people familiar with the matter.

    The Japanese conglomerate had been snapping up options in tech stocks during the past month in huge amounts, fuelling the largest ever trading volumes in contracts linked to individual companies, these people said. One banker described it as a “dangerous” bet.

    A bunch of former Deutsche Bank traders backed by Saudi money. What could go wrong

  10. 10.

    Woodrow/asim

    September 5, 2020 at 8:06 am

    @germy: Another point for the “it’s easier to break things that to fix them” trope.

    Just peeking at the “Critical Race Theory” Trending on Twitter, there are a lot of racist-as-hell asshats jumping for joy over this one.

    There’s some “academic” wanker, Christopher F. Rufo, running around crowing and fundraising off his “fight” to remove discussing Race as a systemic issue — as always (see: Sullivan, Andrew and his attempts to legitimize Scientific Racism).

    Lordy, these people make me tired.

  11. 11.

    PsiFighter37

    September 5, 2020 at 8:06 am

    Less than 2 months to Election Day. Let’s go win this.

  12. 12.

    Jeffro

    September 5, 2020 at 8:08 am

    The biggest surprise has been seeing Biden & Co playing nothing but offense while trumpov keeps sputtering and that lying McEnany keeps having to run out of the WH press room.

    keep firing for effect, Uncle Joe!! ??

  13. 13.

    Betty Cracker

    September 5, 2020 at 8:08 am

    @germy: Trump just tweeted about it:

    Trump Orders Purge of ‘Critical Race Theory‘ from Federal Agencies via @BreitbartNews [no linky for the stinky] This is a sickness that cannot be allowed to continue. Please report any sightings so we can quickly extinguish!

    He always doubles down on racism when his ass is in a crack.

  14. 14.

    germy

    September 5, 2020 at 8:09 am

    Here’s Mr. Graham, before the golf game where Trump told him about all the kompromat he was sitting on:

    At the heart of @realDonaldTrump statement is a lack of respect for those who have served – a disqualifying characteristic to be president

    — Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) July 18, 2015

  15. 15.

    Woodrow/asim

    September 5, 2020 at 8:09 am

    @germy: damn. I’ve long promoted Roku as an alternative to bigger media conglomerates’ hardware; it’s a wonderful little media center that does a lot.

    I’ll be writing to Roku on this, and considering alternatives, going forward.

  16. 16.

    Peale

    September 5, 2020 at 8:10 am

    I don’t know what’s going to happen election night. But I am grateful that at this point and time, at least  we don’t have to be waking up to bad polls, like it’s 2004 again and we’re convincing ourselves that Bush’s lead wasn’t real because liberals had more cell phones. I’m always nervous about whether our voters will show up even without what I expect to be threats of violence this year. But at least the polls can bring me temporary joy each day.

  17. 17.

    OzarkHillbilly

    September 5, 2020 at 8:10 am

    @germy:

    The OMB director, Russell Vought, in a letter Friday to executive branch agencies, directed them to identify spending related to any training on “critical race theory”, “white privilege” or any other material that teaches or suggests that the United States or any race or ethnicity is “inherently racist or evil”.

    The memo comes as the nation has faced a reckoning this summer over racial injustice in policing and other spheres of American life. Trump has spent much of the summer defending the display of the Confederate battle flag and monuments of civil war rebels from protesters seeking their removal, in what he has called a “culture war” ahead of the 3 November election.

    Meanwhile, he has rejected comments from Democratic nominee Joe Biden and others that there is “systemic racism” in policing and American culture that must be addressed.

    Vought’s memo cites “press reports” as contributing to Trump’s decision, apparently referring to segments on Fox News and other outlets that have stoked conservative outrage about the federal training.

    Because nothing is more important than the feelings of white “conservatives,” in quotes because they aren’t. All you people of color complaining about the blood sacrifices you have to make on the altar of white supremacy? You need to STFU. You’re upsetting white folks who watch FOX news.

  18. 18.

    germy

    September 5, 2020 at 8:11 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    He’s also appealing to the Right To Life people:

    ACHTUNG!

    donald trump is pandering to Fetus Firsters because they're the only people left who he hasn't pissed off yet.

    Here's @Hegemommy with the deets. https://t.co/0TM1cpube0

    — Imani Gandy ☄️?? (@AngryBlackLady) September 4, 2020

  19. 19.

    germy

    September 5, 2020 at 8:13 am

    @Woodrow/asim:

    Yes, I’m at the point where I can’t support companies that enable this.

    I have a tough enough time trying to weed out plumbers and contractors with MAGA bumperstickers on their trucks.

  20. 20.

    rikyrah

    September 5, 2020 at 8:14 am

    Good Morning, Everyone ???

  21. 21.

    Ken

    September 5, 2020 at 8:14 am

    @germy: I’m half expecting news that Trump, or rather Michael Cohen, has paid for at least one porn star’s abortion.

  22. 22.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    September 5, 2020 at 8:14 am

    @rikyrah: Good morning!

  23. 23.

    rikyrah

    September 5, 2020 at 8:15 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: ???

  24. 24.

    NotMax

    September 5, 2020 at 8:15 am

    From billy club to billy grub.

    Wrenched forth a wry snicker on this side of the monitor.

    :)

  25. 25.

    germy

    September 5, 2020 at 8:15 am

    @NotMax:

    I read somewhere that next year CBS (the regular broadcast station) will be showing all episodes of the most recent Star Trek series, the one that’s played on their “not all access” station.

  26. 26.

    MagdaInBlack

    September 5, 2020 at 8:16 am

    @Betty Cracker: 
    The comments to that article are an “interesting” view from the other side.

  27. 27.

    rikyrah

    September 5, 2020 at 8:18 am

    @germy:

    As someone pointed out on Twitter, all the Democrats who are veterans have been all over the media, while you haven’t heard anything from the GOP lawmakers who endlessly thump about their military service ?

  28. 28.

    NotMax

    September 5, 2020 at 8:19 am

    @Woodrow/asim

    Channel will disappear right quick. Same thing popped up with (IIRC) a Qanon channel a few months back and Roku powers that be saw to its excising with alacrity.

  29. 29.

    Cheryl Rofer

    September 5, 2020 at 8:19 am

    @Jeffro:

    The biggest surprise has been seeing Biden & Co playing nothing but offense while trumpov keeps sputtering and that lying McEnany keeps having to run out of the WH press room.

    Biden has been a politician for fifty years. He knows how to play this.

  30. 30.

    SiubhanDuinne

    September 5, 2020 at 8:21 am

    @PsiFighter37:

    Yup. On Tuesday, it’ll be eight weeks to the day. Those weeks will go quickly, and we all need to have plans in place: not just our voting plans, although of course those are critical, but also how much and to which campaigns we will donate money, volunteer our time phone- or text-banking, writing postcards, and whatever else is feasible. I’m spending a chunk of my time this holiday weekend mapping out, week by week, how I can best contribute to an overwhelming and irrefutable Democratic victory in November.

  31. 31.

    rikyrah

    September 5, 2020 at 8:22 am

    @germy:

    But, the efficiency is how immediately they punch back. This story has legs and keeps on giving. Who are they going to punch against?

    The Gold Star mothers who made the ad for Vote Vets?

    Good luck with that.

    And Biden was pitch perfect. His anger was palpable.

  32. 32.

    yellowdog

    September 5, 2020 at 8:23 am

    @Matt McIrvin: That, plus the use of voter machine hacking, USPS. sabotage, and voter suppression will give the shitgibbon  a victory. He will not win the election but he will use the courts to stay in power.

  33. 33.

    rikyrah

    September 5, 2020 at 8:25 am

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    Biden also has the benefit of being on the right side of a righteous issue

  34. 34.

    SiubhanDuinne

    September 5, 2020 at 8:25 am

    @Jeffro:

    that lying McEnany keeps having to run out of the WH press room.

    The RWNJ contingent are spinning that as “Kayleigh dropped the mic on the librul soshulist fake news, and strode out of the briefing room like a boss.”

    Seriously, this was their take. I have relatives who share stuff on FB, so I know.

  35. 35.

    brendancalling

    September 5, 2020 at 8:26 am

    The QAnon clip and his “don’t jump” response to hecklers last week illustrate what I like about Biden. He’s decent but crotchety, funny, he heckles back and better, and he’s not in the mood for whatever bullshit you’re bringing.

    Basically he’s President Grandpa Joe, and if you’re gonna talk like that you’d better get of his lawn.

  36. 36.

    eclare

    September 5, 2020 at 8:26 am

    @rikyrah:  Agree. Biden was perfect in his comments.

  37. 37.

    SiubhanDuinne

    September 5, 2020 at 8:29 am

    @NotMax:

    That goat is my new spirit animal.

  38. 38.

    NotMax

    September 5, 2020 at 8:29 am

    @yellowdog

    He will not win the election but he will use the courts to stay in power.

    Regardless of any amount of fog raised, his term of office ends at noon on January 20.

  39. 39.

    OzarkHillbilly

    September 5, 2020 at 8:29 am

    @NotMax: Heh.

  40. 40.

    mali muso

    September 5, 2020 at 8:29 am

    Good morning Jackals! Trying to get in a few cups of morning coffee before I start the weekly ritual of mommy-daughter hair time with my kiddo. Not going to complain because this kid is a treasure, but I have to be honest that learning how to take care of textured 4a/c hair has been a major learning curve. It’s important to me to do it right, and to make sure my daughter grows up with pride in her natural beauty. So I’m off to the next four hours or so of detangling, prepping, twisting, co-washing, moisturizing, and protective styling! Happy Saturday to all.

  41. 41.

    geg6

    September 5, 2020 at 8:30 am

    @yellowdog: 
    You state that as a fact and it is not. We have agency here and we need to be putting out effort to overcome whatever obstacles are in our way. Unlike 2016, we know what’s coming at us. We need to be making good trouble, not deciding nothing can be done and that it’s all preordained for a Cheetolini victory. It’s not true and it’s not productive.

  42. 42.

    Cheryl Rofer

    September 5, 2020 at 8:31 am

    @rikyrah: Absolutely. And he understands that.

  43. 43.

    Woodrow/asim

    September 5, 2020 at 8:32 am

    @germy: I read somewhere that next year CBS (the regular broadcast station) will be showing all episodes of the most recent Star Trek series, the one that’s played on their “not all access” station.

    They’re Broadcasting the 1st season of Discovery:

    CBS has thrown the first season of “Star Trek: Discovery” and the fourth season of “One Day At a Time” into the broadcast mixer for the first time.

    Forgive the ensuing pedantry/geekery, yet:

    It’s not the 1st time — the 1st Episode of Discovery was Broadcast as well when it premiered.

    It’s also not the most recent Trek on CBS All Access — both the Picard series, and the currently-running animated Trek show, Lower Decks, qualify as they started after Discovery, with 2 others officially announced as in various stages of pre-production.

    It’s a weird time to be a Trek fan :)

  44. 44.

    zhena gogolia

    September 5, 2020 at 8:33 am

    @rikyrah:

    Amen. His anger is so sincere and righteous and it channels us, the real “silent majority.” (Silent because all the NYT reporters are in a diner in Boonville, MO.)

  45. 45.

    SiubhanDuinne

    September 5, 2020 at 8:33 am

    @yellowdog:

    GTFO. We do not need your concerned negativity now or ever.

  46. 46.

    Cheryl Rofer

    September 5, 2020 at 8:35 am

    I’ll say once again that my expectation for the election is that Trump will make a lot of noise whatever the outcome and do a lot less. He will slink out of the White House under the cover of darkness on the night of January 19-20 and not attend the inauguration.

    If by some chance I am wrong about the last, President-elect Biden will be generous and gracious to him.

  47. 47.

    germy

    September 5, 2020 at 8:35 am

    @rikyrah:  But, the efficiency is how immediately they punch back. This story has legs and keeps on giving. Who are they going to punch against?

    I don’t know that they’ll try punching back.  I suspect they’ll go for a distraction, some fake-scandal completely unrelated.  Dirt on Mrs. Biden or Kamala.   I’m not saying they will be successful.  But I predict they’ll be working on something.

  48. 48.

    O. Felix Culpa

    September 5, 2020 at 8:35 am

    @geg6: Thank you. Comments like that have only one function: to demoralize. The best way to combat demoralization – and, by the way, to help win the election – is to fucking DO SOMETHING. Cripes, there’s phone banking, text banking, postcard writing and more awaiting. Data entry, reminder calls to volunteers, poll watching. Just fucking do something and stop the catastrophe and the catastrophizing.

  49. 49.

    trnc

    September 5, 2020 at 8:36 am

    @germy:

    At the heart of @realDonaldTrump statement is a lack of respect for those who have served – a disqualifying characteristic to be president

    — Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) July 18, 2015

    This tweet DID age well, but Graham’s sense of duty sure hasn’t.

  50. 50.

    schrodingers_cat

    September 5, 2020 at 8:37 am

    1. @zhena gogolia: And the other mediabros are still lamenting the demise of Vt senator’s primary campaign.
  51. 51.

    Matt McIrvin

    September 5, 2020 at 8:45 am

    @Woodrow/asim: 

    It’s not the 1st time — the 1st Episode of Discovery was Broadcast as well when it premiered.

    And it was an odd artistic choice, since that two-part premiere was really a separate prologue that was not greatly characteristic of the show (the Discovery wasn’t even in it!)

  52. 52.

    Sab

    September 5, 2020 at 8:49 am

    @SiubhanDuinne: Another reason to require body cams on cops.

  53. 53.

    Jinchi

    September 5, 2020 at 8:49 am

    “Would you be voting for Joe Biden or against Donald Trump?”

    This is literally a question pollsters ask voters and it might be the only one Trump wins outright.

  54. 54.

    germy

    September 5, 2020 at 8:50 am

    @Woodrow/asim: It’s not the 1st time — the 1st Episode of Discovery was Broadcast as well when it premiered.

    Yes, we saw the first episode on our antenna-only TV.

    I thought it was good, although I found the dramatic lighting somewhat frustrating at times.  I was aware of the cartoon and the Picard version, so I shouldn’t have said “most” recent.

  55. 55.

    Woodrow/asim

    September 5, 2020 at 8:52 am

    @Matt McIrvin: It wasn’t an artistic choice. It was driven by the marketing need of a then-timid Network to move people to streaming, yet whose marquee product was the result of the 1st of multiple showrunner breakaways — changes in leadership that would impact the approach and tone of Discovery, over and again.

    As a result, CBS was stuck between a rock and a hard place around promoting the show. Yet — by all accounts — their initial approach with bringing Discovery to screens paid off for them in the long run, so it’s hard to fault it too much. :)

  56. 56.

    eclare

    September 5, 2020 at 8:52 am

    @Sab: Hahaha!

  57. 57.

    germy

    September 5, 2020 at 8:54 am

    Interesting theory:

    He was streaming live on some new video platform tonight. He probably invested money in it and we will soon find out that’s why Dummy Daddy is really trying to ban TikTok. Their latest grift. He looked AWFUL—it’s astounding how bad he looks.— ✭Becca✭ (@dix_iechick) September 5, 2020

    Trump’s son made an appearance on a potential competitor of tik-tok.

    Seems about right for the future of the Republican Party. pic.twitter.com/OIaS0JyF0G— Schooley (@Rschooley) September 5, 2020

  58. 58.

    senyordave

    September 5, 2020 at 8:57 am

    My nomination for the most ridiculous statement of the decade (I know we are less than one year in):
    VP Pence: “To know President Trump is to know someone who’s word is his bond.”
    He had to have thrown up a little bit in his mouth when he said this.

  59. 59.

    germy

    September 5, 2020 at 8:59 am

    Jeez! I didn’t know about this:

    This gentleman is not a wounded veteran. He was born without arms, as Snopes has explained https://t.co/JQm1wQjRLC.

    The Trump campaign also wrongly depicted him as a veteran in a 2016 ad…using this photo to replace an image that showed Russian veterans instead of Americans. pic.twitter.com/iYf8pmwZrL

    — Daniel Dale (@ddale8) September 5, 2020

  60. 60.

    Jinchi

    September 5, 2020 at 9:00 am

    In response to a question about the story of Trump ridiculing members of the military.

    President Donald Trump on Friday excoriated retired Marine Corps Gen. John Kelly, whom he said was “exhausted” and “unable to handle the pressure” as his former chief of staff.

    Has Kelly publicly confirmed the accusations in the article? I wonder why Trump thinks he’s the source?

  61. 61.

    NotMax

    September 5, 2020 at 9:01 am

    @senyordave

    Must be a transcription error of “his word is his Bund.”

    //

  62. 62.

    randy khan

    September 5, 2020 at 9:01 am

    @yellowdog:

    Please do not be hopeless.  The way to prevent any of that from happening is to get Biden the biggest win possible so that none of it will matter.

  63. 63.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    September 5, 2020 at 9:02 am

    @Jeffro: Makes it hard for the media to sustain the “where is Joe” narrative when he’s driving the news cycle and Trump is in permanent flailing-reaction mode.

    He’s also managed to get his policy ideas to the public, sabotaging the “but he has no policies” story line they pulled on Hillary. Which of course had a huge misogynistic drive behind it.

  64. 64.

    zhena gogolia

    September 5, 2020 at 9:04 am

    @Jinchi:

    He hasn’t commented. I hate the misuse of “whom” in that quotation. “he said” is parenthetical — it should be “who” as the subject of the following predicate.

  65. 65.

    randy khan

    September 5, 2020 at 9:04 am

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    I’ll say once again that my expectation for the election is that Trump will make a lot of noise whatever the outcome and do a lot less. He will slink out of the White House under the cover of darkness on the night of January 19-20 and not attend the inauguration.

    My only quibble is that I think there’s a fair chance he leaves Washington well before January 20, maybe even in mid-November.

  66. 66.

    sanjeevs

    September 5, 2020 at 9:06 am

    Strzok has a book coming out next week. So does Michael Cohen.

    No wonder Kellyanne decided to spend more time with her beloved family.

  67. 67.

    germy

    September 5, 2020 at 9:06 am

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym:  Makes it hard for the media to sustain the “where is Joe” narrative when he’s driving the news cycle

    They’re trying, though.  A slightly different angle:

    Yesterday, at Biden’s press conference, he was asked “Why isn’t Kamala Harris with you??”

    Biden calmly explained that they were in touch on a daily basis, and were visiting different states on their own.

    It was a dumb gotcha question and he handled it neatly.

  68. 68.

    NotMax

    September 5, 2020 at 9:13 am

    @zhena gogolia

    Thank you, thank you, thank you. The falloff of pedantry hereabouts has been most alarming.

    ;)

  69. 69.

    Ken

    September 5, 2020 at 9:13 am

    @zhena gogolia: He hasn’t commented.

    As in no one has asked him, or he’s been asked and said “no comment”?

  70. 70.

    A Ghost to Most

    September 5, 2020 at 9:15 am

    @O. Felix Culpa:

     Shorter: clap harder!

    The real shitshow BEGINS on Nov. 4. Do you have a plan for that?

  71. 71.

    Jeffro

    September 5, 2020 at 9:15 am

    @Cheryl Rofer: yeah but he’s a Democratic politician…I didn’t think they knew how to play offense ?

  72. 72.

    Jeffro

    September 5, 2020 at 9:17 am

    @SiubhanDuinne: ‘strode out like a boss’ – wow.

    hey whatever makes them feel better ?

  73. 73.

    Cheryl Rofer

    September 5, 2020 at 9:17 am

    @randy khan:

    My only quibble is that I think there’s a fair chance he leaves Washington well before January 20, maybe even in mid-November.

    That idea was dancing in the back of my head when I wrote that, but I don’t see how it works. But Trump has surprised me before.

  74. 74.

    Sloane Ranger

    September 5, 2020 at 9:17 am

    About to leave the house for my 2nd hair appointment post lockdown. Very impressed with the salon’s precautions. Screens between the chairs, masks to be worn at all times, sanitise on entry as well as having temperature taken. Feel very confident in attending, the only issue is that the sky is getting overcast and it might start to rain.

  75. 75.

    H.E.Wolf

    September 5, 2020 at 9:17 am

    @Matt McIrvin: [we are doomed]

    @yellowdog: [we are utterly doomed]

    @SiubhanDuinne: On Tuesday, it’ll be eight weeks to the day. Those weeks will go quickly, and we all need to have plans in place: not just our voting plans, although of course those are critical, but also how much and to which campaigns we will donate money, volunteer our time phone- or text-banking, writing postcards, and whatever else is feasible. I’m spending a chunk of my time this holiday weekend mapping out, week by week, how I can best contribute to an overwhelming and irrefutable Democratic victory in November.

    Three ways to prepare for November. I’m going to follow the example set by SiubhanDuinne (and Kay, and Marcopolo, and MazeDancer, and O. Felix Culpa, and StringOnAStick, and others), and work for my country.

    As we used to sing at my alma mater, “And crown thy good with sisterhood from sea to shining sea.” Thank you, sisters and honorary sisters. I’m with you.

    [steps off soapbox, picks up pen and postcard]

  76. 76.

    Betty Cracker

    September 5, 2020 at 9:18 am

    I think it’s a mistake for Democrats to legitimize Fox News by appearing on its programs. But those who insist on doing so should study Buttigieg’s technique here:

    Even if you don't believe the multiple news organizations—including @FoxNews—that have confirmed these reports, believe your own eyes.

    These comments are part of Donald Trump's pattern of disrespect for the military since he faked an injury to get out of serving in Vietnam. pic.twitter.com/JwAR3URCT6

    — Pete Buttigieg (@PeteButtigieg) September 5, 2020

  77. 77.

    Luciamia

    September 5, 2020 at 9:23 am

    @NotMax: And I can remember seeing my first epidode, The Naked Time. I was in middle school, had just finished my homework. Turned on the tv and saw Spock s face. First thought, ??????.

     

    @NotMax:

  78. 78.

    MagdaInBlack

    September 5, 2020 at 9:24 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    I saw that last night. It’s pretty impressive how he had the Fox guy stumbling all over himself.

  79. 79.

    Another Scott

    September 5, 2020 at 9:24 am

    @H.E.Wolf: Thank you.

    Cheers,

    Scott.

  80. 80.

    Jinchi

    September 5, 2020 at 9:24 am

    @randy khan: My only quibble is that I think there’s a fair chance he leaves Washington well before January 20, maybe even in mid-November.

    Trump will cling to power until they pry his hands from the desk in the oval office. And I expect him to use the time creating as much havoc and stealing as much as possible.

    Trump started his presidency claiming that he turned down a $2 billion deal from a foreigner a week before his inauguration. Then bragged that it would have been perfectly legal for him to accept the obvious bribe if he wanted to.

    “I didn’t have to turn it down, because as you know, I have a no-conflict situation because I’m president,” he added. “It’s a nice thing to have, but I don’t want to take advantage of something.”

    There is no way he’ll give up his “absolute immunity” as long as he can make a buck off of it. His last act will probably be a self-pardon for all crimes committed, past and future.

  81. 81.

    Darrin Ziliak (formerly glocksman)

    September 5, 2020 at 9:26 am

    @germy:

    Anti-vaccine figure partners with Roku after YouTube banned him for sharing dangerous coronavirus misinformation

    Del Bigtree claims Roku shares “in our vision of providing a new space for you to get real news, real science, transparent, and uncensored.”

    If I’d known this in July, I’d have got a Hisense Android TV instead of the TCL Roku that I bought with my stimulus money.

    As it is, I complained to both Roku and TCL about it.

  82. 82.

    Suzann

    September 5, 2020 at 9:27 am

    @Woodrow/asim:

    Lordy, these people make me tired. 

    They have the emotional range of toddlers and the intellectual nuance of grade schoolers. It’s all about how they feel and everything has to be good or bad. It’s exhausting.

  83. 83.

    Betty Cracker

    September 5, 2020 at 9:28 am

    @H.E.Wolf: I think a lot of us oscillate between confidence and terror, and that’s not an irrational outlook under the circumstances.

  84. 84.

    Suzanne

    September 5, 2020 at 9:29 am

    Something I said put me in moderation, SORRY!

    oh damn, I accidentally left the e off my nym. MY BAD.

  85. 85.

    zhena gogolia

    September 5, 2020 at 9:30 am

    @germy:

    Another question was, “Why aren’t you angrier?”

  86. 86.

    zhena gogolia

    September 5, 2020 at 9:31 am

    @Ken:

    Of course he was asked. He said no comment. (At least as of last night when I went to bed.)

  87. 87.

    Jinchi

    September 5, 2020 at 9:31 am

    @Suzanne: So they’re blocking Suzann….. Hmmm I wonder what she did.

  88. 88.

    zhena gogolia

    September 5, 2020 at 9:31 am

    @A Ghost to Most:

    I have my armory out in the shed. Tons of assault weapons and a sea mine.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cun-LZvOTdw

  89. 89.

    Baud

    September 5, 2020 at 9:32 am

    @rikyrah: Good morning.

  90. 90.

    JMG

    September 5, 2020 at 9:32 am

    Bush 43 checked out of being President well before the 2008 election. Peak of the Global Financial Crisis and he left it all to his Treasury Secretary and Congress. I could see Trump doing the same if he loses, retreating to Mar-a-Lago and sulking his way through daily rounds of golf, punctuated by many many bitter, self-pitying tweets.

  91. 91.

    zhena gogolia

    September 5, 2020 at 9:34 am

    @A Ghost to Most:

    You are getting so tiresome. I’m really, really sick of it.

  92. 92.

    Kay

    September 5, 2020 at 9:35 am

    It concerns me a little when “our side” veers toward Trumpism with declarations about the validity of the voting process. We don’t need sweeping statements about voter suppression or Trump tampering with the mail in ballot process -be specific. If you’re worried about long lines or too few polling places in a state or states, say that, and name the state. If you’re worried about the postal service not having capacity to deliver absentee applications or ballots, say that. If you’re worried about Trump declaring victory based on in-person ballots when absentees haven’t be counted, say that.
    Broad declarations that the vote count will be invalid or tampered with corrode trust in the process the same way Trump and Barr lying about the process do. In addition, citing something specific is a check to show that you’ve made some effort to understand how it works and what would be a real concern and what is just jitters.
    Every Presidential election year the Green Party in Ohio files a lawsuit or several lawsuits alleging vote tampering by Republicans in Ohio. Every Presidential election year some portion of Democrats see these lawsuits and go bonkers. After watching this year and year and reading the complaints they file I am convinced it is one of two things- it is either straight up ratfucking or they are raising money off filing bullshit lawsuits.
    Be cautious, be wary, but be that way over things that are real and specific and likely to occur in certain states and jurisdictions and every time you read a theory of how they can steal the election take it all the way through- “how, specifically does this work?”
    Trump shouldn’t tell people to vote twice because it’s a felony. Barr knows it’s a felony, so he lied. Those are bad. But Trump voters prevailing because they vote twice is as ridiculous as the New Black Panthers fixing Pennsylvania for Obama.

  93. 93.

    Baud

    September 5, 2020 at 9:36 am

    @senyordave:

    VP Pence: “To know President Trump is to know someone who’s word is his bond.”

    Yeah. Junk bond.

  94. 94.

    SFAW

    September 5, 2020 at 9:38 am

    @NotMax:

    The falloff of pedantry hereabouts has been most alarming.

    Well, maybe Steve in the WTFKW is still trying to figure out where he is?

  95. 95.

    Ken

    September 5, 2020 at 9:39 am

    @zhena gogolia: Thanks.  “No comment” is not – I might even say blatantly not – “no that never happened,” and I think a lot of people will recognize that.

  96. 96.

    SFAW

    September 5, 2020 at 9:39 am

    @Jinchi:

    So they’re blocking Suzann….. Hmmm I wonder what she did.

    She knows what she did.

  97. 97.

    SFAW

    September 5, 2020 at 9:42 am

    @Ken:

    Thanks.  “No comment” is not – I might even say blatantly not – “no that never happened,” and I think a lot of people will recognize that.

    People will be waiting for a long time if they’re hoping Kelly will suddenly turn honorable, or become a stand-up guy.

  98. 98.

    Betty Cracker

    September 5, 2020 at 9:43 am

    @JMG: If Trump loses and checks out between Nov-Jan, it will be hard to tell the difference. His “schedule” now reminds me of how the worst type of retirees spend their days, lolling around watching Fox News, complaining and terrorizing anyone who’s forced to be in his company, the monotony relieved only by the occasional rounds of golf.

  99. 99.

    Baud

    September 5, 2020 at 9:45 am

    @Betty Cracker: 

    If anything, we might notice an improvement.

  100. 100.

    Ladyraxterinok

    September 5, 2020 at 9:45 am

    @germy:

    See Pelosi and ‘hairgate’

    Rush claims Atlantic story re Trump loser, sucker comments is being pushed to ‘distract from Pelosi hair scandal’ Found this at joemygod

  101. 101.

    Baud

    September 5, 2020 at 9:46 am

    @SFAW: Right.  If he comments, how’s he going to answer the “why didn’t your resign when Trump denigrated your dead son” question?

  102. 102.

    NotMax

    September 5, 2020 at 9:46 am

    @Betty Cracker

    In Florida, counting the hours until the Early Bird Special.

    :)

  103. 103.

    Abnormal Hiker

    September 5, 2020 at 9:46 am

    @zhena gogolia: I think that ‘whom’ should join ‘whilom’ as an archaic expression except immediately following a proposition, as discussed here: 

    https://stancarey.wordpress.com/2012/04/05/who-to-follow-is-grammatically-fine/

  104. 104.

    Kay

    September 5, 2020 at 9:48 am

    Not enough polling PLACES or drop boxes is a state issue, so that’s a legit concern because GOP-led states can and will limit those and they’ll do it in a way to suppress AA votes.

    But not enough voting MACHINES is a county issue, because they’re supposed to estimate turnout and get what they need. There are Democrats on every single county voting authority. Tell them to get their shit together and get enough machines. If they know they don’t have enough in June they have time to sue to get them. In 2004 in Ohio we saw long lines at college polling places. That is the fault of the Democrats on that counties bd of elections. They did a bad job. They know they have a university in their county and they didn’t plan for turnout OR when they were pushed by the Republicans on the bd of elections they didn’t scream bloody murder and get what they need despite Republicans. We’re not powerless in this. Our elections officials have all the power of GOP elections officials if not at the state level in GOP states, then at the county level where our voters live and vote.

  105. 105.

    germy

    September 5, 2020 at 9:50 am

    @Betty Cracker: 
    For a minute there I thought “Nov-Jan” was a new type of Russian poison.

  106. 106.

    Ken

    September 5, 2020 at 9:50 am

    @Abnormal Hiker: I think that ‘whom’ should join ‘whilom’ as an archaic expression except immediately following a proposition,

    HE: (whispers into her ear)

    SHE: (slapping his face) Whom do you think I am!?

  107. 107.

    germy

    September 5, 2020 at 9:53 am

    @zhena gogolia: Another question was, “Why aren’t you angrier?”

    That question was from the young republican from CBS.  He’s been assigned to cover the Biden campaign, and he does it every night on CBS with the biggest smirk on his face.

  108. 108.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    September 5, 2020 at 9:54 am

    @Ken: Don’t make me hurt you .

  109. 109.

    NotMax

    September 5, 2020 at 9:54 am

    @Abnormal Hiker

    This geezer, for one, not looking forward to encountering “For Bqhatevwr the Bell Tolls” at ye olde book shoppe.

    //

  110. 110.

    JMG

    September 5, 2020 at 9:54 am

    @Betty Cracker: I’m a retiree who plays golf daily (when possible in Massachusetts) and lolls around here. I hope that’s better.

  111. 111.

    Jesse

    September 5, 2020 at 9:55 am

    I love the king-like detachment Biden shows there when answering the QAnon question. Brilliant. It reminds me of an interview from early on in Obama’s presidency (possibly when he was still campaigning, I don’t remember exactly), where he was reflecting on some of the weird questions he gets from the press. If I remember correctly (some jackal can back me up here), his response was something like “That’s not a very good question, as is, but I need to respond to it somehow and use this opportunity.”

  112. 112.

    Kay

    September 5, 2020 at 10:03 am

    COLUMBUS, Ohio — Secretary of State Frank LaRose said Wednesday he is banning county boards of elections from offering more than one drop box for completed absentee ballots this November, saying it’s grown too late to make changes to how Ohio will administer this year’s presidential election.
    LaRose, a Republican, more than three weeks ago formally asked Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, also a Republican, for a legal opinion on whether the extra drop boxes were allowed under state law.

    That’s the GOP suppression tactic. But it doesn’t end there! Democrats sued to allow the decision to be made locally. But it doesn’t end there! If they win we then have a situation where we have equal numbers of D’s and R’s on each county bd of elections. So the likely result is the D’s vote for more drop boxes and the R’s vote against. But then they can sue in the county. My point is “voter suppression” is a state level and then county level series of wins and losses on nitpicky and specific rules and legal issues. It’s in inches and until we get a robust federal law that’s where it has to be fought. But it CAN be fought.

  113. 113.

    MomSense

    September 5, 2020 at 10:03 am

    That one stupid selfish wedding in Millinocket is causing such mayhem.  York County now has a positivity rate that is three times the rest of the State, there is community spread in all areas of the county, and the State CDC Director is saying that if they don’t get it under control quickly it threatens the entire state.  Meanwhile the fucking pastor who officiated at the super spreader wedding says he doesn’t have to obey the laws of man, plans to go ahead with opening their church’s private school, and continues to hold Sunday services without masks even though multiple members of the church have COVID. One of the wedding attendees is a staff person at the York County Jail and now it has spread throughout the prison.  Apparently those idiots decided masks were optional so they opted out.

    This is infuriating.  They should be prosecuted.  After months of the anti virus idiots calling Janet a dictator they are now blaming her for this.  We are too stupid and selfish to maintain a modern society.  At this point I just want these idiots prosecuted.  They clearly don’t care how many people they harm or kill.

  114. 114.

    The Dangerman

    September 5, 2020 at 10:03 am

    Just stopping in to say hello.

    Hello.

    So many nightmares in this world today; thanks for a little sanity.

  115. 115.

    Matt McIrvin

    September 5, 2020 at 10:05 am

    @yellowdog: The key is to warn and prepare but NOT to treat it as inevitable. In 2000, the campaign coverage was apathetic and de-energized until after Election Day; everyone was taken by surprise by the manipulations in Florida, the media both-sidesed it to the hilt, Al Gore wasn’t really prepared to fight it to the bitter end.

    This time around, everyone with half a brain expects Trump to be a liar and a cheat and abuse his power to try to steal the election. Biden expects it– he’s said so outright. That’s a big difference.

  116. 116.

    rikyrah

    September 5, 2020 at 10:09 am

    Of all the things Joey B has said…I love this the most.

     

    It’s truth, it’s shade, it’s calling these muthaphuckas out for what they actually are – PHUCKING CRAZY.

    Don’t get no better than this.

     

    Joe Biden addresses QAnon conspiracy theorists: “I’ve been a big supporter of mental health. I’d recommend people who believe it should take advantage of it while it still exists in the Affordable Care Act.”

  117. 117.

    MomSense

    September 5, 2020 at 10:12 am

    @rikyrah:

    He has been so good.  I’ve never seen such a NFLTG candidate and I approve.

  118. 118.

    Matt McIrvin

    September 5, 2020 at 10:14 am

    @Kay: Just choosing to use voting machines is part of it, though–I think the biggest problem with voting machines isn’t actually their dodgy security or technical issues, it’s that they’re an expensive finite resource. You can’t have more people voting than you have machines. If you use paper ballots, the bottleneck at the voting location is just getting people checked in and out– you can have as many cardboard cubbies for filling out ballots as you’ve got space for.

  119. 119.

    OzarkHillbilly

    September 5, 2020 at 10:14 am

    @Ken: he’s been asked and said “no comment”

  120. 120.

    Spanky

    September 5, 2020 at 10:15 am

    @The Dangerman: Sanity? Who TF do you think we are?

    Try down the hall to the left.

  121. 121.

    mad citizen

    September 5, 2020 at 10:16 am

    Re: the “hair scandal”, if that’s all they have, good luck.  I think about how the only reason Pelosi at age 80 is performing the demanding Speaker job is because of trump’s cheating, race baiting and the electoral college giving us an illegitimate president.

    I really thought trump would give it up by Labor Day.  If I had put money on that, would have lost.  He checked out of the job long ago.  I’ve said all along this is an experiment to see if our nation can survive without a leader in that office, only he makes things worse than if there were no one there.

    Finally, it would be really hard to reach 27% (how many R’s will simply not vote for president but vote for the other offices?), but my hope is that Donny ends up in the high 30s and Biden is over 60%.  It has become a referendum on how much the nation wants to repudiate this awful human being.

  122. 122.

    Ken

    September 5, 2020 at 10:17 am

    @mad citizen: I  really thought trump would give it up by Labor Day. If I had put money on that, would have lost.

    You’ve still got two days.

  123. 123.

    japa21

    September 5, 2020 at 10:18 am

    @Kay: Seconded

  124. 124.

    eclare

    September 5, 2020 at 10:18 am

    @Matt McIrvin:  I think I read that the Biden campaign is lining up hundreds of attorneys, at least.

  125. 125.

    Immanentize

    September 5, 2020 at 10:18 am

    @Kay: This is a great example.  Thank you!

  126. 126.

    Immanentize

    September 5, 2020 at 10:21 am

    @MomSense: if I got Covid because of the man of the false God, I would be preparing to own his church, home, car and perhaps mortgages on his children’s lives.

    I am so infuriated by this.

    I did an antivaxxer hypothetical for my criminal law final this summer. It was a big hit!

  127. 127.

    Immanentize

    September 5, 2020 at 10:24 am

    @rikyrah: I’m still liking his “Don’t Jump!” Call out to the bullhorn heckler.  It was quick-witted, on point, and was kind (not mean).  E.g. I might have said, “Jump you stupid MoFo!”

  128. 128.

    narya

    September 5, 2020 at 10:26 am

    Late to the party–but Tuesday the contractors are coming to install the tile and the screen door! Which means I have to spend some time this weekend laying out the tile and figuring out a pattern. There are worse ways to spend a holiday weekend.

  129. 129.

    Formerly disgruntled in Oregon

    September 5, 2020 at 10:27 am

    @Kay:

    Be cautious, be wary, but be that way over things that are real and specific and likely to occur in certain states and jurisdictions and every time you read a theory of how they can steal the election take it all the way through- “how, specifically does this work?”

    Thank you, Kay!

  130. 130.

    MomSense

    September 5, 2020 at 10:28 am

    @Immanentize:

    I’m also infuriated for religious reasons.  The big difference for me between real Christianity and this false shit is that following the teachings of Jesus means focusing on how you can be of service to others, to the vulnerable, to the stranger.  These fake Christians are all about what Jesus can do for them.

  131. 131.

    Miss Bianca

    September 5, 2020 at 10:29 am

    @SiubhanDuinne: That sounds like a good plan. Or, planning to plan. Or whatever. I’m still on my first cup of coffee, here.

  132. 132.

    Kropacetic

    September 5, 2020 at 10:32 am

    @NotMax: On September 8th, CBS All Access is holding an all-day streaming event to commemorate the 54th anniversary of the premiere of the original Star Trek television show

    Thanks for the heads up, that’s pretty exciting.  I only somewhat recently became interested in Star Trek, which has dominated my Netflix binging schedule.  Finished TNG last year, been lost in Voyager for the last couple weeks.

  133. 133.

    Kay

    September 5, 2020 at 10:32 am

    @Matt McIrvin:

    I think the paper ballot as a record along with an optical scan to do the first count is the best method. You could distribute the paper ballots and then have pollworkers scan them in (as they do with absentees) but then you get rid of one check, which is the voter herself scanning the ballot and people like handling their own ballot- it builds trust.

    Another thing to think about with election integrity is every candidate on the ballot has skin in this game. It isn’t just Donald Trump versus Joe Biden. There are thousands of candidates all across the country, from US Senate races down to county recorder. They want and need an accurate count just as much as Donald Trump wants a corrupt count. We are not powerless. We have a fucking army of people who can either ACT to push back against this or have a real self interest in helping.

  134. 134.

    Miss Bianca

    September 5, 2020 at 10:33 am

    @A Ghost to Most: Do you have a plan for ANYTHING besides being a boor?

  135. 135.

    MomSense

    September 5, 2020 at 10:33 am

    @mali muso:

    ????????????

  136. 136.

    different-church-lady

    September 5, 2020 at 10:34 am

    @brendancalling:

    Basically he’s President Grandpa Joe, and if you’re gonna talk like that you’d better get of his lawn.

    I was thinking the other day that this election is distilling down to Hokey Grandpa vs. Creepy Uncle.

  137. 137.

    Kropacetic

    September 5, 2020 at 10:35 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: The OMB director, Russell Vought, in a letter Friday to executive branch agencies, directed them to identify spending related to any training on “critical race theory”, “white privilege” or any other material that teaches or suggests that the United States or any race or ethnicity is “inherently racist or evil”.

    So…they don’t know what critical race theory* and white privilege are?

    *Whom am I kidding? They seem to reject critical thinking of any kind.

  138. 138.

    Another Scott

    September 5, 2020 at 10:35 am

    @Abnormal Hiker: Heretic!!1

    Obligatory – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3fAcxcxoZ8 (4:15)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  139. 139.

    OzarkHillbilly

    September 5, 2020 at 10:36 am

    @Betty Cracker: I was a little disappointed when he didn’t burst into laughter at the mention of SH Sanders. After all the blatant lies she told from the Press Secretary podium, the woman has no credibility left to shit on.

  140. 140.

    Miss Bianca

    September 5, 2020 at 10:37 am

    @Kay:

    Be cautious, be wary, but be that way over things that are real and specific and likely to occur in certain states and jurisdictions and every time you read a theory of how they can steal the election take it all the way through- “how, specifically does this work?”

    LALALA, I can’t hear you because my hair is on fire and I’m too busy screaming, “We’re doomed, DOOMED, I tell ya, DOOMED!!11!!”

  141. 141.

    Comrade Scrutinizer

    September 5, 2020 at 10:37 am

    @SiubhanDuinne: October 15 for me.  Early voting in NC.

  142. 142.

    Formerly disgruntled in Oregon

    September 5, 2020 at 10:39 am

     

    @MomSense:

    They believe in a weird Santa Jesus

    You get presents if you follow the rules

    But good Santa represents unselfish, non-transactional generosity and loving everyone… just like true Jesus

    EFC

  143. 143.

    zhena gogolia

    September 5, 2020 at 10:40 am

    @Ken:

    My thoughts exactly! My first question to my husband this morning was, “If Trump resigns, can Pence just be the candidate, or would he have had to get the nomination?” I guess that’s a sign that my mind is turning to more hopeful thoughts.

  144. 144.

    Miss Bianca

    September 5, 2020 at 10:42 am

    @Immanentize: Oh, I’d love to see that question!

    Actually, I bet I’d love to take your class! I’m starting to think I should have gone to law school, after all…(altho’ I am perfectly cognizant of the fact that I probably would have loved law school and hated being a lawyer.).

  145. 145.

    chopper

    September 5, 2020 at 10:42 am

    @yellowdog:

    i’m crawling over broken glass to put biden and harris in the WH, and there’s nothing you’re going to say that’s going to dissuade that. nice try tho.

  146. 146.

    zhena gogolia

    September 5, 2020 at 10:43 am

    @chopper:

    hahaha I’m with you

  147. 147.

    Brachiator

    September 5, 2020 at 10:43 am

    @NotMax:

    On September 8th, CBS All Access is holding an all-day streaming event to commemorate the 54th anniversary of the premiere of the original Star Trek television show.…

    Thanks for the heads up.

  148. 148.

    OzarkHillbilly

    September 5, 2020 at 10:43 am

    @The Dangerman: So many nightmares in this world today; thanks for a little sanity

    Now that, that is just sad. ;-)

  149. 149.

    KSinMA

    September 5, 2020 at 10:44 am

    @Kay: Is anyone running against Ohio’s Sec of State this November (I hope)?

  150. 150.

    Miss Bianca

    September 5, 2020 at 10:44 am

    @different-church-lady: I was describing it that way to someone the other day, too – likening Trump to Drunk Uncle you avoid sitting next to at Thanksgiving versus Grandpa Joe, who may say things that make you roll your eyes but who’s definitely got his family’s back at all times.

  151. 151.

    japa21

    September 5, 2020 at 10:45 am

    @Kay: In Cook County, we have converted to all paper ballots, even if the voter is using a touch screen. Their selections are printed out and then placed in the scanner. The voters place them in.

    My biggest concern, and not one I know what to do with, is provisional ballots. I have a feeling a lot of people are going to request mail in ballots and then decide to vote in person. If they bring in the ballot sent to them, no problem, but if not they have to vote provisionally. There are going to be more then the usual number of provisional ballots this year for just that reason.

  152. 152.

    Ramalama

    September 5, 2020 at 10:48 am

    @Kay: I love this explanation. Will pass along to my family in ‘Merica.

    That’s the GOP suppression tactic. But it doesn’t end there! Democrats sued to allow the decision to be made locally. But it doesn’t end there! If they win we then have a situation where we have equal numbers of D’s and R’s on each county bd of elections. So the likely result is the D’s vote for more drop boxes and the R’s vote against. But then they can sue in the county. My point is “voter suppression” is a state level and then county level series of wins and losses on nitpicky and specific rules and legal issues. It’s in inches and until we get a robust federal law that’s where it has to be fought. But it CAN be fought.

  153. 153.

    Immanentize

    September 5, 2020 at 10:48 am

    @Kropacetic: Sorry about Achincloss.  But happy about Markey!

  154. 154.

    germy

    September 5, 2020 at 10:48 am

    It can’t be professionalism and competence. It has to be a conspiracy.

    The Democrat candidate for President & multiple liberal vet groups had ads written, directed & produced – with the ad buy (!) within minutes of this alleged Trump quote dropping.

    My production team is *really* fast.

    This is impossible.

    It’s almost as if they knew it was coming https://t.co/ygxTCwYUU9

    — Benny (@bennyjohnson) September 4, 2020

    Hi, rapid response video editor for @joebiden here ?

    That’s literally my job. It’s not a conspiracy – you just need a faster production team! https://t.co/wnOLhbCVG8

    — Parker Butler (@parkerbutler10) September 5, 2020

  155. 155.

    KSinMA

    September 5, 2020 at 10:49 am

    @MomSense:

    Come sit by me (with your mask on, of course).

  156. 156.

    Immanentize

    September 5, 2020 at 10:50 am

    @Kay: Here in my town in Mass., We fill out the scan sheet, then put it in the machine, checking to make sure the vote number ticks up.  That’s how I know how many people voted before me when I go.  The scan sheet is sent into the bottom of the machine to be packaged up later in case a paper recount is needed.

  157. 157.

    Immanentize

    September 5, 2020 at 10:52 am

    @Miss Bianca: Do you know how hard that is?  How much work it takes to remain a bore?  Not easy, I am tellin’ ya

  158. 158.

    Another Scott

    September 5, 2020 at 10:53 am

    I think that Ben’s right that this is a great ad that cuts to the chase on health care in the USA.

    This is one of the greatest political TV ads I have ever seen. This is what we need to have going viral and everyone to watch. This ad is a master class in how to break through the clutter.https://t.co/wvZ6TX0GQN

    — Ben Tribbett (@notlarrysabato) September 5, 2020

    Well done. Even moreso because it’s true and right.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  159. 159.

    Immanentize

    September 5, 2020 at 10:54 am

    @Miss Bianca:

    I probably would have loved law school and hated being a lawyer.

    Those people are often called law professors.

  160. 160.

    Ken

    September 5, 2020 at 10:59 am

    @germy: Did anyone tell “Benny” that it’s easier when you don’t have to fake the footage?

  161. 161.

    eclare

    September 5, 2020 at 11:00 am

    @Another Scott: Very, very good.  And like you wrote, 100% true.  Thanks for sharing.

  162. 162.

    Immanentize

    September 5, 2020 at 11:01 am

    if there is a moderator here — could you please do something about comment 103 by Abnormal Hiker?  It broke the margins which is really making reading and commenting on a phone very trying.

    Thanks!

  163. 163.

    mad citizen

    September 5, 2020 at 11:01 am

    @Another Scott: Thanks for posting this one, it is straight and to the point (trying to avoid “straight talk”).  Biden team should do more like this on all the issues.  There are enough PACs doing the other stuff.

  164. 164.

    Kropacetic

    September 5, 2020 at 11:01 am

    @Immanentize: I do need to say, Markey way beat my expectations when I took a long, hard look at him.

    Sorry about Achincloss.

    Uggh…incloss.  I said to myself I haven’t voted for a Republican for over a decade, took one quick look at his opponent, and decided that trend was going to continue.  I looked at materials he put out to try to warm myself to him.  It was all boilerplate “the right side” kind of stuff with nothing to suggest he really ever thought deeply about these issues. I just…don’t…get it.

    Guess I’ll just keep abreast of Auchincloss news over the next couple years and consider an opponent in 22 if need be.  Hell, he may just beat my expectations.

  165. 165.

    raven

    September 5, 2020 at 11:02 am

    Still those assholes Big and Rich on the Gameday Opening.

  166. 166.

    debbie

    September 5, 2020 at 11:04 am

    @Jinchi:

    …”exhausted” and “unable to handle the pressure” as his former chief of staff.

    Because we all know how babyish and coddling the Marine experience is.

  167. 167.

    Humanities Prof

    September 5, 2020 at 11:04 am

    @KSinMA: Ohio Secretary of State isn’t on the ballot this year.  Ohio statewide elections (Governor, SoS, etc.) happen in the off-year cycle.

  168. 168.

    debbie

    September 5, 2020 at 11:06 am

    @randy khan:

    I think there’s a fair chance he leaves Washington well before January 20, maybe even in mid-November.

    You don’t know Donald Trump. He wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to lay waste to anything, if not everything.

  169. 169.

    Immanentize

    September 5, 2020 at 11:06 am

    @Kropacetic: Auchincloss will not win a second term.  So I expect he will run for Senate.

    PS. Ranked voting like in Maine will be on the ballot in November.  If we had ranked voting this time around, your rep would be Mermell.

  170. 170.

    japa21

    September 5, 2020 at 11:08 am

    @Another Scott: I see comments were turned off.  I wonder why.  Not really.

  171. 171.

    L85NJGT

    September 5, 2020 at 11:09 am

    @Ken:

    He openly trolls Pence about abortion.

  172. 172.

    japa21

    September 5, 2020 at 11:09 am

    @debbie: That’s what I was thinking. Trump basically disparaged all Marines with that comment.

  173. 173.

    SiubhanDuinne

    September 5, 2020 at 11:10 am

    @Comrade Scrutinizer:

    Early voting here in GA starts October 12, according to the SoS website. But as that’s a Federal Holiday, I’m not confident polls will actually be open. I’m looking at the Tuesday or Wednesday of that week.

  174. 174.

    debbie

    September 5, 2020 at 11:18 am

    @MomSense:

    Yesterday, a bunch of guys showed up at the church next door with vacuum cleaners. This probably means they’ll reopen tomorrow. Pity, because the congregation is overwhelmingly elderly.

  175. 175.

    yellowdog

    September 5, 2020 at 11:18 am

    1. @NotMax: The courts will say he won the election. Remember 2000.
  176. 176.

    debbie

    September 5, 2020 at 11:21 am

    @mad citizen:

    Watch to see who comes out to complain about the haircut. Be sure to check if they look like they’ve gone months without a cut or trim. I’m guessing this will be like RWNJW bitching about Michelle’s wearing sleeveless dresses, even as they stood before cameras wearing sleeveless dresses. These fucking guys.

  177. 177.

    Kay

    September 5, 2020 at 11:21 am

    @japa21:

    My biggest concern, and not one I know what to do with, is provisional ballots. I have a feeling a lot of people are going to request mail in ballots and then decide to vote in person. If they bring in the ballot sent to them, no problem, but if not they have to vote provisionally. There are going to be more then the usual number of provisional ballots this year for just that reason.

    That to me is a very real worry and there’s another one with provisional ballots and I have witnessed this as a poll worker- people are intimidated by the process and the 4 steps and the black-box legal language warnings on the documents and they take the provisional ballot and then give up and don’t complete it. They have to complete it and they have to complete it correctly. They can ask a poll worker to review it and make sure they’ve crossed all the t’s before they leave the polling place.
    Just sloppy language can fuck it up- telling them they have to “sign” or “sign the ballot” instead of sign the envelope. A signature in the wrong place can mean a “spoiled ballot” and it won’t be counted.
    There’s the asshole belt and suspenders poll workers too- you can require voters to provide X OR Y OR Z. That’s not an “and” and you aren’t allowed to add one, even if you feel as a pollworker that it’s “safer”.
    Follow the rules exactly and don’t add any.

  178. 178.

    Kropacetic

    September 5, 2020 at 11:23 am

    @Immanentize: Achincloss will not win a second term.  So I expect he will run for Senate.

    Don’t be so sure. For such a blue state, we have a nice rich crop of relatively conservative Dems.  I’m right on the edge of my district, so I may have Lynch next year, as I did a decade ago.

  179. 179.

    Kropacetic

    September 5, 2020 at 11:24 am

    @Immanentize: PS. Ranked voting like in Maine will be on the ballot in November.  If we had ranked voting this time around, your rep would be Mermell.

    Blessed spirit of the universe, how do I sign up to help this endeavor?

  180. 180.

    Kay

    September 5, 2020 at 11:26 am

    @Immanentize:

    We had a school levy here decided by one vote. You need a paper record created by the voter and THEN you can add whatever makes an initial count faster. That’s the check. It’s there so you can GO BACK if you need to and compare the electronic record with the paper.

  181. 181.

    Steeplejack

    September 5, 2020 at 11:28 am

    @zhena gogolia:

    Well played.

  182. 182.

    Steeplejack

    September 5, 2020 at 11:28 am

    @zhena gogolia:

    Well played.

  183. 183.

    Jeffro

    September 5, 2020 at 11:29 am

    Up now on WaPo: How should we respond to our former trumpov-loving friends?

    Nancy Gibbs says, welcome them back without reproach.  It’s either that or excoriate them.  As if those were the only two choices.

    Whether it’s your friend or someone in your family, or anyone with whom you’ve been at partisan odds these past four years, the temptation is to fire back that “You voted for him, you wanted him, cheered for him, you funded and fueled him, and now you have regrets?” There must be penance and flagellation, expiation in exile, bread-and-water rations, a vow of abstinence from Fox News.

    Or you can gently affirm them in a way that welcomes them back to the fold without rebuke. A celebration of the prodigal returned, because anyone can be wrong, even profoundly and flamboyantly wrong, and there is no way forward without finding a way to leave what’s past behind. Yes, reconciliation would be easier if they said, “Gee, I was so blind about him, I can’t believe I fell for his gaslighting, I’d do anything to undo my vote but I’ll work to my last breath to help defeat him this time.”

    My view?  They can come back to polite society if and only if they’re willing to do the work of repairing the damage this clown did to our country and its citizens these past 4 years.  You want back in?  Be willing to do the work.  If you’re just exhausted from having to defend him and want out, F that – he’s still your guy in my eyes.

    And no excuses, either: they either admit they let their (insert character flaw here) blind them to this malicious and profoundly stupid con man, or nope, I don’t want to hear what you have to say.

  184. 184.

    trnc

    September 5, 2020 at 11:31 am

    @germy:

    Yesterday, at Biden’s press conference, he was asked “Why isn’t Kamala Harris with you??”

    Biden calmly explained that they were in touch on a daily basis, and were visiting different states on their own.

    IOW, they’re campaigning exactly the same way every pair of candidates have since Lincoln/Johnson.

  185. 185.

    Geminid

    September 5, 2020 at 11:33 am

    @Kropacetic: I think Democratic primaries with 5 or more candidates are going to be the new normal. Runoffs may be a coming thing, and some states like Texas already have them. Primary runoffs take time and cost money, but they advance the candidate with the broadest support within the party. Would Auchingloss win a runoff?

  186. 186.

    trnc

    September 5, 2020 at 11:35 am

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    My only quibble is that I think there’s a fair chance he leaves Washington well before January 20, maybe even in mid-November.

    My only quibble is that I think there’s a fair chance he leaves Washington well before January 20, maybe even in mid-November.

    That idea was dancing in the back of my head when I wrote that, but I don’t see how it works.

    The same way everything else has worked the last 3 1/2 years – DT does whatever he feels like doing and everyone else picks up the pieces.

  187. 187.

    Ken

    September 5, 2020 at 11:36 am

    @trnc: That’s more like the last 70+ years of DJT’s life.

  188. 188.

    Kropacetic

    September 5, 2020 at 11:37 am

    @Geminid: Would Auchingloss win a runoff?

    I don’t know.  The leftier (both the evangelizing set and the more professional left) candidates did seem to get more votes, but they were more split.  I just volunteered for a ballot initiative campaign to institute ranked-choice voting, hat tip to Immanetize

    ETA: The more conservative half only seemed to split two ways; obviously falling mostly toward the one who put less thought into things, but happens to have been born with a penis.

  189. 189.

    germy

    September 5, 2020 at 11:38 am

    @trnc:

    “I’m a Beltway Reporter, not a History Professor!”

  190. 190.

    zhena gogolia

    September 5, 2020 at 11:39 am

    @germy:

    I still can’t get over “Why aren’t you angrier?”

  191. 191.

    germy

    September 5, 2020 at 11:44 am

    @zhena gogolia:  He was so proud of that question it was highlighted on CBS News that night.

    Theater criticism.  No questions about policy.

  192. 192.

    Chris Johnson

    September 5, 2020 at 11:50 am

    @A Ghost to Most:

    Shorter: clap harder!

    The real shitshow BEGINS on Nov. 4. Do you have a plan for that?

    Liz Warren fuckin’ does. And we have Liz.

    Thinking that Democrats can’t govern. That’s a laugh. We’re looking at a mess but everybody is ready to get real busy making things right.

  193. 193.

    zhena gogolia

    September 5, 2020 at 11:56 am

    @Chris Johnson:

    This commenter has in mind the all-out civil war that he is rooting for.

  194. 194.

    Kent

    September 5, 2020 at 11:57 am

    @sanjeevs: They were so right about WeWork were’t they?  How many billions did they set on fire in that fiasco?  Geniuses. Unfortunately we live in their world too.

  195. 195.

    Kent

    September 5, 2020 at 12:04 pm

    @Jeffro:

    My view?  They can come back to polite society if and only if they’re willing to do the work of repairing the damage this clown did to our country and its citizens these past 4 years.  You want back in?  Be willing to do the work.  If you’re just exhausted from having to defend him and want out, F that – he’s still your guy in my eyes.

    And no excuses, either: they either admit they let their (insert character flaw here) blind them to this malicious and profoundly stupid con man, or nope, I don’t want to hear what you have to say.

    None of it matters and actual polite society is largely a-political.  There aren’t any actual gatekeepers.  Everything will reset and we will all move on.  You can decide never again to talk to your MAGA uncle.  Lord knows, I have a bunch of them.  But it ultimately won’t make any difference.   And most of them will chase after the next shiny conservative object who tells them what they want to hear.

  196. 196.

    Chris Johnson

    September 5, 2020 at 12:05 pm

    @zhena gogolia: We are already watching that. It sucks and we do have to stop it but this is them fighting as hard and as intelligently as they can.

    Which ain’t much!

  197. 197.

    Abnormal Hiker

    September 5, 2020 at 12:05 pm

    @Ken: You obviously have read Geoff Pullum’s note (https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=10398) which says that the way to a woman’s heart is to use ‘whom’ whenever possible, whether correctly or not

  198. 198.

    Kropacetic

    September 5, 2020 at 12:08 pm

    @zhena gogolia: This commenter has in mind the all-out civil war that he is rooting for.

    An all out shooting war would be devastating to the whole country and I wouldn’t be surprised if much of the rest of the world got involved.

    What also can’t happen is for us to continue losing the cold civil war that the inheritors to confederate ideology have been waging since reconstruction.

  199. 199.

    Kent

    September 5, 2020 at 12:13 pm

    @debbie:

    You don’t know Donald Trump. He wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to lay waste to anything, if not everything

    Stephen Miller and Bill Barr are going to squeeze every last second out of their time in the Führerbunker and then when the Allies are actually in the building they will flee to the Neu-Berchtesgaden in Lynchburg VA where they will try to conduct futile resistance.

    They aren’t brave enough to do the correct historical thing and use cyanide.

  200. 200.

    trollhattan

    September 5, 2020 at 12:16 pm

    @Abnormal Hiker:
    Therefore, send not to know
    For whom the babe pines,
    She pines for thee.

  201. 201.

    trollhattan

    September 5, 2020 at 12:17 pm

    @Kent:

    Two months are an eternity to an arsonist. And, they’ll have McConnell holding their gas cans.

  202. 202.

    Doug R

    September 5, 2020 at 12:25 pm

    @NotMax: The Star Deck: Lower Decks cartoon came out of the closet re its production this week when they team up with the USS Vancouver. Turns out Boimler’s “girlfriend” is on the Vancouver and I spotted Marpole, Fairview, and Kitsilano among the shuttlecraft names.

    I did some research and STLD is produced by Titmouse Studios in their Vancouver location.

  203. 203.

    Another Scott

    September 5, 2020 at 12:35 pm

    ICYMI, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa/u-s-coronavirus-deaths-projected-to-more-than-double-to-410000-by-january-idUSKBN25V2A7

    (Reuters) – U.S. deaths from the coronavirus will reach 410,000 by the end of the year, more than double the current death toll, and deaths could soar to 3,000 per day in December, the University of Washington’s health institute forecast on Friday.

    Deaths could be reduced by 30% if more Americans wore face masks as epidemiologists have advised, but mask-wearing is declining, the university’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation said.

    The U.S. death rate projected by the IHME model, which has been cited by the White House Coronavirus Task Force, would more than triple the current death rate of some 850 per day.

    “We expect the daily death rate in the United States, because of seasonality and declining vigilance of the public, to reach nearly 3,000 a day in December,” the institute, which bills itself as an independent research center, said in an update of its periodic forecasts.

    “Cumulative deaths expected by January 1 are 410,000; this is 225,000 deaths from now until the end of the year,” the institute said.

    It previously projected 317,697 deaths by Dec. 1.

    The model’s outlook for the world was even more dire, with deaths projected to triple to 2.8 million by Jan. 1, 2021.

    […]

    We all know the IHME model is very simplistic, but this is a warning that the virus is still everywhere, there’s still no treatment (except in the most severe cases), there’s no cure, and there’s no vaccine.

    While out walking Ellie this morning, I saw a neighbor had one of those rented inflatable bouncy castle things for kids to play in set up on their yard for a party. At least half-a-dozen people of all ages were in there, bouncing around and yelling and having a great time. Without masks…

    I assume we’ll hit 200,000 deaths in the US on Worlometers.info by 9/20 or so. :-(

    Be careful out there.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  204. 204.

    Kent

    September 5, 2020 at 12:42 pm

    @trollhattan: Our only hope is if 3-4 geriatric GOP senators get taken out by Covid and are at least on ventilators or unable to vote.  Forcing McConnell to find Dem votes to get anything through the Senate during the lame duck session.  Otherwise it is going to be a fucking horror show.  They have no shame.  Right now they are slightly in check by the Collins’ of the world who aren’t super excited about taking truly outrageously partisan votes on the eve of their re-election campaigns.   But during a lame duck session those constraints will be gone.

  205. 205.

    Yutsano

    September 5, 2020 at 12:48 pm

    @Kent: So they ram a bunch more judges through and pretty much do nothing else. Pretty much no different than now I would think. We would need to expand the federal judiciary by a lot and maybe even recall some of those really terrible judges. Then see what happens in 2022 when the Republicans have another tough Senate map.

  206. 206.

    Another Scott

    September 5, 2020 at 12:49 pm

    @Kent: OTOH, …

    https://rollcall.com/2020/09/03/pelosi-mnuchin-plan-clean-cr-but-length-other-details-unclear/

    Posted September 3, 2020 at 9:27pm
    An agreement between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to pursue a “clean” stopgap spending measure significantly reduces the chances of a government shutdown at month’s end but leaves most other funding questions unanswered.

    Tuesday’s accord, days before Congress prepares to return from summer recess, shows that neither President Donald Trump nor Republican or Democratic lawmakers see a political advantage in risking a partial shutdown just ahead of the elections.

    The agreement on a “clean” stopgap may be shorthand for avoiding “poison pills” or other controversial provisions that could hamper such a measure’s enactment. Nevertheless, the door is open to potentially dozens of tweaks to spending provisions and temporary extensions of expiring programs, which often ride on a stopgap, Republican and Democratic aides familiar with the process said.

    […]

    The White House and GOP lawmakers prefer a continuing resolution into December, giving the current Congress and president leverage to negotiate the final fiscal 2021 spending bills before a new Congress convenes in January. It is unclear where Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., will come down on this.

    Some Democrats speculate Pelosi may prefer a stopgap that extends into next year, when Democrats hope they will take control of the Senate and the White House in addition to holding the House.

    […]

    Moscow Mitch’s name doesn’t appear in the story.

    We’ll have an idea of who holds more of the cards, and how they’ll be played, soon.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  207. 207.

    Just Chuck

    September 5, 2020 at 12:53 pm

    One thing that irks me a whole lot more than the whole “whom” thing is people who correct you when you say “Bob went to the store with Susan and me” with … you know what’s coming … “Susan and I“.  Usually engendering a heaping load of Backpfeifengesicht  to go with it.

    It’s the same rule as “whom”.  Subject = “I”, “Who”.  Object = “Me”, “Whom”.  It doesn’t change for compound subjects and objects.  It’s that fucking easy.  But I guess they don’t make you diagram sentences in grammar grade school anymore.  Harrumph.

    But I’ll say “Who was the letter addressed to?” because that preposition rule is rubbish up with which I shall not put.

  208. 208.

    joel hanes

    September 5, 2020 at 12:53 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    how I can best contribute to an overwhelming and irrefutable Democratic victory in November

    IMHO, money contributed to flip the Texas House has the greatest potential impact per dollar, and the greatest potential upside in absolute magnitude,   If we can flip Texas and undo the egregious gerrymander, the Republicans will be locked out of the Presidency for several cycles.

    donate

    motivational video with Morena Bacarin [Firefly represent!] and Ben Mackenzie [Gotham]

  209. 209.

    joel hanes

    September 5, 2020 at 1:00 pm

    @senyordave:

    VP Pence: “To know President Trump is to know someone who’s word is his bond.”

    It’s literally true.

    Trump routinely stiffs all creditors, as policy, and fights their efforts to recoup.   He looted a charity.   His “bond” is invariably an instrument of fraud.   So is his every promise.

  210. 210.

    Jinchi

    September 5, 2020 at 1:01 pm

    @Kay: Trump shouldn’t tell people to vote twice because it’s a felony.

    Trump realized his brilliant plan to end mail in voting by defunding the post office had failed.

    “They don’t have the money to do the universal mail-in voting. So therefore, they can’t do it, I guess,” Trump said. “Are they going to do it even if they don’t have the money?”

    Republicans were panicking because their own voters were deciding not to vote by mail, and they typically vote by mail more often than Democrats do. His stupidity was threatening to drive down turnout in his own party.

    So this is plan B. It gives Republicans permission to vote absentee, while also simultaneously “proving” how easy it is to commit fraud using mail-in ballots and then voting the “right” way.

    “These mail-in ballots are a disgrace and they know it. Sign your mail-in ballot. Sign it and send it in and then you have to follow it. And if on Election Day or early voting, that is not tabulated and counted, you go vote,”

    Of course none of the ballots will be counted before the voting is done, so this is a plan that is bound end up with Republicans attempting to commit voter fraud under the guise of trying to expose it. I’m sure Trump will be ready to issue a blanket pardon to anyone who follows his orders,… but only if he wins.

  211. 211.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    September 5, 2020 at 1:05 pm

    @The Dangerman: Hi, don’t be a stranger; we worry when our fellow jackals are away.

  212. 212.

    japa21

    September 5, 2020 at 1:06 pm

    @Jinchi: The problem with his thinking is that is not how mail-in ballots vote, at least in most areas. If you are sent a mail-in ballot you name is in the system as having received one. That means that you will have to do a provisional ballot which won’t be counted until all mail in ballots are counted.

  213. 213.

    rikyrah

    September 5, 2020 at 1:12 pm

    @MomSense:

     

    This is infuriating.  They should be prosecuted.

     

    Absolutely

  214. 214.

    Jinchi

    September 5, 2020 at 1:16 pm

    @japa21: Trump has a lot of problems with his thinking, but the meltdown his groupies will have when they show up to vote in person and are told they have to use a provisional ballot — that’s not a problem, it’s part of the plan.

  215. 215.

    opiejeanne

    September 5, 2020 at 1:33 pm

    @germy: I don’t understand why it would be scandalous if the rapid response ad guys did know in advance.

    This guy’s’ whining is like someone on a battlefield yelling across the line, “Wait! Don’t shoot! I’m not ready!”

  216. 216.

    Sister Golden Bear

    September 5, 2020 at 1:33 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer: I think it’s likely he’ll head for Mar-A-Largo for the holidays and not come back.

  217. 217.

    Jinchi

    September 5, 2020 at 1:38 pm

    @Sister Golden Bear: Melania will order extensive kitchen renovations on December 21st and all the floors and pipes in the White House will be torn up when Biden arrives.

  218. 218.

    tokyokie

    September 5, 2020 at 1:40 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    I’ll say once again that my expectation for the election is that Trump will make a lot of noise whatever the outcome and do a lot less.

    Trump seems to threaten to sue somebody a whole lot more often than he actually sues them. And as a lot of his butt-hurt is legally specious, he tends not to sue parties that would have the means to countersue him for abuse of process.

  219. 219.

    geg6

    September 5, 2020 at 1:41 pm

    @Sister Golden Bear: 

    That’s what I think, too. And continuous crazed, bitter tweeting will ensue. He’s a coward and will not face his defeat, IMHO.

  220. 220.

    Ruckus

    September 5, 2020 at 1:45 pm

    @trnc:

    I’m still wondering what shitforbrains has on Lindsey.

    It’s got to be something reasonably juicy/possibly illegal or Lindsey wouldn’t have gone all in with shitforbrains.

  221. 221.

    Ken

    September 5, 2020 at 1:47 pm

    @Sister Golden Bear: Thanksgiving, or Halloween?  Or even Labor Day?

  222. 222.

    Ken

    September 5, 2020 at 1:49 pm

    @Ruckus: I’m still wondering what shitforbrains has on Lindsey.

    We may find out. Ask yourself, is Trump – having lost the election – the type of guy to go out with quiet grace and dignity, or the type to take out his anger on anyone he can?

    And I’d think Graham’s more likely to be targeted if he wins his election.

  223. 223.

    Jess

    September 5, 2020 at 1:50 pm

    @Jeffro:  Yeah, I would have said “skittered out like a spanked chihuahua.”

  224. 224.

    rikyrah

    September 5, 2020 at 1:51 pm

    @japa21:

     

    I, too, am concerned about provisional ballots.

    Just the volume of them.

    I think that the volume will be the biggest problem.

  225. 225.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    September 5, 2020 at 1:55 pm

    @Ruckus: I have the decidedly boring take that what you see with Graham is what you get. He probably went all in on trump harder than he had to, becoming his little golf buddy, but I think you see a man of both unhinged ambition and a need feed off vicarious machismo. I think it was Dana Milbank who first proposed that trump replaced John McCain as Lindsay’s surrogate father. My first thought was “ew”, my second was, “yeah, why not”

    If the Republic survives, it will have have survived the pathological daddy issues of everyone from Tim Russert and George W Bush to Lindsey Graham and Donald Trump.

  226. 226.

    Jinchi

    September 5, 2020 at 1:57 pm

    @Ruckus: My guess is it will be something almost universally believed, but not talked about. Something that virtually nobody really cares about, but Lindsay thinks is politically fatal.

  227. 227.

    Betty Cracker

    September 5, 2020 at 2:08 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    If the Republic survives, it will have have survived the pathological daddy issues of everyone from Tim Russert and George W Bush to Lindsey Graham and Donald Trump.

    Hahaha! QFT. I agree about Graham. He has to be someone’s pathetic lackey. He chose poorly.

  228. 228.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    September 5, 2020 at 2:14 pm

    @Ken: We may find out. Ask yourself, is Trump – having lost the election – the type of guy to go out with quiet grace and dignity, or the type to take out his anger on anyone he can?

    The later, and the people he will have the most access to Trump can punish are is his administration members.  Remember Trump fired his campaign last July for Trump’s crappy approval numbers.

    I still stand by my prediction Trump is going to do some wierd kind of temporary resignation so Trump can claim Pence is president during the election and it’s Pence who lost it. The fly off to one of his properties claiming he is still president because the election didn’t count for reasons.

  229. 229.

    RaflW

    September 5, 2020 at 2:25 pm

    @germy: It has been remarkable how Hunter Biden has had zero traction in recent months. And by remarkable, I mean very very good. Our press is a mess, but they seem to have realized that Hunter is a story with basically no there, there.

  230. 230.

    Elie

    September 5, 2020 at 2:48 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    I just had a smile thinking if Trump does not move out by Jan 19-20 — thinking of having all his “stuff” put outside on the lawn — a taste of what they give po folks who get evicted — all their personal belongings placed out for the world to see.  Oh I wish!

  231. 231.

    debbie

    September 5, 2020 at 2:49 pm

    @Another Scott:

    I see much irony in the situation. First, Trump and Jared scheme so that the virus will decimate the blue states; now, though, it’s the red states, with their refusal to mask up and socially distance, who will come to be decimated. Trump may come to regret not supporting mail-in voting; his voters may find themselves too sick to drag their sorry selves to the polls.

  232. 232.

    Elie

    September 5, 2020 at 2:54 pm

    The Trumpites holed up in the many agencies from DHS, DHHS, FDA, etc will need to be watched quickly cause they probably already have their marching orders to destroy records and totally dysfunctionalize as much as they can as they depart.  They have had just enough time to permeate into the agencies and do as much damage as they can.  There will be too many fires to spend our time trying them in court — we will just have to fix stuff as quickly as we can to get it functional and keep going.  Too much to do…

  233. 233.

    debbie

    September 5, 2020 at 2:55 pm

    @Elie:

    I would like to see Joe Biden, like an angry girlfriend, tossing out Trump’s belongings, one piece at a time. With each piece, he shouts out one Trump offense. “This is for the children in cages.” “This is for the scientists you belittle.” “This is for every time you desecrated the American flag by hugging and humping it.” etc.

  234. 234.

    taumaturgo

    September 5, 2020 at 3:08 pm

    @Baud: My favorite promise, “Mexico will pay for the wall.”

  235. 235.

    Sab

    September 5, 2020 at 3:20 pm

    @debbie: I want Joe to be classy. Pack stuff up in boxes and quetly ship it “home” ( Trump Tower,NYC or Marred Lago?) Then inventory and sue for every bit of US property those guys will steal. Count the silverware and the china, and the linen and the nickknacks. Remington horse statues.

    I feel bad about the crab-apple trees in the rose-garden, but those trees were old, and don’t last that long. They needed replacing. She cleared the way (quite literally) for better long- term replacements.) Younger same type trees were needed. Glad they did what was needed so politically ineptly.

  236. 236.

    Sab

    September 5, 2020 at 3:21 pm

    @debbie: I want Joe to be classy. Pack stuff up in boxes and quetly ship it “home” ( Trump Tower,NYC or Marred Lago?) Then inventory and sue for every bit of US property those guys will steal. Count the silverware and the china, and the linen and the nickknacks. Remington horse statues.

    I feel bad about the crab-apple trees in the rose-garden, but those trees were old, and don’t last that long. They needed replacing. She cleared the way (quite literally) for better long- term replacements. Younger same type trees were needed. Glad they did what was needed so politically ineptly.

  237. 237.

    Sab

    September 5, 2020 at 3:26 pm

    @Kay: Frank LaRose grew up around my oldest sister-in-law who was friends with his mother. His mother fucked up big time raising her kids.

  238. 238.

    J R in WV

    September 5, 2020 at 3:52 pm

    @Yutsano:

    So they ram a bunch more judges through and pretty much do nothing else. Pretty much no different than now I would think. We would need to expand the federal judiciary by a lot and maybe even recall some of those really terrible judges. Then see what happens in 2022 when the Republicans have another tough Senate map.

    There is no such thing as “recall” for federal judges, who are not elected officers. They need to be impeached individually by the House, and expelled by the Senate, which means we need to own the Senate, lock, stock and barrel. [ which refers to the 3 main components of an old-fashioned Kentucky-style rifle  ]

    in this case that means getting some Rs to vote with the D majority, as it takes a super majority to convict impeached federal office holders, including judges.

  239. 239.

    Renie

    September 5, 2020 at 4:00 pm

    What could this mean? Boats in the trump boat parade on Lake Travis in Texas are sinking.  Sign for the future?

  240. 240.

    Ken

    September 5, 2020 at 4:06 pm

    @Renie: Even the Deep Ones are on our side.

  241. 241.

    NotMax

    September 5, 2020 at 4:14 pm

    @yellowdog

    You really ought to take that act on the stage.

    The next one leaves in ten minutes.

  242. 242.

    Ruckus

    September 5, 2020 at 4:28 pm

    @Ken:

    the type of guy to go out with quiet grace and dignity, or the type to take out his anger on anyone he can?

    I’m going with B. But really he’s such an ass he doesn’t seem to have to lose to piss on everyone.

  243. 243.

    prostratedragon

    September 5, 2020 at 5:13 pm

    @Renie:  Apparently some sinister genius has started the hashtag #Dumbkirk.

  244. 244.

    WaterGirl

    September 5, 2020 at 5:15 pm

    @Immanentize: did that help?

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