Some early tweets –
The tidbits from the early exit polls seem good for Jones — but early exits often overstate turnout among Dem-leaning groups. https://t.co/8UNMbwM1tG
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) December 13, 2017
Full story: The Alabama state Supreme Court has stayed yesterday's order directing election officials not to destroy digital voting records. Meaning that the state can go ahead and destroy them after all. #ALSenhttps://t.co/MAQwjgbEyF
— Connor Sheets (@ConnorASheets) December 12, 2017
#ALSen If you are in line at 7:00pm they have to let you vote. Be a good citizen and exercise your rights and go make your voice heard! And remember, if you are listed as "inactive" you can still offer a "regular" vote as long as you also offer a correction!
— Charlie Thomas (@BwanaSakkarani) December 13, 2017
The most remarkable exit poll number is Trump at 48/48 in Alabama
— Sam Stein (@samstein) December 12, 2017
That’s approval/disapproval.
Roy Moore campaign spokesman responds with silence when asked if he knew people can be sworn in with a text other than the Christian bible pic.twitter.com/B65qIKBjlI
— The Lead CNN (@TheLeadCNN) December 12, 2017
Watch it to the end.
Alabama's Secretary of State was an election monitor in Russia, where he deemed their election "free and fair" (it wasn't) and said he'd implement Russian tactics in Alabama https://t.co/6R5j6NAgU3
— Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) December 12, 2017
The New York Times has those dial things again. I can’t bear to watch them.
In Alabama today, confirmed reports of:
▪️ACTIVE voters listed as INACTIVE
▪️Police intimidation at polls
▪️Long lines due to insufficient equipment
▪️Misleading ballots
▪️Texts telling people their polling location changedTHESE ARE ALL FORMS OF VOTER SUPPRESSION.
— Mikel Jollett (@Mikel_Jollett) December 12, 2017
The polls close at 7 Central Time. I’m sort of determinedly neutral, don’t want to hope for too much. But I will be watching.
gbbalto
Good Lord – just saw the video of Moore riding – I have ridden maybe a dozen times in my life but I was always better at it than him.
ETA: starting as a 10 yo
germy
Major Major Major Major
I wonder if they still do the random jitter in between real updates to keep you staring at it.
piratedan
hoping for the best, expecting the worst….
Major Major Major Major
@germy: I can think of literally no reason why a person would decide to tweet that.
Starfish
dmsilev
@Major Major Major Major: It’s not jittering right now. Of course, that’s because there aren’t any votes counted yet (the page says first results expected 8:15 Eastern).
debbie
Goggle is telling me Trump won Alabama in 2016 at 62% to Clinton’s 34%, so that 48%/48% approval/disapproval is good news!
GregB
Does anyone know the age of the filly that Roy ride into town?
tobie
@Starfish: I came to like John Kerry a lot in 2004 and that tweet is another reason why. Damn shame he lost. He would have been a great President.
Cacti
@piratedan:
Have never doubted for a moment that Moore will win.
If he doesn’t, I’ll be legit shocked.
The Dangerman
I figure it’s Moore; now, to see if the Senators have the balls to toss him (they don’t, but I’m willing to be shocked). If they toss him, the Governor appoints a Republican, so … stranger things have happened (see Trump, Donald).
Major Major Major Major
@sylvania: ah, I knew I forgot somebody in the pie filter on my new phone.
Wag
Vis-à-vis the link from CNN about being sworn in on the Bible… If I am ever elected to hire office, I won’t be sworn in on a Bible. I will asked to be sworn in on a copy of the United States Constitution. It would be fun to watch the right wing nut jobs heads explode with cognitive dissonance.
lamh36
Welp…I ain’t even following on twitter…
Ima watch a new Finding Your Roots tonight…with Queslove, Dr Phil & Charlayne Hunter-Gault (?)
by the end I guess we’ll know who won
dmsilev
Per CNN,
Somebody’s holding a grudge….
Thoroughly Pizzled
Doug Jones has conducted himself very well in what’s usually the most thankless of tasks. I’m proud to share a party with him.
schrodingers_cat
@germy: Its all a fucking joke to the Villagers.
lamh36
@lamh36: Eash guest has “Deep roots in Alabama” and other states….damnit…I can’t even get away from that damn state w/guilty pleasure tv!
#FindingYourRoots
lowtechcyclist
@germy: Yeah, having lived through Election Day 2004, I’ll probably never trust early exits again if I live another 40 years.
Yarrow
From the 538 live blog linked in the post, from Nate Silver:
MisterForkbeard
@Cacti: Same. I’ve been really angry that Alabama/Republicans would sink so low, but I always expected him to win.
If Jones wins, I’ll break out the good alcohol tonight. But I don’t think I’ll get to do that.
dmsilev
Woo!
Oh, wait
(way less, like 200 votes total)
Mnemosyne
@lamh36:
If it doesn’t turn out that Questlove and Dr. Phil are cousins, I’m never watching again. ;-)
(Dr. Phil is from the South. Let’s face it, there’s a pretty good chance they’re related given what white dudes were up to in the South for several centuries.)
Kay
Roy Moore actually opposes womens right to vote – he opposes all the amendments- so I hope they enjoy this vote- if it were up to them it would be our last.
I don’t care what anyone tells me- people who vote for candidates who oppose their right to vote at all are fucked up people. They have a basic problem understanding how things work. I get not judging others but there has to be a line drawn. I’m drawing it there. Standards are important. I’ve set this bar very low. If they can’t meet it I really must give up on them.
Origuy
@Wag: I’m never likely to run for office, but if elected, I will take the oath on a copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. (The UK edition, just for extra lulz.)
Major Major Major Major
@Kay: but they’re just economically anxious.
lamh36
Wow… Charlayne Hunter-Gault one of two African Americans to integrate the Univ of Georgia!
I didn’t know that about her…
#FindingYourRoots
MisterForkbeard
The thing that saddens me is if Jones loses by even a point… we’re going to be treated to even MORE “Democrats can’t even win against a child molester” wankery from the media and leftbros.
Maybe, just maybe… this is an indication that Republican voters are just unreachable by Democrats. It doesn’t have anything to do with the Democrats, it’s all tribalism and hatred by Republicans who have their own reality bubble.
And if Jones DOES win, it’ll be waved off as “well, he ran against a child molester, so it’s not like the win actually counts”. Both of these ignore the fact that Jones will have done staggeringly well, better than he should have in Alabama.
TenguPhule
And nothing will be done about it for 2018.
Because Alabama.
Matt McIrvin
@debbie: A lot of people who disapproved of Trump nevertheless voted for him.
Cheryl Rofer
TenguPhule
@Major Major Major Major:
That’s because you are a good person.
lamh36
@lamh36: racist mob came to her dorm and threatened and threw shit…and Univ of Georgia suspended HER!! “for her own good”…#findingyourroots
TenguPhule
@Cheryl Rofer: That’s a disgrace. 5% of Black voters voted for the KKK Pedophile. What is wrong with them?
chopper
I don’t think the dems are going to pull this off. if the GOP shenanigans magically disappeared then yes, good chance. but alabama + election fuckery is a high wall to climb.
Hkedi
@Origuy: If I was elected, It’s a toss up between “the Origin of Species” “Relativity: The special and general theory” or “The Feynman Lectures on Physics”, Probably Origin of Species, to make the fundies scream.
Cheryl Rofer
zhena gogolia
@lamh36:
You didn’t? Wow, I’m old enough to remember it when it happened.
lamh36
@lamh36: Questlove comes from at least 3 generations of Alabamaians(sp?) Mobile to be precise…
#findingyourroots
Mr Stagger Lee
@Wag: And end the oath with the words “And So I Swear” Instead of saying So Help me God
Mnemosyne
@Cheryl Rofer:
This is one time when I hope the 27 percent works in our favor.
Though it’s pretty telling that, in Alabama, it’s the 27 percent who don’t go to any length to preserve white supremacy who are the freaks.
JMG
@Cheryl Rofer: A little back of an envelope math makes that a pretty close race, with Moore a little ahead
MisterForkbeard
@Cheryl Rofer: If black folks were 35% of the vote (as reported earlier, I think?) this exit poll would put Jones in the lead. I think. Maybe.
Wait, this whole comment sounds wrong. >_<
West of the Rockies (been a while)
@GregB:
F*** Roy Moore and the horse he rode in on!
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Cheryl Rofer: looks like Jones was winning the under-45s, too, per Kornacki on my TV.
Major Major Major Major
@TenguPhule: aw shucks.
Cheryl Rofer
@Mnemosyne:
@JMG:
Here are some calculations
lamh36
@lamh36:
MomSense
I wasn’t reminded of this article today.
http://www.deepseanews.com/2012/06/how-presidential-elections-are-impacted-by-a-100-million-year-old-coastline/
Sorry for the naked link but the link button isn’t working for me.
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
Working class whites and their “#EconomicAnxiety”
TenguPhule
@West of the Rockies (been a while): The horse has done nothing wrong.
West of the Rockies (been a while)
@TenguPhule:
Dude, 70% of whites voted for him. What’s wrong with White Alabama (well, seven out of ten of them)?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
lamh36
@lamh36: Dr Phil’s ancestors were 5 generations of Texans
#FindingYourRoots
schrodingers_cat
@lamh36: I thought lolrus ancestors are ocean dwellers.
TenguPhule
@West of the Rockies (been a while):
They’re white and from Alabama. QED.
West of the Rockies (been a while)
@TenguPhule:
Nay, that horse is evil.
* ducks and runs
Gravenstone
@Mnemosyne: ‘Dr. Phil’ is a self aggrandizing pecker knob. He needs to DIAF at our earliest convenience.
Matt McIrvin
@Hkedi: Swear on Misner, Thorne and Wheeler’s “Gravitation.” It’s impressively huge.
(Though Weinberg’s GR textbook is the one my daughter decided to use as a book of wizard spells, I think because she liked the black binding.)
Viva BrisVegas
@TenguPhule:
The same thing that’s wrong with at least 5% of any population group. They’re nuts.
lamh36
@lamh36: It still never ceases to amaze me how some of the white guests are ALWAYS shocked…shocked I tell, you that their families own slaves…it’s VERY common…to have slave owner ancestry in the South…
#findingyourroots
Yarrow
From the 538 live blog thing again:
I’m not sure what to make of that.
Cheryl Rofer
Mike J
@Mr Stagger Lee:
. You don’t have to end it with anything. The oath ends at the line before that.
Mnemosyne
@Cheryl Rofer:
And this is why we’re seeing these credible stories of Black and other minority voters being suppressed today. If there was a fair, honest, and open vote by all eligible voters in Alabama, Roy Moore would lose in a landslide.
They only win by cheating. Always.
Shalimar
@MisterForkbeard: 25%. Apparently now up to 27%.
dr. bloor
@West of the Rockies (been a while):
Roy himself is probably taking care of that particular activity with the horse.
TenguPhule
@Major Major Major Major: No matter our differences never doubt that I do consider you, Betty, Annie, efgoldman and the rest (yes, Even Bill) as good people who strive to do good.
This has been a shitty year and there have been few bright spots.
lamh36
@lamh36: well damn…Dr Phil’s ancestor was killed by a slave…and his great grand uncle…shot the slave believed to have murdered his great grandfather…no trial…of course. but it was illegal to kill slaves (they were value property) and so he was sentenced to 3 years in prison…but the Sam fuq’n Houston…intervened and pardoned him… #FindingYourRoots
Cheryl Rofer
Mary G
Roy Moore’s horse is hilarious on Twitter:
Yarrow
Poor horse! LOL.
schrodingers_cat
@TenguPhule: Ahh I see that you left me out of your list of good people.
JPL
@debbie: That is true.
TenguPhule
@Mnemosyne:
But we never sue them hard enough to make them stop doing it. And so it continues.
The process is broken when Republican voter suppression has become an expected event.
Mnemosyne
@lamh36:
If you go back far enough, it ain’t that uncommon in the north, either. Slavery was legal in New Jersey until 1804.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@West of the Rockies (been a while):
Why you hate Sassy?
the Conster
@tobie:
I will die believing Ohio was stolen from him. Karl Rove thought he stole it from Obama too – that election night freak out on Fox was REAL.
Mary G
TenguPhule
@schrodingers_cat: You’re in there with the rest somewhere above BillatCalifornia and Omnes. The blog page crashed when I tried to make a long post.
GregB
@Yarrow:
Quick take. The vast majority of white men in Alabama are raging assholes.
Kathleen
@tobie: I agree. I’m old enough to remember that those of us who thought results in Ohio in 2004 were rigged were mocked.
lamh36
Wow!! Questlove’s family may have been ancestors from the LAST SLAVE SHIP that came to America AFTER the slave trade was outlawed…The Clothilda!!! #findingyourroots
All cause of a bet made that slave supplier could get and bring slaves to America even after the trade was outlawed…and of course they landed in Mobile Alabama…
Kathleen
@zhena gogolia: Me, too. I also remember James Meredith when he integrated Univ of Mississippi. That was covered extensively on network news.
TenguPhule
This is just wrong.
Shelter dogs could go vegan in Los Angeles
Monsters.
lamh36
@lamh36:
Mike J
Mitch McConnell’s chief of Staff:
Mnemosyne
@the Conster:
At the risk of sounding like a conspiracy theorist, I will repeat myself: 2016’s result has Rove’s fingerprints all over it. I think he set it up between 2012 and 2016 to guarantee that the Republican candidate would win no matter what. He expected that candidate to be Jeb, but once Trump won the nomination, it was too late to change things, so we had to ride that bomb all the way to the ground. That’s why you hardly ever hear from Rove anymore — they can’t let him talk about what he did and give the whole goddamn thing away.
tobie
@the Conster: @Kathleen: Unverifiable paperless voting makes cheating easy. Putting measures on the ballot that will divide the public also skews results. Republicans know every trick in the book for suppressing and altering the vote. Who knows…maybe 2004 was the first in what became a sophisticated ballot tampering operation.
Ridnik Chrome
@West of the Rockies (been a while): Maybe it’s one of those Mordor horses that are specially bred to carry the Nazgül.
Mr Stagger Lee
@Cheryl Rofer: This is one thins that bugs me about voter suppression, it is not like the Republicans pop this out at the last minute, and in every election the Democrats act shocked SHOCKED that the GOP would do this. Is there anybody with a brain in the Democratic party knows how to fight it. And in the age of smartphones you would think someone would snap a picture of voter intimidation, especially with the police or the sheriffs.
lamh36
@lamh36: Wow… oh my goodness…the acquired and actual picture of Questlove’s 3rd great grandfather!!!! Questlove is SPEECHLESS #findingyourroots
Kathleen
@the Conster: See my comment #84.
Mike J
@Mr Stagger Lee:
Illegal to take pictures in the polling place. Might get it thrown out when you go in front of the judge in a few days. Might not.
Patricia Kayden
@Cheryl Rofer: Only 27% of White voters could bring themselves to supporting the only non-child molesting candidate? WTH? Sigh.
OGLiberal
@GregB: White women in Alabama as well – per the exit poll cited about, 65% said they voted for Moore.
lamh36
Tilda Swintons Bald Cap
@lamh36: Such a great show.
lamh36
@lamh36: one of Dr Phil’s great…great….was an indentured servant…
Kathleen
@tobie: I think it started in 2000.
amygdala
Doing my holiday cards and wrapping presents with a mug of hot cider nearby, as I try not to refresh the election results too compulsively.
Patricia Kayden
@Mr Stagger Lee: Agreed although the ACLU has a voting project to address vote suppression tactics. But Democrats need to do more. We can’t keep waiting til elections are upon us to freak out.
joel hanes
@Origuy:
but if elected, I will take the oath on a copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
I’d choose Bertrand Russell’s Why I Am Not A Christian
lamh36
SiubhanDuinne
@lamh36:
Wow, you must be very young! For a long time, that was the only thing I knew about her — and it’s still the first thing that comes to mind when I see or hear her name.
I met CHG, years ago, at a dinner hosted by the (Atlanta-based) Southern Center for International Studies. SCIS used to host the annual PBS round table of former Secretaries of State, and CHG was always the moderator. Those were fun days.
mdblanche
@TenguPhule: Obligatory link
Ridnik Chrome
@Mnemosyne: The Republicans weren’t exactly secretive about what they intended to accomplish with all those voter ID laws.
lamh36
@SiubhanDuinne: I’m 41. Born in 1976
Barbara
@lamh36: The reason why whites are shocked that they have ancestors who held slaves is that their family has collectively persuaded themselves that whatever they have achieved has been through their own work and merit. Seriously, my father in law’s family not only had slaves (not many — they were in a region and a state where the soil was poor and farming did not support a lot of people) but he knew many of their descendants because his family stayed in the area. It’s easier to lose track if your own family moved from a rural county to a larger city.
tobie
@Kathleen: Well, Florida was certainly stolen from Gore. Jeb Bush, Katherine Harris, the Supreme Court all played their part in that fiasco, and we’re still suffering the consequences. I doubt Gore would have waged war against Iraq.
B.B.A.
@Kathleen: I think it started in 1607 when the first ship arrived in Jamestown. What do I win?
SgrAstar
@Matt McIrvin: My copy of MTW is signed by all three authors! I lugged that thing all over the country to achieve that…and it was a super fun experience.
joel hanes
@the Conster:
I will die believing Ohio was stolen from him
Michael Lous Connell certainly died while holding that belief.
lamh36
another good ep of Finding Your Roots.
Questlove’s story…was the highlight for sure…when they pulled out that picture of his 3rd great grand father…I just bout died!!!
Hopefully Questlove reaches out to his family in Alabama that provided the picture of his 3rd great father
Mnemosyne
@Kathleen:
2000 is when Republicans figured out that they could lose the popular vote but still win the electoral college by gerrymandering the whole damn country, and they’ve been working towards that goal ever since. Fuck the Supreme Court and their fucking intervention on Bush’s behalf.
B.B.A.
@Barbara: I’d be pretty shocked to learn I had slaveowner ancestors. But that’s because I thought they all arrived decades after the 13th Amendment.
mdblanche
@Patricia Kayden: Well there’s white Alabama’s problem. They reversed the polarity on the crazification factor.
germy
Facing Sexual Assault Charges, KY Lawmaker Sings Christian Hymn Before Calling Accuser a Liar
SiubhanDuinne
@lamh36:
You are a wee babe ?
Schlemazel
I love Finding Your Roots, particularly when people have to confront the fact that their family history is convoluted and complicated. Wanda Sykes was pretty pissed off when she found out her white ancestor was a woman who freely married a black man & not the product of rape. Someone else (forget who) was shaken to discover they had black ancestors and that might have been the result of a slave being raped. People need to stop thinking the world is simple or that somehow the awfulness of humans is a recent thing.
raven
@lamh36: The other was Dr Hamilton Holmes. Dr Holmes was a orthopedic surgeon and on the team that treated my T-6 compression fracture and installed Harrington rods on my spine. This was in 1974 and he was on the Emory staff as well a working at Grady Hospital in Atlanta. I was very fortunate to have such great care.
guachi
The NY Times meter is slowly swinging towards Moore. It’s highly unlikely it will swing back. Moore by a about 3 when it’s all said and done.
Another Scott
At AL.com –
It’s still early.
Cheers,
Scott.
debbie
@lamh36:
That was a great episode.
Ohio Mom
@the Conster: Me too. No matter what Mother Jones magazine reported (they poo-pooed the stories about how the votes were stolen).
Schlemazel
the election looks closer than I expected. Damn I am tired of moral victories against immoral candidates. Come on Dougie – humanity is pulling for you!!!
japa21
@guachi: Now its even and they show a range of Jones plus 12 to Moore plus 13. They are really willing to go out on a limb.
ETA: The fact that an hour after polls closed it remains virtually a tie should scare the pants off the GOP. Of course they will claim it is because of the candidate Moore was, even if he wins.
Patricia Kayden
@guachi: Dang it!! Oh well. Jones should be proud of his run.
J R in WV
@lowtechcyclist:
I watched the election returns about 8 hours after my dad died. It was a release, he was receiving palliative care from Hospice, but still, a really really crummy evening. In Houston TX. At least I was able to go home soon after.
schrodingers_cat
@Schlemazel: I made chole samosa this evening and served it with my tamarind and date chutney.
Kay
@Another Scott:
It’s worrying though because I have yet to see any indication white women are persuaded by sexual harassment as an issue and Democrats seem to be betting the bank on it. There’s some kind of disconnect operating with this- I know it’s in the news and people are expressing all this outrage but it just doesn’t matter if they don’t hold politicians accountable on it.
The “right thing to do” is great but there seems to be more media outrage about this than PUBLIC outrage and that’s a problem for winning elections on it. If white women don’t care about this then tell me who does? I don’t know- are MEN supposed to do it? It can’t just be 15 celebrities and 50,000 news stories.
tobie
Have the cities reported yet? I would expect Moore to do well in the rural precincts which usually report first.
Corner Stone
@guachi: It looks like it’s going to be Moore by 4-5.
Maddow is tiring me the fuck out. Just stop.
germy
Emma
@MisterForkbeard: who cares? Arses will be arses no matter what. We ignore themnand march on.
Matt McIrvin
@tobie: about 15% of the vote is in in Birmingham; very little in Montgomery or Mobile.
Corner Stone
@Kay: Hence, Sen Gillibrand is going to have a very rough road in 2020. She’s making a name for herself, alright.
japa21
The FYNYT now has Jones with a 57% chance of winning.
ETA and now its 67%
germy
@tobie: Here are the county by county results so far
http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/page/2017_alabama_us_senate_election_results.html#incart_election
germy
@Corner Stone: The leftbros and the rightbros will be gunning for her.
guachi
@guachi:
15 minutes after I write this and the meter has swung wildly back to Jones.
I wonder if the massively polarized vote is causing major problems with the estimates.
Corner Stone
@germy: She’s making a name for herself on something that will not be moving votes. It’s a worthwhile endeavor. But she’s going nowhere.
lamh36
soooo… from what I can tell…African Americans (this time not just held up once again by over 90% AA women ), came out an showed out…and kept up OUR end of the bargain, but once again…2/3th of White women…ARE NOT…
WaterGirl
@japa21: Just reading that is flashing me back to election night and the damn needle. I will never be able to watch one of those again.
martian
It’s weird, but I’m hoping for the sake of Alabama Republicans that they don’t win this. I think winning a vote like this has a corrupting effect on people. They know what they’re voting for, really, and humans just aren’t very good coping with shame. So, if they win with this nasty vote, they’ll want to feel good about it, and a lot of people will double down on the rationalizing and become harder, coarser, altogether worse people in justifying what they’ve done.
Voting for Trump, for example, wasn’t just revealing of bad character, it worsened character, his winning changed people going forward. Trump drags the curve down, standards have been adjusted constantly downward to keep him from tumbling off the grading scale entirely. Moore is the same kind of putrid dead weight on societal norms. A substantial number of people who feel somehow bound to vote Team R would walk away secretly relieved if they lost this one, I suspect. Or, maybe I just hope.
lamh36
@lamh36:
so those think pieces about how African Americans voters didn’t turn out for Jones…are being thrown away…right?
japa21
Unbelievable. Times has Jones with a 74% chance of winning and by over 4 points. I won’t hold my breath, but if that happens I may have to break out the good scotch.
WaterGirl
@lamh36: 2/3 of white women supporting the child molester. Disgusting.
I think it’s the abortion issue again. My religious conservative sister would vote for the devil if the opposing candidate wasn’t “pro-life”. A bunch of fucking hypocrites!
Kay
@Corner Stone:
Yeah, I’m just not seeing some kind of broad-based public outrage. If white women are upset about sexual harassment they sure don’t vote like they are. And this isn’t the first time this has happened. I’ve been hearing about the “silent majority” of outraged women for 20 years and they are silent! I’ll give them that. So silent they’re like this unicorn constiuency that never shows up.
I suggest they pivot to Medicare. There’s an actual voting constituency for Medicare.
dmsilev
@WaterGirl: That needle is pretty bouncy. Probably because the stats folks don’t have any good models for this …unusual election, so it’s real twitchy based on small changes.
frosty fred
@lamh36: They grew up, as I did, being told “we were a poor family and didn’t own slaves.” (Pretty much everything else my mother told me has panned out, but while we might have been poor–well.)
different-church-lady
@Corner Stone: If 2016 did not prove that the American electorate is no longer moved by even the most basic morality, I don’t know what will.
Corner Stone
Kornacki is about to have a Mooregasm on stage on MSNBC.
dmsilev
Nate Cohn, one of the NYT data guys:
lamh36
WaterGirl
@dmsilev: Thanks. Someone earlier said that for the 2016 presidential election, the needle was jumping even if no new data had been added. Bastards. It’s all a game to them.
WaterGirl
@Corner Stone: What happened to him? He used to be one of the good guys.
Mary G
@Kay: It seems to be human nature for people who have experienced something to feel that everyone else should go through it too. I worked for a company that had a policy that when you were promoted to management for the first time, you had to go to a branch that was 50-60 miles from home. That is a serious distance in Southern California and it wiped out two good people I worked for. Upper management took the attitude that since they had done it, everybody else would too, despite the fact that they had added a lot more offfices and traffic got worse every year.
Corner Stone
@different-church-lady: Voters do not care about decency. And they do not care about the “moral high ground” or arguments related thereto.
Democrats may learn that after the nuclear rats start casting a vote for their preferred candidate in the 2024 election.
Kay
@Corner Stone:
I feel like his horribleness is under-discussed. People hate Chuck Todd. Kornacki is worse.
geg6
Just saw a tweet posted at WaMo that the county that houses the Gadsden Mall that Moore was barred from went to Jones in a landslide.
Mike J
@frosty fred: Actually true of my family. Both sides were in the south, both moved west, none of them owned slaves.
Unrelated:
Kathleen
@tobie: Actually, the rigging and voter suppression targeting African Americans has been going on in the South since forever. I’ve “known” that in the back of my mind but I’m enraged reading these tweets about the shit they’re pulling in Alabama. Which is par for the course. I wish the media would do in depth reporting on this. I hold little hope that they will. Regarding 2000, the fix was in. While I’ve had issues with Greg Palast in the past few years he did some excellent research In The Best Democracy Money Can Buy on the voter roll purges that took place in Florida prior to the election. I agree Gore would not have invaded Iraq. But the Rethugs would have made his life hell.
James E. Powell
@tobie:
I can never be completely sure about what President Gore would have done in response to 9/11, but I am damn sure he would never have appointed anyone like Roberts or Alito to the Supreme Court.
WaterGirl
@Kay: Can you say more about Steve K? I watched his show for awhile after Chris Hayes moved to the evening slot and then I quit. He was pretty good when he was reporting on Chris Christie and Bridgegate.
japa21
TBH,I had to work until 7:15 tonight and I fully expected to get in my car and find out it had been called for Moore.
Corner Stone
@WaterGirl: The Kornack was always an R. He wanted to be the next Chuck Todd. Start with numbers and votes and breakdowns and then go big time. He got ahead of himself and Lack decided no one wanted to watch a spastic gay man do an hour+ show with guests.
Now The Kornack lets his R freak flag fly. Because why not?
Kay
@martian:
I agree. The cycling downward rattles me because I don’t know what the bottom is. I like to know the worst case. I don’t know how bad this gets. It does seem to feed on itself.
StringOnAStick
@Kay: I can’t figure that out either. I was sexually harassed many times when I was in a traditionally male profession, and it made me even more hot about the idea of fairness in treatment and pay. Are these white women that vote R the only ones who haven’t experience harassment, or did they either like it or think they deserved it? What the actual hell? Then I have to remind myself of the evangelicals I know who are dependent on social services and CHIP for their kids but always vote R, the party determined to take these things away from them because by Gawd they’ll stop ‘bortion!
Moore is getting some benefit from something unique to evangelical fundy’s: the importance of the redemption narrative. It seems like the more sinful and “fallen” you were before the born again conversion, the more Jebus Points you are spotted. I saw an older half sister of mine come up with an absolutely insane and untrue prior history just so she could look like she’d risen from the deepest depths and get attention from that I figured it made the few rational people in her church make a mental note to never hire her or her kids to pet sit.
Kathleen
@B.B.A.: A “true that”. That is the truth.
WaterGirl
@Corner Stone: Thanks for the info. Ugh.
Barbara
@lamh36: There were all kinds of stories just before the last election in Virginia about how African Americans were being ignored and that Northam was going to lose because he didn’t excite them. The ultimate turnout was very close demographically to a presidential election (only not as close, so some voters as a group really did swing). Most of these articles make sweeping claims but when you read them they are just a collection of anecdotes. Polling states is already difficult, and polling individual subsets of voters is even more difficult. I simply don’t trust any claim like this.
Kay
@WaterGirl:
No, I have no proof or anything. I just believe he’s a terrible person who probably admired Chris Christie before it became unfashionable to do so.
japa21
Originally I just felt I would be disappointed but unsurprised if Jones lost. Now if he loses I am going to be pissed.
dmsilev
The Needle ™ just updated again, and it’s predicting Jones +8, and then back to 6.5 a few seconds later, and now back up to 8 again.
Yay unstable numeric extrapolations!
clay
Hey guys, just a PSA…
If you make even the mildest defense of Al Franken over at Lawyers, Guns & Money, a lot of commenters will attack you and call you a troll and some may even block you.
different-church-lady
For those looking at the NYTs speedometer: don’t look at the needle. Pay attention to the two maps lower down. The circles for remaining votes to be counted in counties where Jones currently leads and is expected to carry (blue) are much larger than the red.
Kraux Pas
@James E. Powell:
Can we even be sure 9/11 would have happened under Gore?
Kathleen
@Mnemosyne: That Supreme Court intervention was the final tell. A fix was in. A precedent had been set. The coup that flowered in November 2016 was many years in the making.
japa21
@different-church-lady: I noticed that as well.
Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady)
@Corner Stone: I remember feeling something akin to that about Bill Clinton’s sexual activities. I voted for him again after that. I thought he was a sleeze and I wouldn’t want to be married to him, but I knew he’d make the country a better place than Bob Dole would. I’d probably do that again.
Matt McIrvin
Have people here already forgotten Virginia in November? What’s all this about the voters being completely apathetic and nothing ever working?
We’re watching an election in Alabama here and it’s close. Nobody expected Moore to lose this when the race started. Jones shouldn’t even be on the radar, never mind within six points. He’s probably going to lose, but Jesus, this is Alabama. Something is happening.
WaterGirl
@Mike J: Thanks for that, some levity is good.
In the same vein… I just watch Psych: The Movie. lamh, was that you who mentioned it last night? It was well done and very fun. So why is the “new” Will & Grace totally lame and pretty awful, while the Psych movie was like seeing old friends again and remember why I liked them so much?
Barbara
@dmsilev:
I wondered. If you can’t bring yourself to vote for either staying home is an option.
clay
@Mary G:
This is why you see deaths due to fraternity hazing and the like. “I had to chug a bottle of vodka in 2 minutes; this guy should too!”
different-church-lady
@clay: It’s Gillibrand 2020 over there, apparently.
Kathleen
@Ohio Mom: Most liberals and liberal publications did.
Schlemazel
@schrodingers_cat:
never had chole samosa before. I was excited for the Chaat because most of the vegetarian samosa here are potato based. They are really good but variety would be nice. I don’t get breaking them up though, particularly as ‘street food’ wouldn’t that make them harder to eat than leaving them as little packets of goodness?
James E. Powell
@martian:
They are already corrupt. They are hateful, ignorant racists. They approve of everything Trump represents. This election will have no effect but to confirm for them that they are truly God’s chosen people.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
Jesus – watching Maddow talk to that Alabama reporter. The theorized strategy is that Nehemiah Scudder will work to be removed and use that as a springboard for the outside outsider presidential candidacy.
martian
@lamh36: All the ink poured out on tired think pieces about white working class anxiety when the real shocker statistically is the apparent near unanimity amongst black women voters. Have there been any articles at all? And black women have shown remarkable resolve and purpose in attempting turn the head of this mule of a nation down a better path. Where are the interviews, essays, and profiles exploring that?
Kay
@StringOnAStick:
I know a lot of fundy Christians, am acquainted with them, spend time around them at work or in community matters and I have to say their particular “redemption narrative” sounds like excuse-making. These people they redeem never admit fault or apologize. It was my understanding that was a vital part of any “redemption” and without that it’s just not holding people accountable. Moore does worse than not apologizing. He lies about encountering these women. He’s not “redeemed” at all- he’s still lying. They better get ready to redeem him every 15 minutes
tobie
@James E. Powell: @Kathleen: My way-back machine tells me that Gore would have invaded Afghanistan, since the Taliban were giving safe haven to bin Laden, but he wouldn’t have gone into Iraq. There was afterall no connection between 911 and Saddam Hussein. The GOP might have impeached him for dereliction of duty in 9/11. I put nothing past that crew.
Kathleen, I think voter suppression efforts go back to Jim Crow but it seems like they’ve taken on a new guise in the post-civil rights era, and, as far as I can tell, it really was Karl Rove who took disenfranchisement to a new level in 2000 and 2004, and then the new voter ID laws took effect. We need to find a way to get people the IDs they need so they can register to vote. Only if we take back state legislatures, can we start to reverse voter ID laws.
James E. Powell
@japa21:
That’s what happens when you let hope creep into your political heart. Best to remain cold-blooded and cynical.
WaterGirl
@dmsilev: Yeah, and it all looked good for Hillary Clinton in November. Until it didn’t. Truly a traumatic event.
Schlemazel
@martian:
That is an excellent analysis that explains so much – THANKS!
mai naem mobile
@Matt McIrvin: I understand it was a steep climb but,jeezus, I just want to win one if these long reach races.
guachi
@clay:
LGM hasn’t been worth reading in months. I can’t recall the last time I went there.
EDIT: BJ is like a place for Democratic activists. More than a place for liberals or progressives or people who hate Trump, BJ is a site for people who care about policy and electing people to enact that policy.
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
Thanks Obama
efgoldman
@TenguPhule:
Nerf guns at dawn!
Matt McIrvin
@tobie: Lefty Scottish science-fiction author Ken MacLeod wrote a novel called The Execution Channel that took place in an alternate timeline in which Gore won, and the War on Terror has metamorphosed into a horrorshow of atrocities anyway. Apparently in that history Gore went hard into Iraq. I’ve heard purity-pony types cite that novel as if it were evidence.
StringOnAStick
@clay: Funny, I had requested Al’s last book months ago from my library and I just picked it up today. I planned to read it then and I still do, though I bet I won’t have any trouble checking it out again now if I take too long to read it. One serious impact of the Mango Moron administration is I waste too much time reading blogs when I should be reading books; I guess I’m looking for support from fellow travelers? Hoping there are more of us and finding some comfort in that I guess. These are not comforting times.
germy
@guachi:
Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded.
trollhattan
@Kraux Pas:
Somebody would have paid goddamn attention, given the Clinton administration already had been. Condi, Bush et al sleeping on the threat was the most meaningful foreign policy fuckup since Vietnam.
Kay
@Matt McIrvin:
It’s a good point and I’m sorry to be so depressing. I haven’t forgotten about Virginia! I remain proud of voters in Virginia!
These other voters I’m not pleased with.
WaterGirl
@James E. Powell: Yeah i shouldn’t have listened to the speech Doug Jones gave on Dec 5. I wanted him to win before, but now it will hurt a lot more if he doesn’t. Great speech.
Matt McIrvin
@clay: And here, if you suggest Franken might have actually done something wrong you get jumped on by half the commenters.
germy
schrodingers_cat
@Kay: I think you are so negative because you are surrounded by T voters.
dmsilev
This is interesting (link goes to tweet with embedded graphic). To quickly parse the graph, what it says is that the more strongly Republican a county is, the bigger the falloff in voter turnout compared to 2016.
OGLiberal
@WaterGirl: Yup, it’s that and stopping the browns from getting free stuff. They’d probably let Moore date their own 14 year-old daughter as long as he voted the way they want him to vote.
And as always, they’ll forgive the sin because God has forgiven him. They can always rationalize the nastiness and immorality of GOP politicians by playing the “he has repented and God has forgiven” card.
Democrats ride their alleged immoral folks out on a rail at the first sniff of potential impropriety.
Schlemazel
@James E. Powell:
That has always worked for me, hope for the best but expect the worse & never be disappointed.
Yarrow
Good news, maybe.
Ruckus
@Mnemosyne:
Do understand that your KR theory sounds very plausible as it would be exactly the kind of thing he’d do but, it sounds a bit too nutty conspiracy. I do like it though and wonder who paid him to do it, because while the entire thing would have been his idea, someone else has to be financially responsible.
schrodingers_cat
@Ruckus: Putin, of course.
Punchy
I expect Jones to be winning by ~7 pts until the very last county is tallied, at which point Moore will sudden move into a 14 pt lead, the Bama Elections lackey will suddenly declare Moore the winner, and immediately order all the voting records erased, for Nat Sec and pest control reasons. Moore will take the stage and grab a 16 yr old’s ass while sipping whiskey and reading from the Koran. 2017 in a shell, yo
Jim, Foolish Literalist
one interesting exit poll stat that flashed across my screen was that Jones won parents by double digits
zounds! worth reposting in its entirety
eemom
@Matt McIrvin:
No. If you suggest it was a good thing for Franken to get lynch mobbed out of the senate by his own fucking party before anyone KNOWS whether he did anything wrong you get jumped on, rightfully, because you’re a useless asshole.
Matt McIrvin
It’s definitely looking to be close enough for election fuckery to be important.
ByRookorbyCrook
@Matt McIrvin:
Why are you mentioning A_ F_ ? Now we have to tar and feather everyone who read your comment. It was just careless.
Shalimar
Don’t look at the NY Times app if you don’t want to have a heart attack. They project Jones to win, yet Moore’s lead keeps getting bigger as more of the vote comes in. Still Jones by 2, but it was much better almost an hour ago when they projected him by 7.
WaterGirl
@germy: I am cursing you! I went to Al’s twitter page, only to find screen grabs of the fucking needle of death. Just seeing that image made me tear up.
chris
Yep
Schlemazel
@Matt McIrvin:
how about those of us who say “we don’t know & can’t know unless he gets the investigation he asked for?” or those who say “IF it turns out he did grab ass what is the proper amount of punishment ensuring that there is still worse for actual rapists, unrepentant serial ass-grabbers and people who have actively pursued policies that hurt women unlike Al?”
EDIT: @eemom:
yeah this too
lamh36
Any analysis of the #ALSen tonight that DOES NOT point out that AFRICAN AMERICAN VOTERS IN ALABAMA CAME OUT AND SHOWED UP to support Doug Jones, and white GOP voters in Alabama STILL chose to support a pedo….then the analysis ain’t worth SHIT!!!!
smintheus
@Shalimar: Currently the NYT is estimating that there remain nearly half a million votes to count, most of them in counties that Jones is winning. The Times estimates that Jones should win those remaining ballots by nearly 16%.
ETA Times just changed that to 14.5% of ca. 425,000 remaining votes.
StringOnAStick
@trollhattan: Exactly. A Clinton to Gore presidential transition would not have had Gore telling some aide “OK, now you’ve covered your ass”and then blown off the “Bin Laden determined to strike” intel in the PDB.
Kraux Pas
@japa21:
I was slightly optimistic, but not too confident, about this race until Shelby came out against Moore. Since then I’ve believed pretty strongly that Jones would pull this out.
Kay
@schrodingers_cat:
Even that’s weird though because they aren’t proud Trump voters. There’s none of the crowing or teasing I have become accustomed to- honestly, they’re miserable. They don’t talk about politics at all.
This isn’t even an enjoyable win for them. They are AS MISERABLE as they were w/Obama. Maybe more because now they can’t bitch about Obama.
raven
@Ruckus: Well, I think I’ve got it worked out. I saw no way to get from our seats near the end of the parade back to Old Pasadena and then the game so I bit the bullet and go seats on that freeway bridge at Colorado and Pasadena ave,
WaterGirl
@Shalimar: Oh my god, that sounds JUST like election night last November. I can’t watch.
germy
@WaterGirl: Avoid needles and just watch county by county results:
http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/page/2017_alabama_us_senate_election_results.html#incart_election
I don’t like needles either. Too gimmicky.
jonas
@Cheryl Rofer:
Yeah, but remember it’s because they believe it’s not insane *enough*. As long as there are Senators with an R after their name who would vote against authorizing the hunting of minorities for sport, the GOP is a bunch of worthless, sell-out cucks. That’s why in all likelihood, they will elect Moore tonight.
lamh36
WaterGirl
@Schlemazel: @eemom: Thanks, you guys. I wanted to reply but couldn’t muster the will todo it.
Kay
@lamh36:
Here ya go:
WaterGirl
@lamh36: Tell it!
Punchy
We can assume this will be close enough for a recount, at which point suddenly 7.3 million “lost” Moore ballots (written in Russian) are disovered and he’s declared the winner by 16.9 million votes, right?
Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady)
@WaterGirl: Smart. I’m trying not to let myself get hopeful. It’s Alabama. It’s just…it would be so sweet for about a hundred reasons
frosty
@StringOnAStick:
… or playing guitar, or catching up on TV shows, or catching up on work. It’s been an enormous time suck since early 2016.
eemom
Folks, there is no reason to worry before the city precincts are in.
With the unexpected exception of the most recent election, we’ve gone through the same shit in Virginia time after time. The precincts from Bumfuck Redneck Nowhere come in first, making it look like the republican is ahead and causing wailing and gnashing of teeth; and then our mighty, population-rich northern Virginia precincts turn the thing around in the late hours.
clay
@Matt McIrvin: It’s a problem for both blogs, I agree. They think we’re nuts for defending Al (or, at least, thinking that he shouldn’t have resigned). And they accuse us of engaging in conspiracy mongering.
It really comes down to two competing principles: 1) Support of the #metoo movement, with the belief that women need to be taken seriously; and 2) support for party solidarity, with the addition of the idea that everyone deserves a fair hearing.
I can’t really find fault with people, whichever side of this line they fall on. But I don’t like it when people assume that those on the other side of the line are arguing in bad faith, or have impure motives at heart.
Major Major Major Major
@Punchy: we get it.
Ruckus
@SiubhanDuinne:
I wasn’t going to go that far but damn, 1976? She’s almost twice the drinking age and she was born in 1976? I just aged a bit more than normal, both when I first read that and when I typed the above. I’m old enough to have grandchildren of drinking age and each generation could have been of drinking age before they had kids. And I could still have great grandchildren following that concept. That of course is what makes me older than dirt.
PaulWartenberg
OH GOD I CAN’T WATCH.
OH GOD I CAN’T LOOK AWAY.
https://youtu.be/0APF3SO9tqE
WaterGirl
@Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady): I am really hoping he wins this – I am not as good as a lot of you are at keeping your expectations in check.
Do we’ve any idea how long before we might have a pretty good feel for the result? My laptop is at 12% battery, wondering if it’s safe to close it down and plug it in for an hour or so without missing anything huge.
clay
@Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady): Maybe if Jones gets in, Alabama voters will see that he DOES serve their best interests, that Democrats AREN’T the enemy, and will be more open to them in the future?
Emma
@lamh36: this is what bugs me. Putting the onus on black people to redeem us.It’s ridiculous.
lamh36
clay
@lamh36: Hey, me too! February, so 42 is coming up soon.
I expect to finally find the answer to life, the universe, and everything when I reach 42.
frosty
@raven: Sweating the logistics — good planning. I’m excited for you. Have a great time!
WaterGirl
@lamh36: Hey, that tweet got cut off and there’s no link to the tweet itself. Do we know what the% is?
germy
@Emma: I saw this comment a few days ago on a different blog:
Jeffro
Looks like Jones is closing in by the minute – COME ONNNNN FSM!
Omnes Omnibus
@efgoldman: You are apparently considered a better person than me. I do not know how I feel about that.
frosty
@clay: Porque no los dos? (h/t Adam of course)
PsiFighter37
Call me paranoid, but Baldwin County only reporting 17 of 47 makes me think that if it’s tight enough, that is where shenanigans go down that puts the pedo over the top.
smintheus
Jones is now trailing Moore by only 9,000 votes.
germy
Face
@clay: With a rational, educated electorate, yup. With these uneducated racists, no chance they make that connection. It goes against everything Fox News tells them. It would completely destroy their worldview. They wont allow that bubble to burst.
Major Major Major Major
@germy: I thought Hillary was supposed to be the one who used too much identity politics ?
Raven
@frosty: I think I have it to the point where I won’t wake up at 3 and obsess.
different-church-lady
Getting close to a tie game now.
Matt McIrvin
@eemom: With Virginia I’m used to the pattern so I anticipate it. But I’m not used to watching the Alabama returns at all, because elections are always such a foregone conclusion there.
It looks like it’s all going to come down to the last returns from Birmingham and Mobile.
Jeffro
@smintheus: SO AWESOME!!
Go Jones Go!!!
Schlemazel
@WaterGirl:
I am being avoided by two good friends for not being pure enough on their demand Al be shot through the lungs and left for dead. One of them is BI & she posted on FB yesterday that she can never forgive Dan SAvage because 10 years ago he dismissed Bi-sexuality as only people who refuse to accept they are gay. Dan has apologised for that mistake for years now & done more to help LBGTQ people than most publicly out people but that is still not pure enough I guess. I wish I were so perfect that I never made a mistake & had to learn and grow. That must feel wonderful.
lamh36
@lamh36:
WaterGirl
@PsiFighter37: There’s always one town at the end, isn’t there? Always some reason why their votes came in late and changed everything.
Ruckus
@clay:
I believe the military keeps a lot of tradition alive because someone else had to go through shit, so everyone after them has to go through the same shit.
JGabriel
Gettin’ close. NY Times:
WaterGirl
@germy: Good for Alabama! I thought the 25% figure was crazy low for this election.
Jeffro
4,000 votes apart now…
PaulWartenberg
@Cheryl Rofer:
51 percent may have a negative opinion of the Republican party but as we’ve seen from 2010 onward they will STILL VOTE REPUBLICAN. /headdesk
schrodingers_cat
@Omnes Omnibus: Well at least you are on the list of “good” people, unlike some other people.
Schlemazel
@clay:
Wanna bet?
clay
@frosty: Why not both principles? Well, normally yes, both principles. In Franken’s case, though, they apparently contradict each other.
smintheus
@lamh36: Already over a million votes, and Moore is leading by only 5,000.
frosty
@Raven: My waking up at 3 obsession is worrying that I’ll oversleep and miss the plane. I like afternoon flights!
Major Major Major Major
@schrodingers_cat: he said you were on the list.
ETA: “@schrodingers_cat: You’re in there with the rest somewhere above BillatCalifornia and Omnes. The blog page crashed when I tried to make a long post.”
Mary G
WaPo’s map shows Jones flipped NINE counties that are 100% reported that Trump won last year!
different-church-lady
@PsiFighter37: 36 out of 47 as of now.
lamh36
don’t look now, but the twitter live election results have Jones at 50% and Moore at 49%!
clay
@Schlemazel: No… no bet.
guachi
Would it be wrong to say that if Jones wins it’s akin to the USA upsetting Russia in hockey in 1980?
PaulWartenberg
@JGabriel:
it still disgusts me, that more than 500,000 Alabamans still voted for the goddamn pedophile.
WaterGirl
@Schlemazel: Well I appreciate that you continue to be able to articulate your position on this, which is also my position. I’m to the point where I see some of those comments and want to scream, which doesn’t leave my at my most articulate. :-)
PS If Savage has apologized, it’s time for the other person to let that go. I, too, make mistakes.
PsiFighter37
It’s weird seeing a map of Alabama that has that much blue on it.
lamh36
https://twitter.com/benchmarkpol/status/940781092738564096
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
Holy shit! I think we made it!
PaulWartenberg
@lamh36:
I CAN’T LOOK!
https://youtu.be/0APF3SO9tqE
JGabriel
@smintheus:
And the uncounted votes appear to be disproportionately from urban areas that lean towards Jones.
Not a sure thing by any means, yet, but we’re still in the running.
LanceThruster
The decision to be able to destroy electronic vote tabulation should be a goddamn red flag, as are all the other vote suppression tactics in place.
lamh36
https://twitter.com/mmurraypolitics/status/940781252038352897
The Dangerman
@different-church-lady:
I thought I saw the Fat Lady warming up for Moore an hour ago (h/t Dick Motta, IIRC). Now, pretty damned close. Obviously chose the wrong week to stop sniffing glue, this could go for a while.
ETA: It wasn’t Motta, actually. Oh well. Gives me a chance to ask my favorite bar bet question (sports category); in what city did Kareem Abdul-Jabbar break Wilt Chamberlain’s scoring record? No fair googling.
Omnes Omnibus
@schrodingers_cat: Not sure how I feel about that either.
PsiFighter37
@David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch: Chickens, eggs, all that. I won’t believe it until I see it. But it damn sure is looking alright…
PaulWartenberg
there are no guarantees that Jones will win all the large cities. :/
different-church-lady
Tie game, Jones has possession.
WaterGirl
@PaulWartenberg:
This. Un-fucking-believable. Except it isn’t anymore, but it should be.
O. Felix Culpa
Per the WaPo map, at least 9 counties so far have flipped from red to blue in this election.
B.B.A.
@clay: Believe it or not, I’ve been arguing both sides of the issue in different places.
Yes, really. Stop laughing.
Because I actually do believe in due process, determining the facts before reaching a judgment, and all that. There is something odd about all of the accusations against Franken, and I’d like to know the real story. But on the other hand I doubt that we’ll get anywhere beyond “he said, she said” on this, and by default we ought to believe her. Isn’t that what Cosby and Weinstein and Allen, etc., were all about? Why shouldn’t we be as hard on politicians as we are on entertainers? You can lose any other job in the country for much less.
And on the gripping hand, politics isn’t about truth. Franken spent a month as the public face of grabby old men, he’s become completely worthless for anything but his loyal vote, and we can get that from any Minnesota Dem. Whether or not he did anything is irrelevant. He’s a national punchline, and he’s resigning simply because of that.
(And, yes, another part is that I was a fan of Al’s and I deeply want this to be a ratfuck. So to counteract my bias, I’m putting a thumb and a few fingers on the scale against him.)
All right, sorry, I said I wasn’t going to talk about this anymore.
Kay
@Mary G:
It’s amazing. They did a great job, no matter who wins.
JGabriel
NY Times:
That’s 1.054 million votes, separated by only 133 votes.
This is FL, 2000 close.
lamh36
If Jones pulls this through… The Democratic party better damn well realize…who their most LOYAL base is and would maybe stop trying to win back the WWC.
And white America should give a giant THANK you to us!!!
WaterGirl
My laptop is at 5% now, so I have to turn it off for a bit. Grrr.
Peale
@guachi: and if Moore wins it’s the US losing to The Soviets in basketball in 1972.
PsiFighter37
We took the lead! Woohoo!!!
Alabama still nearly voted in a pedo, but it seems there enough people with at least a tiny bit of morals.
Jeffro
Oh my Jones just took the lead…
different-church-lady
@B.B.A.:
Ah, so you’re just a shit stirrer.
[ducks]
Matt McIrvin
@PaulWartenberg: He’s got substantial leads in all of them, in the precincts that have reported in. Just eyeballing it, if I assume the remaining votes in the big counties are anything like the ones that have been counted, Jones has more than enough upside to take it.
smintheus
NYT now estimating that Jones’ chance of winning is 84%.
different-church-lady
@WaterGirl: Why can’t you run it while it’s plugged in?
Ruckus
@raven:
I live 3 blocks from there. Have you found a place to park your rent a wreck? Can’t park anywhere south of Colorado to Del Mar, between Fair Oaks and Orange Grove. If you get here early enough you may be able to park in the Metro parking on Raymond between Daytona and Del Mar, but I wouldn’t count on it. Another way might be to park a bit away from Pasadena and take the Gold line to the Del Mar station, then a 5 block walk to your seats.
B.B.A.
Holy shit, even the wingnut AL SOS is showing Jones in the lead right now.
Kay
Nate CohnVerified account
I was not wondering that- I just assumed Moore would win. I can’t even believe you’re asking us this :)
different-church-lady
So the key to flipping the senate is to have the GOP run more pedophiles.
dmsilev
Basically tied again, after 87% (and north of 1 million) votes counted.
In Alabama.
Peale
@PaulWartenberg: yep. As we saw in Atlanta, white people live in cities, too. and just moving to town doesn’t change voting affiliation.
Jeffro
Whaaaaat?!?! ?
Kraux Pas
So Alabama requires a recount if a candidate wins by less than 0.5% of the vote. It’s looking good for Jones but I hope he beats this mark because I don’t trust the Republicans to not try to pull some chicanery with any potential recount.
dmsilev
@different-church-lady: On the “peak wingnut is a lie” theory, I’m sure they’ll manage to find someone or something more disgusting in time for November.
PsiFighter37
Someone should ask Trump how it feels to endorse two people in the same election and lose both times. Lulz.
B.B.A.
@different-church-lady: Not true. I may be a shit-stirrer, but I’m not just a shit-stirrer.
japa21
Feeling optimistic, but I won’t believe it until the election is certified for Jones. The ratfuckers will try to pull something out of their pockets, like all of a sudden finding several thousand provisional ballots that went for Moore.
Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant)
Late to the party; been on the phone with the home peeps. This ain’t over yet. Everyone in the media that pushed that “lack of enthusiasm in the black community” can choke on a bag. Salted or unsalted, even vegan. Don’t care. Once again, we stood up. And it looks like maybe, just maybe, we got enough help this time to make it happen.
Jeffro
Trumpov: we. are. coming. for your ass
JGabriel
NYTimes:
Major Major Major Major
@Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant): vegan dicks?
different-church-lady
Jones with a lead and possession. Moore will need to start fouling.
frosty
@B.B.A.: That pretty much sums up my view on the matter as well. Hence the “why not both?” comment earlier.
PsiFighter37
@Kraux Pas: Given how much the GOP wants to move past Moore, I bet they destroy the vote count ASAP no matter what happens, especially if Jones wins.
guachi
At the end of the day I’d like to see how much of the shift to Jones (win or lose) was whites switching and how much was massive increases in black turnout.
It’s gotta be some of both considering how much ground a Democrat has to gain. But it looks like “massive increases in black turnout” is going to be the prime mover here.
Ruckus
@clay:
That might just rate as the laugh of the night. White racists learn? I don’t think so.
Maeve
Just flipped to Jones ahead and remaining votes strongly blue.
Checked nytimes again, Jones further ahead and NYT sez 95% chance Jones wins!!!
Corner Stone
This is strange.
jonas
@guachi: Yeah, Moore 52/48 is about what I’m figuring. Goddamn pony-bouncin, snub-nosed-wavin’ perv.
ETA: well slap a dress on me and call me Sally, maybe Jones pulls this off. Shit. Fingers crossed!
Ruckus
@clay:
OK I was wrong. This is the laugh of the night.
Major Major Major Major
@Corner Stone: but not Luther Strange.
Matt McIrvin
@Kraux Pas: It looks to me like he’s on track to beat that spread.
Cowboy Diva
Does Alabama have a mandatory recount number? Or is this moot because the records are being destroyed tonight?
different-church-lady
@guachi:
Exit polls strongly suggest the latter.
guachi
I’m still stunned. Jones by 2+? (more than likely) Are you kidding me? This is a nuclear detonation upon the Republican party.
JGabriel
FYI, All:
The Times is now giving Jones a 95% chance of winning!
PsiFighter37
AP called it!!!
different-church-lady
Annnd… NYT calls it Jones.
amygdala
AP just called it for Jones!
Kay
@Corner Stone:
I know! The child molester might actually lose.
japa21
Times called it for Jones.
lgerard
Al.com calls it!
THANK YOU GEORGE SOROS!!!!!!
Kraux Pas
@different-church-lady:
Well, we have some evidence from tonight that the GOP is rampant with pedophile sympathizers.
The Dangerman
@Ruckus:
Been a while since I’ve done the Gold Line, but there’s a BIG lot at Rosemead (others aren’t as big, IIRC, but double check me, given my sobriety level).
Do they still run shuttles from Parsons to the Bowl like UCLA games? That’s always worked well for me. But, again, it’s been a while.
Corner Stone
@different-church-lady: What do you know about curling?
JGabriel
Okay, everyone, just pause for a moment to appreciate this:
A Democrat just won a Senate seat in fucking Alabama!
different-church-lady
amygdala
And the State News Agency (Fox) called it for Jones!
japa21
Let it be known widely that Moore was a shoo-in until Trump started campaigning for him.
Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant)
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
Kraux Pas
@Major Major Major Major:
They’re excellent at pulling out for the sake of avoiding consumption of animal byproducts.
PaulWartenberg
I don’t trust any results until they can verify all results are in.
And no matter what, that so many Alabamans – so many WHITE voters – STILL sided with a goddamn pedophile leaves a sour taste in my mouth.
The Dangerman
Addressing Mr. Moore:
….and the horse you rode in on, Buttwipe.
Sorry, Mr. Horse.
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
Turn on CNN — they’re going NUTZ at Doug Jones’s HQ
Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant)
@Major Major Major Major: They’ve got meatless burgers, sausages, cutlets, why not? Or did I get the terminology wrong?
CaseyL
Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. Is this actually happening? I’m afraid to believe it.
different-church-lady
I ought to know this, but when does Jones get seated?
Citizen Alan
@Kay:
White Republican women don’t care about sexual harassment. Having decided to be Republicans, they have all bought 100% into the patriarchy. You simply cannot be a republican in 2017 and not accept as a foundational statement that women should submit to men in every circumstance.
Corner Stone
@different-church-lady: NEVER!!!
Peale
Cue the “Democrats May have won, but if you look at the results, they are in trouble” and “you can’t count this as a win because not enough people changed their minds” pundit talking points tomorrow.
Matt McIrvin
@jonas: Moore could still pull through by a nose with some colossal number of mail-in ballots or recount fuckery or something, but I don’t think Moore 52-48 is in the cards any more. Jones is 1% ahead and the uncounted precincts are all in more urban counties where Jones has wide leads.
Ruckus
@Major Major Major Major:
They were mis-labeled at the factory. They really aren’t vegan.
different-church-lady
@Peale: No, I think it’s going to be, “But can Democrats win against non-pedophiles?”
Corner Stone
@japa21:
And Bannon. Hey guys. You lost. HEEEYYYYOOOOOHHHH!!!
frosty
@CaseyL: I’m afraid to believe it too. We still have to avoid the SOS screwing up the count. And Jones getting seated … but for now
THE DEMOCRATS JUST WON A SENATE SEAT IN FUCKING ALABAMA!!!!!
Corner Stone
@Peale: This is pundit nirvana. There is no wrong Hot Take for these guys now.
Matt McIrvin
@Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant): The counties where Jones won are pretty much the counties that are at least 30% black, with rare exceptions. The only Jones county I can find by eyeball below that line is Madison (Huntsville’s county), which is only 24.5% black. I’m guessing Huntsville has more highly educated whites than most of Alabama?
Ruckus
@The Dangerman:
Lots like Rosemead are what I’m talking about. Maybe I’ll look up lot sizes for raven. And yes they still have buses to the Rose Bowl, especially for NY day. It’s a pain but not all that big of one.
Raven
Another idea, if you have a parking ticket at the Rose Bowl, park there, get an uber/lyft ride to the parade and take the bus back to the bowl.
Citizen Alan
@Kraux Pas:
If Gore had become president, Not only would 911 have been averted, the Republicans would have mocked, literally mocked, the very idea that Muslim terrorists could have infiltrated the country, gotten flying lessons, taken over planes, and flown them into skyscrapers. And then they would have gone right back to trying to impeach Gore because of that one time he used the wrong telephone when talking to a Chinese American donor
PaulWartenberg
@japa21:
Moore was a shoo-in until the national WaPo did their job and investigated Moore’s background, uncovering the open secret that he chased after 14-year-old girls for sex when he was in his 30s.
The revelation that he’s a goddamn pedophile exposed the myth of Republicans as holders of Family Values. It forced Alabama voters to recognize they have a moral duty to break their partisan world-views… well, at least some of them.
chris
Senate Leadership Fund drags Bannon.
Also, YAY!
Lizzy L
If Jones wins by more than .5% of the total votes cast, there’s no automatic recount.
Unbelievable.
PaulWartenberg
Okay, are we ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN that Doug Jones WILL win tonight?
Ruckus
@chris:
Even their bullshit needs excuses. They just can’t help themselves, it’s always someone else’s fault that they don’t get their way. They are spoiled little fucking brats, with no dignity, no morals, no human values and shit for brains. How the hell do they wake up in the morning and dress themselves? That seems beyond the scope of their abilities.
Frank Wilhoit
@PaulWartenberg: This.
No one voted for Roy Moore. Half a million Alabamans voted against the Democratic Party. But enough more, who would have also voted against the Democratic Party, instead sat home, to make the difference.
Half a million, plus epsilon, Alabamans voted against the Republican Party — not only as personified by Roy Moore, not only as personified by Donald Trump, or Steve Bannon, or your personal favorite bogeyman, but as it has been at least since 1980. Enough of them *didn’t* sit home to make the difference.
But no one switched parties.
Face
@PaulWartenberg: No. A recount (read: “recount”) can suddenly change everything, in an insanely R-heavy state. No depths these fuckers wont plumb.
chris
@Ruckus: They are evil children indeed. Must be Bannon’s fault cuz ol’ Roy’s agreat guy.
From other stuff I’ve seen Bannon, the high lord of evil, is done. Couldn’t happen to a nastier fellow.
Matt McIrvin
@Frank Wilhoit: Oh, a lot of them voted for Roy Moore. He’s been beloved there ever since his whole stupidity with the Ten Commandments monument in the courtyard, and I’m sure a little pedophilia wasn’t enough to nullify that for many of them.
Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant)
@Matt McIrvin: UAH is located there.
Matt McIrvin
@PaulWartenberg: Not absolutely certain. This state is run by champion election-fuckers.
Matt McIrvin
@Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant): And Marshall Space Flight Center, if I recall correctly.
Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant)
Ruckus
@chris:
Aren’t you afraid that you might go blind typing something like that? I mean if masturbation will do it surly that will as well.
Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant)
@Matt McIrvin: Also true. Also, a haven for those from further south in the state who wouldn’t be welcomed there. In my time there (80s) this would have included among others interracial couples or white women known to date black men.
clay
@Matt McIrvin:
They are, literally, rocket scientists.
Amir Khalid
@Punchy:
I find the bolded part offensive.
mardam422
That Roy Moore spokesman has the same look on his face when he’s told you don’t have to swear on the Bible that Cruiser had in “Stripes” when Sargent Hulka told him “Son, there ain’t no draft no more”.