- Iron Knee at Political Irony offers help for a president about to be shown out (This way, sir), including a moving sale. Amazing what you can auction.
- There is widespread hope that the incoming administration will be able to replace 4 years of aggressive division with rapid reconciliation. Biden is disinclined to push any prosecution of obvious law breaking. Scotties Toy Box has a quote from the niece of our reluctant soon-to-be presidential retiree. Mary Trump suggests that unity should not come at the price of accountability.
- Ant Farmer’s Almanac has the best headline, at least for those of us who watched The Shawshank Redemption more than once, about the lame duck presidential period, that will … thank God Almighty … end January 20.
- Those of a certain age might remember the late Benjamin Spock, the pediatrician who authored a best selling book on child care. He attracted taunts from traditional disciplinarians. I thought of Dr. Spock as I read the amusing thoughts of Joe Hagstrom in MadMikesAmerica. Joe wonders how stern conservatives could melt into naïve softies when confronted with chronic misbehavior in the White House. Seems Trump has been Spocked when he should have been spanked.
- Catch the latest Trump press conference? Frances Langum did, and wasn’t the only one amused by Trump’s teeny tiny desk. I’m old but, no kidding, sometimes I love being immature.
- Vixen Strangely at Strangely Blogged observes my current president’s strained press encounter, the public meeting that became edgy as Trump got cranky at an inconvenient question. Vixen suggests a bedtime fantasy conspiracy story followed by a quiet nap. Does work for some small kids.
- Human weakness being what it is, corruption is not limited to the executive branch. M. Bouffant at Web of Evil has a low tolerance for US Senators, including a Republican up for re-election runoff in Georgia, who use privileged COVID related information to sneak into the crevices of committee rooms, make calls to their stockbrokers, and use legislative information to enrich themselves.
- Dave Dubya is fed up with the last incarnation of the once noble Republican party. His brief list of reasons finishes with a wonderful punchline, at least to me. Your mileage may vary, especially if you’re Republican.
- The enemy of my enemy is my friend? driftglass doesn’t quite buy it when it comes to belated partial converts, for instance never-Trumper recovering Republicans. Like where were y’all back when we were fighting the good fight all alone? Answer: You were sniping from the other side. I’m influenced somewhat by faith, I suppose. Knowing my redeemer lives, I always hope for genuine conversion, and rejoice when I think I see it.
- The electoral college is a continuing American curse: a remnant of slavery preservation. But it has resulted in tripling Republican presidential wins, during the past 3 decades, over what fair popular elections would have provided. So Republicans dig up long discredited rationalizations about the Constitutional convention, false stories that the founders were frightened of direct election of Presidents. Jonathan Bernstein suggests that Republicans can’t count on that electoral college edge in 2024.
If a clear Democratic advantage ever becomes a long-term pattern, I’d bet my shoes we can count on Republicans to abandon alternate history and do the right thing. I’d like to think Democrats will continue to do the right thing as well, even if the current system starts to lock in Democratic wins. The right thing being …you know… right.
- Wisconsin conservative James Wigderson often does his best writing by letting others tell their stories. He quotes a local Republican county chairman who is irate at current post-election strategy. A twitter post is part of the story.
- tengrain at Mock Paper Scissors sees Trump losing yet another lawsuit in his continuing attempt to deprive legitimate voters of their right to vote, and is definitely not tired of all the winning.
- Cato’s Julian Sanchez has specialized in cybersecurity and privacy issues. He has examined the conspiracy theory about Dominion Voting Systems, the conspiracy that has votes for Trump being switched to Biden because of collusion by an international cabal of communists, revolutionaries, Democrats, technocrats, and poll workers of both parties. The theory has not only been discredited in multiple ways, but the falsehood itself harms US cybersecurity. It is not only a lie, it is a lie that hurts our nation and helps our enemies.
- As Donald Trump points out, Joe Biden has “a big unsolvable problem.” News Corpse reviews the new upside down legal standard. Biden must prove that each of the 80,000,000 votes cast for him was legal. The Trump legal team certainly has to be relieved at the sudden vanishing of their unmet burden of proof.
- Sarah Cooper is possessed by the spirit of the law mentor for Trump lawyer Jenna Ellis. She provides advice on ultra-creative rules of evidence and methods to be used in preparation of legal briefs.
- In Letters from an American, Heather Cox Richardson reminds us that this is not the first Thanksgiving during which families experienced empty chairs and, in too many cases, empty tables. She reminds us that the very first official Thanksgiving was declared at an even harsher time, and that history should give us hope. I once made a similar case.
- Satire appeals, right? Reductress reports on a young adult who flouts CDC guidelines and spends Thanksgiving with her parents, for the absolute best possible reason.
- At The Onion anti-jacketers rally outside the Burlington Coat Factory, calling cold weather a leftist hoax to force us all to throw on heavy outerwear.
- Yikes! PZ Myers offers a video of my brother-in-Christ Kenneth Copeland practicing a laying on of hands and, in the name of our Lord and Savior, ordering bald spots to disappear from aging heads. Sometimes family members can be an embarrassment, but this… sheeesh.
- Infidel753 presents some wonderful current memes. I especially like the wonderful reaction of a little girl to her baptism.
- Batocchio, the Vagabond Scholar celebrates the recently retired Arlo Guthrie. The first of two recordings consists of a 16½ minute introduction that is even better than the 1½ minute song. The second recording more than matches the first, at least for those of us who lived through America’s Nixon agonistes.
- JoAnn Williams remembers with fondness her late father, his courtesy to all, contrasting with his often devastating humor in private.
– Podcasts –