This must’ve been a somewhat satisfying exercise of their civic duty as New York State electors:
The Electoral College giveth, and the Electoral College taketh away. Take that, Emperor Tang!
Open thread.
ETA:
I believe we should abolish the Electoral College and select our president by the winner of the popular vote, same as every other office.
But while it still exists, I was proud to cast my vote in New York for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. pic.twitter.com/th9qebu9ka
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) December 14, 2020
So say we all.
Baud
Faithful electors.
Nettoyeur
Soon (if not already) it will be time to re-up Jon Stewart’s performance of “Go F**k Yourself….”
schrodingers_cat
We need a celebratory thread when Biden reaches the magic 270!
rikyrah
????
Will go to my grave believing that Hillary was elected in 2016
rikyrah
@schrodingers_cat:
Yesss ???
dmsilev
@schrodingers_cat: That will come with California. I think 5 PM Eastern.
SFBayAreaGal
@rikyrah: Me too
dmsilev
Earlier today, Biden won Georgia for I think the fifth time in six weeks.
germy
@dmsilev:
I’m not yet tired of all this winning.
danielx
Sigh….waiting to get Zoey the Senior Cat scheduled for being put to sleep. Liver cancer sucks, along with every other kind of cancer. Already miss my napping buddy something awful.
Zzyzx
I’m more amused than annoyed at the people who are showing up and declaring themselves to be alternative slates of electors like that has any standing. I want to get a few dozen people to do that in Texas.
Jay C
@dmsilev:
So he should get 80 EVs, then?
Works for me….
schrodingers_cat
Betty_Cracker@top
BSG fan? I have just started watching it on Peacock.
Mike in NC
@rikyrah: Many of us also feel that way, and it will be very interesting once Trump is gone to see what’s forthcoming about how he was installed in the Oval Office. It might have been Putin and the GRU, or it might have been the action by three Rust Belt GOP governors engaged in voter suppression, or maybe both of those things plus the nonstop demonization of the Clinton campaign by the New York Times. In six months the truth just might finally come out. That’s why Republicans are so damn desperate to steal the election and maintain the coverup.
Betty Cracker
@schrodingers_cat: Never seen it. Is it worth checking out?
VeniceRiley
@schrodingers_cat: Love that show. Purchase worthy soundtrack for several seasons. Still among my favorites to this day. Now I watch everything Bear McCreary scores. He has a fine scoring blog as well.
schrodingers_cat
@Betty Cracker: It is awesome. On episode 6 in the first season right now.
So say we all
So say we all, whole speech
CindyH
@rikyrah: Amen.
Kent
I tend to think the final vote count was accurate, but that the election was stolen through voter suppression, Russian meddling, and a racist electoral college system.
Major Major Major Major
Can’t wait until 1/20/21…
Tenar Arha
@danielx: I’m so sorry. Best wishes to you and your napping buddy.
dmsilev
@Jay C: My theory is that Trump’s plan is to lose so many times that Biden ends up with more than 270*2.5=575 Electoral Votes and therefore is ineligible to be President under the two-and-a-half term limit of the 22nd Amendment.
JustRuss
I had no idea the Clintons were Electoral College Students. Makes my day.
West of the Rockies
@danielx:
Oh, that’s terrible. I’m sorry.
?BillinGlendaleCA
This Electoral College doesn’t even sound like even one of the lessor Ivies, probably a state school; we shouldn’t pay any attention to it.
germy
germy
rikyrah
@danielx:
So sorry ???
rikyrah
Betty Cracker
@schrodingers_cat: Good to know! I’ve been meaning to check it out; it sounds like the sort of show I’d like. :)
Betty Cracker
@danielx: Man, that sucks. Sorry.
rikyrah
A woman who was cheated out of her Governorship.
In the home of Gone With the Wind
Casting her ballot as an elector for the first Democrat to win the state in almost 30 years
Redshift
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Well, if so many Republicans want to be part of it, it can’t be “elite,” right? Until it doesn’t do what they want, then it will be totally elitist.
MattF
A ‘so you don’t have to’ Twitter account follows the wanderings of the QANON cult.
Redshift
@danielx: I’m sorry to hear that. F*ck cancer.
Barbara
I knew there must be a reason I feel so sad today. I just realized that today marks the 8th anniversary of Sandy Hook. When it happened, I thought that it would be hard to imagine an event that would so effectively mark so many of us as being morally bankrupt, and yet, here we are 8 years later, with a totally different kind of event or series of events that seems to have made me feel the same way about so many.
Barbara
@danielx: I am so sorry.
EmbraceYourInnerCrone
@danielx: I am so sorry. Cancer sucks, and losing a sleeping buddy/faithful friend sucks more. I have been privileged to have raised 3 cats to senior-hood in my current home. Keeping you in my thoughts.
schrodingers_cat
@VeniceRiley: I didn’t recognize the Gayatri mantra at the beginning because the Sanskrit diction is strange. But so far I love the music, the percussion for the end of the credits is pretty awesome.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Redshift: Now I’m so confused.
Major Major Major Major
@danielx: Ugh, oh no.
schrodingers_cat
@danielx: Aww poor kitty that’s sad. May she RIP.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@danielx: I’m sorry. You’re acting from love, but it’s hard to lose them.
germy
Splitting Image
Michigan’s votes just dropped. All of the disputed states have now cast their votes for Biden and Harris. No faithless electors so far.
Geminid
Speaking of counting, a court-ordered recount of the New York 22nd District Congressional race started today. The final canvas showed Republican Claudia Tenney with a 12 vote lead over Congressman Anthony Brindisi, with 600 disputed ballots. The state judge said there were so many reports of canvass problems generally that he wanted a district wide recount before he considered challenged ballots.
germy
TomatoQueen
@danielx: May Zoey’s going to the Bridge be peaceful and without pain. You gave Zoey a wonderful life and a loving home.
Zoey on the Bridge.
zhena gogolia
@germy:
Haha, I doubted that was her, but it is funny.
zhena gogolia
@danielx:
I’m very sorry. I know how it feels.
Steeplejack (phone)
@Popehat is AlternateGroupOfHats today. ?
Baud
@danielx: I’m sorry.
NotMax
SPOILER ALERT
.
.
.
Biden wins
;)
Ken
I’m going to read that as “arguing among themselves” because it amuses me. Especially if a fist-fight breaks out between two or more factions over their contradictory, but equally deranged, claims.
Steeplejack (phone)
@danielx:
Sorry to hear it. Deepest condolences. ?
OGLiberal
@Kent: This is what I think, too. I don’t think dead people voted or people voted twice or whatever these assholes think happens when Democrats vote more than they do. I think enough assholery got out there on the Internets to make some folks stay home, either because they thought Clinton had it in the bag or because they thought she was some sort of demon, on par with Trump so why bother. That enough people bought that crap and stayed home or voted for Jill Stein is troubling. That a lot more people didn’t buy that crap this year is a big fucking deal. But having 74M people vote for this fucking mess is still very scary. I am watching people I grew up with who I thought were somewhat normal lose their fucking shit, supporting Texas secession, etc. And I grew up in fucking New Jersey!
Nicole
I loved seeing Hillary Clinton’s tweet. While I will always be bitter about 2016, I take solace that she does not seem to be (if only one of us is going to be at peace about it, I’d much rather it be her). She’s spent 30 years being the media’s punching bag, and she still continues to stand up for what’s best for the country. An actual patriot. That’s some real grace, there.
CaseyL
@rikyrah: Me too.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
OT – Beware, the claims process with Amazon delivery driver damage to property is a labyrinth of misery. Yesterday, a delivery driver in a large box impacted some overhead utility lines located in the easement across my drive – they ripped out my neighbor’s fiber optic line and managed to bend the mask that all his incoming lines went into, dislodging it from the boot, causing shingles to move and unknown structural damage in the eaves. It also did something to the amalgamation of wires at the pole on the street. This line stretches about 120 yards, and is spaghetti in my yard, the street, the neighbor’s yard.
Spent about two hours yesterday getting transferred to different desks at Amazon, where nobody apparently documented anything. Neighbor, in the meantime, learned from the utility he needs an electrician to repair/replace, and that service will be shut down for the duration of whatever needs repairing. I finally got through to their claims administrator this afternoon after going through a maddening morning, only to be told that their process is cumbersome and stupid for claims over 3K and then even moreso after 10K, is only a reimbursement plan and that he’d be better off with faster service making a claim on his homeowners and having them subro back for the total and deductible.
CaseyL
@danielx: There is no good cancer – and all cats are good cats (just like all dogs are good dogs).
I am so sorry to hear you’re losing Zoe, and hope that thinking back on the very good life you gave her is some comfort.
mrmoshpotato
@Steeplejack (phone): Silly Popehat.
mrmoshpotato
@danielx: I’m so sorry.
Spanky
@germy:
Perhaps they should set fire to the manila envelope, ring the doorbell, and run away. That would seem more consistent with their ethos.
SiubhanDuinne
@NotMax:
Curse you. I was going to watch later.
:-)
Baud
@Nicole: The absolute truth. And this is great:
Gravenstone
@Kent: As I’ve described it basically since it occurred, stolen by the combined hostile action of enemies both foreign and domestic.
Spanky
@danielx: You have my deepest condolences, as an escort to our end of the rainbow bridge too many times already. Take comfort and strength in the fact that you have served her well, and will continue to do so through the end.
Spanky
@Baud: That would be Madame Secretary/Senator/First Lady Hillary Clinton.
ETA “Esq.”
Steeplejack (phone)
sab
@danielx: I am so sorry for you and her.
StringOnAStick
@danielx: I am so sorry for you and Zoey. Doing the right thing is so hard and the duty we accept for having such sweet companions.
Betty Cracker
@Nicole: So true.
dmsilev
I think the Post summarizes today nicely:
danielx
Thanks all. Heading out in a bit so I can be with her (suitably masked) when they give the injection, and then bring her home for burial in her favorite blanket and with her favorite stuffed mouse – which until the last couple of weeks she caught on a daily basis and brought to us with loud meows for suitable praise for her hunting prowess. Crossing the Rainbow Bridge….
Omnes Omnibus
@Spanky: If you use Esq., it should be used without any other honorific. So HRC, Esq. or SoS HRC, but never both.
banditqueen
@danielx: may Zoey’s memory be a blessing
Nicole
@danielx: I’m so glad you can be with her at the end. I think it’s the great gift owners give the animals who are so much to us- that our animal companions can close their eyes, knowing we’re there, right until the end, still doing what is best for them. I’m so sorry for your loss. She was lucky to have you for her person.
schrodingers_cat
I have started my celebration early.
Let’s dance. Badtameez Dil (Misbehaving heart)
On screen, Deepika Padukone and Ranbeer Kapoor (4th gen Hindi movie royalty)
zeecube
@danielx:
@danielx: So sorry. Rest in Peace, Zoey.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@danielx:
I’m so sorry to hear that. RIP Zoey
Betty Cracker
@dmsilev: Wish Le Post had included an estimated time for Biden’s speech. We’re going for a boat ride soon — I’m on the trail of an elusive bird that we recently sighted on the river. But I don’t want to miss the speech!
Splitting Image
@Betty Cracker:
CBS News says 7:30 PM Eastern.
Link to stream
Barbara
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: As unsatisfying as that answer is, believe me, that homeowner’s insurer is going to be much more adept at making Amazon pay than your neighbor. Your neighbor should take pictures and gather documents before making the claim.
The Moar You Know
@danielx: I salute Zoey for being a very Good and Proper Cat of the Highest Order. Godspeed.
schrodingers_cat
@zhena gogolia: For you, a young Shahrukh Khan. This is the movie that catapulted him to mega stardom
Mehendi Laga ke rakhna
Gin & Tonic
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: You and I know your neighbor’s P&C insurer has lots of people on staff who will eagerly – nay, enthusiastically – pursue every fucking nickel. Let them.
mrmoshpotato
Via bluegal
Benw
@danielx: man, sorry to hear that
zhena gogolia
@schrodingers_cat:
ROWRRR! I love these.
J R in WV
@danielx:
Sorry to hear of Zoe’s illness. I do know how it is. Last winter I had to take Happy Dog to the Vet ER for that service — she was listless, they found a tumor in her abdomen bleeding out. Suddenly sad.
Never easy!
Hang in there. Best wishes from WV…
ETA: So glad to learn you will be with her, it will help her be calm. That’s all you can do for her now.
dmsilev
@mrmoshpotato: So, about one in a quadrillion then?
SiubhanDuinne
@danielx:
I’m so very sorry. May Zoey’s journey across the ? Bridge be enlivened by stuffed mice to chase, and may she drink lavishly from the cream that rises to the top of the Milky Way
Dan B
@danielx: Such sad news about your kitty. Right at this moment the BaBu is right next to me in the chair. I’m trained to sit in the front of the chair while he gets the back half (2/3). It’s taken 9 months to nudge him from friendly feral to a kitty who is excited to be with his hoomins. Are snuggling / napping reflections of our trustworthiness? Probably so and ‘trust’ is in such short supply these days. They give us what we need. It’s no mystery why today is a time for you to be heartbroken.
We are all sharing it with you.
Jeffro
@rikyrah: seconded here
Jeffro
@dmsilev:
@Jay C: it’s going to be a 2032 Jeopardy! question, in the category of “states won multiple times by Joe Biden”. $800 ;)
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
Jake Tapper just called Dump a “loser” on live tee vee
HA!
Jeffro
@Splitting Image: ah…wrapping up before Monday Night Football gets underway…what a thoughtful President-elect! ;)
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Gin & Tonic:
Yeah, that was the decision he made after we talked – the good part is that knowing that it’s a readily and easily subrogable claim, they won’t be stingy so they’ll pay about a 15% premium on the work.
It’ll cost them a lot more at the end of the day, which I’m fine with.
Kattails
@germy: THESE PEOPLE ARE FUCKING INSANE. (Channeling Different Church Lady)–driving out today to get my package off to Mom and there was one yard loaded with more Trump signs than before, like “united we stand under Biden we fall”. I am fantasizing about sneaking back tonight with one straight across from their driveway with a giant fuck your feelings on it.
When we hit 270 I am pouring myself a drink and will breathe again for the first time in four years.
PS my mind mis-read Kayleigh McEnany’s name today as “McEnemy”.
Mel
@danielx: I’m so sorry.
narya
@rikyrah: Joining the chorus of agreement.
@danielx: Joining the chorus of condolences; so very sorry . . .
Jeffro
Apparently the Nevada GOP electors seems to think that if they ‘cast their votes’, well, then THEY COUNT!
(except trumpov lost Nevada, so his slate of electors ain’t worth jack/shit)
This isn’t stopping right wing loons (including Rudy G) from tweeting their ‘victory’ (eyeroll)
Someone figure out how to bring these people back to reality, stat!
zhena gogolia
Has he won yet?
pacem appellant
@Major Major Major Major: 36 days 19 hours 44 minutes 0 seconds
Barbara
The Trump campaign just filed another lawsuit over the use of drop boxes, this time in New Mexico, and is asking the federal court to enjoin New Mexico electors from casting their votes today.
Anotherlurker
@danielx: I am so sorry that you are saying goodby to Zoey. She sounds wonderful!
As Theodore Geisel aka Dr. Seuss said: “Don’t cry because its over, smile because it happened.”
Kattails
@danielx: So sad for you but it’s a blessing for both that you can be with her. We’ll all be thinking of you with big hugs.
Mary G
@danielx: Fuck cancer.
She will fall asleep at your side the way she loves to, and always live in your heart. I’m so sorry.
trnc
Montana appears to be the only pro-fascist state whose 3 electors haven’t voted yet.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/14/politics/2020-electoral-college-vote-tracker/index.html?iid=politics_electoral_college_bop
trnc
@Jeffro:
I like repairing things, but some shit is just too far gone to save so off to the dump it goes.
EmbraceYourInnerCrone
@Dan B: Hmm, several of my kitties have learned the slide in to the back of the chair and slooooowwwwly push the human until she has the 2 inches on the edge to sit on. Spousal unit used to make fun of me, until he started working from home and found he is supervised by the kittens..
Matt McIrvin
All of the Trump states are in now–I think only Oregon, Hawaii and California are out. No faithless electors so far (I didn’t think there would be any at all).
Patricia Kayden
WTH?!
Matt McIrvin
Mainstream media appear to be giving the “alternate elector” clown show no oxygen.
trnc
@danielx: Sorry to hear that. Losing our owners sucks.
Mike S (Now with a Democratic Congressperson!)
@Kattails: Good Idea! The closest house to us with Drumpf flags is over a mile away, although there are still a few Drumpf-Dence signs around the corner. As I mentioned in the morning thread, someone stole our Biden-Harris yard sign last night. After 3 months of being untouched. I need to find another one to put out.
Cameron
Horseracing the living shit out of it, Washington Post as of a couple minutes ago has it Biden – 240, Trump – 232. I’m so excited, I may just watch another episode of Shooter on Netflix. Or make dinner. Or go for a walk. Or call GF. Or whatever.
trnc
@Matt McIrvin:
Yeah, I think most of the 7 or so faithless electors in 2016 were fined, and the SC upheld the states’ ability to do that.
Platonicspoof
@Barbara:
Yes it is. Still unbelievable.
Biden and Harris have apparently made a statement:
“I have heard from and watched as so many of you turned pain into purpose, working to change our laws and our culture around gun violence and how we protect and nurture our children.”
But while I was looking for more statements, also unbelievably, less than two weeks ago local gun control ordinances were blocked by the Newtown Legislative Council .
Mallard Filmore
@Patricia Kayden:
Won’t that simply keep them busy with Make Work?
Matt McIrvin
@trnc: WA even passed a new law saying they’d instantly replace the votes of anyone who pulled that, and nobody tried to test it.
The Dangerman
Not sure about doing away with the EC. No one would give a shit about swing states or what Rufus T. Jones of Bumblefuck, Iowa (just a jog down the the road from the Cornporn Palace) thinks. Imagine the anarchy!
Gin & Tonic
@Mallard Filmore: It’ll keep them busy assigning no-bid contracts to Erik Prince.
StringOnAStick
In a few minutes the moving van will arrive with the 99% of our stuff that has been in storage for the last 6+ weeks; sleeping on a bed again is going to be nice. This period of getting by on much less has us thinking we need to donate a huge amount of this stuff and embrace the idea of living with less, so it’s been an interesting enforced simplicIty. Of course, unpacking stuff that’s been boxed up, some for months, will be like Christmas in many ways too.
RobertDSC-Mac Mini
Happy to see Secretary Clinton doing her duty yet again.
#stillwithher
jonas
@Mike in NC: The long-term goal has to be getting Congress to pass robust voter protection laws and put some teeth back into the Voting Rights Act. Unfortunately the new SCOTUS appears to lean strongly towards letting states do whatever the hell they want and disenfranchising whoever they want regardless of what Congress says (unless it somehow inconveniences Christians, I suppose).
Catherine D.
@danielx: I’m so glad you can be with her.
mrmoshpotato
@StringOnAStick: Wheee!!!!!
schrodingers_cat
Tera Noor, seems appropriate on the eve of the sexual predator’s official defeat.
pluky
@Omnes Omnibus: unless one is German. It which case pile on those honorifics!
Dan B
@EmbraceYourInnerCrone: Our little grey one is fearful of laps!? But snuggled behind on the chair and batting at my leg if I don’t say “foods!” when I’m headed to the kitchen are safe. It’s endearing to watch them gain confidence. Grey / BaBu did curl up on my Mike Guy’s lap one evening so maybe in a few years time.
It’s entertaining and comforting especially since we lost all three of our kittens last year. One was a traumatizing trip to an emergency vet clinic the day after Christmas. We were there for four hours waiting to have Oscar put to sleep after they had installed a line. So many hours holding a terrified kitten was tough. Having the ability to save a couple from the cold is healing for us.
LOL for your husband learning about the natural hierarchy of cats and hoomins!
laura
@danielx: You’re good person to make sure she goes gently to no pain – knowing how much she’ll be missed. Take care.
Mallard Filmore
@Gin & Tonic: Obviously I don’t know what this board does. Are you sure they control juicy contracts?
hedgehog mobile
@danielx: I’m so sorry. No matter how long we have them it’s never long enough. As others have said you ate doing the loving thing, but it hurts all the same.
Just Some Fuckhead
This is how you push back against Republican efforts to destroy our democracy (what’s left of it.)
Searcher
Honestly a part of me is intensely curious to see how the direct election of electors for a few election cycles would go nowadays, but not so curious as to want people with less privilege than me to have to live with the consequences.
Ken
I thought it was quintillion. My favorite mockery of that idiotic claim was the one pointing out that Biden took 100% of the Dixville Notch votes, so mathematically Trump couldn’t have won a single state.
Baud
Oh Lord, they brought Karnacki back in front of the big board for the electoral vote count.
cain
@danielx:
I know how that goes – my two black velociraptors sleep with me every night – they also co-pilot when I’m working in my office.
So heart breaking for you – wishing you good thoughts and love to your kitty.
cain
@schrodingers_cat:
That was one of my favorite songs! (I’m listening to the 90s bollywood song list !) – one of my cousin who is a professional singer sang that at my wedding.
Kropacetic
Likely no more or less true under either scenario, but the status quo makes it way easier to ignore way more voters overall.
WaterGirl
@Baud: Is he still wearing the same pair of pants?
ByRookorbyCrook
@WaterGirl: Contractually he must wear the same pants, but can choose his own undergarments. This was renegotiated after the 2018 Election scabies infection in the newsroom.
schrodingers_cat
@cain: DDLJ has great music just like most YRF movies but I hate that movie with a hatred of a 1000 suns, the values it preaches are so retrograde and archaic.
Patricia Kayden
Amen!
schrodingers_cat
Are we there yet?
Bnad
Pleasantly surprised that Michigan managed to cast its votes without any yahoos trying to murder electors. An old HS classmate / FB friend / 3 percenter was very vocal with gun/ammo posts that made it seem like he was about to take action.
Kattails
Just wandering aimlessly around the nets keeping busy while waiting for California and ran across this image which is just perfect for BJ, “rescue goat suffering from anxiety only calms down in her duck costume”. You’re welcome.
Baud
@schrodingers_cat:
Karnacki said about 45 more minute for California, which puts Biden over 270.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@The Dangerman:
Actually, I’ve read that the EC isn’t the real problem, it’s FPTP, winner-take-all voting that’s bad. From this reddit post:
How to Become President With 22% of the vote
So, what do you all think of this argument/view?
Baud
@Bnad: The risk of domestic terrorism is real, but 99% of talk is just talk.
Mary G
@Dan B: Mine were both difficult cases who had spent a long time in the shelter, one returned from a failed adoption and the other “semi-feral.” The first is also grey, and still flinches when I go to pet him and he sees my hand out of the corner of his eye or a broom comes out. He spent a month under my spare bedroom’s furniture when I first got them, then another month sneaking out to eat the bonito flakes the other cat doesn’t care for. Multiple months to be in the same room together.
Ten years later he jumps up on my lap looking for pets or brushing, sleeps with me, talks loudly all the time, especially when evening snacks are late, tolerates housemates and even let a strange visitor who is a cat whisperer pet him! It’s worth the wait.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Baud:
I hate to admit this, but I always assumed Bnad was you but you just misspelled your nym lol
schrodingers_cat
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): I thought it was DanB’s sock puppet or another dan B
Mary G
Baud
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
It seems all he’s doing is trying to make the EC vote split closer to what the popular vote would be. But it would fail because red states would gerrymander their EC votes.
Kattails
Also; from Sara Gibbs: “Santa watches you while you sleep. He judges you. He brings you little presents. He creeps into homes that aren’t his and gets fed there.
Santa is a cat.” ;-)
Are we there yet?
West of the Rockies
@Patricia Kayden:
I assume Biden will kick each one out on 1/20 with a well-aimed boot to the keister.
debbie
@schrodingers_cat:
Wish I could say that about Star Trek Discovery.
mrmoshpotato
@Kattails: Hahaha, thanks.
mrmoshpotato
@West of the Rockies: Oh please have Newt be given the ol’ heave ho.
debbie
@MattF:
Were those the “alternative” electors being locked out of Michigan’s Statehouse?
artem1s
listening to CA assembly now
https://www.assembly.ca.gov/media/chamber-video/audio
Leto
@danielx: I’m so sorry, danielx. Absolutely fuck cancer.
sdhays
@Baud: The argument for giving smaller states more power is specious as well. We already have a very strong mechanism for this, known as the United States Senate, or more affectionately as “The World’s Most
UselessDeliberative Body”.Not to mention that the states themselves are the product of gerrymandering.
Joy in FL
@Kattails: The goat in the duck suit is Polly. She is a special needs goat at Goats of Anarchy.
Goats of Anarchy is on Instagram and YouTube. There is a children’s book about Polly and her goat suit.
The founder, Leanne, is a former event planner who adopted two goats and found out that she loves goats, and that rescue organization is her life now. It’s a great place to follow and support.
planetjanet
And California just voted 55-0 for Biden. Let the festivities begin!
ETA: Here is the livestream
PST
California just announced its result: 55-0.
trnc
Yeah, I hope he’s got a ton of orders already written out. Maybe as soon as he’s sworn in, he can turn to one of his aides and say, “Implement Operation Fumigate immediately.” And I’m not just talking about some mist in the White House, know what I’m sayin’?
mrmoshpotato
CALIFORNIA CALLED! GAME OVER!
trnc
@PST: Sweet!
sdhays
@Mary G: This would be great, but I’ve been reading about “the leadership” of the Republican
CultParty rejecting/standing up to/controlling/etc. Dump for nearly a decade now, and the reason he’s their President is that they never, ever did.I don’t believe they actually want to shut him out (say things quieter and more politely, occasionally, sure), and I’m pretty sure that if they sincerely do, they don’t know how.
Zzyzx
Biden won again!
Sister Golden Bear
I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of MAGAts heads’ suddenly exploded in incomprehension and sputtered “Fake news! Fake news!” I celebrate that something wonderful has happened.
#BidenHarrisPass27
#ItsAllOverExceptThePouting
Baud
Happy that California got to be the one to put Biden and Harris over the top.
leeleeFL
To quote our Blog Father, who famously said in 2008 “Yes, we fucking did!”. Again!
Democracy rules!
Cameron
In the words of America’s greatest philosopher of eschatology: “Eh-da-eh-da-eh-da-eh-dat’s all, folks!”
Baud
@sdhays: I wish we had a viable strategy for picking off a few small states to turn them blue or purple.
Kattails
@Joy in FL: The things you learn on this website! that’s so fun, thanks for the follow up.
AND CONGRATULATIONS PRESIDENT ELECT BIDEN AND VICE PRESIDENT ELECT KAMALA HARRIS
schrodingers_cat
3..2..1.. until a Twitter meltdown from the Pumpkin President
SiubhanDuinne
@Baud:
In a way, I almost wish things could have been jiggled so that Hillary could have cast the 270th vote — but I’m glad Kamala’s home state brought it home!
FelonyGovt
@rikyrah: I just love Letitia James. What an impressive lady, and she’s so Brooklyn.
eddie blake
@Betty Cracker:
late to the thread, but no. the modern BSG is a giant mess. the three episode miniseries was fantastic, but you could figure out pretty soon that the writers were making it up as they went along and had no fucking clue how to pull off a satisfactory ending.
the show REALLY starts to fall apart in the later seasons and when they bust out the jimi hendrix, it’s seriously shark-jumping time.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Baud:
Yeah, that’s what I thought too. I wouldn’t be surprised to see efforts to change how EC votes are allocated based gerrymandered congressional districts going forward under red governors/legs in swing states.
Plus, all the talk of “we’re a constitutional republic with 50 semi-autonomous states nota democracy” and “every state needs a voice” kinda reeks of “libertarian/centrist” dudebroism
SiubhanDuinne
Chat friend just said Barr is leaving! Quit? Fired?
trnc
“But why should California get to tell Idaho what to do? Huh? Huh? Idaho should get to tell everyone what to do, and California should have to ship their beaches to Idaho! NO FAIR!!!!!!”
Dan B
@trnc: My best friend is working on a campaign by Unions in Montana. The Republican governor is pushing right to work legislation. The state had Democratic governors who were a firewall between the legislators and and union laws. It’s going to be a tough campaign to prevent the gutting of unions.
SiubhanDuinne
And no sooner do I hit send than Nicolle announces it!
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@schrodingers_cat:
DanB is a name I haven’t seen in a while. Whatever happened to them?
Kristine
@danielx: Been there. Knowing it’s the best decision possible doesn’t make it any easier. I am very sorry.
mrmoshpotato
Weak? Sad? Poop? :)
Punchy
Worst AG evah, Barr none
Canned before xmas. Dope.
Geminid
@sdhays: I don’t know about a decade ago, but in 2015-16 it seemed to me that the established republican party leaders really did not want trump, but republican voters did. When the leaders realized they could not stop trump, they went along. As for 2021 and beyond, I think republican party leaders would poison trump if they thought they could get away with it. They want trump’s voters, but trump himself is a disruptive liability.
unique uid
@dmsilev:
My thinking is Biden should get an extra term for every extra win. We’re up to about 200 years now, right? Long may he live!
Mary G
Don’t let the door hit ya on the way out!
ETA: Twitler must be demanding something that would land him in jail, so he’s out. I wish I thought that whoever is acting is for the 20 days would knock off the executions.
mrmoshpotato
And pieces of ocean!
Wyatt Salamanca
Barr’s departure is the latest sign that Trump is getting more batshit crazy by the minute.
God only knows what additional crazyass bullshit Trump will pull between now and Jan 20th.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@trnc:
If only Lex Luthor’s plan to set off the San Andreas faultline and cause California, Oregon, and Washington state to slide into the Pacific had succeeded, Idaho would have beachfront property! Damn you Superman! I always knew he was a libturd ?
Phylllis
@SiubhanDuinne: Local news just said resigning – leaving right before Christmas.
Patricia Kayden
@schrodingers_cat: True! This is a good day between the Electoral College and the vaccination rollout.
sdhays
@Baud: If Oracle, Tesla, etc. were moving to Wyoming and Montana instead of Texas, it could happen by 2024. But I guess there are reasons that’s not happening.
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
@Wyatt Salamanca: HA!!
TS (the original)
@SiubhanDuinne:
trump has posted the resignation letter on his twitter. As usual no “real” announcement. It will be wonderful to have a President who doesn’t use twitter to run the country.
Barr was fired because he didn’t find the voter fraud to give the election to trump. There can be no other reason. And how stupid 5 weeks before President Biden takes office.
WaterGirl
@ByRookorbyCrook: This is good to know. I’m glad you are keeping up with this so I don’t have to.
schrodingers_cat
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): He has been here.
mrmoshpotato
@Mary G:
Patricia Kayden
@SiubhanDuinne: I’m guessing fired since he failed to deliver an October Surprise to help Trump win a la James Comey in 2016.
Mary G
@mrmoshpotato: LOL! More hair dye dripping press conferences?
WaterGirl
@Kattails: Sadly, that is not what I get when I click your link.
Cheryl Rofer
So much winning!
Sister Golden Bear
@Betty Cracker: Definitely!
WaterGirl
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Then you haven’t been paying attention to what they both write. :-)
Zelma
@danielx:
My sympathies. It is so hard to say good-bye. But Zoe will always be with you in your heart.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Cheryl Rofer:
What a wonderful moment, even with the social distancing
mrmoshpotato
@Mary G: Five Seasons Total Assclownery!
Sister Golden Bear
@Cheryl Rofer: Biden has won so many times, he’ll actually be our 104th president.
sdhays
@mrmoshpotato: LOL. And get ready for prosecutors explaining to judges that, no, they’re not actually alleging any crimes were committed by these “indictments”, just that it would be horrible if was true and someone should really look into it.
burnspbesq
@Barbara:
Laches, anyone?
Matt McIrvin
@Baud: The Democrats have some small states. Delaware, Vermont, New Hampshire (most of the time these days), Hawaii, Rhode Island, all quite small.
The small-state bonus isn’t our big problem with the EC. It’s that among the big states, the blue ones are bluer than the red ones are red, so more of our votes are “wasted” by being over the 50 percent threshold. The great thing would be to flip just one of those big red states.
Wyatt Salamanca
@TS (the original):
It will be great to have a President with an attention span longer than that of an infant.
Melania or Ivanka needs to give this fucking lunatic a diaper change and a pacifier.
Mary G
The letter is creepy. Could’ve been written by any MAGAt who could spell. Like an Elvis fan writing to their King.
TS (the original)
And, of course, trump wants to distract from the reality of LOSING the EC. The media is now talking about trump, Bill Barr and Hunter Biden. But of course they are …
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Robert Costa saying on MSNBC that his sources tell him trump wants an independent counsel to investigate the Biden family.
Mallard Filmore
@Patricia Kayden: My guess is that Barr did what he could to give the NEXT Republican president unlimited power, but didn’t want Trump to benefit.
schrodingers_cat
We need a thread celebrating Biden’s EC win.
raven
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I thought they already did?
Baud
@Matt McIrvin:
I’m more interested in gets some Dem senators out of small red states.
UncleEbeneezer
@danielx: Condolences to you.
SiubhanDuinne
@burnspbesq:
Ha! I just learned that word earlier today (as far as I can discern, it basically means “You’re out of time, motherfucker!” but IANAL).
Please, how is “laches” pronounced? I’m torn between Scottish, Jewish, or Ignorant.
bluehill
When the time is right, the new DoJ needs to look into what Barr did during his term (along with everyone else in the administration). Resigned or fired, I think Barr wanted to get out before the ship went under.
a thousand flouncing lurkers was fidelio
@?BillinGlendaleCA: They’re too small to be Division III, even, let alone being bowl-eligible.
debbie
@Phylllis:
What kind of damage can an acting AG inflict on us?
TS (the original)
@Mallard Filmore:
And there it is. We are not allowed the celebrate Biden winning the EC. It is way past time that the media stops trump & the republicans gaining 99% of the media to spread their propaganda. I’m watching that bastion of liberal broadcasters MSNBC and it is 100% Barr & Hunter Biden.
a thousand flouncing lurkers was fidelio
@danielx: I’m so sorry. Knowing it’s the right thing doesn’t make it an easy thing.
raven
@a thousand flouncing lurkers was fidelio: I’ve been to the D3 national championship, the Amos Alanzo Stagg Bowl in Salem, Va.
debbie
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
The only response is to open an investigation of Trump on 1/21/21.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@WaterGirl:
Eh, it’s usually when I’m on the go, so I just skim
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Baud:
Ditto. Though, I wonder if once Manchin and Brown retire/die those Senate seats will be lost forever
Dan B
@Mary G: Thanks for a heartwarming story about persevering with kindness to cats who have suffered through times. It’s an analogy to what us democracy lovers and empathy are going to need to recover from 4 years of Trump and 8 years of W.
I’ve got a large reserve of patience with Jackals who freak out. It could have bern me if the anti-LGBTQ Trumpers got to advance their plans. What has been done to immigrants, black men, trans, and Muslims is frightening. Then again there us a Supreme Court majority that wants to enshrine “religious
rightsbigotry” in America.mrmoshpotato
@Sister Golden Bear: I feel bad for FDR. Biden’s won the Presidency close to 60 times.
debbie
@debbie:
On second thought, I’d rather an unredacted Mueller Report be released on 1/21/21. They can start the investigation on 1/22/21.
burnspbesq
@SiubhanDuinne:
Resigning effective 12/23.
cain
That man is a class act.
mrmoshpotato
@sdhays:
Judges: What is your legal complaint? This ummm….indictment?, that you scrawled on a napkin, just says “WWWWAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!! god emperor Trump should’ve won!!!!”
KM in NS
@danielx: I’m sorry for your loss
Uncle Cosmo
FTFY. I’m somewhat surprised the Thugs haven’t already found a POC with a mortal grievance against Trumplthinskin and, mmm, slid him into POTUS’s presence with deadly force he knows how to use. (Who knows – maybe they tried, but the Secret Service refused to be compromised.)
cain
I must have watched like about 4 movies of the 90s. For some reason I just didn’t want the songs ruined by watching the movies :D My favorite 90s movie is Dil Chahta Hai.
Dan B
@schrodingers_cat: No sock puppets here. I can barely manage myself.
BTW I designed and installed a Gayatri Mantra path at a favorite client’s home. It’s Travertine marble sanskrit letters inserted into Pennsylvania Bluestone, approximate 15 feet by 3 feet. And there are many other features in their garden that represent their country of origin, in the country that is their home. I should unearth the photos that are stored in a defunct computer.
mrmoshpotato
Fixed.
Ken
@sdhays: @mrmoshpotato: You have to admit it simplifies the process; the judge can issue the bench warrant for false prosecution, and the bailiff can take them into custody immediately.
Amir Khalid
@danielx:
May Zoey’s passing be in serenity. I too am missing a napping buddy of many years, and I grieve as you do. Peace.
burnspbesq
@SiubhanDuinne:
‘Pronounced like “latches.”
burnspbesq
@raven:
It wasn’t always in Salem. I went to one in King’s Island, OH, in which my alma mater got screwed out of a championship-winning last-minute TD on an egregiously bad call.
SiubhanDuinne
@burnspbesq:
Thx
schrodingers_cat
@Dan B: Interesting, that would be interesting to see. Bnad didn’t sound like you but he has same name hence my guess
Ruckus
@Spanky:
Well it is filled with shi…..
mrmoshpotato
@Ken: True.
debbie
Oops.
UncleEbeneezer
@Betty Cracker: The first two seasons were absolutely amazing. After that something happened that distracted us (other series’, or we lost access or something) and we never went back because my wife had already watched the whole series and really hated the ending. But I’ve always wanted to back and start it up again.
Geminid
@Dan B: I love that Pennsylvania bluestone. Beautiful material!
Dan B
@schrodingers_cat: My feeling is the Gayatri Mantra path is not the most evocative feature of the garden but the totality of the features is wonderful. And the process of things like unpacking a container of treasures and surprises from India. It was all these landscape grunts who were very excited to be part of the experience, and the contractor who assembled the huge teak pavilion structure, with zero plans, in their shop and then hand carried it down the hillside to reassemble it on site.
These clients have had friends and family to visit who can’t completely process a garden that is a hybrid American / Indian landscape. It’s a reflection of the ideal of America – a melting pot.
I’ll try to get the photos transferred and off to Watergirl. She’s seen a waterfeature from this garden with Kousa Dogwoods – the trees she was curious about.
Dan B
@Geminid: I love it too. We get the second rate stone here as I found out from a woman I hired who was from Pennsylvania.
Sister Golden Bear
@UncleEbeneezer: The main problem with BSG’s ending is that they didn’t spend enough build-up time to sell it. (A not uncommon problem with series endings. <cough, GOT, cough>. I.e. the decisions made were plausible, but we didn’t see why the characters were willing to make those decision.
Actually kind of similar to GOT’s problematic ending. GOT wasn’t necessary unbelievable given a proper script, but the story shortcut the steps to make it believable (i.e. a certain character’s messianic tendencies leading to despotism).
catpal
@danielx: so sorry and hope that you can think about good memories and that you gave your cat love and a good home.
eddie blake
@UncleEbeneezer:
it just went sideways. the ending of that show was a jumbo jet crashing into an oil train, and smashing into a dumpster-covered mountain.
in fairness, the MIDDLE of BSG wasn’t well-thought out EITHER, but it wasn’t as ABSURD as the ending.
eddie blake
@Sister Golden Bear:
i don’t agree. there were SO may points that just SHATTERED the suspension of disbelief.
(as to not ruin the experience of the people who haven’t watched it, not gonna spoil any of them, but oy.)
it was no babylon 5, with a clearly-crafted story bible featuring a season by season timeline written in advance. dunno where i read it, but the showrunners admitted they didn’t know what they were doing and were making it up as they went along.
eta- ps- saw your article waay late when the thread was dead. just wanted to say it was quite moving and beautifully written.
Geminid
@Dan B: I worked for a masonry contractor who once sent me on a bluestone run to Pennsylvania when his regular driver had child care duties. It’s quarried in a valley north of Allentown that runs into New York state. There were many small stone yards. I heard that it’s quarried by tapping a row of wedges- old truck leaf springs cut in half- into the side of an outcrop until a big sheet pops off. The New York Times had an article about bluestone about 2007. The article said that in the latter half of the 19th century a lot of New York City sidewalks were paved with bluestone. Bluestone contracts were a big source of boodle for Tammany Hall.
Dan B
@Geminid: The town where I did most of my growing up in NE Ohio, where Sab has a rental house, had Bluestone sidewalks. They were cracking and heaving – frost does that. They tore them out. My father hauled several tons to our house for a big terrace. I didn’t recognize Bluestone as the same material because what we had in Ohio was so smooth.
When we set the Travertine lettering into the Bluestone for the Gayatri Mantra path we had to break the Travertine words to fit the irregular contours of the Bluestone otherwise parts would be sunken and fill with dirt and other parts would stick up and get chopped or been trip hazards.
Geminid
@Dan B: cleft bluestone isn’t always in plane. Larger pieces like 3-6′ wall caps and stair treads are ground true and then thermally treated to have a uniform granular surface. But the cleft bluestone has it’s own beauty. I hope you can get pictures put up of the installation you describe. I’d love to see it.
Mary Ellen Sandahl
@danielx:I’m very sorry – my sleeping buddy is elderly, too. Sympathies for you both. It’s hard to have to do the right thing.
Odie Hugh Manatee
@danielx:
I’m so sorry to hear this. I have a nine year old sleeping buddy, losing one to cancer sucks. This is the suck part of being responsible for our furry family members but it’s what we have to do for them.
Best wishes to your kitty and you.