# Election Day \[Week\]\[Month\[s\]\] \[Year\] 2020 follow-along thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 3, 2020, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618 "2020-11-03T05:36:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 259
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/5170 "2020-11-09T20:35:41Z")
Oh…definitely mock them. May as well have some fun with it because nothing else works. I am willing to bet most here have met a diehard Trumpian. There is no moving them. None at all. I know. I’ve tried. More than once. Honest efforts, calm tone, reasonable discussion. Nothing. And I have spoken with many, many others and read many, many accounts of others trying the same. Trumpians have learned that they can just ignore anything they don’t like and so they do. You can literally show them a recording of Trump saying something absurd and…nothing. They find a way around it. So just fuck with them. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/5171 "2020-11-09T20:38:27Z")
There is no conceivable explanation that does not entail blackmail. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/5172 "2020-11-09T20:43:36Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Has he ever explained why he shifted to “tell Donald Trump to go to Hell!” and “Joe Biden is one of the finest people you’d ever meet,” to “I love this Trump guy so much.” I don’t know. I think the explanation is a simple one: When Graham supports Trump, his approval ratings at home climb. When Graham goes soft on Trump (so to speak), his approval ratings at home sink. Graham goes where his voters go. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/5173 "2020-11-09T20:47:14Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > I don’t know. I think the explanation is a simple one: When Graham supports Trump, his approval ratings at home climb. When Graham goes soft on Trump (so to speak), his approval ratings at home sink. Graham goes where his voters go . That makes sense, but I was wondering if he’s ever articulated a reason, like “Trump has proven me wrong, he’s a great President.” or something. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/5174 "2020-11-09T20:50:02Z")
Not that I’ve ever heard, and I listen a lot. Hard to think something as consequential as that would have gotten by me but anything’s possible. Seems like it would be a searchable question with some result and I assume you’ve already looked. I don’t think he ever has. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/5175 "2020-11-09T21:11:54Z")
Mitch speaks. And, as expected, crap issues forth from between his turtle lips. [McConnell backs Trump’s legal challenges, says system ‘will resolve any recounts’](https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2020/11/09/biden-trump-election-live-updates/#link-XVTQIAEZRJBOVAJO5UTYH6KKCM) > Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Monday threw his support behind Trump’s legal challenges in the wake of his loss to Biden, saying that the president is “100 percent within his right” to pursue recounts and litigation. > > “This process will reach its resolution. Our system will resolve any recounts” and lawsuits, McConnell said in remarks on the Senate floor. The mystery about Barr’s visit to Mitch is solved: > McConnell’s remarks came shortly after he met with Attorney General William P. Barr on Monday afternoon. A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment on the meeting. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/5176 "2020-11-09T21:19:37Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Ya know…it is fine. “Conceding” is not a legal thing. No one needs Trump to concede. It doesn’t change anything. Perhaps the transition office will drag their feet but whatever. > … If it’s not DJT’s unwillingness to concede that’s giving this pissant the tacit permission to obstruct Biden’s transition team, then what is? > **[A little-known Trump appointee is in charge of handing transition resources...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-gsa-letter-biden-transition/2020/11/08/07093acc-21e9-11eb-8672-c281c7a2c96e_story.html)** > > The administrator of the General Services Administration has declined to sign paperwork officially starting the transition to the new administration. > A Trump administration appointee is refusing to sign a letter allowing President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team to formally begin its work this week, in **another sign the incumbent president has not acknowledged Biden’s victory and could disrupt the transfer of power.** > > The administrator of the General Services Administration, the low-profile agency in charge of federal buildings, has a little-known role when a new president is elected: to sign paperwork officially turning over millions of dollars, as well as give access to government officials, office space in agencies and equipment authorized for the taxpayer-funded transition teams of the winner. > > It amounts to a formal declaration by the federal government, outside of the media, of the winner of the presidential race. > > But by Sunday evening, almost 36 hours after media outlets projected Biden as the winner, GSA Administrator Emily Murphy had written no such letter. **And the Trump administration, in keeping with the president’s failure to concede the election, has no immediate plans to sign one.** This could lead to the first transition delay in modern history, except in 2000, when the Supreme Court decided a recount dispute between Al Gore and George W. Bush in December. > > “An ascertainment has not yet been made,” Pamela Pennington, a spokeswoman for GSA, said in an email, “and its Administrator will continue to abide by, and fulfill, all requirements under the law.” > > The GSA statement left experts on federal transitions to wonder when the White House expects the handoff from one administration to the next to begin — when the president has exhausted his legal avenues to fight the results, or the formal vote of the [electoral college](https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/2016-election/how-the-electoral-college-works/?itid=lk_inline_manual_9) on Dec. 14? There are 74 days, as of Sunday, until the Biden inauguration on Jan. 20. > > “No agency head is going to get out in front of the president on transition issues right now,” said one senior administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly. The official predicted that agency heads will be told not to talk to the Biden team. > … My bold. Presumably if DJT conceded, then Emily could remove the roadblock?? ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/5177 "2020-11-09T21:28:40Z")
It all depends on how stupid the misinformation is. If someone is insisting that Bernie Sanders is a socialist, I can maybe have an intelligent discussion on his beliefs. If someone is digging their heels in claiming that Mike Bloomberg is a socialist ( yes, this one really happened online ) I don’t think there’s space for much other than mockery. ---
**Author:** ![squidfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a87d85/32.png) [@squidfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squidfood)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/5178 "2020-11-09T21:28:53Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > The mystery about Barr’s visit to Mitch is solved: Well not really. It could have been “Trump’s not gonna win offer support but we’ll talk him down” or it could have been “everything’s in place for the coup.” ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/5179 "2020-11-09T21:29:53Z")
I don’t disagree that the chances of this going anywhere are remote, but we’re at the point now where we really have to think about the “what if” scenarios. We have two political parties in this country, and one of them is increasingly making clear their disregard, if not outright disdain, for conventional democracy. You can’t just look at that and assume that the laws will prevent an outright coup; it could very be that a unique application of the law is how they see their coup succeeding. I don’t put anything past these motherfuckers - they are traitors, plain and simple. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/5180 "2020-11-09T21:29:56Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > And, here’s the latest fraud claim. Apparently a whistleblower saw a Biden-Harris van pull up at the back door of one of the vote counting centers. The doors opened and Democrats started opening ballots with letter openers, changing the votes and resealing them. > They aren’t even pretending that their supporters have brains anymore. Did the alleged mystery van have the freaking campaign logo on the side, or something. Jeez these Trumpers. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/5181 "2020-11-09T21:35:09Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > I know this is old news on this thread now, but it bothered me how hard you went after Biden on the mask thing. I know you said alcohol was to blame the next morning, and that’s cool. It’s Joe’s fault really. See, in between 11:30am and 3ish pm I drank a bottle of champagne. Beer (Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale) followed. If he didn’t win the election, I never would have had that am champaign. Yeah, I got a little drunk angry, and that’s on me. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/5182 "2020-11-09T21:36:39Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > Did the alleged mystery van have the freaking campaign logo on the side, or something. Jeez these Trumpers I think they were just ordering camera equipment from a Jewish-run store in New York. > **[B&H Photo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%26H_Photo)** > > B&H Photo Video (also known as B&H Foto & Electronics Corporation, B&H Photo, or simply B&H) is an American photo and video equipment retailer founded in 1973, based in Manhattan, New York City. B&H conducts business primarily through online e-commerce consumer sales and business to business sales, as they only have one retail location. While initially a photo and film shop, B&H has grown into one of the largest electronics retailers in the U.S., selling over 400,000 products. B&H opened in 1973... ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/5183 "2020-11-09T21:39:17Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Why can’t he apply his lips to Mitch’s old, flabby backside? Or does Graham even have limits. Anyone who licks Donald Trump’s boots (slip resistant loafers) has no licking limit. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/5184 "2020-11-09T21:41:27Z")
Swordfight? ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/5185 "2020-11-09T21:42:59Z")
Yes, this exactly. My conversation over the weekend consisted of defending Biden as not a pedophile and not a racist. I tried to provide data showing Biden has wide support from black people, and the fact of his serving as VP to Obama, and his VP pick in Harris. I tried gently moving the needle toward “Factual” on the scale of “100% Truthful - 100% Batshit” and - nothing. Just dug-in heels. After an earnest try, off to mocking and humiliating it is. ---
**Author:** ![Boycott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boycott/32/6741_2.png) [@Boycott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boycott)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/5186 "2020-11-09T21:44:23Z")
There’s a new conspiracy going on in Trumpworld. Pence’s name is apparently not showing up on the signs Trump’s legal team puts up at their press conferences which has led people to believe Pence has thrown the towel in. They believe Trump will be vindicated and be declared the rightful winner and the first thing he will do is replace Pence. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/5187 "2020-11-09T21:47:12Z")
Mitch is walking a very very fine line. He never said that there’s any substance to Trump’s allegations (which would be impossible because Trump has not actually filed any allegations in any courts yet). He just said that Trump is entitled to pursue them, which is just Mom & Apple Pie boilerplate. Of course Mitch declined the chance to keep his goddam mouth shut and work behind the scenes to get Trump out of the White House, and he didn’t do that. Oh, and by the way…fuck McConnell. I hate that goddam bastard more than any human I have ever known. ETA: noting that Romney, Collins, Sasse and Murkowski are the only Republicans to have acknowledged Biden’s victory…wouldn’t it be cool if Schumer was lobbying them to switch sides? “Do you really want to pledge allegiance to that guy? Come on over…you can call yourselves Independent, that’s fine…” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/5188 "2020-11-09T21:53:48Z")
I shudder at the thought of VP McConnell. ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/5189 "2020-11-09T21:54:40Z")
This. The ending of 12 Angry Men (spoilers) where Juror No. 3 (Lee J Cobb) refuses to accept the obvious truth that the other jurors have realized. This is Trump right now. A classic! [12 Angry Men - Juror No. 3](https://youtu.be/0jxVnlRdelU) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618.md?page=258) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618.md?page=260)