US Election 2020

[Scot Dutchy]

I think the most significant part of this is that it appears to show the tangible result of decades of right wing media demonizing the Democratic Party (in more extreme examples, literally claiming that the Democratic Party is controlled and inhabited by Satanists). The relevant quote: '[The Republican] base won't punish this sort of behavior [attempting to overturn an election], they'll likely applaud it.'

People living in a nation with a centuries-long tradition of democracy don't just decide one day to support autocracy. They have to have what they consider good reasons to come to that position. A large percentage of Republicans view the Democratic Party as 'socialist,' 'anti-American,' 'anti-Christian,' 'for open borders,' etc., in other words, a political party intent on destroying the nation. When somebody believes that sort of thing then 'saving the country' can a legitimate reason in their mind for discarding democracy.

It is not a democracy by any stretch of the imagination. Never has been. It is a system set up by the rich for the rich.

[L'Emmerdeur]

[Cunt]

A classic example of the dangers of believing that the means (discarding democratic norms) justify the ends (saving God's Own Country from evil atheistic marxists)...

Would you support democratic norms if people voted to keep using large amounts of excess fuel?

[Scot Dutchy]

Nice one Emmy. No argument I see. What is democratic about the US election system? Just one stage. A banana republic is more democratic. The US does not know what democracy means.

[pErvinalia]

The President isn't the only branch of the US government.

[JimC]

A classic example of the dangers of believing that the means (discarding democratic norms) justify the ends (saving God's Own Country from evil atheistic marxists)...

Would you support democratic norms if people voted to keep using large amounts of excess fuel?

Luckily, there would not be the required number of morons to do that in Oz.

Of course, it may well be different in your part of Canada...

[Cunt]

It really is. Lots of people choose to heat unused space all winter long.

Oz might not need heat, but I doubt you'll change the minds of the residents of Sachs Harbour. I mean, try if you like, but my instincts tell me it would be really hard for you to empathize with such a different world. Seriously.

I visited briefly years ago, and still think often about some of the kinds of challenges of living in a fly-in community. The kinds of questions it raises about what 'democratic' might mean to a tiny population who feel they have had their land stolen by colonizers, when they go cast their vote for their Federal representative.

[Tero]

Gohmert case went to some federal court
https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2020/12/29/poli ... index.html
and will probably not be heard. It has crazy legal language.

[L'Emmerdeur]

In the 'yes, my Zippo still works' department:

'Raffensperger: "No Fraudulent Absentee Ballots" In Audit'

Joe Biden has probably lost count of how many times he's won the state of Georgia at this point, but he can add another win thanks to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. Georgia county elections offices had already undergone a hand recount audit, and a machine recount at Donald Trump’s request before dozens of lawsuits with unsubstantiated fraud claims were thrown out of courts across the country. It was just another in a series of recent defeats for the Trump campaign in the Peach State.

Earlier in the month, Raffensperger said his office had investigated credible allegations that Cobb County improperly performed signature matches during the June primary, so he ordered a signature audit for the November election in that county. Raffensperger's office partnered with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to conduct the audit, which was the first of its kind in Georgia. Trump has publicly called for Raffensperger and Georgia Governor Brian Kemp to be jailed over their refusal to join his attempts to overturn the election results.

This and all the results confirming the same basic fact that voting fraud is extremely rare in the US will be ignored in the coming months and years as the Republican Party pushes ever more draconian restrictions on suffrage in the name of 'preventing voter fraud.'

[Tero]

It's likely Dems will get at least 1 more senator in Jan. Mitch would stay in power but less so:
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/ge ... id=rrpromo

[Joe]

Someone's going rogue?

GOP senator to delay affirming Biden victory by forcing votes on Electoral College results

Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley said Wednesday he will object when Congress counts the Electoral College votes next week, which will force lawmakers in both the House and Senate to vote on whether to accept the results of President-elect Joe Biden's victory.

Hawley is the first senator to announce plans to object to the results, which is significant because both a House member and senator are required to mount an objection when Congress counts the Electoral College votes on January 6.

The objection will not change the outcome of the election, only delaying the inevitable affirmation of Biden's victory in November over President Donald Trump. Democrats will reject any objections in the House, and multiple Republican senators have argued against an objection that will provide a platform for Trump's baseless conspiracy theories claiming the election was stolen from him.

Hawley's objection, which other senators may still join, will also put many of his Senate Republican colleagues in a difficult political position, forcing them to vote on whether to side with Trump or with the popular will of the voters.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has privately urged Senate Republicans not to join the group of House members who are planning to object. Senate Majority Whip John Thune argued against it publicly, prompting a rebuke from Trump on Twitter and the threat of a primary challenge.

Trump has been pushing for Congress to try to overturn the election result as his campaign's attempts to overturn the election through the courts have been repeatedly rejected.

[Tero]

It took about 10 minutes when Trump was challenged in 2017.

[Brian Peacock]

I am the only one who thinks it wouldn't be the end of the world if the Repugs overturned the election?

[Tero]

Jan 6th issues:
The coronavirus factor

There’s one aspect of the Jan. 6 process that House and Senate aides say will necessarily have to change — and it could have untold consequences. It’s simply untenable, they say, to cram 535 lawmakers into the House chamber, possibly for a day-long session, while Trump allies lodge objection after objection.

(Politico)

Law:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_Count_Act
is essentially useless

[Tero]

I am the only one who thinks it wouldn't be the end of the world if the Repugs overturned the election?

Depends. Everyone on our continent does.