US Election Day 2020

[Sid]

I dunno. The American public, well 70 million of them, have shown their willingness to be grifted endlessly.

I was feeling great relief and now over a week after the election with this shit just continuing and continuing, I'm getting extremely angry again and fearful. They tried to steal this election, and now are losing their minds trying to foment a coup. It doesn't even matter that they will likely fail, it matters that they're trying and that it continues to poison our democracy.

As to justice, we'll see. Teflon Don.

As long as the USA stays deeply devided as today, where pissing off the other side seems more important than getting useful things done, by a large chunk of the US population, there is very little hope that things will change a lot.
But Trump personally, he knows he is most likely finished the moment he steps (or is dragged) out of the White House. He has nothing to lose, and that is the way he is acting.
That almost every Republican politician keeps silent as a mouse, is a thing I wasn't expecting when the elections were over.
I thought they would leave the sinking ship like even rats normally do, the moment Donny had lost.
They must have the idea they gain more if they hang on. That worries me a lot too these last days.

 

[Rose Karuna]

Trump administration removes senior defense officials and installs loyalists, triggering alarm at Pentagon

The Trump administration has carried out sweeping changes atop the Defense Department's civilian leadership structure, removing several of its most senior officials and replacing them with perceived loyalists to the President.

edition.cnn.com

The top Pentagon official quit after Trump firef the defense secretary yesterday, and now there is a Trump-loyalist conspiracy guy in the Top Dog spot.

Trump replacing all these people in defense and filling them with loyalist is really scary, this is how coups happen.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

As long as the USA stays deeply devided as today, where pissing off the other side seems more important than getting useful things done, by a large chunk of the US population, there is very little hope that things will change a lot.
But Trump personally, he knows he is most likely finished the moment he steps (or is dragged) out of the White House. He has nothing to lose, and that is the way he is acting.
That almost every Republican politician keeps silent as a mouse, is a thing I wasn't expecting when the elections were over.
I thought they would leave the sinking ship like even rats normally do, the moment Donny had lost.
They must have the idea they gain more if they hang on. That worries me a lot too these last days.

Trump, for the time being, retains the power to deploy his army of MAGA Twitter followers against any Republican politician who steps out of line.

How long that state of affairs will continue after he leaves office and has to begin to grapple with his various legal and financial problems, and how long he keeps his Twitter account, is an open question, but I can see why Republican politicians, having put up with him for the last four years, are content to keep their heads down for the time being.

I wonder how things will look for him and his family this time next year, though.

 

[Free]

Do we still care about this?

 

[Free]

Texas Lt. Gov. offers $1 million reward for voter fraud; Fetterman asks for it in Sheetz gift card

Media outlets in Texas are reporting that state’s Lt. Governor is offering a $1 million reward “to encourage and report those who report voter fraud.”

www.wpxi.com

 

[Essence Lumin]

Republicans aren't conceding – and Democrats are bringing a knife to a gun fight | David Sirota

The Republicans’ bid to overturn the election is a full-scale emergency – and yet the Democratic strategy seems to be to pretend it isn’t happening

www.theguardian.com

 

[Innula Zenovka]

 

[Innula Zenovka]

GOP Senator Says He’ll “Step In” if Biden Doesn’t Get Security Briefings by the End of the Week

The sliver of professionalism is now a revolutionary act in today’s Republican Party.

slate.com

 

[Sean Gorham]

Maybe... maybe this is just what we deserve. What America deserves. Sometimes people can't really appreciate what they stand to lose until it's been taken from them. I don't know anymore.

 

[Free]

 

[Free]

Hand recount moves ahead under interpretation of Georgia election rules

By ordering a statewide hand recount of every ballot in the presidential race, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger combined different parts of recount and audit procedures.

His decision will result in a time-consuming, labor-intensive process that’s never been attempted before. Raffensperger said it will be worthwhile if it builds confidence in the election, where Joe Biden was leading Donald Trump by over 14,000 votes.

The count will be conducted under Georgia’s rules for election audits, but not as envisioned when those rules were drafted.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Looking at it from the outside, it seems to me that Trump is an abuser, a narcissist and a grifter.

As an abuser, it's in his nature to make it difficult for the victim of his abuse to get rid of him -- he'll use all sorts of threats and bluster and gaslighting and manipulation to try to retain his power over his victim.

As a narcissist, he finds himself in an impossible situation, with his reality collapsing round him, and the only way remaining for him to exert control over his world is to try to make everyone else feel as frightened and confused and hopeless as does he, while he projects himself as in control of the situation. It's a way of coping from day to day, while desperately trying not to think about the inexorable passage of time.

And as a grifter, he wants to keep the money rolling in as long as possible, so 60% of the donations for his legal fund to "stop the steal" are going to repay his campaign debt, which is as large as it is not least because everyone seems to have been stealing from it or paying it to businesses they own, and he needs a grift at the end of January, when Biden's inaugurated.

Then, his layers of protection drop away, and he'll rapidly be too busy fighting prosecutors in New York and creditors everywhere to create too much trouble for anyone.

 

[danielravennest]

I saw someone refer to this as the "blame duck" portion of his time in office.

 

[Casey Pelous]

I idly wondered, "Why is he so hellbent on 'repaying campaign debt?'" Considering he seems to have never been a bit bothered by stiffing anyone and everyone on each and every deal he ever did, it seems out of character.

Then I wondered, "At this point, who in the world would loan that organization an old umbrella, much less millions of dollars?"

I can only come up with one guy -- that fat tub of orange goo in the White House and/or his family. That would explain why it is so important to settle up those debts ASAP.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

 

[Innula Zenovka]

I idly wondered, "Why is he so hellbent on 'repaying campaign debt?'" Considering he seems to have never been a bit bothered by stiffing anyone and everyone on each and every deal he ever did, it seems out of character.

Then I wondered, "At this point, who in the world would loan that organization an old umbrella, much less millions of dollars?"

I can only come up with one guy -- that fat tub of orange goo in the White House and/or his family. That would explain why it is so important to settle up those debts ASAP.

Yes, rent on hotel rooms and offices, use of planes, catering... it all adds up.

 

[detrius]

I idly wondered, "Why is he so hellbent on 'repaying campaign debt?'" Considering he seems to have never been a bit bothered by stiffing anyone and everyone on each and every deal he ever did, it seems out of character.

Then I wondered, "At this point, who in the world would loan that organization an old umbrella, much less millions of dollars?"

I can only come up with one guy -- that fat tub of orange goo in the White House and/or his family. That would explain why it is so important to settle up those debts ASAP.

His kids were also deeply involved in his campaign and might want to repay the debts to avoid investigations into where all the money went.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Republican megadonor Sheldon Adelson seems to have given up on Trump as a bad investment

Thread

 

[Innula Zenovka]

 

[Innula Zenovka]

ETA -- it's not clear from the tweets, I think, where this is happening. That may be suspicious, or it may simply be an oversight on the author's part.

ETA 2 --