US Election

[Chris Preston]

How can they begin the process in the courts? Arrive before a judge with no evidence?

That has been the plan with the current batch of lawsuits.

[Chris Preston]

Interestingly, Trump's just sacked his defence secretary. The guy who was displeased about Trump's use of military forces against BLM protestors earlier this year.

I know he sacks a lot of folks, and we probably shouldn't read too much into it, but I'd love to know what contentious national defence issue they were arguing about in the last few days.

Not sure you should read too much into this. One thing Trump is really good at his holding a grudge.

[lpm]

How can they begin the process in the courts? Arrive before a judge with no evidence?

That has been the plan with the current batch of lawsuits.

And look what happened with the previous batch. They immediately lost. "We're not allowed to have observers!" "Do you have any observers?" "Uh... well... yes." "What's your problem then?"

[Chris Preston]

You forget it was a non-zero number of observers.

That makes all the difference.

[Vertigowooyay]

And Bill Barr has ordered prosecutors to investigate the fraud that never happened.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... SApp_Other

I’m getting quite worried they’ll end up overturning the result even in the absence of evidence.

Never going to happen.

How can they begin the process in the courts? Arrive before a judge with no evidence?

Depends if they manufacture some or not.

[El Pollo Diablo]

It's not about winning the election, or removing Biden, it's about creating a narrative. The Atlantic article posted by Chops on the other thread makes it clear what's going on. Firstly, it's about trying to maintain the base that Trump has built - the same base that thinks democracy is sh.t, that thought Obama was a Kenyan, etc - and keep them active for the republicans. Secondly, it's about Trump's ego and his inability to accept defeat because of his narcissism - he literally is incapable of accepting that he's lost, so there has to be a reason why. Thirdly, any republicans who want to continue being elected and think trump is wrong will get massacred* for breaking the narrative. And so on.

The republicans have been involved in a decades-long fight to suppress democracy. It helps them win elections. That's why they're keeping on at this. They don't expect Trump will get a second term. They think it gives them a reason to fight the next election.




*Politically. Only. Probably.

[EACLucifer]

And Bill Barr has ordered prosecutors to investigate the fraud that never happened.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... SApp_Other

I’m getting quite worried they’ll end up overturning the result even in the absence of evidence.

For what it's worth, they are currently something like 0-11 on challenges, with an appeal in Michigan on hold because their lawyers don't know how to attach the correct paperwork to an appeal filing, and small print reveals more than half their fundraising on this issue is actually going to pay campaign debt

[lpm]

It's not about winning the election, or removing Biden, it's about creating a narrative. The Atlantic article posted by Chops on the other thread makes it clear what's going on. Firstly, it's about trying to maintain the base that Trump has built - the same base that thinks democracy is sh.t, that thought Obama was a Kenyan, etc - and keep them active for the republicans. Secondly, it's about Trump's ego and his inability to accept defeat because of his narcissism - he literally is incapable of accepting that he's lost, so there has to be a reason why. Thirdly, any republicans who want to continue being elected and think trump is wrong will get massacred* for breaking the narrative. And so on.

The republicans have been involved in a decades-long fight to suppress democracy. It helps them win elections. That's why they're keeping on at this. They don't expect Trump will get a second term. They think it gives them a reason to fight the next election.




*Politically. Only. Probably.

It's very cheap to hire a lawyer and file a bunch of lawsuits. Press releases with a filing fee, someone called them.

There's the potential to raise $ millions off the back of these lawsuits while only spending $ thousands.

[dyqik]

It's still giving me existential fear, and making me research jobs in Canada, mind.

[lpm]

The lawyer hired by the Trump campaign to file the election "fraud" case in Pennsylvania is a local divorce lawyer. These are not cases intended to be argued in front of the supreme court.

[El Pollo Diablo]

One thing for people to bear in mind is that Trump is now free to fight the 2024 election...

[El Pollo Diablo]

and as if by magic
https://www.axios.com/trump-2024-presid ... ce=twitter

[dyqik]

One thing for people to bear in mind is that Trump is now free to fight the 2024 election...

Hah, a 78 year old getting elected president? As if.

[Sciolus]

Curiously, trump2024.com only seems to have been registered 18 months ago, apparently by a squatter, while trump2028, 2032 and 2036 were registered by various organisations at various times in 2017. I haven't checked Ivanka2028.com.

[Sciolus]

Now that most of the counting has been done, what is the verdict on the polling? Presumably not quite as over-optimistic as thought on Tuesday, but still quite over-optimistic?

[noggins]

the post-war anarchy could not have been anticipated

I think this is the worst lie of all.

During the First Gulf War the entire western politico-military thinksphere lined up and solemnly explained Why We Shouldn't Go On To Baghdad.
Civil War. Boost to Iran. There forever. etc. etc.

[lpm]

Now that most of the counting has been done, what is the verdict on the polling? Presumably not quite as over-optimistic as thought on Tuesday, but still quite over-optimistic?

Pretty bad. Right at the edge of the error margins, plus the second time in a row that polls underestimated Trump.

There are states and races where the polling was way past the error margins - Florida, Wisconsin, the Maine senate race...

I have a suspicion that mail-in voting is part of it - the US system is terrible with secrecy envelopes and complicated signatures. Loads of casual voters would have said f.ck that to the admin of it all and not bothered returning.

[Bird on a Fire]

One thing for people to bear in mind is that Trump is now free to fight the 2024 election...

It would be fun if the spectre of Trump divides and paralyses the GOP for the next four years.

OTOH I don't think convicted felons are allowed to run, so it's unlikely he'll actually be free to fight in 2024 itself.

[El Pollo Diablo]

One thing for people to bear in mind is that Trump is now free to fight the 2024 election...

It would be fun if the spectre of Trump divides and paralyses the GOP for the next four years.

OTOH I don't think convicted felons are allowed to run, so it's unlikely he'll actually be free to fight in 2024 itself.

Hahahaha yes that is the dream.

[Bird on a Fire]

One thing for people to bear in mind is that Trump is now free to fight the 2024 election...

It would be fun if the spectre of Trump divides and paralyses the GOP for the next four years.

OTOH I don't think convicted felons are allowed to run, so it's unlikely he'll actually be free to fight in 2024 itself.

Hahahaha yes that is the dream.

I continue to pretend to myself that the US has a functioning judicial system. I'm not sure why, exactly.

[Allo V Psycho]

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... atulations

I don't think I can add anything to further expand on the level of complete f.ckwittery incompetence this indicates.

[lpm]

I don't believe that story can be true. Someone has faked this picture. To be true it would need someone to do more work than simply starting again.

[Bird on a Fire]

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... atulations

I don't think I can add anything to further expand on the level of complete f.ckwittery incompetence this indicates.

WTAF?

I literally cannot even fathom how that's possible. Like, I couldn't make an image like that if I tried.

As with so many things these days, I don't even see how it could be an accident. What software would allow you to think you've deleted a previous bit of text when you've actually only made it very faint and small? And why do only some bits of text become visible with the colour-change, rather than the entire message? It seems like it would be incredibly technically difficult to produce an image like that, which puts it beyond the reach of a simple f.ckup.

ETA ninja'd by lpm - I like to assume Guido Fawkes and the Graun have fact-checked this incredibly carefully, but.

[Fishnut]

I couldn't believe it either. It's not an error that comes about from time-saving or taking shortcuts. It seems to require more effort, not less. But 2020 hits again and it seems the government has admitted it's real.

A UK government spokesperson said: “As you’d expect, two statements were prepared in advance for the outcome of this closely contested election.

"A technical error meant that parts of the alternative message were embedded in the background of the graphic.”

[Grumble]

I don't believe that story can be true. Someone has faked this picture. To be true it would need someone to do more work than simply starting again.

I just went and grabbed the picture from the original tweet and tried it myself. It’s true. I suspect something like the old text hanging around above the replacement text which I think you can set Word up to do?


But really, I don’t care about this at all. Let’s not pretend it’s important.