Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

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

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

I was promised a recession.

White supremacy is terrorism.

A consequence of cucumbers

Every reporter and pundit should have to declare if they ever vacationed with a billionaire.

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

I conferred with the team and they all agree – still not tired of winning!

Cole, when it comes to calico cats, restraint is overrated.

Republicans in disarray!

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

Even though I know this is a bad idea, I’m off to do it anyway!

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

Come on, man.

It looks like winning debates is a black job!

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

We need to vote them all out and restore sane Democratic government.

Let’s finish the job.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

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

The frogs are rarely mistaken.

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

No Justins, No Peace

You are here: Home / Politics / Trumpery / Dolt 45 / Today’s Tantrum

Today’s Tantrum

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We had a whole weekend of national attention on President-Elect Joseph R. Biden and Vice-President-Elect Kamala D. Harris. He went golfing to try to ignore it, but today the neglect is setting in with full force.

So still-President Donald J. Trump fired his Secretary of Defense. That’ll show them! And you can call him Yesper, but Mark T. Esper defied The Master one too many times.

It seems pointless to fire anyone when you have only ten more weeks in the job, but as our very own Cole quoted Mary Trump,

Esper gave an interview on November 4 that he evidently asked to be held until he resigned or was fired. It’s been published. I think I would have wanted to have calmed down a bit before giving an interview and tried to avoid the whining, but you get the Secretary of Defense we just had, not the one we might want.

There’s a lot of speculation about why Esper was fired, and who’s next. The FBI’s Christopher Wray is the favorite. Also, too, someone in the White House has given instructions to agency heads to fire anyone who’s got a resume circulating.

I think Cole’s got it right. The positive side, I guess, is that as Trump eliminates people from the government, he becomes less able to do real damage, like start a war. It’s going to make the transition more difficult, but we knew that was coming.

And where are the other front-pagers? Open thread.

Reader Interactions

131Comments

  2. 2.

    sanjeevs

    I’m ok with firing Wray.

    He’s been ok but just has those Comey vibes.

    Wray being fired will make it easier for Biden to appoint an independent or Dem

  6. 6.

    NickM

    Bill Barr just emerged from hiding for a 45-minute meeting in McConnell’s Senate office.  He walked out minutes ago and did not answer questions.  I wonder what’s going on?

  7. 7.

    RaflW

    The overthrow of the voters is still being contemplated.

    GA Senators (for now) Perdue and Loeffler have just attacked Republican Georgia Secretary of State Raffensperger, in a written statement: “The Secretary of State has failed to deliver honest and transparent elections. He has failed the people of Georgia, and he should step down immediately.”

    With the firing of Esper, and the rumored firing of two other insufficiently loyal cabinet members imminent, things may get extra-frosty quite soon.

  8. 8.

    germy

    Biden is now up 34k votes in NV (2.6%) & 43k in PA; more blue votes to come.

    AZ/GA leads are insurmountable now with very little outstanding.

    Biden wins 306 EVs & leads popular vote by 4.8M, with 6M ballots still out from CA/NY/IL.

    this was not a close election.

    — Jesse Lehrich (@JesseLehrich) November 9, 2020

  9. 9.

    Chetan Murthy

    Heh, one says to oneself that as Shitlord fires people, the transition could hire them as “consultants” to aid with the transition.  Sure, let Shitlord threaten them with prosecutions — ain’t like he’s gonna have that ability much longer.

  10. 10.

    randy khan

    I don’t think that firing the political appointees at the top of the Trump Cabinet agencies would be a barrier to an effective transition.  In fact, I think it might help.

  12. 12.

    bbleh

    And where are the other front-pagers?

    PTSD? Hangovers? The Bends?  I certainly have a bit of all of those.  I think I’ve only got it about 75% processed at this point …

  18. 18.

    bbleh

    @randy khan: From a distance perhaps.  That’s why we put barred gates on their communities, you see.  Wouldn’t want them circulating freely in nice neighborhoods …

  21. 21.

    Kent

    Esper is actually the big winner here.

    He gets to go home and enjoy Thanksgiving and Christmas with his family and get an advance start on the next stage of his live as a return to being a defense lobbyist.  Instead of being forced to spend his last days in office over the holidays hunkered down in the Fuhrer Bunker listing to Trump’s increasingly unhinged rantings.

    Getting fired by Trump is actually a badge of honor as it helps remove some of the Trump Stench that is going to follow these people the rest of their lives.  Reportedly he got fired for two reasons:  (1) not using the insurrection act to deploy active duty troops to put down BLM protesters, and (2) pushing to rename military bases that are named after Confederate traitors.   Those reasons should help him polish his reputation even more.

    Now if we can just get Trump to fire Wray as well.

  27. 27.

    moops

    There appears to be lot of firing career civil servants without cause.  Which one of these ends up litigated and appealed all the way to the USSC?

  31. 31.

    pamelabrown53

    @germy:

    Exactly! This is not a close election. Why does it even matter who trump tantrum-fires at this point? How does this hurt Biden or America? I’m missing an important point because I am not grokking how this is hurting the transition.

    Dammit. I can’t wait for the day that trump’s every wet fart no longer consumes all the oxygen.

    Signed,

    Too exhausted to care

  34. 34.

    MattF

    @Cheryl Rofer: Tickets to Moscow? Oh well.

    So, narcissists strike out at those nearest, and Esper was nearby. I think Trump is feeling his power leak out, drop by drop.

  35. 35.

    Kent

    @moops:There appears to be lot of firing career civil servants without cause.  Which one of these ends up litigated and appealed all the way to the USSC?

    What are you referring to?  Esper and all these high level folks are political appointees and can be fired at will.  I’m not aware of any firing of career civil service employees.

    If it happens, it won’t be litigated all the way to SCOTUS.  It will get overturned by the civil service review board before it even gets to court.  https://www.mspb.gov/About/about.htm

  37. 37.

    debit

    I think we can now see clearly that McConnell is NOT going to work with Biden. If anyone was wondering.

  41. 41.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    @pamelabrown53: It matters in that the GSO is refusing to release transition funding to the Biden campaign because they say he’s not yet president elect. You have to know more than I do to know how that affects the transition but I assume it’s not good

    ETA: Or what VOR says better right below.

  42. 42.

    VOR

    Biden’s transition is going to be a real challenge. First, a Trump appointee at GSA seems to be willing to delay recognition of Biden’s win, hence delaying funding and office space. Second, Trump never filled a lot of roles, notably at State, so many of the agencies are likely seriously understaffed. Third, Trump attracted a lot of venal and incompetent people who will be of questionable value with transition planning.

    Reportedly the Obama-Biden administration prepared a lot of briefing materials for the Trump transition which went unused when the Trump people didn’t show up. I wonder if copies are still available.

  45. 45.

    JMG

    Biden can now drop the unity bullshit. He can just say, “I can’t work with people who won’t acknowledge I was elected, so I’m just going to ignore them as Trump did the House from 2019-2020.”

  48. 48.

    BruceFromOhio

    @NickM: 

    Moscow Mitch: get this flaming asshole out of here before he really breaks something
    Lowest Barr: he’s gonna fire me if I try to do anything
    MM: he’s a Gaia-damned criminal, fer cryin’ out, charge him with something!
    LB: …

  49. 49.

    Sebastian

    @debit:

    They are cranking up the partisan heat so they can claim that the coming indictments for collusion are politically motivated. It’s the only card the traitors have left to play.

  50. 50.

    LeftCoastYankee

    One more person with dirt willing to testify against him.  Keep ’em coming Dumbass….

  51. 51.

    prostratedragon

    “The positive side, I guess, is that as Trump eliminates people from the government, he becomes less able to do real damage, like start a war.”

    Yep. Lamest not-quite-dead duck ever. Even without the firings, because of all those circulating resumes. The throughput is low.

  52. 52.

    West of the Rockies

    I suspect  Clump will do all sorts of shit that  will immediately  be rescinded  (and probably  not even acted upon):  open up the California coast for landfill dumping, chop down all redwoods, open season on atheists and children…

    Gonna be a cray-cray 72 days.

  53. 53.

    RaflW

    Dunno how much this matters, but a career diplomat heading the US engagement in Syria was just fired from Pompeo’s State Dept. Expect more turmoil as the shit gets stirred around Trump.

  55. 55.

    piratedan

    @Cheryl Rofer: Makes you think he pitched a plan to keep Trump in office that would be anywhere on a sliding scale from slightly skeevy to outright treasonous and wanted to see if McConnell would sign on… my guess is the Turtle thinks he’s safe w/o Trump, tyvm… nice doing bidness with ya…

  56. 56.

    Bill Arnold

    This is precisely Adam’s turf,  but I’m a bit disturbed about Trump’s new acting Secretary of Defense (pending what?). It’s an interesting choice when has been open talk in the RW fever swamps about Trump using the Insurrection Act to keep power and similar moves. Secretary for “Special Operations and <strong>Low-Intensity Conflict”, special forces veteran. Are they insane and thinking about a coup, or are they trying to stoke up fears, or what?

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assistant_Secretary_of_Defense_for_Special_Operations_and_Low-Intensity_Conflict

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_C._Miller

  58. 58.

    moops

    I don’t think any of these are political appointees

     

    The administration fired Lisa Gordon-Hagerty, administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Bonnie Glick, deputy administrator of the US Agency for International Development, and Neil Chatterjee, chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

  59. 59.

    Steve in the ATL

    @RaflW:

     

    “[Raffensperger] has failed the people of Georgia, and he should step down immediately.”

    Finally something we can agree on.

  60. 60.

    moops

    @VOR:  Hopefully a Biden administration will mostly know how DC works.   They can just pretend they are taking office after the last Obama-Biden administration.

  62. 62.

    pamelabrown53

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    I think Biden already anticipated trump’s ratfucking. I’ve read that he’s already raised 7 mil. for the transition.  Basically, other than security clearances, I don’t think he’ll be very hamstrung. Plus, his experience in the executive makes it even less an issue,

    It’s just another example of trump trying to continue his constant chaos.

    Bottom line. Biden and team: they’ve got this.

  63. 63.

    The Dangerman

    Less able to start a war? Perhaps. But don’t let his ability supersede his desire.

    Today was Esper Day (all his troubles are now so far away … hmmm … sorry). I fear War Day is coming.

  64. 64.

    Ruckus

    @MattF:

    More like bucket by bucket and being poured out.

    And the problem is that if they see things going sideways, they almost always make things far worse. With shitforbrains, the almost is non functional.

  65. 65.

    Grace

    @Baud: Oh, okay. Maybe just telling him to refuse to seat Kelly since the AZ election was rigged. Wouldn’t be a good look to recognize the validity of that race when Twitler lost there, surely it was a corrupt election that demands investigation.

  66. 66.

    chopper

    @geg6:

    if either of those guys even said the name jesus the room would instantly darken and their faces would melt like the guy in raiders of the lost ark.

  68. 68.

    prostratedragon

    @debit:  His beat-up looking hands are emblematic of the millions of us hammering and jumping up and down on them to get him to relinquish power.

  69. 69.

    different-church-lady

    So McConnell has climbed onboard Trump’s Ghost Ship, and both GA senators are calling for the elections supervisor to resign.

    The only lesson they’ve learned for the past four years is that The Big Lie works, and they’re just going to keep at it. This is going to get very very ugly.

  71. 71.

    Ruckus

    @VOR:

    Remember Joe was part of that administration, at a rather high level. And he probably has President Obama’s phone number…..

  73. 73.

    Brachiator

    I think Cole’s got it right. The positive side, I guess, is that as Trump eliminates people from the government, he becomes less able to do real damage, like start a war.

    Trump is the president who let thousands of his fellow citizens needlessly die from Covid-19.

    Never under-estimate the amount of damage that he might cause.

  76. 76.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Barbara:

    he’s not a failure for the reasons Perdue and Loeffler cite, of course.  He’s just a typically odious republican vote suppressor.  And a dumbass.

  79. 79.

    Kent

    @VOR:  Biden’s transition is going to be a real challenge. First, a Trump appointee at GSA seems to be willing to delay recognition of Biden’s win, hence delaying funding and office space. Second, Trump never filled a lot of roles, notably at State, so many of the agencies are likely seriously understaffed. Third, Trump attracted a lot of venal and incompetent people who will be of questionable value with transition planning.

    Reportedly the Obama-Biden administration prepared a lot of briefing materials for the Trump transition which went unused when the Trump people didn’t show up. I wonder if copies are still available.

    I’m a former Federal worker who mostly worked in Alaska but I did some details to DC and temporary assignments working as an aid near the top of NOAA and DOC.

    I’m honestly not that particularly alarmed, surprised or worried about this for several reasons.

    First, the Biden team is only 4-years out of the White House so they know most of this stuff already.  The will have access to people who were running these agencies for Obama 4 years ago.

    Second, the political appointees in each agency are only a very thin veneer.  There are layers and layers of top civil service deputy secretaries and such who will be staying on in a Biden Administration.  These people are all known.  And any Biden transition team folks are going to be talking directly to them via phone calls, emails, etc.  This is going to all be virtual anyway because of the pandemic which will make the work-arounds to evade Trump obstruction even easier.  It’s one thing to not make conference rooms and office space in Federal buildings available for transition teams.  It’s another thing entirely to try to control top civil service people from talking with and sharing information with their future bosses electronically.  For the most part, the Trump people in these agencies will be packing their bags and working on their resumes, not wasting time with this sort of petty shit.  I doubt many of them will even be showing up at the office.  They’ll be flying around taking job interviews and going to the final rounds of GOP holiday parties in DC hosted by corporate influencers before they move on to their lobby jobs.

    Third, the transition team can use other money to staff up (donations, campaign funds, etc.) and then reimburse themselves for expenses when they take power on January 21.  They could, for example, take a WeWork office building in central DC on credit, ramp up operations there, and then pay off WeWork in January when they have control of the government.

    What we are reading about is mostly performative ticky tack bullshit of the sort we expect to see from Trump.  But none of it is really going to slow down Biden’s efforts in any meaningful way.  They aren’t going to stop their planning and contacts within each agency to the real civil service people who do the work.  And lack of Federal office space, computers, internet, etc. isn’t going to prevent them from moving forward.

  80. 80.

    Haroldo

    I’ve hear rumors that the Wisconsin State Legislature is looking at putting together a Republican slate of electors.  Trump seems to confirm those rumors in a tweet: ‘Wisconsin looking good. Needs a little time statutorily.  Will happen.’  (Sorry.  My ability to embed tweet  addresses is non-existent.)

    Anybody else hearing such things?

  84. 84.

    randy khan

    @moops:

    I haven’t looked, but I bet none of them are civil servants, just based on the titles.  Head of the NRC definitely is an appointed post.

  86. 86.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Haroldo: Wouldn’t matter at all, from what I understand.

    If they wanted to change how all this works, they had to do it before the election. And anything they pass will require the Governor’s signature, which… won’t happen. Trying to get those electors seated anyway would be blatantly illegal.

  88. 88.

    artem1s

    Is Barr finally starting the COVID Coup?

    Section 4 of the 25th Amendment to the Constitution. The amendment states that if, for whatever reason, the vice president and a majority of sitting Cabinet secretaries decide that the president is “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office,” they can simply put that down in writing and send it to two people — the speaker of the House and the Senate’s president pro tempore.
    Then the vice president would immediately become “acting president,” and take over all the president’s powers.

    At this point, why wouldn’t Moscow Mitch and Barr throw their weight behind Dence so they can do maximum damage in the next 70 days with their new SCOTUS pick?  Trump’s not the only narcissist in this administration.  He’s just the dumbest and least able to pull off a long term strategy.

  89. 89.

    MisterForkbeard

    @artem1s: The base LOVES Trump. I can’t imagine they think this would boost turnout before the Georgia elections. And it wouldn’t help Trump’s re-election shenanigans either.

  90. 90.

    Kay

    We were told Republicans would accept the results of the election, yet they’re not accepting the results of the election.

    It’s actually worse than anyone anticipated. Not only is Trump refusing to accept the results, so is the entire Republican Party.

    I suppose they eventually will but since they promised to accept the results and are not now keeping that promise I’m taking a wait and see attitude to the question of “do Republicans accept the results of elections?”

    So far? No.

  91. 91.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Being a petty jackass is McConnell’s reason for living.  Non-story.  And firing other people besides Esper shows this isn’t about a coup, it’s a standard narcissist tantrum firing everyone who failed them.  Can’t be the narcissist’s fault, right?

  92. 92.

    Haroldo

    @MisterForkbeard:

    Thanks.  Looking into this more I find that not only would Gov. Evers not sign off on this, he has veto-proof Democratic minorities in the WI House and Senate.

  93. 93.

    RaflW

    @Cheryl Rofer: Contra Dan, I think it is completely normal to notice that choices have consequences. Bossie, Meadows, Carson and the other WH-adjacents who have become infected made the adult but foolish decisions to elevate their risks. Sucks to be them.

  94. 94.

    pamelabrown53

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Okay. Thanks. Just to be clear: it’s been reported that Yertle has forbidden  republican senators to deny reality by referring to president-elect Biden as president-elect?

  95. 95.

    RaflW

    @Kay: In the delicious tears dept, I noticed that Erik son of Erik was freaking out on twitter this past weekend that all the GOP claims of election malfeasance will demotivate Republicans from voting in January. “What’s the point, it’s all rigged” may possibly lose the race for those two loathsome GA toadstools.

  96. 96.

    Hoodie

    @Haroldo: “A little time statutorily” probably refers to the time required to certify results and start a recount.  The cynic in me tells me that this is just to stroke DJT’s ego, fire up the yahoos for donations and the GA runoffs, and set up the sabotage for the first 2 years of the Biden administration.  These guys really don’t give a shit that 125K+ are getting infected every day and soon many hospitals will be overwhelmed.

  97. 97.

    jc

    I’m still depressed that *more* righties would vote for Trumpov this time … us liberals have spent the past four years in shock and sorrow reading the daily atrocities coming out of this abnormal administration. I mean, come on, man. WTF is wrong with you wing-nut gluttons for punishment?

  99. 99.

    Tim C.

    @Kay: I agree that it’s all insane bullshit.

    But also:

     

    1.  I get the hesitation of other groups in the GOP.   It’s a sign of their moral failure, sure,  but politically if Trump wants to destroy the Republican party,  he can.   If he tells his supporters that congressional and establishment Republicans have betrayed him and are no longer loyal, then it could split the Republican party.  Establishment GOP has to try and talk him down and letting the BS lawsuits play out is the only way.
    2. Hey, why did Barr stay so silent the last month?  He was clearly getting warmed up when the nine spoiled votes got disposed of incorrectly in Pennsylvania, but then he seemed to shut the hell up and disappear.   I know most of the unmasking/obamagate nonsense was nonsense,  but I expected him to at least make some sudden announcement or at least wink at the Hunter Biden laptops nonsense.  He didn’t   Someone hold something over him you think?
  101. 101.

    Kay

    Biden carried Maine by almost 9 points, yet Susan Collins issued a weasel word, disrespectful statement calling his election into question.

    Just disgusting behavior. She not only doesn’t respect democratic process or the constitution, she doesn’t respect the vast majority of voters in her own state.

    If Biden wasn’t elected then she wasn’t either. That’s how this works. They can’t pick and choose which elections to recognize.

  102. 102.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @Grace: If a member is duly elected(certified by his state), the Senate cannot refuse to seat him, they would have to seat him and then expel him(2/3’s vote required).  The Supremes ruled on this in 1969.  The case was in the House, but I believe it also applies to the Senate.

  103. 103.

    Aleta

    He’s firing people because he blames his election loss on anyone who didn’t make it happen for him.  Anyone who’s  crossed him, contradicted him or refused to do what he asked is to blame.  If you weren’t loyal enough to break rules or commit crimes, you’re disloyal by (his)  definition, and deserve punishment.  This includes anyone in his administration who was too principled to campaign for him.

    Getting rid of anyone who they even suspect might oppose them (or reveal some unpleasant secret) is what narcissists with power do.  Narcissists without the power to banish or fire will try to damage the offender’s reputation or will blacklist or threaten to make them leave on their own.

    I’ve watched a narcissist operate at the head of an organization for 20+ years, which is why I believe that about Trump.

  105. 105.

    Nora Lenderbee

    I refuse to recognize the results of the Kentucky Senate election. McYertle was not reelected. The new Senator is Amy McGrath. So there! Hey, this is easy.

  106. 106.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @louc:

    Don’t.  This is standard narcissist who’s losing behavior.  Others besides Esper have been fired.  When a narcissist loses, he attacks his allies first, because they failed him and he can’t hurt his enemy or he would have already.  Esper delivered the news to Trump that the military refused to gun down protestors, so Trump didn’t get to look like a Big Tough Law And Order President, so Trump lost the election.  It can’t be Trump’s fault.  That’s narcissist logic.

    EDIT – See @Aleta: above.  This is what it looks like when a narcissist loses.  This is the kind of tantrum they throw.

  108. 108.

    Grace

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: thanks, that’s good to know. Non-issue now, was just announced McConnell has thrown in with Trump in refusing to recognize Biden’s election. Guess they’re going the coup route.

  109. 109.

    Haroldo

    @Hoodie:

    The cynic in me

    ….not cynical at all, and it may be why there doing this. The reason I bring it up is Robin Vos, Republican Speaker, true believer, and all-around loathsome human being, is calling for (and will get, I think) an investigation into ‘irregularities’ in the Wisconsin results. I don’t know how much this would gum up result certification , and I don’t know how much mischief the WI Supreme Court (5-4 Rebpubs) can make if they get involved. In other words, ‘Why not both?’

  110. 110.

    Grace

    @Haroldo:  Don’t they just have to drag it past the states’ deadline for certifying, refuse to certify, and then vote to send the Republican slate of electors?

  112. 112.

    TriassicSands

    Of course, now that Donald Trump has lost, the big story is Donald Trump’s refusal to concede and cooperate in the transition. How could it be otherwise?

    Did you hate Ralph Nader for costing Gore the election in 2000?

    Well, even if you did, your new favorite person in November 2020 might have to be Jo Jorgensen, the Libertarian candidate for president. In all likelihood, she delivered the presidency to Joe Biden. Look at the vote totals in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Georgia. In all three states, Jorgensen’s vote total exceeds Biden’s victory margin over Trump — by a lot.

    Do you think rank order voting is the way to go? If so, please congratulate Donald Trump on his re-election. (At least based on those three states.) Biden didn’t get 50% in any of them, but the most likely second choice of most libertarians would be Trump, not Biden. We can hope they would be smarter than that, but they are, after all, libertarians.

    Our system is horribly broken, but the real problem in this country isn’t the system or Trump. It’s the American voter. And the likelihood of improvement is probably nil.

  114. 114.

    Brachiator

    @Frankensteinbeck:

      This is what it looks like when a narcissist loses.  This is the kind of tantrum they throw.

    Really? Based on what studies?

    And what is the solution to this? It’s not as though anyone is going to commit Trump to a mental institution.

    This also does little to deal with the back-up obstruction coming from the Republican leadership.

    And after a very short time, Trump’s antics begin to disrupt the transition process. It’s been noted that the GSA cannot release funding for the transition as long as Trump acts a fool and is supported by the GOP in his acting a fool.

    Trump’s tantrum has a material effect on the nation and on what should be standard political processes.

  115. 115.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @TriassicSands:

    Well, even if you did, your new favorite person in November 2020 might have to be Jo Jorgensen, the Libertarian candidate for president. In all likelihood, she delivered the presidency to Joe Biden.

    Not necessarily, I have a friend who would never vote for Hillary, but didn’t like Trump either, voted Johnson in 2016.  The alternative would have been leaving it blank, not voting for Trump.

  117. 117.

    TriassicSands

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    Yes, but we’re dealing in thousands of votes, not your friend or mine. Libertarians have little reason to support Biden, but they are in lock step (goose step?) with Trump on things like guns, pandemic mandates, etc.

    Not necessarily? Maybe. But highly likely? I think so.

    The numbers for PA:

    Pennsylvania

    Biden (D) 3,362,551 Lead over Trump = 45,022 46.69%

    Trump ® 3,317,429

    Jorgensen (L) 77,563

    That’s 22 thousand more libertarian votes than Biden’s current lead.

  118. 118.

    Kattails

    Adam had told us, the other night, to enjoy a day or two of peace and quiet. After which he was going to do a post about how dangerous the next period is going to be.  Been keeping an eye out.

  119. 119.

    PAM Dirac

    @moops:

     

    I don’t think any of these are political appointees

    The first and the third definitely are political appointees and were confirmed by the Senate. I’m not as sure about the second. You also have to be careful about the meaning of “firing”. In a number of cases (Fauci, for example) they can be removed from their position without cause, but they can’t be terminated from federal employment or have their salary changed without following procedure.

  120. 120.

    Martin

    Narcissists take their anger out on those that they trusted to be loyal. If you don’t set yourself on fire for the cause, you’re at fault for failing him.

    Surprised Barr isn’t in hiding.

  121. 121.

    dww44

    @sanjeevs: I very much disagree with you. Wray has walked a fine line while maintaining as much independence as possible and doing his utmost to uphold the role of law. I would be ok with his staying on   Not my call  though;it’s Pres Elect Biden’s

  123. 123.

    Geminid

    @Tim C.: Why has Barr laid low? One theory is that Barr is loyal to the conservative republican establishment, not to trump, and that the conservative political establishment has written trump off. They value the trump voters, but trump himself is now a liability. They certainly have gotten their use out trump- tax cuts, judges etc.   But I doubt if many of the powerbrokers respect trump, much less like him. Barr has been part of this Federalist, Koch brothers crowd for decades, but this go round as AG is just a dirty odd job to him.

  125. 125.

    cain

    @artem1s: At this point, why wouldn’t Moscow Mitch and Barr throw their weight behind Dence so they can do maximum damage in the next 70 days with their new SCOTUS pick? Trump’s not the only narcissist in this administration. He’s just the dumbest and least able to pull off a long term strategy.

    The base would go fucking nuts if they did that – it would be a huge betrayal and Trump will relish it and dump on the GOP like nobody’s business. All those militias will be pointing their guns at Republicans instead – but it is a lot more egregious what is happening.

  127. 127.

    WRRistow

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: Excellent tricks. Let me add one variant:  accept being productivrly unproductive.

    Sometimes, when you’re stuck, you’re not blocked at all; you’re engaged on a problem that you need to solve before going on, a problem you may not even recognize. In this case (and it’s hard, because it feels exactly like being blocked), the approach is to : give up’,, walk away for a while, and neither work on not think about your writing, until the next step suddenly comes clear to you.

  128. 128.

    Suzanne

    @Kattails: SuzMom is freaking out. Says Trump is dangerous AF and that he is going to have the courts overturn the election.

    I am scared too, but I am also tired, and right now, tired is winning.

  129. 129.

    Sloane Ranger

    @dww44: Respectfully disagree. Biden needs to clean out ALL Trump appointees from the government. OTOH, Wray has been reasonably decent as FBI Director and his actions to date should mean he is allowed to continue to mix in decent society and be invited to the best parties.

  130. 130.

    J R in WV

    @Kent:

    For the most part I agree with your thesis about the transition, but for one item, where you say:

    They’ll (The Trump political appointees will] be flying around taking job interviews and going to the final rounds of GOP holiday parties in DC hosted by corporate influencers before they move on to their lobby jobs.

    Do you really think those folks have a chance at those kind of jobs? I don’t. The administration has a stink of incompetence already, and it is getting worse faster than left-over raw fish in the back of the fridge.

    The worse Trumpian refusal to transition to the winner of the election, the more treasonous coup plotting, the less hireable these people will become, until they mostly wind up in Guantanamo Prison next winter.

    I  heard somewhere that Trump’s pick for SecDef is not legal as there is a Deputy Sec that the law requires replace the fired SecDef. Perhaps he isn’t any more willing to go along with a military action than Espy was? Oops!

    Seven Days in May running out in DC before our eyes. I’m glad there’s a whole mountain range between me and the District.

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