2020 Political Chatter

[theflashunc]

if nothing else, this election season has been eye opening to how convoluted our presidential election process is. this stuff has been going on as a matter of course since the beginning, but it seems with captain sore loser, every major milestone that should put a decisive end to the backlash is only met by the next major hill to cling to.

i was very surprised to learn that there is still a meeting of congress to formal count the EC votes and declare a winner. what type of stupid fuckery is this? we all know who the EC voted for. after that will be the potential of some other nonsense on inauguration day.

i guess i should have paid more attention in high school, but it does come as a surprise to all the goings on that happens for a seemingly simple democratic process.

mini-rant over.

Article II, Section 1 is pretty explicit about the process. Subsequent amendments aside.

[guido]

I Was the Homeland Security Adviser to Trump. We’re Being Hacked. | New York Times

"At the worst possible time, when the United States is at its most vulnerable — during a presidential transition and a devastating public health crisis — the networks of the federal government and much of corporate America are compromised by a foreign nation. We need to understand the scale and significance of what is happening.

Last week, the cybersecurity firm FireEye said it had been hacked and that its clients, which include the United States government, had been placed at risk. This week, we learned that SolarWinds, a publicly traded company that provides software to tens of thousands of government and corporate customers, was also hacked.

The attackers gained access to SolarWinds software before updates of that software were made available to its customers. Unsuspecting customers then downloaded a corrupted version of the software, which included a hidden back door that gave hackers access to the victim’s network.

This is what is called a supply-chain attack, meaning the pathway into the target networks relies on access to a supplier. Supply-chain attacks require significant resources and sometimes years to execute. They are almost always the product of a nation-state. Evidence in the SolarWinds attack points to the Russian intelligence agency known as the S.V.R., whose tradecraft is among the most advanced in the world.

According to SolarWinds S.E.C. filings, the malware was on the software from March to June. The number of organizations that downloaded the corrupted update could be as many as 18,000, which includes most federal government unclassified networks and more than 425 Fortune 500 companies."

[vertical_doug]

Article II, Section 1 is pretty explicit about the process. Subsequent amendments aside.

The society at the time was essentially Patrician and Plebeian. Officers were Patricians, infantry was plebeian.
Everything makes perfect sense in this framework.

[echappist]

The society at the time was essentially Patrician and Plebeian. Officers were Patricians, infantry was plebeian.
Everything makes perfect sense in this framework.

And then there's this

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graph...id=sf_business

With few exceptions, big businesses are having a very different year from most of the country. Between April and September, one of the most tumultuous economic stretches in modern history, 45 of the 50 most valuable publicly traded U.S. companies turned a profit, a Washington Post analysis found.

Despite their success, at least 27 of the 50 largest firms held layoffs this year, collectively cutting more than 100,000 workers, The Post found.

The data reveals a split screen inside many big companies this year. On one side, corporate leaders are touting their success and casting themselves as leaders on the road to economic recovery. On the other, many of their firms have put Americans out of work and used their profits to increase the wealth of shareholders.

When the coronavirus struck, big companies promised to help battle the crisis. Dozens of prominent chief executives, who last year signed a public pledge to focus less on shareholders and more on the well-being of their employees and broader communities, appeared eager to make good on that promise. Many suspended payments to investors and vowed not to hold layoffs.

Then, 21 big firms that were profitable during the pandemic laid off workers anyway. Berkshire Hathaway raked in profits of $56 billion during the first six months of the pandemic while one of its subsidiary companies laid off more than 13,000 workers. Salesforce, Cisco Systems and PayPal cut staff even after their chief executives vowed not to do so.

Companies sent thousands of employees packing while sending billions of dollars to shareholders. Walmart, whose CEO spent the past year championing the idea that businesses “should not just serve shareholders,” nonetheless distributed more than $10 billion to its investors during the pandemic while laying off 1,200 corporate office employees.

[rowdyhillrambler]

What happens if Congress decides not to accept the EC?

[AngryScientist]

Article II, Section 1 is pretty explicit about the process. Subsequent amendments aside.

What happens if Congress decides not to accept the EC?

I did go and read the section Flash pointed out. Unless i'm missing something Congress does not have any choice but to accept the EC, it is merely a formal count of the votes already cast.

Right?

The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by Ballot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a List of all the Persons voted for, and of the Number of Votes for each; which List they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the Seat of the Government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the Presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the Certificates, and the Votes shall then be counted. The Person having the greatest Number of Votes shall be the President,

[gregl]

I did go and read the section Flash pointed out. Unless i'm missing something Congress does not have any choice but to accept the EC, it is merely a formal count of the votes already cast.

Right?

McConnell has already affirmed that Biden won the election (much to the displeasure of DJT). The counting of the votes is a formality at this point. There is no provision that would allow the Senate to not accept the votes of the EC. The votes have already been accepted as valid.

Greg

[Tom]

I think if they get one representative and one senator to get up and contest the electoral votes they then go drinking for a couple of hours separately and come back to vote. Both chambers need to vote in the majority for the electoral college results to be overturned and that won't happen in the House of Representatives. It is debatable whether that would even happen in the Senate.

[rowdyhillrambler]

Then what the fuck is this thing about ‘alternate electorates?’ The right wing froot loopery is seriously and obviously grasping-but is there any real way that DJT stays?

[gregl]

but is there any real way that DJT stays?

No. There will be lots of tweeting to the contrary, but DJT will be shown the door effective 20 January. He'll de-camp to PBI where years of moaning and groaning will commence. Unless of course one of the state AGs succeed in indicting/trying/convicting him. At which time he'll appeal for years and avoid paying any civil penalties. It will be like the final years of Joseph McCarthy, except Trump won't drink himself to death. He'll just become irrelevant, perhaps an even more bitter pill for him to swallow. My concern isn't the man, but the lasting damage he has done to our democratic institutions.

Greg

[Mark Kelly]

And the fact that he has shown that populist fucknucklery works at the highest level, even when led by someone as incompetent as 45.

It is possible the personality disorders are a requirement for success but if not the next one will be worse because they'll be better at it.

[Too Tall]

Then what the fuck is this thing about ‘alternate electorates?’ The right wing froot loopery is seriously and obviously grasping-but is there any real way that DJT stays?

Because....Stephen Goebbles Miller that's why. Oh man I promised myself I was not going to say things like that outloud. I'll drop for 20.

Honestly Rowdy, alternate facts is all they got. Gaming the Libs is getting harder and harder.

[vertical_doug]

Trumpy is like the nightmare tenant. When the lease is up, they move out, but they pack everything up. I assume Trump will pack up the Gilbert Stuart painting of George Washington and the Healy painting of Lincoln.

I'd like an audit of any gifts the President received from a foreign government and see whether it was logged in to the National Archives.

[thollandpe]

Trumpy is like the nightmare tenant. When the lease is up, they move out, but they pack everything up. I assume Trump will pack up the Gilbert Stuart painting of George Washington and the Healy painting of Lincoln.

I'd like an audit of any gifts the President received from a foreign government and see whether it was logged in to the National Archives.

I hope they inventoried the silverware.

[Matthew Strongin]

No. There will be lots of tweeting to the contrary, but DJT will be shown the door effective 20 January. He'll de-camp to PBI where years of moaning and groaning will commence. Unless of course one of the state AGs succeed in indicting/trying/convicting him. At which time he'll appeal for years and avoid paying any civil penalties. It will be like the final years of Joseph McCarthy, except Trump won't drink himself to death. He'll just become irrelevant, perhaps an even more bitter pill for him to swallow. My concern isn't the man, but the lasting damage he has done to our democratic institutions.

Greg

If his neighbors keep fighting, his moaning and groaning will be focused on him being able to live at Mar-a-lago. Turns out Jared and Ivanka bought a property just across the Bay from where I live. Might be time for me to find somewhere else to live.

[climbgdh]

fucknucklery...

You sir just won VS word of the day.

[vertical_doug]

I think if they get one representative and one senator to get up and contest the electoral votes they then go drinking for a couple of hours separately and come back to vote. Both chambers need to vote in the majority for the electoral college results to be overturned and that won't happen in the House of Representatives. It is debatable whether that would even happen in the Senate.

I think you can count on Tommy Tuberville of Alabama in the senate who really has no clue to stand up and do this. I think each time it happens, the congress recesses, and each goes away for 2 hrs. I'll be surprise if they don't do this for all the swing states.
In the house, I think they have a baker's dozen crazies chomping on the bit to do this... I want the QAnon Rep to go full crazy and remove who mask and run around the chamber shouting, 'My body, my choice'

Having lived overseas for so long, I always found it entertaining when politicians get in fist fights on the floor of the chamber- Ukraine, Taiwan, Korea etc..

[Scott G.]

[snip]the chamber shouting, 'My body, my choice'

Having lived overseas for so long, I always found it entertaining when politicians get in fist fights on the floor of the chamber- Ukraine, Taiwan, Korea etc..

The US Senate lead the world at this, bitd.
C-Span has long interview with the author, worth your time.
field.jpg

[ides1056]

"In Fulton County, Georgia, 9,769 new voters registered to vote between Election Day on November 3, 2020 and the December 7 cutoff to vote in the U.S. Senate runoff on January 5. This is according to documents The Civics Center has obtained from Fulton County officials. According to the AJC, Fulton County also received nearly 29,000 total voter registration applications (which includes both new registrations, as well as changes of address and other updates) in the month of November. Richard Barron of the Fulton County Division of Registration and Elections reported at a public meeting on December 10 that the number of applications the county received broke prior County records for the month of November.

Fulton County is Georgia’s most populous county. With just over 1 million residents, the county comprises close to one-tenth of the population of the state as a whole. If other counties in the state see comparable rates of new registrations, the state will have more than 90,000 new voters for the U.S. Senate runoff on January 5 than those registered for the presidential election.
Fulton County has not yet released an age breakdown for these new registrations. As previously estimated by The Civics Center, statewide 23,000 young people will have turned 18 between the presidential election and the date of the U.S. Senate runoff. Youth and democracy groups made extensive efforts to reach new Georgia voters to get them to register so that they will have a voice in the U.S. Senate runoffs.
Georgia voters cast 4,045,613 votes in the presidential election statewide, according to the Georgia Secretary of State.

President-elect Biden’s margin of victory was was more than 12,000 votes statewide, suggesting that new registrations could make a decisive difference in the U.S. Senate race. As of November 1, 2020, the number of registered voters in Fulton County was 808,742. The new registrations account for a 1.2% increase to the overall number of registered voters in the county."

https://sos.ga.gov/index.php/electio...SSwXxF8_28qvMA

[sine]

but is there any real way that DJT stays?

From the wee hours of Nov. 4, 2020.....there was no way Trump was going to stay.