Scrutable

dyqik wrote: Mon Dec 14, 2020 8:36 pm Trump is now (this morning) suing in New Mexico, in order to throw out the election results and have the Democratic majority New Mexico state legislature choose the electors.

lpm wrote: Mon Dec 14, 2020 8:57 pm Jesus, this is close. We got complacent maybe.

Biden's lead has been cut to just 11 votes.

240-229

And Montana's 3 is next up which could well bring it to just an 8 vote lead.

After that the only states left to vote are California, Oregon and Hawaii, all notorious swing states.

Little waster wrote: Mon Dec 14, 2020 10:07 pm ++++++BREAKING NEWS+++++++

There is an alternative electoral college vote. It is like that time there were all those Popes. Trump is currently 538-0 in this other electoral college. No word yet on how the US Constitution deals with two presumably equally legitimate electoral colleges sitting in parallel, presumably best of three rounds of Ker-Plunk.


++++++BREAKING NEWS+++++++

lpm wrote: Mon Dec 14, 2020 10:57 pm What's this, at the last minute a big dump of votes comes in for Biden? Yeah right.

dyqik wrote: Mon Dec 14, 2020 10:13 pm

Little waster wrote: Mon Dec 14, 2020 10:07 pm ++++++BREAKING NEWS+++++++

There is an alternative electoral college vote. It is like that time there were all those Popes. Trump is currently 538-0 in this other electoral college. No word yet on how the US Constitution deals with two presumably equally legitimate electoral colleges sitting in parallel, presumably best of three rounds of Ker-Plunk.


++++++BREAKING NEWS+++++++

It's all laid out explicitly in the Electoral Counting Act.

All Electors certified by the safe-harbor deadline of 8th December are presumed to be the only valid electors from that state. That's every state except Wisconsin.

The Democratic majority in the House plus the state Executives in the question are enough to carry the votes, whatever the Senate votes. And the Senate will vote to count the real votes, anyway (50 R vs 48 D, with at least Romney, Murkowski and Toomey voting to reject the fake votes).

dyqik wrote: Tue Dec 15, 2020 1:46 am Cornyn, Braun, Blunt and Thune probably as well now.

(CNN)Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for the first time acknowledged Joe Biden's victory and referred to him as President-elect, six weeks after Election Day and amid President Donald Trump's continued refusal to accept defeat.

"The electoral college has spoken," McConnell said in remarks from the Senate floor in the US Capitol, adding, "Today I want to congratulate President-elect Joe Biden."

jimbob wrote: Tue Dec 15, 2020 5:20 pm https://edition.cnn.com/2020/12/15/poli ... index.html

(CNN)Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for the first time acknowledged Joe Biden's victory and referred to him as President-elect, six weeks after Election Day and amid President Donald Trump's continued refusal to accept defeat.

"The electoral college has spoken," McConnell said in remarks from the Senate floor in the US Capitol, adding, "Today I want to congratulate President-elect Joe Biden."

I'm sure that's going to look bad all round. Too late for anyone reasonable and too soon for the nutjobs.

Grumble wrote: Tue Dec 15, 2020 6:31 am

dyqik wrote: Tue Dec 15, 2020 1:46 am Cornyn, Braun, Blunt and Thune probably as well now.

Read that as Corbyn for a second

On Facebook, North Carolina state Sen. Bob Steinburg (R) paraphrased a conservative commentator to make a radical suggestion: President Trump should declare a national emergency, suspend civil rights and remain in power over his baseless claims of election fraud.

Asked by a local TV station on Tuesday whether he stands by those sentiments, Steinburg doubled down, insisting that nefarious forces had corrupted President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.

“There’s something going on here bigger than what anybody is willing to talk about,” Steinburg told WRAL Tuesday evening. “I don’t like conspiracy theories at all. But something is going on here that’s bigger than meets the eye.”

“President Trump must declare a national emergency,” the 72-year-old state senator wrote in the post, which has since been deleted. “Trump should also invoke the Insurrection Act.”

No, Biden hasn't won yet — one more nightmare scenario

The goal is not to win, the goal is to delay, to prevent the "tiebreaking" provision of the ECA from happening.

Remember, the presiding officer under the ECA is Mike Pence. He can be expected to interpret the rules in a way highly favorable to the Republicans. He can help the GOP delay any resolution until about Jan. 18.

Now comes the endgame maneuver. The Constitution specifies that if there is no Electoral College winner, the Senate chooses the vice president and the House picks the president. The Senate, claiming that there is no Electoral College result, picks Pence.

And it won't be a Biden-Pence administration. The Democratic majority in the House can't pick Biden because when picking a president, the House votes by state delegation, and the Republicans control more House delegations.

The House Democrats will never let that vote happen. Which means we won't have a president. If we don't have a president by noon on Jan. 20, the law of presidential succession comes into play.

headshot wrote: Wed Dec 16, 2020 6:36 pm Any thoughts on this? https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house ... e-scenario

No, Biden hasn't won yet — one more nightmare scenario

The goal is not to win, the goal is to delay, to prevent the "tiebreaking" provision of the ECA from happening.

Remember, the presiding officer under the ECA is Mike Pence. He can be expected to interpret the rules in a way highly favorable to the Republicans. He can help the GOP delay any resolution until about Jan. 18.

Now comes the endgame maneuver. The Constitution specifies that if there is no Electoral College winner, the Senate chooses the vice president and the House picks the president. The Senate, claiming that there is no Electoral College result, picks Pence.

And it won't be a Biden-Pence administration. The Democratic majority in the House can't pick Biden because when picking a president, the House votes by state delegation, and the Republicans control more House delegations.

The House Democrats will never let that vote happen. Which means we won't have a president. If we don't have a president by noon on Jan. 20, the law of presidential succession comes into play.

(CNN) A former police captain who was part of a private citizens group investigating still unsubstantiated 2020 election fraud claims was charged Tuesday with running a man off the road and pointing a gun to his head two weeks before the election, the Harris County district attorney said in a statement.
Prosecutors say former Houston Police captain Mark Anthony Aguirre said he believed the man was transporting fraudulent ballots.
"I believe it's a political prosecution," Terry Yates, Aguirre's attorney, told CNN affiliate KTRK.

Prosecutors say Aguirre was paid over a quarter million dollars by a private group called "Liberty Center for God and Country" to investigate alleged ballot schemes in the Houston area.

Bird on a Fire wrote: Wed Dec 16, 2020 7:23 pm Former Houston police captain charged with pointing gun at air-conditioner repairman, believing he was a voter fraud 'mastermind'

(CNN) A former police captain who was part of a private citizens group investigating still unsubstantiated 2020 election fraud claims was charged Tuesday with running a man off the road and pointing a gun to his head two weeks before the election, the Harris County district attorney said in a statement.
Prosecutors say former Houston Police captain Mark Anthony Aguirre said he believed the man was transporting fraudulent ballots.
"I believe it's a political prosecution," Terry Yates, Aguirre's attorney, told CNN affiliate KTRK.

Prosecutors say Aguirre was paid over a quarter million dollars by a private group called "Liberty Center for God and Country" to investigate alleged ballot schemes in the Houston area.

lpm wrote: Wed Dec 16, 2020 7:00 pm No, the VP would become President.

But the Senate would not pick Pence in this scenario - a whole bunch of Republican Senators have already confirmed a Biden victory. People like Romney would vote with the Democrats to stop this nonsense.

Cardinal Fang wrote: Wed Dec 16, 2020 7:11 pm There's a guy called Jay Kuo on FB who's a lawyer and Political Science major who has been posting debunks of these sort of rumours and myths since the elections. He's worth looking up and following.

This is his take on what Mike Pence would be able to actually do (the TL;DR version - not a lot)


CF

Donald Trump’s neighbours at his Mar-a-Lago private club in Palm Beach, Florida, are not excited at the prospect of him moving there post presidency and have initiated legal action to stop him from making it his permanent residence once he leaves the White House.

The neighbours have delivered a demand letter to the town authorities of Palm Beach, addressed to the US Secret Service, which said that Mr Trump lost his legal right to permanently live at Mar-a-Lago due to an agreement he signed in 1993 when he turned his private residence to a private club.

In 1993, the president made a deal that bars any of the club members from spending more than 21 days a year in the club’s guest suites or staying there for longer than seven consecutive days. At that time, the town council was assured that the president would not live at Mar-a-Lago.

Bird on a Fire wrote: Wed Dec 16, 2020 8:57 pm Riyadh is looking increasingly likely, as Trump’s Mar-a-Lago neighbours initiate legal action to stop him moving there when he leaves White House.

Donald Trump’s neighbours at his Mar-a-Lago private club in Palm Beach, Florida, are not excited at the prospect of him moving there post presidency and have initiated legal action to stop him from making it his permanent residence once he leaves the White House.

The neighbours have delivered a demand letter to the town authorities of Palm Beach, addressed to the US Secret Service, which said that Mr Trump lost his legal right to permanently live at Mar-a-Lago due to an agreement he signed in 1993 when he turned his private residence to a private club.

In 1993, the president made a deal that bars any of the club members from spending more than 21 days a year in the club’s guest suites or staying there for longer than seven consecutive days. At that time, the town council was assured that the president would not live at Mar-a-Lago.