Debbie Downers will always find stuff to complain about, but I’m still blissed-out by the election results. We did so much to take down the orange fascist for four years, and at the end of the day, so many of our institutions and checks on power failed us utterly… but we could still vote him out. Celebrate yourselves! We did it! After all of those attempts at voter suppression (many of them successful) and all of that ratf–king by conservatives, and we STILL voted him out. It’s amazing.
Well, this week is going to be Republicans Coming To Terms With Loss. So many of them are already crying and asking for time to sort through their feelings, which is particularly funny from the F–k Your Feelings administration. Mitt Romney is one of the few Republicans currently in office to admit the obvious, which is that they lost. Mitch McConnell is silent as the grave, and Lindsey Graham is still all-in on Trump. Lady G was on Fox News yesterday and he said this: “If Republicans don’t challenge and change the U.S. election system, there will never be another Republican president elected again. President Trump should not concede. We’re down to less — 10,000 votes in Georgia. He’s going to win North Carolina. We have gone from 93,000 votes to less than 20,000 votes in Arizona, where more — more votes to be counted.” Err- yeah, Trump is going to win North Carolina. Arizona is a toss up, but I’m pretty sure Biden will win there by a narrow margin when all the votes are counted. But Lady G is right about one thing: if the GOP gets their way and codifies voter suppression and ratf–king into the system, that’s truly their only shot at ever winning a national election again.
Meanwhile, George W. Bush said words on Sunday about the Biden-Harris victory. Again, he’s one of the few Republicans to admit that President-Elect Joe Biden won fair and square.
In a statement, Mr. Bush revealed he spoke with Mr. Biden and Harris on the phone and said he offered the president-elect “my prayers for his success and my pledge to help in any way I can.” The former president also marked Harris’s historic election, as she will be the first woman vice president and the first Black vice president.
“Though we have political differences, I know Joe Biden to be a good man, who has won his opportunity to lead and unify our country. The President-elect reiterated that while he ran as a Democrat, he will govern for all Americans. I offered him the same thing I offered Presidents Trump and Obama: my prayers for his success, and my pledge to help in any way I can.”
“The fact that so many of our fellow citizens participated in this election is a positive sign of the health of our democracy and a reminder to the world of its strength,” Bush said. “No matter how you voted, your vote counted. President Trump has the right to request recounts and pursue legal challenges, and any unresolved issues will be properly adjudicated. The American people can have confidence that this election was fundamentally fair, its integrity will be upheld, and its outcome is clear. He [Trump] earned the votes of more than 70 million Americans — an extraordinary political achievement,” Bush said. “They have spoken, and their voices will continue to be heard through elected Republicans at every level of government.”
“The challenges that face our country will demand the best of President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris — and the best of us all,” he said. “We must come together for the sake of our families and neighbors, and for our nation and its future. There is no problem that will not yield to the gathered will of a free people. Laura and I pray for our leaders and their families. We ask for God’s continued blessings on our country. And we urge all Americans to join us in wishing our next President and Vice President well as they prepare to take up their important duties.”
“No matter how you voted, your vote counted. President Trump has the right to request recounts and pursue legal challenges, and any unresolved issues will be properly adjudicated. The American people can have confidence that this election was fundamentally fair, its integrity will be upheld, and its outcome is clear.” That’s a pretty interesting statement, right? He’s saying Trump has every right to be a suckbaby and threaten lawsuits all over the place, but when all is said and done, the outcome is clear and Joe Biden won. Whew. Also: notable that when all was said and done, none of the Bushes endorsed Biden. Or Trump.
Photos courtesy of Getty.
He can pursue all the legal challenges he wants, it isn’t going to change the election.
On our National broadcaster’s flagship current affairs programme, a law professor from one of your universities was interviewed. Forgive me not being able to name him; election week on top of COVID bulletins – my brain is overloaded. Anyway, the professor said the loony ex-prez is entitled to pursue whatever legal challenges he wishes to, but A) they must be initiated at state level, and B) this course of action will do him no good because his assertions have no basis in fact and he has no evidence to support his claims. Eh, let him waste his time and money. I suspect he’ll do it just so he can keep his reality show, “The Real Idiot Of Pennsylvania Avenue” going. I’m betting no one hear cares if he continues to embarrass himself. Now, on top of everything else, he is truly pathetic.
My favorite case so far may be the one in Philly, where Republicans at first claimed their observers were prevented from being in the rooms where votes were counted, and the count should be stopped. One of Trumps attorneys ultimately admitted that wasn’t true, that “a non zero number” of GOP representatives were in fact present. To which the judge replied, “I’m sorry, then what’s your problem?”, and denied the request to stop the count.
In Michigan, Trump’s people asked the court to stop processing absentee ballots, because a GOP election observer was given a sticky note by an unidentified poll worker claiming late ballots weren’t being properly counted. Request denied on several grounds, including the obvious one that they couldn’t provide the name of the poll worker, or any other proof.
Not a W fan but what he said is based in fact unlike the orange lunatic. Of course that doesn’t take away from the fact that Trump lost the electoral college and the popular vote. The former of which is outdated, out of touch and not fit for purpose. Ironically the main takeaway here seems to be the GOP’s objection to mail-in-ballots. That is what Lady G was bitching about.
The point of 70 million Americans voting for a toxic, divisive, misogynistic white supremacist is the real pause for thought here. I have never seen such crazy in all my life.
Half of America is either ruled by pure altruism and greed or they’re just downright morally repugnant.
Not caping for GW in a general sense, but this is a good statement and take. He establishes that Biden won fair and square, but that any presidential loser has the right to demand inquests/recounts/whatever. It would set a horrible precedent if we weren’t allowed to demand recounts in elections.
I suspect he is saying that b/c he knows that the only way SOME of 45’s supporters will shut up is if they see that indeed there is no fraud. Anyhow we know full well these are conspiracy theorists so they’ll even have an issue when lawsuits are dismissed for lack of evidence.
These pathetic ride or die Trump scum can have all the evidence of no wrong doing in the world and it would not change their view that Biden rigged it. Nothing will. I wish interviewers would ask them what more evidence do they want beyond the courts already throwing out case after case due to zero evidence.
The fact is they will claim they’d accept it if it came out Biden won fair and square, but there is nothing and no one that will sway them outside of possibly Trump and we know that truth has never exited that man’s mouth.
I agree. W is bad, but I don’t have a problem with recounts, especially if it’s close.
I hope someone has let the trump campaign know that they’ll likely have to pay for them though, and if the states are smart, they’ll get the cash upfront.
God, they’re not even trying anymore, are they?
If we don’t rig the election process so it goes our way all the time, you know changing the rules to benefit us every election, we may never win again! The amount of dirt 45 has on this asshole must be staggering indeed.
I mean yes, he does have the right to pursue lawsuits and recounts and present legitimate instances of fraud if he has them (he doesn’t). That’s part of the process sometimes and he should knock himself out. It will change nothing, and Biden will be sworn in on January 20. Everybody wins.
Screw W, we all know he doesn’t like trump and trump has talked all kinds of sh!t about him but he didn’t say a single thing before the election and that’s BS. Yeah yeah yeah he doesn’t want to get involved with politics anymore and wants to stay out of the spotlight but that’s some privileged BS because he could’ve changed some minds.
Also, let’s remember what Lady G said about what would happen if Trump became the republican nominee. That sycophant will say anything. I don’t understand in my wildest nightmares why South Carolinians continue to vote for this fool. With him winning handedly and how many people voted against decent HUMAN Biden it makes me realize how many people will fight tooth and nail to stay in an abusive relationship because that’s what it is. These people shit on their supporters and do it in plain sight while cackling and still people will literally die for them.
It reminds me of the episode of The Office when Packer comes back and he constantly makes fun of Kevin but Kevin laughs and makes excuses for it all because he thinks Packer is cool for some effing reason.
He may be saying that because Gore contested his win. Legally, it’s an option, but it didn’t change the outcome.
That’s nice. I’m Canadian, and I’ve never understood the American obsession with “rights.” Seems as though you can apply this freedom to anything and get away with it. “You just shot an unhatched sparrow’s egg!” ‘Yeah, IT’S MY RIGHT! I’M AMERICAN.”
No judge is going to want to bother with suits against other states if he didn’t win PA, though. 🤷🏽♀️
Now that I can think about things other than the end of democracy, I like Laura’s hair! This length and the lighter color and/or highlights look great on her.
Ah, such complicated nostalgia for Bush. It was nice back when I wasn’t terrified of the potential outcome of an election. Just worried, not terrified. RiP John McCain.
Jeb bush also congratulated Biden. W may not have spoken aloud but his actions did. He didn’t appear at the RNC or endorse Trump. Neither did Romney. It was the only time anyone could date that the candidate didn’t have the endorsement of the living former president or nominee of their party. So I don’t care that he didn’t specifically say anything. Actions speak louder than words. Besides, the MAGAites wouldn’t care anyway. I hope trump pisses off to Mar a Lago and skips the inauguration so we don’t have to see his orange sulking face. You know the former presidents and Hillary are going to have huge grins.
Anyone can file a lawsuit at any time for any reason; it doesn’t mean that the case has merit or that the filer has standing. If there is no evidence of fraud (and there isn’t) then the case will be dismissed and he will have incurred the costs of filing and billable hours for the attorneys “defending” his exercise in hubris and futility.
As an aside, my husband and I were talking yesterday about the idiocy of the cultists who truly think that an operation on the magnitude necessary to “rig” the vote in multiple states could be carried out without anyone knowing or blowing the whistle. Hundreds, if not thousands, of people would have had to look the other way while these purported fraudsters carried out their scheme without any outsider or the media catching on, or anyone internal coming forward. The lack of critical thinking and the eagerness to just accept lies at face value is truly disheartening. My 13 year-old has better reasoning skills than these people. Heck, my 8 year-old does, too!
No problem, have recounts. The issue in Michigan was human error and it has been corrected – this was not fraud.
Well OF COURSE he feels that way. That’s how HE became President.
EXACTLY! The 2000 election was a fraud!
Based on what? There was a Florida re count and it went to Supreme Court- btw, al gore didn’t concede until dec 13th
Based on what? There was a Florida re count and it went to Supreme Court- btw, al gore didn’t concede until dec 13th
Anyone who wants to try to persuade me that GWB is a good guy because he somehow got to be friends with Michelle Obama can go jump in a lake.
Couldn’t he just have congratulated Biden and not gone there with the court stuff which was totally unnecessary to bring up.
Bush did a very good job of staying out of news during the eight years Obama was president, he can say whatever he wants.
Why is it “Mr Biden” , “Mr Bush” and “Harris”? The fuck kind of silly semantic sexism is this? It’s either Senator Harris, Ms Vice-President Elect or Ms Harris?!? Who copy edits your bullshit, CBS?