Category: Politics

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Sunday/ the Mall is closed

The long, grassy National Mall in Washington DC is home to the Lincoln Memorial and the equally iconic Washington Monument. It fills up with people during the inauguration of a newly elected American president. That will not happen this year with Biden’s inauguration on Wednesday.

The Capitol building, and a large area around it, is patrolled and filled to the hilt with National Guardsmen, US Capitol Police, Washington DC police, the Secret Service – you name it.

I guess it is all a fitting end to the unmitigated disaster that was the Trump presidency.  The FBI published dozens of ‘FBI Seeking Information’ posters with pictures of the Jan 6. attackers. Several characters been marked ‘ARRESTED’ (dude with feet on Nancy Pelosi’s desk; dude with horns & furs, and megaphone; ‘Baked Alaska’, a right-wing social media personality that live-streamed the scene from inside the Capitol with more than 5,100 viewers watching).

Trump is said to entertain the pardoning of at least 100 more criminals, in the final hours of his presidency. One wonders if any of those already arrested by the FBI, will get a pardon. I would hazard a guess and say they will not.    

That non-scalable fence is 8 ft high, but even so, razor wire is also being installed along its top. [Picture from Sunday taken by Evelyn Hockstein/for The Washington Post]
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Wednesday/ impeached, again

And there it is.

From the Washington Post, today. 
Trump’s Senate Trial will start on Jan. 19 at the earliest. Joe Biden’s inauguration is on Jan. 20, at which time Moscow Mitch also gets downgraded to minority leader in the Senate. Trump has no legal team, no credible defense, and the events of Jan. 6 looks worse every day now, as more of what happened is revealed. [Front page of the New York Times for Thu Jan 14]
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Monday/ Article I: Incitement of Insurrection

Part of the Article of Impeachment. There is a reference to the Sat. Jan. 2 phone call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger as well, in which Trump repeatedly tried to strong-arm him, and then threatened him, in his attempt to overturn the certified Georgia results. One can argue that that phone call alone, is an impeachable offense. And then came the run-up to Jan. 6, and Trump’s incitement of his followers at a rally in Georgia. When the assault on the Capitol happened on Jan. 6, the Trump family were watching it unfold on TV, and cheering.

It’s Monday night, and the Instigator-in-Chief is still in the White House.
The Article of Impeachment document has been published.
The latest is that the House will call for a vote on the Article of Impeachment by Wednesday night.

Here’s MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, explaining how Trump could be ousted. The Democrats want A or B, so that Biden can start his Presidency without lengthy impeachment hearings in the Senate. If the Dems are forced to impeach Trump in the House, they may wait several months before sending the Article to the Senate. (Yes, Trump can be impeached in the Senate even though he would already be out of office).
Plan A: Trump resigns, after getting VP Mike Pence to pardon him afterwards (the way Ford pardoned Nixon).
Plan B: Trump is removed by 25th Amendment.  Not likely, but if enough Republicans stay away and do not vote on the Amendment, it will be easier to get to 2/3 from those present in the Senate to vote Trump out with the 25th. 
Plan C: Trump is impeached (again). Also unclear if 2/3 in the Senate will find him guilty. What an indictment of the Republicans: that it’s doubtful if even 17 out of 50 would honor their vow to the Constitution.  (50 Dems + 17 Republicans = 2/3 of 100 Senators).
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Friday/ Pelosi to Trump: you have to resign

Letter from Pelosi’s office today. (I corrected the date for them).

It is starting to look as if Trump is going to be impeached for a second time, with 12 days left in his term.
The rats have started to jump ship. Education Secretary Betsy De Vos, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, Deputy National Security Adviser Matt Pottinger and others have resigned, possibly to avoid getting drawn into supporting Trump’s removal from office with the 25th Amendment.  First step to do this is for VP Mike Pence and for a majority of the cabinet, to provide a written declaration to the Senate .. but Pence is not going to do it. (25th Amendment removal requires 2/3 majorities in both the House and in the Senate).

So now to Impeachment 101 again.
It only requires a majority vote in the House to impeach. (The Democrats are in the majority, check).
Three House members already have a draft with one article for insurrection. (Trump encouraged & egged on the rioters of Wednesday; 5 people died, including a US Capitol Police officer).

Nancy Pelosi seems to be ready to have a vote on Monday.
Impeachment in the House is followed by a Senate trial. Conviction & removal requires 2/3 of the Senate, though. Neither the 25th Amendment nor impeachment automatically disqualifies Trump from running in 2024, but a clause in the 14th Amendment Section III can be written into the impeachment, to bar Trump from ever running again.

Whatever happens: Trump is not going to run again for president.
His Twitter account was permanently suspended today (for inciting violence), leaving himself & his 88 million followers in the dark.
He is likely going to be prosecuted for tax fraud and money laundering by New York State. He pardoned criminals, but he will not be able to pardon himself out of crimes that he would be found guilty of by the state of New York.

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Wednesday/ the trashing of American democracy

‘It was like an attempted coup wrapped inside a violent riot wrapped inside some cosmetic protests on the outside’.
– Representative Jamie Raskin, Democrat of Maryland, several days after the events of Jan 6.

It was a hell of a news day here in the United States.
It started out well enough, with news that the Democratic contenders for Senator were projected to win their races in Georgia.

At the same time, in Washington DC, hundreds of rioters had gathered by the US Capitol, and then many broke into the hallowed US Capitol building while Congress was counting the certified electoral votes.

Members of Congress had to be rushed away to safety, and could only come back several hours later to proceed with the counting. (They were still at it by midnight DC time).

The rioters took the nameplate off of Pelosi’s office door, shattered a mirror in her office and left a threatening note, and just trashed the US Capitol in general.

A female Trump supporter was shot dead in the Capitol. (Late tonight it was reported that four people had died in and around the Capitol).

So far, only 52 arrests have been made (there were many more than 52 invaders in the Capitol & many crimes committed today).
Three suspicious devices with pipe components and wires were found and were removed.

Trump issued a pathetic video (his staff had to prod him), reiterating his lie ‘the election was stolen’ and to the rioters that ‘we love you’ and that they need to go home.
Three of his violence-inciting tweets were removed and his Twitter account was locked for 12 hours on Wednesday night.

We have 14 days to go to January 20. Is Trump plotting his next attack? asked cable news anchor Rachel Maddow.

The cover of the latest Bloomberg Businessweek. Mid-day Wednesday: a hodge-podge of militia men, Confederate flaggers, Trumpers, QAnon conspiracy theorists, Covid-iots (no masks) and just vanilla idiots that call  themselves patriots, on the steps of the US Capitol building. These people think that they own the country, that they own democracy, and that they own all of us. Well: you do not get to do what you want. We still have ‘law and order’, to quote your ‘President’.
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Monday/ what will Pence do?

I cannot wait (rubbing my hands together) for Jan. 20, when the Trump family and their enablers will be evicted from the White House.

Before that, though, tomorrow Tuesday, there is the two Georgia 2020 Senate race run-off elections tomorrow. Each of the Democrats has a slim lead in the polls.  (There was Trump’s subversive phone call on Saturday to Georgia Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, urging him to overturn the certified Presidential election results in Georgia. By now Trump should have been impeached 6 or 7 times already). 

Then on Wednesday, Trump lap dog and VP Mike Pence has to preside over a joint session of Congress. Sealed certificates from each state, that contain a record of their certified electoral votes, will be opened. A dozen or so Republican Senators and a 100+ Republican House members are reportedly going to contest the certified results.

What will Pence do?

Conservative political commentator and Never Trumper offering outside-the-box thoughts, on what Pence would do on Wednesday. I cannot see that happening, though. Pence is the blandest of politicians. He will sit there and ‘hear’ the ‘objections’ to the certified results. Then he will something like ‘it’s time to move on/ to heal the country’, and verify that Joe Biden has won the election. Done.
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Thursday/ New Year’s Eve

Hooray! We get to erase 2020, annus horribilis that it was, and go into 2021.

There are no guarantees that 2021 will be better —but we do have vaccines now, to fight the pandemic with.

The Biden administration will soon start to pick up the pieces from the last four years. At least there was some economic help from the government this year, with more to come (the $600 checks, $300 per week unemployment benefits extended through mid-March).

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Tuesday/ Christmas lights

By sunset (4.18 pm), my neighbors’ Christmas lights across the street are already switched on.
Each of these Tuesdays, I sweep up the last bit of the leaves on my front lawn (to put in the yard waste bin for pickup).

P.S. There’s a ‘Biden for President’ sign on the white picket fence on the right.
All 538 electors voted Monday in the Electoral College*, and it’s now official: Joe Biden 306, Trump 232.

*From CBS news: Electors are not necessarily bound by law to vote according to the state’s results, and there were 10 “faithless electors” in 2016. But most states have laws that nullify the votes of “faithless electors,” and the Supreme Court ruled in July that states can punish them. FairVote found that since the founding of the Electoral College, there have been 167 faithless electors.

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Sunday/ Rudy joins a long list

Rudy Giuliani (76) finds himself in hospital today after testing positive for Covid-19. Giuliani is Trump’s lawyer. I don’t believe he has ever worn a mask in public.

Already a national laughing stock for his embarrassing cameo in the ‘Borat Subsequent Movie’ film, he has not let that stop him from making evermore outlandish, baseless claims about election fraud.

It’s hard to keep track of the hordes of Trump administration officials and staffers that have contracted Covid-19, but the New York Times comes to the rescue (see below).

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Friday/ after all, a solid win for Biden

With very few votes still being counted, the New York Times and other news organizations now report that Biden has won Arizona and Georgia, and Trump has won North Carolina. Biden 306 electoral college votes, Trump 232.

Biden for the win: 306-232 electoral college votes. [Graphic from the New York Times].
The results from the States. Not going to lie: definitely disappointing that the margins in the red states, and esp. in Florida, Ohio and Texas, were as large as they were, favoring Trump. So these voters saw what Trump did in office for four years, and said: Yes, please! We want FOUR MORE YEARS. Unbelievable.
Here’s Biden’s win in the context of the popular (national) vote: on par with Obama 2012.  George W. Bush got his 2000 win despite losing the popular vote. Then there’s Trump 2016: became a one-term IMPEACHED President, that LOST THE NATIONAL VOTE TWICE. Might as well call it quits and move out of the White House right now, no?
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Tuesday/ the time to concede is now

The election has been over for a few days now. President-elect Biden had his first press conference today. I just can’t wait for this criminal administration to be removed from the White House.

Trump & his Trumpublicans have not conceded the election.
They need to — and NOW WOULD BE A GOOD TIME.

Professor of History at Yale, Timothy Snyder @TimothyDSnyder on Twitter, writes in a series of tweets:
1/20.   Democracy is precious and exceptional.
2/20.   Democracy is undone from within rather than from without.
3/20.   The occasion to undo democracy is often an election.
4/20.   The mechanism to undo democracy is usually a fake emergency, a claim that internal enemies have done something outrageous.
5/20.   A tyrant cares about his person, not the Republic.
6/20.   A tyrant fears prosecution and poverty after leaving office.
7/20.   Donald Trump faces criminal investigations and owes a billion dollars to creditors.
8/20.   Donald Trump has said all along that he would ignore the vote count.
9/20.   What Donald Trump is attempting to do has a name: coup d’état. Poorly organized though it might seem, it is not bound to fail. It must be made to fail.
10/20.   Coups are defeated quickly or not at all. While they take place we are meant to look away, as many of us are doing. When they are complete we are powerless.
11/20.   American exceptionalism prevents us from seeing basic truths.
12/20.   Biden voters are wrong to see a Biden administration as inevitable. Take responsibility, Democrats.
13/20.   In an authoritarian situation, the election is only round one. You don’t win by winning round one.
14/20.   Peaceful demonstrations after elections are necessary for transitions away from authoritarianism, as in Poland in 1989, Serbia in 1999, or Belarus right now.
15/20.   It is up to civil society, organized citizens, to defend the vote and to peacefully defend democracy.
16/20.   Dance after the wedding, not before. Take responsibility, Americans.
17/20.   Republicans endorsing the claim of fraud endanger the Republic.
18/20.   Calling an opponent’s victory fraudulent risks assassination, as in Poland in 1922.
19/20.   Creating a myth of a “stab in the back” by internal enemies, as Republicans are helping Trump to do, justifies violence against other citizens, as in interwar Germany.
20/20.   Persuading your voters that the other side cheated starts a downward spiral. Your voters will expect you to cheat next time. Take responsibility, Republicans.

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Saturday/ President-elect Biden

Pennsylvania goes to Biden, as does Nevada. Done.
The White House reality show is cancelled. Come January, the criminals in there will be evicted, every one of them.
The two covers from German news magazine Der Spiegel say it best (one from 2017, and one from just now).

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Friday/ almost there (we hope)

By the time I checked the electoral map first thing this morning, Biden had overtaken Trump in Pennsylvania (20 electoral votes).  His lead widened throughout the day.
As of Friday night, there were still too many uncounted ballots and provisional ballots*, though, for the decision desks at the major networks (ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN) to call Pennsylvania for Biden. (Same for Arizona and Nevada).

*Ballots issued to voters on the spot, but for which each voter’s eligibility to vote still needed to be checked fully.

When will we know? Maybe on Saturday, maybe only by early next week. Pennsylvania OR Arizona + Nevada will get Biden to be President-elect.

There are many ‘parlor game’ questions to entertain in the wake of Trump’s un-American, pathetic and embarrassing (for himself, for the United States) TV appearance on Thursday. He claimed that he had ‘won’ Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Georgia; accused the vote counters of fraud and ranted about legal and illegal votes. The major networks all immediately cut away from him, refusing to be part of his lies and propaganda.

– When will Trump TV (Fox News) call Pennsylvania for Biden? They called Arizona for Biden on Tuesday night!
– Will Trump even concede that he had lost (make a speech)? If he refuses to concede, we may have a constitutional crisis on our hands. Scary.
– Will the electoral college meeting on Dec. 14, have faithless electors (that vote against the election outcome in their state)? Also scary.
– Will Trump even invite Joe Biden to the White House, per the usual protocol?
Time will tell.

Here’s 11th Ave and Pine late this afternoon. Stout Pub & Restaurant is permanently closed and boarded up.
I knew the street corner is in the distance, and I that would reach it if I kept walking.
We do not know when Biden will become President-elect, but he will get there, as long as the vote counting continues.
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Thursday/ the Keystone State is the key

It’s 1 am on the East Coast, where the Pennsylvania* mail-in votes are still being counted.
*nickname The Keystone State.

Joe Biden is about to overtake Trump on the way to claim the 20 electoral votes from Pennsylvania that he needs for the win. (The mail-in votes overwhelmingly favor Biden).

Yes, Biden can still win Arizona and Nevada (17 total electoral votes), which will also get him to 270 for the win.

There was rain the last few days, with beautiful fall colors still around. It’s good to get out of the house and go for a walk, rain or not. This is a street corner on Capitol Hill here in Seattle.
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Wednesday 3.00 pm/ Biden 253, Trump 214

Reporting and graphic from the New York Times.

Biden wins Michigan. (Arizona is imminent .. was in fact already called for Biden by none other than Fox News, last night). Nevada is at 86% with Biden holding a slim lead.

Update 9.00 pm: No further update for the day from the NYT. Associated Press (usually very cautious) have awarded Arizona to Biden (253 goes to 264).
Oh! New single-day record for Covid-19 cases in the US: more than 100,000.

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Wednesday noon/ Biden 237, Trump 213

Reporting and graphic by the New York Times.

Wisconsin is now projected to go to Biden. Biden holds leads in Michigan (16 electoral votes), Arizona (11) and Nevada (6). 237+16+11+6 = 270 for the win. Pennsylvania may be lost to Biden (the hope is that the mail-in vote will catch him up).

Amazingly, the once-in-a-century pandemic that brought on an economic collapse, made very little difference. The polls of Biden +8% missed the mark by a very wide margin (more like Biden +2%), and Republicans stuck to their party.

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Tuesday 11.35 pm PST/ still counting

When all of the votes are counted Joseph R Biden of Delaware will be elected the 46th President of the United States.
– Steve Schmidt from the Lincoln Project @SteveSchmidtSES on Twitter

Good enough for me. I’m going to try to get some sleep. (I see Trump has already falsely proclaimed that he had won, as he had said he would do).

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Tuesday 9.35 pm PST/ my nerves are shot

A sign of confidence from the Biden world: Rufus Gifford, one of his deputy campaign managers, tweeted shortly before midnight East coast time ‘We’re going to win’.  – Thomas Kaplan reporting for the NY Times

It’s still early, but I already feel like Evinrude from The Rescuers.

Evinrude, the dragonfly from The Rescuers (1977), sitting on a leaf stem and worn out, after he had narrowly escaped the jaws of the alligator in the swamp.
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Monday/ is our future red, or blue?

In The Matrix (1999 film), the main character Neo is offered the choice between a red pill and a blue pill by rebel leader Morpheus.
The red pill represents an uncertain future — it would free him from the enslaving control of the machine-generated dream world and allow him to escape into the real world, but living the ‘truth of reality’ is harsher, and more difficult.
On the other hand, the blue pill represents a beautiful prison — it would lead him back to ignorance, living in confined comfort, without want or fear, within the simulated reality of the Matrix.
As described by Morpheus: ‘You take the blue pill … the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill … you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.’ (Neo chooses the red pill and joins the rebellion).
– [From Wikipedia].

The voting ends tomorrow, and then the counting starts.
My fervent hope is that the early results be reassuring — and not terrifying.
Georgia, Florida and North Carolina sit on the East coast, and have experience will mail-in voting. They will also provide breakdowns of in-person and mail-in voting.
If Biden wins even just one of them, it will confirm his status as solid favorite to win.
If Trump wins all three, both candidates still have a path to victory.

A very detailed map of the 2016 election results. It is remarkable how the densely populated cities are Democratic islands in a sea of Republican counties. [Graphic by the New York Times].
I live in the bluest of the blue districts. (More than 9 out 10 people vote Democratic where I live). But yes, there are districts in King County that vote Republican.
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Saturday/ forget Halloween

Friday saw a single-day record of 99,155 new cases, and the crossing of the 9 million mark, for cases nationwide.
No matter.
Trump – from the Republican Party of Death – is still holding super-spreader rallies, in the dying days of his dead campaign.

‘Good people – on both sides’. The white supremacists that marched at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville in 2017, that Trump refused to denounce. [Photo: Edu Bayer for The New York Times]