2020 General Election

[Hawktawk]

Probably a bit hard to get rest no matter how hard you when you have convincingly won an election and waited weeks to be granted the most perfunctory transition materials during a pandemic with enemies menacing on all sides.. The senate majority leader and about 40 of his colleagues as well as hundreds of members of the house have yet to recognize your victory, nor have Russia or Mexico out of deference to or waiting on favors from the freak. The existing POTUS is committing sedition, whipping up resentments with clear lies to the sound the deafening silence of those who should have oversight , who really should be calling for his resignation at this point. It should be a criminal charge for what he's doing.Biden is in uncharted waters and about to be handed the garden hose for the dumpster fire with zero support from the trumpanzians.

Not too easy to rest easy no matter how much and I feel his pain. He's literally got the weight of the world on his shoulders.He understands how many problems there are.

He looked fine to me compared to the orange crazy freak. Way off target to criticize style in comparison to lunacy.

[RiverDog]

Probably a bit hard to get rest no matter how hard you when you have convincingly won an election and waited weeks to be granted the most perfunctory transition materials during a pandemic with enemies menacing on all sides.. The senate majority leader and about 40 of his colleagues as well as hundreds of members of the house have yet to recognize your victory, nor have Russia or Mexico out of deference to or waiting on favors from the freak. The existing POTUS is committing sedition, whipping up resentments with clear lies to the sound the deafening silence of those who should have oversight , who really should be calling for his resignation at this point. It should be a criminal charge for what he's doing.Biden is in uncharted waters and about to be handed the garden hose for the dumpster fire with zero support from the trumpanzians.

Not too easy to rest easy no matter how much and I feel his pain. He's literally got the weight of the world on his shoulders.He understands how many problems there are.

He looked fine to me compared to the orange crazy freak. Way off target to criticize style in comparison to lunacy.

This wasn't as if it were the morning after Election Day following a year of campaigning. Biden hasn't had to travel, has held very few press conferences, hasn't had to face any kind of aggressive questioning or shout down hecklers, and has been able to go about business in a rather leisurely manner for the past 3 weeks.

Except perhaps when I mentioned Reagan, I was not comparing Biden to Trump or anyone else. I even mentioned that I felt that his mental acuity shouldn't be an issue. I'm simply expressing my opinion on how he appeared to me.

[Hawktawk]

Fair enough. I think he's striking a somber tone intentionally. He's no ball of fire. I'm ready for sleepy joe. Worn the F@#k out the last 4 halcyon chaotic years.

[RiverDog]

Fair enough. I think he's striking a somber tone intentionally. He's no ball of fire. I'm ready for sleepy joe. Worn the F@#k out the last 4 halcyon chaotic years.

Yeah, me, too. Trump was an embarrassment. It's hard to believe how such a moron could have ever been elected POTUS.

There's a lot of things that I like about Biden so far. He seems to be doing an admirable job of putting together his cabinet and getting ready for the challenges that await him. He's said he's not going to order an investigation of Trump, which would be a huge distraction, and has been remarkably calm under what has been an unprecedented effort to sow discontent and mistrust of an election.

The first 6 months of Biden's presidency will be the most important, getting the vaccines distributed and the public convinced to take them, getting the economy back on its feet, and repairing some of the relationships we had with foreign governments that Trump disrupted. I'm very optimistic.

[Aseahawkfan]

I can't remember who it was, but someone once said a good politician has to be a good actor.
Biden has always had times when he sounded like his mouth was full of rocks when talking and
he struggles for words. I think it's part of the stuttering, but that's just who he is. It's going to
be refreshing to not hear anything from the White House for days on end like it used to be. It
sounds like he has some good people chosen for important roles and they can and should answer
the questions that will come up - for the most part.

This. This a 1000 times. Quiet from the White House. No Tweets. No crazy talk. Biden can work like he should behind the scenes getting things done.

[Aseahawkfan]

Yeah, me, too. Trump was an embarrassment. It's hard to believe how such a moron could have ever been elected POTUS.

There's a lot of things that I like about Biden so far. He seems to be doing an admirable job of putting together his cabinet and getting ready for the challenges that await him. He's said he's not going to order an investigation of Trump, which would be a huge distraction, and has been remarkably calm under what has been an unprecedented effort to sow discontent and mistrust of an election.

The first 6 months of Biden's presidency will be the most important, getting the vaccines distributed and the public convinced to take them, getting the economy back on its feet, and repairing some of the relationships we had with foreign governments that Trump disrupted. I'm very optimistic.

Biden is definitely striking the right tones. He knows how to keep the peace as I call it. I like that. If he can keep the looney liberals in his own party from doing stupid crap and ignore the right wing looneys, while working with the sane Democrats and Republicans we should be ok.

[RiverDog]

I did just hear some judge in Pittsburgh has placed a stay on the certification of Pennsylvania vote pending some hearing tomorrow on absentee ballots in Pittsburgh so who knows.

Well, now we know. As expected, the Pittsburgh judge denied Trump's motion:

Lame-duck President Donald Trump on Friday lost his campaign's latest legal fight to undo his narrow loss to Joe Biden in Pennsylvania.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit rejected the campaign's battle to block certification of Pennsylvania's election results based on its unsupported claims that the election system is fraudulent and ballots were processed improperly.

The decision denied the Trump campaign's motion for an emergency injunction and refused its request to send the case back to federal district court for additional arguments on a proposed amended complaint dismissed six days ago.

"Free, fair elections are the lifeblood of our democracy. Charges of unfairness are serious," wrote Judge Stephanos Bibas as the court ruled in a case where the Trump campaign sought to invalidate millions of ballots. "But calling an election unfair does not make it so. Charges require specific allegations and then proof. We have neither here."

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/202 ... 416422002/

Honest question: Does anybody have any idea how many election-related lawsuits Trump and his surrogates have filed?

[c_hawkbob]

"At least 40" is the nearest I can pin down.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-e ... s-n1248289

[RiverDog]

"At least 40" is the nearest I can pin down.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-e ... s-n1248289

Hey, thanks!

I wonder if that count includes appeals, such as the one filed last Wednesday after that article was published.

[RiverDog]

"Free, fair elections are the lifeblood of our democracy. Charges of unfairness are serious," wrote Judge Stephanos Bibas as the court ruled in a case (Pennsylvania vote certification) where the Trump campaign sought to invalidate millions of ballots. "But calling an election unfair does not make it so. Charges require specific allegations and then proof. We have neither here."

It's interesting to note that the judge in this case, Stephanos Bibas, was appointed by none other than Donald J. Trump.

[Hawktawk]

They have appealed to the SCOTUS so here goes. If they lose that they are legally cooked with nothing but faithless electors as a hail mary. If they should win its going to be war. Frankly with the case being denied as meritless with prejudicial remarks by a republican trump appointee they would show a bias by even hearing it with 3 trump appointees onboard but this has been his red firewall all along. He said we needed Barrett appointed to have 9 justices to decide the election long before she was confirmed...and so lets see. If it gets to this suddenly medically illiterate body who the F knows.

[RiverDog]

They have appealed to the SCOTUS so here goes. If they lose that they are legally cooked with nothing but faithless electors as a hail mary. If they should win its going to be war. Frankly with the case being denied as meritless with prejudicial remarks by a republican trump appointee they would show a bias by even hearing it with 3 trump appointees onboard but this has been his red firewall all along. He said we needed Barrett appointed to have 9 justices to decide the election long before she was confirmed...and so lets see. If it gets to this suddenly medically illiterate body who the F knows.

I have complete faith in SCOTUS to do the right thing. Keep in mind that this is the same court (albeit one newcomer) that voted 7-2, of which the majority included both of the Trump appointees, that Trump had to turn over his tax returns to SDNY so it's clear that he doesn't have them in his pocket. Roberts has repeatedly expressed his reluctance not to get involved in the election so I doubt that they even take up the case.

Here's a statement from Justice Barrett during her confirmation hearing:

"I certainly hope that all members of the committee have more confidence in my integrity than to think that I would allow myself to be used as a pawn to decide the election for the American people," Barrett said in refusing to address recusal directly.

And Chief Justice Roberts:

More generally, the chief justice steers his court away from politics whenever possible. That was his intention last year when he ruled in a 5-4 opinion that federal courts have no role to play in evaluating partisan gerrymandering by state legislatures.

During an appearance in New York City last year, Roberts said the court must decide cases "according to the Constitution and laws, without fear or favor."

"That’s necessary," he said, "to avoid the politicization of the court.”

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/pol ... 164313002/

[Hawktawk]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics ... d=msedgdhp

And there we have it as the Andrew Dice Clay presidency drags on.

Judge Roberts opinion is irrelevant. Barretts is. I trust her zero after her medically illiterate vote yesterday. I hope it will be alright. Frankly I see Gorsuch and more so Kavanaugh with his soiled legacy wanting to prove independence from Trump as both broke sharply in a 7-2 vote on his taxes. So lets see.

[RiverDog]

Judge Roberts opinion is irrelevant. Barretts is. I trust her zero after her medically illiterate vote yesterday. I hope it will be alright. Frankly I see Gorsuch and more so Kavanaugh with his soiled legacy wanting to prove independence from Trump as both broke sharply in a 7-2 vote on his taxes. So lets see.

The majority of SCOTUS justices have voted with Roberts over 90% of the time. This is Roberts' court, and the Chief Justice's opinion always matters.

Chief Justice John Roberts' double-barreled rejection of President Trump's claims of immunity from grand jury and congressional subpoenas was a stunning end to a momentous term in which Roberts played perhaps the most pivotal role of any chief justice in close to a century.

In a remarkable series of decisions over the last month, Roberts has rebuked Trump on matters ranging from personal to policy.

In Thursday's decisions, with seven-justice majorities, Roberts once again pushed back on Trump's assertion of almost unlimited presidential power.

https://www.npr.org/2020/07/10/88965315 ... court-term

[Aseahawkfan]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/donald-trump-sets-fox-news-interview-for-sunday-as-he-backtracks-on-white-house-exit-comments/ar-BB1bqyuF?ocid=msedgdhp

And there we have it as the Andrew Dice Clay presidency drags on.

Judge Roberts opinion is irrelevant. Barretts is. I trust her zero after her medically illiterate vote yesterday. I hope it will be alright. Frankly I see Gorsuch and more so Kavanaugh with his soiled legacy wanting to prove independence from Trump as both broke sharply in a 7-2 vote on his taxes. So lets see.

While you're bagging on the SCOTUS, don't forget the medically illiterate rulings on protests by governors, most of them Democrats, that 1000s to 10s of thousands of protesters somehow don't spread COVID19. They even had a handful of "expert" doctors back up their ruling because you can find an "expert" to back up anything you want to believe in. We all know why that occurred because the majority of protesters were Democratic voters and minorities.

I hope once Trump is out of office, you open your eyes to Democrat hypocrisy.

[RiverDog]

One of Hawktalk's favorite punching bags, Attorney General William Barr, has come out and pretty much called his boss a liar. Here's some snippets:

Atty. Gen. William Barr said Tuesday that the Justice Department has not uncovered evidence of widespread voter fraud that would change the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. His comments come despite President Trump’s repeated claims that the election was stolen and his refusal to concede his loss to President-elect Joe Biden.

In an interview with the Associated Press, Barr said U.S. attorneys and FBI agents have been working to follow up specific complaints and information they’ve received, but they’ve uncovered no evidence that would change the outcome of the election.

“To date, we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have affected a different outcome in the election,” Barr told the AP.

Barr didn't name Powell specifically but said: "There's been one assertion that would be systemic fraud and that would be the claim that machines were programmed essentially to skew the election results. And the DHS and DOJ have looked into that, and so far, we haven’t seen anything to substantiate that,” Barr said.

“There’s a growing tendency to use the criminal justice system as sort of a default fix-all, and people don’t like something they want the Department of Justice to come in and ‘investigate,’” Barr said.

He said first of all there must be a basis to believe there is a crime to investigate.

“Most claims of fraud are very particularized to a particular set of circumstances or actors or conduct. They are not systemic allegations and. And those have been run down; they are being run down,” Barr said. “Some have been broad and potentially cover a few thousand votes. They have been followed up on.”

https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/ ... on-outcome

[c_hawkbob]

Evidently he recognizes that is no longer the buttered side of the bread.

[Aseahawkfan]

Barr is engaging his usual politically shrewd line walking knowing Trump is out soon.

[RiverDog]

Barr was unusually blunt. I did not expect that he'd offer such a contrasting appraisal of the election to that of Donald Trump's, especially after his initial comments seemed to support Trump's claims.

In addition, Mitch McConnell, for the first time since the election, referred to "the new administration" in discussions regarding pandemic stimulus money in 2021.

Trump's wall is crumbling.

[Aseahawkfan]

Barr was unusually blunt. I did not expect that he'd offer such a contrasting appraisal of the election to that of Donald Trump's, especially after his initial comments seemed to support Trump's claims.

In addition, Mitch McConnell, for the first time since the election, referred to "the new administration" in discussions regarding pandemic stimulus money in 2021.

Trump's wall is crumbling.

I know it's unprovable, but I still believe McConnell wanted Trump gone. He withheld stimulus to further engineer Trump's loss. I think he may now engineer stimulus and position it to help the Republicans hold the Senate. We shall see. McConnell is a lot more shrewd than I ever thought he was.

[RiverDog]

Barr was unusually blunt. I did not expect that he'd offer such a contrasting appraisal of the election to that of Donald Trump's, especially after his initial comments seemed to support Trump's claims.

In addition, Mitch McConnell, for the first time since the election, referred to "the new administration" in discussions regarding pandemic stimulus money in 2021.

Trump's wall is crumbling.

I know it's unprovable, but I still believe McConnell wanted Trump gone. He withheld stimulus to further engineer Trump's loss. I think he may now engineer stimulus and position it to help the Republicans hold the Senate. We shall see. McConnell is a lot more shrewd than I ever thought he was.

The theory now is that Mitch is afraid to upset Trump supporters in Georgia, afraid that they won't turn out in numbers strong enough to sway the elections and allow the Republicans to maintain control of the Senate.

Which brings up another subject: Trump is going to campaign for the R candidates in the Georgia Senate runoff election, yet he's still claiming that the process in that state was rigged. If the process in Georgia is so corrupt and denied him victory, why in the hell would he encourage people to participate in the same system he's calling corrupt?

[Aseahawkfan]

The theory now is that Mitch is afraid to upset Trump supporters in Georgia, afraid that they won't turn out in numbers strong enough to sway the elections and allow the Republicans to maintain control of the Senate.

Which brings up another subject: Trump is going to campaign for the R candidates in the Georgia Senate runoff election, yet he's still claiming that the process in that state was rigged. If the process in Georgia is so corrupt and denied him victory, why in the hell would he encourage people to participate in the same system he's calling corrupt?

Because he can't give up the spotlight.

[RiverDog]

I realize that most of Trump's supporters are too stupid to realize it, but once today passes, it's next to impossible for Trump to overturn the election...as if it wasn't already next to impossible:

Joe Biden will be one formal step closer to the presidency after Tuesday’s deadline for states to certify their slates of electors to the Electoral College -- locking in the names of the people who will formally vote to make Biden the president.

Once that happens, there’s little turning back. Congress must by law accept those electors if there’s no outstanding litigation, and President Donald Trump’s legal challenges have even less hope of changing the outcome. Electors meet in each state on Dec. 14 to officially cast their votes.

All of the battleground states where Trump tried to contest the results have certified their presidential election tallies and appointed their electors for Biden, and he has more than the 270 Electoral College votes needed. Only Colorado and Hawaii are left to certify their results among the states Biden won but even they cannot change the outcome.

Federal law says that if a state appoints its electors and all litigation is resolved by Dec. 8 -- the so-called safe harbor deadline -- Congress must consider them “conclusive” when it meets in a joint session on Jan. 6 to tally the votes.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics ... d=msedgntp