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You are here: Home / Elections / Biden-Harris 2020 / Monday Morning Open Thread: The Democrats Are Grownups

Monday Morning Open Thread: The Democrats Are Grownups

by Anne Laurie|  December 14, 20207:13 am| 177 Comments

This post is in: Biden-Harris 2020, Open Threads, Proud to Be A Democrat, Trumpery

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Wearing a mask isn’t about politics—it’s science. pic.twitter.com/InZBj4WkKj

— Biden-Harris Presidential Transition (@Transition46) December 13, 2020


Five years ago today, the world gathered to adopt the Paris Agreement on climate change.

And in 39 days, the United States is going to rejoin it.

We’re going to rally the world to push our progress further and faster and tackle the climate crisis head-on.

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) December 12, 2020

Together, we will build a world where the accomplishments of our daughters will be celebrated, rather than diminished.

— Dr. Jill Biden (@DrBiden) December 14, 2020

Factbox: When and how states' electors cast their votes for U.S. president https://t.co/YUsxk7IjTG pic.twitter.com/XEQ72bkGaC

— Reuters (@Reuters) December 14, 2020

The current Oval Office Squatter and his enablers, not so much…

His antics between Congress' counting of the electoral vote on January 6th and Inauguration Day will likely propel him to winning it next year, too. https://t.co/z0F2S55mjx

— Daily Trix (@DailyTrix) December 12, 2020

??BREAKING: There are currently no unruled upon lawsuits brought by Trump or his allies in any court. The only cases remaining in court are appeals of Trump's previous losses.

Unless they file new lawsuits, Trump and his allies will remain 1-59 in post-election litigation.

— Marc E. Elias (@marceelias) December 13, 2020

In a remarkable show of near-unanimity, at least 86 judges across the country — elected and appointed, selected by Republicans and Democrats — have rejected lawsuits by Trump and his allies challenging the election. ?@PostRoz? ?@eliseviebeck? https://t.co/w7dXw6CbKl

— Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) December 13, 2020

Here's a full list of state election results overturned by the Trump legal team. pic.twitter.com/ZFqpnfs4Zf

— Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) December 12, 2020

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Reader Interactions

177Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    December 14, 2020 at 7:16 am

    The Dems have always been the grown-ups.  But that is not sufficiently entertaining for some.

  2. 2.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 14, 2020 at 7:18 am

    2020 sucks more donkey ass.

    John le Carre – RIP.

    “Out of the secret world I once knew I have tried to make a theatre for the larger worlds we inhabit,” he wrote. “First comes the imagining, then the search for reality. Then back to the imagining, and to the desk where I’m sitting now.”

    The first book of his that I read was A Perfect Spy. In it he describes a childhood so sick and twisted that it was truly horrific to behold. At the time I wondered what kind of demented mind could even imagine such a thing. Years later I learned that there was no imagining involved. That part was autobiographical:

    “Although I’ve never been to a shrink, writing A Perfect Spy is probably what a very wise shrink would have advised me to do anyway.”

    We will not see his like again.

  3. 3.

    rikyrah

    December 14, 2020 at 7:25 am

    Good Morning, Everyone ???

  4. 4.

    Baud

    December 14, 2020 at 7:26 am

    @rikyrah:

    Good morning.

  5. 5.

    Baud

    December 14, 2020 at 7:27 am

    I look forward to congratulating Biden for his victory yet again today.

  6. 6.

    Matt McIrvin

    December 14, 2020 at 7:28 am

    I think it’s really surprising–and this is inspired by some recent talk on LGM along these lines–that there’s been such a split between even very conservative judges appointed by Trump, and Republican politicians. I would have expected either more politicians to defect from pushing the obviously absurd line that Trump was robbed, or for the judges to be bigger party hacks and play along. But the judges seem to have some professional values that the politicians don’t.

    It’s possible that the judges realize that if they become mere organs of a dictator, they’re personally irrelevant. But then you might expect legislators to realize that too.

  7. 7.

    rikyrah

    December 14, 2020 at 7:29 am

    Electoral College Vote Schedule10a: NH, VT=711a: IL=2011:30a: DE, NV=912p: AZ, CT, GA, MD, NY, PA, RI, VA=1101p: MN, NM, WI=252p: CO, DC, ME, MI=313p: MA, NJ, WA=373:10p: NE=14:30p: OR=75p: CA=55 (we pass 270 here)7p: HI=4306.— Scott Dworkin (@funder) December 14, 2020

  8. 8.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    December 14, 2020 at 7:30 am

    I mentally gamed out the only scenario that plays out nonzero chances in his attempted autogolpe.

    1. He invokes the legal authority he handily granted himself by EO in 2018 (wingnuts are proudly saying that this kingly decree is “The Law”.

    2. He’s got “actings” in a lot of key points in DOD and DHS. He sends out some DHS/DOJ security contractors to round up recalcitrants like Milley, other chiefs who might get off the fence.

    3. Rely on Senate Rs to be sufficiently cowed to not move on him. Use his new kingly powers to stifle opposition voices.

    4. He then rules effectively by decree, hoping that most of the populace takes the view of my wife, who recently said “millions of people figure out how to live under autocracy – we’d just have to be quiet and live”.

  9. 9.

    Baud

    December 14, 2020 at 7:30 am

    @Matt McIrvin:

    The politicians think they’re behavior will be forgotten in short order.  And it probably will be as society begins focusing on the corporate ties of his nominee for the Deputy Assistant Undersecretary for Transportation.  Judges know that their antidemocratic behavior will not be forgotten.

  10. 10.

    Rob

    December 14, 2020 at 7:31 am

    Good morning!

    Gmail, Google, even YouTube, are all down

  11. 11.

    The Oracle of Solace

    December 14, 2020 at 7:31 am

    The Democrats have been the party of grown-ups ever since Carter asked us to put on a sweater, and it’s gotten worse ever since. The GOP threw a fit when Michelle Obama asked us to eat our vegetables.

  12. 12.

    rikyrah

    December 14, 2020 at 7:32 am

    The Wall Street journal defends Epstein’s sexism and blames the response on a “strategic coordinated response from the Biden campaign”. The editor is worse than Epstein. pic.twitter.com/GIndwEQTXC— President Kamala’s Hand (STILL) (@DearDean22) December 14, 2020

  13. 13.

    Baud

    December 14, 2020 at 7:32 am

    @Rob:

    Google works for me.

  14. 14.

    NotMax

    December 14, 2020 at 7:33 am

    And now for something completely different, Instant Pot-wise.

    Merry slurping.

  15. 15.

    John S.

    December 14, 2020 at 7:33 am

    @Matt McIrvin: It’s really quite simple. Most of these judges don’t ever have to worry about satiating the blood lust of rabid constituents, and have pretty decent job security. The GOP politicians have to bend a knee, or end up getting primaried by some Qanon nut job waiting in the wings.

  16. 16.

    Baud

    December 14, 2020 at 7:34 am

    @rikyrah:

    And people will still think of them as different from Trump’s deplorables.

  17. 17.

    rikyrah

    December 14, 2020 at 7:36 am

    Who is cutting onions in here ???

    OK, they got me with this one. https://t.co/yVbxnxULCr— Ragnarok Lobster (@eclecticbrotha) December 14, 2020

  18. 18.

    PST

    December 14, 2020 at 7:36 am

    Marc Elias is pretty reliable, but I think there is still an appeal in the Wisconsin Supreme Court to worry about.

  19. 19.

    Rob

    December 14, 2020 at 7:37 am

    @Rob: And it’s back up (for me)

  20. 20.

    Baud

    December 14, 2020 at 7:37 am

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:

    Use his new kingly powers to stifle opposition voices.

    If FYWP couldn’t stifle our voice, I find it hard to believe Trump can do it.

  21. 21.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    December 14, 2020 at 7:37 am

    @Baud: all he does is win

  22. 22.

    Baud

    December 14, 2020 at 7:37 am

    @PST:

    There’s nothing to worry about.

  23. 23.

    Rob

    December 14, 2020 at 7:38 am

    @Baud: Yay! Right after I posted that, people on Down Detector (https://downdetector.com/status/gmail/) were saying that it was coming back.

  24. 24.

    Phylllis

    December 14, 2020 at 7:39 am

    Working from home this week, with the holiday break through 1/4 starting Friday. No choice, due to being on quarantine until 12/22 because of an exposure at work. No symptoms, and tested negative. I’m getting as much done here as I would at the office, as this is my least busy time of year. Don’t feel a damn bit guilty reading or watching Netflix either.

  25. 25.

    Cameron

    December 14, 2020 at 7:41 am

    We should find out within the next six months if the Democrats are grownups or not.  A ‘grownup’ lesson would be that ‘actions have consequences.’  This would (in theory) lead to investigation of the misconduct of the current administration.  If we get another dose of look-forward-not-back, I’d have a hard time getting on board with the ‘grownup’ designation.

  26. 26.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    December 14, 2020 at 7:41 am

    Watch, on Jan 20th Dump will hold his own swearing-in ceremony in Florida and insist he’s still prezdit.

  27. 27.

    Baud

    December 14, 2020 at 7:42 am

    @Cameron:

    I reject all predetermined litmus tests. They always leave us worse off.

  28. 28.

    Baud

    December 14, 2020 at 7:42 am

    @David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch:

    I hope he does.  Attempting to overthrow the government is a serious crime.

  29. 29.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    December 14, 2020 at 7:43 am

    @Rob:

    I’m assuming that this is related to the Treasury attack, which is why I’d love Snowjob to be executed – as I’m convinced that it was a development off of the toolkit he lifted.

    I think the same penalty should apply to his co-conspirator, Greenwald.

    Were it up to me, Russian Federation SWIFT access would be finished for about 10 years as a penalty. If it were feasible, there’d be a block on any Russian packets coming through the Internet.

  30. 30.

    MagdaInBlack

    December 14, 2020 at 7:45 am

    @rikyrah: oh wow. That one got even stone hearted me. Onions indeed.

  31. 31.

    Rob

    December 14, 2020 at 7:45 am

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: I was also wondering if this morning’s Google outage is related to the Treasury attack.

  32. 32.

    John S.

    December 14, 2020 at 7:45 am

    @Baud: Except for actual litmus tests. Understanding the PH level of things is really quite important.

  33. 33.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    December 14, 2020 at 7:45 am

    @Cameron: They will look into stuff they can fix to reestablish a functioning government.  But Dump is going to pardon everyone for everything, which will preclude criminal indictments.

  34. 34.

    Baud

    December 14, 2020 at 7:47 am

     

    @John S.: I’ll allow it.

  35. 35.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    December 14, 2020 at 7:49 am

    @Baud:

    Greenwald, Tracey et al are busy screaming about warmongering corporatist elitist democrats, the evils of scorning those who inspire stochastic violence from the right, the Russia probe and the crimes and sins of Hunter Biden while begging Trump for pardons for Snowjob and Asshat (Reality Winner somehow escapes their mention).

  36. 36.

    Baud

    December 14, 2020 at 7:50 am

    @Baud:

    They’re = their

    His = Biden

  37. 37.

    Baud

    December 14, 2020 at 7:51 am

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:

    They’re all of a piece with Trump.  Let them fall together.

  38. 38.

    debbie

    December 14, 2020 at 7:52 am

    @Matt McIrvin:

    The more I think about it, the more I like the idea that Pelosi refuse to seat the traitors who have signed onto Trump’s treasonous move.

  39. 39.

    PST

    December 14, 2020 at 7:52 am

    @rikyrah:  The WSJ should apologize and move on as fast as it can. This was the furthest thing imaginable from a “strategic coordinated response from the Biden campaign”. At least among my friends, especially women, the reaction was immediate and sarcastic. And since this Epstein guy is a nobody, they just call it the WSJ op-ed.

  40. 40.

    debbie

    December 14, 2020 at 7:54 am

    @Baud:

    I won’t ever forget.

  41. 41.

    Chyron HR

    December 14, 2020 at 7:56 am

    I’m still baffled that Crunty Barret’s blank notepad was meant to be a display of legal gravitas rather than complete disinterest in the proceedings.

  42. 42.

    Matt McIrvin

    December 14, 2020 at 7:56 am

    @Baud:

    The politicians think they’re behavior will be forgotten in short order.  And it probably will be as society begins focusing on the corporate ties of his nominee for the Deputy Assistant Undersecretary for Transportation.

    Except that insisting he was robbed is going to be the centerpiece of the Trump 2024 campaign, and they’re all going to be required to agree to get reelected. This isn’t going away.

  43. 43.

    debbie

    December 14, 2020 at 7:57 am

    @rikyrah:

    Darn you!

  44. 44.

    satby

    December 14, 2020 at 7:59 am

    @Rob: it was down for me too.

  45. 45.

    gene108

    December 14, 2020 at 8:00 am

    @rikyrah:

    How does Hawaii get 4306 EV all of a sudden? ?

  46. 46.

    PST

    December 14, 2020 at 8:01 am

    @Baud: I do worry a bit about Wisconsin. If the court there grants the relief sought and enjoins the electors there, which is unlikely but not totally implausible given the split among justices there and their ruling in the prior case, it won’t deny Biden an EC majority. However, it will add an additional talking point to the coming January 6 Congressional offensive. The Trumpists will cite it as proof there is something fishy about the election.

  47. 47.

    Spanky

    December 14, 2020 at 8:02 am

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: While I agree with you about Snowden’s final disposition, 2 years is an eternity in the cyber world, let alone the decade that’s passed since his heist. There are any number of companies with valuable cyber IP, and FireEye is one of the most popular. My guess is that the rooskies have been planning to pull this off as soon as they were sure Trump was of no further use to them, and after he had weakened our defensive posture.

    It’s Trump that really needs to swing for all the harm he has done us.

  48. 48.

    NotMax

    December 14, 2020 at 8:04 am

    @gene108

    Practice, practice, practice.

    :)

  49. 49.

    Baud

    December 14, 2020 at 8:06 am

    @PST:

    Why do you think Wisconsin judges are so much worse than every other judge that has rejected Trump’s cases?

  50. 50.

    SFAW

    December 14, 2020 at 8:09 am

    @rikyrah:

    Not the ending I expected. Thanks for that one.

  51. 51.

    SFAW

    December 14, 2020 at 8:10 am

    @gene108:

    Steroids?

  52. 52.

    Amir Khalid

    December 14, 2020 at 8:13 am

    @Rob:

    YouTube is back up.

  53. 53.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    December 14, 2020 at 8:14 am

     

    @SFAW:  perhaps some fiendish plot of Wo Fat

  54. 54.

    MattF

    December 14, 2020 at 8:15 am

    @Baud: Elected for limited terms. Elections are ‘non-partisan’, supposedly. Vacancies filled by the governor.

  55. 55.

    Cermet

    December 14, 2020 at 8:16 am

    @PST: Not possible; the consitituion clearly states that after the EC meets (today!), congress and ONLY congress can address EC votes – period. That ship sails today. Also, the Inferior court has ruled that all furthet court issues relating to the election are moot. So state courts can’t rule in such a manner that it leads to confusion on this later point. In other words, state courts basicly have to shoot down any/all arguments unless it can be shown clearly that it doesn’t in any mnanner affect the SC decision. Otherwise, it is DOA.

  56. 56.

    Baud

    December 14, 2020 at 8:16 am

    @MattF:

    Isn’t that common in state courts?

  57. 57.

    mrmoshpotato

    December 14, 2020 at 8:20 am

    @Baud:

    I look forward to congratulating Biden for his victory yet again today. 

    And then on January 6 and 20.

    So. Much Winning.  You traitorous orange bitchass motherfucking LOSER!

    I really hope they have to drag his orange ass out by the feet.

  58. 58.

    sab

    December 14, 2020 at 8:20 am

    @The Oracle of Solace: The Republicans HATED that Michelle Obama was allowed to bare arms in the White House.

  59. 59.

    Baud

    December 14, 2020 at 8:21 am

    @PST:

    However, it will add an additional talking point to the coming January 6 Congressional offensive. The Trumpists will cite it as proof there is something fishy about the election.

    And we would have a talking point that conservatives are irretrievably corrupt and racist and can never be trusted.

  60. 60.

    MattF

    December 14, 2020 at 8:22 am

    @Baud: Sure— but I’d guess that without party affiliations, judicial races get fewer votes and are more vulnerable to manipulation. I know that I rarely cast a vote in the MD judicial races, and feel appropriately guilty about it.

  61. 61.

    debbie

    December 14, 2020 at 8:24 am

    @sab:

    She was most loudly condemned by other women sitting behind desks and in front of cameras with bare arms. With zero senses of irony.

  62. 62.

    mrmoshpotato

    December 14, 2020 at 8:24 am

    @The Oracle of Solace: GrOPers lost it when they saw all of Michelle Obama’s arms.

  63. 63.

    Baud

    December 14, 2020 at 8:25 am

    @MattF: I seem to recall that Wisconsin Supreme Court races have been highly partisan.  We won one of the seats a few months ago in a hotly contested race.

  64. 64.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    December 14, 2020 at 8:25 am

    @sab: I was against that, all it did was ignite an arms race (photo)

  65. 65.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    December 14, 2020 at 8:27 am

    I just scanned wikileaks, and it’s so odd that an outfit that’s so loud about transparency blah blah never seems to obtain any hacked material from Russia, multinational corporations, hedge funds or even billionaire personal email accounts.

    Its as if the only entities worthy of their attention are western governments with functional regulatory systems when they aren’t under right wing populist control(and of course, liberal party functionaries).

    So coincidental….

  66. 66.

    SFAW

    December 14, 2020 at 8:27 am

    @David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch:

    perhaps some fiendish plot of Wo Fat

    Ah, the often-overlooked Kenneth Dickerson. Who, like our own NotManx, moved from the East Coast (born in Joisey) to be in Hawaii. [Not that he actually lived there, of course.]

    The 5-0 episode where he stuck Jack Lord in a sensory-deprivation tank for a day or two was interesting.

  67. 67.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    December 14, 2020 at 8:29 am

    @PST: Yeah. As you might expect, I know a lot of female academics and they were all angry enough to post about it.

    @Rob: I wondered why my Gmail was down this morning. It was odd because Mr DAW’s was fine.

  68. 68.

    SFAW

    December 14, 2020 at 8:35 am

    The Onion Salutes The Courageous Legislators Determined To Overturn The Will of Voters

    Trigger Warning/Spoiler: pictures of creepy-crawlies

  69. 69.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    December 14, 2020 at 8:36 am

    Apparently Trump countermanded the order that WH staff be vaccinated first in line.

    I think I’ll still take a dig at him. What does he care about vaccination? He’s already have it.

  70. 70.

    SFAW

    December 14, 2020 at 8:36 am

    @PST:

    And since this Epstein guy is a nobody

    Unlike Horshack or Vinnie B

  71. 71.

    Mike S (Now with a Democratic Congressperson!)

    December 14, 2020 at 8:37 am

    Well last night someone stole our Biden-Harris yard sign. I had been saying to Mrs. S. I was going to leave it up until either the Orange Seditionist Crybaby conceded or the inauguration, whichever came first. I really expected it to happen sooner here in SE Pennsylvania in a semi-rural area with a lot of MAGAts around. Many of those (but not all!) are still our in yards althogh some have been moved back by their houses. This timing actually is upsetting me a little more than I think a pre-election theft would have.

  72. 72.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    December 14, 2020 at 8:38 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: The funny thing is, I never used Dr. except in professionally relevant settings. My undergrads called me Professor and my grad students called me Dorothy. I was Dr. if I was speaking at a conference or something.

    But I still defend Jill Biden’s right to use the title. For one thing, doctors of education use it more than most fields do (a fact that, I must admit, sometimes draws mockery from other fields). But if her colleagues are using it, she pretty much has to. No sense undercutting herself.

  73. 73.

    SFAW

    December 14, 2020 at 8:39 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    I wondered why my Gmail was down this morning. It was odd because Mr DAW’s was fine.

    It’s because you’re one of those “libbers” who thinks it’s OK if the wimmins with a PhD (or EdD or PharmD etc) use “Dr.” as an honorific.

    ETA: And your one-back reply is even worse! YOU are one of those “Doctor” persons. I need my nitro pills, STAT!

  74. 74.

    Marc McKenzie

    December 14, 2020 at 8:40 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: Even though I never read Le Carre, I knew of his work and also remember seeing the SMILEY’S PEOPLE miniseries as a child.  And a day after Le Carre, we lose Ben Bova, perhaps one of the best science fiction editors and a solid writer in his own right.

  75. 75.

    Marc McKenzie

    December 14, 2020 at 8:42 am

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:  I know, right?  And what happened to Trump’s taxes, which they claimed they had?  Or the RNC emails that were hacked by Russia, but wiki decided to release only DNC emails that showed…nothing much.

  76. 76.

    Baud

    December 14, 2020 at 8:42 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    I wish I knew you had a doctorate when you were Iowa Old Lady so we could have called you Dr. Old Lady.

  77. 77.

    debbie

    December 14, 2020 at 8:46 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    Fake news. //

  78. 78.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    December 14, 2020 at 8:46 am

    @SFAW:

    The 5-0 episode where he stuck Jack Lord in a sensory-deprivation tank for a day or two was interesting.

    I only saw that episode once as a kid, but found that sort of short timespan as plausible as the green space lady in “Lost in Space” (not to mention the choice to stay lost in order to save him).

  79. 79.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    December 14, 2020 at 8:47 am

    @SFAW: Typos and omitted words are the bane of my impatient existence.

    @Baud: That’s probably worthy of a WSJ column.

  80. 80.

    Gin & Tonic

    December 14, 2020 at 8:48 am

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: All indications so far in the infosec community are that the Treasury/FireEye hack was not related to the NSA material exfiltrated by Snowden.

  81. 81.

    JML

    December 14, 2020 at 8:48 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    One of the reasons Doctors of Education use it more is the about of crap they take from teaching faculty with Ph.Ds who act like an Ed.D isn’t a “real” doctorate. I had cause to witness this in action when one of the finalists for our next university president had an Ed.D and the faculty lost their collective minds over the idea that a non-Ph.D might get to tell them where to go and what to do.

    That WSJ piece was pathetic. Dr. Jill Biden should slap the smirk off all those losers, but she has far too much class.

  82. 82.

    debbie

    December 14, 2020 at 8:48 am

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:

    I don’t think this hack (or the one a week or two ago) would have happened without Trump’s approval.

  83. 83.

    Baud

    December 14, 2020 at 8:48 am

    They call me Dr. Love.

  84. 84.

    Baud

    December 14, 2020 at 8:50 am

    @JML:

    the faculty lost their collective minds over the idea that a non-Ph.D might get to tell them where to go and what to do.

    Why do they keep making it harder for us to fight the conservative war on tenure?

  85. 85.

    Baud

    December 14, 2020 at 8:51 am

    @debbie: I very much doubt Putin gives a rat’s ass about Trump’s approval.

  86. 86.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    December 14, 2020 at 8:54 am

    I’m still working on my Spanish and just found this. Just what kind of tourist activity does Duolingo expect me to engage in?

    “Tu eres muy guapo. Estas ocupado ahora?” (You are very good-looking. Are you busy now?)

  87. 87.

    Gin & Tonic

    December 14, 2020 at 8:55 am

    @SFAW: Who, also, since we’re talking about it, had a doctorate in theology.

  88. 88.

    PST

    December 14, 2020 at 8:56 am

    @Baud:

    Why do you think Wisconsin judges are so much worse than every other judge that has rejected Trump’s cases?

    I don’t, which is why I am not very worried, just a little worried. However, when plaintiff’s tried to file directly in the Supreme Court, three of seven justices voted to take it. The other four said it had to come to them as an appeal. The court has three hard-core conservatives and a Roberts type. Press reports about oral argument made it sound like some of the justices were sympathetic. And last but not least, plaintiffs actually have an argument in this case. All across the state, local election officials did fill in addresses and other information in a way that is well established there but not set out in statutes. That gives plaintiffs something to argue, as opposed to the usual nothing. By asking for recounts only in the two most Democratic counties, and then seeking to have only ballots from those counties thrown out, plaintiffs have made this facially neutral argument work to their advantage. I wonder if that might not have been a clever strategy from the start, not just cheapness about the recount cost. Asking for relief only in selected counties should evoke Bush v. Gore. In addition, this practice has been in place for years across the whole state, so waiting until after an unwanted election result to sue should clearly constitute laches. This is weak stuff indeed, but not a complete illusion.

  89. 89.

    Gin & Tonic

    December 14, 2020 at 8:59 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I think that’s been a tourist activity from time immemorial.

  90. 90.

    Baud

    December 14, 2020 at 8:59 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    Siempre tengo tiempo para usted, Doctora Winsor.

  91. 91.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    December 14, 2020 at 9:01 am

    @Baud: LOL

  92. 92.

    Immanentize

    December 14, 2020 at 9:03 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    why my Gmail was down this morning. It was odd because Mr DAW’s was fine.

    The first strike of Gilead.

  93. 93.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    December 14, 2020 at 9:03 am

    @JML: I’m waiting to see if Dr. Laura or Dr. Phil weigh in.

  94. 94.

    raven

    December 14, 2020 at 9:04 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:  I don’t use mine very often but I’ll use it when I goddamn well please. (along with my GED)!

  95. 95.

    PST

    December 14, 2020 at 9:08 am

    @Cermet: Not possible; the consitituion clearly states that after the EC meets (today!), congress and ONLY congress can address EC votes – period.

    First, I worry that the court will rule at open of business today before the EC vote. Second, I worry about the use that could be made in an upcoming Congressional fight of a successful challenge whether or not it has any legal effect. I would simply hate to see any state supreme court rule that the election in that state produced an invalid result because of violation of election laws. We need a nice 7 to 0 slapdown, but I worry we won’t get it.

  96. 96.

    sab

    December 14, 2020 at 9:09 am

    @Mike S (Now with a Democratic Congressperson!): Had you remembered to put Christmas lights on it? It was probably just their counterattack to your war on Christmas.

  97. 97.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    December 14, 2020 at 9:10 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I try to imagine a situation where that would make sense and fail.

    Also maybe it’s just me but it sounds weird to me that a sentence said to an apparent stranger uses “tú”. But maybe that’s deliberate, to add  to the general creepiness.

  98. 98.

    Immanentize

    December 14, 2020 at 9:11 am

    @PST: Chill out.  Take drugs if you need to.  You are harshing the mello of Biden’s win.  Mostly just stop with this nonsense.  Go to LGM for doom approval.

  99. 99.

    Tony Jay

    December 14, 2020 at 9:13 am

     

    To the surprise of absolutely no one Flobalob Johnson seems to have u-turned on yet another of his absolutely immovable red-lines and opened the way to a shitty deal between the European Union and the Autonomous Royalist Oblast of Lesser Brexitania-on-the-Wold.

    Very briefly, one of the main impediments to the UK leaving the EU with some sort of negotiated trade deal with the EU 27 was Johnson’s ranting insistence that his Government would never accept ‘Evolution’, a shorthand term for the legally binding mechanism by which the EU would be able to alter the terms upon which it traded with the UK depending on how far from EU regulatory standards the UK drifted over time. They obviously don’t trust Johnson in particular or British politicians in general to abide by a non-binding agreement on regulatory alignment so wanted to have all kinds of safeguards built into the trade deal for when – not if – the UK starts chucking 21st century safety standards overboard in its descent towards corporate fiefdom status.

    The Tory line was that this was an unacceptable infringement on British sovereignty and a slap in the face for freedom, claiming that an Evolution mechanism in the trade deal was just another way of maintaining legally-mandated and open-ended European control over the UK through the threat of vindictive punishment beatings whenever we tried to assert our independence from “Brussels red-tape”. Europe just had to grown up and realise that Britain had voted to leave the EU’s regulatory framework, so trying to chain us to any agreement on standards was fundamentally undemocratic. They shouldn’t, couldn’t and definitely, decisively and all-kinds-of patriotically wouldn’t be signing anything that had such a perfidious insult to British Pride included in it. No way. Uh Uh. Arms crossed and everything.

    So of course, Johnson agreed to it in his last phone call to the EU Commission President. Being the crappy little sneak he is, it appears Sir Chubby of Chequers didn’t tell his Cabinet what it was he’d agreed to, no doubt intending to keep it on the down low so that, once the trade deal was hurriedly signed off on (“No time to waste! Jobs at stake! Must move on!”) he’d be able to deny ever having made such a concession and pretend his Government wouldn’t be abiding by it (even though it would, mostly, until breaking the treaty looked profitable enough). The EU knows his tricks by now, however, and immediately announced just what Johnson had agreed to and what it meant for the chances of a trade deal actually being signed.

    So, probably a very shitty deal. The EU will get everything it requires out of it, the UK will… not. Just another complete capitulation for the Tories to blame on everyone else rather than admitting that Brexit was a monumentally bad idea that they’ve been lying about for years.

    Still, in happier news, no volcanoes have erupted in my back garden. So there’s that.

  100. 100.

    oatler.

    December 14, 2020 at 9:15 am

    https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/12/13/2001828/-Michigan-House-and-Senate-offices-will-close-due-to-credible-threat-as-Michigan-electors-meet

  101. 101.

    SFAW

    December 14, 2020 at 9:15 am

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Who, also, since we’re talking about it, had a doctorate in theology.

    I would have asked whether that’s a “real” doctorate, but he was a man, so it was OK. [But thanks for that info. I had overlooked it. I did remember that “Khigh Dhiegh” was his stage name, however, and that he was born in Joisey.]

  102. 102.

    germy

    December 14, 2020 at 9:17 am

    If you’re wondering why the @WSJ ran that misogynist piece about Dr. Jill Biden, lets take a closer look at James Taranto, the man in charge of op-eds.

    He’s called efforts to stop military rape a “war on men” & “an effort to criminalize male sexuality”https://t.co/aROYRDhs8x

    — Jessica Valenti (@JessicaValenti) December 13, 2020

    Thank you for your principled stand. As a former WSJ news editor who cringed at the Opinion side of the paper—and at having to share a building with Fox News—I am appalled (but not surprised) at this insulting, small-minded display of misogyny. There needs to be a reckoning.

    — Missy Sullivan (@MissySullivanNY) December 13, 2020

  103. 103.

    Kathleen

    December 14, 2020 at 9:18 am

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: Snowald did say he thinks Intercept editors should be held accountable for Winner’s imprisonment. Except he was oops! an editor when she was outed.

  104. 104.

    Amir Khalid

    December 14, 2020 at 9:18 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    “Nudge nudge, wink wink, say no more, say no more.”

  105. 105.

    Amir Khalid

    December 14, 2020 at 9:20 am

    @SFAW:

    “Khigh Dhiegh”

    I’ve always wondered how to pronounce that name.

  106. 106.

    PST

    December 14, 2020 at 9:20 am

    @Immanentize:

    Chill out. Take drugs if you need to. You are harshing the mello of Biden’s win. Mostly just stop with this nonsense. Go to LGM for doom approval.

    I’m not usually a doom and gloom guy, but I’m having stitches removed from my eyelids in a couple of hours. I can’t imagine that will be fun. Maybe I should take some drugs, but I’m afraid the doctor will smell my drug of choice on my breath. I raised this Wisconsin business because of the tweet that claimed there were no more active cases anywhere.

  107. 107.

    Baud

    December 14, 2020 at 9:22 am

    @PST: The tweet said there were no more active cases except for appeals.

  108. 108.

    mali muso

    December 14, 2020 at 9:22 am

    @JML: Yeah, this.  I too hold the designation and while I tend not to use the Dr. appellation, you had better believe I reserve the right to do so.  Snobbery in academia, sigh.  People are the worst.

  109. 109.

    PST

    December 14, 2020 at 9:25 am

    @Baud: Oops. I guess it’s Emily Litella time. In my defense, I’m having a little trouble seeing with these stiches in my eyelids. The medicated goo I’m supposed to rub on them keeps getting in my eyes and blurring everything.

  110. 110.

    Cermet

    December 14, 2020 at 9:28 am

    @PST: Again, can’t go to inferior court (SC); they have said clearly that all further appeals related to the election are moot. Also, the second the EC cetifirys the election, it is no longer even possible to get court relief no matter what – hence, moot as well. Stop worrying. Today marks the end of all court suits (states; fed courts are closed unless it is unrelated to the election; i.e. issues like is software ok for the next election.)

  111. 111.

    SFAW

    December 14, 2020 at 9:35 am

    @Amir Khalid:

    I’ve always wondered how to pronounce that name.

    I assume it’s pronounced the way it’s spelled

    ETA: Well, either that, or “Throat-Wobbler-Mangrove.”

  112. 112.

    burnspbesq

    December 14, 2020 at 9:35 am

    @Matt McIrvin: 

    Keep in mind that LGM’s two highest-profile front-pagers are non-lawyers who are hardcore legal realists. They hate it when judges and lawyers actually adhere to the norms and traditions of our profession, because it makes their fashionable cynicism look stupid.

  113. 113.

    Nicole

    December 14, 2020 at 9:39 am

    I just watched the first person in New York get vaccinated against Covid. A critical healthcare worker in Queens. I started to cry. Feeling hopeful on a Monday morning is a good feeling.

  114. 114.

    germy

    December 14, 2020 at 9:40 am

    Stephen Miller on Fox & Friends says “an alternative” group of electors is also voting today: “As we speak, an alternate slate of electors in the contested states is going to vote and we are going to send those results to Congress.” pic.twitter.com/5kIkfsbOFw

    — Travis Akers (@travisakers) December 14, 2020

  115. 115.

    Immanentize

    December 14, 2020 at 9:42 am

    @Cermet: Also, I watched the argument in the Wisconsin case and the lawyer for the Plaintiffs was crushed.  It was bad.  He had to admit that he and his wife’s votes should not count (because they were mail in).  He also had no reason why the votes should only be thrown out in the counties he chose as many Trump voting counties also used the same form.

    But my favorite part was when Judge K (can’t think of her whole name Karlofsky?) pointed out that the form is not a ballot and said “application” right on the form.  Then, she spelled out a-p-p-l-i-c-a-t-i-o-n for him.

  116. 116.

    WaterGirl

    December 14, 2020 at 9:42 am

    @MagdaInBlack: What was that supposed to be about?  I watched for awhile, but I don’t want to watch something without knowing whether it is an ad to sell something, or a PSA, etc.

  117. 117.

    Mike S (Now with a Democratic Congressperson!)

    December 14, 2020 at 9:44 am

    @sab: That must be it! I bet Tucker told them (him?) to do it to save the world from atheists like me.

  118. 118.

    SFAW

    December 14, 2020 at 9:45 am

    @Immanentize:

    Judge K (can’t think of her whole name Karlofsky?)

    Krzyzewski?

  119. 119.

    Immanentize

    December 14, 2020 at 9:48 am

    @SFAW: no Blue Devils in the land of cheese.

    I looked it up — Karofsky.  I wasn’t far off.

  120. 120.

    germy

    December 14, 2020 at 9:48 am

    Had another Covid stress dream last night, always the same: I find myself in a group of people indoors, having fun, without a mask. Then I remember there’s a pandemic and I freak out. Isn’t it weird that in real waking life tons of people actually DO this…..minus the freakout?

    — JEN KIRKMAN  (@JenKirkman) December 12, 2020

  121. 121.

    Immanentize

    December 14, 2020 at 9:49 am

    @WaterGirl: Just watch it.  It’s from Germany so it is not selling ED drugs.

  122. 122.

    sab

    December 14, 2020 at 9:49 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: That might be very useful someday if Quinerly brings her eared dog to a meetup.

  123. 123.

    waysel

    December 14, 2020 at 9:50 am

    @Immanentize: Karofsky.

  124. 124.

    Immanentize

    December 14, 2020 at 9:52 am

    Speaking of Dr. Jill:

    Together, we will build a world where the accomplishments of our daughters will be celebrated, rather than diminished.— Dr. Jill Biden (@DrBiden) December 14, 2020

  125. 125.

    Immanentize

    December 14, 2020 at 9:53 am

    @waysel: Thanks!

  126. 126.

    germy

    December 14, 2020 at 9:55 am

    People working in the White House should receive the vaccine somewhat later in the program, unless specifically necessary. I have asked that this adjustment be made. I am not scheduled to take the vaccine, but look forward to doing so at the appropriate time. Thank you!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 14, 2020

  127. 127.

    burnspbesq

    December 14, 2020 at 9:55 am

    @Immanentize:

    no Blue Devils in the land of cheese

    ‘Especially not after Grayson Allen drank their milkshakes in 2015.

  128. 128.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 14, 2020 at 9:56 am

    @Baud: Maybe PST is a FIB.

  129. 129.

    O. Felix Culpa

    December 14, 2020 at 9:57 am

    After yesterday’s wonderful concert for Georgia, I went down the YouTube rabbit hole and found this fine recording of a Rhiannon Giddens concert at the Met. You’re welcome.

  130. 130.

    Rob

    December 14, 2020 at 9:57 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: That’s weird. Both of ours were down.

  131. 131.

    Rob

    December 14, 2020 at 9:57 am

    @Amir Khalid:

    That’s the best part since I listen to a lot of videos and learn about new music that way.

  132. 132.

    WaterGirl

    December 14, 2020 at 9:59 am

    @germy:  Shorter Trump:  We will be taking the vaccine, but now we will be doing it on the down low.

  133. 133.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    December 14, 2020 at 10:02 am

    @burnspbesq:

    I remember happier times, when the only true uniting national hatred was of Grayson Allen sweeping the leg….

  134. 134.

    burnspbesq

    December 14, 2020 at 10:02 am

    If it’s true that bad calls even out in the long run, Liverpool is due for a howler to go against them at the worst possible time.

  135. 135.

    Emma from FL

    December 14, 2020 at 10:02 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: You think you’ve got problems? A friend that is “renewing” her German just told me one of her Duolingo phrases translated to “help, I’m being chased by a bear”.

  136. 136.

    germy

    December 14, 2020 at 10:03 am

    Trump said that Citizen Kane is his favorite movie, failing to see that Kane's flaws are (among) Trump's many flaws.

    When Kane loses an election, his newspaper runs this headline. (And there wasn't fraud at the polls.)

    Of course that's what Trump will do. #FoxNewsSunday pic.twitter.com/7DzFMAN842

    — JRehling (@JRehling) July 19, 2020

  137. 137.

    Sloane Ranger

    December 14, 2020 at 10:04 am

    @Tony Jay: Great news about the lack of erupting volcanoes in your back garden.

    On balance, I feel the odds are now slightly in favour of a fudged together “skinny” deal. Having failed to split the EU, BoJo was relying on getting a chlorinated chicken and NHS fire sale trade deal with the Trump administration that he could sell as a win.

    Now, that’s gone kaput and President Elect Biden is hinting that he’ll talk to the EU first and get around to little old England when he finds time and the only deals we have are (I think) with Japan and Singapore, neither of which are exactly major food exporters, he is faced with an insolvable problem, fresh produce shortages and big price hikes won’t exactly play well with the public, especially now with all the disruption of COVID-19.

    Add to this, Tory MP and ex Minister, Tobias Ellwood, Chair of the Armed Services Committee, publicly fulminating about the stupidity of threatening to use gunboats against our NATO allies and Sir Roger Gale saying BoJo should resign if he can’t deliver a deal adds to the pressure. OK, both of them voted Remain and are unlikely to garner much support in the Party but it is an early sign that Tory Remainers and pro-business types (not always the same) are prepared to put their heads over the parapet again.

  138. 138.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 14, 2020 at 10:04 am

    @JML: I am not old enough to remember, but did Harvard freak out when Derek Bok became president without a PhD?

  139. 139.

    burnspbesq

    December 14, 2020 at 10:04 am

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:

    You won’t hear me argue. That was the second worst thing a Duke player did to an opponent in the 2010s. He should have gotten a three-game suspension.

  140. 140.

    mrmoshpotato

    December 14, 2020 at 10:05 am

    @WaterGirl:  Hopefully the vaccine causes Miller to burst into flames.

  141. 141.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    December 14, 2020 at 10:05 am

    @germy:

    So far, they’ve been skirting the edge of sedition in terms of law. This is the real thing, and everyone participating in the decision to have them vote and “transmit” them is a coconspirator along with those “electors” themselves.

    Its an affirmative act in furtherance of the crime.

  142. 142.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    December 14, 2020 at 10:07 am

    @burnspbesq:

    I actually enjoyed hate-watching the guy.

  143. 143.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    December 14, 2020 at 10:11 am

    @Tony Jay: Who knew there were so many adults who thought the world would conform to their fantasies?

  144. 144.

    WaterGirl

    December 14, 2020 at 10:12 am

    @Omnes Omnibus: I was (understandably) confused when I first read that as Bo Derek.

  145. 145.

    The Moar You Know

    December 14, 2020 at 10:12 am

    I don’t think this hack (or the one a week or two ago) would have happened without Trump’s approval.

    @debbie:  IT security is what I do for a living. That’s not how it works.

  146. 146.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 14, 2020 at 10:12 am

    @Emma from FL: There are neighborhoods in Berlin where that phrase might be useful.

  147. 147.

    sab

    December 14, 2020 at 10:15 am

    @WaterGirl:Vaccine. I will take it however it’s offered.

  148. 148.

    PST

    December 14, 2020 at 10:17 am

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Maybe PST is a FIB.

    I hope not. I don’t even know what that is.

  149. 149.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    December 14, 2020 at 10:23 am

    @Emma from FL: I’m not sure I’d take time to spit that one out, assuming I really was being chased.

    One time my brother was walking his two dogs in a wooded area in Minnesota. The dogs were off in the woods and were chasing something back to him. He had time to wonder what they’d found now when he realized it was a bear. He’d read that what you’re supposed to do is play dead, but what he did was scream and run. The dogs shot past on either side of him and slowed down, since all they had to do was outrun him. Eventually the bear gave up.

  150. 150.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 14, 2020 at 10:27 am

    @PST: It is the Wisconsin term for people from Illinois. I’ll leave you to work out the details.

  151. 151.

    Emma from FL

    December 14, 2020 at 10:27 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: ok, sorry to put it this way because in real life your brother could have been in serious trouble but my visual was classic screwball comedy. Maybe even classic cartoon.

  152. 152.

    PST

    December 14, 2020 at 10:27 am

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I am not old enough to remember, but did Harvard freak out when Derek Bok became president without a PhD?

    I am. We were, in a sense, freshmen together. No one freaked. He’d already been dean of the law school for several years. I was in a dorm next to the building housing the president’s office, which was occupied by SDS. The occupiers feared being booted out by the police in the middle of the night if there was no surrounding crowd, so if warm bodies were needed, someone would pull our fire alarm. Those were the days!

  153. 153.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    December 14, 2020 at 10:32 am

    @Emma from FL: I laughed

  154. 154.

    hueyplong

    December 14, 2020 at 10:34 am

    @germy: Going to have to call bullshit on Trump having ever sat through Citizen Kane.

    Interviewer:  What’s your favorite line from that movie?

    Trump:  All of them.

    Interviewer:  If you could just pick one for us…

    Trump:  I’m not going to do that.

  155. 155.

    Tony Jay

    December 14, 2020 at 10:36 am

    @Sloane Ranger:

    Come on now, that deal with Japan is exceptionally good. We get to buy things from them for the same price while they promise not to put tariffs on things we – don’t – sell them. It takes a truly exceptional negotiating team to get that kind of 21st century mega-deal over the line. /s

    Seriously though, this exact whimpering fart of a conclusion has been very much on the cards since Biden’s win, with the only uncertainly being how bad the damage would be, and that dependent on how loony-tunes the Brextremists in the Tory Party would actually turn out to be. With noises coming out of Number 10 humming and hawing over whether MPs will get to vote on whatever heroin-chic whisp of a ‘deal’ Johnson is allowed to return home with we can assume that they’re gearing up to ‘generously’ allow democracy to take place in Parliament. Anything for the illusion of a ‘win’ with these people.

    Hopefully whatever passes tears the Tory Party in half, and hopefully the absolute geniuses sitting atop the Labour Party will buy a clue and either abstain or allow a free vote, because if they insist on chasing racist Tory votes by voting for this turd sandwich it’ll be the last nail in the Party’s coffin IMHO.

  156. 156.

    Anya

    December 14, 2020 at 10:39 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: I’ve read all of his George Smiley books. My dad has a collection of his books and I’ve read and loved them all but I think A Perfect Spy is his best book. RIP

  157. 157.

    germy

    December 14, 2020 at 10:41 am

    @hueyplong:

    He probably just grabbed the first title that came to his mind.

  158. 158.

    Tony Jay

    December 14, 2020 at 10:42 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    Who knew there were so many adults who thought the world would conform to their fantasies?

    I know, it’s gobsmacking, isn’t it? There are genuinely people out there who thought that funny posh guy from the teevee was going to sort everything out and show the smelly foreign johnnies who was boss. That level of blinkered stupidity normally takes 10,000 hours of practice and at least three recent cases of incest in the family tree, but the UK has managed to produce it in bulk orders. Impressive.

    You made the right career choice writing fiction. It’s obviously an expanding market. 8-)

  159. 159.

    mrmoshpotato

    December 14, 2020 at 10:43 am

    @hueyplong: “I’m luxurious and classy at Citizen Kane, you loser!”

  160. 160.

    MagdaInBlack

    December 14, 2020 at 10:45 am

    @WaterGirl: Im not sure, my German is non-existent. It was just a sweet little video that got me in my grinch heart =-)

  161. 161.

    mrmoshpotato

    December 14, 2020 at 10:47 am

    @Tony Jay: Jacob Rees-Mogg definitely dresses the part for whatever Dickens novel he’d like to live in.

  162. 162.

    rikyrah

    December 14, 2020 at 10:47 am

    @Rob:

     

    Gmail, Google, even YouTube, are all down

     

    Yikes

  163. 163.

    debbie

    December 14, 2020 at 10:49 am

    @germy:

    As a private citizen!

  164. 164.

    The Moar You Know

    December 14, 2020 at 10:51 am

     

    Stephen Miller on Fox & Friends says “an alternative” group of electors is also voting today: “As we speak, an alternate slate of electors in the contested states is going to vote and we are going to send those results to Congress.” pic.twitter.com/5kIkfsbOFw

    — Travis Akers (@travisakers) December 14, 2020

    @germy:  My alternate Senate just convicted Donald Trump of high treason.

  165. 165.

    debbie

    December 14, 2020 at 10:52 am

    @The Moar You Know:

    No chance that Trump would have told his appointed peons to just look the other way for a bit?

  166. 166.

    mrmoshpotato

    December 14, 2020 at 10:54 am

    @MagdaInBlack:
    Your heart is full of unwashed socks, your soul is full of gunk

  167. 167.

    Tony Jay

    December 14, 2020 at 10:55 am

    @mrmoshpotato:

    The Dishonourable Member for Upper Styria unt der Carpathian Marches at least has the excuse that he’s preternaturally incapable of checking his appearance in a mirror.

    His Nanny, on the other hand, can make no such claims.

  168. 168.

    mrmoshpotato

    December 14, 2020 at 10:55 am

    @The Moar You Know: And fired all of this fat, orange, fascist trash into the Sun.

  169. 169.

    J R in WV

    December 14, 2020 at 12:01 pm

    Oh, Tony… it’s hard for me to imagine that both our historic nations have managed to completely bollix up our polity in the same general time period. While it is good (for us) that we have elected a sane person with common sense to manage our government, you all appear to have selected a total nut sack to manage yours.

    Not that having a sane fellow with common sense in the White House is bound to save us ultimately, but at least we have a shot at getting over the Q-nut jobs take charge.

    You Brits, though… Flobalob, indeed~!!~

  170. 170.

    Ruckus

    December 14, 2020 at 12:05 pm

    @Matt McIrvin:

    Judges don’t have to get politically re-elected every so often, they can be generally less obviously partisan. They also generally work within the scope of the law, politicians ferment the law. IOW politicians have to be elected based upon what they say and do, whose ass they suck, judges are rarely that open about their politics. How many judges do you know their political leanings – other than the top nine?

  171. 171.

    Tony Jay

    December 14, 2020 at 12:46 pm

    @J R in WV:

    We were doomed the moment Labour almost won in 2017. From that moment on a significant chunk of the political scene decided nothing was more important than keeping British History’s Greatest Monster out of Number 10.

    Has the alternative EC slate given President Pettygrift 250% of the vote yet? Surely a massive victory like that has to convince the SC to rethink their surrender to Cultural-Marxist ideology?

  172. 172.

    J R in WV

    December 14, 2020 at 1:34 pm

    @Tony Jay:

    While I generally like and admire your creative alternate names for the crazed politicians afflicting our society, I have to quibble about this one:

    Has the alternative EC slate given President Pettygrift 250% of the vote yet?

    Pettygrift is such a small part of this guy’s overall criminal activities. His real horror is the ongoing murder of, so far, over 300,000 fellow Americans, and his obvious intention to keep on killing “his constituents” for the rest of his term in office, or as long as he can steal more time in office.

    And I completely fail to come up with a funny nickname based upon the mass murder of people mostly helpless to protect themselves, or to prevent the death of their loved ones.

    President Wanna-be-Hitler ?

    President Coulda-been-Stalin?

    President … naw, I give up.

    You can take a swing at it if you want.

    Killer Trump? Killer Don? Donald J Bundy? I don’t think there’s any way to put Trump’s monsterous crime of mass murder into a funny joke nickname.

    Maybe I’m too close, as Wife pretty much has no immune system, and I’m in charge of trying not to infect her from a grocery/doctor/government interface run. PTSD is not the correct term, the trauma is ongoing and current and won’t be ending soon.

    Sorry your Island Nation is also having trouble with a totally deranged leader, hang in there, we will help as we can.

  173. 173.

    Tony Jay

    December 14, 2020 at 1:45 pm

     

    @J R in WV:

    I get your point, but while I’ve played around with other nicknames for Trump I settled on Pettygrift because, IMHO, it gets to the heart of the man. He’s a petty little weasel who only ever thinks about where he’s going to grift the next dollar from. Everything is secondary to that, especially the duties and responsibilities of the Presidency.

    Though President Plague-Rat Loser Fuck is always available.

  174. 174.

    Sm*t Cl*de

    December 14, 2020 at 1:53 pm

    @Tony Jay:

    They obviously don’t trust Johnson in particular or British politicians in general to abide by a non-binding agreement on regulatory alignment so wanted to have all kinds of safeguards built into the trade deal

    UK: Reneges on Northern Ireland aspects of withdrawal treaty.

    Also the UK: Why don’t the Europeans just take our word for it?

  175. 175.

    Sm*t Cl*de

    December 14, 2020 at 2:02 pm

    @Emma from FL:

    “help, I’m being chased by a bear”.

    Useful in a slightly loose German adaptation of “A Winter’s Tale”.

  176. 176.

    J R in WV

    December 14, 2020 at 4:19 pm

    @Tony Jay:

    I’ll go with President Plague-Rat Loser Fuck, that’s OK by me…

    Glad we could have this talk. Imagine if the EU and GB could be so constructive~?~!!!~  ;~)

    You take care over there.

    I recommend you round up 6 or 8 giant SooperPaks of toilet paper, and 1,200 packets of Ramen Noodle soup mix.

    And at least a couple of gallons of your favored spirits, don’t forget that!

  177. 177.

    Mary Ellen Sandahl

    December 14, 2020 at 7:12 pm

    @mrmoshpotato:You got me, if not the internet, with that one.
    I’d be almost as pleased if he disintegrated, like Christopher Lee in Horror of Dracula.

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