Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

I might just take the rest of the day off and do even more nothing than usual.

This really is a full service blog.

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

Anne Laurie is a fucking hero in so many ways. ~ Betty Cracker

America is going up in flames. The NYTimes fawns over MAGA celebrities. No longer a real newspaper.

If you can’t control your emotions, someone else will.

75% of people clapping liked the show!

Hey hey, RFK, how many kids did you kill today?

When they say they are pro-life, they do not mean yours.

He really is that stupid.

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

Baby steps, because the Republican Party is full of angry babies.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

If you thought you’d already seen people saying the stupidest things possible on the internet, prepare yourselves.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

The low info voters probably won’t even notice or remember by their next lap around the goldfish bowl.

Roe is not about choice. It is about freedom.

One lie, alone, tears the fabric of reality.

DeSantis transforming Florida into 1930s Germany with gators and theme parks.

Come on, man.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

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Open Thread: I Have My Plan

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Open Thread: I Have My Plan

I was trying to figure out how to best get through election night. I assumed something physical and a bit zen would be best. So I picked out the color for the accent wall in the living room and I’m going to tape it up and paint it. That should get me through the early returns.

My emotions, like many of you, are all over the place. Hopeful and excited one moment and freaked out the next.

Meanwhile, tomorrow I have to track down a new pool for the ducks. As with everything else, baby wading pools sold out this summer before I was able to grab a couple. I’ve been nursing the two I have, but we have run out of luck on that and one has sprung a terminal leak. I’ve found a mixing trough that other duck owners have had success with, so I’ll go take a look and see if it will work. Ducks are very picky, so we’ll see. Meanwhile, “duck” tape will get us through at least this week for pool repair.

How about you, how you are planning to spend election night?

Open thread

Reader Interactions

191Comments

  1. 1.

    dmsilev

    The Onion speaks for us all:
    Woman Hopes She Did Enough Worrying To Help Biden Campaign

    ERIE, PA—Waiting on tenterhooks on the eve of the election, local woman Elise Stalter expressed her hope Monday that she had done enough worrying to help the Biden presidential campaign. “I’ve been panicking pretty much every day for the last few months, but now that there’s only one day left, I wonder if I could have done more,” said Stalter, admitting that while she had regularly taken to the streets to collapse in a puddle of despair, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she could have gone even further with her mental breakdown. “I’ve been sending out texts telling everyone I know that I’m constantly on the verge of a full-blown anxiety attack, and I’ve spent hundreds of dollars supporting a variety of self-soothing products. Now I just pray that I’ve experienced enough existential dread to make a difference.” At press time, Stalter consoled herself that she still had almost a full day to slip into a catatonic state.

  3. 3.

    CaseyL

    How is the new duck house working out?  Weren’t we promised videos of the girls inspecting/hating their new digs?

    Election Night? I **want** to bury myself in a good book for most of the evening.  What I’ll probably actually do is have a book open and be unable to concentrate on reading it while sneaking over here every half hour to see the latest updates.

  5. 5.

    Raoul Paste

    Well I certainly am not going to turn on the television  coverage, although a distracting movie might be nice

    And lurking a bit here, as usual .   Assuming victory, I expect I will be at a loss to provide the proper comment tomorrow

  7. 7.

    Mary G

    From the middle of a sad and amusing thread:

    #BREAKING Kenyans living in politically-troubled, disease-ravaged US urged to stay indoors and not to venture into the country's interior. A travel advisory issued by the Kenyan government notes heightened risk of election-related tribal violence in central and southern states.— gathara (@gathara) November 2, 2020

  8. 8.

    cope

    TV (DVR, DVD or streaming, no chyrons), books (one is about killer whales) and magazines (new Smithsonian came yesterday). Also, too, food as we will have some great leftovers: lazy relleno casserole and green pork chile to spread on top. At 5:58 PM tomorrow is a scheduled launch which I will try to get a time exposure of with a foreground reflection in our pool. I just took a couple of test shots and it will probably still be too bright but I’ll give it a shot. Normal bedtime around 10:30 or so, a good night sleep then a shower when I get up to whole new world, one way or the other, on Wednesday.

  9. 9.

    Splitting Image

    Well, I’m working tomorrow evening, so that should just about cover it.

    Unfortunately, I’m working from home because of COVID, and working on a computer connected to the internet, so I imagine that I’ll be spending the evening refreshing a selection of web pages. Probably including this one.

    Everybody try not to panic when Kentucky is called for Trump right after the polls close. There are reasons to believe it might not be a bellwether this cycle.

  10. 10.

    R-Jud

    I’m taking two sleeping tablets at 8 p.m. my time (3 p.m. EST), and plan to sleep through it. Regardless of the result, I’ll be well-rested.

  11. 11.

    Chetan Murthy

    @CaseyL: It still requires self-discipline, but …. how about disconnecting your wifi-router, taking it out to your car, putting it in the trunk?  Even better, give it to your neighbor (in a plastic bag, bien sur, and sprayed down with bleach cleaner before you hand it over) to store for you.  Heh, swap routers with your neighbor, then tomorrow swap back.

    Oh darn it!  I forgot: we all have Internet on our phones!  It’s hopeless!

  12. 12.

    e julius drivingstorm

    Starting now, Laphroaig. It will make me sleep late. then hair of the dog. I’m thinking positive. If it’s called for the good guys tomorrow I’ll celebrate (Laphroaig), If not, more Laphroaig.

  13. 13.

    TaMara (HFG)

    @CaseyL: They got shut in it for the first 2 1/2 days because the temps were in the teens. I was afraid they’d never want to go back into it, but they’ve adapted and seem to really love the big yard. They hang out there in the a.m. before I get out and let them out and seem pretty happy.

    And I know it keeps them warm because I put a gallon of hot water in it on the nights in the teens and it didn’t freeze like it did in the other hut.

  14. 14.

    Mary G

    I  happened to turn to Fox in 2012 right before Karl Rove had his meltdown about some county in Ohio, and Megyn and her legs were dispatched to the “decision desk” guys in the back to ask if they were sure Obama had won. Cackled with glee when they said 100%. Might turn it on in the background just to gloat.

  17. 17.

    burnspbesq

    Early dinner, and then I am retreating to the Guitarsenal, and I’m not coming out until my fingers are bleeding. And if that happens, there will be 16 hours of Champions League replays on the CBS app.

  19. 19.

    Eric NNY

    HAAAAAA!  Duck tape, awesome!

    I have a small hobby farm and desperately want ducks and a guard goose, but there is a river across the road that I think they would find irresistible and which is too busy for ducks.  Sigh.

  21. 21.

    MazeDancer

    Glued to the tube tomorrow night. From the misleading exit polls onward. Counting the minutes until the Florida results start coming in at 7:15.

    Though, think it likely that NC plays a big role tomorrow. And Georgia.

    Also possible there will be more people watching the election results than did the moon landing.

    Will also be all over Twitter, because that is where the numbers folks make their  pronouncements. Pro tip: Josh Marshall has a list you can follow called “Numbers Peeps“. All the big guns are there.

  22. 22.

    JCJ

    We have one shot. One opportunity. One moment.

     

     

    I expected Biden to start channeling his inner Eminem from Eight Mile

  23. 23.

    evap

    Since 2006, I’ve had an election night party for all presidential and most mid-term elections.  Alas, it will be a very small party this year. A couple of friends are coming over for some social-distanced tv watching.   A few others will drop by and grab some food and say hello.

    I’m making Indian and Jamaican food for Kamala and I got some Utz’s potato chips for Joe.   We’ll be drinking blue margaritas!   I’m making a vanilla/chocolate checkerboard cake decorated with the Biden Harris logo.  If (when?) something really good happens, I have a nice (expensive!) bottle of my favorite wine (Amarone).  I really hope I get to open it tomorrow night.

  24. 24.

    natem

    Some of these Online Edgy Lefty Bros need to just get on with it already and join their brethren Taibbi and Greenwald on the Trump Train

  25. 25.

    japa21

    Since I am an election judge and won’t get home until 9:30 – 10:00 the early evening is taken care of. In 2016, I was checking BJ while we were taking everything down and things kept going from bad to worse. Not doing that this year.

    Mrs. Japa is going to be watching Decades, Animal Planet, HGTV or whatever until I get home. Then we will check in together. Hopefully you won’t be reading about a murder/suicide.

  27. 27.

    Kristine

    I’m doing NaNoWriMo this month, so hopefully I will have made my word count before the returns start rolling in because I doubt I’ll be able to keep myself from checking. Maybe I’ll keep MSNBC on mute. I am assuming that whatever the results, I will be texting with friends.

    If news is good, I may make myself a sazerac.

  29. 29.

    ColoradoGuy

    Hi Tamara, I’m in a nearby town, and the Big Project is replacing the 12V battery in the 2008 Prius. According to the YouTube videos, all it takes is a new, freshly charged battery, an 10mm and 12mm socket wrench (with an extension), and about a half-hour. Might as well take advantage of our spell of Fall weather and get the job done. Just found out the keyless entry system (which constantly sends out a radio signal) should have been disabled since we don’t drive the car very often. (The 12V battery keeps all of the computers going, and if the 500V/12V inverter isn’t activated, the 12V battery can run down.)

    As for the election, time to read a physical book. There are hundreds of SF books on the shelf. I’ve read all of Iain M Banks “culture” series, Terry Pratchett, and much of Asimov by now. Time to dig through the rest. Reading Heinlein’s “The Boat of a Million Years” on the iPad was a bit of a slog … physical media is still the best format for long-form reading.

    Glad to hear the ducks are fine and did OK through the cold spell. Our little terrier doggy get her 6 walks a day, no matter the weather, and it gets us out of the house to see if the outside world is still there.

  32. 32.

    ryk

    I’m working the election here in my corner of Misery. If we are as busy as expected I will probably be too tired to stay up to watch results come in.

  34. 34.

    zhena gogolia

    Well, I certainly can’t drink, because I have a full day of teaching on Wednesday. I will not turn the television on, I think. I’ll probably watch Inspector Lewis on my laptop and then tune into BJ at 10:00 PM or so and hope I don’t see the wailing and gnashing of teeth again.

  35. 35.

    Quinerly

    @TaMara (HFG): Walmart has baby pools on line. I bought one in May for JoJo when things were crazy and I wasn’t stepping foot in Walmart. Looks like they still have them on line. Free delivery on mine in the Spring.

  38. 38.

    Comrade Colette

    In theory, reading a charming, silly, YA Jane-Austen-Meets-Harry-Potter type fantasy novel and sipping red wine in my bedroom with the door shut. In practice, probably obsessively checking Twitter, MSNBC, and here, guzzling red wine, and driving my family crazy.

    I do finally have a bottle of champagne in the fridge. It took months for us to open the one we put in there on November 7, 2016. I’m not superstitious at all, but PTSD kept me from putting the current bottle in to chill until just now.

  39. 39.

    evap

    In case anyone is interested, blue margaritas are super easy to make: A shot of tequilla, a shot of blue curacao, and a shot of fresh squeezed lime juice.  Shake in a shaker with ice, strain into a glass.  Salt rim optional.  This is on the sour side, add a dash of simple syrup if you like it sweeter.   They come out a bright neon Democrat blue!

  40. 40.

    David Evans

    @ColoradoGuy: I find the iPad strains my eyes after too much reading. The Kindle Oasis, on the other hand, is wonderful. Choice of illumination level and text size, not too heavy, doesn’t need to be propped open. Going back to a physical book feels like second best (unless there are pictures).

  41. 41.

    TaMara (HFG)

    @Quinerly: Oh I wish.  Mine says none available for pick up or delivery. I even called Loveland, because it said they had some in stock…they said nope.

    I’m hoping the mixing troughs are more durable. And plus, no sharp edges.

  44. 44.

    Miss Bianca

    I said in a previous thread that I plan to be watching Downfall tomorrow evening. With thoughts and prayers directed toward Donald Trump experiencing a similarly memorable meltdown in *his* bunker.

    I don’t suppose there’s any chance that he and Melania and Stephen Miller and the rest of his foul, low-quality hires will choose to take similarly “honorable” ways out.

    ETA: But I can certainly entertain myself with fantasies of Biden, Harris et al. in the role of the Allied Armies. : )

  45. 45.

    Quinerly

    @TaMara (HFG): damn. Did you check Amazon? Also, a couple of weeks back I saw a ton of them on FB Marketplace. Kids outgrowing them and/or folks not wanting to store for winter. I’m in St. Louis.

  47. 47.

    Nicole

    Hoarse Whisperer has a lovely tweet thread, posing the possibility that Trump’s bungled response to Covid may end up costing the GOP for a decade, seeing as how it was the pandemic that drove so many states to open up early and mail-in voting, which looks to be leading to the highest turnout in a Presidential election perhaps ever.  It was very soothing to scroll through.

  50. 50.

    Brachiator

    How about you, how you are planning to spend election night?

    Lockdown and total news blackout starting around 6 pm. I will have a nice dinner and one, maybe two glasses of red wine (the most my doctor approves of). I have set aside some movies and TV show episodes to watch. I will be shutting down my phone to avoid alerts and notices.

    The main selections will be “Haunted Honeymoon,” a 1940 film with Robert Montgomery and Constance Cummings, Star Trek: First Frontier, a fan created work about the first captain of the Enterprise, Robert April, and “Knives Out,” with Daniel Craig and Ana de Armas. A total blast and the last movie I saw in theaters in the Before Times, pre-pandemic lockdown.

    I have promised myself not to look at any election return stuff until Wednesday morning.  Then I will check out the results, national and California, and then call a friend to talk a little bit about what it all means.

    I will also check my phone for messages from my brothers and sister.

    Anyway, that’s the plan.

  51. 51.

    patroclus

    Here’s my intellectual considered reasonable take on tomorrow’s election – the pathetic dweeb-like lying psychopathic fascistic slimy sleazeball is going down!!  My head says 373 EV’s; my heart 412.

  57. 57.

    cmorenc

    Immediately after supper (i.e. before any returns start coming in) I plan to disappear upstairs to our bonus room, and practice guitar until at least 11pm before I turn the TV in the room on.

  58. 58.

    aliasofwestgate

    I have a bottle of honey mead in the fridge ready to open, win or lose. I’ll need it after the stress and the ridiculousness of the last few months. I will prolly spend some time in WoW for a while with my headphones on since roomie likes to keep teh tv on and flip channels a lot. Not my thing. So bopping between WoW and some books and checking some of the stuff online. Because if i’m right, i’ll want to toss something at the screen when we end up watching CNN for a bit. So….headphones. Lots of my most upbeat playlists and keeping myself from going crazy.  We also have kittehs to pet and spoil, and i’m sure they’ll have some antics to distract us when they aren’t dozing happily somewhere near us.

  59. 59.

    Peale

    Decided at 7:00 pm to disengage. I can’t watch it this year. Will be hiding doing what I’ve been hiding out doing for the past four years. Watching a Thai series or two. Maybe read a magazine.  If by chance I forget to turn off a device and I get a Biden wins announcement, ill come in and join the celebration with you

  61. 61.

    Comrade Colette

    @Sister Golden Bear:

    freebasing Lexapro and Xanax

    Ooooh, tell me more! I’ve never freebased anything. Seems like the perfect time to start. Are there instructional videos on YouTube?

  66. 66.

    RandomMonster

    RandomMrs. is insisting we watch some normal TV. But I will check in from time to time on my phone.

  67. 67.

    TaMara (HFG)

    @HumboldtBlue: OMG, no! But am just loving the videos I just watched. When he releases the ducks and geese – that’s my yard on a smaller scale, LOL.

    And Bixby and Scout are on high raccoon alert right now. They treed one this weekend.

  69. 69.

    piratedan

    I’m gonna gut it out on MSNBC despite being subject to Kornacki and Todd because I’ll get Rachel, Nicole and Joy in the background as well as being here.  I will have booze, most likely Fireball and a mixer of sorts….

  70. 70.

    patroclus

    In 2008, me and about 700,000 of my closest friends were in Grant Park in Chi-town to hear the announcement at 10:00 p.m. (CST) of Obama/Biden’s victory.  The official announcement tomorrow will yet again be at 10:00 p.m. (CST), but savvy observers will already know the result because of Florida and North Carolina.  I have to work until about 9:45 p.m., but I’ll rush home just in time for the celebration!

  71. 71.

    VeniceRiley

    @piratedan: Fireball is good in apple cider for an apple pie-like concoction.  And that’s what I’m watching too, for the same reasons.

  73. 73.

    germy

    I keep seeing Brock Pierce commercials.

    First time I saw him, my reaction was “I thought they locked up Keith Raniere. ..”

  74. 74.

    TaMara (HFG)

    @piratedan: I think Todd has been relegated to NBC only. So you may be safe at MSNBC

    I don’t know how y’all who are going to wait until Wed for results do it. I’ll never sleep if I don’t know by bedtime if it’s a clusterfuck or a win.

  76. 76.

    WorkingOnaNym

    Working as an election judge from 6 am to 9:30 – 10:00. By the time I get home and catch up, I hope the scene will be set for Team Blue…

  77. 77.

    UncleEbeneezer

    I’ll be on tennis courts 5:45-8:30 PST.  Hopefully not fielding panicky texts from my wife.  And hopefully it will be in the bag for Biden by the time I head home.  I’ll probably grab InNOut for late dinner.

  79. 79.

    SFBayAreaGal

    I will be here and listening to two of my favorite talk show radio hosts, Pat Thurston and John Rothman

  81. 81.

    piratedan

    @TaMara (HFG): yay! it would be great not to have to deal with the Captain Oblivious of NBC, granted we still have to deal with Brian Williams but he’s less likely to say something with the fervent framing of the GOP as if it was the ordained direction of the country…

    Still, if we’re looking at a blue tsunami, I think I would rather enjoy watching the three fates talk to us all about how the Sisyphean climb would not have been possible without the odiousness of the GOP.

  83. 83.

    piratedan

    @NotMax: I would enjoy it being taken over by the Nihilist Arby’s Twitter Account…..  At least that might end all of the horse race framing!

  86. 86.

    HumboldtBlue

    These guys doing the Lord’s work in the fields of Pennsylvania.

    Excellent story from the Boston Globe.

    But Biden’s success is not merely a function of his positive image. Give the man his due. Since wrapping up the Democratic nomination he’s run a practically flawless campaign. At times, I still find it hard to reconcile the candidate I see on the stump now with the one I watched stumble through a campaign appearance in a Chinese restaurant in Las Vegas 15 months ago, telling one meandering story after another.

  87. 87.

    piratedan

    @VeniceRiley: I’ve actually found that Creme Soda is an intriguing combination as well…  but will see if I have some Martinelli’s lurking about somewhere…. ty for the idea!

  88. 88.

    jimmiraybob

    The Plan:

    1. Skrewball peanut butter flavored whiskey tonight (hey, don’t judge me, it’s halloween season!).
    2. Vote tomorrow AM.
    3.  Rub the puppy’s belly.
    4.  Turn off TV and radio.
    5. Lay in the leaves and soak up the sun and stare at blue sky.
    6.  Rub the puppy’s belly some more.
    7. Oh yeah, fill the bird feeder.
  91. 91.

    germy

    Trump leaned in & said, “you know it’s I who released you, don’t you? I succeeded & Obama failed” in the most vulnerable moment of my life, 48 hrs after releasing me from prison

    It was never about me like it was never about us. It’s about his ego. We deserve better #VoteBiden pic.twitter.com/SMhaAHKfWi

    — Aya Hijazi آية حجازي (@_AyaHijazi_) November 2, 2020

    I felt torn after the meeting worried about not being a loyal person as Trump demands loyalty as a means of maintaining control. But the government should not help citizens to make them loyal; it should do help b/c its the right thing to do #VoteBidenHarrisToSaveAmerica

    — Aya Hijazi آية حجازي (@_AyaHijazi_) November 2, 2020

  92. 92.

    Ken

    Four years ago I was in rehearsals for a community theater production of Oliver.  We were getting the increasingly bad updates between scenes. That’s not going to happen this year because our theater is on covid hiatus.

    I’m not sure what I’ll be doing this time – sometimes I think I’ll wait until late night, sometimes I think I’ll be checking every five minutes.  Maybe for sanity’s sake I’ll DVR a bunch of movies and TV shows tonight and tomorrow.

  93. 93.

    PsiFighter37

    Tomorrow’s plan: go to work, try not to get too distracted, leave early, pick up my daughter, put her down in time to start getting zoned in at 7 PM Eastern. Probably order pizza or BBQ for dinner, and work on a stout I have aged for 6+ years that was a bachelor party gift. I figure now is as good a time as any to pop that baby open. I am taking Wednesday off, so I am planning on it being a late night. MSNBC or CNN on one screen, Balloon Juice on another, and Twitter on the iPad. Think that’s enough, right?

  96. 96.

    JPL

    Tomorrow morning  wear lucky RBG shirt and shop early.     Later on change and wear Health care is a BFD shirt and take 3 benadryl

    We got this.

  97. 97.

    FlyingToaster

    Helping WarriorTeen clean out her bedroom in advance of Friday’s visit by the ant exterminators.

    Yes, on top of living in Trumpistan and a global pandemic, we have water damage (upstairs bathrooms leaking into the downstairs bathroom ceiling) which was probably caused by carpenter ants.  Goddamn it.

    So we’re clearing things away from the walls so that they can spray all the baseboards; I’ll be trimming back the outside vegetation away from the house (though they just climb the concrete and under the siding, but that’s the instructions).

    I have no intention of looking at any tv or computers until like midnight.

  98. 98.

    Ken

    @patroclus: The official announcement tomorrow will yet again be at 10:00 p.m. (CST)

    Everyone always ignores Alaska and Hawaii.  Then again, if the election is coming down to those two, things are terribly terribly wrong.

  100. 100.

    Elizabelle

    Idea for a thread:  musical selections for tomorrow night, for those of us just checking in on the blog.  Not sure I am up to hours of cable TV bloviating.

    It’s weird not to be planning to watch returns with the campaign I volunteered with, or any election night gatherings. Social distancing.

  101. 101.

    MomSense

    @JPL:

    Sounds more like a Xanax situation.
    We are watching Disney movies again tonight. Teenager is very nervous about me being at the polls tomorrow so we are taking a news hiatus.

  102. 102.

    HumboldtBlue

    @LesGS:

    I was really surprised I got locked in but now I watch every new clip.

    Elsewhere: Here’s some rather surprising news from Puerto Rico, a yes for statehood has an 8-point lead over No.

    USA (Puerto Rico), El Nuevo Día status referendum poll: “Should Puerto Rico be admitted immediately into the Union as a State?”

    Yes: 54% No: 46% Election:

    Tomorrow Fieldwork: 1 Nov ’20 Sample size: 1000

  103. 103.

    Capri

    I subscribe to a monthly cocktail club. They send everything except the alcohol and recipes. Each month features a different spirit. I’ve been saving October’s offerings for tomorrow night. So I’ll be downing 3 craft cocktails that contain mezcal,

  104. 104.

    andy

    Well, since I work at a newspaper i’ll be at my pagination station just off Editorial. We’re pushing off our A section deadline, for election news, and so is one of our print customers. I guess it’ll be a bit of a race to see who’ll come in first.

     

    Four years ago, we just buried mom on the 28th, the day before my birthday, so it was really special that a few days later that pig was elected and I’ve nursed a mix of sadness, despair, and hatred ever since. I’m hoping the American people elect to send in the cleanup crew (again).

     

    It’s a little hard to feel optimistic since I live in one of the most bitch-red counties in the state of Minnesota. We’ve had guntrash driving around all summer waving the pig’s flag, as well as the parody versions of old glory they’ve come to favor, to counter our own surprisingly large BLM protests.

     

    I hope there will be pizza.

  105. 105.

    JPL

    I’ve spent my day doing NYTimes crosswords from 2014, because I could.    So far I haven’t remembered one, but maybe if I go back to the Thursday they used pots and pans in a rebus puzzle I would.   I do remember that one.

  106. 106.

    James E Powell

    @HumboldtBlue: 

    I’m not the least bit surprised. No doubt the powers the be will find another reason to ignore what has been the majority’s expressed wishes for years now.

  108. 108.

    mali muso

    Blarg! My mom just texted me to ask me to watch some awful new “documentary” about immigration. A quick google search reveals it to be some crappy xenophobic propaganda piece with glowing reviews from notable organizations like RT and Fox. I texted back with that assessment and was told that she was sad that I had a closed mind. Going to spite donate to RAICES now.

    as for tomorrow’s plans, we don’t have tv here (long time cord cutters) so I’m going to watch kid cartoons on Netflix with my almost-4-year-old and hold her close and try not to think about the election.

  114. 114.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    Hopefully, I’ll spend my time reading, something I’ve been promising myself to do all through lockdown but haven’t had the focus for, for some reason. And it’s gotten much worse the last few weeks.

    Still, yesterday I started going through my magazines, starting with the two most recent Scientific Americans. The first thing I read was the now-famous endorsement of Biden, first endorsement in their 175-year history.

    The issue I read today had a focus on disinformation, about Covid and elections especially.

    So it’s a little hard to escape politics right now, even if you’re trying to read science.

    Two sort of unrelated things I learned in my reading:

    • France has a law prohibiting media mention of elections in the last 48 hours of the campaign. This prevented a Macron email leak from blowing up in 2017.
    • Black newborn mortality is three times higher when the doctor is white than when the doctor is black. Just ponder that for a minute. When we’ve gotten rid of Trump and need a target for our rage, racial disparities in health and justice outcomes would be a good place to focus it. This was not a small study, it was based on 1.8 million births.
  115. 115.

    PsiFighter37

    @HumboldtBlue:  If it passes, add PR to the list with DC for statehood next year.

    To me, the immediate agenda items are obvious:
    1) a comprehensive COVID-19 stimulus / relief package, paired with things like a mask mandate and a strategy to ramp up free rapid testing
    2) a comprehensive voting rights bill (it needs to be done while the memory of the inane GOP voter suppression is fresh in people’s minds)
    3) DC statehood (and PR statehood, if passed by the island)

    Inherent in all of those is nuking the filibuster, which will invariably happen. Everything after that is brass tacks.

  117. 117.

    mali muso

    @JPL: Wishing you some future snuggles!  My little girl’s arms wrapped around me for a hug is quite possibly the best feeling ever. Definitely makes me aware of how important the future is worth fighting for.

  119. 119.

    Nora Lenderbee

    Left coast here. Working tomorrow; then I’ll be riding the stationary trainer while the polls close on the east coast and watching the first results trickle in. I need to see that fucker lose minute by minute.

  120. 120.

    WereBear

    @Kristine: I am doing NaNoWriMo too! Made my quota so far. Of course, it’s early yet.

    Mr WereBear and I discussed Zen calm but admitted we will watch the whole thing, devices in hand for research.

    Laid in food, cake and cookies, and dark rum.

  121. 121.

    Danielx

    Irish coffee and grinding my molars down to the gum line, in all probability.

    Neighbors put out a Trump/Pence sign today, only one I’ve seen in the neighborhood. Fuck them extravagantly.

    ETA: picking up a good bottle of bubbly tomorrow in hopes of celebrating extravagantly.

  122. 122.

    satby

    Not watching, not checking in, no stomach for any of it. I’ve been enjoying an older British cop series on Prime, New Tricks and I’ll binge on a few episodes before going to bed. I was nearly catatonic for a week after 2016, and I’m only going to open a sparkling wine and celebrate on Wednesday if the election is called by then. But I hope and pray it’s the blue wave Cook and the other number guys expect.

  124. 124.

    JPL

    @Elizabelle: If you have a crossword subscription page down to more and then you can put in years.    The fee is worth it just for that

    More than a decade ago there was a rebus with pots and pans.  The reason I mentioned that one was a year later I was doing a puzzle in the newspaper  got and it had the same g.d  puzzle.

  126. 126.

    HumboldtBlue

    Here’s another piece about Joe Biden’s decency, this time from the campaign trail.

    But Biden’s success is not merely a function of his positive image. Give the man his due. Since wrapping up the Democratic nomination he’s run a practically flawless campaign. At times, I still find it hard to reconcile the candidate I see on the stump now with the one I watched stumble through a campaign appearance in a Chinese restaurant in Las Vegas 15 months ago, telling one meandering story after another.

  127. 127.

    Kent

    @PsiFighter37:Inherent in all of those is nuking the filibuster, which will invariably happen. Everything after that is brass tacks.

    The GOP already nuked the filibuster when they rammed Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett through.  As well as their obscene tax cuts.

    I don’t know why we are even pretending otherwise.

  128. 128.

    Steeplejack

    I’m going over to Sighthound Hall tomorrow night to watch the election returns, have drinks and (I hope) eat some good food. I am determined to watch it all (on MSNBC) to erase the stank of 2016, when we settled in to congratulate Hillary and then watched in horror as Trump lumbered to victory. Not this time, Satan!

  131. 131.

    NotMax

    @satby

    New Tricks, proving the mentally off-kilter make the best detectives.

    :)

    Program did survive multiple cast changes in later seasons with aplomb.

  132. 132.

    PsiFighter37

    @Kent: Sure, we can split semantics. I clearly am talking about the legislative filibuster (although frankly, if we can package every last dream of ours into a reconciliation bill just to be dicks, I would not mind).

  133. 133.

    Gravie

    We’re having a zoom cocktail party with 8 old friends from all over — Myrtle Beach, Oaxaca, Birmingham, and Seattle. We just haven’t been able to settle on the correct starting time.

  136. 136.

    Bill Arnold

    @TaMara (HFG):
    Years ago I noticed a very small (like 80 gallon) plastic pond liner for sale at a garden shop cheap, and bought it instantly. Hard plastic, thick. Dug it in by hand. Has a very slow leak AT (after like 5 years, I think maybe from a shovel by accident. Probably repairable with a pool repair kit if I bothered to find the leak.
    Person who sold it was using it to overwinter fish (koi?) inside.
    It held water fine even when not in the ground.

  137. 137.

    Kent

    @PsiFighter37:@Kent: Sure, we can split semantics. I clearly am talking about the legislative filibuster (although frankly, if we can package every last dream of ours into a reconciliation bill just to be dicks, I would not mind).

    I know you are.  I’m just trying to change the narrative.  Distinguishing between these different types of filibusters is just bullshit.  Even “reconciliation” is just some bullshit thing that Robert Byrd made up.   All the GOP wants to ever do is appoint judges and cut taxes.  So the eliminated the filibuster for their shit. But want to keep it for our shit?  I don’t fucking think so.  Unless you want to throw those three off the court and start over.

  140. 140.

    Mary G

    Doug Emhoff looks beat. Mussed hair, bags under the eyes. Giving a great speech, crowd’s cheering and honking.

  141. 141.

    The Moar You Know

    Two Xanax and the entire house’s internet feed gets shut off at 3pm.  Everyone else can hash it out in hell.  I figure we’ll have a pretty good idea of how this will go by Wednesday morning.

  146. 146.

    Immanentize

    I previously reported my huge feeling of success when the Immp, my son now 19 and in college, asked me for music suggestions.  Yesterday, I again succeeded in proving that his Dad is improving as he grows older. His text to me:

    When I return at Thanksgiving, it shall be with a newfound appreciation for your cooking

    I could just reread that and his music text all day tomorrow.

  151. 151.

    NotMax

    @Immanentize

    Well, that throws any plans to go with liverwurst and sardine sandwiches this year into a cocked hat.

    :)

    P.S.: Congrats on the fruit borne of parenting skills. You and the late Missus done good.

  152. 152.

    Elizabelle

    @JPL:   Oh, thank you.  Had missed it.

    Do not have a sub to NY Times crosswords, kind of on general principle.  Don’t like them monetizing the crossword and recipes.  (LOL, if memory serves, the first thing they tried to monetize was their opinion columnists.  Several years ago.  It … did not fly.)

    And, to be honest, the NY Times is hard for me.  Can do the WaPost and the New Yorker, but the NY Times is in a class by itself.  And the WSJ’s is way hard, too.

  154. 154.

    Elizabelle

    LOL.  John Legend:

    I am a proud Penn alum, but do not hold me responsible for all the Penn alumni.  Some of them (pause) slipped through the cracks.

  155. 155.

    low-tech cyclist

    There are only 3 contested states where the counting is likely to be over quickly: North Carolina and Ohio, whose polls close at 7:30pm, and Florida, where the polls close at 8pm (albeit in two different time zones).  We won’t know about GA, PA, MI, WI, MN, AZ, or NV tomorrow, but may well know about NC, FL, and OH.

    So I’m thinking: stay up long enough to see if they’re gonna call any or all of those three, then go to bed.

    My cheat sheet – if Biden wins:

    3 of 3, he’s enroute to a landslide. I’ll pour a stiff drink, raise a toast to a better 2021, and go to bed early.

    2 of 3, he’ll win comfortably.  I’ll probably skip the toast, but fall asleep quickly and sleep soundly, knowing the election is beyond stealing.

    1 of 3, and the 1 is either FL or OH, he’s about 98% certain to win.  If FL, it’s because of the math: 29 EVs will be next to impossible for Trump to make up elsewhere.  If OH, it’s because OH is the least favorable turf out of the MN-WI-MI-OH-PA band of states.  If he wins OH, he’ll win the others comfortably; it’ll be hard to steal this one.  I’ll sleep soundly.

    1 of 3, and the 1 is NC: a Trump win is still possible, but even NC’s 15 EVs cut way down on the ways Trump can win. >90% chance of a Biden win.  I *hope* that’ll be enough to sleep soundly.

    0-for-3: Biden’s still probably got a 60-70% chance of winning, but it’ll be nerve-wracking as shit, and we wouldn’t know for sure for a week or more even in the absence of the inevitable lawsuits.  Wrong week to give up drinking/smoking/amphetamines/glue sniffing.  I’ll probably have to take something to knock me out.

  157. 157.

    frosty

    No idea what I’ll be doing. I worked the polls in 2016 and 2018 until 8:00 so missed most of the afternoon anxiety. in 2018 I went to the County Dem Watch Party – not this year!

    I may watch it on TV if there’s a decent channel, otherwise just sip cocktails and follow along on B-J hoping for some classic Betty Cracker wordsmithing, dozens of linked tweets from Anne Laurie, and Curmudgeon’s Corner from Cole. Plus updates from all you valued commenters. All y’all* have kept me sane.

    *And yes, we need a plural 2nd person pronoun.

  158. 158.

    Steeplejack

    @Nicole:

    Link to Hoarse’s thread:

    Join me for a second in how karmically perfect it would be if the election story ends up being:

    1) Trump bungled the COVID response.

    2) Republican governors went along with him.

    3) So, pandemic was still raging as the election neared.
    1/

    — The Hoarse Whisperer (@TheRealHoarse) November 2, 2020

  160. 160.

    Bluegirlfromwyo

    Black Girl Magic Wine…because my dear spouse will hunt me down to give me updates no matter where I hide in the house.

    @Danielx: I flipped off one of those dumbass Trump flag trucks while I was on a walk yesterday. They didn’t see me. Sad!

  164. 164.

    geg6

    We will, no doubt, be watching MSNBC’s coverage simply because my John won’t have it any other way.  I hope we know by 11 eastern because I have to go into the office Wednesday.  I’m doing a four hour shift handing out sample ballots at a local polling place.  We’ll see how that goes, but I’ll be home long before polls close.  This is a very Trumpy area, so I hope things go well.

  165. 165.

    Martin

    Playing Project Zomboid. RP as Kamala Harris armed with an axe against the undead hordes trying to destroy civilization. I have occupied the country club (Mar A Lago) and am turning the fairways into mass graves.

    No, I haven’t been having dark dreams, why do you ask?

  166. 166.

    mousebumples

    My plan for tomorrow –

    1. I work until 6pm EST, and my daughter is unlikely to go to bed until 730 or 8 EST. While I will be tracking some things on here/Twitter, I won’t be following returns on TV until after “baby bedtime.”
    2. We don’t have cable, so I’m debating where to watch, or if it’s worth trying to stream MSNBC or something. We’ll see what we find tomorrow.
    3. I’ve made some chocolate good-luck goodies, and we’ll be mixing that with some alcohol. Not quite sure what yet. I was thinking something “celebratory” for when Biden’s win becomes clear (*even if 270 EV is not officially crossed – e.g. Georgia, Florida, NC, OH flip) … just not sure what yet.

    And I’m working on Wednesday, so I can’t do anything super crazy. Fully prepared for a night of excited “unable to sleep” insomnia, but it’ll be better than the depressed, “maybe if I go back to sleep, I’ll wake up to different results” of 2016’s Election Night …

  167. 167.

    Elizabelle

    @geg6:   Instead of paper sample ballots, we at the polls are holding signs that voters photograph with their cell phones.  So they know who to vote for.  Social distancing, and less paper waste too.

    I hope the sign addresses the ridiculous redistricting amendment that might sound good at first pass, but is written by Republicans and filled with at least 3-4 poison pills I can see.

  170. 170.

    Kristine

    @WereBear: I’ve tried several times, but never managed to hit 50K. I would love to hit it this time–I”m already behind, but hoping to catch up by tonight or tomorrow-. But even 30K would be dandy tbh.

  172. 172.

    James E Powell

    @HumboldtBlue:

    Statehood has been the majority or plurality choice in the last three referenda on the subject. Forces who want no change usually manage to put enough choices on the ballot to produce a murky result.

  174. 174.

    Captain C

    Tomorrow day I’ll be working from home (my library branch is smack in the middle of the Brooklyn COVID hot zone and thus closed).  That will involve preparing a presentation on a World Languages materials survey for my branch, figuring out how to set up the Microsoft Teams meeting to give said presentation, taping myself reading aloud 2 chapters of the book I’ve been doing an ongoing reading of as a virtual program (Melissa Caruso’s The Obsidian Tower), a little putzing around on the work Slack, and then knocking off in time to put MSNBC on for the Big Night.  I will probably order either pizza or Turkish food, and have some comfort foods handy if necessary.  If there is a win before I fall asleep, I will likely celebrate with Georgian wine and certain fun puffables.

    I’ve just given my last for-luck small donations to a few races.  Any suggestions on who could use a little coin for election day?  (Rides to vote, pizza to the polls sort of thing)

  175. 175.

    Miss Bianca

    @PsiFighter37: Wow, on the stout. My particular friend D opened a magnum bottle of mead he had been aging for 15 years this summer. We did it in honor of our first socially-distanced neighborhood gathering this summer.

    It was good, btw! ; )

  177. 177.

    Steeplejack

    @mali muso:

    “Kid cartoons on Netflix.”

    Four seasons of Masha and the Bear available there. Highly recommended for the almost-four set.

  179. 179.

    Kathleen

    @Mary G: That was Warren County here in SW Ohio. The natives say every Election Eve they see the hunched figure of Karl Rove tromping the shoulder of State Route 42 looking for those votes from 2012. I told a friend tonight that the Karl Rove 2012 Meltdown has become a seasonal Presidential Election Night staple, like It’s A Wonderful Life is at Christmas.

  180. 180.

    Captain C

    Also, I owe myself some Indonesian food from voting early, so sometime this week or weekend I’ll be doing that.

  181. 181.

    Miss Bianca

    @Immanentize: “All y’all” and “y’all” seem to have different connotations of plural, if one of my (southern-fried born-in North-Carolina) girlfriends is to be believed. To hear her tell it, “y’all” is a simple plural; “all y’all” would be more like addressing a larger group or crowd. I imagine a North Carolinian Marc Antony addressing the Romans: “Friends, Romans. countrymen, lend me all y’all’s ears”.

  182. 182.

    Kathleen

    @Kent:  This is so awesome. WaPo published this article about Postal Service workers resistance to DeJoy’s orders:

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/09/29/usps-workers-election-mail/

    This summer, as controversial new procedures at the U.S. Postal Service snarled the nation’s mail delivery and stirred fears of how the agency would handle the election, rank-and-file workers quietly began to resist.

    Follow the latest on Election 2020

    Mechanics in New York drew out the dismantling and removal of mail-sorting machines until their supervisor gave up on the order. In Michigan, a group of letter carriers did an end run around a supervisor’s directive to leave election mail behind, starting their routes late to sift through it. In Ohio, postal clerks culled prescriptions and benefit checks from bins of stalled mail to make sure they were delivered, while some carriers ran late items out on their own time. In Pennsylvania, some postal workers looked for any excuse — a missed turn, heavy traffic, a rowdy dog — to buy enough time to finish their daily rounds.

    “I can’t see any postal worker not bending those rules,” one Philadelphia staffer said in an interview.

  184. 184.

    Kathleen

    @germy:  Have you watched The Vow or Seduced? I’m hoping a new episode of Seduced is on Starz Online tomorrow so I can avoid election coverage.

  185. 185.

    Steeplejack

    @Immanentize:

    I like leberkäse (which, oddly enough, contains neither liver nor cheese). Basically it’s bespoke bologna. I get it occasionally at the similarly ill-named Heidelberg Pastry Shoppe, which is really a pretty good German deli/​bakery. Go figure.

  186. 186.

    J R in WV

    @BruceFromOhio:

    Funeral tomorrow for another friend who lost the battle with multiple myeloma.

    Oh, no!  So sorry!

    Cancer really truly sucks like a black hole!

    Killed two of my favorite cousins, and some close friends. People I loved.

    Take care and keep in touch!

  187. 187.

    J R in WV

    @NotMax:

    Needed: an app which alters Brian Williams’ voice to that of Porky Pig. Or Elmer Fudd. I’d accept either.

    No, No!

    Daffy Duck for the win, only possible choice!!!!

  188. 188.

    bluefoot

    I’m really behind at work, but the company is giving all US citizens 4 hours off to vote or volunteer tomorrow.  So my plan is to hand out snack and leftover Halloween candy to people waiting in line in the afternoon, then spend my evening/night working until I need to go to sleep.  Even if it’s a landslide for Biden (god willing), all the downballot races will need to be counted.  And who the hell knows how it’s going to go for the Senate.  So I expect the vote counting to go on for at least a few days.  But fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that is mighty scourge may speedily pass away.  (My apologies to Mr. Lincoln.)

  191. 191.

    cain

    @bluefoot:

    That’s pretty awesome. My company is really liberal, and they have given election day off and have encouraged us to be civic minded. When BLM was going on, our CEO shared stories from his black friends. He said he didn’t know if it was appropriate but he wanted to speak up.

    My company is awesome.

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