I am still so upset, that sleep does not come. ARGH! I feel exhausted.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:55 (average 6:11). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From Washington Post: Russian government officials conferred with members of Donald Trump’s campaign team, a senior Russian diplomat said Thursday, a disclosure that could reopen scrutiny of the Kremlin’s role in the president-elect’s bitter race against Hillary Clinton.
The statement came from Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, who said in an interview with the state-run Interfax news agency that “there were contacts” with the Trump team.
“Obviously, we know most of the people from his entourage,” Ryabkov said.
There’s the proof. Not only is Herr Reichsfuhrer Drumpfenfarten (R-#NotMyPresident) is Putin’s dog, but also, he seditiously conspired with a foreign government to hoodwink US voters.
From The Last Word: Electoral College turns a win to a loss
Lawrence provided fascinating history to explain how the people’s will has been overcome by the loser to install a Republican, again.
The outcome of the American Presidential election has sent a shock wave through the not-so United States, and it won’t come as a surprise that Donald Trump’s victory has left many others in the world quite stunned too. As many here are still coming to grips with it and perhaps fear an overload of information, I won’t try to refine on the excellent overview Lynn gave of reactions of world leaders in her article “Winter is here” she posted on PP today. Instead I’ll give you the general idea of how the world is reacting to the new President of the United States of America through easy-digestible images, peppered with a tiny bit of text where needed.
Before I start with some front-pages of mainstream newspapers and magazines, let me tell you that I’ve tried to find some positive headlines on Trump’s victory, I really have. But I couldn’t find any; some neutral ones, yes, but not any really jubilant or laudatory ones. I think I’d have to widen my search an look beyond Europe, Canada, Australia and New Zealand to find them. To get the general atmosphere across in the countries just mentioned I’ve picked out the not-so neutral ones.
Most newspapers could muster some respect for the choice of the American people, but others just couldn’t.
Australia:
And some have little or no respect for anyone, so they couldn’t bring themselves to do that for the 45th President of America, or for the First Lady, either.
UK:
With one or two exceptions, the front pages were not very enthusiastic about the election results, but they weren’t very offensive either. However, there’s no better way to get a point across than with humor and so I’ll switch to political cartoons to show how many in the rest of the world felt about Mr. Trump’s election.
I keep telling myself that eventually I shall wake up and discover that I have had the worst nightmare of my life, but it's settling in that what I made it a point to warn against, over and over again, has really happened. Almost every state was a swing state. In this editorial, I shall endeavor to make some observations on how it happened and an idea or two on how to move forward.
There's lots of blame to go around. Lets begin with our electoral system. Hillary won the election by over 230,000 votes, but Trump won the electoral college. It's totally unjust that the vote of one goose-stepping fascist Wyoming militiaman counts as much as the votes of six California Patriots. It is the second time in 16 years that the electoral college stymied the popular will. Support the plan from National Popular Vote.
The greatest share of blame goes to those who could, but did not vote. If they want to complain, as I'm sure they will, they can take a long flying you-know-what off a short pier.
The second greatest share of the blame goes to the Republican Party. Ever since they embarked on the Southern Solution, they have cultivated so much hatred and fear in Caucasians that more votes are cast as a reaction than as a decision. There is nothing too deplorable for the Republican Party leadership to embrace. The Republican dominated FBI cooperated with Putin's FSB (the KGB today) hackers to leak propaganda to influence the outcome. Perhaps what boggles my mind most is the voting of white Republican women. Their votes could have elected the first Woman President in US History, and instead they opted for a serial pussy grabber.
The next greatest share of blame goes to the media. This should never have been a contest,but their bottom line is advertising revenue, and a runaway campaign season sells no soap. So instead they kept pushing false equivalence on voters. They Made it a race and raked in their filthy lucre. Voters who didn't know better opted for the "change candidate" thinking there was no difference.
Next in line is the Democratic Party. Deborah Wassermann- Schultz did everything she could to steer the primary to Hillary Clinton and away from Bernie Sanders. As a result, we had the weakest candidate the Democrats have nominated in my memory. She was not the totally corrupt monster that Republicans and the Putin propagandist, Jill Stein, made her out to be. Nevertheless, a stronger candidate could have won. We Democrats need to turn the party over to Bernie, Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Jeff Merkley and the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
Finally are the supporters of boutique candidates. Many of them spread Russian propaganda against Hillary Clinton that was broadcast on RT and backed by Jill Stein in return coverage on RT to build her party. Her betrayal got her less than 1% of the national popular vote. I'm not saying that the throwaway voters were responsible for the loss, but if they voted to stop Trump in Florida, instead of wasting their votes, Trump would have lost by over 150,000 votes, and that would have tipped the scales.
Where do we go from here? We need to do a lot of what Republicans have been doing for the last eight years. We need oppose, obstruct and delay whatever Republicans try to pass. We must publicize their abuses of power far and wide. However, if Republicans should make a proposal that benefits plain folks, and if that proposal does not contain a poison pill, we must do what's good for America, even if Republicans get credit for it. We must take back state governments before the 2020 census, to put Democrats in control of redistricting.
I’m still feeling gob-smacked. I discarded the poll and will not do a poll results article for it, because I feel shame that we could have been so wrong. There is a new poll up, and it is most appropriate for the occasion. In the last fifteen months, I have survived flesh eating bacteria, I have survived a month in a coma, I have survived the loss of a leg, and I have survived cancer. Whether or not I can survive Herr Reichsfuhrer Drumpfenfart is still an open question, but I sure as hell am not giving up! Nevertheless, never before have I been so ashamed to be a US American.
Jug Zone Puzzles:
Yesterday’s took me 3:49 (average 5:53). To do it, click here. Today’s took me 2:54 (average 4:23). To do it, click here. How did you do?
From NY Times: It was a revolt against elite complacency, an almost palpable shock to conventional wisdom and conventional politics. Opponents could barely comprehend the poll-confounding news. This was June in Britain, not November in America, and the upset was the British decision to leave the European Union.
The election of Donald J. Trump as America’s 45th president has strong parallels to the British decision, known as “Brexit,” but the impact will be much bigger, in Europe and the world.
Mr. Trump’s victory was hailed by European far-right leaders, including the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orban. And there were immediate concerns about how the anti-elitist surge will affect other European votes…
I certainly hope this voting trend does not continue in other places, but the impending Reich in the former US republic proves one thing. The abject fools known as Bridiots for voting for Brexit have now been demoted to the second stupidest group of voters in the world.
From YouTube (GQ Channel): The Terrorists Have Won: Donald Trump is the New President
I'm sure it will come as no surprise to anyone here that I am a big fan of Keith Ellison. When he was appointed to the Democratic Platform Committee, and issued a mass invitation for Dems to tell him their thoughts, I posted it here (and it got a lot of attention LOL).
Bernie Sanders is a fan too (He was a Sanders appointment to the platform committee).
Now, Keith has expressed interest in being the chairman of the DNC, and frankly, I can't think of a better idea.
Keith is a true progressive champion. He is often described as a "Climate Hawk," but he is progessive on everything, not just climate. As the DNC Chair, he will be in a position to encourage and assist candidates and potential candidates whose values are in ine with ours – "ours" referring to those of us who are regular readers and posters here (and on Care2). And it will be a position where he will be interacting mainly with Democrats, hence less likely to be exposed to ugly Republican Islamophobia on a daily basis. He may or may not care about that (and he is strong enough and smart enough to face anything they throw at him), but I do.
There is a petition on MoveOn, addressed to the DNC, in support of his candidacy. Here's a quote from it:
Rep. Ellison has been endorsed by Sen. Sanders for the job, and has the experience, principles, and organizational skills to lead the Democratic Party in opposition to the Trump-Pence-McConnell-Ryan-Roberts administration. He is the co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, a member of the House Democratic Steering & Policy Committee and the Congressional Black Caucus, and the founder of the Congressional Consumer Justice Caucus.
I hope that many will sign this petition, and I thank in advance any who do.
So, the election is over. What now? Without doubt, the Democrats will be analysing their goals and values, their platform, their methods, their infrastructure, and their communication, not unlike the Republicans did after 2012 when Obama won re-election. Republicans made some surface changes but nothing really changed . . . there was still a war on women, a war on equality, a war on science, a war on civil rights, a war on affordable healthcare. Progressives must do much better.
* The title of this article is a direct quote from Garry Kasparov, former world chess champion and a vocal opponent of Putin.
Some ordinary citizens react to the Trump victory with mostly peaceful protests around the country.
Some of that "hated" press reacts to the Trump victory:
Reactions to Trump's election victory from around the world by MSN.com — PM Justin Trudeau of Canada said Canada and the US share the same values and is sticking with the "I'll work with him" but how that will go is anyone's guess, especially after the warm relationship with the Obamas. Respectfully, I disagree with him as I do not think that Canadians and the Trumpians share the same values. In Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador called for calm and reminded all that Mexico is “a free, independent, sovereign country”. BTW, the Mexican Pesos dropped in value so far that it's richest man, Carlos Slim, lost $5 billion from his investments over night. The EU wants to sit down with Trump to seek "reassurance on key issues on which Trump’s remarks on the campaign trial have rattled European leaders, including migration, climate change and Russia’s threat to Ukraine." George Freeman of the No 10 policy board in the UK "…at one point described him as Trumpolini, added: “the key now is how he governs, and who he appoints to his administration”." In France, François Hollande, who supported Hillary Clinton, said the win “opens up a period of uncertainty” that “must be faced with lucidity and clarity”. The German defence minister, Ursula von der Leyen, said “I think Trump knows that this was not a vote for him but rather against Washington, against the establishment.” Pablo Iglesias of Spain said “The vaccine against Trump’s fascism is social justice and human rights, not more establishment. There are people in the US who will resist.”. But the Prime Minister was more conciliatory. Of course Netanyahu was happy with Trump's win, but the Palestinians not so much. As should be expected given past relations, Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's foreign minister said “America has to implement the international obligation it accepted under the nuclear deal.” Since many Republicans were against the nuclear agreement, I wonder if they will just tear it up. This is a big issue for some of my Iranian friends who still have family in Iran. They are very uneasy. A spokesperson for China's foreign ministry said “We will work with the new US president to ensure the steady and sound development of bilateral relations so as to benefit the people in both countries as well as around the world,” I wonder if he is aware that Trump has said he'll move to have China on the carpet for currency manipulations and other faux pas.
The Washington Postreported that an amalgamation of reactions from Islamic extremists appeared on the Lebanon based Now News English website as:
The remarks signaled the militants' apparent belief that the victory of a candidate like Trump, who has suggested potentially unconstitutional blocks on Muslim immigration and advocated torture, undermines the United States' moral standing in the world.
Morning After To-Do List:
1. Take over the Democratic Party and return it to the people. They have failed us miserably.
2. Fire all pundits, predictors, pollsters and anyone else in the media who had a narrative they wouldn't let go of and refused to listen to or acknowledge what was really going on. Those same bloviators will now tell us we must "heal the divide" and "come together." They will pull more hooey like that out of their ass in the days to come. Turn them off.
3. Any Democratic member of Congress who didn't wake up this morning ready to fight, resist and obstruct in the way Republicans did against President Obama every day for eight full years must step out of the way and let those of us who know the score lead the way in stopping the meanness and the madness that's about to begin.
4. Everyone must stop saying they are "stunned" and "shocked". What you mean to say is that you were in a bubble and weren't paying attention to your fellow Americans and their despair. YEARS of being neglected by both parties, the anger and the need for revenge against the system only grew. Along came a TV star they liked whose plan was to destroy both parties and tell them all "You're fired!" Trump's victory is no surprise. He was never a joke. Treating him as one only strengthened him. He is both a creature and a creation of the media and the media will never own that.
5. You must say this sentence to everyone you meet today: "HILLARY CLINTON WON THE POPULAR VOTE!" The MAJORITY of our fellow Americans preferred Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump. Period. Fact. If you woke up this morning thinking you live in an effed-up country, you don't. The majority of your fellow Americans wanted Hillary, not Trump. The only reason he's president is because of an arcane, insane 18th-century idea called the Electoral College. Until we change that, we'll continue to have presidents we didn't elect and didn't want. You live in a country where a majority of its citizens have said they believe there's climate change, they believe women should be paid the same as men, they want a debt-free college education, they don't want us invading countries, they want a raise in the minimum wage and they want a single-payer true universal health care system. None of that has changed. We live in a country where the majority agree with the "liberal" position. We just lack the liberal leadership to make that happen (see: #1 above).
Donald Trump has won the presidency after narrowly carrying a few states to put him above 270 electoral votes.
But according to the latest numbers, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote. The game is rigged.
In other words, we have a similar situation as in 2000—where the candidate who more voters picked did not become president. It is unfair, undemocratic & we must eliminate the Electoral College.
Eliminating the Electoral College does not even require a constitutional amendment. An effort known asTheNational Popular Vote Interstate Compact is an agreement among several U.S. states and the District of Columbia to award all their respective electoral votes to whichever presidential candidate wins the overall popular vote. Once states totaling 270 electoral votes join the compact–which only requires passing state laws– then the next presidential election will be determined the the popular vote, not the Electoral College.
As of November 9, 2016, ten states and the District of Columbia have signed the compact, totaling 165 electoral votes. So, we are already over 60% of the way there. If we can make this a national issue now, and if Democrats can do well at the state level in the 2018 midterm elections (which could happen under President Trump), then the winner of 2020 presidential election will be determined by popular vote.
"So Drumpf, do you think the election is rigged now?" Drumpf is on record as saying that the only way he would accept that the election was not rigged is if he won. Well, unfortunately, he won. And as tired as we all are of the nasty politics that ushered in Drumpf and a Republican majority Congress, we need to look forward to 2 years from now, 2018, and the midterm elections, and 4 years from now, 2020, and build the progressive infrastructure starting now.
Now a little levity from Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart on Monday night's Late Show to end on an up beat.
I am so upset that I have not slept and have come down with Rump Dump Republicosis. I need to take the day off to spend in mourning for the United States of America (1776 – 2017).
It's that day. Isn't it a shame that polling booths aren't equipped with toilets, so you can flush Republicans while moving them to the unemployment line? Today, I'll be returning to this article on occasion, when I run across new information to share, so please return to Politics Plus to check it out from time to time.
Squatch, Nameless, JD and Lona. You all have edit capability. Please feel free to join in.
Let's start with an election day message from Keith Olbermann at GQ:
As of Noon Pacific, Hillary Clinton appear to be leading in Florida, Iowa, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. However, these indications are based entirely on early voting, which tends to favor Democrats.
Rump Dump Trump was booed when he vast his ballot.
Love it! Note that the inconsiderate SOB used a booth reserved for handicapped people.
Electoral Votes
209 –244
Stay tuned!!
As of 11:00 AM Pacific, Hillary Clinton also appears to be leading in Colorado.
Update 12:45 PM Pacific: There have been reports of voter intimidation for Trump. In minority areas in Florida, harassers with megaphones have been screaming at voters and approaching their cars. In Pennsylvania, Republican poll workers/observers have been demanding to know foe whom voters intend to vote and demanding forms of voter ID not required by law.
Stay tuned! (going to nap for a bit)
Update 4:50 PM:
Clinton wins VT. IN, KY, WV, SC betray US for Trump.
In East lansing Michigan, a Republican pulled two women wearing Hijabs out of line.
Back after supper.
Update 5:30 PM
Clinton wins DC, DE, IL, MA, NJ. AL, OK TN betray US for Trump
Democrats +1 in Senate.thanks to Tammy Duckworth Beating Mark Kirk in IL.
Update 6:00 PM PST
Clinton wins NY, but ND, SD, TX, KS, NE, MS, WY betray America for Trump.
I'm getting worried here.
Update 7:00 PM PST
Clinton wins NM, but MO and MT betray America for Trump.
I expected to have declared for Clinton and gone to bed by now.
OH betrayed America for Trump.
Clinton won VA.
Clinton won CO.
Update 8:00 PST
Clinton won CA, HA, OR and WA, but ID and NC goose stepped behing Trump.
Trump got FL, IO, and UT
Squatch here. — Huffington Post— After trading markets are taking a big hit courtesy of the prospect of a Trump win.. "The Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Futures Indexes all declined precipitously." I heard on the radio as I drove home this evening that the Dow dropped 600 points. Wednesday morning Asian markets are taking a hit. If I heard correctly, oil dropped by $24 to about $24 a barrel and gold has climbed. USD, CDN dollar and Mexican pesos are all down.
Back to TC
Trump goy GA
Ditch time almost 6 AM and I'm still watching. All TV stations I can get, Dutch,German, Belgian and British are now expecting Drumpf to win. Everyone is terribly depressed and fearful.
That was Lona. TC back. I'm afraid I have to go to bed. It appears to be a long night, before the final results are in, and I've been going since 5:00 AM. It's looking very bleak, as Trump is leading in WI and catching up fast in PA. I fedar for our country. Signing off.
Squatch here. — Sweet dreams TC! Huffington Post and others report that Sherriff Joe Arpaio has been defeated after more than 2 decades as the Maricopa County Sheriff. Hallelujah!!!
Lona here: hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it's offically over now:
218 – 276 and Clinton has just called Drumpf to concede her loss.
Good luck, America. You're going to need it. And so are the rest of us.
HOW THE WORLD REACTED TO TRUMP’S PRESIDENTIAL WIN
