Saturday Morning Pre-Election Links

by | Nov 2, 2024 | Daily Links | 155 comments

Our university is sponsoring an Election Night Watch Party this week. We were admonished in the invitation:

The event is non-partisan, and a cordial and respectful place to watch the 2024 election results as they come in. There will be food, an electoral college map game & prize. This is not a party, but a place to watch the democratic process play out. Those who attend the event will be asked upon arrival to be respectful, and cordial.

Given where I am, I assume that this means, “Everybody here is Team Blue so feel free to jeer at any mention of OMB.” Of course I’m going, but more to observe (“Proggies In The Mist”) than to ever actually say anything. It’s a win-win for me- if Team Red prevails, I’ll greatly enjoy the salty ham tears. If Team Blue prevails, I’ll be planning what to do with my election bet winnings from Sloopy, Spud, and Heroic Mulatto.

Speaking of win-win, today is one of those days absolutely rich in birthdays, including a guy who (possibly apocryphally) killed a bar; an early sponsor of the Great Cake Bake-Off; a guy who should be on the $21 bill; a guy who gives CS students the twitches; the guy who brought us the best US president; another incredibly prolific actor best known for a role he hated; the god of jazz records; the god of shitty speakers; proof that you can be white and really swing on alto; one of the proximate causes of California’s social decline; the role model for the modern Democratic party; a guy who redefined rock keyboards; a bass player for an inordinate number of bands I love; and easily the most powerful voice in country music.

Let’s Link, shall we?

Peak Tard?

Team Blue just wants the US in every fucking war it can find. No wonder the Cheneys have embraced them and vice-versa.

Speaking of which…

If they can recruit Milei, that would convince me they’re serious.

Are we starting to see the LGB distancing from the rest of the wifi password?

A nice survey of how the Obama Chicago Machine has pretty much permanently taken over Team Blue.

Sorry for yet another long-form article (this yet another one about putting men into women’s sports), but the author actually does, after some time, get to the real motivation. Then glides past it. I guess ideological outrage gets more clicks than simple economic explanations.

I dunno, for some reason this seemed on-theme.

About The Author

Old Man With Candy

Old Man With Candy

Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me. Wait, wrong book, I'll find something else.

155 Comments

  1. Stinky Wizzleteats

    “Peak Tard?”
    Sorry Old Man, there’s apparently no such thing.

    • juris imprudent

      The “nine barrels” comment has been interpreted as suggesting Cheney could face a firing squad.

      If that isn’t peak ‘tard, I don’t ever want to see peak ‘tard.

      • SDF-7

        “Oh!” says the Uniparty…. “A challenge!”

      • rhywun

        The desperation is amazing.

        They didn’t even come up with an October surprise and now they think this is something? JFC.

      • R.J.

        Maybe they don’t have to come up with anything better. That might be enough. The voters are tards too.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        It’s All in for Liz, one of the worst women in the world. The abject surrender by the Dems to the Cheneys and the Nulands et al. has been interesting to behold and the (easily debunked) lies they’re telling in service to them are just something else.

      • Drake

        The old Wilson / FDR / LBJ warmonger Dems have reunited with their Trotskyists friends in team Blue.

      • juris imprudent

        Drake, I’m not sure LBJ merits the warmonger moniker. Per McMaster, he inherited the mess from JFK and all the bright young minds of that administration, and he was haunted by the thought of “losing” another country to communism as China had been “lost”. You can thank the McCarthyite Republicans for that latter specter.

      • Fourscore

        LBJ went to war over an imaginary incident that led to the death of almost 60 K Americans, and a couple million Vietnamese. Bumped up the income tax with a surcharge.

        Bush Jr repeated the same game plan in Iraq. Only the American deaths were less. We still have troops in Iraq.

      • The Last American Hero

        McMaster? That worthless piece of shit was given an hour with a semi friendly host to defend our presence in Afghanistan and spent 58 minutes basically saying “becauz muh terrorits will win”.

      • juris imprudent

        McMaster is a puzzle, but the book is a scathing indictment of Washington DC and the transition of JFK to LBJ and the continuity of our errors in Viet Nam.

      • juris imprudent

        an imaginary incident

        We were already enmeshed, particularly after overthrowing Diem. Yes, LBJ upped the involvement, but I don’t think he personally had the warboner that the neo-cons had/have.

      • Gustave Lytton

        It’s hubris. He wrote the book as a project and never considered how they ended up making such poor decisions repeatedly or he would act in similar circumstances.

  2. Pat

    a guy who (possibly apocryphally) killed a bar

    Happy birthday Jon Taffer?

    • Pat

      the guy who brought us the best US president

      Happy birthday John Calvin Coolidge Sr.?

      • Pat

        a guy who redefined rock keyboards

        Happy birthday Tsutomu Kato?

      • rhywun

        Happy birthday John Calvin Coolidge Sr.

        Heh.

        I don’t know what to think of the actual answer. I don’t trust Wikipedia’s bias. I did attend an elementary school named after him FWIW.

    • SarumanTheGreat

      The ‘legend’ regarding Daniel Boone long predates Wiki. I grew up with tales of how he carved ‘I killed a bar’ on a tree trunk. I believe there are still numerous trees in old Kaintuck that still bear that graffitti of imitators of his ‘hand’.

  3. Gender Traitor

    the $21 bill

    Same as downtown after inflation?

  4. SDF-7

    I assume you’re at least allowed to bring your empty Liberal Tears mug (jug?) and get a refill… these opportunities don’t come along every day, after all!

    (Yeah, I’m hoping… every factor [economy, incumbency, overreach, etc.] should favor Team Stupid instead of Team Evil — Harris is horrible as a candidate, etc…. but we all know things have been weird for years now — so not assuming anything).

    On to birthdays and the Links!

  5. SDF-7

    If Team Blue prevails, I’ll be planning what to do with my election bet winnings

    Invest it wisely so you can, someday… afford a trip to the grocery store after Harrisnomics kicks in?

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Invest it wisely to use for bail when they toss you in the clink for running this site.

  6. SDF-7

    an early sponsor of the Great Cake Bake-Off

    Too bad her love of brioche ended up with a soggy bottom when the top came off.

  7. ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

    I am surprised they didn’t capitalized the D in that statement.

    Our uni is… not doing that, thank god.

      • The Last American Hero

        The greatest rock keyboardist uses daggers.

  8. Ted S.

    the god of shitty speakers

    Happy birthday Marlon Brando!

  9. creech

    Another dry day here in PA; 35 days with no measurable rain. But will be plenty wet with tears around 3pm as tOSU comes in and hands tPSU its annual ass whipping under Coach Franklin.

    • SDF-7

      Oh, the weather absolutely taunted me today. All last week today showed a chance of rain (40 percent iirc)… Wake up today and check the app on the phone… no longer any chance — look at the precipitation map…. big blob to the south of us, smaller to the north… both running east (of course)… just happily barely dodging my immediate area because “You want it too much!” or something.

      • LCDR_Fish

        Interesting pics – things that were drowned when building a dam – pretty sure that’s how World War Z started.

      • SarumanTheGreat

        We didn’t where I am (Norristown) but my wife got a sprinkle (Chadds Ford).

        A stretch of wet weather is supposedly coming next week.

  10. juris imprudent

    that DOGE would cut $2 trillion from the federal budget

    Hell, you don’t need Elon and DOGE for that. We could do the same. Strangely enough, our effort would be just as dead on arrival (in Congress) as Elon’s.

    • mindyourbusiness

      Had a fantasy a couple days ago about el Presidente Javier Milei sending Trump (if he won) a chainsaw as an inaugureal gift.

      Wouldn’t happen, but think of the exploding heads…

    • R.J.

      I think there are many unexplored techniques for reducing government overreach.
      1) lock them out of their office and computers. Very effective in the corporate world.
      2) outsource their responsibilities, then lay off the outsource team.
      I could go on, but Elon needs to hire me first.

    • The Last American Hero

      Vivek had some thoughts on that. Probably bullshit, but some thoughts nonetheless on how to get around it.

      If nothing else, just appoint department heads that won’t fill vacancies, fire people for the smallest infractions, move the office to a remote part of the country, or do what Biden did with student loans and say fuck congress and fuck the courts – how many divisions do they have?

      • juris imprudent

        fire people for the smallest infractions
        move the office to a remote part of the country

        Not without changing the civil service law or getting the funding to do so. Oops – back to Congress again!

        or do what Biden

        Sure, there’s the answer – don’t hold back to being Chavez, go full Maduro!!!

  11. SDF-7

    another incredibly prolific actor

    I’ll always remember him for his touching portrayal of multiple handicaps.

    And on the topic of “roles they hated” — my wife mentioned to me that apparently the actress who portrayed Aunt Bea vehemently despised the role as well, eventually moving to a small town where, unfortunately for her… everyone wanted her to do Aunt Bea impressions. Which raised the thought from both of us — this is a known quantity for actors, surely at some point you just have to accept the possibility going into the profession? I know, I know… artistes! They want to all wow Broadway and whatnot… (well, except the more pragmatic “It is a lovely house!” Michael Caine types), but some reality and ability to recognize that this happens, it often means you have widespread appeal and a potential paycheck / retirement doing convention circuits or reverse mortgage ads, etc… Anyway… devolving into rambling (“Too late!” screams the crowd….).

    • Pat

      (well, except the more pragmatic “It is a lovely house!” Michael Caine types)

      Anthony Hopkins, for instance:

      I have no interest in Shakespeare and all that British nonsense. I just wanted to get famous and all the rest is hogwash.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Mr. Hand!

    • Nephilium

      Bruce Campbell has embraced it. Fun guy at events too.

  12. cavalier973

    Pat Buchanan

    Back in 1996, I was an intern for Empower America; a think-tank headed up by Bill Bennett, Jean Kirkpatrick, and Jack Kemp.

    One day, Bennett asked his staff if the election came down to either Buchanan than Clinton, who would they vote for?

    Every single one of them said Clinton.

    Except me. I was surprised he asked me. I mumbled something like, “Anybody is better than Clinton.”

    While we were having this discussion, Bill was doing his thing with Monica, but we wouldn’t find out about that for another couple of years…

  13. rhywun

    Are we starting to see the LGB distancing from the rest of the wifi password?

    No idea. I guess a conservatives-in-the-gay-mist article from some online outfit most people have never heard of is encouraging.

    • Chipping Pioneer

      gay-mist

      Not gonna ask

      • juris imprudent

        Why wouldn’t you want to Axe?

    • Nephilium

      I’ve been seeing headlines popping up in my feed about how homophobic Vance is for saying that the “normal gay guy” vote may break Republican. With the news stories acting like “normal gay guy” is some kind of terrible slur instead of just guys who happen to like other guys.

      • Pat

        I gotta admit, the Republican VP candidate discussing the “normal gay guy” vote, and the media castigating him as a homophobe for it, would have struck me as pretty wild even, say, 12 years ago.

      • rhywun

        Exactly what I mean below about the Dems going too far. The average American is not down with their radical platform of dudes beating up girl athletes and sex change operations for illegal immigrant prisoners. Of course most people’s votes are based on cultural pressure and inertia so who knows how long it might take for people getting sick of their shit to be reflected in elections.

    • The Last American Hero

      No such thing happening. There is zero daylight between every LGB organization and the trans the kids/a drag show in every classroom crowd. Until I see even one group stand up and say “we aren’t down with that”, it ain’t happening.

    • SarumanTheGreat

      The LGB Alliance has been trying to in the UK for some years now, but when you have the government and all the quangos and judiciary against you, it’s an uphill battle.

  14. The Gunslinger

    I didn’t realize how late it was, and I was busy over on the dead thread.

    Morning all. Off to buy a Prius this morning.

    It’s the final weekend before election “day”. Will they take one last shot at Trump?

    I say yes.

      • juris imprudent

        Hopefully he isn’t fooled into buying a Priapus – he’ll be boned.

    • Rebel Scum

      Off to buy a Prius this morning.

      Condolences.

      • The Gunslinger

        She’s a 2010 model
        215k on the clock.
        $2726.00
        Hopefully can get another 100k miles out of it.

      • slumbrew

        Wow – what sort of shape is the battery in after all those miles?

    • Chipping Pioneer

      *Insert IT’S HAPPENING! gif

      • R.J.

        It’s all too good to be true. Hence Trump will fail and none of this will come to pass.
        I cannot get my hopes up.

      • Nephilium

        Here you go:

        IT'S HAPPENING!

      • juris imprudent

        That’s a Rule 34 thing, isn’t it?

  15. rhywun

    There is no reason to believe that the new foundation of the Democratic machine that was laid by Barack Obama is going to crack or crumble any time soon.

    On the contrary, I think it’s already falling apart. It might limp on for another election or two, longer if they up their cheating game, but the Dems are so far up their own assholes they can’t even see how the norms are getting sick of their shit.

    • R.J.

      YOU and I are sick of this shit. About half the country went crazy and rimlaps Obama’s asshole. We live in two worlds, split 52/48% in the nutters’ favor.

      • Drake

        An amicable divorce would be the best solution I can imagine.

      • Rebel Scum

        That or constitutional government at the federal level (I know, I know ..).

        Who is president actually shouldn’t matter that much, nor should the federal legislature. Your state governor and legislature should be what matters. But that ship sailed long ago.

    • Pat

      the Dems are so far up their own assholes they can’t even see how the norms are getting sick of their shit.

      Meh. COVID proved to them they have no reason to care. The normies won’t do shit about it.

      • trshmnstr

        ^^^^ this.

        2020 was when the “sleeping giant” myth was put to rest.

    • rhywun

      We’re not there yet but I’m seeing signs of it.

      Or I’m just talking nonsense.

      • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

        I am with rhywun on this. Remember how the Regan coalition fell apart after total popular domination? Same is happening here, it is why SloJoe failed and had to be shored up with the DingDong. She is a a complete know-nothing, and if she does get in, we can all see how bad it is getting and she will be handed the same defeat that SloJoe got in that one debate. She couldn’t run up against Vance in a one-on-one and she knows it, even with the media running interference for her.

      • Drake

        HW Bush collapsed the coalition by breaking his word and betraying everything it stood for.

      • R.J.

        Amen, Blake.

      • Suthenboy

        Of course he did. He has the reverse-midas touch.

      • The Last American Hero

        I guess having the White House for 12 of the last 16 years, getting Obamacare and a Green New Deal passed are total failures, right?

        And now we get 8 years of Harris, followed by 8 more of Whitmer/Newsome. Locking in a permanent Dem majority was a real failure.

      • juris imprudent

        Love the selectivity there; include W and it’s dead even.

      • Fourscore

        OK, OK, but besides destroying America what else can Obama et al be held responsible for?

        Actually things have been slipping for a long time, no virgins in either party.

  16. Drake

    If their is a result on election night, it’s because of a Trump blowout. If he takes Virginia, it’s over.

    If it goes according to script, the same states that stopped to cheat last time pause the counting to figure out how many more votes they need to manufacture.

    • Rebel Scum

      Some people are saying they are trying to pre-vote-viagra this time. It could be both.

      It would be funny if they steal Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania only for Trump to flip a few otherwise blue states to negate that though. I do hope that Virginia can defeat NoVa.

    • The Last American Hero

      He ain’t taking Virginia, Michigan is a blue state and has been for six years, and the fortification machine will keep Pennsylvania blue. So the math don’t work for the Donald.

      • cavalier973

        From where are you getting your numbers?

  17. Grumbletarian

    another incredibly prolific actor best known for a role he hated

    Happy Birthday, Alec Guinness?

    • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

      Did he hate Star Wars? ‘Cause at this point I do.

      • Drake

        He hated it before it became hateable. Standing in front of a green-screen with a make-believe sword sounds pretty annoying.

  18. Rebel Scum

    Pre-Election

    The election started a month ago and is ongoing because that’s how fucked our “democracy” is these days. Several instances of malfeasance have been uncovered so far and I expect a steal on and after Tuesday.

    On a lighter note, the China virus might actually be real. I have the worst cold I’ve ever had.

    • Old Man With Candy

      Hope it doesn’t develop like mine.

    • Pat

      Very little is known of the Canadian country since it is rarely visited by anyone but the Queen and illiterate sport fishermen.

      Not a terrific week for Pat’s taste, but I might considering fishing with #10, and #38 is S tier even with the mammary superabundance.

  19. Rebel Scum

    Defense Secretary Austin is sending B-52 Stratofortress bomber aircraft, tanker aircraft and Navy destroyers

    I didn’t realize that SecDef is the CnC in charge of making these decisions.

    • Pat

      As long as he cleared it with Xi first it’s cool.

    • trshmnstr

      To be fair, do you want pudding breath in charge of military deployments?

  20. Rebel Scum

    Liz Cheney is calling on George W. Bush to make his voice heard on the “danger that Donald Trump poses.”

    Peace is dangerous to your portfolio.

  21. Rebel Scum

    Inside Elon Musk’s vision to remake government: ‘Delete, delete, delete’

    Remake or reduce to something closer to that witch is actually somewhat constitutional in nature?

      • Fourscore

        It all boils down to that, doesn’t it?

      • juris imprudent

        If only we had some eye of Newt to add to the pot.

  22. Suthenboy

    Peak Tard…I thought that was posted yesterday? https://x.com/njhochman/status/1852172049386529178?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1852172049386529178%7Ctwgr%5E3eaa8370983b54a677797ec043d31fd9b18d476a%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fnotthebee.com%2Farticle%2Fmy-favorite-work-of-lefty-hysteria-art-to-date

    Wars? The economy? Election integrity? The border? The war on our culture?
    One might be tempted to buy into the Accelerationism theory and that they are using the Cloward-Piven strategy. I wonder what they want to replace our current civilization with? Whatever could it be?

    I dont think these Republican endorsements are having the effect they think they are having.

    It doesnt matter if they are serious or not. It doesnt matter who they recruit. When 90%+ of all of the economy runs through the FedGov we are fucked. There is no way around that. Consider that a huge portion of it goes to entitlements, i.e. free shit. Yep, we are fucked and we have done it to ourselves.

    I keep joking/not joking that when you select for incompetence and fill your organization with lunatics failure is inevitable.

    It is no accident that the lunatic left has gone after every institution that builds character.

    • Q Continuum

      “It is no accident that the lunatic left has gone after every institution that builds character.”

      It goes deeper than that and it’s related to your comment about Accelerationism/Cloward-Piven; it’s about assaulting and deconstructing objective truth and reality. There is no more fundamental category of humans than male vs. female; it’s literally the foundation of the species and how we propagate ourselves. By destroying that distinction and then forcing you to claim it was never there to start with (when everyone knows that’s a lie) you just sow more discord and confusion. This is just the most blatant step in a program that’s been going on for decades incrementally and it’s designed to create so much chaos that eventually people relent and just beg the government to take over and make it stop.

      And to your original point, of course the replacement is One-Party Nork-style Communism. The Left is the same always and forever, they just find more creative ways of imposing their will.

      • juris imprudent

        of course the replacement is One-Party

        That’s not what they intend of course even if that is the very predictable result.

      • PutridMeat

        it’s about assaulting and deconstructing objective truth and reality.

        Yes, that’s why I think OMWC’s insinuation that the SJSU volley ball thing is about money is way off base. Yes college sports can be about big money (though I’m not sure about women’s volley ball). And yes, the coach is probably toeing the lion to protect his salary – pension and a paycheck after all. But there’s no one in the power structure pushing male volleyball players onto the women’s team to try and capitalize on a winning record to make the college money. The underlying cause of these situation absolutely IS cultural and ideological. “A simple economic explanation” is given short shrift because it lack explanatory power – it’s largely nonsense.

      • Old Man With Candy

        It absolutely is money, but in a more granular way than you’re thinking. The coach’s compensation, as well as that of other decision makers, is dependent on won-lost record. So the people making the decisions about who plays are incentivized to win regardless of anything else.

      • PutridMeat

        It absolutely is money

        I think you are wrong. It is partially about money, at the level of the coach and maybe AD, insofar as salary. And those people’s job and salary depend, in the long run, on win-lose record. So they may have the incentive to look the other way and toe the line on the cultural message. But the overall drive to force men onto women’s teams is not about money AT ALL. It’s cultural and ideological. Once it reaches the coach and AD level? Sure money – holocausts are built on pension and paychecks – play a role, perhaps the dominant at the point of the coach. But the underlying cause of WHY the coach is in that position and WHY it’s being pushed is, IMNSHO, not at all about money. The money aspect got about the right amount of attention it deserves in the article.

    • juris imprudent

      I wonder what they want to replace our current civilization with?

      A dreamlike vision that has no mooring in reality.

  23. Drake

    The Dem love being shown for the Cheney’s is hilarious. They can’t recall calling them chickenhawks a few years ago.

    • Pat

      “Chickenhawk” was one of the kinder epithets. You’d think their voters might stop for the briefest of moments to ponder why the person whose father they were still comparing to a fictional space opera villain and a historical German chancellor and military leader just a few months ago is now a stunning and brave hero of their party, but team D voters evidently have the memory of a goldfish and the principles of a quisling.

      • The Hyperbole

        She’s responsible for her father?

      • Pat

        No more so than GWB or Ivanka Trump, I suppose. But considering that she supports every single one of the same policies that got her fathered smeared as a Nazi, and considering that Darth Cheney also endorsed Harris to considerable fanfare, it still reflects a lack of principle that would be alarming if not for its predictability. Unless, of course, ranting about neocon Nazis was always just a bullshit 2 minutes hate ceremony.

    • Fourscore

      “Deficits don’t mean shit”

      /Paraphrasing Daddy Cheney

    • Suthenboy

      He doesnt want to hear that ‘constitutional republic’ crap.
      We are a constitutional republic precisely because of people like Elie Mystal.
      And Jamie Raskin.

      • rhywun

        The fact that intellectual lightweights like that guy get attention is a big part of the problem.

    • PieInTheSky

      Do people honestly think voting patterns would not change if the president was elected via popular vote?

      • The Last American Hero

        The patterns might, but the end results wouldn’t. Harris wins either way*.

        *If this was any election prior to 2020, I would be predicting Trump to win decisively on election night. But we live in a post fortification world.

      • Pat

        I don’t think they would meaningfully change, except in the sense that a fair number of team red voters would probably succumb to demoralization after the third or fourth time losing the popular vote and give up, widening the team blue margin. No Republican has won the popular vote since Reagan.

      • rhywun

        No Republican has won the popular vote since Reagan.

        The popular vote has never been meaningful. I don’t know if anyone has tried to crunch the numbers to see if people who normally don’t vote decide to vote if it now matters.

      • cavalier973

        George W. won the pop vote in 2004, if I remember rightly.

  24. PieInTheSky

    I am calling it. Kamala wins. You hears it here first.

    • Pat

      +135 at [redacted]. Insufficient action to place a wager. On the other hand, a Harris popular vote margin of 1% to 1.99% is +600, and 2% to 2.99% +650. So I stand to collect a few bucks there.

    • Old Man With Candy

      I’ve been saying it for a year, even before she was crowned the nominee.

    • creech

      And Trump’s agreement to debate Biden before Biden was nominated will go down as the major misstep in this campaign.

  25. The Late P Brooks

    Those who attend the event will be asked upon arrival to be respectful, and cordial.

    Your presence or absence will be noted. Will there be security personnel and metal detectors?

    • Old Man With Candy

      Seriously doubt it. This is a remarkably ideologically homogeneous campus.

  26. The Late P Brooks

    During a live interview that aired Friday on The New Yorker Radio Hour podcast, Cheney said, “I can’t explain why George W. Bush hasn’t spoken out, but I think it’s time, and I wish that he would.”

    Sources close to the former President were asked to comment on rumors he was heard to say, “I can’t explain why that bitchfaced moron won’t shut up, but I wish she would.” They have not yet replied to our queries.

  27. The Late P Brooks

    Wunderbar

    Bids in million dollar increments. Some people just know what they want. In Magnus Walker’s video, he says somebody hit it with a forklift while it was parked in one of the warehouses.

    • That Guy

      I got to ride in a 56 300SL once*. Tiny car. I was afraid the door handle would break off in my hand it was so flimsy.

      *A friend in college had a girlfriend whose father was ridiculously wealthy. He, the dad, let us take to the local Shell station to gas it up. He also let me drive his 66 Ferrari GT330 once.

  28. The Late P Brooks

    A world gone mad

    Britain’s Conservative Party on Saturday elected outspoken lawmaker Kemi Badenoch as its new leader as it tries to rebound from a crushing election defeat that ended 14 years in power.

    The first Black woman to lead a major British political party, Badenoch (pronounced BADE-enock) defeated rival candidate Robert Jenrick in a vote of almost 100,000 members of the right-of-center Conservatives.

    ——-

    The 44-year-old former software engineer depicts herself as a disruptor, arguing for a low-tax, free-market economy and pledging to “rewire, reboot and reprogram” the British state. Like her rival Jenrick, she has criticized multiculturalism and called for lower immigration, though unlike him she has not demanded that Britain leave the European Convention on Human Rights.

    A self-proclaimed enemy of wokeness Badenoch opposes identity politics, gender-neutral bathrooms and government plans to reduce U.K. carbon emissions. During the leadership campaign she drew criticism for saying that “not all cultures are equally valid,” and for suggesting that maternity pay was excessive.

    Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London, said the Conservative Party was likely to “swing towards the right both in terms of its economic policies and its social policies” under Badenoch.

    A black female conservative? Impossible.

    • Gender Traitor

      A gender AND race traitor?? ::salutes::

    • UnCivilServant

      If they keep pushing in that direction, they might actually, eventually, find someone right of center.

    • R.J.

      Wow! Someone with basic common sense elected in Britain!

  29. The Late P Brooks

    Back to t:

    This is not a party, but a place to watch the democratic process play out.

    Hasn’t anybody told the eggheads in charge the Tuesday night vote count is meaningless, and it might be days or weeks before the election is properly tabulated?

    • rhywun

      This.

      It will be worse than 2020 and that took, what, a week?

      • SarumanTheGreat

        It will take as long as necessary to ensure the ‘right’ result.

        Or

        They will say ‘F it’ let Calamity take a bath, blame bigotry and Russian interference, and double down.

  30. The Late P Brooks

    While the Conservative Party is unrepresentative of the country as a whole — its 132,000 members are largely affluent, older white men – its upper echelons have become markedly more diverse.

    Badenoch is the Tories’ fourth female leader, after Margaret Thatcher, Theresa May and Liz Truss, all of whom became prime minister. She’s the second Conservative leader of color, after Sunak, and the first with African roots. The center-left Labour Party, in contrast, has only ever been led by white men.

    The “center-left” Labour Party. Haha, good one, Shirley.

    • juris imprudent

      Well they aren’t full-on Stalinists or even Trotskyites, so by that standard – centerish.

      • Raven Nation

        Yeah, to some extent they moved a little toward the center when they dumped Corbyn.

  31. The Late P Brooks

    Totally not illicit inducements

    Companies are capitalizing on a tight election by offering treats and promotions to voters and enthusiasts alike. Although businesses cannot reward citizens for voting, they can provide discounts and freebies.

    Krispy Kreme is offering one free glazed donut to guests without requiring proof of voting on Election Day. They will also give out “I Voted” stickers for those who want proof they casted a ballot.

    Ikea will be giving out free frozen yogurt at participating bistros to customers with this digital coupon.

    Rideshare apps are also offering to knock down costs for individuals looking for transportation to the polls. Uber is offering 50 percent off rides for people heading to vote. They will also provide up to $10 off for users who book through the “Go Vote” tile on the app.

    Lyft is offering the same promotion of half off rides with an additional $10 discount under the code VOTE24 for cars, bikes and scooter use.

    Just don’t mention Trump.

    • Gender Traitor

      For hourly employees who want to come in later than usual or leave earlier than usual in order to vote on Election Day, my employer will let your supervisor set your time sheet to show you arriving or leaving at your regular time as long as you present an “I Voted” sticker.

      Apparently, though, all I have to do is go to Krispy Kreme.

      • UnCivilServant

        My employer isn’t doing anything special this year – but Election day is a floating holiday every year, so I could take the day off or bank it for later. Since I vote at 6am right down the street and it’s a remote day, I’m banking it.

      • Gender Traitor

        …and the nearest Krispy Kreme to Dayton is in suburban Cincinnati. 🙄

      • UnCivilServant

        That would cost more in gas than the donut is worth.

      • Gender Traitor

        Why couldn’t Tim Horton’s be making that offer?? Damn Canadians! 😒

      • UnCivilServant

        I can’t help with the canadians, but I can offer up a carb-free donut: 🍩

        It is a bit flavorless though.

  32. The Late P Brooks

    Please please please make it be over

    The Roberts ad, put out by Vote Common Good, also alludes to abortion rights, which is seen as a pivotal issue in a race that has seen Trump with big polling leads among male voters and Harris with a large lead among female voters.

    “In the one place in America where women still have a right to choose, you can vote any way you want. And no one will ever know,” Roberts says in the ad as a woman on screen meets up with her husband after casting her ballot for Harris.

    The voter winks at a fellow female voter as her husband asks if she made the “right choice.”

    Republicans have responded to the video with outrage, with some claiming that a wife lying about her vote is as bad as an affair.

    Politics is a plague upon the land.

  33. The Late P Brooks

    Prepared

    Vice President Harris on Wednesday said her team will be ready in the event former President Trump prematurely claims victory on Election Day.

    ABC’s Mary Bruce asked Harris in an interview what she would do if Trump were to say he won before the results are in on Tuesday, noting that he did so in 2020.

    “We are sadly ready if he does and, if we know that he is actually manipulating the press and attempting to manipulate the consensus of the American people … we are prepared to respond,” the vice president said.

    Trump spoke in 2020 hours after Election Day, before all votes were counted. President Biden was then declared the winner the Saturday after Election Day.

    The election is not over until we say it is. And that will be when we are declared the winners.

    • Fourscore

      Remembers playing Horse with different kids. After the first game is over the Loser wants to play 2 out of 3, loses again, 3 out of 5, etc. Yeah, I sometimes was that kid, Girls never played against the boys though. It wouldn’t have been fair, in most cases.

    • Raven Nation

      “he is actually manipulating the press”

      because the press is easily manipulated by Trump?

  34. cavalier973

    For those who are forecasting a Harris/Walz win on 11/05: upon what are you basing your prediction?

    Are you looking at polling numbers? Early voting returns?

    Are you thinking that the fix is in?

    What and who are your sources?

    • Fourscore

      As I’ve said before, I’m torn. I want Walz gone from MN but I don’t want him wearing the VP shirt. I’ll take one for the team, bring the Carpetbagger home.

      • cavalier973

        Do you think that Harris/Walz is going to win this election?

    • cavalier973

      Someone upthread said something along the lines of, “If this were prior to 2020, then Trump would win in a landslide.”

      What changed in 2020?

Submit a Comment