Author Archives: Hue White

Mark Joseph Stern speaks to a remarkable speech delivered by Associate Justice Alito, appointed by former President George W. Bush, to the Federalist Society:

On Thursday night, Justice Sam Alito delivered the keynote address at this year’s all-virtual Federalist Society National Lawyers Convention. The Federalist Society, a well-funded network of conservative attorneys, has come under unusual scrutiny after Donald Trump elevated scores of its members to the federal judiciary. Its leaders insist that it is a mere debate club, a nonpartisan forum for the exchange of legal ideas. But Alito abandoned any pretense of impartiality in his speech, a grievance-laden tirade against Democrats, the progressive movement, and the United States’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Alito’s targets included COVID-related restrictions, same-sex marriage, abortion, Plan B, the contraceptive mandate, LGBTQ nondiscrimination laws, and five sitting Democratic senators.

Ironically, Alito began his prerecorded address by condemning an effort by the U.S. Judicial Conference to forbid federal judges from being members of the Federalist Society. He then praised, by name, the four judges who spearheaded a successful effort to defeat the ban—or, as Alito put it, who “stood up to an attempt to hobble the debate that the Federalist Society fosters.” Alito warned that law school students who are members of the Federalist Society tell him they “face harassment and retaliation if they say anything that departs from the law school orthodoxy.”

These comments revealed early on that Alito would not be abiding by the usual ethics rules, which require judges to remain impartial and avoid any appearance of bias. The rest of his speech served as a burn book for many cases he has participated in, particularly those in which he dissented. Remarkably, Alito did not just grouse about the outcome of certain cases, but the political context of those decisions, and the broader cultural and political forces behind them. Although the justice accused several Democratic senators of being unprofessional, he himself defied the basic principles of judicial conduct. [Slate]

A faux-pas by Alito? Or could this signal something more important?

A retirement from SCOTUS in, say, the next week or two?

It’s not entirely insensible. Justice Alito is 70. Assuming Biden holds true to his word in 2024 to not run again, we may see a President Kamala Harris from 2024 to 2032, which would mean , if Alito is a team player for the conservatives, he would still be holding on grimly at age 82.

Or he can retire now and let Trump nominate a far younger conservative.

That begs the question of why Justices Thomas (age 72) and Alito are still in their seats. Partly, that can be attributed to the right-wing epistemic bubble that insisted President Trump couldn’t lose. Today, Arizona and Georgia have been called for Biden, and if I think Georgia’s call is premature, that’s really neither here nor there. Biden has thankfully won and, regardless of my disappointment in so many of my fellow Americans, firmly planted his boot up Trump’s ass.

We can also attribute their continued presence in their pleasure in doing the work and occupying preeminent positions in society. I don’t begrudge it, unlike Erick Erickson. No doubt they worked long and hard to achieve their positions.

But Alito and Thomas now face at least four years of a Democratic President, and a good chance of twelve years of Democratic occupation of the White House – and I suspect that the very survival of the Republican Party in its current form during that time is up for debate. If Thomas and Alito leave their positions during that period, the liberal fear of far-right dominance of SCOTUS for decades will suddenly transform into a liberal majority on the Court.

So this could be a signal that Alito is about to retire. If he does not, he may find himself being asked to recuse on cases that can be plausibly linked to this rhetoric, and that is embarrassment in itself – a self-inflicted wound, as it were.

Who’s up for some more SCOTUS drama? Quite frankly, I’ll take a skip. By the time a nomination could be made and the requisite votes taken, Senator-elect Kelly of Arizona, a Democrat, would have replaced Republican Senator McSally, but that’s not enough.

And, finally, one of his comments show how much he’s bought into conservative anti-expert sentiment:

For instance, the justice criticized state governors who’ve issued strict lockdown orders in response to COVID-19, referring to specific cases that came before the court. Alito said these “sweeping” and “previously unimaginable restrictions on individual liberty” have served as a “constitutional stress test,” with ominous results. The government’s response to COVID-19, Alito continued, has “highlighted disturbing trends that were already present before the virus struck.” He complained about lawmaking by an “elite group of appointed experts,” citing not just COVID rules but the entire regulatory framework of the federal government.

The last remark is a classic far-right whine, and is quite ironic since Alito himself qualifies as the worst sort of expert: someone who tells other people how to act.

The New York Times reports that my concern about voting machines is shared with … President Trump.

A Dominion ImageCast precinct-count optical-scan voting machine, mounted on a collapsible ballot box made by ElectionSource.
Source: Wikipedia

President Trump on Thursday spread new baseless claims about Dominion Voting Systems, which makes software that local governments around the nation use to help run their elections, fueling a conspiracy theory that Dominion “software glitches” changed vote tallies in Michigan and Georgia last week.

The Dominion software was used in only two of the five counties that had problems in Michigan and Georgia, and in every instance there was a detailed explanation for what had happened. In all of the cases, software did not affect the vote counts.

One of the areas that had me worried was the age of the machines, but, at least in Georgia, it appears that concern has been addressed:

When it comes to the government handoff, the Trump Administration isn’t going to make it easy, but the Biden team is on it.

The Biden team has drawn up lists of recently departed senior officials at key agencies to help transition officials get up to speed on ongoing projects, budgets, trouble spots, technology and personnel, a senior transition official said, describing “a whole plan for this contingency where we don’t have cooperation but have to move forward.” The plan was put in place to anticipate refusals of some agency heads to engage even if the GSA declares Biden the winner, the official said, for example from John Ratcliffe, the Trump-appointed director of national intelligence.

Over a decades-long career in Washington, Biden has cultivated a long list of friends, associates and former aides with deep ties in just about every corner of government. Those connections and that experience are reflected in the team he has assembled. Now, their abilities to prepare for a new administration under extraordinary circumstances are being tested. [WaPo]

It shows forward thinking and planning.

So what worries me? It’ll go too well. Biden, with his team and their vast experience and contacts, will assume responsibility so smoothly that we’ll never realize just how well they’ve done their job. The far-right fringe will yammer, Fox News “hosts” will amplify the yammering, and then we’ll end up with a pack of incompetents winning another election in 2024.

Even if the Biden Administration discloses the messes they have to clean up, it’ll never get to the Fox News regulars.

Ugh.

Except … apparently former Mayor and Presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg (D-IN) has become quite popular on Fox News. How about Mayor Pete for Press Secretary or Communications Director or Fox News Liaison?

Kevin Drum thinks President Trump’s frantic delaying tactics vis a vis the Presidential Election results are down to mental illness:

The real answer requires us to take seriously what so many of us have been saying all along: Donald Trump is nuts. To put it a little more conventionally, he’s such an extreme narcissist that he can’t believe he lost. He literally can’t believe he lost. So his brain makes up stories for him, and the only plausible story in the face of hard numbers is that his enemies cheated. So that’s what he believes. And he’ll believe it forever. There’s no more chance of changing his mind on this than there is of changing the mind of someone in an asylum who believes he’s Jesus Christ.

For me, it’s too pat. And it betrays an unconscious bias: that a person in a particular sphere shares the same general goals and motivations as do others. Most politically ambitious people are looking to put their stamp on the world, or be known for their service and leadership.

This is not true of Donald Trump.  For him, money and some prestige are at stake, and that’s it.

So follow the motivations. Follow the money. Follow his debts. Connect the dots that will make the heavens open up their dollars for Trump and his family. Then it starts making sense. The clues are already coming to the surface.

Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL), at one time lauded for his actions with regards to Covid-19, and then reprimanded as those same actions turned out to endanger Floridians, and suspected of cooking the Covid-19 numbers, had a position to fill … and let’s have the Miami Herald fill in the rest of the tale:

When Gov. Ron DeSantis needed to hire a data analyst, his staff picked a little-known Ohio sports blogger and Uber driver whose only relevant experience is spreading harmful conspiracy theories about COVID-19 on the Internet.

In his own words, Kyle Lamb of Columbus, Ohio, has few qualifications for the job at the state’s Office of Policy and Budget, which pays $40,000 per year.

“Fact is, I’m not an ‘expert.’ I’m not a doctor, epidemiologist, virologist or scientist,” Lamb wrote on a website for a subscribers-only podcast he hosts about the coronavirus. “I also don’t need to be. Experts don’t have all the answers, and we’ve learned that the hard way.”

Plucked from the obscurity of the blogosphere, Lamb, 40, broadcasts his lack of scientific training in his theories about the pandemic.

In frequent posts on Twitter and sports message boards, Lamb has said that masks don’t prevent the coronavirus from spreading; that lockdowns are ineffective; that hydroxychloroquine, a drug touted by President Donald Trump, can treat the virus; that COVID-19, which he said might be part of a Chinese “biowar,” is not more deadly than the flu; and that the virus isn’t dangerous for children to contract.

The same article notes that the position pays $40,000/year, which may explain why no one more qualified has filled it – there may have been a lack of applicants.

But it also speaks to the loathing for expertise exhibited by Republican leaders. Why?

If DeSantis dared to hire someone who actually knew what they were doing, he might be shown up. After all, the State under his leadership has not done as well as Republicans might fantasize that he’s done, often on top of the leader board for infections, although not at the moment – if you trust their numbers.

And, for a party of third-raters, it’s important not to be shown up. It will undermine future political plans if Governor DeSantis were known to have smarter people than himself working for him, because that’s not done in the party of the strong man. The strong man knows all and makes no mistakes.

Not like the Democrats, who work with experts and understand that their task is to take the recommendations of experts and turn them into palatable policy actions.

DeSantis is already on dangerous grounds, because he was elected purely because of a Trump endorsement in 2018, an obscure Representative who, prior to that endorsement, was considered an absurd long-shot. Since then he’s done little to separate himself from Trump.

The same Donald Trump who lost his own reelection effort recently, for those readers not paying attention. That endangers DeSantis.

Strong men have tender egos because they’re not all-knowing, and that myth is half their appeal for some voters. To hire in a mere data analyst who might contradict DeSantis is not tolerable, so, instead, offer the ill-paying job to someone who is a skeptic of current medical practices, knows nothing, and needs the money.

That’s how to guarantee loyalty and self-affirming reports. And it answers the questions of Professor Viswanath:

“It’s extremely disconcerting that you appoint somebody that has very limited technical qualifications and has made his agenda very clear,” Viswanath said. “At the end of the day, the price will be paid by the residents of Florida to these steps. So my question is, what is the end game here? Who is going to benefit from this?”

Why, Ron DeSantis, of course.

You may have heard that Lt. Governor Dan Patrick (R-TX) – the guy who formally transformed the Republican Party from the Party of Life to the Party of Death – offered a million dollar reward for evidence of voter fraud. Fair enough.

But the interesting part is how the offer is really just a way to keep the Republican base stirred up – and with little connection with those old-fashioned concepts of facts & honesty. It’s a lot like looking at one of those toxic emails that I take apart from time to time. Here’s the interesting part, via CBS DFW:

“The Democrats have no one to blame but themselves for creating suspicion of final vote totals. Not allowing Republican poll watchers to observe the vote count in multiple states, in some cases blocking their view with poster board, last minute changes in election laws in battleground states, ignoring the deadline to vote and accepting ballots for days after the election, ignoring postmarks and signature checks, not verifying that mail-in ballots were being sent to people who were alive or living in the state and voting machines that have been a concern for over a decade all raise serious questions.

This paragraph is just packed with juicy Satanic tidbits. Let’s see:

• Poll Watchers denied: False.
• Blocking poll watchers with poster board: False.
• Last minute changes in election law: Properly legislated and signed by the governor? Within the jurisdiction of the Secretary of State? If so … Utterly irrelevant.
• Voting deadlines ignored. This remark, as it lacks particulars, can be labeled False unless someone provides more information.
• Signature checks: I had not heard these were ignored, but, if so, good! It’s widely agreed that signature authentication is foolish and should be outlawed. It’s a rare person whose signature does not change over time. Utterly irrelevant.
• Ignoring postmarks? Again, I’ve not heard of this. Every state that I’ve seen analyzed requires a postmark by Election Day. My guess is that this is false.
• Not verifying that mail-in ballots were being sent to people who were alive. Where did this happen, and does it matter? Validation of a voter’s right to vote typically takes place at collection and tabulation, not in sending mail-in ballots. Too, where mail-in ballots must be requested, validations take place at that time as well. Irrelevant concern.
• Not verifying living in the state. As has been noted by many commentators, this would deprive certain classes of voters of their rights: military personnel on deployment, college students, and, I should imagine, several other categories of voters. Irrelevant concern.
• Voting machines concerns. Only in this last point do I and the Lt. Governor share concerns. In fact, Lt. Governor, in view of the variance between poll results and election results in Texas, perhaps you should push for a full audit and manual recount of all national office contests – in Texas. If you insist that voting machines are a necessity, then push for an exception to trade secret laws in connection with voting machines. You are right, there are many concerns when it comes to voting machines – and Republicans should lead the way in getting rid of them, as I’ve said many times, or making them trustworthy.

“This lack of transparency has led many to believe that the final count is not accurate in states where the winner was determined be a very small percentage of the vote.

There is plenty of transparency. One can volunteer to be an election worker or a poll watcher, and we all know that. Those poll watchers, provided by the two major parties, assure there’s no shenanigans at the lowest levels. And in those States, such as Georgia, where the margin of victory is very small, recounts will occur, either automatically by law, or at the request of the losing candidate.

The only lack of transparency here is your real goal in this offer, Lt. Governor.

“In Texas we know voter fraud is real. In just the last 60 days, we have had three major arrests on voter fraud including a social worker who was arrested last week for allegedly registering almost 70 developmentally disabled adults to vote without their signature or consent.

It may be illegal to sign them up, but for all we know that was to harvest more Republican votes. In fact, I have to wonder if this crime actually qualifies as voter fraud, and instead may be identity theft.

“In Texas, we also know that it is possible to provide the results of mail-in ballots on Election Day. We counted 970,000 mail-in ballots last Tuesday – a 55% increase over 2018 – and added those results to the in-person voting total before midnight on Election Day. The delays in counting mail-in ballots in other states raises more questions about voter fraud and potential mistakes.

No, it doesn’t. It raises questions about the legislatures of the States involved. For instance, in Pennsylvania the processing, i.e., just opening the envelopes, of mail-in ballots does not begin until Election Day – a decision made by the Republican-dominated legislature. Minnesota? Counted as soon as possible. Same for Texas.

“When all legal votes are tallied and all illegal votes are discarded, then America can have a greater level of confidence in the election process.

Let’s go a little further with this, Lt. Governor. How about when everyone who is qualified to vote and wants to vote is not discouraged or restrained from voting? Isn’t that the higher standard to which you should aspire?

“President Trump is absolutely right to pursue every allegation of voter fraud and irregularities, just as Al Gore did in 2000. Every candidate for public office has this right. My goal is to ensure that, regardless of the outcome, every American has faith in our electoral process and our democracy.”

Then, Lt. Governor, please do not scamper about spreading lies.

In the end, this guy isn’t being honest in that last paragraph. He has managed to mix a motivating force of conservatives, love of money, with the aggrievement culture that has been a resounding drum in the conservative movement for decades. Suggestions that Democrats are stealing elections has, as a primary goal, to keep the base stirred up and donating money to Donald Trump and the rest of the grifters running the Republican Party, but also to accomplish a more important goal:

To drag the Democrats down to the Republican Party’s level.

The Republican Party is filled with incompetent third-raters. Anyone who’s willing to observe the preventable disaster called Covid-19, who has watched Republican governors try to ignore the problem, finesse it, depend on personal responsibility, and fall apart, is well aware that, with a few exceptions such as DeWine and Hogan and one other whose name escapes me, the Republican governors have assumed their states would be spared – for no good reason – and then have flailed when that proved false.

They’re incompetent.

And because of that, their dominance of the national scene is threatened.

What do you do when you’re saddled with incompetent folks who get elected only because of a marvelous Marketing department, but voters are figuring it out? You make your opponents look as bad as yourselves.

That’s why their opposition to the ACA – it’s not that it’s bad, it’s that it’s Democratic.

And that’s the crap Lt. Governor Patrick is frantically trying to sell.

From a friend – and Star Wars:

What does a 9 inch ice core sound like when dropped down a 450 foot hole? Like this! Credit to @peter_neff for the idea and @Scripps_Polar, @sciencejenna, @GeosciencesPU, @US_IceDrilling, and @paleosurface for the execution! pic.twitter.com/pW7LxKdbUB

— John Andrew Higgins (@blueicehiggins) February 7, 2020

[H/T GD]

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) has made the sensible decision to perform a recount by hand of the President race in the face of some delusional claims of irregularities, each of which are dismissed by judges nation-wide for lack of evidence; given the margin of victory for Biden, 14,000 votes, it makes sense to do a hand count.

And wouldn’t it be funny if Biden substantially increases his lead?

But I wish they’d include the Senate race as well. It’d be a real howler if Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff, who came in just behind Republican incumbent and general moral failure David Perdue and will be joining him in the runoff in January, were to suddenly have enough paper ballots for him to put him over the 50% barrier and avoid the runoff.

That’d certainly raise more questions about voting machines, now wouldn’t it?

From the political column of the Atlanta Constitution-Journal (AJC):

Professor Richardson puzzles – perhaps she really understands but is funnin’ us – over very recent governmental moves by President Trump:

In other words, Trump is cleaning out the few national security leaders who were not complete lackeys and replacing them with people who are. It’s funny timing for such a shake-up, especially one that will destabilize the country, making us more vulnerable.

Today Washington Post diplomacy and national security reporter John Hudson noted that a source told him that the “Trump administration just gave Congress formal notification for a massive arms transfer to the United Arab Emirates: 50 F-35s, 18 MQ-9 Reapers with munitions; a $10 billion munitions package including thousands of Mk 82 dumb bombs, guided bombs, missiles & more….” This deal comes two months after the administration’s Abraham Accord normalizing relations between Israel and the UAE opened the way for arms sales.

The UAE has wanted the F-35 for years; it is the world’s most advanced fighter jet. They cost about $100 million apiece. The president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, has secretly been pushing for the sale of the arms to the UAE in the face of fierce opposition by government agencies and lawmakers.

It’s not hard to connect the dots. As Trump’s own children have testified, Trump is motivated by money, and a recent report from The New York Times has indicated he has a shitload of debt about to fall right on his neck.

So what does he do? A few weeks ago the Arab nation United Arab Emirates (UAE) agreed to normalize relations with Israel. My speculation is that the deal is this:

1. UAE normalizes relations with Israel.
2. The United States Executive, despite the vociferous objections of lawmakers and intelligence agencies, agrees to sell the most advanced fighter aircraft, the F-35
3. Under the table, UAE also agrees to cover Trump’s imminent debts, and maybe even his long-term debts.

That much has been agreed to, as evidenced by the Administration announcement.

The real danger here is not that Trump escapes his debts by cheating at playing government. The real danger is that UAE has the F-35 and its technology.

It can sell it to Russia.

It can sell it to China.

You’ll notice that covering Trump’s debts won’t cost UAE a thing, as Russia and/or China can easily supply the funds in exchange for F-35 technology.

It can sell or otherwise share it with other Arab League countries which are still actively hostile to Israel. So much for Trump being a big friend of Israel.

And this takes me all the way back to why Trump is so ill-suited for his attainment of the Presidency. He doesn’t understand the big picture. He’s trained and practiced the art of making and losing^[1] money all of his life, but he has apparently no clue about international relations.

And that’s a large portion of the Executive.

If Israel, or even ourselves, find ourselves in the middle of a shooting war in a few years, and our F-35s are suffering large losses, we’ll know who to blame. President Trump, his supplicating Republican Party, and 62 million voters who voted him in 2016, all supported by a conservative disdain for expertise.

And Paul Ryan will be right down there in a Hellish circle next to Trump.

And our options? Limited. Fortunately, delivery takes time, and Biden may simply cancel the deal the moment he comes into power, leaving UAE high and dry.

¹ Reportedly, he’s better at losing money than making it.

The weather forecast has the Twin Cities down for a half foot of snow tomorrow, so it’s time to post our snow guardian.

I hope he does well.

Incumbent Republican Senators from Georgia Perdue and Loeffler are upset with the Georgia Secretary of State, responsible for the election in Georgia, because neither broke the necessary 50% barrier in order to avoid a Jan 5 runoff against their Democratic opponents. Here’s their statement:

This is absurd and it is telling they give absolutely no examples of their alleged mismanagement. Georgia has been transparent and well managed throughout this process – out performing many other states. They are damaging faith in the system for singularly selfish reasons. https://t.co/5a16SoxH9o

— Jessica Huseman (@JessicaHuseman) November 9, 2020

All the people mentioned in that statement? Republicans. In the absence of any evidence of cheating, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has a return volley. It’s weak tea:

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Monday rebuked calls from Republican US Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue to resign as both of their Senate races appear to be headed for a January runoff.

“Earlier today Senators Loeffler and Perdue called for my resignation,” Raffensperger, who is also a Republican, said in a statement. “Let me start by saying that is not going to happen. The voters of Georgia hired me, and the voters will be the one to fire me.”

“As Secretary of State, I’ll continue to fight every day to ensure fair elections in Georgia, that every legal vote counts, and that illegal votes don’t count,” Raffensperger continued.

“I know emotions are running high. Politics are involved in everything right now. If I was Senator Perdue, I’d be irritated I was in a runoff. And both Senators and I are all unhappy with the potential outcome for our President.” [CNN/Politics]

If Raffensperger understands that he was just asked to abandon his duty and use his position to cheat the two Senators to renewed terms, he doesn’t betray it. But that’s the message.

An honorable official would have come out and said it, and then informed the two Senators in no uncertain terms that it’s time for them to resign.

Face it, Raffensperger. You no longer have a political future, because you didn’t cheat. Recognize it and go out with a big boom. You’ll feel better for it. And, like you said, let the voters fire you. Jokers like those Senators have no place in American politics – or shouldn’t.

Ah, I do like my drama.

Andrew Sullivan takes something of a victory lap, not only of the rejection of Trump’s literal madness:

The last refuge of a scoundrel.

The key fact is that Donald J Trump has been decisively defeated. He will be a one-term president. This was by no means inevitable. But in a massive turnout, where both sides mobilized unprecedented hordes of voters, and when the GOP actually made gains in the House, and did much better than expected, Trump lost. A critical mass of swing voters and moderate Republicans picked Biden over him. Our nightmare of four years — an unstable, malignant, delusional maniac at the center of our national life — is over.

Take a moment to feel that relief. Breathe. Rejoice. He’s done.

But also of “woke” ideology:

And this was also clearly and unequivocally a rejection of the woke left. The riots of the summer turned many people off. In exit polls, 88 percent of Trump voters say it was a factor in their choice. On the question of policing and criminal justice, Trump led Biden 46 — 43 percent. For the past five years, Democrats have been telling us that Trump and his supporters were white supremacists, that he was indeed the “First White President” in Ta-Nehisi Coates’ words, that all minorities were under assault by the modern day equivalent of the KKK. And yet, the GOP got the highest proportion of the minority vote since 1960! No wonder Charles Blow’s head exploded.

We may find out more as exit polling is pored over, but in the current stats, Trump measurably increased his black, Latino, gay and Asian support. 12 percent of blacks — and 18 percent of black men — backed someone whom the left has identified as a “white supremacist”, and 32 percent of Latinos voted for the man who put immigrant children in cages, giving Trump Florida and Texas. 31 percent of Asians and 28 percent of the gay, lesbian and transgender population also went for Trump. The gay vote for Trump may have doubled! We’ll see if this pans out. But it’s an astonishing rebuke of identity politics and its crude assumptions about how unique individuals vote.

I’m not sure I would conflate the riots over the dangers for black men and women from police with the woke left. Simply the selection and backing of Joe Biden by the Black community may serve to refute that suggestion.

And it would be a little dangerous to suggest that people weighed 20,000+ lies against wokeness and pulled the lever for 20,000+ lies. We need those exit polls to expose the knowledge base of the average voter, first. How many voters knew about the lies (and believed that wasn’t fake news!), and the children in the cages? How many knew if their local Democratic candidates, House and Senate, were sympathetic to woke ideology – or if their opponents had misleadingly labeled them as woke?

Hell, how many have an even ballpark definition of woke? I’m not even sure I do. Although, given its supposed connection to critical race theory, I suppose that there is a certain pleasure in a supposed rejection.

But I don’t know that I can accept Sullivan’s analysis. Our shared knowledge base isn’t. Our fellow citizens are not necessarily interested in politics – they may not go out bowling and drinking beer, like they used to, but similar activities have taken their place. People often find politics to be less than imperative.

And perhaps this lack of interest, this lack of knowledge, is one of the great liabilities of a democracy, and one of the great challenges for future champions of democracy. Although I cannot suggest that rival political systems don’t suffer the same liabilities, as history easily teaches. People as incompetent and indifferent to the rules of society as Trump reaching the pinnacle of power: they litter history like black flies on dung.

Wise selection of governance remains a conundrum.

Conservative Professor Josh Blackman doesn’t think the law is all that important when his fellow conservatives are the ones with big, fat targets on their backsides:

Prosecutorial discretion would be a wise choice here. President Biden would not need to follow the model of President Ford, who pardoned President Nixon. But a pledge from the new Attorney General not to prosecute Trump and his acolytes would help unite the country. Remember, more than 70 million people just voted for Trump. And such a pledge–issued before January 20–could remove the incentive for Trump to self-pardon, and pardon his associates. I see a large upside to this exercise of prosecutorial discretion. And, for those who crave blood, the New York Attorney General and the New York District Attorney can proceed on their own accord. [The Volokh Conspiracy]

Which is a bit of a gobsmack. What, is the law merely a convenience that might only apply to your opponents? Does discouraging the potential malefactor mean nothing to Blackman?

Does he want to go through another subpar conservative Administration because they think they’re exempt from penalty?

Sure, sure, don’t persecute, follow the procedures precisely, don’t be bitter. But if someone clearly and deliberately violated the law – say, sold top-secret military technology to the Russians – then prosecutions must proceed or we’re all lost.

This is the recommendation of the blindly partisan or the demented. There was no contradictory forethought given to it at all.

And – heaven forfend! It might demonstrate to those 70 million voters the essential corruption for which they may have been voting.

How much cossetting does Blackman intend to do?

Bonhomie:

Bonhomie means exuberance, friendliness, geniality. Bonhomie is a noun that describes a state of good humor, cheerfulness, or being good-natured. Synonyms of bonhomie that may be found in a thesaurus are agreeableness, pleasantness, congeniality. The term bonhomie carries a connotation of being gregarious and full of love for one’s fellow man, a feeling that all is right with the world. People enjoy being around someone who is filled with bonhomie. The term bonhomie is a loan word from the French. While bonhomie is taken directly from the French where it means easy-tempered, it is derived from the French word bonhomme. Bonhomme is a French compound word combining the word bon meaning good and homme meaning man. Homme is derived from the Latin word homo, which means man. Bonhomie entered the English language around the turn of the nineteenth century. [Grammarist]

Noted in “Joe Biden triumphs over Trump as voters repudiate divisive, bullying president,” Toluse Olorunnipa, Annie Linskey, and Philip Rucker, WaPo:

Clinching the nomination early offered advantages, affording Biden time to unite the Democratic Party. He rolled out back-to-back-to-back virtual endorsements by former rivals in which they would appear together on video, events that fostered a sense of Democratic bonhomie after a bruising primary. He worked with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and his supporters to develop policies, effectively muting the criticism from the left that had hounded the 2016 nominee, Hillary Clinton.

I must confess to a certain interest in the tactical war that appears^[1] to be certain between President Biden and Senator “Moscow” McConnell (R-KY) after Inauguration Day. I’ve already referenced one approach here; so here’s another, suggested by Glenn Kirschner, a US Army and Federal prosecutor with decades of experience. To summarize, he suggests that if McConnell refuses point-blank to even debate Biden’s nominees to Cabinet posts and even SCOTUS, after this is made clear by McConnell, then Biden simply says, OK, you’re approved and appointed. Let McConnell run to a Court bawling that this is against the law. Let him explain to a judge why Senator McConnell gets to walk away from his responsibilities: … shall give advice and consent … and basically rewrite the Constitution.

Would it work? I don’t know. But it’s a fascinating approach. Too bad Obama didn’t try it with his nomination of Judge Garland.

And, clearly, Kirschner has little use for Trump and his cult.

¹ I say appears because, as I write this, the Republicans and the Democrats plus their Independent allies (2) are each at 48 in the Senate. The four uncalled races are the two Georgia races, which are headed for early January run-offs, the Sullivan/Gross (Mr. Gross is an Independent but endorsed by the Democrats) contest in Alaska, which is slow to report due to geographical challenges, and, mysteriously, the Tillis/Cunningham contest in North Carolina, where it appears to me the Republicans have retained the seat for the craven & useless Tillis – yet the race remains uncalled. Evidently, CNN knows more than I do. The point should be obvious, though: if the Democrats can win three of these seats, they would control the Senate.

Having fun for Rube:

I can only hope he’s not compensating for something. And, for some reason, every time he pops up, I think, “That’s Bill Gates.”

I’m a little surprised that I haven’t reviewed Despicable Me (2010), my selection for the decompression movie that must attend the declaration, if only by the news media, of Joe Biden winning the Presidential election.

Why? Because it’s charming and nearly pitch-perfect, and I’ve seen it a number of times.

It tells the story of Grue, master-criminal, and his competition with up-and-comer Vector, each sabotaging the other. But when Grue uses some orphans in his war with Vector, he discovers they have some ideas of their own about warfare.

Each detail is imagined in lovely detail; even minor characters seem to have backstories that might be interesting, including Grue’s Minions, the little yellow guys that have invaded pop culture. It’s Grue’s interactions with the Minions that hint at what’s coming, because rather than being a cold, brutal autocrat, like, say, a James Bond bad guy, Grue’s interactions are affectionate, even concerned. And they return that affection with real loyalty.

Filled with humor, imagination, and lessons, this is a joy for viewers of any age.

Highly recommended.

Parosmia:

Parosmia is a term used to describe health conditions that distort your sense of smell. If you have parosmia, you may experience a loss of scent intensity, meaning you can’t detect the full range of the scents around you. Sometimes parosmia causes things you encounter every day to seem like they have a strong, disagreeable odor. [healthline]

Noted in “When coffee smells like gasoline: Covid isn’t just stealing senses — it may be warping them,” Allyson Chiu, WaPo:

The AP News has the tragic facts:

U.S. voters went to the polls starkly divided on how they see President Donald Trump’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. But in places where the virus is most rampant now, Trump enjoyed enormous support.

An Associated Press analysis reveals that in 376 counties with the highest number of new cases per capita, the overwhelming majority — 93% of those counties — went for Trump, a rate above other less severely hit areas.

Most were rural counties in Montana, the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa and Wisconsin — the kinds of areas that often have lower rates of adherence to social distancing, mask-wearing and other public health measures, and have been a focal point for much of the latest surge in cases.

But, because it’s easy to deny this sort of reality, since most of us aren’t epidemiologists nor ER personnel, it’ll just be denied, denied, denied. Because this sort of thing doesn’t happen to good, God-fearing folks.

Family may be missed, or be severely impaired by “long-Covid,” but it won’t be connected to the disdain for expert opinion. That disdain has long been one of the central themes of the GOP, conveyed by such GOP superstars as former Speaker Ryan (R-WI).

Gah!

I like Daddy Bartholomew’s plan for dealing with Senator McConnell (R-KY), Senate Majority Leader, if he’s still in the same position come Jan 22, 2021:

So, McConnell won’t give proper consideration to Biden’s cabinet picks, eh?

At least, it seems to be a serious concern in the media, and would absolutely be in line with McConnell’s brand of evil…

Here’s an idea:

1) Put together a slate of appointments that truly represent the people he wants, and submit it to the Senate.

2) Quietly appoint people to “Acting” positions, people who would be guaranteed to drive McConnell and his ilk into apoplectic frenzies.

3) Announce that these “Acting” appointments will be replaced as soon as the Senate approves Biden’s submitted slate.

4) Begin a media blitz for the purpose of publicizing McConnell’s failure to give Biden’s choices due consideration, with a constant review of the history of presidential cabinet choices and Senate confirmations.

5) Proceed with governing the nation.

Perhaps Rep AOC (D-NY) as Acting Secretary of the Interior?

It’s almost like a game that someone could issue and the left play at home in the evenings.

It’s worth noting, given my occasional predilection for precise communication, that the language predominant in the news organizations does a disservice to the election. It characterizes, inadvertent as it may be, the votes that make up an election as living, changing, mutating thing.

They’re not.

For example, here’s WaPo:

Even some Trump supporters are battling among themselves about how hard they are fighting for the president to reverse the vote counts in states such as Pennsylvania and Georgia, which flipped to Joe Biden early Friday. Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Tex.) tweeted in agreement with Trump’s claims that “irregularities have been flagrant” in the vote counting but opened the door slightly to a concession, suggesting that Republicans “must accept the final results” if they eventually consider it a fair review process.

The bold is mine, and is the target of my objection. Using this language contributes to the enemies of democracy agenda of discrediting elections, by making the vote seem like a responsive, collective entity that can be influenced, post facto, by the agencies involved in the contest.

This is wrong.

An election is constituted of the votes that are collected by the designated agency by one or more methods, each with possibly its own deadline (compare mailed ballots from overseas military personnel with civilians living in the area conducting the election).

Once collected, they do not legally change, but that is what the generally accepted language of flipping implies, except for the legally part. And any comparison with quantum mechanics’ collapsing probability functions is right out.

A far better comparison from which to draw language is that of a mineral field. Without proper experience and tools, to the eye a craggy field of rocks may be barren of value; to the expert, however, they note tell-tale signs, begin using their tools expertly, start exploring and, eventually, uncover all the valuable minerals.

But those minerals were always there.

As, similarly, the votes were there. Pennsylvania didn’t flip. All that happened is that our exploration of the cast votes became more and more comprehensive, and as the counting transitioned from Trump leaning areas to Biden leaning areas, our knowledge became better and better.

But there were no perturbations to that ‘field of votes.’

National media needs to work out better communications so that they don’t mislead citizens into thinking that voting results are being stolen. It’s simply destructive to the polity to do so. And that’s where this language leads.

In case you haven’t followed the Senate races in depth, both of the Georgia seats were up for grabs, one a special election, and Georgia election rules require a 50% threshold be met on Election Day, or a runoff occurs in early January.

The Lincoln Project isn’t finished cookie-monstering the President. Here’s their opening shot.

We’re staying in the fight: to defeat Trumpism we must also defeat David Perdue.

Let’s elect Jon Ossoff. pic.twitter.com/p7IAPaCaZY

— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) November 6, 2020

It’s a real shaming of Senator Perdue, because it’s all true and he can’t retort to it. All he can hope is that the GOP’s toxic team politics will carry him across the line, and, at the moment, it hasn’t. Will it in January? Or will the toll of the pandemic, The Lincoln Project, and Jon Ossoff’s attack ads finish him off?

This little guy showed up in our front yard this morning.

Too bad the zoom on our smartphones isn’t so good.