Update: My coworker informs me that there are already protests on the north side of Pittsburgh. I was hoping this wouldn’t happen. I got my bug out bag all ready to go if it spreads.
Somebody should go tell Trump that it’s over, Mitch. Do it now before the shit hits the fan and people get hurt.
******************
This is what I woke up to this morning:
It wasn’t like this the day after Election Day in 2016. That year, the day after was cold and rainy and dark. It matched the mood of everyone I saw at the bus station. Black bus passengers looked at me like I had personally betrayed them. I felt it.
But it’s been beautiful and sunny all week. A glorious fall.
I realize that weather has nothing to do with it.
********************
Great Weather and good news, perfect together:
{{sad trombone for Trump}}
******************
Ok, this sounds so typical of Trump, asking his Republican voters in PA to commit voter fraud:
Here’s why this is the dumbest idea ever:
If these voters returned their votes yesterday or today by mail, the postmark will be 11/5 or 11/6. That will violate the rule that all mail in ballots must have a 11/3 postmark but it doesn’t exclude ballots returned in time where the postmark is missing or illegible. All of the correctly postmarked ballots that arrived up to three days late are sequestered so as to not affect the legitimacy of the other mail in ballots that arrived on or before 11/3.
So right away, these voters have a problem. Their votes are too late to be accepted or sequestered if they have a valid postmark of 11/4 or later.
The other alternative is to use the drop boxes. Ok, that’s a problem because the election is over and the drop boxes are no longer accepting ballots or are not available.
So they can’t mail them in, they can’t use a drop box, what else is left? The voter could try to turn it in at the board of elections. But then someone is going to say, “Sorry, hon, this ballot is no good anymore. You missed the cut off date.” The three day extension wasn’t meant for people too lazy to vote who had second thoughts and nag emails from their dear leader. It was intended to help voters who mailed back their ballots on time but arrival didn’t happen until up to three days later.
They can’t even use the excuse that they have to cure their ballots since the ballot was never turned in and rejected for obvious reasons, like wrong precinct printed on ballot or missing signature or missing security envelope. There is no legitimate excuse to return a ballot at this late date.
Now, I don’t think anyone who tries this is going to be charged with voter fraud. But I don’t think the Trump campaign understood what they were up against in PA. The ballot rules were loophole proof. Anyone who asked for a mail in ballot and received one knew what they had to do and what would be disallowed. It was designed to deter fraud in about every way you could imagine. I mean, if you can’t cheat, why bother? Just follow the instructions and nobody gets hurt.
Trump was mentally deficient if he thought he could get around this at the last minute.
**************
He passed the torch to Stacey and he would be so proud of her today.
Filed under: General |
The Confluence 
In that pic, I’m looking over the neighbor’s yard. She’s the only Trump nugget on the street.
😏
Sad.
“I see the light of a clear blue morning.”
( I love the version by The Wailin’ Jennys. )
Weekly reminder:
Friday nights 8 PM – 9 PM North American Central Time:
The Magical Mystery Tour. Host Tom Wood takes a look at the Beatles from a different angle each week.
Friday nights 9 PM – 12 AM North American Central Time:
Beaker Street, the legendary rock radio program, has returned. Iconic host Clyde Clifford has returned from his medical absence.
Both shows can be found at http://arkansasrocks.com/
If you can’t catch Beaker Street live, MP3 files are available soon afterward at https://beakerstreetsetlists.com/
I am happy for all the people who stood in lines for eight hours to vote, because they knew it was so important. The Republicans have done everything they can to discourage people from voting, but people did vote. And so many made phone calls, gave money, and did anything they could in the face of the virus. They needed a result to validate all of that.
I will never get over 2016. But this has to make us feel a little better, at least. We have hope, and we will have people running the country who will try to do good things, in contrast to what we have seen for four years, which was every single thing bad and malicious, without respite. Just not seeing Trump’s hulking form on the AOL welcome screen every single day, will be a major relief.
Somewhat related to the famous art and literature critic John Ruskin’s concept of the “pathetic fallacy,’ was the writing technique of having the weather mirror the moods and emotions of the characters and the story. I have always liked it. Du Maurier’s and the Brontes’ novels come to mind, and the writing of the Romantic poets on both continents. Very 19th Century. I remember just staying in bed all day after the Hillary tragedy, and I don’t even remember what the weather was.
Let’s celebrate today, William. Put memories of past losses behind. A win is a win. We’ll take it.