What's the Russian for "Chernobyl this, you people who copulate with your female parental figures!"

We may hear it sooner or later, and with Trump's "dream team" of Cabinet and adviser picks, it'll probably be sooner.

People like RFK, Jr, Tulsi Gabbard, Matt Gaetz, Marco Rubio, Elon Musk, and Pete Hegseth (et. al.) shouldn't be allowed within even sniffing distance of a national office yet Cheeto has nominated/named them to seats at the big table.

Yet, as rancid as his personnel choices may be, his plan to purge the U.S. military of senior officers may be worse.

From Reuters -

Exclusive: Trump's team drawing up list of Pentagon officers to fire, sources say

Members of President-elect Donald Trump's transition team are drawing up a list of military officers to be fired, potentially to include the Joint Chiefs of Staff, two sources said, in what would be an unprecedented shakeup at the Pentagon.

The planning for the firings is at an early stage after Trump's Nov. 5 election victory and could change as Trump's administration takes shape, said the sources, who are familiar with the Trump transition and requested anonymity to speak candidly about the plans.

[snip]

The second source said the incoming administration would likely focus on U.S. military officers seen as connected to Mark Milley, Trump's former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Milley was quoted in the book "War" by Bob Woodward, which was published last month, calling Trump "fascist to the core" and Trump's allies have targeted him for perceived disloyalty to the former president.

"Every single person that was elevated and appointed by Milley will be gone," the second source said.

This scheme seems, well, *familiar.*

Some observers consider Cheeto's picks to be a "dream", but the linked observer at WaPo was probably being sarcastic.  She's a bit of a wiseass. 

Especially since my first reaction to this list was "it's a nightmare".

My next reaction was "the only person who has dreams like this is Vlad...and only if those dreams are wet."

Speaking of Vlad, his initial plan if Cheeto ever became POTUS again may have been to invade the western U.S.  That may still be the plan, but he's frittered away so much of Russia's military on his invasion of Ukraine that may no longer be an option.

He still has nukes, so he may simply turn the western U.S. into a radioactive slag heap.

It's not like Cheeto would do anything about it.  He might say "well, I have bone spurs" while thinking "well, most of them didn't vote for me."

Election postmortem

Yes, I realize that this benefits from 20/20 hindsight.

1. Joe Biden should have stepped well before any Democratic primary/caucus.  The eventual nominee (who I will presume would have been Vice President Kamala Harris) would have benefited from getting their campaign and messaging in order *before* the general election period.  As it was, the campaign seemed rushed.

2. Speaking of messaging, abortion rights wasn't the wrong message, but making it the *only* message was.  America is a complicated place that faces many issues and ceding economic and immigration issues to Republican-generated lies was a mistake.  Ruben Gallego was the only Democrat to win a high-profile race in AZ, and it helped him to define himself before his opponent, Kari Lake, started spreading lies about him (of course, it also helped that everyone who meets her intensely dislikes her).  She did lie, a LOT, but the message was already out.

Going forward, that might be something for Democratic candidates (and their consultants) to keep in mind.

3. None of this changes the most disheartening fact - there are literally millions of Americans who would rather support, and vote for, an utterly vile human being, so long as the vile person is male, and his opponent is female.

Even if they're being lied to, and know it.  So long as the lies are what to hear, they'll choose to believe the lies,

I don't have a "should" to address this.

Legislative schedule - week starting 11/10/2024

Nada, as in there is nothing scheduled at the legislature at this point.

Someone should get a message to Kari Lake

And the gist of that message should be: "Please go away."

Over the last couple of days, I've received four email messages from Kari Lake.

The voters have spoken, twice (in 2022 and 2024), and both times, they have thoroughly rejected her. 

Yet, she still insists that her shortfall in votes is due to illegal votes, and only "legal" ones are counted, she'll win.

She doesn't define "legal", but one thing is clear.  She want lots of money.

From one email -

From another -

She's rapidly devolving to "perennial candidate" status, and she'll go there if she feels that's the best way for her to keep the grift going.

Is deputy dog catcher an elected position?

Statewide Ballot questions

There were 13 statewide questions in total on this year's ballot in AZ; 11 were referred by the Republicans in the legislature, two were referred by the people.

Eight failed - seven legislative questions, and one from the people

There were five election related questions; all failed, including the one intended to remove retention elections for judges.

It failed spectacularly, with more than 75% of voters voting it down.

One that passed: Proposition 139, amending the state's constitution to protect access to abortion which passed by more than 550,000 votes/21 percentage points.

It's not ALL bad news: most school district-related ballot questions passed

...At least in Maricopa County.  I didn't look at the other counties in AZ.

There were 40 school district questions here; 31 passed.  That's more than 75%.

Note: All listed vote totals are current; the totals will change as late ballots are counted.  However, none of them look close enough for the outcome to change.

The State Senate membership may be tied*

* = There's a rather big caveat: If current results hold up.  A couple of the districts that currently favor the Democratic candidate are very close.  One of them is verrrryyyyy close.

As results currently stand, the Senate would be tied 15-15.

However, two of the districts may change -

As things stand right now, the House will have 32 Republican members and 28 Democratic ones, though a couple of those races are close enough to change.

However, the biggest upset may have been in the Senate - former legislator Vince Leach lost his race in LD17 to Democrat John McLean.

Election Results 2024 - 3rd numbers

First and foremost, I want to thanks each and every person who helped to run a polling site or to count ballots.  I may not like some of the results, but I know this -

Democracy doesn't work without you.

Going forward, certain races will be dropped off this list as the outcome in that race seems given.  The vote totals may change but the outcome probably won't.

Election Results 2024 - 2nd numbers

 

Election Results 2024 - 1st numbers

Election Results 2024

When the Arizona Secretary of State and the Maricopa County Recorder post initial results, I'll post some of them here.  Those initial results will only be early ballots, and unless the total overwhelmingly favors one side, races won't be called by the MSM.

A few caveats:

1. They'll be AZ results only.

2. The list of races covered will NOT be comprehensive.  If readers want one added, particularly statewide or in Maricopa County, please leave a comment.

3. No state legislative races will be covered, but that may change as listed races go clearly in one direction or the and drop off my list.

4. My intent is to do an initial report and at or just after 9 (if totals change significantly) and the go to bed and pick it up tomorrow.

5. Reality may intercede and change any of this.

Short Attention Span Musing - mixed bag edition

Just a prediction, an observation, and some advice

First up,  the prediction, and NO, I'm not going to make a prediction about Tuesday's results.  I've already done that.

Nope, the prediction is this:

If Cheeto gains a 2nd term as POTUS, he'll only be president for 3-6 months before his VP, J.D. Vance, teaches him all about the Constitution.  

Not all of it, just the 25th Amendment to it.

Observation:  Aside from trumpkins and other bigots, the folks who are most in favor of a Cheeto victory on Tuesday may be the writers of fake news,  The writers for monologues for late night talk shows and shows like SNL's Weekend Update and /or The Daily Show will have nothing to do beyond putting Cheeto's blatherings to paper.  And the writers for Faux News and other conservative outlets will simply be in orgasmic bliss.

Advice, and it's given with the knowledge that it almost certainly won't be heeded: Democratic candidates should neither seek nor accept the endorsement of a police-affiliated organization.  Endorsements of groups of public employees may help.  If those employees are firefighters or teachers (especially in primaries).

Neither of those groups is known for assaulting and/or killing unarmed civilians.

An endorsement from a police organization may serve to suppress the vote of groups who would support Democratic candidates while not delivering the votes of every member of such an organization.

Secondary advice:  All campaigns should forget how to hit the "Send" on emails and mass texts.  Don't send 'em more than once per day.

I've already deleted 48 emails today (and that doesn't include the ones that went directly to my spam folder).  I don't know how many texts were sent to me today because I've had to block so many numbers.

And all of them can be summarized the same way:

Gimme.

I realize that the consultants hired by each campaign are looking only for their next paycheck and will highlight the number of messages they sent and not the number of potential voters for their candidates they turned off.

In other words, this will happen for the next few cycles (at least.)

Perhaps preparing for Election Day results, Republicans claim a loss is a victory

From NPR (emphasis added by me) -

Supreme Court sides with Democrats in Pennsylvania voting case

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday left in place a lower court ruling that for now allows Pennsylvania voters to cast provisional ballots if their mail-in ballots have been invalidated.

Since 2019, all Pennsylvania voters have been able to cast ballots by mail, but to have their mail ballots counted, they have to follow strict rules laid out in the state election code. One of those rules requires voters to place their ballot into a “secrecy envelope” before placing it into the mailing envelope. Without the secrecy envelope, the ballot is considered “naked” and will not be counted.

[snip]

The voters sued, arguing that the Board of Elections was obligated to count their provisional ballots. The Republican National Committee and the Butler County Board of Elections countered that under the state election code provisional ballots cast by those whose mail ballots were received on time cannot be counted, even if the mail ballots were deemed invalid.

In a 4-3 decision, Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court sided with the voters. The court determined that a naked ballot is automatically void, meaning it was never received or counted by the Board of Elections. Under that logic, if the ballot was never received, a voter is eligible to cast a provisional ballot.

The Pennsylvania Republican Party and the RNC appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court to block the decision. They argued that the state supreme court's decision “dramatically change[d] the rules governing mail voting” and usurped the state legislature's role of regulating federal elections.

Yet, check out how a Republican Party news outlet like Fox News spins it, and compare their their headline to to NPR's.  Pic from Google News (again, emphasis added by me) -

Usually even Fox is a little more subtle about their lies.

If you're a woman and need healthcare, don't go to Texas

Or even be there.

Yet another reason for pro-choice folks to vote for Proposition 139...and for anti-choicers to rejoice.

From ProPublica -

A Pregnant Teenager Died After Trying to Get Care in Three Visits to Texas Emergency Rooms

It took three ER visits and 20 hours before a hospital admitted Nevaeh Crain, 18, as her condition worsened. Doctors insisted on two ultrasounds to confirm “fetal demise.” She’s one of at least two Texas women who died under the state’s abortion ban.

Candace Fails screamed for someone in the Texas hospital to help her pregnant daughter. “Do something,” she pleaded, on the morning of Oct. 29, 2023.

Nevaeh Crain was crying in pain, too weak to walk, blood staining her thighs. Feverish and vomiting the day of her baby shower, the 18-year-old had gone to two different emergency rooms within 12 hours, returning home each time worse than before.

The first hospital diagnosed her with strep throat without investigating her sharp abdominal cramps. At the second, she screened positive for sepsis, a life-threatening and fast-moving reaction to an infection, medical records show. But doctors said her six-month fetus had a heartbeat and that Crain was fine to leave.

Legislative schedule - week starting 11/3/2024

Nada, as in there is nothing scheduled at the legilature at this point.   

Election Day is Tuesday.