I’ve felt like I was vamping on the piano since before the election, and never more than this week. Vamping is what you do when you’re waiting for the next thing to start. It has other uses too.
Speculation on the lack of “calling” the election ranges from network fear of Trump, through the desire of coastal elites not to allow flyover states like Arizona and Nevada to decide the election, to wanting not to make a mistake on this one.
But I’ve been clear since before the election: It’s Biden and Harris. I just wish the noise would be over.
Open Thread!
Ohio Mom
Are Biden and Harris still speaking tonight?
condorcet runner-up
this is such a perfectly apt metaphor. as a bassist, i’ve spent quite a bit of time vamping myself!
TS (the original)
@Ohio Mom: I heard on msnbc that they wouldn’t speak until the networks called the election.
germy
Ian
Looks like we got foiled again
Ohio Mom
TS: Thanks, now I can stop looking for it.
germy
Geoduck
There’s also the fact they’ve got everybody watching them right now, good for the advertising rates.
germy
NotMax
Each legitimate network’s decision team has strictly defined rules and standards, to which they assiduously adhere. Assigning any motive to the pace of their determinations beyond that is (a) unwarranted, (b) unsupported and (c) a fool’s errand.
Martin
Favorite vamp.
Yeah, it’s pretty clear that by now the networks should have called this but everyone is terrified of delivering the news to Trump. We’re holding 150M voters in suspense for the sake of one guys feelings.
Grow a pair guys.
guachi
Drip drip drip…
Biden up 21,746 in PA now. Will some network with balls just call this thing?
SiubhanDuinne
Yup. Thought of this same thing earlier today.
VTR (Vamp ‘Til Ready)
This entire week has felt like one big VTR :-)
Mandarama
Oh, Cheryl…I hope you and Quinerly and everyone are right. Tuesday night kicked me over into panic disorder. I’ve had it for years and it’s well managed with medical care, and I’ve navigated a lot of big life changes without terrible episodes. I think just the shock of a lot of Americans thinking “Yeah, we want more of this!” and weariness of being a lifelong Southerner and quarantined since March… I’m running on Xanax and no sleep and I just need THIS TO END! ?
(I am trying to listen to what y’all said on the earlier thread…that Trump must be WAY more skeert than I am right now…but I am a hot mess.)
Martin
@NotMax: Sorry, but there’s no way PA isn’t 99.5% certain.
AP and Fox sure as shit don’t have an excuse after calling AZ 2 days ago.
Brachiator
I like “it takes time to count the votes.”
It’s got a nice beat. You can dance to it.
zhena gogolia
@Mandarama:
Hang in there. I sympathize. This is torture.
WaterGirl
@Ohio Mom:
germy
Martin
@germy: This is how you let a claimant down easy. USSC ain’t gonna touch that shit. Everyone knows it but they let Trumps folks out with a bit of dignity.
Aleta
Charlie Parker and Miles Davis – Star Eyes
CaseyL
@Mandarama:
@zhena gogolia:
It’s not fun; I feel like I’m in suspended animation.
I console myself, and perhaps this will help you as well, with how much worse it is for Orange Julius Caesar.
planetjanet
You Tube feed is running: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dk7WG0Ovdr0&feature=youtu.be
Kristine
The GOP got what they wanted from Trump, the SC/judges and massive tax cuts. The loose cannon is on his own now. The con man got conned.
Bill Arnold
@CaseyL:
Orange Julius and the Traitor Tots.
Brachiator
@germy:
This Paula White person is nuts. But the Eminem mashup is pure Internet gold.
Mandarama
@CaseyL: Thank you! and to ❤️ZG❤️ too (my fellow lit teacher).
Mantras: I don’t owe anyone 400M. I’m not headin’ for the pokey. My family loves me. I got dogs. ?
Frankensteinbeck
@CaseyL:
Seriously, but every challenge I’ve even heard of to Biden winning PA has been shot down by now. We’re in the least favorable section of this late voting (provisionals from red counties) and Biden just pulled ahead another 1000+ votes. There’s nothing left to stop Biden winning. The wait still grinds on my nerves.
Glyph2112
Is there a schedule for the data dumps? Are they waiting for a specific dump? AZ had 75% of the vote counted Tuesday night. Can’t believe it’s taking this long for the rest. (And yes I know they got a head start, but other states didn’t start ousting until the polls closed and they seem further along)
Yarrow
@Ohio Mom: @TS (the original): CNN now saying Biden likely to speak tonight even if the race is still not called.
zhena gogolia
@Mandarama:
Good mantras!
mdblanche
Biden is approaching victory but never quite getting there. I knew it was a mistake to put Zeno of Elea in charge of the networks’ decision desks.
dmsilev
(from the NYT election ticker)
Baud
@Frankensteinbeck:
I was taken aback earlier because I didn’t realize there were these different classes of ballots. Feeling better about PA now. Like seeing the numbers creep up again.
TS (the original)
@Yarrow: thanks
Sab
All the states are still counting. Ohio allows Nov 3 postal cancelled ballots 10 days to arrive. They can count them as they trickle in. Provisional ballots cannot be counted until the 11th day after election day. Allows voters to fix problems (cure them.)
We only care about states where margins are close. But everyone is still counting.
PsiFighter37
Was just doing some math on the House results, and it seems like the worst-case scenario is that we end up with a 222-213 majority. Yikes. Talk about screwing the pooch on that one.
I love Pelosi as much as everyone, but it might behoove her to hand it off to the next generation early so that her legacy isn’t screwing up another congressional election. I think she’s been a very effective legislator, but when it comes to campaign W-L…not as good.
Frankensteinbeck
@Baud:
Several hours ago MSNBC was giving a very scary ‘But soon we’ll start up red county provisional ballots, and there’s a bunch of overseas ballots, and nobody knows what that will do to the balance of votes!’ Turns out, ‘not much.’ Biden is still pulling ahead, and the last ballots to be counted will be the pro-Biden Philly provisionals.
dmsilev
@Sab: Hell, California accepts mail-in ballots for another week or two (assuming, of course, that they were postmarked Nov 3 or earlier).
TS (the original)
What is this & how does it impact the Arizona result?
Baud
@PsiFighter37:
If that were true, we wouldn’t have got the majority in 2018.
Steeplejack
@Ohio Mom:
Business as usual on MSNBC, and (so far) Chris Hayes has not mentioned anything about Biden speaking. I assume Rachel Maddow will be coming up at 9:00 (EST).
aliasofwestgate
i’m more nervous than i outright look at the moment and me drinking the last 3 nights to sleep has not helped. Only a cup of honey mead. I’m a notorious lightweight so that’s all it takes to get me tipsy. I’m hoping for a call later tonight or tomorrow morning. Otherwise this is getting insane. I expect GA to go to recount, and Biden still gets it. PA looks surer and surer, which makes everything else a major bonus to rub in Lord Dampnut’s face.
I’m glad i’ve got somewhere to hang out like this place, or i’d be even more insane.
Sab
@dmsilev: Yep. Everyone is still counting.
Trump is a deceitful moron, but we shouldn’t ignore the moron aspect of his evil little mind.
opiejeanne
@dmsilev: I thought he announced a statement for 8pm, which I would assume is EST, and we’re nearly to 9 EST now.
THEY NEED TO FUCKING CALL THIS NOW!
WaterGirl
@TS (the original): Whatever happened to “the intent of the voter”? They use the wrong pen so they want to throw out the ballots? That should be laughed out of court.
NoraLenderbee
@PsiFighter37: Who should she hand off to? Who would be a good replacement, in your opinion?
WaterGirl
@opiejeanne: Have you opened a window with the YouTube link to the event?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dk7WG0Ovdr0&feature=youtu.be
It looks like they are going to speak soon-ish.
West of the Rockies
Does anyone know if we will hear any further from NV, AZ, PA, or Georgia tonight, or are we waiting until tomorrow?
L85NJGT
@Sab:
Who knows? Maybe we get a few more county board or statehouse seats out of those votes.
TS (the original)
@WaterGirl: I just can imagine why the court would want to even hear the case.
PsiFighter37
@Baud: Outside of the 3 wave elections (2006, 2008, and 2018), I feel like performance has generally been disappointing, especially during the last 6 years of Obama’s administration.
It’s not all her fault, but (and I know I will get shat on for this) Rahm Emmanuel was a generational talent when it came to this stuff that we should regret still not being there.
Steeplejack
@Aleta:
Good one.
Frankensteinbeck
@West of the Rockies:
PA is chugging along. Biden keeps gaining bit by bit, even in the sections worst for him. The networks are plainly paranoid about calling it early, even though there really isn’t anything left that could go wrong.
Mo MacArbie
The OP took me here.
L85NJGT
@opiejeanne:
I say they let Cowboy Joe drag him around the corral a few more times.
dmsilev
@TS (the original): It’s arrant stupidity. Of course. Here’s CNN from yesterday: False rumors about Sharpies went viral, sparking outrage and a lawsuit
debbie
@PsiFighter37:
You couldn’t be more wrong, but this week has been too difficult to get into this debate.
TS (the original)
@Steeplejack:
Rachel has had a close contact ttest positive for covid – via this tweet. I don’t think she is running her show tonight
Cermet
@guachi: OK, I get it; with 96 K remaining, that lead, while unlikely to fail, isn’t bullet proof. I guess the ballots are requiring hand inspection unlike the vast number of previous ballots; i guess these are the problem ballots, maybe?
debbie
@dmsilev:
Toss that shit on the frivolous pile.
opiejeanne
@WaterGirl: Everyone in that precinct was handed a Sharpie to fill out their ballots, because they dry faster than a standard pen’s ink. Republicans are claiming that only they were handed the Sharpies in order to invalidate their vote. This has been explained over and over by the voting officials.
gene108
@PsiFighter37:
We flipped a lot of R+ districts in 2018. Holding them in a non-wave election was always going to be tough.
This election turned out to not be another Democratic wave election.
That’s really all there is to it.
Steeplejack
@Glyph2112:
Another Arizona dump coming at 9:00 EST.
WhatsMyNym
@Sab: @dmsilev: Washington has an estimated 147,361 ballots on hand that need to be processed.
We’ve hit a state wide 80.25% turnout rate already!
Kay
I want to take the job away from them and give it to a nonprofit panel.
It’s been screwed up from the start, when they couldn’t agree on Arizona. Because they couldn’t agree on Arizona they can’t call Nevada because if they call Nevada then they won’t have a unanimous result on the Presidency.
I feel like they’re frozen in fear and simply cannot handle this. It’s a public trust. Take it away from them. They did a bad job.
mad citizen
@Mandarama: Mantra: I’ve already spent twice as many years in the White House as this guy who is leaving it
A jackal pointed out the House 40 seat gain in 2018 maybe snagged a few that were unsustainable. I say keep the pressure on. Although the fight was fierce in my district the Dems were trying to flip (IN-5), the D lost. But the margin is getting closer, it was 50-46. Now we’ll have a Ukrainian (USSR-born)-American woman who met her farmer hubby on a train in Europe. Just hoping she isn’t some Putin long-game plant…
Learned tonight on the new that Biden beat Trump 49-48 % in my (red) city of 100,000 people. Made me feel good.
Posted earlier but so cool that Joe is having Kamala speak.
Sab
@WaterGirl: Pet pic. We cannot get a pic of Mac. He is old and blind with glaucoma. He doesn’t like light at all. He doesn’t like being moved from his usual (dark) hangouts, and he doesn’t like being on new and unusual surfaces.
Tried to photograph him this morning and all I got was a couple of minutes of squealing feline outrage and thrashing tail while he adamantly faced away from where he thought the camera was.
I thought that photo session would be easy. Oh well. Cats. He is fine now.
I had wonderful pictures of him on my old cellphone. He used to be quite a ham.
Kay
How are they planning on fixing the Arizona problem? Two of them called Arizona but it wasn’t unanimous. Now they can’t call Nevada. So we all have to wait until PA gets to 35k because they fucked up their first call?
Redshift
@TS (the original):
“Sharpie-gate” is a conspiracy theory that voters in Republican areas were given sharpies to mark their ballots with and the scanner doesn’t read them. It’s complete BS, apparently voters in many areas of AZ were given sharpies because the ink dries faster and is less likely to smudge or dirty up the scanner than ballpoint pen, and the scanners read it just fine. No idea why a judge would want that garbage in a courtroom.
opiejeanne
@WaterGirl: Thanks for the heads-up. We turned on MSNBC because we know they’ll carry it.
CatFacts
For what it’s worth, Jon Ralston is doing pretty frequent Twitter updates on the numbers for Nevada, and D. J. Quinlan is doing the same for Arizona. Both look good. Small but consistent margins for Biden. The trend is expected to continue based on their data.
Seanly
Fuck Trump, fuck his bullshit lawyers, fuck Alito. Keep counting & exceed the margin for Republican fuckery attempts.
I hope soonergrunt is doing okay!
Llelldorin
@Frankensteinbeck:
I think it’s just that no-one really trusts their projections right now, since this election is utterly bizarre on multiple axes.
Calouste
@Redshift: Unless it is the keep the Republican on-crack legal occupied so they don’t do anything else.
japa21
@opiejeanne: We used sharpies on our paper ballots in Cook County. Yes they bleed through, but if by any chance they result in a confused ballot (happened once or twice) then the scanner rejects it and the ballot can be cured. This is ridiculous.
L85NJGT
@gene108:
Trump brings out lots of marginal voters. Joe had to get a herd of jackasses moving in the same direction, and in common purpose.
He and his team did a hell of a job.
Steeplejack
Nicolle Wallace in for Rachel Maddow.
dmsilev
@Kay: I assume they’re waiting for either (a) the remaining Arizona count to give a much clearer result or (b) PA to cross some defined threshold of Biden margin vs. votes still left to be counted.
Kay
I wonder if we’ll ever find out what happened here. I bet we will.
Because it no longer makes any sense. They could call Nevada and Arizona right now. The PA provisional ballots don’t have to come into it at all.
Steeplejack
@TS (the original):
Got it, thanks.
Frankensteinbeck
@Llelldorin:
You speak wisdom.
WaterGirl
@Sab: Can you not text from your old cell phone? text and send a pic?
L85NJGT
@mad citizen:
Depends. If the GOP can’t bring out the marginals voter that Trump does, 2022 could be a real problem.
Benw
Just call it, you stupid networks. As the great Yoga Berri said, “He’s toast, just stick a fork in him and cross the finish line to the locker room.”
Steeplejack
@opiejeanne:
And how do the evil poll workers recognize Republican voters to give only them the bad markers?
ETA: I guess maybe by previous party registration? I’m not going to waste a lot of brain cells on this.
dmsilev
It was posted upthread, but just to repeat, here’s the link for Biden’s & Harris’s speech:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dk7WG0Ovdr0&feature=youtu.be
Right now, it’s just showing an empty stage, so I imagine it will be a while yet before they come out.
Kay
@dmsilev:
So does that mean the Fox and AP call of Arizona were premature? Is that why they can’t call Nevada? Because we can add and we’ll ask why the whole race hasn’t been called?
I wouldn’t have minded if they had wanted to be double triple sure of Arizona. We are, after all, not Republicans so there’s no hurry. But they already called Arizona. This doesn’t make any sense without an error on their part.
NotMax
@Redshift
Yup, it’s totally b.s. Not to mention that Sharpies are the recommended pen of choice by the manufacturers of the scantron machines.
Ohio Mom
Thanks for the YouTube link, Watergirl. There are some techies wandering around the stage.
Baud
Latest AZ dump not on pace for Trump.
Aleta
@Mandarama: What kind of dogs do you have? I’m smitten with this one here, next to me on the couch.
Zzyzx
“Our partners at ABC News have learned that Philadelphia will have no further updates on its vote totals tonight. This may essentially eliminate any realistic chance of a race projection in Pennsylvania tonight because Philadelphia is the most Democratic-leaning area in the state, and a vote dump of some size from there could expand the margin to a point where it would be very difficult for Trump to overcome Biden’s statewide lead. As things stand, Biden leads by about 21,700 votes, or 0.32 percentage points, with fewer than 100,000 mail ballots and around 100,000 provisional ballots left to count.”
from 538
Zzyzx
@Baud:
Thank God! One of my my side things is that I want the complete collection of Rock’n’ Me cities from the Steve Miller Band song.
dmsilev
@Kay:
Yes, I think that’s fair. Fox and AP share the same exit-poll operation, and the rest of the networks run a second pool, so maybe there was something in the demographics in the first one that lead Fox and AP to make an early call, but the actual voting numbers are pretty close (and unlike in PA, Trump is slowly making up ground and has at least a plausible chance of pulling ahead).
NotMax
@Martin
Not having access to the same numbers, related metrics and equations those in the legitimately firewalled decision rooms do I’m willing to suspend passing judgment.
Shooting the messenger is poor practice. Shooting the messenger prematurely all the more so.
Frankensteinbeck
@Zzyzx:
Oh, lord. So we’re going to see Biden’s lead shrink tonight as the remaining red provisionals are counted, then explode again tomorrow. I don’t need that kind of heart attack.
mad citizen
Turned my antenna tv over to ABC. They were recalling Joe’s path to the nom–how badly he was doing until South Carolina and Jim Clyburn’s endorsement. George interrupted the reporter and I thought something big was coming, but it was live with Jim Clyburn. He said he thought of all the candidates, Biden was the best one to stand up to Trump’s insults; experience, etc. George saying lots of Dems are calling Clyburn a kingmaker. Said no payback needed, children and grandchildren, etc. Said something about making it to four score (he is 80 years young). Good dude.
Blue Galangal
@japa21: They’re just throwing all the sh*t to see if any sticks and add to the confusion.
Ruckus
@WaterGirl:
My ballot stated black or blue ink. No mention of the kind of pin. If other states did that then the suit has zero merit.
Anybody from AZ who might know if that’s the same
I see that this has been answered several times. Like everything else republicans do, it’s pure bullshit.
M31
I hate the waiting too, but the thought of Trump squealing and flailing and raging is pretty sweet. Especially when that rage is landing on his inner circle the most.
Zzyzx
@dmsilev: Yeah, I bet they wish they could swap their AZ and NV calls, but uncalling AZ would send a message that they probably don’t want to either when it’s still more likely than not that Biden wins.
Baud
@Frankensteinbeck:
Kornacki doesn’t think the provisionals will be Trumpy enough to catch Biden.
Redshift
@mad citizen:
I read today that Trump is the first Republican since 1948 to lose Lynchburg, VA, Fallwell’s home base. ?
TS (the original)
@L85NJGT:
I’m waiting for 2024 – if trump is still alive – so many deplorables will write him in for President. Welcome President Harris.
Martin
Reports on twitter that Jim Watkins (8chan and presumed to be ‘Q’) was arrested on wire fraud and distribution of child porn charges.
Q has apparently gone silent in the last 3 days which has freaked a lot of QAnoners out, and this would explain why.
WaterGirl
@dmsilev: Then they should switch it back to “too early to call” so then they can call Nevada at least.
Zzyzx
@Frankensteinbeck: There’s still a ton from Allegheny that could come in. And these small red counties just aren’t getting Trump much, maybe a few hundred votes here and there.
But I’m fine as long as I know, y’know.
WaterGirl
@Martin: He seems nice.
NotMax
Just out of curiosity, anyone seen or heard of reporters who have tracked down any of Geraldine Ferraro’s kids to elicit a reaction to Harris as presumptive veep-elect?
Zzyzx
@Martin: PROTECT THE CHILDR…. oh wait.
Steeplejack
While we’re waiting for something—anything—to happen, here’s an interesting thread on Don Jr. as true believer.
L85NJGT
@Martin:
Wheels within wheels, my friend. Wheels within wheels.
Fair Economist
@Kay: The Fox and AP calls were premature but understandable. Biden was way ahead and the remaining ballots mostly dropoff and postal, so expected to favor Biden. Turned out late dropoffs there actually favored Trump. Now it looks pretty unclear, but they have little to gain by rescinding, so they hang on and hope they get to pretend to be prescient.
hueyplong
@Seanly: Fuck Alito is, of course, a proper statement, but his order gave Trump nothing. Alito knows that, but it’s not clear whether Trump does.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Kay:
Biden’s margin in AZ has been dropping the last 2 days(from 131k to 29.8k). That’s why they’re holding out in AZ. The other states, probably they don’t want a repeat of Florida in 2000.
debbie
@Kay:
Maybe they want to avoid setting Trump off?
Timurid
Jesus. We’ve got days more of this ahead of us. AZ is crawling and PA is going dark for the night.
WaterGirl
They started streaming 90 minutes ago, so Biden must have thought something was going to happen soon. They can’t wait much longer since they promised “prime time’.
Ruckus
@Martin:
So what you are saying is that this doofus is a porn pervert as well as a political one…..
Kay
@WaterGirl:
Agreed. Then they don’t have to worry about covering up their error, and we can get a rational call. That would be the right thing to do. They’re not going to build trust in this process by misleading people.
Aleta
@Sab: Almost every photo I try to get of Finny is a blur; it’s like that’s his talent. By now there’s a whole series of them and it’s funny. I tried to get a nice one; thought about sending his blur in but probably not as hilarious to almost anyone else. Sorry to hear about your older cat’s distress. I remember one of mine who just wanted to be left alone and not touched when she got old. She was still a sweetie though.
Martin
@NotMax: I’m not trying to shoot the messenger, but there are risks in waiting longer than necessary to call this than there are risks in doing it too early.
Reminder that two QAnon guys with AR15s and a shitton of ammo were arrested outside of the Philly convention center where they are counting ballots.
Pressure needs to come off before someone is killed.
Baud
MSNBC says Biden’s speech tonight will not declare victory.
Kay
@debbie:
Well, I’m sure Fox does. The only thing worse then calling Arizona too early and pissing off the Trump/Murdoch family would be retracting it.
What a mess.
Steeplejack
Next Nevada data dump scheduled for noon EST Saturday.
Zzyzx
Can someone explain to me why the hell Trump is filing a suit to have the late arriving ballots in PA excluded? If you’re losing, you want to expand the universe of possible votes, not shrink it.
NotMax
To riff on the post title and cut the tension for a second, the original vamp: Theda Bara.
:)
MomSense
I crashed early tonight. I’m really not feeling well so I’m going to sleep and hopefully feel better tomorrow.
Baud
@Zzyzx:
That suit was filed before the Election Day.
WaterGirl
I wasn’t able to reach Tamara, so I put up a LIVE thread for the speech.
Zzyzx
@Baud: Yeah but they’re pushing it hard still. Why?
LongHairedWeirdo
It might be simpler than fear of Trump, coastal elites, etc..
Do you know *HOW MANY TIMES* I checked NBCnews.com (which had the easiest to read election results – state, count, *and* electoral votes, on the same diagram) today? If it was less than 100, it wasn’t for lack of interest!
Although I would like to see people talking more about how we’ve had three days in a row of record breaking Covid-19 case counts. Let’s remind
Trumpthe loser that we haven’t forgotten Covid, and yes, his failure is still news.WaterGirl
@Ruckus: No PA was very specific. Even though something was sent out that said black or blue, it had to be BLACK. So there were a lot of attempts to let voters know it had to be BLACK.
L85NJGT
@Baud:
Well…. technically that would be when the Electoral College does their antediluvian ritual.
patrick II
@Martin:
How ironic. Child porn charges. Always projection.
Martin
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Fox called FL for Bush when he had a 500 vote lead with tens of thousands of ballots outstanding. That was also a big reason why Fox is good at polling now – they put guards in place to ensure that didn’t happen again.
But the networks don’t wait until there’s 0% chance they’re wrong – it’s 0.5%, and I’m telling you, from the PA data I’ve seen there’s less than a 0.5% chance of Trump finding those votes.
Ruckus
@TS (the original):
It could be the obvious reason.
Or it could be that the court wanted to end the issue, as the state was handing out the sharpies, so it’s pretty obvious that sharpies were OK. If the court doesn’t say so this could go on for a very long time.
NotMax
@Martin
The key part being they were arrested. Vigilance is in place.
mad citizen
New AZ votes, per Nate Silver on ABC, Trump needed to hit a 15% rate and he hit 10% (I think this means margin over Biden), meaning although he narrowed Biden’s lead, he didn’t do it fast enough so the window is closing more.
On the other hand, more rural Pinellas county has 30K to count, and they said they wouldn’t get to them until Monday or Tuesday. Are you kidding me? Are they taking the weekend off? Hope there isn’t fuckery going on there.
Then a Nevada update and that seems like good news and fine for Biden there.
mrmoshpotato
@Redshift: SAD! LOSER!
James E Powell
@Baud:
I think he knows they aren’t going to be Trumpy enough but is being very careful not to say that.
Mandarama
@Aleta: I have two rescue goldens! Well, one (Tully) is really an English setter who is half golden retriever. His bird dog behavior is the strongest half by far. My other is a white / cream golden who came to us through rescue because her elderly owner died. ? Her name is Daisy, but she’s such a beauty-drama queen that we call her Blanche DuBois.
Thank you for asking! It does make me feel better. ?
Jackie
@Steeplejack: I just heard Rachel has gone into quarantine. She tested negative, but was exposed to someone who tested positive ?
Zzyzx
@James E Powell: We ALL think that. They just want to see them first.
TBH, I can respect that.
Kay
The Democrats here are mad Biden isn’t declaring victory. They think it’s weak and Trump is gonna get the upper hand and take it from him. They are absolutely despondent. I don’t know what to say. I feel so bad about the whole thing- they so wanted this and they feel no one is defending it.
L85NJGT
@mad citizen:
Needing a higher percentage of fewer votes….. chasing a receding horizon.
mad citizen
Per Nate Silver just now on ABC (they were talking about how they call states): Do I think trump has a 1 in 200 chance winning PA? No. 1 in 2000 Yes/maybe.
Question basically was it seems like you’re sure of AZ, NV and PA.
WaterGirl
@Jackie: Not just exposed to someone, it was someone in her close circle. I hope it’s not her partner. (I assume she has a partner.)
Gin & Tonic
@debbie: I said this yesterday but got shat on, although it’s true. Another House cycle like this one and we’re a minority and Kevin McCarthy is Speaker
Whats the median age of the leadership? 78? A key job of a leader is developing a succession plan. Who’s the next generation? If they are invisible, whose fault is that?
BruceFromOhio
MrsFromOhio and I made a blood pact on Monday night to eschew all forms of internet and popular media until today. Gaia save us all, what a blessing that was. I peeked in on Dr. Maddow Wednesday night and again Thursday night – when I saw vote total screens still showing I immediately turned it off. Days we worked, MFO in the yard and with the concrete contractor to get a new front porch poured after demolishing the old front porch, me online in the basement for the paycheck. We spent time drinking by the fire pit in the back yard (the weather here has been heavenly), just sitting and reading, watching old movies on TCM, and just hanging out chatting or playing cards. It’s been blissful, even as we both worried that the end of the world was truly fucking nigh. And we live like hermits because COVID. The exception was the funeral for the Beer Pope on Tuesday. I stayed outside with the honor guard, because it was beautiful, and because I really didn’t want to risk being in close quarters with so many people. The cemetery limited the graveside service to the immediate family, so I had to be satisfied with many happy memories, and multiple toasts back at home in safety. Love ya, Kenny Joe, the world was better for knowing you.
Turns out the end ain’t truly fucking nigh, it’s the same shit on a different day with a trajectory towards preznit shitwhistle in a jumpsuit to match his spray-on tan. And all these remora headed out the door, thank you Gaia, save us all.
Vamping? Hell, yeah, it’s what we do. Keeps you sharp while the next thing gets ready.
Sab
@Aleta: He is perfectly happy when I am not moving him around into the light to take pictures. He knows his surroundings. He has people and cat friends, and food and water.Life is good for him.
White & Gold Purgatorian
@Zzyzx: Because Trump is an idiot.
Martin
@patrick II: Yep, the guy who accused all Democrats of being pedophiles is a pedophile. Who could have guessed?
Haven’t seen much confirmation of it yet, though, so take with a grain of salt. But Jim Watkins, if he is Q, is a shitty guy.
Fair Economist
@Martin: I am totally unsurprised that Q is a child pornographer. The wild accusations and secrecy are a great way to direct suspicions to other people, plus who would know the culture better for faking accusations? My son has a 20ish friend I suspect to be Qanon and even my teen son finds his attraction to young teen girls creepy.
Steeplejack
The Harlan Hill/Briscoe Cain convergence!
Martin
@WaterGirl: She does indeed. Susan Mikula.
Baud
@Zzyzx:
If they end up where those votes make a difference, they want them thrown out. They probably won’t end up there.
patrick II
@Martin:
Is that the same guy who visited Trump in the White House?
Zzyzx
@Baud: but their only hope is that there’s a pile of votes that are way off than what is expected.
Baud
@Zzyzx:
Yes. It’s a long shot.
planetjanet
@Gin & Tonic:
Ted Lieu, Adam Schiff,… They are there if you care to look.
James E Powell
Joe now leading by 27K! Call the state & call the race you spineless shits!
James E Powell
@Gin & Tonic:
Please. Can you let us have some fun for a while?
We can talk about the next gen Democratic congressional leadership later. And, by the way, we should prepare one hell of party thanking Nancy Pelosi for her leadership during some pretty challenging times.
Kay
@James E Powell: \
They’ll call it when they count each and every provisional. That’s the new standard, apparently.
Just baffled how they managed to call so many close states in 2016 and now they’re just helpless with all these perplexing ballots and numbers and things.
Steeplejack
@Jackie:
Got it, thanks.
Aleta
@Mandarama: We had a part golden, though smaller. She had these long eyelashes and beautiful brown eyes. She was a magnet, especially to children. My pup now is part cartoon dog.
patrick II
@James E Powell:
I think her most impressive move was limiting the impeachment to Ukraine and Hunter Biden, neutering the cudgel Trump intended to use during the election. That stuff had been pre-delegitimized and died on the vine.
Aleta
@Sab: An older cat settled into their spots has something spiritual about them, to me.
.
mad citizen
(ABC) Nate Silver equivocating, then says you don’t have to wait for us, if you want Biden to win you can have a drink. Panel laughter. George: When friends text you you tell them it’s over. Nate: At this point, yes.
By the way, earlier I said Nate said trump might have a 1 in 2000 chance in PA. He had really said 1 in 20,000 chance.
Tim Posh-looking in a mask
Um…c’mon already?
I work 11 hour days and can’t always keep up. Networks can “call it” or not, but the votes are there and self-evident, right? By now? Right?
Anybody care to soothe me right now? I’m here.
Kay
@Tim Posh-looking in a mask:
We’re waiting for Donald Trump to give us permission.
ballerat
@Kay: Reality tv media is unwilling to let go of the reality tv president they made.
WaterGirl
@Martin: An older woman!
Seanly
@mad citizen:
JFC, when you said “recalling” I thought there was bad news coming. Took a couple of rereads to see you meant recall like recollecting…
NoraLenderbee
Did you mean Pinal Country? Pinellas is in Florida.
Gin & Tonic
@James E Powell: No.
The median age in the US is 38. Both leading Presidential candidates are over twice that. Leadership of the House and Senate is as well. Gerontocracy is unhealthy for myriad reasons. I know this blog skews old, but stop defending the indefensible.
J R in WV
@Zzyzx:
I can explain this. It’s really simple.
Trump is math illiterate, can’t add, subtract, do proportions. So he’s making a stupid decision, and all his staff and lawyers can do is what Trump told them to do.
Stupid. Trump is stupid! That’s your answer…
Kay
@ballerat:
Oh, sure. They’re going to wait to count every provisional. Probably fraudulent anyway. Isn’t that what Trump said? They’re presumptively “suspicious” unless they were cast by a Trump voter, in which case they’re cleared immediately.
mad citizen
@NoraLenderbee: Yes, sorry. (AZ county name error on my part)
Tim Posh-looking in a mask
@Kay: guess who just soothed me? Why, good ol’ handsome ol’ uncle sleepy hidin’ actual President Biden his own self! On local Fox affiliate, yet! I sleep now.
Quaker in a Basement
@NotMax: I’m late to the thread to say: Thanks, NotMax. I say your take is exactly right.