Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The Supreme Court cannot be allowed to become the ultimate, unaccountable arbiter of everything.

People really shouldn’t expect the government to help after they watched the GOP drown it in a bathtub.

These days, even the boring Republicans are nuts.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

Boeing: repeatedly making the case for high speed rail.

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

“The defense has a certain level of trust in defendant that the government does not.”

You come for women, you’re gonna get your ass kicked.

There is no compromise when it comes to body autonomy. You either have it or you don’t.

Dear Washington Post, you are the darkness now.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

The press swings at every pitch, we don’t have to.

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

Fundamental belief of white supremacy: white people are presumed innocent, minorities are presumed guilty.

The Giant Orange Man Baby is having a bad day.

Roe isn’t about choice, it’s about freedom.

There are a lot more evil idiots than evil geniuses.

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

In my day, never was longer.

So many bastards, so little time.

Let me file that under fuck it.

It is possible to do the right thing without the promise of a cookie.

This fight is for everything.

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

You are here: Home / Elections / Biden-Harris 2020 / Open Thread: PRESIDENT-Elect Biden and VICE PRESIDENT-Elect Harris LIVE

Open Thread: PRESIDENT-Elect Biden and VICE PRESIDENT-Elect Harris LIVE

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Open Thread: PRESIDENT-Elect Biden and VICE PRESIDENT-Elect Harris LIVE 1

I have tears as I write this. I’m happy for one final time to embed for you, the live speeches by our newly elected leaders:

 

 

By the way: People have asked about these images. It does look like they are official campaign images, but only one is available on the website is Joe’s

Happy Birthday, Kamala!Historic: First Woman Vice PresidentOpen Thread: PRESIDENT-Elect Biden and VICE PRESIDENT-Elect Harris LIVE

Joyous celebration open thread!

Reader Interactions

214Comments

  2. 2.

    Adam L Silverman

    I saw an MSNBC/NBC reporter report, sometime around 4 or so, that he’d spoken to several people in front of where they’re counting ballots in Maricopa County and all of them said they don’t understand how Biden could win because they never see Biden signs in yards, he doesn’t do rallies and when he does they don’t have big crowds like Trumps, and none of Biden’s supporters are showing up armed to demand the voting be stoped or counted or whatever it is they want.

  7. 7.

    Baud

    This is the best day in Delaware history since they were the first state to ratify the constitution.

  8. 8.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @TaMara (HFG): the two little kids sitting on top of the car waving signs got to me

    looks like a warm night in middle Atlantic coast. I noticed a lot of people in DC wearing T-shirts and shorts

  10. 10.

    mali muso

    Anyone know if it will be streamed on YouTube?

    so excited! It feels strange (in a good way) to feel the weight lifting.

  12. 12.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Baud: There was the day I interviewed for a professorship in criminology at the University of Delaware and the out lesbian faculty member interviewing me had not only the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue open on her desk to the centerfold, but also a Playboy opened to its centerfold.

    Good times…

  18. 18.

    debbie

    Those portraits are striking. Wish there a signature so I could check out the artist. What a palette!

  21. 21.

    Spanky

    I know it was mentioned down below. Here it is:

    Mitt Romney
    @MittRomney
    ·
    6h
    Ann and I extend our congratulations to President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. We know both of them as people of good will and admirable character. We pray that God may bless them in the days and years ahead.

  25. 25.

    Spanky

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    looks like a warm night in middle Atlantic coast. I noticed a lot of people in DC wearing T-shirts and shorts

    It was a spectacular day around DC. A wonderful morning for a President to go golfing. Trump went instead. He came hone to much rejoicing.

  27. 27.

    cain

    I’m getting flashbacks to 2008 ! The same kind of energy – I have my bubbly ready to go – when I hear “madame vice president elect harris” I’m popping that son of a bitch!

  31. 31.

    MisterForkbeard

    In about 40 minutes I’m going to go get (superb) takeout  from the local left-wing restaurant that was attacked (mostly verbally) since Halloween because they supported ACAB and BLM. I’m wearing my Kamala Harris’ Dude Gotta Go shirt. Taking home some excellent food and fantastic cocktails and my god it’s going to be an excellent fucking night.

    Can’t wait to hear these speeches. May have to listen to them while I’m driving if they take awhile. :)

  32. 32.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @M31: had I thought of it, I would’ve picked one up today

    maybe the internet left can start a Fly The Flag campaign for Inauguration Day

  34. 34.

    M31

    @Baud: lol as someone who lives in Baltimore and has family in CT, I usually have choice words for Delaware tolls, but today I will be gracious

  36. 36.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Baud: No. My father had died two weeks before. The faculty there had been notified. When I didn’t get an offer – and there were two open positions, three finalists to be interviewed, and I’d been informed I was the leading candidate of the three – my criminology dissertation chair called the chair at U Delaware and asked what was going on. The chair at U Delaware said I did a great job talk, but everyone felt I was trying to manage the impression I was making. My dissertation chair who rarely raised his voice and never curses, apparently screamed at him “Dammit, his dad died two weeks before the interview, we told you this, what he was trying to manage was grief while presenting himself in a stressful situation as a professional. What is wrong with you damn people!” I do not know the response he got.

    Six months later at the annual American Society of Criminology meeting, the most senior faculty member in that department who was retiring and who had gone to grad school with my dad, pulled me aside and explained that I got caught in a departmental civil war. That I was attractive to them because I did both quantitative and qualitative research and could teach both sets of methods. But my job talk was so enthusiastically received by the quantitative half of the faculty that the qualitative folks in the department made it clear that they did not want me hired because they felt I would tip the balance of power in the department. He also told me that as a result of this dispute the actual methods guy in the department had left at the end of the semester.

    Academia is whacko and this contributed to why I ultimately walked away from it.

  39. 39.

    HumboldtBlue

    @Baud:

    Caesar Rodney riding through the night while sick as a dog to reach Philly and the Convention.

    There’s a high school named after him, Caesar Rodney High and we Dover Senators hate them with all our hearts and with every fiber of our being.

  50. 50.

    M31

    @Adam L Silverman: Academia, when there is a rift in a department or a field, is brutal. I’ve been in departments where faculty would try to ruin the careers of rival faculty’s students out of spite.

  52. 52.

    Kattails

    I have been sleeping in my Biden/Harris t-shirt since the election. Now it can get a nice wash and hang on the wall to remind me to stay connected. Luckily I’m on some bubbly tonight (instead of the usual red wine) so any stains won’t be an issue.

  55. 55.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Mike in NC: I remember watching the comparable moment in Chicago twelve years ago. I literally got chills. Still love that U2 song. Jesse Jackson weeping. Oprah resting her chin on a stranger’s shoulder. That dress Michelle wore that made her look like she had a bit of belly and we were all like, “Is she….”

    I keep thinking, Obama got the Nobel for not being Bush. What are they gonna do, give Biden two?

  58. 58.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Put mine up as soon as they called it. And since this one is about ready to get handed over to the Boy Scouts or the American Legion for burial, I ordered a new one today, which will be here tomorrow.

  62. 62.

    Dagaetch

    @Adam L Silverman: hey, UDel criminal justice major here! I graduated in the mid aughts, wondering if I knew any of those faculty members. I do remember that some of them were kinda bonkers. Also I work in higher ed now, and completely understand the saying “in academia, the fights are so vicious because the stakes are so small.”. Sigh…

  63. 63.

    mali muso

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I will never forget that night. I had volunteered for the Obama campaign almost every night after work and we were all watching together. My husband (black, immigrant) turned to me and said “anything is possible”.

  64. 64.

    Splitting Image

    @Adam L Silverman:

    I saw an MSNBC/NBC reporter report, sometime around 4 or so, that he’d spoken to several people in front of where they’re counting ballots in Maricopa County and all of them said they don’t understand how Biden could win because they never see Biden signs in yards, he doesn’t do rallies and when he does they don’t have big crowds like Trumps, and none of Biden’s supporters are showing up armed to demand the voting be stoped or counted or whatever it is they want.

    It’s funny. Pauline Kael said much the same thing about Richard Nixon, and movement conservatives have been painting her as the prototypical out-of-touch liberal ever since. McGovern drew pretty big crowds in his day too.

  66. 66.

    MisterForkbeard

    @zhena gogolia: It’s such a great shirt, isn’t it? I’m sad I only bought one. :)

    @Splitting Image: “Look, we’re threatening the shit out of people and no one had any signs up because of it, why am I blindsided about Biden’s support? It just doesn’t make any sense!”

  70. 70.

    M31

    can’t wait to see Joe motor up in his Corvette, wearing shades, drive it up on the stage and just rev it for an hour while pumping his fist, then leave

  73. 73.

    Ken

    @M31: it’s so great to see happy people, it’s been a looooong time

    As a lot of people have noted, even though they won four years ago the Trumpists weren’t happy. They just stayed angry.

    Chris Grey has made the same point about the pro-Brexit faction.

  75. 75.

    Another Scott

    It looks like it won’t be long – they’re showing the lectern and people on stage are checking it out.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  76. 76.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Dagaetch: My interview was in January 2003. Did you attend a job talk or a student session with a prospective faculty hire who specialized in terrorism? If so, then we’ve met.

  77. 77.

    Kattails

    @MisterForkbeard: I looked it up, nice! Mine’s your basic white Biden/Harris swag from working the GOTV stuff last weekend. I’m so happy to have it and slept quite well;-)

    It’s so great to hear  and see the joy everywhere. I’ve had this scene in my head the last few days.

  80. 80.

    SiubhanDuinne

    I’m happy for one final time to embed for you, the live speeches by our newly elected leaders

    Wait, you’re not putting up a thread for Joe’s inauguration speech?

  82. 82.

    different-church-lady

    @Splitting Image: What Kael actually said does not match what people think she said.

    She was saying that she didn’t personally know anyone who voted for Nixon, but nonetheless she could tell they were out there.

    Some bullshit just never dies.

  86. 86.

    Another Scott

    Kamala.

    [It’s weird that the closed-captioning is ahead of the video.]

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  87. 87.

    MisterForkbeard

    “Please Welcome Vice President Elect of the United States, Kamala Harris!”

    WOOOOOOOOOOOO! There may or may not be fanboy cheering in my house right now

    ETA: And you can tell she’s so happy.

  89. 89.

    randy khan

    Harris in white – a suffragist reference?

    This election, remember, is 100 years after women’s suffrage in the U.S.

  92. 92.

    SiubhanDuinne

    YAY, Kamala wearing Suffragette White. So appropriate in this centenary year of Women’s Suffrage.

  93. 93.

    Feathers

    I have on the ABC new YouTube feed, but the people talking are being stupid, so it is paused. They are also showing very white and boring crowds, rather than the fantastically cool ones I’ve been watching all day.

    Was going shopping earlier, but just missed a bus, so I decided to get a pizza slice from the under new management pizza shop on the corner. The guy behind the counter sort of warily asked me “are you happy?” Oh, hell, yes, I told him, and we had a nice moment. The slice isn’t really much better than the previous incarnation of the shop, but I’ll give them another chance or two.

  98. 98.

    mousebumples

    I can’t believe how much I’m crying (happy tears, obvs) watching Kamala talk. Suffragette White, powerful words. Invoking John Lewis. I just … I knew this meant a lot to me, but I didn’t expect to get quite this emotional over it all.

    Thanks for posting this, Tamara.

  101. 101.

    MisterForkbeard

    “You chose Joe Biden as the next President of the United States Of America!”

    <cheers and car horns!>

    This is really healing. And Kamala is good at this. You can tell when she goes a little off the standard political stuff into talking about how Joe loves his family.

    ETA: And when she thanks Doug and her own family. It’s jarring that our leaders are actual people with feelings now.

  104. 104.

    Dagaetch

    @Adam L Silverman: possibly… To be honest it was long enough ago that they’ve all blended together. But I went to a bunch of those things, and generally found them interesting, so if we did meet, I enjoyed your talk! Lol.

  106. 106.

    mousebumples

    @SiubhanDuinne: One of the things I love about this place. We’re there for each other through the tough times, but we definitely celebrate together when we get these sorts of victories.

    We did it!

  110. 110.

    cain

    I’m seeing shades of Obama here –

    Black woman are the backbone of our Democracy – and they prove it every time!

  114. 114.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Dagaetch: The female faculty member with the centerfolds open on her desk had sandy blonde hair, spike cut. She researched teen age drug raves in Philadelphia. Does that help?

    And I’m glad you enjoyed it!//

  116. 116.

    Kattails

    Oh God this is so powerful. Suffragette white. Biden as breaker of barriers. I may be the first but not the last.  …

  119. 119.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @mousebumples: It may be clichéd to say this, but John G. Cole — whether or not he intended to — has built an amazing family. I’m forever thankful to be part of it.

  142. 142.

    dmsilev

    Hit the ground running.

    New: Biden will sign exec orders on first day as POTUS, reversing Trump policies:

    —Will rejoin Paris climate accords.

    —Reverse withdrawal from the World Health Organization.

    —Repeal ban on immigration from Muslim-majority countries.

    —Reinstate DACA. https://t.co/slVRBEMQdA
    — Paul Farhi (@farhip) November 8, 2020

  147. 147.

    debbie

    @dmsilev:

    Oh, I don’t either. It’s just that every word anyone says over the next 10 weeks is going to drive him nuts. Kind of rewarding to think about.

  148. 148.

    mali muso

    Have my biracial daughter kn my lap. Born weeks after the 2016 election, she will come of age in a time where someone who looks like her is in high office

  150. 150.

    Sister Golden Bear

    Friends of mine (a trans woman and her wife), summed up my feelings:

    Her: it’s like we get to be part of…
    Me: part of the country. We get to be part of the country again.

    I’m not sure people even know — I’m not sure I’ve ever acknowledged, even to myself — just how excluded, ridiculed, afraid I’ve been for four years.

  161. 161.

    M31

    time to announce the Committee to Hound Trump and All His Minions To the End of The Earth, headed by Gritty

  163. 163.

    HumboldtBlue

    @mali muso:

    Have my biracial daughter kn my lap. Born weeks after the 2016 election, she will come of age in a time where someone who looks like her is in high office

    Had an absolutely hilarious Zoom session with my bi-racial WV grand niece and nephews yesterday. They get to see the same.

  166. 166.

    Ken

    @dmsilev: Has he warned everyone about destroying records yet?

    (Because you know this gang will try to use the “But no one told me” excuse.)

  180. 180.

    MisterForkbeard

    I listened to Joe’s speech first in my car and then on my phone while waiting for takeout.

    This whole thing was uplifting. Fantastic job by both Elects.

  182. 182.

    Kent

    Now let’s let a pathetic Trump whine about “illegal” ballots.  He’s toast.  A dead and rotting fish.  I wonder how many days they are going to keep up the charade of trying to challenge this result.

  183. 183.

    Another Scott

    Good speech.  I liked that he said that he wants to work together for the American people and laid down a marker for Congress.  But I also liked that he’s not waiting.  Monday he’ll announce his Covid experts team to advise the transition on what to do to get the virus under control, etc.

    The soaring rhetoric is good, but there’s much more.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  186. 186.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @dmsilev: Robert Costa said earlier that sources were telling him that the President planned to watch this speech closely! Maybe he’s looking for grounds to sue Biden for hurting his feelings in a terrible way, really nasty.

  188. 188.

    Burnspbesq

    Inspired music choices.

    ‘And I’ll bet it’s all been cleared, and royalties are being paid.

  189. 189.

    artem1s

    so weird. when Kamala introduced The Next President of The United States, it suddenly hit me…this isn’t a rally or a convention. it’s not hyperbole to get the crowd going. It’s a statement of fact. One I’ve been cringing at for 4 years. One that made me yell lalalalalalalala,,,,or change the channel. So nice to hear that statement without dread but with joy and relief.

  190. 190.

    dm

    (How do they make the big graphic “fireworks”?  Drones in formation?, some graphic net suspended from balloons or something?)

  192. 192.

    Elizabelle

    Joyful occasion and positive speeches.  Wonderful night.  We are due to hear this quality of speech and thought again.

  195. 195.

    FelonyGovt

    @artem1s: Won’t it be wonderful not to cringe when the President or Vice President is mentioned. Or when they represent us around the world.

  196. 196.

    randy khan

    That was such a Biden speech.  And the specific call out to the Black community was great, well-deserved, and entirely appropriate, and he went to back to it, in a way, with the reference to systemic racism.

    I’m so happy.

  200. 200.

    randy khan

    Jim Clyburn coming onto MSNBC right now.  Brian Williams giving him huge credit for Biden’s win.

  201. 201.

    Bill Arnold

    @dmsilev:

    New: Biden will sign exec orders on first day as POTUS, reversing Trump policies:

    Hope he also removes tariffs[1] on Chinese solar panels and wind towers (and related). That would be a big boost to American domestic production of solar/wind power, or rather, removal of a large gift to fossil fuel interests.

    [1] https://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/market-insights/latest-news/electric-power/101620-chinese-solar-panel-wind-tower-importers-sue-trump-administration-over-tariffs

  203. 203.

    cain

    @debbie:

    Yes, but this time there will be no crazy follow up by Republicans – we are going to hold on to power for the next generation.

  204. 204.

    Scout211

    This has been such a day. Those two speeches were just beautiful. Perfect.

    I think we are just about out of tissues in our house . . . So many tears today. Tears of relief and tears of joy. So many tears.

  205. 205.

    MagdaInBlack

    There will be humans in the White House again. And children, grand-babies, dogs, music, laughter. Normal people. Wont it be grand !

    Yes, I know, a lot of work to be done, but tonight I’m thinking of those good, normal, human things.

  212. 212.

    Zelma

    My son and I were reminiscing about sitting around in 2008 watching the race being called for Obama.  There were a lot of tears and a lot of hope.  He had campaigned for Obama ever since the beginning and convinced me that Obama was the future.  We were so hopeful then.  I can’t say we feel the same hope now but it sneaks in around the margins when I think that Trump will be gone.  I cried a lot of tears in 2008; I’ve cried a lot of tears tonight.  But good tears.

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