Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

We’ll be taking my thoughts and prayers to the ballot box.

Republicans don’t trust women.

Despite his magical powers, I don’t think Trump is thinking this through, to be honest.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

Ah, the different things are different argument.

Not all heroes wear capes.

After roe, women are no longer free.

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

I’m sure you banged some questionable people yourself.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

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

White supremacy is terrorism.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

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

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

Hot air and ill-informed banter

We are aware of all internet traditions.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

The most dangerous place for a black man in America is in a white man’s imagination.

Spilling the end game before they can coat it in frankl luntz-approved dogwhistles.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

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

You are here: Home / Past Elections / 2020 Elections / Open Thread: David Perdue Quarantining in Georgia

Open Thread: David Perdue Quarantining in Georgia

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This year will end as it began — with powerful Chaos Energy.

Per the Washington Post:

Sen. David Perdue, one of the Republican candidates in the pair of Georgia runoffs that will determine the trajectory of Congress for the next two years, is quarantining after coming into close contact with someone connected to his campaign who has tested positive for the coronavirus.

Perdue’s campaign said that he tested negative for the virus Thursday but that he and his wife would quarantine, “following his doctor’s recommendations and the CDC guidelines.” The statement did not identify the person who was diagnosed.

The runoff elections will take place Tuesday, and Perdue had several campaign events scheduled for the final sprint, including a rally in Dalton, Ga., with President Trump on Monday. Perdue’s campaign could not be immediately reached for comment with details on how long he would be absent from the campaign trail…

In a statement on Twitter, Perdue said he and his wife have been tested regularly throughout the campaign. He has attended several rallies in which attendees did not adhere to strict social distancing guidelines, including a Trump rally in Valdosta. Perdue typically wears a mask at campaign events, in contrast with many who attend…

So — does Trump cancel? Will he be able to resist having the stage all to himself?

Goddess forgive me, given the quality of his recent interviews, Perdue may be better off *not* showing up…

Reader Interactions

226Comments

  3. 3.

    Just Chuck

    or lose votes bc voters think they’re not safe bets to meet the obligations of their office.

    Isn’t that pretty much the prerequisite for running as a Republican?

  4. 4.

    raven

    Two Republican members of the House of Representatives tell CNN that they expect at least 140 of their GOP colleagues in the House to vote against counting the electoral votes on January 6 when Congress is expected to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.

  7. 7.

    trollhattan

    @JPL:

    GMTA–my first thought was keeping Purdue off camera is the best thing his strategists could have done for him.

    COVID seems to have become a Republican badge of honor or something: “What, you didn’t catch it yet? Slacker!”

  10. 10.

    mrmoshpotato

    test whether candidates who get ill get a sympathy vote

    “I’m gonna vote for him because he might be sick with a deadly virus.” would be some interesting reasoning.

  13. 13.

    mrmoshpotato

    @raven: Two Republican members of the House of Representatives tell CNN that they expect at least 140 of their GOP colleagues in the House to vote against counting the electoral votes on January 6 when Congress is expected to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.

    Hmm…142 Rethuglicans.  Still no match for the Sun.

  14. 14.

    Anne Laurie

    @raven: Not showing up to what?

    His own rally.

    @Just Chuck: Well, for a modern Repub, ‘the obligations of the office’ pretty much means acting as a speed bump against getting anything done, so…

  16. 16.

    dmsilev

    So — does Trump cancel? Will he be able to resist having the stage all to himself?

    Is Loeffler also scheduled to attend? I thought they were mostly doing joint campaign events.

  18. 18.

    Suzanne

    @debbie: To be fair, some of the symptoms are “fatigue” or “cough”, which is not really illuminating to those of us who never get enough sleep and/or have allergies and post-nasal drip for much of the year.

  21. 21.

    BruceFromOhio

    Fifty more clams each to Ossoff and Warnock, and avoiding everything again until, Gaia knows, when this crap is finally over. Which seems like never ever.

    Waiting to see if my House thug is one of the traitors so I can hound his officelings mercilessly for the next two years.

  24. 24.

    Mallard Filmore

    @mrmoshpotato:
    So there will be a written objection to the counts. Each chamber will go meet to decide how to vote, accept or reject the electors. The Democrats send the issue to a committee and never return, run out the clock and we get President Pelosi.

    As wonderful as that would be, what happens when there is a Democratic President-elect and a Republican House? The Republicans will object and run out the clock, making the Republican Speaker the President. For the following four years.

    Yes, no ???

    (small edit)

  26. 26.

    Eunicecycle

    I have a sad story. My brother’s brother-in-law may have killed his own mother. The BIL is an obnoxious Trumper and antimasker. He and his wife (my sister-in-law’s sister) decided to go to FL to see his parents for Christmas. On the way BIL becomes very ill with Covid symptoms. But of course since they “don’t believe in Covid” they kept on going. Within 3 days of arrival his mother got sick and was hospitalized. Then his father got sick and was hospitalized. Then his mother died. His father is still alive, so far. I can’t believe how selfish and ignorant some people are. And my brother said his BIL will have no regrets, because they are also “Christians” who believe it’s God’s will when someone dies.

  32. 32.

    Suzanne

    @debbie: Probably. It looks like normal winter-crud, until all of a sudden, it doesn’t.

    And for probably at least fifty percent of the people who get it, it IS no big deal. The capriciousness of the illness makes it more scary, to me, but I am somewhat neurotic by nature, and usually assume the worst will happen to me.

  34. 34.

    Anonymous At Work

    Senator David Perdue just displayed some impressive martial arts techniques.  Not often that a man can stomp on his own dick with both feet at once.

  37. 37.

    sab

    @Eunicecycle:  Wow. I am am so sorry for you and yours.

    My husband’s extended family thinks we are nuts and unfriendly (they blame me)  because we don’t trust any of them enough to visit or allow visits. It’s not me. It’s him. I had been taking way more chances than he does. No more. My extended family follows Chinese rules: no shoes in house; strip and wash when you come home; wash your hands and face every time you think about it; and never go out without a mask  and gloves.

  40. 40.

    sab

    @Suzanne: My stepson’s work place tests a lot. He tested positive. In normal work environments he wouldn’t have been tested. A couple of days later he lost taste and smell. That is an important symptom. He never had a fever. He has been tired for weeks, but that was just a grueling work schedule.

  43. 43.

    piratedan

    I’m at the point where I think it would be better to try these folks for sedition who continually call into question our recent election with nary a shred of evidence other than they don’t like the results…

    fine, you want exile or imprisonment?  We have some serious fucking problems in this country and this public political masturbation needs to end.

  45. 45.

    dmsilev

    @Eunicecycle:

    BIL will have no regrets, because they are also “Christians” who believe it’s God’s will when someone dies.

    Let me guess: they’re also ‘prosperity Gospel’ types.

  46. 46.

    Baud

    @piratedan:

    According to the statutory definition of sedition, it is a crime for two or more people within the jurisdiction of the United States:

    • To conspire to overthrow or destroy by force the government of the United States or to level war against them;
    • To oppose by force the authority of the United States government; to prevent, hinder, or delay by force the execution of any law of the United States; or
    • To take, seize, or possess by force any property of the United States contrary to the authority thereof

     

     

    They have a seditious heart, but they haven’t used force, so it’s not criminal.

  48. 48.

    tokyokie

    @Eunicecycle:

    [M]y brother said his BIL will have no regrets, because they are also “Christians” who believe it’s God’s will when someone dies.

    So would it be God’s will were someone to cap his miserable honky ass?

  51. 51.

    Eunicecycle

    @dmsilev: I wouldn’t be surprised. I have to say the times I’ve been around them they don’t preach to me, but my brother and his wife get it from them a lot. I know the BIL has tried to get my brother to join one of those Christian groups that is supposed to help you be a good father (Oathkeepers maybe?) But considering his own daughter can’t stand him and literally moved to another country to get away from him and her mom, I’m not sure the group really helps

  53. 53.

    Suzanne

    @sab: My BiL works in a hospital and tested positive this summer. He got tested before he felt sick at all. He had a day of gastrointestinal yuckiness, and then felt completely fine within a couple of days. Never had a fever, never had loss of taste or smell.

    This illness is stealthy.

  54. 54.

    Eunicecycle

    @tokyokie: I could tell you a story about the idiot BIL bringing a handgun in the house against my brother’s expressed wishes, but I really shouldn’t pile on him so badly.

  55. 55.

    Soprano2

    @Suzanne: It’s not the kind of fatigue you get from not getting enough sleep. It’s “I can barely get from the couch to the bathroom and back” fatigue, at least that’s what my husband had.

  57. 57.

    Martin

    @Eunicecycle: Oathkeeper is an anti-government militia, so probably not. I think Promise Keeper is the one you’re thinking of. They do the promise ring thing between dad and daughter, and its fucking creepy as shit to have a daughter saving her virginity for her father, let alone the whole ‘property right’ veneer to the whole thing.

    Not that there’s not a fair overlap between oathkeeper and promise keeper in practice.

  58. 58.

    Roger Moore

    @sab:

    We had someone at my work who tested positive and only developed symptoms a few days later.  She was unusual in that she was actually running COVID tests* and could put her own sample in any time she felt like it, so she was tested a lot.  She was negative on Wednesday, off work through Saturday, positive on Sunday, and symptomatic (loss of smell) on Tuesday.

    *It’s an experimental test that’s still working on an EUA.

  61. 61.

    Suzanne

    @Soprano2: For some people, yeah, it’s terrible. For others, they don’t experience that. Which is why I don’t think it’s surprising that people are underestimating this. For majority of people, it really is NBD.

    I am just the kind of person who generally assumes that the worst will happen to me.

  64. 64.

    sab

    Until people are vaccinated we need to assume everyone is positive. If you have not been vaccinated you are banned from my bubble.

  65. 65.

    Dan B

    @Eunicecycle: Horrible story.  The lack of empathy and the lack of remorse make it clear what “Christianity” is for them, a toolkit for being blameless.  I’d bet their pastor doesn’t allow them to read the Bible.

  66. 66.

    Eunicecycle

    @Martin: yes you’re right. I was too lazy to look it up. That does sound creepy, with the father-daughter ring bit. Another reason why the daughter moved out of the country!

  67. 67.

    Dan B

    @Eunicecycle: I amend my earlier comment about these “Christians” – blameless and clueless.  There are more descriptors but there are more things to do, like relaxing, eating, and celebrating the end to an awful year.

  68. 68.

    sab

    On a brighter note, I made pizza last night using Joy of Cooking pizza recipe ( proof 1 packet yeast in 1 1/3 cup 85 degree water for ten minutes.)  Mix 4 cups flour, the yeast/ water, and 2 T olive oil. Let rise in warm environment for two hours. ( I put in oven I had briefly heated to warm.

    Two hours later divide dough in half. Refrigerate half in plastic bag. Spread the other half over pizza pan. Supposed to be twelve inch but I like crunchy thin crust so I spread much wider.

    Spread tomato pizza sauce over the crust. Add stuff. I use pepperoni, chopped sweet onions, sliced black olives, sausage, green or red peppers, peppocinicis( sic), and whatever else you need or want. Then top off with grated cheese: sharp cheddar, mild cheddar, mozzarella.

    Bake at 400 degrees for about 40 minutes

    ETA: If you like the pizza, do the same thing in a couple of days with the rest of the day. Otherwise throw it away.

  70. 70.

    realbtl

    Regarding those who refuse to get vaccinated at what point do the insurance companies say no vac policy, no insurance policy for your business.

  71. 71.

    sab

    @realbtl: My dad’s nurse’s aide is 55 years old and remembers Tuskegee and lately Warp Speed. I disagree with her choice but I understand it. Also my dad needs her. Everyone in the nursing home has had a chance to be vaccinated. The only ones at risk there  will be outsiders and those who chose not to be vaccinated.

  72. 72.

    Roger Moore

    @Dan B:

    The lack of empathy and the lack of remorse make it clear what “Christianity” is for them, a toolkit for being blameless.

    I’m going to have to remember that description.  It really is about avoiding guilt.  Nothing is ever their fault.  If it is their fault, Jesus forgives them, and you’re a bad person if you don’t forgive them too.

  73. 73.

    Roger Moore

    @sab:

    ETA: If you like the pizza, do the same thing in a couple of days with the rest of the day. Otherwise throw it away.

    You can also turn the leftover pizza dough into a loaf of bread, a batch of rolls, bread sticks, or whatever.

  74. 74.

    Eunicecycle

    @Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony: Honestly I’m not sure. I haven’t seen his parents in years, since we all lived in the same small town in SW Ohio. But I guess BIL felt fine when they left VA, where they live now, and since the virus is a hoax, why wouldn’t they travel? Freedom and all that.

  77. 77.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @Martin:

    Promise Keepers took a massive rhetorical hit in Season 2 of Shameless. Not sure that it’s ever been seen the same way….

  78. 78.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @sab:

    A good dough recipe makes all the difference. We found a really cool appetizer white pizza recipe using speck, caraway, mascarpone, bufalo mozzarella and Parmesan that’s out of this world good.

  79. 79.

    Bill Arnold

    @Eunicecycle:

    And my brother said his BIL will have no regrets, because they are also “Christians” who believe it’s God’s will when someone dies.

    Exodus 21:15 (KJV) : “And he that smiteth his father, or his mother, shall be surely put to death.”

  80. 80.

    Roger Moore

    @realbtl:

    Right now, the vaccine is only available under and emergency authorization, which means the government acknowledges it doesn’t have enough safety data to be really confident it’s safe.  Because of that, it’s legally difficult to force people to get vaccinated.  IIRC, FDA wants at least 6 months of safety data before it can grant a regular, permanent approval, so it won’t be until sometime in the spring before that can happen.

    There’s also the question of when there will actually be enough doses of vaccine out there that businesses realistically can require people to be vaccinated.  Essential businesses like healthcare that have priority access will certainly be able to demand their employees be vaccinated, but other businesses can’t realistically demand it until there’s enough vaccine to go around.

  82. 82.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    Grilling filets on charcoal while having a bourbon with one of my last Olivia Series V Robustos right now. Feels kind of nice to run this shitty year out the back door this way.

  84. 84.

    raven

    @Roger Moore: Well I don’r know how it works but, in Georgia, they added people over 65 to the 1st tier and I was able to get and appointment for January 12 at the health department.

  85. 85.

    sab

    My husband just pointed out a high school classmate from my homeroom who died of covid this year. Really talented artist. Her dad with same job as my dad died early. So her family stressed economicaly as mine wasn’t. Sweet kind person her whole life. Damn.

  86. 86.

    Eunicecycle

    @Bill Arnold: and it seems like there’s something in the Bible about honoring your mother and father, and not killing them seems the least you can do to honor them.

    Ugh I just went to the sister-in-law’s Facebook page and they are also big antivaxers, too. She had some kind of rant about the vaccine altering your DNA and then you can never get rid of it!!! Also election stolen!!! Glad I don’t live anywhere near them anymore.

  87. 87.

    NotMax

    @sab

    Shredded mozzarella and sliced pepperoni, sprinkle with oregano and basil, roll it up like a jelly roll, bake in a loaf pan.

  88. 88.

    Steeplejack

    MSNBC is rerunning Obama White House photographer Pete Souza’s documentary The Way I See It at 8:00 p.m. EST (and again at 10:00 p.m.).

  90. 90.

    sab

    @NotMax: Main pizza or the leftover dough? Sounds tidier than my pizza. I confess I eat my pizza with a knife and fork. My husband goes commando and we have to burn his shirts afterwards ( or at least wash them on max filthy, which tatters the rest of the wash load.)

  92. 92.

    Quinerly

    I just took a spin around Trump atty Linn Wood’s Twitter. Wood has been on a 2 day plus rant that boils down to accusing Chief Justice Roberts of being a pedophile and involved in the murder of Justice Scalia. Plus, Wood has some sort of knowledge that J Epstein is still alive and all will be revealed shortly. Epstein was involved in the adoption of Robert’s children.

    Finally, Wood is on tape with his old law partners professing that he may be God. (https://lawandcrime.com/2020-election/lin-woods-ex-law-partners-claim-he-was-taped-admitting-to-assaults-asserting-he-may-be-christ-coming-back-for-second-time/)

    Trump picks/hires only the best!

  102. 102.

    Kent

    @Mallard Filmore:

    @mrmoshpotato:
    So there will be a written objection to the counts. Each chamber will go meet to decide how to vote, accept or reject the electors. The Democrats send the issue to a committee and never return, run out the clock and we get President Pelosi.

     

    No, this is wrong.  There is no committee involved and there is a 2-hour time clock.  They need to vote each objection up or down.  This is the language of the Electoral Count Act of 1887

    “Objections to individual state returns must be made in writing by at least one Member each of the Senate and House of Representatives. If an objection meets these requirements, the joint session recesses and the two houses separate and debate the question in their respective chambers for a maximum of two hours,” the CRS said. “The two houses then vote separately to accept or reject the objection. They then reassemble in joint session, and announce the results of their respective votes. An objection to a state’s electoral vote must be approved by both houses in order for any contested votes to be excluded.”

    Any objections in the House or Senate will have a maximum of 2 hours for debate then get voted up or down.  If the House or Senate vote them down then game over and we proceed.  As long as Pelosi retains a majority in the House then this is all going to be over on January 6 and Biden will be certified.

    All this does is force every GOP Senator and Congressman to go on the record as to whether they support Democracy or Sedition.

  103. 103.

    Jeffro

    @Patricia Kayden: Dem messaging should be 50% “watch what Republicans actually DO with their offices/power, not what they SAY – they’re busy trying to  sound like US” and 50% pointing out GOP hypocrisy/double standards in general

    Just pound it for 10 years and see if it has any effect.  I’m thinking yes.

  105. 105.

    Bill Arnold

    @Quinerly:
    Late in the Before Times, there was dispute about Epstein’s autopsy findings:
    What’s Going on With Jeffrey Epstein’s Autopsy? The dead financier’s brother hired an independent expert to examine the autopsy, who says there could be evidence of homicide — but the medical examiner maintains it was suicide (October 31, 2019)
    Lin Wood appears to be suggesting that this was all theater, and somehow the pathologist hired by Epstein’s family was either duped or was also faking it.

  107. 107.

    JaySinWA

    @Martin: I don’t think the Oathkeepers see  themselves as anti government. They are violently pro constitution in an interpretation of government that is radically different from government as we know it. Oathkeepers wiki. Even though the Wiki describes them as anti-Gov. They are advocating violence to keep Trump in office now.

    But Promise Keepers sounds more like the group described.

  108. 108.

    sab

    @NotMax: You live in Hawaii. I live in Ohio. You will always be late for dinner unless we call it breakfast.

    ETA or is that vice versa?

  109. 109.

    Jeffro

    @mrmoshpotato: it’s an excellent point.

    Why do the views/feelings/votes of 74M trumpies count for more than 81M Biden voters?  (I know we all know the answer…I’m just saying we should ask, ask, and ask some more)

  110. 110.

    Baud

    @Kent:

    It says a max of two hours.  Is there a minimum?

    It’ll probably be two hours since they all like to hear themselves talk.

  111. 111.

    Jeffro

    @Quinerly: Can’t imagine looking at that insanity and going, “You know…this fella may have a point here…”

    But then I guess it’s probably more gradual a process than that.

  113. 113.

    Kent

    @Baud:

    @Kent:

    It says a max of two hours.  Is there a minimum?

    It’ll probably be two hours since they all like to hear themselves talk.

    I have no idea.  I also don’t know if they treat all the objections together in one 2-hour block, or if every objection gets its own separate 2-hour block.  If that is the case they could be there all night.

  114. 114.

    Dan B

    @Jeffro: GOP doesn’t like democracy and neither does their base.

    How many were elected in states that Biden won?  How many where Trump prevailed?

  115. 115.

    TS (the original)

    @raven:

    Does the fact that Georgia has two critical senate elections have anything to do with the availability of the vaccine?

  117. 117.

    Baud

    @Kent:

    I hope it’ll be over during viewing hours.  I’m kind of glad there’ll be an “announcement” of Biden’s win.  And I expect the objections will be rejected in both houses.  Also glad the GOP will be on record.  Let’s see if our people have long memories for once.

  119. 119.

    Dan B

    @sab: My father said my mother’s cooking was “bland” after they’d been married a few months.  The spice rack she was given as a wedding present was full 42 years later, except the cinnamon.  All the herbs and spices smelled the same, dusty.

    My brother and I both went into cooking.  My former sister in law said it, “was for survival.” after a meal my mother cooked.

    Scottish-Irish southerner, western Arkansas.  The reverse of Italian

    She was highly educated so cooking was her idea of torture.

  120. 120.

    PsiFighter37

    @TS (the original): Almost certainly. Any public policy decision the GOP makes around COVID-19 seems to be based purely on political consequences. That said, once Biden gets into office, you know that the GOP governors will amp up their vaccine rollout and then run on being a ‘check on the federal government’ that helped them out in the first place. I don’t think they are cynical enough to slow-walk distribution and get people killed and think they can brainwash people into believing it is Biden’s fault.

  121. 121.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    @sab:

    If you like crispy crust and don’t already have one, get a baking stone (or two if you want breadsticks with your pizza!). Preheat the stone(s) and prep the pizza on parchment and a large platter; slide onto preheated stone and let ‘er rip.

  122. 122.

    sab

    @Dan B: I still have spices from my mother who died in 2012. Some of her spices dated before I was born in 1954. I will never use them but I will probably never throw them out. Mom thought the only good spice was butter.

    ETA she was a good cook by British pre WWII standards.

  123. 123.

    Mallard Filmore

    @Kent: Thanks.  I wonder how that Doucette fella got it wrong.  Anyway, either path gives an acceptable answer.  And considering the ratfucking that is possible with Doucette’s explanation, yours is better.

  124. 124.

    Llelldorin

    @Bill Arnold: I suspect he’s using the usual extremist Christian’s interpretation of Acts 10—”When I break Mosaic law it doesn’t count, but when you do you’re a hellbound sinner.”

  126. 126.

    EmbraceYourInnerCrone

    @sab: I think your mom went to the same cooking school as my Mom ? she rarely even used salt or pepper when cooking.  My husband looks to cook and loves spicy food. My taste buds had to be retrained.

  127. 127.

    sab

    @Dan B: My tenured college professor sister can’t even boil an egg reliably.

    Personally, I think cooking competently is more important than fluent Mandarin in America, but that’s just me.

    Her husband manages to do both well.

  128. 128.

    Gin & Tonic

    @sab:  Life skills I made sure my children had before they left the house: cook, swim, drive a manual transmission.

  129. 129.

    TS (the original)

    @Gin & Tonic:

    drive a manual transmission.

    I did that for years (real cars have gears) – then tried recently after 20 years with an auto transmission & no way could I drive the car. Did not believe it – until it happened.

  133. 133.

    Skepticat

    @sab:

    My former mother-in-law thought salt and pepper were exotic spices. She was a fabulous baker but cooked all her vegetables to bland mush.

  134. 134.

    Just Chuck

    @Eunicecycle:

    She had some kind of rant about the vaccine altering your DNA

    So do viruses.  That’s how they work.  But, well, we’re not expecting logic, consistency, or basic knowledge from these folks.

  137. 137.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Quinerly:

    Wood has been on a 2 day plus rant that boils down to accusing Chief Justice Roberts of being a pedophile and involved in the murder of Justice Scalia. 

    and involved in the murder of Justice Scalia.

    ^^ Well that’s new.  These morons are insane.

  141. 141.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    @sab:

    Yup, you can use it for anything that doesn’t spread out (too much). We also have a couple of dished stone rounds for deeper stuff.

    We tried the perforated bottom stuff but my sis convinced us to give stone a shot and we’re glad we did. Nothing but golden crust, every time.

  143. 143.

    Viva BrisVegas

    @Kent: Out of curiosity, is it possible for GOP loons to object to the returns from all 50 states?

    If so, does that mean 2 hours of deliberations times 50? Surely they would only get through a couple of states per day.

  154. 154.

    mrmoshpotato

    Came across this on an account I follow.

    Authorities have arrested a suburban Milwaukee pharmacist suspected of deliberately ruining hundreds of doses of coronavirus vaccine by removing them from refrigeration for two nights. https://t.co/lFf91jVBGW— The Associated Press (@AP) December 31, 2020

  156. 156.

    Jim Appleton

    Ages ago in Mexico, I learned of their holiday traditions.

    Christmas is minor, mostly not around 12/25.

    New Years, though is paramount.

    On 12/31, you will see innumerable small groups of people doing nothing more than briefly gathering randomly and closely and radiating happiness. Mexico is typically upbeat, but this day is very special.

    They are stopping to thank a friend, acquaintance, shop vendor, … for any reason related to the past year, or … not. And to wish well for the coming year.

    It takes seconds. The depth of communication is ritualized but clearly honest and compelling.

    A Mexican wishing you Happy New Year means it in a way that may be foreign to some.

    I’d like to honor, not appropriate, that rite by thanking you for you. And to wish you and yours an awesome New Year.

  157. 157.

    dmsilev

    Pence seeks rejection of lawsuit that aimed to expand his power to overturn the election

    Vice President Pence asked a judge late Thursday to reject a lawsuit that aims to expand his power to use a congressional ceremony to overturn the presidential election, arguing that he is not the right person to sue over the issue.

    The filing will come as a disappointment to supporters of President Trump, who hoped that Pence would attempt to reject some of President-elect Joe Biden’s electoral college votes and recognize votes for Trump instead when Congress meets next week to certify the November election.

    The filing came in response to a lawsuit from Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Tex.) and a number of Republicans in Arizona, who argued that an 1887 law that governs how Congress certifies presidential elections is unconstitutional. The suit argues that the Constitution gives the vice president, in his role as president of Senate, sole discretion to determine whether electors put forward by the states are valid.

    Wonder whether anyone told Trump before the response was filed (by a DOJ lawyer).

  160. 160.

    frosty

    @Gin & Tonic: If cooking also includes heating up frozen wings and fries, 3/3 for one kid, 2 1/2 /3 for the other. I don’t think he learned to swim all that well. In my defense, I made them learn to drive on a stick before they ever saw an automatic. The younger one still is, the older one has an automatic in his pickup.

    @NotMax: Laundry, yes, as soon as they could carry their clothes down to the basement. Balance a checkbook? What’s a check? I don’t think either one has ever used a check.

  162. 162.

    Viva BrisVegas

    @mrmoshpotato: To create a greater shitshow and keep the “stolen election” vibe going for a few more weeks.

    In their minds, if they can hold up the count for 14 days the horse may yet learn to sing.

  163. 163.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @NotMax:

    I ended up zooming with my cousin and brothers for 2-1/2 hours (starting at the same time) and totally missed the BJZoom. Hope to join in tomorrow.

  167. 167.

    Jay

    Police in Grafton, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of Milwaukee, said the Advocate Aurora Health pharmacist was arrested on suspicion of reckless endangerment, adulterating a prescription drug and criminal damage to property, all felonies. The pharmacist has been fired and police said in a news release that he was in jail. Police did not identify the pharmacist, saying he has not yet been formally charged.

    His motive remains unclear. Police said that detectives believe he knew the spoiled doses would be useless and people who received them would mistakenly think they’d been vaccinated when they hadn’t.

    https://apnews.com/article/us-news-milwaukee-wisconsin-coronavirus-pandemic-3d6db7b839be9276734088cb9d93a52d?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=AP

  169. 169.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @EmbraceYourInnerCrone:

    My grandmother cooked beef until it was grey, and for the first two decades of my life, that’s all I knew.

    I don’t have all that many kind thoughts of my ex-husband, but one that I’m genuinely grateful for is his introducing me to rare beef. I’ve never willingly eaten a steak more cooked than rare since 1963.

  175. 175.

    Yutsano

    @SiubhanDuinne:  For all that is holy, do NOT go into the responses in that tweet! We really need to either bring shunning back or Twitter needs to find a better way to expel the Macedonian bots, because some of those responses are just horrid.

  178. 178.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Yutsano:

    Thanks for the heads up. I’ll def avoid the comments. If they’re as vile as you suggest, I sure hope someone on his staff is screening them from the Raskin family.

  179. 179.

    CaseyL

    @SiubhanDuinne:  That’s how I grew up, too! Only with the edges cooked to char.

    My Mom cooked all meat until there wasn’t a speck of blood anywhere near it: beef, chicken, pork. I thought it was because she didn’t know how to cook when she first got married, but decades later she said no, my Dad had a phobia about food poisoning/trichinosis/etc., and demanded all meat be cooked until all potential germs were gone.

    The thing is, I’ve never entirely re-adjusted my palate. Medium-well is as close as I’ll ever get to “rare,” and I’m the only person I know who does NOT want her turkey or chicken to be “moist,” who actually finds juicy meat kind of gross.

  183. 183.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Steeplejack:

    I think I’ve seen that documentary three times straight through, at least. Came to it late tonight because Zoom, but it’s a pleasure nonetheless.

  186. 186.

    raven

    @SiubhanDuinne: So this vaccine group change is all the news over here. I got an appointment for the 12th and I don’t see how that would impact the election?

     

    Following federal guidance, Georgia offered the vaccine first to health-care workers and people who live and work in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, all of whom have been disproportionately affected by the virus. Police officers, firefighters and those 65 and older were to be among the second group on the state’s vaccination schedule.That changed as some hospitals, especially outside metro Atlanta, reported more than adequate supplies of the vaccine. But behind that surplus lies the hesitation of some health-care workers to accept the vaccine.
    Van Loskoski, vice president of physician services at Stephens County Hospital in Toccoa, said a recent survey found only about 60% of the facility’s health workers want to be vaccinated. Loskoski expects some to change their minds as they see others, including many doctors, get and respond well to the vaccine. Still, the hospital plans to begin inoculating police officers and other first responders in its community as early as next week.

  187. 187.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @raven:

    I got an appointment for the 12th and I don’t see how that would impact the election?

    No, I can’t see how it would. The election and the vax schedule ought to be entirely separate things.

  189. 189.

    MisterForkbeard

    @mrmoshpotato: The theory that Scalia was murdered by Hillary was pretty popular for awhile in right-wing groups. Apparently one of the Podesta mails talked about getting a contractor for “upcoming wet-work” that was assumed to be about murdering Scalia.

    Podesta, it turns out, was having his swimming pool renovated :)

  190. 190.

    Kent

    @Viva BrisVegas:

    @Kent: Out of curiosity, is it possible for GOP loons to object to the returns from all 50 states?

    If so, does that mean 2 hours of deliberations times 50? Surely they would only get through a couple of states per day.

    I have absolutely no idea how the rules work.  But they do need a counterpart in the Senate to make it work so it can’t be a solitary group of House loons.

    This is where party discipline starts coming into play.  You don’t want to get sent down to the worst offices in the entire Capitol you start behaving

    One assumes though, that they won’t object to any states that Trump won because Democrats can call their bet and vote to say, disenfranchise Texas.

  192. 192.

    mrmoshpotato

    @MisterForkbeard:

    The theory that Scalia was murdered by Hillary was pretty popular for awhile in right-wing groups. Apparently one of the Podesta mails talked about getting a contractor for “upcoming wet-work” that was assumed to be about murdering Scalia.

    Podesta, it turns out, was having his swimming pool renovated :)

    That would be hilarious on a movie.  In these past 4 years of shit, not so much.

  193. 193.

    mrmoshpotato

    Did you all NYE Zoomers (Yes, Zoomers) incriminate yourselves earlier? I see it was going to be recorded…

  194. 194.

    mrmoshpotato

    The Cheez-It Bowl is an annual college football bowl game that is played in Orlando, Florida, at Camping World Stadium

    This shit is getting out of hand!

  198. 198.

    Viva BrisVegas

    @Kent:  For loony senators the GOP has Hawley and maybe a couple of others on tap.

    They would also be depending on Democrats not invalidating any red states, as the Republicans would then use that as a concession that the election was indeed corrupt.

    Not saying that it would work or make sense, only that it sounds like the sort of thing Trumpists would do.

  199. 199.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    The Countess is clearly drunk. She’s demanding that we get a McRib sandwich tomorrow after seeing a commercial.

    Hoping she forgets this stupid demand.

  200. 200.

    Subsole

    @Dan B: A girl I dated once said the key to good Irish cooking was to boil the food until it was harmless.

    She weren’t kidding, either.

  202. 202.

    Jay

    It is less clear exactly how “Trump” guys might be expected to underperform if assigned to Biden. Like, would they refuse to take a bullet for a Democrat? It is also unclear how, in effect, swapping out “Trump guys” for “Biden guys” really solves the problem of the USSS becoming politicized. In any event, it’s a reminder that the Donald’s fingerprints are all over everything in Washington, and will remain so for some time after he leaves town.

    https://www.electoral-vote.com/evp2020/Pres/Maps/Dec31.html#item-5

  203. 203.

    zhena gogolia

    @NotMax:

    There’s only one Shirley for me.

    It’s a little strange to call it “happy new year,” as Victor McLaglen dies in the middle of her song.

  204. 204.

    Jeffro

    @Steeplejack: thanks for the tip!  I have been planning on catching this at some point and tonight was the night, I guess.  =)

    Wow.

    Miss our last real president!

  205. 205.

    NotMax

    @Kent

    The most important part of the legal procedure when objection is made.

    But if the two Houses shall disagree in respect of the counting of such votes, then, and in that case, the votes of the electors whose appointment shall have been certified by the executive of the State, under the seal thereof, shall be counted.

    More detail, from a second source (.pdf), current as of December 2020 (emphasis added):

    Section 15 establishes a procedure for making and acting on objections to the counting of one or more of the electoral votes from a state or the District of Columbia. When the certificate or equivalent paper from each state or the District of Columbia is read, “the President of the Senate shall call for objections, if any.” Any such objection must be presented in writing and must be signed by at least one Senator and one Representative. The objection “shall state clearly and concisely, and without argument, the ground thereof.” During the joint session of January 6, 2001, the presiding officer intervened on several occasions to halt attempts to make speeches under the guise of offering an objection.When an objection, properly made in writing and endorsed by at least one Senator and one Representative, is received, each house is to meet and consider it separately. The statute states, “No votes or papers from any other State shall be acted upon until the objections previously made to the votes or papers from any State shall have been finally disposed of.”
    [snip]
    The joint session does not act on any objections that are made. Instead, the joint session is suspended, the Senate withdraws from the House chamber, and each house meets separately to debate the objection and vote whether, based on the objection, to count the vote or votes in question. Both houses must vote separately to agree to the objection by simple majority. Otherwise, the objection fails and the vote or votes are counted.
    [snip]
    Section 17 lays out procedures for each house to follow when debating and voting on an objection. These procedures limit debate on the objection to not more than two hours, during which each Member may speak only once and for not more than five minutes. Then “it shall be the duty of the presiding officer of each House to put the main question without further debate.”

    Short version: If either chamber, by majority vote, rejects the objection then it is denied and the duly state-certified electoral votes are accepted as if no objection had occurred.

  208. 208.

    Suzanne

    @Gin & Tonic: Mr. Suzanne has made it almost to the age of 41 without ever having learned how to drive a stick shift. It’s so weird.

    The essential skill that I have been trying to teach my kids is how to tell which way is north. I am always in amazement to meet adults who can’t tell which way is north.

  209. 209.

    prostratedragon

    @sab:  Me too. I don’t, sfaik, but have northern Mississippi and Carolina Piedmont roots, and some things seem similar.

  210. 210.

    Suzanne

    Damnit.
    I just went outside on my front porch to get a little bit of baby-free time, and there is a group of people having a party at a house on the next block.

    “But they’re outdoors, so it’s okay!”. BULLSHIT.

  212. 212.

    Jay

    @Suzanne:

    I learned to drive stick before syncromesh,

    depress clutch, move it into neutral, depress clutch, move it into gear, ease out the clutch to spin the transmission up or down.

    North is often either geographic, or iron in your nose.

    From here, the mountains are north. In Saskatchewan, there is no north. It’s flat anywhere you look.

  215. 215.

    Dopey-o

    @Martin: : Oathkeeper is an anti-government militia, so probably not. I think Promise Keeper is the one you’re thinking of. They do the promise ring thing between dad and daughter, and its fucking creepy as shit to have a daughter saving her virginity for her father…..

    AFAIK, you pay a 20% penalty for returning merchandise without the original packaging…

    It is fucking creepy as shit (as you eloquently put it) that a father is so obsessed with his daughter’s vagina. I have never seen any commentary about the attitudes of the chattel-virgins’ mothers.

    Probably don’t want to.

  218. 218.

    SFAW

    @Subsole:

    A girl I dated once said the key to good Irish cooking was to boil the food until it was harmless.

    She weren’t kidding, either.

    “Irish cuisine” is one of the better, but lesser-known, oxymorons.

  221. 221.

    frosty

    @Jay: Yeah, my TR-3 had a non-synchro 1st gear. I learned to double-clutch to shift down.
    It also had a crank, which was useful when the starter occasionally decided not to work.

  224. 224.

    Drdavechemist

    @Kayla Rudbek: Mrs Dr Dave had a colleague who said the same thing, and it’s a common phrase in our household. Both my college aged sons can cook more than acceptably.

  226. 226.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @TS (the original): Try driving a stick in Northern Ireland on the wrong side of the road** after 3 decades of automatic transmissions. In the early Oughts, I went to rent an auto in Belfast & discovered I could get a manual for the whole weekend for the daily price of an automatic. Cheap barstid that I am, I sprung for a Ford Escort stick & did right well – shifting was the least of my difficulties.

    ** As I say to Brits who object: “It’s not the right side of the road, is it? Case closed!”

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