Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I really should read my own blog.

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

“The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

I also would like a pony to improve my balloon juice experience.

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

The new republican ‘Pastor’ of the House is an odious authoritarian little creep.

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

You know it’s bad when the Project 2025 people have to create training videos on “How To Be Normal”.

I wonder if trump will be tried as an adult.

Trump’s legal defense is going to be a dumpster fire inside a clown car on a derailing train.

Bogus polls are all they’ve got left. Let’s bury these fuckers at the polls a year from now.

Happy indictment week to all who celebrate!

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

Republicans in disarray!

If you’re pissed about Biden’s speech, he was talking about you.

At some point, the ability to learn is a factor of character, not IQ.

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

They were going to turn on one another at some point. It was inevitable.

This country desperately needs a functioning Fourth Estate.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / CNN Calls It

CNN Calls It

by | 225 Comments

This post is in: 

Thank bloody God. Tapper: “For tens of millions of Americans, their long national nightmare is finally over.”

Hahaha!

This happened this morning, Twitter cops muzzling the POTUS for telling great big fat lies about the election that he’s losing — has in fact LOST:

Auto Draft 27

It’ll be a relief to have a president who doesn’t lie all the time, especially about matters of grave civic import. Just think — Twitter won’t have to assign shifts of monitors to watch Biden’s Twitter feed for fear he’ll go Radio Rwanda on us. It’s a small thing because Twitter is silly anyway. But it’s a huge thing because the outgoing president is a fucking lunatic. I hope someday this sort of thing becomes unthinkable again.

Reader Interactions

225Comments

  7. 7.

    dmsilev

    AP as well. Finally.

    Meanwhile, per the Post,

    Trump goes golfing as Twitter flags more of his tweets
    By Colby Itkowitz
    As the world awaits results in the key battleground states that will decide the presidency, Trump passed the time on the golf course.
    On a gorgeous, balmy fall morning in D.C., the president traveled to his private club in Sterling, Va.
    In tweets a bit earlier, the president repeated baseless allegations of voter fraud and declared himself the rightful election victor. Twitter placed warning labels over three of the president’s tweets and added a clarification to another.
    “Some or all of the content shared in this Tweet is disputed and might be misleading about an election or other civic process,” reads the warning, which has been assigned to many of the president’s tweets about the election this week.
    “I WON THIS ELECTION, BY A LOT!” the president tweeted. Twitter added an addendum that the race may not have been officially called when this was tweeted. Biden is currently leading in both the popular and electoral college votes.
    The president also announced on Twitter a “Lawyers Press Conference” at the Four Seasons, Philadelphia. That tweet was then deleted and replaced with the clarification that the “big press conference” would not be held at the luxe hotel, but at Four Seasons Total Landscaping, which services commercial properties.

  18. 18.

    Matt McIrvin

    We could have another President who doesn’t, in fact, personally write his own tweets at all!

    This sounds like a pathetic thing to hope for, given the general frustration with how phony politicians can be. But we’ve seen the alternative.

  19. 19.

    Wyatt Salamanca

    How will Trump be taken out of the White House?

    A) in handcuffs

    B) in a straitjacket

    C) other

  20. 20.

    Felanius Kootea

    MSNBC called it too!  We started whooping and screaming and probably woke up some of our neighbors (it’s 8:30 a.m. here in Los Angeles).

  22. 22.

    stacib

    Biden was my choice from the beginning – I thought he was the only Democrat that could compete with trump* on “level” ground.  In fact, I wanted him to run in 2016 but understood totally why he couldn’t.  There have been a lot of scary moments with the losses in Iowa, Nevada and NH in the primary.  I kept thinking, just hold on until SC.  Then on Tuesday, I had so many flashbacks to election night 2016 when HRC looked like she was winning so many states only to see trump* take over lead after lead.  And now, THIS.  I’m so flippin’ overjoyed right now.

  25. 25.

    dmsilev

    NYT and WaPo also give PA to Biden. Current headline on Fox is “All eyes on battleground states as Biden increases lead, Trump claims he won ‘by a lot'”…

  26. 26.

    germy

    New York Times headline right now:

    Leading in four key states, Biden edges closer to victory

    Pennsylvania has electoral votes to put him over the top

  34. 34.

    germy

    @JPL:

    Van Jones can barely talk and is got really choked up.

    Did he say today is the day Trump finally became president?

  36. 36.

    dmsilev

    @Quinerly: Timing the call to ruin his precious precious golf game… I mean, I would have rather it came a couple of days ago, but there’s some redeeming value here.

  41. 41.

    Mary G

    I can hear San Franciscans cheering and honking and whooping in the streets!— Hart Hanson (@HartHanson) November 7, 2020

    NYC:

    The volume of cheers erupting from the neighborhood right now is louder than anything I've heard above street level in years.— Jack Womack (@jwomack) November 7, 2020

  42. 42.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Yarrow:

    NBC as well. Finally! 

    Yes!  Now we run up the score!  Keep counting Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina!

    (I know everyone will count every vote, including DC and CA.)

  43. 43.

    Chris Johnson

    Woot! I’m taking a damn nap. Sheesh.

    Watch me wake up to news of Putin retiring and setting up a museum with his puppet and a puppet house consisting of the furnishings of the Oval Office :)

    Joking/not joking! You know it could happen. You also know it would be a meaningless exercise: hell, Canadians burned the White House. Paintings and desks are just paintings and desks. The real White House is US. <3

  45. 45.

    Kent

    Every media organization has had the stories and front page headlines all teed up and ready to go at the push of a button.  It’s going to be a tidal wave of coverage this morning that will drown out every bit of GOP bullshit.

    CNN has no fucks left to give and are talking about how this was an election about “character”

  55. 55.

    stacib

    @dmsilev: Scarborough said that he hoped the call came while trump* was on the golf course since that’s where he was when he fired Dan Coates.  Do you think he’ll get the irony that he’s now getting the official news that he’s fired while he’s golfing?

  56. 56.

    dmsilev

    Two posts from the NYT ticker:

    Michael Cooper, in New York 6m ago
    In New York City, as networks began to call the race, people cheered out their windows and banged pots — reminiscent of how they cheered essential workers early in the pandemic.

    Michael Grynbaum, in New York 7m ago
    Fox News is now the only major TV network not to have called the presidential race for Joe Biden.

  60. 60.

    Chacal Charles Calthrop

    Streets of NYC are alive with whooping and cheering

    oh I see that has already been reported

  62. 62.

    Edmund Dantes

    Two things. You know they picked four seasons landscaping so they could answer what location did you get with “it’s at the Four Seasons, sir”

    First female VP means we have our first Second Gentleman. 

  67. 67.

    Yarrow

    Tick tock, you traitorous orange motherfucker! Your hell is just beginning. Lawsuits. Debts called in. Shame. Loser status. Tick fucking tock!

  68. 68.

    Chat Noir

    Madam Vice President! And dogs back in the White House! Good job, Joe and team!

    I’m so excited. We have had a bottle of Moet et Chandon in the refrigerator for just this occasion. Going to get pizza to go with it.

  74. 74.

    Mike in NC

    I had tears in my eyes the night Bill Clinton won, not because I hated Bush the Elder but because he willingly surrounded himself with human garbage like Lee Atwater and Newt Gingrich to forward the GOP’s 19th Century ideas. I think I’ll make a pitcher of martinis tonight to once again thank the gods for saving this country, if only for a few more years.

  76. 76.

    Heidi Mom

    It’s such a relief to hear them say it without qualifiers!  Thanks guys, for helping me stay sane during this very challenging week.

  80. 80.

    different-church-lady

    WOOO HOOOOOOO!

    That’s as much as I can celebrate with you for now — in the middle of getting COVID tests. But I’ll be back to whoop it up with you later.

  81. 81.

    Punchy

    Since Trump won this election by “a lot”, I bet he now shoots a 65 with 19 birdies and 4 eagles in his round of golf today.

  84. 84.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    The competence has already begun. In a  small article on the front page of my dead-tree NYT is the headline, “As US Awaits Results, Biden Drafts Plans for His West Wing.”

    We’re going to start hearing about amazing people being picked for the executive branch, for the cabinet positions, for the agency heads. We’re going to start hearing about people who are good and passionate about their jobs and who actually believe in doing the agency mission rather than trying to destroy it or profit from it.

    Or we’re going to start not hearing about that stuff because competence and ethical behavior don’t sell papers. Which will be a relief itself.

    Even though the federal government is a burned out shell and the fires will keep raging for another 2 months, I’m already feeling this amazing feeling of relief and hope about the rebuilding.

    P.S. I decided to have my personal celebration, which was to pour a full glass of wine instead of the 2-3 oz I usually ration myself, yesterday afternoon after Philadelphia put PA over the top.

  87. 87.

    Matt McIrvin

    I think the single most important thing is that come January 20, Scott Atlas will no longer be in charge of the nation’s COVID-19 response.

    He came in late, but as Trump’s Trofim Lysenko, he had the potential to make everything so much worse by making “infect everybody and hope for the best” the country’s official policy. He can still do that for three months. But it’s in the expectation on everybody’s part that change is on the way.

  88. 88.

    zhena gogolia

    People are out in the streets in NYC cheering and honking.

    I just played The Star-Spangled Banner and Battle Hymn of the Republic on my Steinway upright with all the windows open! Feels great!

    Now I have to go to a Zoom Slavic conference . . . See you all later

  91. 91.

    Elizabelle

    Yippee!  It’s safe to come back to the internets.

    All congratulations and honor to President-elect Joe Biden and VP-elect Kamala Harris.

  96. 96.

    PaulB

    Weirdly, it looks like Faux Noise has called it by declaring Nevada as blue to hit 270.

     

    Just refreshed their website, and they pulled the trigger on PA as well.

  99. 99.

    Chyron HR

    @jnfr:

    Thank goodness they’re calling it now. Van Jones is on CNN sobbing for his kids.

    What, you mean like… “Oh no they’re going to put Trump’s children in jail for being 100% complicit in his treason and lesser felonies?”

  100. 100.

    Matt McIrvin

    …Second thing that probably should have been the first thing is that we can get back into the Paris Agreement.

  101. 101.

    geg6

    FOX has called it.  I’m just leaking tears all over the place.  I’ve never felt so relieved in my life.  These four years of anger, frustration and stress has taken a major toll on me and I think I’ll be tearing up for days, unexpectedly, because I notice that weight is gone.

  107. 107.

    No One of Consequence

    Rejoice, for now, at least, we have a chance. It is with great relief and somber elation that I would urge someone in close orbit:

    CONFISCATE and STEWARD the FOOTBALL IMMEDIATELY, PLEASE.

    On behalf of a grateful world, please.

    Peace,

    NOoC

  108. 108.

    Wyatt Salamanca

    Per Jake Tapper:

    Now would be a good time for Republicans to learn how to correctly pronounce Kamala’s name.

  110. 110.

    Cermet

    Yes! Even Fox news called it and are praising Biden and his campain methods as well as the type of person the American people are looking for!

     

    Addition: that was their news room. The rest of fox will, of course, say otherwise

  111. 111.

    Rileys Enabler

    Sitting getting my oil changed and wiggling in my seat with pure joy and relief. FINALLY!

    Thank you to John for creating this place of refuge and all the Jackals that kept me from deepest despair.

    such joy. Such relief. WOOOHOOOO!!!

  112. 112.

    No name

    Cheering and pot banging on the streets of NYC!! I’m crying with relief but also for so much lost to such a worthless evil orange cancer.

  114. 114.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    We’ll know the right-wing has truly conceded when we start hearing once again that deficits are bad and executive orders are unconstitutional.

  120. 120.

    mad citizen

    It’s cool and all but like at the end of the last thread, I HATE the seeming legitimacy the media seems to have

    I did blow my air horn out the back and scared our cat who was unseen under a table covering and got yelled at by the wife.  Retrieved cat to inside status.  Taking air horn with me to recycling so I can blast out my Biden/Harris stickered car if necessary.

  121. 121.

    Yarrow

    @Omnes Omnibus:  The floodgates are going to open and we’ll be learning all sorts of things this batch of traitors has been doing. I wonder how long before the traitor tots flee the country. Hmmm….

  124. 124.

    Martin

    I think the magnitude of this will sink in as the media throw all of their coverage on Biden/Harris. At least in terms of communicating with the public, they’re effectively pres/vp now, even if they don’t have the power of the office yet.

    At a minimum, I would really like to see Biden/Harris start having daily Covid briefings. Pandemics are collective action problems. If you can get the public to take steps, you don’t necessarily need the federal sticks and carrots. Start building that relationship, start building a consistent approach to this.

  125. 125.

    Betty Cracker

    On Fox News, they just read an interminable whiny statement from the Trump campaign, this isn’t over, irregularities, we’ll see you in court, blah blah blah.

  127. 127.

    dmsilev

    So, any word on when Biden and Harris will give their for-real victory speeches? I’d like to go for a walk or something to work off the adrenalin rush, but don’t want to miss the speeches.

  130. 130.

    patrick II

    @Matt McIrvin:

    Maybe the one thing Biden can negotiate a change early to will be about COVID policy.  I hate to sound ghoulish, but maybe Meadows or the Trump boys or Yvanka will get very sick and perhaps change Trumps mind.  Well, actually Meadows dying will not affect Trump.

    Anyhow, wating two more months while the pandemic rages unabated seems untenable.  See if there is an early deal to be made, unless Trump is just too bloodthirsty.

    Maybe force his hand early somehow. Herd immunity is so stupid. I’ve said this here before, but it is especially stupid if there is a vaccine due sometime in the coming year.  Why kill as many people as possible immediatley before the cure?

    I would at least make the effort, and see if there are not some pressure points. There were 1,186 deaths yesterday. Waiting for Jan 20 seems like at least 100,000 more deaths.

  133. 133.

    Punchy

    I would believe that this call by the media severely limits the types of fuckdummary that SCOTUS could engage in.  I cannot imagine them issuing a series of rulings that could turn this around for Donny, but now that everyone has been told Biden won, to attempt this now could instigate a civil war.  Having said that, Alito and Thomas are top-rate hacks, so who knows….

  135. 135.

    Leto

    @geg6: you too? It’s like this unseen weight was on my chest and I can breath easier now. There’s been a whole lot of, “FUCK YEAH!” going in here :)

    @WaterGirl: don’t deny me my Elvis image! :p

  138. 138.

    Bill Arnold

    @Chris Johnson:

    Watch me wake up to news of Putin retiring and setting up a museum with his puppet and a puppet house consisting of the furnishings of the Oval Office :)

    V. Putin is more vulnerable than he realizes. He’s a little more tethered to reality than DJT, but he has large blind spots.

  139. 139.

    Suzanne

    One of my neighbors just set off fireworks. I just danced like a fool in my bathrobe on my front porch.

    Let’s drop in on my fine friends over at Breitbart….

  141. 141.

    Jamie

    Woohoo!

    I don’t comment much, but y’all have kept me sane through four years of shit. Thank you.

  143. 143.

    sdhays

    LOL. I just went to http://joebiden.com and they still haven’t updated it.

    Keep the faith!
    When all of the votes are counted, Joe Biden will be
    the next President of the United States.

    We don’t need faith now, Joe!

  145. 145.

    Mary G

    I was sitting at my desk, just saw the call, Housemate B runs in from the garage, phone in hand, Housemate K runs in from their bedroom, phone in hand. Many cheers, then I opened the door and turned on the fan. I may need to buy a Snuggie. The teen even cheered from his room. Such a load off.

  149. 149.

    zhena gogolia

    @Suzanne:

    I so wish I had neighbors who would set off fireworks right now, instead of having their sorry-ass bendy Trump signs in their front yards.

  151. 151.

    JMG

    In one way it is very important that the big media called the election for Biden, late or no. It means they will now start covering Biden AS the winner, and even more importantly, Trump as the loser. The dead-enders will not be given any credence.

  156. 156.

    randy khan

    “And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
          Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
    O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!”
          He chortled in his joy.

    I definitely am chortling in my joy.

    Saw the news while in line at Costco. The checkout guy and the women near me in line were both pretty happy.

    Calked my wife to tell her, she said “no signs of violence?” and I said “at Costco?”

  158. 158.

    Another Scott

    Congratulations to Joe and Kamala, their families, the SC primary voters, and to everyone who made it happen.  It’s a very good day.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  159. 159.

    Eunicecycle

    @Chat Noir: I had my favorite wine chilled and ready to go last night. If I drink it now I will just fall asleep. Plus I have to drive to do some errands. Maybe tonight!

  160. 160.

    jnfr

    @Chyron HR:

    Ha! No, his own kids that now they’ll have a decent role model again.

    Then Santorum started pleading for Republican snowflakes and I had to bounce back to MSNBC, so I don’t know where it went after that.

  165. 165.

    A Streeter

    @Wyatt Salamanca:

    Per Jake Tapper:

    Now would be a good time for Republicans to learn how to correctly pronounce Kamala’s name.

    As with “Democratic”, they’re too brain-damaged to be capaple of that.

  167. 167.

    dww44

    @Old School: Spouse was switching around the dial on TV and got to a discussion at CBS.  Gayle King was being positive, but very neutral, about how Biden was the right person at the right time.  Then here comes Norah O’Donnell talking about there was a large leftist part of the Democratic party that wants radical and revolutionary change.

    If anyone can find a clip from about 10 minutes ago, please share it.  For myself, I am finding the President of CBS News and sending her and Ms. O’Donnell an email of displeasure.  What is it with O’Donnell?  She doesn’t hide her political allegiances very well.  She needs to lose her nighttime host job.  Seriously.

  168. 168.

    AWJ

    So by having the Republicans in PA fuck with the vote counting rules, all that the “reality TV presidency” ultimately accomplished was to create a thrilling come-from-behind victory story for their opponents and a drawn-out agony of slow defeat for their supporters. That’s a remarkably impressive self-own.

  173. 173.

    Wyatt Salamanca

    The Eagle has landed. Roger, Tranquility. We copy you on the ground. You got a bunch of guys about to turn blue.

    I hope Trump enjoys dancing to the Village People in a prison cell.

  176. 176.

    Shalimar

    I count 38 states where either Biden or Trump won by 10 points or more.  I wonder if that is a record for polarization.

  177. 177.

    evap

    I’m trying to decide between champagne, blue margaritas, or a really nice bottle of my favorite type of red wine that I bought for this occasion.

    Por que no los tres??

  181. 181.

    Bill Arnold

    @Matt McIrvin:

    I think the single most important thing is that come January 20, Scott Atlas will no longer be in charge of the nation’s COVID-19 response.

    Reasonable people can argue about the rankings at the top of the Evil Trumpsters list, but Atlas probably killed the most Americans.
    E.g. S. Miller, M. McConnell have had more time to do damage to America.
    It has been interesting.
    The Trump Team’s strategy was to create a Red Mirage and then use it to create a national wave of unrest and uncertainty and steal the election. They succeeded in creating a Red Mirage, and Trump believed that he won, and now he’s seeing the Red Mirage bleed out and turn Blue.

    There’s still the unrest and still some uncertainty, so we have a lot of fighting ahead of us.
    We need to work towards keeping it non-violent including on the crazy fringes RW.

  182. 182.

    PST

    What a beautiful, beautiful day it is here in Chicago. It looks like everyone is outside with dogs and kids (and masks mostly). I was enjoying the weather and ordering some breakfast when the notice came over my phone. It was too late to swap coffee for champagne, but I was tempted. Morning Joe was a watched pot that refused to boil until the dog and I gave up and went out. Now all is well, for the moment.

  183. 183.

    Omnes Omnibus

    I don’t see why people are remarking on the timing with with Trump being out golfing.  Statistically, it is tied with toilet tweeting for the most likely place to find him.

  190. 190.

    topclimber

    @Wyatt Salamanca: I am too happy to indulge in such negative games.

    Yeah, right. My idea is that Secret Service puts a sign on a door leading outside the White House that says “Porn star in this room.” Trump walks in and finds himself in a van. Back door closes and the van takes off for New York courthouse.

  192. 192.

    dexwood

    A little after 10 here, but, fuck it, that champagne isn’t going to open itself, gonna need my help.

  195. 195.

    p.a.

    Let’s not forget to slag animated cream cheese sculpture Mike Dence today too!  Good riddance and back to Mother, you freak.

  196. 196.

    BC in Illinois

    Biden’s Tweet  

    America, I’m honored that you have chosen me to lead our great country. The work ahead of us will be hard, but I promise you this: I will be a President for all Americans — whether you voted for me or not. I will keep the faith that you have placed in me.

    Music: Ray Charles “America the Beautiful”

  200. 200.

    Almost Retired

    At substantial risk to my mental health, I watched a few minutes of Rudy’s press conference at the Four Seasons (Landfill).  Even C. Montgomery Burns would say, “Dude, you are really evil and creepy.”

  204. 204.

    Aleta

    Nice that this happened on a Sat, balmy weather in the NE  at least.  I hope for two nice days of dancing in the streets and watching crowds in other cities.

  207. 207.

    randy khan

    @Betty Cracker:

    I was flipping through Sirius XM channels to find the progressive channel and heard a bit of that.  It felt like he was explaining it to a 5 year old.  Pretty funny, actually.

  210. 210.

    Kent

    Time to call NV now too.  Latest ballot dump there pushed the margin up to 25,699 and widening.

    I guess no one is paying attention anymore.

  213. 213.

    Kent

    We need a countdown clock on the top of this page with the days, hours, and minutes until Jan 22, 2021.

  214. 214.

    Citizen Alan

    @dww44: I prefer to call them the “Publican Party.” Most of them aren’t literate enough to know what a publican was, but they recall it from half-remembered Bible stories and assume it was something bad.

    That’s when I don’t call them the Rape-the-Public Party, of course.

  216. 216.

    James E Powell

    John Kasich saying how Democrats have to listen to the rest of the country. Then lists a bunch of things that Democrats have been in favor of for many years

    Later he shifted to saying we have enormous problems in this country with debt, social security . . . I mean, he didn’t even wait 12 hours!

  217. 217.

    gwangung

    @dww44:Spouse was switching around the dial on TV and got to a discussion at CBS.  Gayle King was being positive, but very neutral, about how Biden was the right person at the right time.  Then here comes Norah O’Donnell talking about there was a large leftist part of the Democratic party that wants radical and revolutionary change.

    Because, Ms. O’Donnell, there is a large part of THE AMERICAN PEOPLE that wants radical and revolutionary change.

  218. 218.

    cope

    I’m late to the party but I physically felt better after confirming the results on a few different websites. The hair on my arms stood up and I smiled. I smiled. I’m still smiling.

  219. 219.

    Just One More Canuck

    Pierre Trudeau famously said, “Living next to you is in some ways like sleeping with an elephant. No matter how friendly and even-tempered is the beast, if I can call it that, one is affected by every twitch and grunt.” Having a rational person as president makes such a difference to us and the rest of the world.

  221. 221.

    Citizen Alan

    @Calouste: Yeah, but in the Bible, they were basically freelance private tax collectors, and it was considered controversial that Jesus would eat with them. I imagine most Christo-fascists would consider being called a publican to being called a whore or a leper.

  223. 223.

    Leto

    @dww44: super late in this response (was getting ready for my VA appointment), but the people of SC revitalized Joe’s campaign. I don’t really get to say too many positive things about SC, but this one is def worthy of praise.

  224. 224.

    Ken

    @Matt McIrvin: Could Biden announce that on January 21 he will be using the Defense Production Act for PPE and other medical supplies, so the manufacturers can start ramping up now?  Though they might not, because they have to look at the bottom line and businesses no longer believe in inventory.

  225. 225.

    Soprano2

    It’s such a sense of relief. Celebrate now,  because soon the hard work will begin.  Oh, and Rick Santorum can fuck right off, I heard that shit too. Fuck their feelings!!

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