2020 Election Results Part 6: A President-Elect Who Will Make Trump Irrelevant Again!!

[Snarkasarus Rex]

Biden is being very careful to not use gov't employees in his early work because he is not yet authorized to work with them. This is why the transition authorization is so important.  

Fauci will play a role in a Biden admin (assuming he doesn't retire).  It's just not going to be right now. 

[AmazonGrace]

 

[FloraKitty35]

On 11/8/2020 at 5:51 PM, formergothardite said:

I will never not laugh about them booking a landscaping company. I wonder who had to break the news to Trump that his campaign was not booked at a nice resort but instead would be standing in a not so nice parking lot right next to a sex shop? 

In Northeastern Philadelphia. 

[AmazonGrace]

This is so insane.

 

[AmazonGrace]

Okay they're not conceding because they're bad with words.

 

[nausicaa]

While I'm glad George W. Bush acknowledged Biden as president-elect, I really wish he would speak up about what Trump is doing and how it is different from what happened in 2000. 

While there is a lot of shadiness around Bush v. Gore-- especially the respective interests of those on the Supreme Court--Bush at least had a plausible case. It was one state and it had been called for Bush. What Trump is doing is bold face lying that undermines our democracy and could cause long-term damage to trust in future elections.

(I'll also say, I think the Gore camp would have done the same thing as Bush if the roles had been reversed. But I can't see Biden standing on television just shouting that he'd won Ohio or Texas when there is zero evidence of such with Pelosi and Schumer giving him the thumbs up.)

Other random thoughts

1. This firing of Esper just shows how Trump sees his role as that of some banana republic autocrat  

2. I'm happy that Fox News put their foot down and finally drew a line for Trump's bullshit. I hope they manage to retain their elderly viewership though, rather than the 60+ conservative voting bloc moving on to OANN and losing all semblance of reality. 

3. We're hitting the highest COVID case numbers so far and staring down a major second wave going into the winter, and Trump hasn't spoken to Fauci in a MONTH?

Edited November 10, 2020 by nausicaa

[Lillymuffin]

1 hour ago, AmazonGrace said:

 

Ivanka and Jared voted absentee...

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8881595/Ivanka-Trump-husband-Jared-Kushner-pose-mail-ballots-New-York-Air-Force-One.html

As a (reasonably) proud Pennsylvanian, I have one thing to say, and that thing is, “Bullshit.” 

[47of74]

How long til the rage tweets start over Fuck Nugget losing his helipad? 

Quote

For nearly four years, Mar-a-Lago has functioned as the “winter White House” of President Donald Trump.

One of the perks of that status was a helipad approved by the town so Marine One could whisk the president in and out of the 17.5-acre estate without jamming traffic. 

But helicopter trips to and from the helipad at Mar-a-Lago will no longer be permitted come Jan. 20 — the day Trump's chief executive powers transfer to President Elect Joe Biden. 

When it approved the 50-foot, 8-inch-deep concrete helipad on the west lawn of ocean-to-lake estate, the Town Council stipulated it was “for business relating solely to the office of the president." It also said the helipad must be removed once the president leaves office. 

 

[HerNameIsBuffy]

1 hour ago, onekidanddone said:

Well Biden can hire anyone right back. What worries me is how many people in the current administration have NDAs

He can, but does anyone know how pensions work for Fed Employees at this level?   Can they be hired back without detriment to their retirement?  

[AmazonGrace]

Is that why he's selling his helicopter? https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trumps-private-helicopter-worth-over-1-million-sale-after-election-loss-1545910

[Snarkasarus Rex]

One of their goals, if not the main goal, is to delay the Biden transition team's access to the gov't (and the millions of dollars that comes with it) for as long as they can.  Late access can hamper a new admin for months and make it look incompetent, not to mention draining finances.

Biden needs to take legal action if they states certify and Trump still refuses to hand over the keys.   

[SassyPants]

Oh man Tom Cotton. He is the next Trump, and likely much smarter. He needs to just be quiet.

[Audrey2]

8 hours ago, Emma said:

Out here in California, I’ve been listening to the snowflakes on the far left whine about how Biden isn’t progressive enough and won’t do what they want him to do. Sigh. Can we have some compromise on both sides? Please?

I've been thinking about this all day and am ready to propose my unpopular opinion.

The U.S. needs a third political party, one that is moderate. In many places, it seems like Independents are in the majority, which leaves many of them out of the primaries in some states. I know that there are people who feel like the Republican party has become way too conservative for them, but the Democrats are way too liberal. I've heard the same thing said by some Democrats, that they feel uncomfortable with the ideas of Bernie Sanders and AOC. Do people need to change and accept new ideas? Absolutely. I think a third party can be successful, and that, with a three party system the country might become more governable, instead of hard rightists like Mitch McConnell having an iron grip on the Senate. To people on the far right, they feel like Nancy Pelosi is way too liberal to lead effectively. (I hear about this every time I see one of my friends.) With a third party, one in the middle, both the Democrats and Republicans would have to work with them on some issues to find common ground to turn their ideas into reality. It seems like other countries, with more than two strong parties, have a better system for getting things done in government.

[church_of_dog]

19 minutes ago, HerNameIsBuffy said:

He can, but does anyone know how pensions work for Fed Employees at this level?   Can they be hired back without detriment to their retirement?  

I can't speak to the distinction of being fired versus resigning, but if Fauci resigned but didn't start taking his pension, he could resume employment and the only difference would be that his "time in service" wouldn't count the time he wasn't employed.

 

[FloraKitty35]

Sadly, none of this should be surprising or shocking coming from Trump, McConnell, Barr, etc, etc... It's right on schedule for them. 

[Cartmann99]

This SNL skit pops up in my head whenever I read about a Trump lawsuit.

 

[FloraKitty35]

5 minutes ago, Audrey2 said:

I've been thinking about this all day and am ready to propose my unpopular opinion.

The U.S. needs a third political party, one that is moderate. In many places, it seems like Independents are in the majority, which leaves many of them out of the primaries in some states. 

I concur about the third party. However, the Electoral College needs to go to break the duopoly first.  Because neither the D's or the R's really want a third party option especially if it can beat them both.  

[GreyhoundFan]

10 minutes ago, Audrey2 said:

I've been thinking about this all day and am ready to propose my unpopular opinion.

The U.S. needs a third political party, one that is moderate. In many places, it seems like Independents are in the majority, which leaves many of them out of the primaries in some states. I know that there are people who feel like the Republican party has become way too conservative for them, but the Democrats are way too liberal. I've heard the same thing said by some Democrats, that they feel uncomfortable with the ideas of Bernie Sanders and AOC. Do people need to change and accept new ideas? Absolutely. I think a third party can be successful, and that, with a three party system the country might become more governable, instead of hard rightists like Mitch McConnell having an iron grip on the Senate. To people on the far right, they feel like Nancy Pelosi is way too liberal to lead effectively. (I hear about this every time I see one of my friends.) With a third party, one in the middle, both the Democrats and Republicans would have to work with them on some issues to find common ground to turn their ideas into reality. It seems like other countries, with more than two strong parties, have a better system for getting things done in government.

I've often felt there should be five parties. A true centrist, a center-left, a center-right, a far-left, and far-right. That would divide up the electorate in such a way that two or more parties would be required to actually work together, yet there would be representation of how people feel.

[AmazonGrace]

Expect some fuckery, this is a Devin Nunes associate.

 

[SassyPants]

10 minutes ago, Audrey2 said:

I've been thinking about this all day and am ready to propose my unpopular opinion.

The U.S. needs a third political party, one that is moderate. In many places, it seems like Independents are in the majority, which leaves many of them out of the primaries in some states. I know that there are people who feel like the Republican party has become way too conservative for them, but the Democrats are way too liberal. I've heard the same thing said by some Democrats, that they feel uncomfortable with the ideas of Bernie Sanders and AOC. Do people need to change and accept new ideas? Absolutely. I think a third party can be successful, and that, with a three party system the country might become more governable, instead of hard rightists like Mitch McConnell having an iron grip on the Senate. To people on the far right, they feel like Nancy Pelosi is way too liberal to lead effectively. (I hear about this every time I see one of my friends.) With a third party, one in the middle, both the Democrats and Republicans would have to work with them on some issues to find common ground to turn their ideas into reality. It seems like other countries, with more than two strong parties, have a better system for getting things done in government.

Also of interest, it seems the parties have flipped. The R’s are now the party of the ultra wealthy (old money) and the lower socioeconomic, less formally educated group ( Trumpsters) and the D’s are now the party of the educated elite, academia and new money. 
I also think things will change with the dimming of the boomers ( I am one) and the rising of the next generation into middle age. I am ready and accepting of this passing of the torch, but I know many (including my own octogenarian folks) are not. I am willing to give younger folks a wide berth and big old place setting at my table. They are the people who will be living with the changes for the long haul. 

[GreyhoundFan]

Brianna hit the nail on the head:

 

[Smee]

1 minute ago, GreyhoundFan said:

I've often felt there should be five parties. A true centrist, a center-left, a center-right, a far-left, and far-right. That would divide up the electorate in such a way that two or more parties would be required to actually work together, yet there would be representation of how people feel.

I agree that you need more than two parties, but I don't see how it will happen under the current system. We saw how people got vilified for voting Libertarian or Greens in 2016 and blamed for "letting" Trump win. I know I've banged on about it in here many times before but I really do think preferential voting (ranking candidates in order of preference) is the only way 3rd parties in Australia get to play any kind of role - like in the US, we have two major parties who have held the power for generations and most people think seriously about which one of them they rank higher because that's the one that will likely end up winning the seat and/or election. But by voting for their true preference first, they get to send a message to politicians about the issues important to them and ensure a little money goes their party's way, and over time some of those smaller parties have been able to gain a couple of seats at the table (in the senate, especially). Or maybe there needs to be a system like in France, where nobody can win without an absolute majority in the first round, so people can still vote for their top preference and know that if they lose it they might get to have their say between the top two in a second round.

Also, the current third party options in the US will never seem viable for the presidency unless they have been proven to play a significant role in other branches of government. It's interesting to me that AOC is trying to shift the Democratic Party from within (and worrying Democrats who are more centrist or right-leaning) rather than taking the path Bernie did and running as an independent. She's got the media attention and name recognition now, so voters know who she is and what she stands for, and I do wonder if she might end up forming a third party more closely aligned to her views somewhere down the line. That way, new liberal candidates in other areas can signal how far left they are quickly and effectively by which party they're associated with.

[Lillymuffin]

20 minutes ago, SassyPants said:

I also think things will change with the dimming of the boomers ( I am one) and the rising of the next generation into middle age. I am ready and accepting of this passing of the torch, but I know many (including my own octogenarian folks) are not. I am willing to give younger folks a wide berth and big old place setting at my table. They are the people who will be living with the changes for the long haul. 

This is my frustration and the frustration of a lot of my near-age friends. As late-x’ers/old millennials (xennials?), we’re approaching middle age, yet our government is still run mainly by people that are our parents’ and even grandparents’ ages. When is it our turn? 

[Dandruff]

1 hour ago, Audrey2 said:

The U.S. needs a third political party, one that is moderate. In many places, it seems like Independents are in the majority, which leaves many of them out of the primaries in some states. I know that there are people who feel like the Republican party has become way too conservative for them, but the Democrats are way too liberal. I've heard the same thing said by some Democrats, that they feel uncomfortable with the ideas of Bernie Sanders and AOC.

Sounds like a really nice idea, as does @GreyhoundFan's suggestion of five parties, but I don't know if it would ever be allowed to happen.  Seems that attempts at moderation are consistently met with bands of extremists threatening to draw votes away.  Bullies on both sides, IMO.

I've never felt aligned with the Republicans, though there have been issues I've agreed with.  I have felt aligned with the Democrats, but not with the ultra-liberalism.  So I stay independent, wish the Dems would leave me tf alone (as in take me off of any mf list you have me on because I don't want to hear from you again)* while I continue to vote for them, and hope that the Republicans don't ever decide I might be useful enough to them to bother. 

*I'd be much less pissed if I hadn't gotten so much unsolicited crap from the Dems over the past few months.  They just wouldn't stop.  I believe this was my reward for voting in the Democratic primary and it has seriously given me second thoughts about doing so again.  More reasonably, perhaps I can change the phone number associated with my voter record.  The junk mail doesn't bother me as much.  If there was only a way to opt out.

1 hour ago, GreyhoundFan said:

Brianna hit the nail on the head:

I think he's actually a lot more pathological than that.

Edited November 10, 2020 by Dandruff
Respect for the English language.

[GreyhoundFan]

I have no words to express how much I loathe McTurtle.