Wednesday, January 06, 2021

Happy Epiphany Birthday, Catreona!


 

94 comments:

  1. CNN: 97% results in:

    CANDIDATE....................PERCENT....VOTES
    Raphael Warnock (Dem)...50.4%......2,207,791
    Kelly Loeffler (GOP).........49.6%......2,171,794

    CANDIDATE...............PERCENT...VOTES
    David Perdue (GOP)....50.0%.......2,190,203
    Jon Ossoff (Dem)........50.0%.......2,189,284

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 1:23am:

      Warnock ahead by 35,649

      Ossoff behind by 1,322

      Delete
  2. Warnock has declared victory. CNN aired his speech. It was quite good. Worth looking for.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Warnock Wins Senate Runoff In Georgia
    January 5, 2021 at 9:43 pm EST By Taegan Goddard

    David Wasserman called the special Senate runoff in Georgia with Raphael Warnock (D) defeating Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R).
    Decision Desk has also called the race.

    It Appears Democrats Have Won Control of the Senate [Click] “As of this post, there is still no official projection in either U.S. Senate runoff in Georgia, but the New York Times’s needle is very confident that both Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff will win.”

    If there is no ticket splitting, Ossoff should win by the same margin as Warnock. I hope there is not a significant number of voters who voted for Warnock but not for Ossoff.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The key is that if Warnock (likely!) and Ossoff (possibly) garner votes that come to more than .5% more than their opponent, then there is no recount. But even with a recount (since Georgia does those well), it would still be a win.

      ITEM: There are still over 30,000 votes to count in Dakalb County, where Ossoff is ahead 82.5% to 17.5%, which means he will likely pick up an additional 25,000 votes there.

      People are now expecting both Dems to win.

      THIS IS SO COOL!!! I'm afraid to believe it. But OH MY GOODNESS!!

      Delete
    2. The biggest remaining trove of resident votes is in the eastern part of the Atlanta metro area. Overseas votes must be postmarked by today and received by Friday; it seems quite a few of them may be in transit.

      Delete
  4. McConnell would have to take a back seat and be present to watch democracy work again.

    Bernie would Chair the Senate Health Subcommittee.

    Leahy would Chair the Senate Appropriations Committee!

    ReplyDelete
  5. This just in from NPR:
    CANDIDATE...............PERCENT.......VOTES
    Jon Ossoff (Dem)......50.0%............2,195,441
    David Perdue (GOP)..50.0%............2,191,881

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, Lordy. Babylon may not have fallen, but its wall has been breached. Grief, lamentations, and rending of clothing shortly to ensue, I hope.

      Delete
    2. Hail the day so long expected,
      Hail the year of full release.
      Zion’s walls are now erected,
      And her watchmen publish peace.
      Through our Shiloh’s wide dominion,
      Hear the trumpet loudly roar,
      Babylon is fallen, fallen, fallen,
      Babylon is fallen to rise no more.

      All her merchants stand with wonder,
      What is this that comes to pass:
      Murm’ring like the distant thunder,
      Crying, “Oh alas, alas.”
      Swell the sound, ye kings and nobles,
      Priest and people, rich and poor;
      Babylon is fallen, fallen, fallen,
      Babylon is fallen to rise no more.

      Blow the trumpet in Mount Zion,
      Christ shall come a second time;
      Ruling with a rod of iron
      All who now as foes combine.
      Babel’s garments we’ve rejected,
      And our fellowship is o’er,
      Babylon is fallen, fallen, fallen,
      Babylon is fallen to rise no more.

      Delete
  6. CANDIDATE.......................PERCENT.......VOTES
    Raphael Warnock (Dem)...50.5%............2,213,995
    Kelly Loeffler (GOP)..........49.5%............2,173,420

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Note the 50.5% being reached! Likely to top that and not mean automatic recount.

      Delete
  7. From GA Secretary of State’s Office via Atlanta Journal Constitution:

    LAST UPDATED: January 6 at 2:09 a.m.
    Precincts reporting: 2653/2656

    Perdue 50.02%
    Ossoff 49.98%

    Warnock 50.41%
    Loeffler 49.59%

    ReplyDelete
  8. UPDATE from NPR as of 2:15am:
    Warnock ahead by 46,551 votes
    Ossoff ahead by 9,527 votes

    Raphael Warnock (Dem)...50.5%............2,220,300
    Kelly Loeffler (GOP)..........49.5%............2,173,749

    Jon Ossoff (Dem).............50.1%............2,201,741
    David Perdue (GOP).........49.9%............2,192,214

    ReplyDelete
  9. CNN reports that Fulton County is experiencing technical glitches, delaying the count.
    No details on what the issue is. But it doesn't sound like a huge problem. We'll see.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Replies
    1. Thanks for the link! Wil missed it. And I want to hear it again. 😃

      Delete
  11. NPR reporting, as of 2:59am:
    Warnock ahead by 49,845 votes (declared winner by NPR and CNN!)
    Ossoff ahead by 12,806 votes

    CANDIDATE.......................PERCENT.......VOTES
    Raphael Warnock (Dem)...50.6%............2,223,649
    Kelly Loeffler (GOP)..........49.5%............2,173,804

    Jon Ossoff (Dem).............50.1%............2,205,082
    David Perdue (GOP).........49.9%............2,192,276


    50.6% for Warnock! No need to recount. YEAH!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 🌟🌟🌟 NOTE!! 🌟🌟🌟

      Warnock increased by 3.294 votes
      Loeffler increased by 55 votes

      Ossoff increased by 3,279 votes
      Perdue increased by 62 votes

      Delete
  12. Getting up at 5:30am to grocery shop on Monday really messed with my sleep pattern. I slept past noon on Tuesday, then stayed up to watch returns. I need to get back on track, but this was totally worth it!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We are adults now, the ones in charge! We can deprive ourselves of sleep and run with scissors too!

      Delete
  13. The vote counting in GA seems to have stopped a while back. Thus to bed for me.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Me, too. But was surely worth staying up for. I didn't think we;d pull it off!

    ReplyDelete
  15. GA election results from Secretary of State’s office via Atlanta Journal Constitution:

    LAST UPDATED: January 6 at 11:25 a.m.
    Precincts reporting: 2654/2656

    Ossoff 50.19% 2,211,603
    Perdue 49.81% 2,194,578

    Warnock: 50.61% 2,230,231
    Loeffler: 49.39% 2,176,048

    So it looks like there may be an automatic recount in the Ossoff—Perdue race, but the votes won’t all be tallied for another two or three days.

    ReplyDelete
  16. ================================
    GA election results from Secretary of State’s office via Atlanta Journal Constitution:

    LAST UPDATED: January 6 at 1:55 p.m.
    Precincts reporting: 2656/2656

    Ossoff 50.20% 2,213,099
    Perdue 49.80% 2,195,532

    Warnock: 50.62% 2,231,728
    Loeffler: 49.38% 2,176,999

    So it looks like there may be an automatic recount in the Ossoff—Perdue race, but the votes won’t all be tallied for another two or three days.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Trump supporters broke through fences and are fighting the police on the steps of the Capitol as Congress counts the Electoral College ballots inside, CNN reports.
    January 6, 2021 at 1:41 pm EST By Taegan Goddard
    Trump supporters broke through fences and are fighting the police on the steps of the Capitol as Congress counts the Electoral College ballots inside, CNN reports.

    January 6, 2021 at 1:57 pm EST By Taegan Goddard
    Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) tweets that she was evacuated from her office: “Now we’re seeing protesters assaulting Capitol Police. This is wrong. This is not who we are. I’m heartbroken for our nation today.”

    Rep. Elaine Luria (D-VA) also tweets: “I just had to evacuate my office because of a pipe bomb reported outside. Supporters of the President are trying to force their way into the Capitol and I can hear what sounds like multiple gunshots.”

    McConnell Warns Against Rejecting Voters
    January 6, 2021 at 1:53 pm EST By Taegan Goddard
    Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) began Senate debate over Arizona’s 11 electoral votes with an emotional plea against rejecting the voters’ will, the Washington Post reports.
    Said McConnell: “Nothing before us proves illegality anywhere near the massive scale — the massive scale — that would have tipped the entire election. Nor can public doubt alone justify a radical break when the doubt itself was incited without any evidence.”
    He added: “Voters, the courts, and the states have all spoken — they’ve all spoken. If we overrule them, it would damage our republic forever… our democracy would enter a death spiral.”

    ReplyDelete
  18. Time to give the mob a whiff of the grape, I think. Time for the Insurrection Act to be used, but that requires a presidential declaration, as memory serves me. I am reminded that Washington, like the modern Paris, was designed to be defended against mobs; those circles at the intersections of major streets were meant for gun emplacements.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As I understand it, the mayor requested the National Guard, but that they not be armed. They'll be slaughtered if they can't defend themselves.

      This morning around 11:00 the reporter on the Ellipse said the crowd was massive, as far as the eye could see to the east and the west and behind him. Another reporter said the Mall was also packed. They said there were families with children. Children! who brings children to a goddamned insurrection? It's inevitable that some of them will be hurt or God forbid killed.

      Delete
  19. Washington Post:

    Republican National Committee headquarters evacuated over ‘suspicious package’; some Capitol offices also evacuated

    A Republican Party spokesman said Wednesday that the party headquarters has been evacuated after a “suspicious device” was found.
    Police are investigating, the spokesman said, adding that most RNC staff are in Florida for the party’s annual winter meeting.
    The news comes just as a joint session of Congress to tally the electoral votes and affirm Biden’s win over Trump gets underway.
    Several nearby buildings had also been evacuated as of Wednesday afternoon, including the Library of Congress Madison building and the Cannon House Office Building.

    ReplyDelete
  20. New York Times:

    Live Updates: Pence Is Evacuated From Senate Chamber as Protesters Breach Barricades Outside Capitol
    The Capitol building was placed on lockdown, with senators and members of the House locked inside their chambers, as Congress began debating President-elect Joe Biden’s victory. President Trump addressed supporters near the White House before protesters marched to Capitol Hill.
    Parts of Capitol Hill are evacuated as protesters flood the grounds.

    Pence rejects Trump’s pressure to block certification saying he ‘loves the Constitution.’
    Trump, speaking to protesters, declares ‘we will never concede.’
    Biden plans to nominate Merrick Garland for attorney general.
    Chaos engulfed the Capitol on Wednesday as a faction of Republicans sought to overturn President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s victory in Congress and a group of protesters loyal to President Trump tried to storm the building, demanding to be heard.
    Around 2:15 p.m., the proceedings ground to a halt as security rushed Vice President Mike Pence out of the Senate chamber and the Capitol building was placed on lockdown, with senators and members of the House locked inside their chambers.
    The extraordinary day in Washington laid bare deep divisions both between the two parties and within Republican ranks, the ceremonial counting of electoral votes that unfolds every four years in Congress was transformed into an explosive spectacle, with President Trump stoking the unrest.
    “This is what you’ve gotten, guys,” Senator Mitt Romney, Republican of Utah, yelled as the mayhem unfolded in the Senate chamber, apparently addressing his colleagues who were leading the charge to press Mr. Trump’s false claims of a stolen election.

    ReplyDelete
  21. The Guardian:

    Congressman Gerry Connolly, a Democrat of Virginia, confirmed that members were given gas masks before being evacuated from the floor, and tear gas was used in the Rotunda.

    A HuffPost reporter shared a photo from inside the chamber, showing one protester on the dais as he yelled that Donald Trump won the presidential election. (He obviously did not.)

    Twitter photos, captions copied to this thread: [Click]

    Protesters have breached the Capitol. They’re outside the Senate chamber

    I count about 10 protesters by the Ohio Clock

    Looks like a lot more protesters walking through the Rotunda toward the House chamber

    That’s the confederate flag flying outside the Senate chamber

    Protesters are on the third floor of the Senate, walking door to door, shouting “Where the fuck are they?”

    They’re in the chamber. One is up on the dais yelling “Trump won that election!” This is insane

    Several people got on to a scaffolding outside Senate, took it to second floor, which looked like the area where McConnell’s office is located, and started banging on windows

    My observation (not mine alone): If these people were Black, or BLM protestors, they would have been “suppressed” long before this.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You bet your sweet ass they would. They would have been shot dead, every man jack of them.

      The Confederate flag outside the Senate chamber? For real? The Confederacy lost that war, a hundred and fifty years ago! What is wrong with these people?

      More importantly, was Trump's address to his cultists taped? Can it be used as evidence in a sedition or treason trial?

      Delete
  22. Amendment 1
    Freedom of Religion, Speech, and the Press

    Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ah, but the crucial word is peaceably.

      Moreover, they have no grievances to redress. They've been lied to and used. Still, a violent, murderous mob is a violent, murderous mob, and when they're after you, you don't stop to ask if they're dupes.

      Delete
  23. Replies
    1. The chaos started soon after Trump spoke to the crowd on the National Mall. At the end of a rambling speech, the president urged his supporters to march on the Capitol building.

      Bloomberg's Jennifer Jacobs reports Trump is watching news of the Capitol breach on TV from the private dining room just outside the Oval Office.

      Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani tells the "patriots" storming the Capitol that Trump would like them to "EXPRESS YOUR OPINION PEACEFULLY." He notably does not tell them to stop disrupting proceedings.

      Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) sends out a fundraising email amid chaos and violence at the Capitol, boasting about his role “leading the fight”

      More than an hour after protesters breached barricades the Capitol, Trump tweeted for them to "Stay peaceful!"

      Trump has repeatedly urged this revolt, pushing people to fight back against his election loss, and said earlier today he would march with supporters to the Capitol to protest, before he was taken safely back to the White House in his motorcade.

      The U.S. Capitol Police is asking for assistance, CNN reports.

      As his supporters pushed past police barricades to enter the Capitol, Trump bashed Pence for not having "the courage" to overturn the election results.
      "USA demands the truth!" Trump tweeted.

      Delete
  24. There are but two parties now: traitors and patriots. And I want hereafter to be ranked with the latter and, I trust, the stronger party.

    Ulysses S. Grant

    ReplyDelete
  25. WaPo:

    Pelosi has requested deployment of National Guard troops to Capitol

    House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has requested National Guard troops be deployed to clear and secure the Capitol, a senior Democratic aide said Wednesday.

    The request was made through the Capitol Police Board, a body that includes the chief of the Capitol Police, the House and Senate sergeants of arms, and the architect of the Capitol.

    A D.C. government official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly said troops are being deployed to the Capitol.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Pentagon Denies Request for National Guard
      January 6, 2021 at 2:57 pm EST By Taegan Goddard

      A source tells the Washington Post that the Defense Department has just denied a request by Washington, D.C. officials to deploy the National Guard to the U.S. Capitol.

      Delete
    2. Oh my God. The Pentagon refused to deploy the National Guard? Is a military coup underway?

      Delete
    3. Can they do that? I mean, isn't a request from the Congress tantamount to a command? You know what, though? The Defense Department is being run by amateurs. I wonder if Trump foresaw this and that was one of the reasons he removed the Sec. Def.

      Delete
  26. I've been glued to both CNN and PBSNewshour. PBS had a young journalist inside the Capitol when it was breached and she kept reporting...with video.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lisa Desjardins.
      She deserves a medal for cool headedness under duress.
      She had to stay down at one point because the area was dangerous.
      Yet she kept reporting.

      Delete
  27. CNN reporting that Capitol police inside the building herding insurgents (my word) into one central place from where they can be "escorted" out of the building. Lawmakers being kept safe, but texting reporters to find out what's happening. Not much activity on the East side of the Capitol, but more on the West side. Correspondent reports one civilian shot in chest, seriously injured and one Capitol policeman seriously injured.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Replies
    1. Biden: I call on this mob to pull back..

      Delete
    2. He has also called on Trump to go on national television to appeal for peace and restraint.

      Delete
  29. Replies
    1. Here's an interesting note from the column:

      Trump’s obsession with Georgia is such that the president placed no fewer than 18 calls to its secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, before finally reaching him. (His incompetence is such that he was dialing the press office, where interns answered and hung up, assuming that it was a prank.)

      Delete
  30. It's horrible. Insurrection. Treason. And DT claimed the domestic terrorists as his own when he tweeted to them "...WE are the party of law and order..."

    It's time to invoke the 25th Amendment.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You can't. There's noone competent left in the cabinet to form a quorum.

      Delete
    2. I'm thinking they may all have bonded back together a little more today, having had to evacuate together. I hope so, at least.

      But, hey! You're sure having a MEMORABLE birthday, huh?! 🥳🤪😲

      Delete
    3. I just want to remind us all that the first half of Cat's birthday was ALL JOY over the wins in Georgia!

      Cat, did you get cake??

      Delete
  31. Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

    CANDIDATE PERCENT VOTES
    Jon Ossoff (Dem) 50.3% 2,222,133
    David Perdue (GOP) 49.7% 2,197,274

    CANDIDATE PERCENT VOTES
    Raphael Warnock (Dem) 50.7% 2,240,837
    Kelly Loeffler (GOP) 49.3% 2,178,658

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That puts Ossoff more than 0.5% ahead; if that holds, there will be no automatic recount.

      Delete
    2. Right. All indications are that it will hold.

      Poignant in the midst of this day's events.

      Delete
    3. Warnock is ahead by 62,179 votes.
      Ossoff is ahead by 24,859 votes.

      Delete
    4. I suppose that means about 38,000 voters liked Warnock more than Ossoff. I can see that.

      Delete
    5. Or maybe liked Loeffler less than Perdue. Loeffler was appointed, not elected.

      Delete
  32. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) said he is sending National Guard troops to the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., Bloomberg reports.

    Meanwhile, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany tweets that President Trump is sending in the National Guard.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wonder if Trump can do that by himself, and if he can I wonder if he knows how to do it.

      Delete
  33. DT just spoke to his terrorists and told them to go home, we need peace. But he framed it with telling them again that it was a fraudulent and stolen election. And he said "We love you" to the people who assaulted our legislators, our Capitol and our democracy. Invoke the 25th Amendment NOW!

    ReplyDelete
  34. CNN Capitol corrospondent being evacuated. Describing clear evidence of rioters.

    ReplyDelete
  35. CNN just called it for OSSOFF!!!

    ReplyDelete
  36. Trump auction of oil leases in Arctic refuge attracts barely any bidders [Click] “Coastal plain was up for sale as part of the Trump administration’s plan to pay for Republicans’ tax cuts with oil revenue.” “This lease sale was an epic failure for the Trump administration and the Alaska congressional delegation.” Works for me.

    ReplyDelete
  37. PhD*Son just posted:

    "Trumpism is a malignant cancer on what is left of the American idea. He and his wannabe terrorist groupies are trying to burn it down on the way out the door. They will fail, but they are trying. At this point if you are still a Trump supporter you are not just supporting a racist, misogynist asshole, you are a traitor to the country."

    ReplyDelete
  38. talking to my ex last night, who promised me if the reps lost Georgia, the market would tank. I reminded him he'd said the same about Biden winning. He still insisted he was right.


    30,829.40 +437.80 (1.44%)
    Jan 6, 4:58 PM EST ·

    ReplyDelete
  39. OHIO; COVID cases 742,817 and 9,368. Sorry I'm late today. Distracted by the sh!tshow in D.C.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 1.25%

      Still haven't looked at ours.
      Horrible day.

      Delete
    2. I knew today would be bad. I'm seeing reports that cabinet members are meeting to work out presenting a plan for use of the 25th Amendment to Pence. There is no question that allowing trump to remain in office another two and a half weeks is just not the thing to do. He will keep getting worse and he needs to go RIGHT NOW.

      Delete
  40. CNN reporting that the woman who was shot inside the Capitol building has died.

    ReplyDelete
  41. You know, if all the other attacks at the state level: plans to kidnap governors, assaulting state capitals with legislators inside, with arms and so on. If all of that had not been allowed to happen with a biggol yawn, mebbe today's crap wouldn't have happened. The fools had every reason to believe they could pull this chit with immunity. After all, wasn't the preznit hisveryownself prodding them on?

    ReplyDelete
  42. The Washington Post has removed its paywall on the Capitol assault and related stories.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Whoo hoo! Thanks for the heads up!!

      Delete
    2. My pleasure, and kudos to the Washington Post.

      Delete
  43. What the oreznit accomplished this afternoon. . . .

    https://digbysblog.net/2021/01/youre-very-special/

    ReplyDelete
  44. GEORGIA SPECIAL ELECTION SENATE RACE RESULTS
    NPR as of 9:05pm 6 JAN 2021

    OSSOFF is ahead by 35,615 votes
    WARNOCK is ahead by 73,404 votes

    CANDIDATE PERCENT VOTES
    Jon Ossoff (Dem) 50.4% 2,238,939
    David Perdue (GOP) 49.6% 2,203,324

    CANDIDATE PERCENT VOTES
    Raphael Warnock (Dem) 50.8% 2,257,858
    Kelly Loeffler (GOP) 49.2% 2,184,454

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ossoff is ahead by .8%
      Warnock is ahead by 1.6%

      NICE!!

      Delete
  45. Whatts day!! At least we're rid of Yertle! Any day with that in it is a GOOD DAY.

    ReplyDelete
  46. Yertie? I know Yertle, but don't place Yertie.

    ReplyDelete