This election has shown us and the world what the United States has become. This has not been the work of recent players but the machinations of the Republican Party over decades, since the election of Reagan. They have been very strategic and patient while they put the structure in place to achieve the destruction of our democracy. Dems have been asleep at the wheel and failed and still fail to understand the importance and significance of the Republicans’ efforts. I saw this coming over three years ago and began my survival preparations then. Tonight has underscored the wisdom of those preparations against my hopes for an outcome that would have preserved democracy for us. It truly is a sad day in history and for the world.
The other times in my life that I have lain awake in such grief, unable to sleep, have been on nights I have been dealt the fresh blow of losing a loved one. Tonight, this morning, I feel as though I have lost my country. It is so painful.
No surrender. We will keep doing the necessary work, no matter what. I truly believe this, even though I'm frightened right now. My dad was a Holocaust survivor, and the rise of anti-semitism during the last Trump presidency was bad. I see no choice but to keep fighting.
Hi Gerry. For me, no surrender means the fight isn't over. In fact, the fight didn't begin with this election. Many have been fighting for our democracy, for equal rights and basic human rights for generations upon generations. As bad as the loss to Trump is, there our races where we succeeded. We need to keep building upon those successes. As with fighters before us, we may not reap the benefits of our hard work, but we are doing what we can so that the generations that follow us may enjoy fuller freedoms.
We each of us grieve in our own way. For some of us, the pattern of hope and defeat is a familiar one. Just as familiar is the reconnection with the fighting spirit. The opportunities to be active will present themselves, whether it’s talking with family, friends and acquaintances, joining peaceful protests, investing in local politics (no position/issue is too small), and staying connected to the grassroots infrastructure that emerged during this election period. That’s not going away. And neither are we.
Thank You, TC, for the writings of Thomas Paine, and the reminder about the resolve and determination of those men who stayed with Washington, despite the lack of adequate provisions, and the winter weather, and the losses they suffered.
When 53% of white women in swing states voted for Trump (per NBC), I think we're pretty well fucked. None of this makes sense. It's not over until it's over, but it's not looking good.
Fear !! He intimidated people with threats of violence ! The democrats have allowed him to walk all over us …threaten Liz Cheney with a firing squad and we do nothing ! 🤬🤬 This election must be invalidated because the man acquired votes through voter intimidation “ day one he says he’ll be a dictator …he is going to get revenge and retribution against all non Trump loyalists and he is going to “crush us like vermin” …all of this is intimidation …no wonder women already living with bullies would be afraid to vote for Harris because we all hot to see in living color that the Democrats do nothing but wring their hands and say the wheels of justice move slowly while Trump violates so many laws and tells so many lies we lose credibility ! I love Biden but I am so disappointed in him and his Advisors for allowing this sham of an election to move forward allowing Trump to bully and lie completely unfettered !!!
He just won Georgia, which gives him 266 votes. There is not a winning combination that we can put together that gets from 184 to 270. I wish to hell I was wrong, but I'm not. We have to be clear eyed from here on.
No it’s not !!! He “fixed it” ! There are more of us than there are of them ! There’s states denied the DOJ access to oversee the election results !!!! Just like they don’t want to be fact checked because they are lying !! This is not over !!! They investigated the us when Biden won fair and square …they tried to intimidate Brad Raffensperger the last time to find 11,780 votes and we did nothing to protect him (just like we did nothing for Liz Cheney ! We are shitty to our friends with courage ! ) This needs to be investigated but in the meantime he needs ti be disqualified for intimidating voters .
On Thursday evening, the fact-checking website “Snopes” addressed Spoonamore’s claims regarding "bullet ballots.". See Snopes, "Claims in 'Duty To Warn' Letter to Harris Alleging Compromised Election Are Misleading."
Snopes writes, in part,
Spoonamore alleged that the purported hacking and fraud in North Carolina proved to be "the most extreme" and that "the public results indicate over 350,000 voters cast a ballot for Trump and no other race." However, this is false.
According to the North Carolina State Board of Elections' website, as of Nov. 21, . . [a] comparison of the numbers for total [presidential] votes and the gubernatorial race would reveal the maximum number of possible "bullet vote" ballots for all presidential candidates. The difference between the two numbers is 130,313 votes — a count nowhere near the 350,000 votes stated by Spoonamore. . . . [¶¶]
In an email, North Carolina State Board of Elections spokesman Patrick Gannon told Snopes, "Without access to confidential data, there is no way that anyone could know what [Spoonamore] claims to know about North Carolina's presidential election. North Carolinians cast secret ballots, [and] this information [is] confidential in North Carolina. My first step in fact-checking this would be to ask [Spoonamore] to show his work."
As the North Carolina election official responded, “there is no way anyone could know” the information that Spoonamore claims to know.
Moreover, Snopes compared the vote totals in the various states cited by Spoonamore and found that those totals do not support his claims of excess “bullet ballots” that would have changed the outcome of the election.
Snopes has contacted Spoonamore asking for supporting data, documents, and a response to Snopes’ criticisms of his conclusions. Spoonamore has not responded to those requests.
I hate it when our side sounds like the MAGAts four years ago.
VOTER INTIMIDATION disqualifies him !!!! Threatening Liz Cheney disqualifies him ! Treason disqualifies him but the real thing that disqualifies him is the fear and intimidation tactics he used unbecoming of anyone running for leadership position but completely not acceptable for anyone running for the Oval Office
NO ! Women who have been conditioned by the bullies in their lives were intimidated by his screams of revenge & retribution …crush us like vermin and the last straw was we allowed him to threaten the only real Republican who stood for country over party with a “firing squad” !!! Biden let down everyone when he didn’t stand up for Liz ! Voter intimidation is ILLEGAL ! We should not have gone forward with this election !! He told us he was fixing it and he did ! He told us he didn’t need votes before the election because he had plenty of votes !! Are you people REALLLLY this naive ??? He intimidated his base and he intimidated us all !! He is just like the mad queen in Alive and Wonderland screaming “off with their heads “ !
It’s the scale of the planning for this that overwhelms me - decades of planning, oligarchs who think democracy is an inconvenience, and electorate who believes the far left and far right manipulations, some voting 3rd party. An electorate half of whom do not read nor think through the consequences of P25 enacted.
Their project is economic collapse for the majority of us, by design.
So, correct, I am not feeling optimistic. If there is no vote, and the right has disproportionately stockpiled weapons, and “Armageddon” food and water supplies for 3-10 years in their basements, explain to me what resistance looks like? What sanity looks like in this scenario?
Institutional inertia exists for good reasons. It is an anchor against changing political winds. People will continue to try to defeat America. But there are many people who will, with fierce determination, do their utmost to defend the nation and the Constitution.
[Edit: 1 am CST 7 Nov 2024. He says words. His prevarication won't stop until he draws his last breath. He will, no doubt, make a huge mess of life in America. America has been unable to elect a woman to be President. Maybe America will allow an elderly white man to do whatever he feels like doing, however unlikely that may seem. One theory is that Big Money put us here. Seems like a President who is a total jerk would be bad for business. One thing seems certain: we'll need to wait to see how bad it will get.]
The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. Because it is apparently very effective. I really didn't think we lived in a racist, misogynist, society. Guess I was wrong.
Biden damn well better do something about stopping arms sales to Israel and get Bibi to the negotiating table.
I hope & pray he and his administration (including Harris) get on the freaking stick and DO SOMETHING at least about Israel. Be forceful about SOMETHING!
This election has shown us and the world what the United States has become. This has not been the work of recent players but the machinations of the Republican Party over decades, since the election of Reagan. They have been very strategic and patient while they put the structure in place to achieve the destruction of our democracy. Dems have been asleep at the wheel and failed and still fail to understand the importance and significance of the Republicans’ efforts. I saw this coming over three years ago and began my survival preparations then. Tonight has underscored the wisdom of those preparations against my hopes for an outcome that would have preserved democracy for us. It truly is a sad day in history and for the world.
Nanci, my friend, I’m sorry you were right.
The other times in my life that I have lain awake in such grief, unable to sleep, have been on nights I have been dealt the fresh blow of losing a loved one. Tonight, this morning, I feel as though I have lost my country. It is so painful.
I feel the same. At 77, I just don’t know if I have enough strength left to fight…
No surrender. We will keep doing the necessary work, no matter what. I truly believe this, even though I'm frightened right now. My dad was a Holocaust survivor, and the rise of anti-semitism during the last Trump presidency was bad. I see no choice but to keep fighting.
Not sure what no surrender means right now.
Exactly what can we do?
Hi Gerry. For me, no surrender means the fight isn't over. In fact, the fight didn't begin with this election. Many have been fighting for our democracy, for equal rights and basic human rights for generations upon generations. As bad as the loss to Trump is, there our races where we succeeded. We need to keep building upon those successes. As with fighters before us, we may not reap the benefits of our hard work, but we are doing what we can so that the generations that follow us may enjoy fuller freedoms.
We each of us grieve in our own way. For some of us, the pattern of hope and defeat is a familiar one. Just as familiar is the reconnection with the fighting spirit. The opportunities to be active will present themselves, whether it’s talking with family, friends and acquaintances, joining peaceful protests, investing in local politics (no position/issue is too small), and staying connected to the grassroots infrastructure that emerged during this election period. That’s not going away. And neither are we.
I’m not surprised but I did think that we as a nation were better than what we are showing tonight. Guess I was wrong…it’s 2016 all over again.
It’s worse than 2016, Dennis. We now have those who want to enact Project 2025…
And potentially never leave the White House or allow another presidential campaign.
“History is still on our side so long as we don’t surrender.”
HEAR HEAR!
I will not surrender. But allow me to grieve.
Thank You, TC, for the writings of Thomas Paine, and the reminder about the resolve and determination of those men who stayed with Washington, despite the lack of adequate provisions, and the winter weather, and the losses they suffered.
We will persevere. Keep on.
When 53% of white women in swing states voted for Trump (per NBC), I think we're pretty well fucked. None of this makes sense. It's not over until it's over, but it's not looking good.
Fear !! He intimidated people with threats of violence ! The democrats have allowed him to walk all over us …threaten Liz Cheney with a firing squad and we do nothing ! 🤬🤬 This election must be invalidated because the man acquired votes through voter intimidation “ day one he says he’ll be a dictator …he is going to get revenge and retribution against all non Trump loyalists and he is going to “crush us like vermin” …all of this is intimidation …no wonder women already living with bullies would be afraid to vote for Harris because we all hot to see in living color that the Democrats do nothing but wring their hands and say the wheels of justice move slowly while Trump violates so many laws and tells so many lies we lose credibility ! I love Biden but I am so disappointed in him and his Advisors for allowing this sham of an election to move forward allowing Trump to bully and lie completely unfettered !!!
No it’s not! It’s not over until the last vote is tabulated. And shame on the media for turning this into a media circus to keep people watching!
He just won Georgia, which gives him 266 votes. There is not a winning combination that we can put together that gets from 184 to 270. I wish to hell I was wrong, but I'm not. We have to be clear eyed from here on.
I always feared that the tightening of the polls in the last three weeks would be ominous.
Turns out I was right to be fearful
This is, unfortunately, who we are.
No it’s not !!! He “fixed it” ! There are more of us than there are of them ! There’s states denied the DOJ access to oversee the election results !!!! Just like they don’t want to be fact checked because they are lying !! This is not over !!! They investigated the us when Biden won fair and square …they tried to intimidate Brad Raffensperger the last time to find 11,780 votes and we did nothing to protect him (just like we did nothing for Liz Cheney ! We are shitty to our friends with courage ! ) This needs to be investigated but in the meantime he needs ti be disqualified for intimidating voters .
On Thursday evening, the fact-checking website “Snopes” addressed Spoonamore’s claims regarding "bullet ballots.". See Snopes, "Claims in 'Duty To Warn' Letter to Harris Alleging Compromised Election Are Misleading."
Snopes writes, in part,
Spoonamore alleged that the purported hacking and fraud in North Carolina proved to be "the most extreme" and that "the public results indicate over 350,000 voters cast a ballot for Trump and no other race." However, this is false.
According to the North Carolina State Board of Elections' website, as of Nov. 21, . . [a] comparison of the numbers for total [presidential] votes and the gubernatorial race would reveal the maximum number of possible "bullet vote" ballots for all presidential candidates. The difference between the two numbers is 130,313 votes — a count nowhere near the 350,000 votes stated by Spoonamore. . . . [¶¶]
In an email, North Carolina State Board of Elections spokesman Patrick Gannon told Snopes, "Without access to confidential data, there is no way that anyone could know what [Spoonamore] claims to know about North Carolina's presidential election. North Carolinians cast secret ballots, [and] this information [is] confidential in North Carolina. My first step in fact-checking this would be to ask [Spoonamore] to show his work."
As the North Carolina election official responded, “there is no way anyone could know” the information that Spoonamore claims to know.
Moreover, Snopes compared the vote totals in the various states cited by Spoonamore and found that those totals do not support his claims of excess “bullet ballots” that would have changed the outcome of the election.
Snopes has contacted Spoonamore asking for supporting data, documents, and a response to Snopes’ criticisms of his conclusions. Spoonamore has not responded to those requests.
I hate it when our side sounds like the MAGAts four years ago.
VOTER INTIMIDATION disqualifies him !!!! Threatening Liz Cheney disqualifies him ! Treason disqualifies him but the real thing that disqualifies him is the fear and intimidation tactics he used unbecoming of anyone running for leadership position but completely not acceptable for anyone running for the Oval Office
And yet, here we are.
I blame intellectualizing liberals who decided “freedom of speech” includes lying , threatening , inciting violence, slander & libel!
According to NBC - he even won the popular vote!!! Not by a lot, but he won it.
Tells you quite a bit right there - POPULAR vote?
That’s a sad fact isn’t it. I was somewhat prepared for another electoral college debacle but not him winning the popular vote.
same here. POPULAR, really? What happened to all those women that were so incensed by the bans?
2/3 of white women - knowing what he wanted to do - voted for him anyway, because reasons.
Right - because too many WOMEN dont trust another woman to be president!
Thats the gist of it.
NO ! Women who have been conditioned by the bullies in their lives were intimidated by his screams of revenge & retribution …crush us like vermin and the last straw was we allowed him to threaten the only real Republican who stood for country over party with a “firing squad” !!! Biden let down everyone when he didn’t stand up for Liz ! Voter intimidation is ILLEGAL ! We should not have gone forward with this election !! He told us he was fixing it and he did ! He told us he didn’t need votes before the election because he had plenty of votes !! Are you people REALLLLY this naive ??? He intimidated his base and he intimidated us all !! He is just like the mad queen in Alive and Wonderland screaming “off with their heads “ !
Thank you! TCinLA. It’s been a rough night.
This morning, I am deeply ashamed of my country.
Thanks for the space TC.
That is for sure. See you in the morning.
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
- Wendell Berry
Thank you, Mim.
This is way worse, if they do what they have been saying they will do. Way worse.
Trump will let Europe fall to Russia. I do not see another vote, ever. He said that was what he would do…
That's a great argument for despair and withdrawal. My friends in Ukraine can't withdraw.
Addendum - we are about to be Ukraine, are we not?
It’s the scale of the planning for this that overwhelms me - decades of planning, oligarchs who think democracy is an inconvenience, and electorate who believes the far left and far right manipulations, some voting 3rd party. An electorate half of whom do not read nor think through the consequences of P25 enacted.
Their project is economic collapse for the majority of us, by design.
So, correct, I am not feeling optimistic. If there is no vote, and the right has disproportionately stockpiled weapons, and “Armageddon” food and water supplies for 3-10 years in their basements, explain to me what resistance looks like? What sanity looks like in this scenario?
The right have predominance in ownership of AR 15s
I find it difficult to believe anything he says.
Talk is cheap.
Institutional inertia exists for good reasons. It is an anchor against changing political winds. People will continue to try to defeat America. But there are many people who will, with fierce determination, do their utmost to defend the nation and the Constitution.
[Edit: 1 am CST 7 Nov 2024. He says words. His prevarication won't stop until he draws his last breath. He will, no doubt, make a huge mess of life in America. America has been unable to elect a woman to be President. Maybe America will allow an elderly white man to do whatever he feels like doing, however unlikely that may seem. One theory is that Big Money put us here. Seems like a President who is a total jerk would be bad for business. One thing seems certain: we'll need to wait to see how bad it will get.]
I have a long list of things to do.
My wife wonders why I have not completed all of the things I said I will do.
Biden has total immunity until Jan 20. He should use it to save the country.
The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. Because it is apparently very effective. I really didn't think we lived in a racist, misogynist, society. Guess I was wrong.
Biden damn well better do something about stopping arms sales to Israel and get Bibi to the negotiating table.
I hope & pray he and his administration (including Harris) get on the freaking stick and DO SOMETHING at least about Israel. Be forceful about SOMETHING!