Good morning!
I have been watching so much TV news, Five Thirty Eight, and multiple blogs. I have run out of Murine. I'm blinking once every three minutes. Please, lord, let this be over!
As I write this, Georgia and Pennsylvania continue to tighten. Several Trump legal actions already have been dismissed (except one, where the judge agreed that the Trump representatives at counts could stand closer to the election officials). By the time I'm finished with this, I hope one or both will have flipped.
"STOP THE COUNT!"
Did anyone ever think we would read a statement from the President of the United States, demanding that the counting of legitimate ballots be stopped?
And by the way, if there were ever any doubt about his intelligence, I think Mr. Trump has now removed all doubt. If one were to stop the count at the time of Trump's demand, then Arizona and Nevada would stand and Biden would have 270 electoral votes and the presidency.
Oh, wait, he meant, STOP THE COUNT EXCEPT WHERE FURTHER COUNTING MIGHT BENEFIT ME. Silly me...
THE DEMOCRATS ARE THE WORST CONSPIRATORS IN THE HISTORY OF CONSPIRACIES
Are these guys fools? How were they able to execute a multi-state, long-term conspiracy to stuff ballot boxes and manipulate the balloting and yet fail to ensure that the Democrats would take control of the Senate? I mean, really, if you're going to engage in this "widespread voter fraud," why would you stop right after the Presidential vote? It is beyond understanding. Come on, team! How could you have messed that up?
WHAT WORDS MEAN
I have always believed that words have meaning. So most of us look at the president's repeated lies, misrepresentations, insults, dog-whistles to the far-right and racists, and endless mendacities and see him as a liar and a charlatan.
But Mr. Trump and, apparently, his supporters, see words instead as tools, weapons that are to be used to maximize political gain and impact. To them, his words are not to be taken literally; although the motivation behind them should be. It's as if his words are punctuation marks or "bold face" or italics. How else can one explain how people follow him?
THE SADDEST PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH YET
And arguably the most dangerous... The President's speech this afternoon, where he says that he wins the election if only the "legal" votes are counted, was astonishing on so many levels.
Sure, Mr. Trump has had his share of "mad king" rants that are non-sensical, divisive, dangerous, self-pitying and pathetic. But today, when Mr. Biden speaks of calm, Mr. Trump's son speaks of "all out warfare."
Our President is claiming that the election is fraudulent. He is claiming malfeasance all around the country; yet cannot name a specific instance. He is dragging the American electoral system and the country down with him. That's what narcissists do.
WE ARE IN THE WORLD OF MISINFORMATION
I really need to stop visiting Facebook. Here's a quote from a well known influencer with thousands of followers:
"My patient just showed me a video of a truck picking up a voting box with thousands of ballots in front of the library in Tarzana today! 55 electoral votes were given to Biden without counting the votes here. If you think your voice matters in California or other parts of the country where we are witnessing potential fraud, think again. Beyond sad for our democracy."
It's hard to know what to say:
1. No one gave any electoral votes to anyone. The calling of elections by Edison and the AP (upon which the media rely) is just a formulaic conclusion based upon early counts, exit polls, prior history, and typical performance of specific areas. The electoral college votes later...
2. No one knows how many votes are in the box.
3. What the Trump people who claim fraud throughout the country don't appreciate is that there are Republican election observers at most (if not all) polling places (as there are Democrats) and where the votes are counted. And with such representation, where they witness performance and can lodge complaints, we have seen remarkably little fraud. And see above on the failure of these frauds (as if there were any meaningful number) to vote "correctly" down-ballot...
Or this:
"For the record--Twitter and Facebook are censoring the messages of our democratically elected President. I really feel like I'm living in a third-world country."
Hey man, if you're worried about that, you should be thankful Joe Biden likely will be your next President.
A SIGN I SAW TODAY:
"I'M GIVING UP DRINKING 'TIL CHRISTMAS!"
Oh, wait, I messed up the punctuation...
"I'M GIVING UP! DRINKING 'TIL CHRISTMAS."
AND SO...
On that note, I'll leave it (relatively) short and sweet and wish everyone peaceful days, a restful weekend, avoidance of COVID, and as uneventful a 10 week interregnum as Mr. Trump will allow,
I hope by the time you read this in the morning, our "long national nightmare" will be over.
Stay safe,
Glenn
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