2020 Election Night

[Gunnar]

There is still a fair to middling chance that Biden will win the presidency, when all the votes are finally counted, but if the Democrats fail to flip the Senate to a Democrat majority, our democracy is still in jeopardy, especially considering the fact that McConnell won reelection to another term.

[subgenius]

I went to bed early, did i miss the Blue Tsunami? Were the pollsters spot on?

[subgenius]

There is still a fair to middling chance that Biden will win the presidency, when all the votes are finally counted, but if the Democrats fail to flip the Senate to a Democrat majority, our democracy is still in jeopardy, especially considering the fact that McConnell won reelection to another term.

Yes, free and fair elections are putting our democracy in jeopardy. As opposed to how your irrational emotional hyperbole is keeping it safe.

[Some Schmo]

The most depressing thing about the results so far is that it's close. There are still massive numbers of idiots in this country.

Humanity's intelligence cannot be judged based on the achievements of our scientists and innovators. It has to be judged based on everyone. With that in mind, this species is damned dumb as a sack of hammers.

Seriously, we deserve to die. The one silver lining if Trump wins is that COVID will rage out of control and wipe out a ton of idiots.

[Xenophon]

The most depressing thing about the results so far is that it's close. There are still massive numbers of idiots in this country.

Humanity's intelligence cannot be judged based on the achievements of our scientists and innovators. It has to be judged based on everyone. With that in mind, this species is damned dumb as a sack of hammers.

Seriously, we deserve to die. The one silver lining if Trump wins is that COVID will rage out of control and wipe out a ton of idiots.

I think one way to keep things in perspective about how "close" it is to remember that incumbents, especially Presidents, don't typically lose. The advantage that they have is quite significant and so flipping the White House is an enormous undertaking. Under nearly any other president you'd have expected the GOP to hold on to everything.

Anyone wanting to call this one is throwing in the towel WAY too soon. There are still more than enough votes even in GA and NC to flip in the right counties (i.e. those Biden is winning by 30+ in some cases). PA is also still very much in play with absentee ballots not even close to being called.

Before election night basically everyone, including myself, thought PA was going to be the breakpoint but Biden doesn't even need it if he pulls out Michigan which seems highly likely.

[Gunnar]

There is still a fair to middling chance that Biden will win the presidency, when all the votes are finally counted, but if the Democrats fail to flip the Senate to a Democrat majority, our democracy is still in jeopardy, especially considering the fact that McConnell won reelection to another term.

Yes, free and fair elections are putting our democracy in jeopardy. As opposed to how your irrational emotional hyperbole is keeping it safe.

I say that because McConnell is also a demonstrably corrupt and dishonest politician. As President Pro Tempore of the Senate, he has a history of blocking and refusing to bring to a vote any legislation he does not like, or was proposed by Democrats, no matter how much public support it has.

Mitch McConnell “truly the most corrupt politician in the U.S.”

Earlier this month, journalist Jane Mayer published a blockbuster report on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), a deep dive into the deep corruption of a powerful politician who seems to have no moral compass, no strongly-held values, just an intense desire to increase his own power by aiding the entrenched special interests that fund his political activities.

Republic Report, as we’ve told you, is dedicated to rooting out the corruption that is so corrosive to American values. We investigate and uncover the buying and selling of politicians and of institutions entrusted with upholding the public interest. We expose how big money distorts major policy decisions – harming our economy and our people.

Our mission statement was made for Mitch McConnell.

https://youtu.be/Lwj9L6mt1a4

But here are a few key quotes and passages, most highlighted in the video:

— Norman Ornstein, political scientist at the conservative-leaning American Enterprise Institute: McConnell “will go down in history as one of the most significant people in destroying the fundamentals of our constitutional democracy. There isn’t anyone remotely close. There’s nobody as corrupt, in terms of violating the norms of government.”

— “Former McConnell staffers run an array of ostensibly independent spending groups, many of which take tens of millions of dollars from undisclosed donors.”

— “On a blackboard, McConnell wrote down the three things he felt were necessary for success in politics: Money. Money. Money.”

— Cara Stewart, the chief of staff for the Kentucky House Democrats: “Why does Kentucky not have clean, reliable water?McConnell could help, but he’s in bed with the companies that are causing the problems.”

— “McConnell, currently the top recipient of Senate campaign contributions from the pharmaceutical industry, has denounced efforts to lower drug costs as ‘socialist price controls.’”

— “In 2017, McConnell … personally introduced a little-noticed amendment to eliminate the Prevention and Public Health Fund at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which provided grants to states for detecting and responding to infectious-disease outbreaks.”

— Fred Wertheimer, the president of Democracy 21: “McConnell loves money, and abhors any controls on it. Money is the central theme of his career.”

His wife is just as bad, according to this bipartisan report: Mitch McConnell’s Wife Caught Up In Federal Corruption Investigation

What happened when Senate Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) married Elaine Chao? His shipping magnate father-in-law gave him $59 million, but that was not all. The senator found himself on the receiving end of the Secretary of Transportation Chao’s generosity.

That so many of his fellow Republicans know about this corruption and let him get away with it is one of the biggest scandals in government.

[Gunnar]

The most depressing thing about the results so far is that it's close. There are still massive numbers of idiots in this country.

I feel the same way. It is scandalous how many people somehow fail to see how obviously dishonest, ignorant and corrupt Trump is.

[canpakes]

Humanity's intelligence cannot be judged based on the achievements of our scientists and innovators.

No worries; we can rid ourselves of all of those elite smartypants types once and for all if Trump pulls out a victory.

[Some Schmo]

I think one way to keep things in perspective about how "close" it is to remember that incumbents, especially Presidents, don't typically lose. The advantage that they have is quite significant and so flipping the White House is an enormous undertaking. Under nearly any other president you'd have expected the GOP to hold on to everything.

Anyone wanting to call this one is throwing in the towel WAY too soon. There are still more than enough votes even in GA and NC to flip in the right counties (i.e. those Biden is winning by 30+ in some cases). PA is also still very much in play with absentee ballots not even close to being called.

You're absolutely right about all of this. I am still pulling for Biden; I haven't given up yet.

My comments this morning reflect how I feel about the race being close. It shouldn't be this close if humans are as smart as we tend to brag. It should have been over in Florida.

To me, this is clear proof that everything is meaningless. People are selfish pricks all trying to eat each other. Not enough people give a damn about humanity.

The next time someone mentions their cheap, plastic god, it'll be hard not to laugh in their damned stupid face.

[Xenophon]

You're absolutely right about all of this. I am still pulling for Biden; I haven't given up yet.

My comments this morning reflect how I feel about the race being close. It shouldn't be this close if humans are as smart as we tend to brag. It should have been over in Florida.

To me, this is clear proof that everything is meaningless. People are selfish pricks all trying to eat each other. Not enough people give a damn about humanity.

The next time someone mentions god, it'll be hard not to laugh in their damned stupid face.

I tend to view it more that the American populace is apathetic, not dumb. Even with record turnout this year a huge chunk of Americans will opt not to vote. There are obviously a ton of reasons for this, both personal and systemic but the point remains we know a lot of voices go unheard.

Those that do vote are often uninformed or are voting for the same party they always have or are voting on a single issue, this is true for both sides. I'd bet the number of people that actually view elections as a time for choice and change as less than 10%. It is also worth considering that for a lot of people they don't think it matters who the president is, they just live their lives. It is often hard for us to view the implications of our elected officials in our day-to-day lives, this makes change even more difficult.