Wear the Goddamned Mask!

What in hell is it going to take to get your attention?  The corona virus is spreading more than ever. Of course I am sick of this damned disease. We all are.  Quit whining. If you can fight in wars you can sacrifice yourself to protect other people.

Nov 4   New Cases 108,389         New Deaths: 1,201

Nov 5   New Cases 118,204         New Deaths: 1,125

Nov 6   New Cases 132,540         New Deaths: 1,248

Nov 7   New Cases 124,232         New Deaths: 1,031

Nov 8   New Cases 102,726         New Deaths: 512 this is a Sunday

Nov 9   New Cases 125,689         New Deaths: 641

Nov 10   New Cases 135,574       New Deaths: 1,345

Wait Minute, I am not giving up the Presidency

No presidential candidate in modern history has refused to concede, but there’s no law that requires it. What happens if Trump refuses to concede the 2020 election?  It won’t make any difference. Joe Biden becomes president on January 20, 2021 if he has won in the electoral college.

Then comes Donald Trump saying wait a minute. He throws a fit and a group of ten Republican attorneys general announced Monday that they are filing an amicus brief with the Supreme Court in a case challenging mail ballots in Pennsylvania, arguing that the state increased the risk of fraud in the election. Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt led the group saying, “Free and fair elections are the cornerstone of our republic and it’s one of the reasons why the United States is the envy of the world. We have to ensure that every legal vote cast is counted and that every illegal vote not cast is not counted. To do so would disenfranchise millions of Americans.” If successful they will file briefs overturning the votes in other states.

Donald Trump loves drama. He is an entertainer. Like soap opera the drama offers the questions that those programs always ask
-Will a conservative supreme court overturn the vote in Pennsylvania or any other state?
-Will Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’s moment of “we won” be overturned? That really would be the end of the American democracy.
-Are all these actions by state attorney generals meant to placate the scary Donald Trump?

Tune in in the coming days to learn who will be the next president of the United States.

BIDEN DEFEATS TRUMP

The sad reality is that more than 70 million of Americans voted for Donald Trump and that says something about the people of this country.  The words Hate and White Superiority come to mind. Keep that in mind in the coming four years.

Donald Trump will not accept the conclusions of the Associated Press, CNN and NBC.  The real final vote is the electoral college vote taken on December 14.  Between now and then the president will appeal to federal courts and the Supreme Court to overturn the election results.

This is not the same as Bush versus Gore in the year 2000.  Bush had already been officially certified the winner by the secretary of State, a loyal Republican, but the day before, in a shocking 4-3 decision, the Florida Supreme Court had ordered a statewide recount.

Trump will plead that the results are fraudulent because millions of votes were duplicates, millions of unregistered votes were counted, and of course there were votes cast by millions of deceased persons.  He will claim there was a conspiracy to deny him re-election.  Without proof the courts, I hope, will not overturn the election results. 

The Associated Press now projects the electoral count as 290 for Biden and 214 for Trump.  The very close Biden win in Georgia has resulted in plans for a re-count but why bother?  Georgia’s 16 electoral votes will not change the outcome of the presidential race.

The lingering question is how will Joe Biden successfully lead this divided country?

“If you count the legal votes, I easily win.”

Waah, Waah. This can’t be happening to me

A Panicked Trump falsely claims he’s winning as Biden’s lead expands in nail-biter election.

It is a sad time for the American democracy. Of course we don’t know who will win the election but I can’t recall any one term president claim there were illegal votes and that was the reason he lost re-election.

Donald Trump’s claims of fraud started at 2:30 a.m. on Wednesday November 4 in an appearance at the White House, Trump falsely asserted the pending outcome was “a fraud on the American public” and an “embarrassment on our country.”

Then Trump followed up with these were the words were spoken at about 7 p.m. eastern time yesterday by the president in the press room at the White House. “If you count the legal votes, I easily win. If you count the illegal votes, they can try to steal the election from us.”

The Los Angeles Times reported some Republicans joined other officials in swiftly condemning President Trump’s latest false claims late Thursday that he is being robbed of a reelection victory by fraudulent votes in decisive states where Joe Biden appears to be winning.

“There is no defense for the President’s comments tonight undermining our Democratic process,” Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, tweeted shortly after Trump spoke from the White House briefing room. “America is counting the votes, and we must respect the results as we always have before. No election or person is more important than our Democracy.”

Ellen Weintraub, chair of the Federal Election Commission and a Democrat, urged the president to stop making false claims.  “Enough, Mr. President. Enough. Spewing conspiracy theories regarding this election will not change the results,” she tweeted. “Your lies undermine our democracy and harm our country. Just stop.”

The sad reality is that we elected a person to be president who believes he is above the law and has the right to a second term in office no matter what the vote count results.  The cartoon above says it all.  

A Divided Government Equals Gridlock

Think about this.

Joe Biden wins the election.
The Senate majority is held by the Republican Party.
Little or no legislation is passed.

That is not an unlikely scenario.  Mitch McConnell wanted to make Barack Obama a one term president by blocking Obama’s agenda.  Aren’t we going to hear those same words again?

There is no reference to political parties in the U.S. constitution and that is the problem. This issue is confronted by countries that have a parliamentary democracy by agreeing to a compromise that provides everyone a voice. Or does it?

Explained at britannica.com.  A Parliamentary system, democratic form of government in which the party (or a coalition of parties) with the greatest representation in the parliament (legislature) forms the government, its leader becoming prime minister or chancellor.

A majority of the world’s parliaments are unicameral. One body decides what laws are to be passed and who will obtain a judgeship.

One main criticism of Parliamentary system is that the head of the government is in almost all cases not directly elected but that is the system in the United Sates democracy too.

Is Joe Biden to be a place holder? The ACA may not be dismantled and DACA children may not be deported from the country. Then what?  The Democratic Party will have to find new leaders in four years.

If Trump were to obtain a second term, he is more likely to see legislation passed.

Grid lock is likely to be the situation for the next four years. Democrats control the House and Republicans control the Senate. This is a system that makes many people question the whole idea of democracy.

This is the Number One Issue on November 3, 2020

Donald Trump may say that the corona virus is going away but that is a lie. The election is a referendum on the president’s management of the pandemic.  Doctor Anthony Fauci has warned that things could get a lot worse  Trump’s response is he doesn’t like what the doctor has said an might fire him.

Great leadership Mr. President.

Graph of New Reported Cases in the U.S. from the New York Times.

Enthusiasm Could Win the Day for Donald Trump

Once again I believe most of the pollsters have it wrong. I’m not happy about this outcome but three pieces of evidence are may well be bell weather indicators.

1. Hundreds of Trump supporters rallied in Beverly Hills on Saturday reported the Los Angeles Times. Beverly Hills has the reputation of being a major Democratic Party stronghold.

2. The Trafalgar Group’s Rob Cahaly — who predicted Trump’s 2016 victory — claims most Americans dislike responding to polls consisting of 25 or more questions. He is now predicting Trump will win.

3. The ‘Enthusiasm Factor’ could lead to another Trump win because there is a lack of it for Biden. How many of those people who said in the polls they support Joe Biden will actually cast their vote for him? A platoon of Trump fans floated in New Jersey’s Barnegat Bay on Sept. 15. They had their Trump support banners on their boats.

Sadly I believe this will be the end of the Republic of the United States if Donald Trump wins this election.