Election Day Countdown: 4 Days

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After the phone call I just got, I have zero patience for language policing today. If you can’t stomach f-bombs, hit the the exit now.

I am goddamned sick of this tangerine-tainted blowhard and his constant incitement to violence. I am FURIOUS at his malignancy — his trash-talking about anyone who is competent and capable while he systematically fails this country.

I am just so fucking fed up with having to worry about COVID because that slack-assed corrupt sponge can’t be bothered to turn over the job of stemming the pandemic to competent people and instead finds every opportunity to siphon money off every thing he touches.

Wow, Rayne, you seem triggered…

You’re goddamned right I’m triggered. My younger kid just called and told me their boss tested positive for COVID. They’ve been in contact with their boss several times this week indoors at a retail entertainment venue, though part of those times the boss or my kid was wearing a mask.

And my spouse was in contact with the same boss at least three times in the last week, indoors, not wearing a mask all the time.

One of my BFFs was also in contact several times with the same COVID-positive person, indoors, with and without a mask.

All three — kid, spouse, friend — will have to get tested. If any of them test positive, I have to get tested, and then I have to make a bunch of phone calls to people with whom we’ve been in contact.

I’ve had three different companies here in my house doing repairs this week — two teams didn’t wear masks, one did.

My spouse met our other kid up north last weekend to go bow hunting, staying overnight with my elderly in-laws, one of whom is being treated for cancer. I dread telling my older kid about the potential exposure because they were just tested 10 days ago due to a workplace exposure; the test administrator injured my kid with the swab. Kid has a little PTSD after that episode and is reluctant to get tested any time soon.

Our financial advisor met my spouse after a multi-state road trip earlier this week — they’re on their way back across the same states. This advisor is a self-employed small business owner, has kids at home who are in a K-12 public school.

My kid’s COVID-positive boss is a small business owner — a first-time business owner who hasn’t yet finished their second full year running this operation. The business may have to shut down for two weeks depending on the rules covering their type of business.

Meanwhile, the utterly useless apricot-brained fuckwit is campaigning yet again in my state after causing a small spike in COVID cases when he campaigned here in September, spouting this kind of trash in front of his unmasked mouth-breathing base:

God damn it.

My kid’s boss, somebody we’ve known for years, one of my spouse’s friends, is now part of today’s COVID statistics.

For all I know my kid’s boss may have a second wave infection from the September campaign rally. Nobody is making money here off that wave of infection. Nobody will make money off the second wave.

Unless you’re an executive or stockholder of Regeneron up to this week’s problems with phase 2/3 trials of COVID therapy drug remdesivir, that is. What a pity for Trump’s Briarcliff member, Regeneron CEO Leonard Schleifer.

How the hell is this country supposed to return to normal if it never makes a sustained effort to stop COVID’s spread?

How is the economy supposed to turn around when the one person who could apply the powers of the executive branch to effectively end the pandemic, persists in undermining the states’ efforts, incites seditious acts against states, and actively spreads COVID by holding rallies which are not socially distanced or mask-mandatory?

How is this country supposed to simply muddle through without leadership to a safe and effective vaccine which may be one to two years away?

Vote that fucking hacktastic moron out of office in four days if you haven’t already cast a vote.

Help others vote that stupid orange fuckweasel out of the White House if you have already voted.

Do it for the 228,701 Americans who have died from COVID, and all the families who have to put up with this unending COVID circus.

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79 replies
  1. harpie says:

    Oh man! That’s just awful, Rayne.
    This situation is SO DAMN INFURIATING.

    Saw this this morning:
    Internal Documents Reveal COVID-19 Hospitalization Data The Government Keeps Hidden
    https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/10/30/929239481/internal-documents-reveal-covid-19-hospitalization-data-the-government-keeps-hid
    October 30, 20205:01 AM

    […] The documents show that detailed information hospitals report to HHS every day is reviewed and analyzed — but circulation seems to be limited to a few dozen government staffers from HHS and its agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Institutes of Health, according to distribution lists reviewed by NPR. Only one member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, Adm. Brett Giroir, appears to receive the documents directly. […]

    Hospitalization data is invaluable in looking ahead to see where and when outbreaks are getting worse, says Dr. Christopher Murray, director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington. “Right now, as we head into the fall and winter surge,” Murray says, “we’re trying to put more emphasis on predicting where systems will be overwhelmed.”

    But what’s missing for this kind of planning, he says, is “exactly the information” that appears in the internal report. […]

    […] “It’s very challenging for states to get the multistate view of things,” she says. “It’s just a lot easier when there’s a knowledgeable third-party who can pull the data together, make them consistent across states and actually tell the story of what the information shows.” Typically, she says, this role would be fulfilled by the CDC, but the agency was stripped of its role in collecting COVID-19 hospital data in July. […]

    <<< ACTIVE MALICE.

  2. Rayne says:

    So bloody aggravating that the public isn’t entitled to data so they can manage their lives and risk of exposure.

    It’d be nice to know if this new case affecting our household is part of a highly local cluster or not.

  3. Rayne says:

    My spouse and kid are trying to find the best combination of testing locations — rapid test and long test — so they can get results sooner rather than later. The rapid test site closest is only open M-F 8-5 which is now too late; the other site says they won’t test unless it’s 7 days after exposure and we don’t know when first exposure may have been. Looks like the long test tomorrow through the local health department.

    Until we get test results back we’re wearing masks in our own home. Damn Donald fucking Trump all to hell.

    • Ken says:

      Yeah, one of the owners at our company showed up at work and tested positive for Covid while not wearing a mask. I was only near him for five seconds that day. No symptoms. But everyone that he had meetings with had to go get tested. Fortunately, he didn’t pass it on to anyone at work. The guy I expected to first get Covid at work, the Evangelical (We don’t distance at church/it’s a hoax) was the second to get it. He was bright enough to recognize it and didn’t come into work. Afterward he said he could have come to work, it wasn’t bad. The levels of selfish stupidity in this country make my head hurt. Having said that, I’m sure Putin is laughing his ass off at his toadies great weakening of the U.S. I don’t blame Trump entirely. I blame the fucking GOP for heading down this road for at least the past four or five decades and the corporate media that has enabled this bullshit.

      Rayne, I hope you and your family and friends are all O.K. Hang in there, only a few more days until that orange fucking menace is fired.

      • Rayne says:

        Yuck…you know exactly what we’re going through, the mad chase for testing after one person doesn’t take reasonable precautions and exposes everyone. Glad you weren’t infected.

        Fingers crossed the numbers by Wednesday morning are persuasive enough to make it clear there’s no reason to fight against a transition in power.

        Stay safe.

  4. Jenny says:

    Thanks Rayne. Certainly frustrating. Sending you and your family good vibes.
    Voted last week for Joe. Visualizing President Biden and VP Harris on Inauguration Day taking the oath of office.

    Okay, looking for a way to try and add some humor to life.
    HOW WILL YOU VOTE? – A Randy Rainbow Song Parody
    (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnca1VxL7eI)

  5. P J Evans says:

    Sending best wishes to all those affected, because damn.
    Fzck that orange SOB in the WH, and all his enablers, from his kids to the congresscritters and state officials who still support him and his policies. And especially the “medical advisers” who tell him what he wants to hear.

    I have to get a virus test next week in order to get the port out of my shoulder the week after. They’ll be calling to schedule the test. I’m hoping it isn’t the swab-your-brain kind, but as it’s the first time for me, hope is what I have to go on.

    • mass interest says:

      Rayne, add my warm thoughts for coping with all the bullshite you’re enduring, between your parents and your household. Thanks for your part in giving us the truth on this site.

      PJ, I hope the removal of your port goes without incident. Are you affected by the wildfires in the LA area?

      • Rayne says:

        Thanks much. I worry that with many of the folks who are community members being older, better educated than average, higher than average income, that they may have a more sheltered experience of COVID.

        My kid is finishing college, working a part-time service job, makes wages comparable to those across the food service industry. They come in contact with a lot of people from a broad range of backgrounds both on the job and through their university (even though the school is operating mostly on a remote basis this semester). The kid’s lucky they can live at home, has no bills to pay, no dependents; sadly, tens of millions of Americans work similar jobs and have no backup income if their workplace shuts down for two weeks because of a COVID exposure. Some of my kid’s co-workers are in that boat. We have to hope they made enough in tips this past two weeks to tide them over because their shitty waitstaff wages don’t cover much and won’t bring in much unemployment.

        And like me, those workers are probably wearing masks in their own home right now so as not to infect/become infected with COVID during the next 14-days quarantine.

        Stay safe.

      • P J Evans says:

        Got smoke from some of them, but that was about the limit. (I’ve been out when there were fires close by, as in “four or five miles away, close enough to see flames”. That’s scarier – but I’m in a built-up part of the city.)

    • rosalind says:

      PJ – i had to take a covid test right at the beginning of the dark days to go in for a medical appt. it was a thin plastic wand that caused a little sting and eye watering. was not the brain tickle. hope at this point most places are using this wand. all the best. try a slow breath out as they insert…

    • Eureka says:

      I hope everything goes well, PJ (and that you get to keep souvenir parts, if you wish). It’s been a long time!

      • P J Evans says:

        I would like to keep the part as a souvenir – it’s a button-shaped object, with, I understand, a silicone membrane for the “needle” to go through (it’s a small tube inside a needle). You can get used to being punctured. And it beats havign a needle in your arm for long periods of time.

  7. Worried says:

    Trump said that us Californians have to wear a special mask all the time, even while eating.
    That moron just says whatever pops into his attic; no matter how false or malicious, or stupid.
    How can anyone listen to his trash and not think they are witnessing a lunatic?
    Very depressing
    Oh, I voted a couple of weeks ago and ballot got accepted. Hope the turnout is a record breaking high.

    • P J Evans says:

      All I can figure with that one is that he was told/heard about Newsom’s request that people wear masks when eating, and can’t understand how it works. (It’s easy with tie-on masks. Untie the bottom edge, lift it up when you take a bite of food, lower it until you take the next bite.)

      • Worried says:

        I read that the memo was aimed at people who have essentially stopped eating, maybe sitting at the table reading a book, getting caught up on email, conversing only, etc.;

        not in between each bite.

        We have known for 4 years that Trump will say things he knows are not true to muddy the waters between what is the truth and what is false; to confuse us so that we can’t recognize the difference any longer.

        Sorry to say, that strategy sometimes works.

    • Mart says:

      Contractors in your house without masks? That’s when you use the F bomb, like get the fuck out of my home you fucking idiots.

  8. klynn says:

    Rayne,
    I’m so very sorry you are facing this exposure. Please know you are in my thoughts.

    Our son has two teachers under quarantine and we have a neighbor in ICU not doing well. One teacher took the class on a virtual tour of his house with a section quarantined behind a plastic barrier – where his college aged son, who is covid positive, is recovering and residing. They blocked his heat vents, bought air purifiers for his space and got him a space heater.

    Then the teacher did a math unit on covid infection rates.

    • Rayne says:

      Thanks, klynn. I have been so worried for parents, kids, teachers in school now. Glad your son has some remote work with a teacher who is being both candid and using their own experience with COVID as a learning opportunity.

      I have a friend who just had a baby this spring; she ended up quitting a couple weeks into the school year because the school system in Houston went to in-class sessions and there were no safe solutions for daycare especially for infants. It’s just heartbreaking; we may lose a big portion of our current cohort of teachers let alone women in the workplace.

      • Ken Muldrew says:

        Closer than New Zealand but covid spread is rising exponentially across Canada right now. Too much back-to-normal activity and no build up of testing capacity/track and trace in anticipation of the second wave that everyone knew was coming.

        • e.a.f. says:

          The Maritimes is doing fine. They didn’t let people in from outside.

          In B;.C. parts of the Fraser Valley have had an increase in COVID. Vancouver island, where I live is still doing fine. Some of us are expecting an increase in COVID on Vancouver island because of an influx of people from other provinces. They’re not going to Mexico or the American south for the winter so they put their R.V.s in gear and headed west where we don’t freeze in the winter, or very little.

          the COVID rate went up this summer in B.C. because bars were open later. Dr. Henry sent all the “kids” to their rooms back in Sept. No liquor may be served after 10 p.m. unless food is being served and they have to close by 11 p.m. Banquet halls, were closed, where a lot of weddings are held. Dr. Henry had had enough after there were 429 new cases in 4 days. Politicians in B.C. don’t make these decisions, its Dr. Bonnie HENRY, the chief medical officer in B.C.

          If you surrender to N.Z. you will also get a better health care system and a great P.M. They have very strict gun control also. She was recently re elected in a land slide. what makes things better there is, the people trust her. She is decisive. She’s smart. Unfortunately N.Z. won’t be able to accommodate all 340M Americans, but I’m sure their P.M. could run the U.S.A. from N.Z. until the Americans get things under control. of course things may improve in the U.S.A. if a new Pres. and V.P. are elected. if not, try applying for political asylum in another country.

          Ontario has problems and their Premier isn’t happy about it. Premier Ford has implemented some new restrictions so that ought to bring down the COVID rate. Quebec, who knows

  10. Peacerme says:

    Rayne, I so get it. We have had 6 solid weeks of worrying. My son had it. Got it from stepmom. Step mom got it-had heart cathe two weeks prior. Survives. His bestcfriend who he went to rescue in Tennessee, got sick and is still dealing with health consequences. My daughter came for my birthday. Got a bad cold. That cold was not covid per 2 tests. Rapid and long. (Test Nebraska). We worried. One week later I get her cold. Get tested. Not covid. Bronchitis. So sick. Not covid. Better after a week. No loss of taste and smell as was the case in March.

    Constant fear. Then regulation. PTSD on a platter. Living in NE where biggest fans are left in the cold and thank the president for the experience!!! I am a therapist worn out from the invalidation!! Sending ❤️ and saying “I get it”. So tired.

    • Rayne says:

      Oh Katie, I feel you. All of that. I don’t know how you manage to slog on at work except for having no other choice. The worrying about kids being exposed and getting it and then dealing with Long COVID — argh!!!

      Hang in there, do the best you can, and be sure to get your flu shot soon. My best to you and yours.

  12. Nehoa says:

    Just saw that Walmart will resume gun sales before the election. Can you imagine all the Democrats going out to buy guns in the next couple days? Who do they think they are going to buy those guns? F Walmart. Anybody dies by gunshot in November is on them.

  13. Nehoa says:

    Open question. If you live in a stand your ground state, and someone approaches you without a mask, is that sufficient grounds to point a gun at them? And shoot if they keep coming closer? Don’t live in such a state. Asking for an uncle in Florida.

    • e.a.f. says:

      perhaps the COVID rate in the U.S.A. is so high because there is so little value in some states on human life. How crazy is it to have these “stand your ground” laws. Its a license to murder people you don’t like. They dont’ have that in N.Z.. and we sure don’t have it in Canada. It would be interesting to know if there is a higher death rate from COVID in stand your ground law states
      The other problem I see in the U.S.A. is the medical system is not like Canada’s or N.Z.’s. If your general population is healthier, has easier and free access to medical help, you have a healthier population and those people are less likely to die if they do catch COVID.

      • P J Evans says:

        The states with “sand your ground” laws are also mostly “red states” with little in the way of mask requirements.

    • John Lehman says:

      Well, wearing a hoodie and carrying skittles got Trayvon Martin shot and killed in stand your ground Florida. Your uncle with someone approaching him without a mask would be more justified than George Zimmerman shooting Trayvon was.

      Caveat, this is a visceral “street justice” opinion lamenting the injustice for Trayvon Martin received. Personal advice for your uncle would be not to shot anyone.

      Plenty of lawyers posting here can give, if they want, actual legal opinion and advice.

      • Nehoa says:

        For the record, I was being a bit snarky to make the point that stand your ground laws can cut both ways. Although I do not support such laws, if they were limited to using swords or spears (or knives or fists), I would be more sympathetic. Range of effect is much clearer as to the defensive nature.

        • John Lehman says:

          Hopefully we never face that kind of stuff and if we did we wouldn’t need much more than mean shouting, a baseball bat or nunchucks.
          Course with nunchucks we would need training in order to not knock ourselves out.
          Moderation in all things.

  14. e.a.f. says:

    Read it. Made sense to me. No bad language or language inappropriate given the subject and the death rate. Good article!

    It is beyond me how things got so bad in the U.S.A. Yes, I do know how it got that bad, but really, the U.S.A. was supposed to be a first world country, with the latest technology, medicine, etc. Now we have countries like Vietnam doing much better than the U.S.A.

    Some may argue other people in other countries trust their governments more, i.e. N.Z., Canada. Having looked at how other countries are handling the pandemic my only conclusion is the U.S.A. is led by an idiot with no cloths and supported by a bunch of other idiots who want to hang onto their cushy jobs and just didn’t care about the people who they were elected to serve. The “orange maggot” ought to be arrested for homicide due to deliberate neglect. Over 220K dead, is beyond my comprehension in this day and age, in one country. The U.S.A. has approx. 340M people, but countries with larger populations are doing better and they don’t have the resources the U.S.A. does.

    My take on it has been once the “orange maggot” saw how was dying, he decided to just let it go and ensure more people died. No country has done less to save their citizens than the U.S.A. O.k. perhaps Brazil and a couple of other 2 and 3rd world countries, but the U.S.A. , it boggles the mind.

    Every time P.M. Trudeau, says the border with the U.S.A .will not be re opened for the next………..we all pretty much cheer.

    of course the pandemic in Canada is beign handled by medical professionals. In some provinces you don’t even see the premiers. In Ontario you see the Premier, but he is following the Chief Medical Officer’s script.

    I can only hope the U.S.A. votes Trump and his allies in Congress out of office and some of those Govenors also, when they come up for re election. They were all derelict in their duties.

    What is also mind blowing is the number of Americans who think going around without a mask is a good thing. Like how stupid are these people. Who goes to a large gathering? In British Columbia you can’t get on a bus without a mask. One of the local malls in Nanaimo, B.C. you go to the front door, they take your temperature, tell you to wear a mask, and use the hand sanitizer.

    Rayne I am so sorry to read about the exposure you, your family and friends have had to COVID. I trust all of you will be well and not contact the disease.

    Your language was appropriate!

  15. graham firchlis says:

    Things are going to get worse. All models show deaths on sharply upward trajectories. The one I follow is by the IHME working group, reported open source in Nature Medicine.

    Assuming states respond rationally and impose restrictions as caseloads rise, there will probably be a total of over 500,000 dead by Feb 28, 2021. Restrictions plus 95% mask compliance could bring that down to 400,000.

    But if mask compliance stays where it is and states don’t impose firm restrictions, the Covid19 death total by the end of next February could exceed 1,000,000. Hospitalizations in that scenario could surpass 200,000 per day, enough to exceed bed capacity in many localities. Exploding infection rates among health care workers may well lead to areas of functional collapse.

    Whatever the election outcome, Trump policies and practices will continue to drive escalating American deaths until well into next year. There aren’t any swear words that do not apply.

    Best wishes to all afflicted, courage to their caregivers.

    https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-1132-9

  16. Fran of the North says:

    Four days and counting. Thanks Rayne for all you do in keeping the important visible and open for discussion.

    We’re all dealing with severe trauma, many emotional, some physical and health related. My heartfelt sympathies to each of you in our community who is suffering, whether mind, body or spirit. Please stay strong and healthy, fo yoursellf, you loved ones and your friends. Remember always the power of love.

    Apologies if this has already been addressed in an earlier thread.

    Unfortunately, odds are good that our fight doesn’t end on November 4, and it only changes form and gets more insidious.

    Tonight I had the opportunity to participate in training on how to peacefully counteract a coup. The seminar was led by George Lakey from ChooseDemocracy dot US. I can’t do the seminar justice, but the core was that in the event of the worst, showing our will in peaceful ways such as demonstrations, working with elected and business leaders in the center, will remove support from those trying to take the country by force.

    We all hope that this won’t be necessary, but if we’ve learned anything over the past 4 (40+??) years, it is that we need to prepare for the worst.

    Peace, Fran.

  17. Eureka says:

    Eeegh, so sorry you are all dealing with this, Rayne. I’m just going to hope that all exposed were (are) blessed by luck and all quantitative tilts. That mask in the house business would drive me A1 batshit. Guess you’ll be expediting that firepit/stove for the garage. #RayneCave

    As the numbers escalate and become untraceable (as already in some places), it’s worth entertaining a face shield with the mask for extended public outings / face-to-faces beyond the home bubble, to reduce the eyeball-entry risk for non-glasses wearers. I haven’t seen them much in use lately; I suspect it’s because of the social awkwardness factor, as with masks initially.

  18. CD54 says:

    Go Rayne, Go!

    For my money I like: “Sleazy, gauche ‘Striver from Queens’ (I’m sure he loathes that.)” — close out, and over.

    P.S. Hey MSM reporters: Why haven’t any one of you asked Trump, “Why do the people from New York, who know you BETTER than anybody else, hate your guts?”

    • John Lehman says:

      “Sleazy, gauche ‘Striver from Queens’ (I’m sure he loathes that.)”
      Stick “nouveau riche” in there somewhere and you’ve completely got his goat.

      • John Lehman says:

        His niece says he hates being addressed as “Donald”. So it’s assumed that if the media did their job correctly, they would start addressing him in the most patronizing/matronly head patting manner possible….

        “Now Donald….”
        and in less than a week they’ll need a straight jacket for him.

  19. PeterS says:

    The data source that I use, worldometers, has a column for serious/critical which has gone up from a steady 14,000 to 17,000 in the last 4 weeks (!). I don’t know exactly what this means, but it is too low for hospitalizations. People in the ICU? Bad news in any case.

    My thoughts are with you and yours, Rayne.

  20. harpie says:

    Current DoJ prosecutors [I added the numbers] [This is their entire statement]:

    As prosecutors, we find William Barr’s words repugnant
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/letters-to-the-editor/as-prosecutors-we-find-william-barrs-words-repugnant/2020/10/30/05752c10-1939-11eb-8bda-814ca56e138b_story.html
    Oct. 30, 2020 at 4:21 p.m.

    As federal prosecutors with decades of experience, we feel it necessary to express our disfavor of recent actions and comments by Attorney General William P. Barr. These are our own views and clearly do not represent those of the Justice Department we work for or the leadership of our offices. We can no longer be silent.
    1] We believe Mr. Barr is wrong to question without evidence the fairness of the upcoming election.
    2] We believe Mr. Barr’s order to law enforcement to clear protesters from Lafayette Square and the manner in which it was done were outrageous.
    3] We also believe that Mr. Barr’s comments that quarantining because of the novel coronavirus was “other than slavery . . . the greatest intrusion on civil liberties in American history” were misguided, incorrect and insulting.

    We take our jobs as prosecutors seriously and professionally, and we
    4] believe that the attorney general’s words are repugnant to the notion of fair and evenhanded justice.

    David I. Salem, Greenbelt
    Christopher J. Romano, Baltimore
    Hollis Raphael Weisman, Greenbelt
    P. Michael Cunningham, Baltimore

  21. Bobby Gladd says:

    Sorry for your stress. We all share it. One of my upcoming blog posts will be “Neurotransmitters and Microglia, Where Art Thou.” I’ve been stressing long and loud over Trump for more than 4 years. Gotta be a factor in my irritatingly worsening Parkinson’s.

    We voted WAY early and have gotten confirmations that our ballots were received and votes counted.

    Buckle up, folks. Shit is about to get ugly real. Stay safe and well.

  22. madwand says:

    In Georgia it’s a mixed bag both in politics and response to covid. Races are up for grabs if they don’t manage to somehow “fix” it. At the local supermarket I am starting to see a few people not wearing masks and contractors in the neighborhood are spotty, some wear, some don’t. Georgia is also not allowing schools to report covid so residents are mushrooms as far as knowing what is going on in the community schools.

    Took a trip over to Ft Gordon yesterday, the first since March and I was pleasantly surprised to see that everyone, and I mean everyone was wearing a mask, from the gate guards to the troops, to shoppers and employees in the PX complex. At least the military is taking it seriously and it appears that they have learned a bit from 1918 and subsequent pandemics about how vulnerable they are, even if their idiot CIC refuses to understand and act on it. I will probably be going over to post for all my shopping needs in the future.

    John Ossoff made a monkey of David Purdue in the debate, so much so that Purdue has canceled the last debate scheduled for Sunday. Called Purdue a crook for basically taking advantage of prior knowledge stock options from the infamous Senate briefing back in January. The other Ga senator, Loeffler, has also been criticized for this and it hangs on her back as she runs for the seat again. It’s possible there is going to be a runoff if no candidate, and there are many, fails to gain 50%. The really important item from here is that Georgia is once again competitive in the presidential race. Biden has a chance, lets hope the voters here give it to him.

  23. Savage Librarian says:

    This was a stress reducer for me. I hope it is for you, too.

    A great big shout out to Letitia James! She makes me so proud to be an American. I never had a sister, but if I could magically request one, she is definitely one patriotic gem I would love to have as family.

    There’s a great clip in the article below:

    “N.Y. Attorney General Terrifies Trump Family With Saturday Investigation Announcement” – 10/31/20
    …..
    “Letitia James has said that her office is putting together a substantial list of actions for a potential Biden administration to promptly take in order to undo some of the destruction of the Trump administration. James has frequently challenged the Trump administration in court over a wide range of issues.”

    https://bipartisanreport.com/2020/10/31/n-y-attorney-general-terrifies-trump-family-with-saturday-investigation-announcement/

  24. harpie says:

    TRUMP THUGS in TEXAS

    1] https://twitter.com/mjs_DC/status/1322602843661021184
    2:14 PM · Oct 31, 2020

    Texas Republicans have asked a federal judge to throw out 100,000 ballots in Harris County cast through curbside voting. They drew Judge Andrew Hanen, one of the most notoriously partisan Republican judges in the entire federal judiciary. This is alarming. [link] / […]

    Texas Republicans are deploying the theory—recently endorsed by Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh—that only state legislatures have authority over elections. Because the Harris County Clerk implemented drive-through voting, Republicans say all 100,000 ballots must be tossed. [rest of the thread]

    2] https://twitter.com/ericcervini/status/1322336226792321025
    8:34 PM · Oct 30, 2020

    I flew down to Texas to help with the Biden/Harris bus tour, intended to drum up enthusiasm at polling locations. Instead, I ended up spending the afternoon calling 911. [VIDEO] 1/

    See all these pickup trucks with Trump flags? They were sitting along I-35, waiting to ambush the Biden/Harris campaign bus as it traveled from San Antonio to Austin. 2/ [THREAD]

    • harpie says:

      TRUMP POLICE THUGS in NORTH CAROLINA

      https://twitter.com/HuffmanForNC/status/1322592328503144449
      6:35 PM · Oct 31, 2020
      https://twitter.com/HuffmanForNC/status/1322668621374595076 6:35 PM · Oct 31, 2020

      Peaceful protests for Souls to the Polls & Black Lives Matter turned violent because law enforcement tried to take the sound equipment. Proper permits were issued #BLM #SoulsToThePolls [VIDEO]

      NOTE: No matter what you hear other people saying, there was no provocation today in Graham. There was no cause for police intervention. There were no safety concerns. Had they left the rally alone, people would have just marched to the polls, as planned. #NC13

      • harpie says:

        A THREAD from The News Observer:

        https://twitter.com/robyntomlin/status/1322631012262858752
        4:06 PM · Oct 31, 2020

        UPDATED: “Melanie Mitchell said her 5- and 11-year-old daughters were pepper-sprayed just after the moment of silence. She said Graham police approached the crowd assembled in the street … and soon began spraying pepper spray. … Both kids threw up.” […] [Photos and videos]

        • harpie says:

          As in TEXAS, this TRUMPTHUG ACTION in North Carolina INFRINGED the rights of American Citizens. In Texas the rallies were canceled. In NC many of the people were deterred from voting as planned.

          Few of the marchers made it to the polls. Many regrouped outside the jail, where Graham police and sheriff’s deputies stood guard, some with long guns. A police dog could be heard barking in one of the cars. 11/ […]

        • harpie says:

          From another reporter:

          https://twitter.com/will_doran/status/1322609416173244416
          2:40 PM · Oct 31, 2020

          Voters marching to the polls in Alamance County today were turned back after sheriff’s deputies pepper-sprayed them

          Alamance is one of the key counties that will likely decide which party controls the state legislature next year #ncpol #ncga

          Some background: Alamance County Sheriff Terry Johnson was reprimanded by the U.S. DOJ in 2012 for numerous constitutional violations + an “egregious pattern of racial profiling.” He was then re-elected twice, in 2014 and 2018, after no one ran against him […]

        • harpie says:

          https://twitter.com/Profepps/status/1322624883856076800
          [Constitutional scholar, Professor of Law Emeritus, University of Baltimore].
          3:42 PM · Oct 31, 2020

          I just called the #Alamance County Sheriff’s office to let them know that this behavior appears to be criminal and that it has drawn worldwide attention. It would be dreadful if their voicemail was full with calls like this, so don’t call 336-570-6300.

    • harpie says:

      TRUMP THUGS in PENNSYLVANIA

      Trump campaign sought sensitive ballot security information from Pa. county, alarming commissioner
      https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2020/10/31/trump-biden-live-updates/#link-5SG7TWTPIZENJC5HY6SPL7XWYM
      8:36 p.m.

      The Trump campaign sought highly sensitive information about voting security measures in at least one Pennsylvania county this week, alarming the head commissioner, who said he wasn’t comfortable responding to the request.

      In an email sent Tuesday and later reviewed by The Washington Post, the Trump campaign asked officials in Cumberland County for
      1] the names of people who transport ballots and voting machines once polls close,
      2] the names of people who have access to the ballots afterward, and
      3] the precise locations where the ballots are stored, including room numbers. […]

      • harpie says:

        David Becker, head of the nonprofit Center for Election Innovation and Research, said it was unusual for a campaign to seek information on individual election workers that is typically kept confidential for security reasons. He also noted that other, less sensitive details in the campaign’s request would have been easily accessible had the campaign reached out earlier. […]

      • Eureka says:

        Huh. Cumberland County had announced earlier this week that they will not even start counting mail ballots until Wednesday am.

        Per news ~yesterday, 6 of PA’s 67 counties are doing the same — delaying start of the mail ballot count. (In PA they can start opening and counting Tuesday am.) All six are GOP counties who went for Trump in 2016.

  25. mospeck says:

    Rayne, you are always so subtle and diplomatic. Even about our present unfortunate rather uncomfortable circumstances. I got this vg feeling (maybe since I’ve been drinking and it could last into next week, so it could just be the sound of settling). But still there’s this wonderful vibe in the cold cold air that the center will indeed hold and that we will remain a democratic republic (90M votes so far :). So if you have an impulse, let it out
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pphrk6wE5aw

  26. readerOfTeaLeaves says:

    Jesus, Rayne.

    I think that I *may* have had COVID last Jan, and if that’s what I had, no one would ever want it.

    If you don’t have an oximeter or a good (cool air) humidifier, you may want to stock up.

    Since May, I’ve been through your scenario – twice: masks and gloves in your own house, wiping down everything constantly… It is really not pleasant.

    As for: what to do about the political shitstorm that made COVID so unmanageable:
    I have given an insane amount of money to Democrats this year, both state positions, as well as picking a few Senate seats to focus on. Every time I thought about how damn sick I was in January 2020, I hit ActBlue’s pay button one more time.

    But at least Manafort, Stone, the NRA, and to a degree the RNC have been de-funded, and that’s been essential this cycle, and going forward.

    I am fed up with Trump, but he could never, ever have existed without the enablers, starting with the GOP Senate, and specifically McConnell.

    Given the amount of info that my Mandarin speaking acquaintance seem to have about China, it is inconceivable that Mitch McConnell didn’t know about COVID by mid-to-late January. Asians have dealt with SARS and other viruses, and in my experience they pay attention to weird stories of strange symptoms, whereas I tend to bumble along fairly oblivious until the shit starts hitting the fan.

    However, my spouse doesn’t speak Mandarin; whereas McConnell’s spouse almost certainly does.

    It is not plausible that his wife, Elaine Chao, was unaware of the virus quite early. I don’t know whether she speaks Cantonese or Mandarin (or both), but there is simply no way that a Chinese American, heavily involved in transportation networks, would have been ignorant of this virus. If anyone in the entire upper echelon of the US government should have been alert to COVID19 early on, it should have been McConnell and Chao.

    If McConnell’s wife were from Malaysia, or from the Levant, or South America, maybe I could cut him slack. But he’s married to Elaine Chao. Of a Chinese shipping family. So they probably know which ships are carrying PPP, because they own the ships. (They are probably also shipping lots of meds, due to the fact that an astounding percentage of US vitamins and medicines are produced in Chyna.)

    The national press has been wayyyyyy too easy on McConnell. Either he is complicit in this mess, or he is the biggest fuckup – and national security risk – of the past decade. I don’t know which is worse.

    Apparently, McConnell believes that tanking the US economy, and causing untold strife, was worth getting Amy ‘Covid’ Barrett onto SCOTUS. His failure to deliver a second CARES Act is simply stupefying.

    Had McConnell and the GOP funded a second CARES Act, your kid, one of my kids, and a whole lot of other people could more easily have stayed out of harm’s way.

    I’m with Stuart Stevens, Rick Wilson, and the Lincoln Project folks: the GOP is irredeemable. Burn the whole damn party down, and start over. Amy Covid Barrett can give repression her best shot, but she’s on the wrong side of history, she was dumb enough to let Trump use her as a political chump, and she debased herself from the get-go. Pity.

    I know that you are anxious, but do take a moment to consider that there is a truck with Javanka billboards, poking fun at those insufferable morons, circling Trump Tower this weekend. Also, 91,000,000 have already voted.

    Please keep us posted, and you are in my thoughts.
    Please be sure that you have an oximeter and a good thermometer!

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