(shortest column I've ever written...)

-CW

And, I believe my idea for the next CW Sunday Night Music Festival and Dance Party will have to wait for another Sunday night.

I think the theme for this Sunday Night writes itself.

Woo hoo!

And, for Liz, a song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DemCQPQPhy4

-CW

What if Republicans and Democrats at the Capitol come together to say that they will return to the business of the day and complete the certification process without delay and without any more spurious objections?

this violent protest and the inability of DC officials to call in their own national guard makes a pretty good case for why DC needs to be its own state.

Great point. :)

Of course, there were fighter jet involved in that affair. Heh.

Now the death cult is attacking congress. I hope they don't do any graffiti. That would be terrible.

The Trumpanzees are under the spell of the Wizard of Orange. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain... he's a con artist.

So to recap: Your icon is a con. Benedict Donald and the GOP who enabled this own it.

If I may be permitted a little off-topic rambling . . .

It's what old men do when they're otherwise useless.

Question - 'How do explain the inexplicable? or, maybe 'How do you rationalize the irrational'??

You're irrational, so please tell us.

Answer - If you're Hillary (or our buddy Kick), you scream "RUSSIAGATE!!"

Well, you do keep rambling incessantly about Russia... you and Donald Trump can't seem to stop fixating on it.

Or, if you're Trump, you holler "IWUZROBBED"!!

Have I mentioned lately that Benedict Donald is the biggest threat to America? He is, you know.

Anybody else smart enough to recognize the equivalence of those responses???

Yes, sir: False equivalence... a frequent theme of the uninformed rambling righties.

You really should read the Mueller Report and the bipartisan Senate Intelligence reports regarding the Trump campaign's conspiracy with Russia to interfere in America's democracy... instead of relying on the Trump rhetoric and whining incessantly about Russia dang near every time you post.

If you'd educate yourself by reading, you'd discover just how totally ignorant your obviously uninformed and constant fixation and rambling about Russia is to the rest of us here; it's very Trumpian of you to constantly obsess over Russia. :)

I'm not smart enough, either. And, neither is the senate majority leader. Heh.

by contrast, there's ZERO credible evidence that anybody anywhere, foreign or domestic, successfully interfered in the 2020 election, and in spite of that fact trump and his allies in congress are right now claiming that the election IS illegitimate. i look forward to numerous future evidence-free "scandals" cooked up against the president-elect which actually ARE based solely on someone not liking the outcome of 2020.

JL

The rest of us are too simple to recognize the equivalence between something that happened and something that didn't...

Question - 'How do explain the inexplicable? or, maybe 'How do you rationalize the irrational'??

Answer - If you're Hillary (or our buddy Kick), you scream "RUSSIAGATE!!"

Or, if you're Trump, you holler "IWUZROBBED"!!

Anybody else smart enough to recognize the equivalence of those responses???

Y'all don't think he'll hold any grudges, do you? :)

What the heck happened!!??

:-)

I didn't fall asleep; you fell asleep! ;)

Several Senate Republicans are privately pointing the finger squarely at President Trump for the failures in Georgia.

"Not since General Sherman has one man done as much damage, to as many people, in as little time. No one in the history of our country turns out voters like Donald Trump. The problem is, the overwhelming majority of them vote against him and anyone loosely affiliated with him."

Man, I mean, you don't use the name "General Sherman" in GEORGIA lightly, if you know what I mean...

I love it when Republicans eat their own...

:-)

-CW

Manchin (and probably others) will not go along with that.

given Republicans stunning loss, do they want to be seen YET again as denying Black Americans the vote in yet another instance?

Yes, they do. There's no question about that.

"Why would that be filibuster-proof?"

True, Democrats would have to do away with the remainder of the filibuster, which is not out of the realm of possibility. Also, given Republicans stunning loss, do they want to be seen YET again as denying Black Americans the vote in yet another instance?

Remember, all these objections about election vote totals have all come in heavily black voting areas ONLY, in Milwaukee, Detroit, Philadelphia and Atlanta. These are the areas Republicans are citing. And ONLY at the top of the ticket. How dumb is it to allege fraud only for the top office, and say that the very same vote down the ballot where Republicans won was at the same time perfectly fine?

"You got that right. A 50/50+1 majority is really not enough of a majority for democrats as they are not as lock steppy as republicans. Biden should get his cabinet picks but I would not expect that much of the progressive agenda at least if/until they can pad their majority in two years."

It can happen a lot FASTER than that! Remember Washington D.C. statehood passed the House. Democrats can pad their Senate majority RIGHT AWAY by adding TWO Democratic D.C. Senators. It only takes a 51 vote majority and you move from a 50/50 tie to a 52 to 50 majority control. And there's absolutely NOTHING Republicans can do about if if Democrats add a state. Once it's done it's a done deal.

"Say what you want about CNN, and much of it is true, I do so love their magic maps and John King analysis. There, I said it."

Personally, I prefer MSNBC and Steve Kornacki and the BIG BOARD. :-D

"If Michale were here, I'd use:"

[39] Elizabeth Miller wrote:

"Well, Michale is not here."

Speaking of which, where is he???

Does anyone think he will EVER come back and honor our bet??? Now that Democrats are taking control of the House, President AND Senate. Michale LOST the TRIFECTA.

"a third of germans voted for hitler because they were broke and desperate."

But how does that explain our Republicans? who believe in:
alternative "facts," conspiracy theories, and compromise equals "traitor?" Not to mention putting party over country, AND obstruction just for the sake of holding onto power?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-scotland-55553493

The Democrats will take control of the Senate agenda and the lead chairs of all those committees that decide things. That's why it matters who gets elected.

You got that right. A 50/50+1 majority is really not enough of a majority for democrats as they are not as lock steppy as republicans. Biden should get his cabinet picks but I would not expect that much of the progressive agenda at least if/until they can pad their majority in two years. I read something like 11 dem seats and 22 repub seat come up next election in the senate. If Biden doesn't blow it and life starts to return to normal by then I would expect Dem gains.

One down, one to go...

:-)

-CW

Heh! There's some funny ones. Thoughts and prayers. ;)

Look, here is what I want. I need for you people in GA to find me 1,300 votes for Ossoff. Flipping the seat would be a great testament to the country.

Heh. I see what you did there. :)

"Bye Mitch" is trending on Twitter...

:-)

-CW

Awesome recap. :)

The Democrats will take control of the Senate agenda and the lead chairs of all those committees that decide things. That's why it matters who gets elected.

Now Breyer can retire.

Here are the approximate remaining votes to be counted:

Chatham County... ~3,000
Coffee County.... ~7,000
DeKalb County.... ~19,000
Fulton County.... ~20,000
Gwinnett County.. ~5,000

Only Coffee County is GOP territory.

Chatham is Savannah. DeKalb, Fulton and Gwinnett are Atlanta area/the 'burbs, and the votes are mail-in ballots and will skew ~90% Democratic.

Translation: :P

Votes are still coming in from largely Democratic counties, Georgia election official says
From CNN's Caroline Kenny

Gabriel Sterling, the voting systems implementation manager, just delivered what he said would be the final briefing from the Georgia secretary of state’s office for the night.

Sterling said overall, it looks like they have about 27,600 or so advance votes to come in. About 19,000 will come in from DeKalb County and about 7,000 from Coffee County. He added that there will be a hodgepodge of other votes in other locations.

There is a small list of incomplete counties: Appling, Bibb, Camden, Cobb, Coffee, DeKalb, Douglas, Floyd, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry, Houston, Lumpkin, Newton and Pickens.

Sterling said there were 1,244,374 votes cast on Election Day, which is more than they anticipated.

He also said the secretary of state's office asked counties to please finish processing absentee ballots that were received on Election Day by lunchtime Wednesday.

On Chatham County, Sterling said they did not just stop counting for the night, and he explained they have counted everything they have.

Chatham has a unique system — they have both a Board of Elections and a Board of Registrations. The Board of Registration gets the ballots in, accepts them, then hands them to Board of Elections to count them. Out of abundance of looking out for employees, they will allow the registration group to finish their work tonight, then hands over in the morning for the Board of Elections to finish. What's left is the absentee ballots that came in today via mail and drop box.

“In terms of the amount of votes that are potentially out there are coming from largely Democratic counties, there are some Republican counties – Floyd, Forsyth, Appling – but they are smaller in comparison to DeKalb's, Gwinnett's, Cobb's and Fulton's,” Sterling said. “That tells you that the outstanding will likely be leaning Democrat at best.”
Sterling said he believes there will be a midmorning update Wednesday.

:-)

-CW

I know, right!? Heh. That commercial was run exclusively in DC... just for Fat Donny. :)

Whatever they can dream up and whatever the remaining funds in the coffers and PAC's will be able to support.

You said you expected a set of lengthy court fights. I asked on what grounds, and you answered with a question that didn't answer me at all.

Do you really expect that Loefler or Perdue will willingly give up the insider trading spigot willfully?

The people choose their representatives, and the losers pack their shit and leave. That's democracy, baby! What grounds would they have to sue? Trumped up grounds... pun intended.

There are no readily handy legal precedents available but then again this cycle has proven that they are no longer required to attempt to cling to power.

I'm sure the Courts/judges in Georgia are quaking in their robes. Heh.

Al Franken?.. I never said it was a "thing" I explicitly said that IF they played their cards right. In my book big difference.

You said nothing at all about any cards, though you did mention playing. Al Franken was a recount situation of 3 tiny digits. That won't apply here. I welcome the fruitless recounts of tens of thousands of votes.

Do you honestly expect the GOP to accept the loss with grace?

Nope... but they won't have a choice because the people choose their electors and not the other way around. Also, a frivolous lawsuit won't last a week in a Court in Georgia if there are no grounds. The burden of proof is on the plaintiffs, and "We don't like the outcome" is frivolous and isn't grounds for a lawsuit. Just ask Trump!

Marc Elias will grab them by the privates again if they really want to go that route. Heh! :)

I'm sending it out to the great state of Georgia, whatever the final result turns out to be.

But, most especially, this is for all of our friends in Georgia who may be taking a peak into Chris's excellent blog tonight.

It's Willie Nelson and Ray Charles and Georgia on our minds ... Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlLUMwo_VVU

On what grounds?

Whatever they can dream up and whatever the remaining funds in the coffers and PAC's will be able to support.

Do you really expect that Loefler or Perdue will willingly give up the insider trading spigot willfully?

There are no readily handy legal precedents available but then again this cycle has proven that they are no longer required to attempt to cling to power.

If that was a "thing," then every losing Senator and Representative could just file a frivolous lawsuit to screw with America's democracy.

Al Franken?.. I never said it was a "thing" I explicitly said that IF they played their cards right. In my book big difference.

Do you honestly expect the GOP to accept the loss with grace?

Yeah, I wondered about that. He's Black, Ossoff isn't. That could be the reason, I dunno (just guessing).

-CW

I bow in your general direction. I am not worthy.

Everyone else -

Go check the most recent results! Now!!!

-CW

Is the name-calling really necessary?

You, you party pooper! ~ Elizabeth Miller

*
Apparently so. :)

When it comes to arguing in the comments section between commenters, never. Which is why I am less around these parts, well that and work...

However, given the behavior of the Governing Over People minority rule segment of the system, I expect a long and lengthy set of court fights.

On what grounds?

If played right the GOP can keep the G dems from being seated for a good 6 to 8 months thus dealing a serious blow to what Biden can get done in his first 100 days...let alone what he could do to get us back on track with the COVID.

If that was a "thing," then every losing Senator and Representative could just file a frivolous lawsuit to screw with America's democracy.

Never underestimate the power of the McTurdle... or the prospect of the loss of power thereof.

However, given the behavior of the Governing Over People minority rule segment of the system, I expect a long and lengthy set of court fights.

If played right the GOP can keep the G dems from being seated for a good 6 to 8 months thus dealing a serious blow to what Biden can get done in his first 100 days...let alone what he could do to get us back on track with the COVID.

In either case things are gonna suck for a bit.

It's all over but the cryin' ...

Correct. Loeffler's race is all but over, and she lost.

That's what happens to morons who cling so tightly to losers like Donald Trump and the QAnonsense nut job candidates. :)

While the the needles has both dems winning.

McTurdle and the seditionists will gladly throw money at keeping them unseated for as long as they can.

Just sayin'...

Just got a new report and there probably isn't enough outstanding votes for the Democrats to overcome the Republican leads. Damn.

Bollocks. :)

That makes me feel a whole lot better. Thanks!

-CW

Just so you know, you are the sole reason why I never get too, too nervous on nights like this. :)

And you said you probably weren't going to make any sense for the rest of the evening... and it is still evening in America. ;)

Want me to translate [47] for you? I think both the Democratic candidates are on track to win the runoff election. Hard work at the end of 2020 pays off in 2021... probably. :)

Just so you know, you are the sole reason why I never get too, too nervous on nights like this. :)

Focus? Focus? Well, okay then.

FUN FACT:

The bulk of the Democratic vote yet to be counted are DeKalb County... of which there are approximately about... oh... 170,000-ish of them and they will likely break approximately 85 to 15 for the Democratic candidates.

Y'all might remember DeKalb County from November when I mentioned there were a shit-ton of uncounted votes still out there in Georgia.

http://www.chrisweigant.com/2020/11/03/closing-time-schedule/#comment-171127

I just had a thought ...

How's about offering up a MIROTW award as part of the FTP columns? You know, in the name of lowering the divisiveness and mean-spiritedness ...

What will it take for people to tire of divided government?

I'd love to see voters give Democrats control of the senate for two years just to see what they'd do with it. Then they can always change it up in two years if they don't like it.

Fulton County

"We are told by an official there that they have on track on processing and should be able to process almost all or if not all ballots tonight."

DeKalb County

"They're waiting to see how the tabulation is going before deciding their timeline tonight."

Cobb County

"Last time during the general, they left around 3 a.m., 4 a.m. and then resumed several hours later. I am told it is going to be a repeat there in Cobb."

Gwinnett County

"I am told by an official there, if it seems achievable, county officials would work through the night."

-CW

All you need are ideas, a willingness to share them, and respect for your fellow commenters and their viewpoints.

i think there's a bit of a disconnect as to how respect is earned. most people would respect a credential, a degree, having run a successful business, or having experience in political campaigns or activism.

Don Harris is an advertisement here, and there is no respect for advertisements here because this website is purportedly "ad-free"... except in "reality," it isn't ad-free as long as Don Harris is allowed to advertise his bullshit here without abatement.

now where's kick with that quote?

That quote:

I have none of the credentials normally listed in a bio. No degrees, no years of running a successful business and no experience in political campaigns or activism. I am simply an average person that has been working and living at survival mode. But I have the only credentials that I believe really matters. I am a citizen and I have an idea that may improve our political system. ~ Don Harris

Don has earned his (lack of) respect with his self-described (lack of) credentials and (lack of) experience.

So to recap:

There is no respect here for:

- Advertisements
- Don Harris the self-described ---> read blockquote above.

The same thing is happening in my neck of the woods.

here's hoping.

JL

And, what we need here is a perspective or two that can challenge the way most of us think about politics.

Perhaps, when the insanity of the elongated 2020 presidential election subsides, we'll have a brave new commenter or two who can share that perspective with us.

The incredible success and efficiency of tele-health medical visits, which covid-19 forced insurance companies to cover.

not that i'm blaming anybody, given the bazillions of nominees in each category and decisions that had to be made. but still, it's a MAJOR change in everybody's healthcare and may remain so even after everybody's vaccinated.

JL

It was just me, thinking out loud, about how the other half feels and sees how things play out.

The other half of what? ;)

I'm not making any sense, I know, and probably won't for the rest of the evening ...

It's okay to not make sense for an entire evening; however, it can become a problem if an evening turns into a whole day and then a string of days and then a whole week and then multiple weeks that pile up into a myriad of months and pretty soon it's an entire presidential term. Then you're looking at a Trump-type derangement problem, EM... good thing we don't suffer from it. :)

focus? how can anyone focus at a time like this?

;)
JL

one of the winning candidates tonight will serve 6 years. the other will serve two.

I know. That's why the outcome of tonight's election cannot possibly be "corrected" in two years and EM's "credible" source sounds "untrustable." I stole that (not a) word from the House minority leader. ;)

If Michale were here, I'd use:

"Stay frosty."
-Aliens

:-)

-CW

there was a slight disagreement over how respect is earned. thought you might want to weigh in.

http://www.chrisweigant.com/2020/12/30/my-2020-mclaughlin-awards-part-2/#comment-173207