With 98% of the votes counted the Dems looks set to gain both Georgia US Senate seats – politicalbet

Floater said:

ydoethur said:

Floater said:

Scott_xP said:

https://twitter.com/SianGriffiths6/status/1346827558734725121

How dare anyone check the quality of our work

Are you talking about teachers, or OFSTED? In the case of OFSTED, you've made an assumption that there *is* quality in their work. There isn't.

In terms of OFSTED, they still have awkward questions to answer about why in the penultimate week of term they forced two schools to accept onsite inspections, only to then find out that one of their inspectors had tested positive.

They might well be a casualty of covid.

I have real life experience of a school who only tried to do things correctly when they knew OFSTED were coming.

The very same school whose headmistress lost her temper with me for daring to complain to outside authorities.

When I explained that I had been to the school several times and on my last visit had told her deputy in no uncertain terms what I would do if there was no improvement she did at least shut up for 5 seconds.

But of course she then had to ensure that the child had no real support as that was her only way of getting back at the parents.

A school where a whistleblower (concerned teacher) told us the school were fabricating notes to "prove" they had been doing something they hadn't

So Forgive me if I can't give a fuck about noses being put out of joint

Floater, I should point out that every time OFSTED has inspected me they've cited my teaching as Outstanding. So they like me.

I know they're full of shit because those were some of my worst ever lessons. So either my worst is better than everyone else's awesomeness, or they are more clueless than an Iranian naval officer after the fifteenth pint of arak.

I've no objection to, or fear of being inspected. But an OFSTED inspection is a worthless thing. Most of them have no clue what they're doing. Their own chief doesn't know what safeguarding is. That's the equivalent of a maths lecturer not knowing arithmetic.

Heck, last time they inspected a school I was working in, their research was so poor it didn't even clock that one of the SLT had been caught downloading indecent images on the school's server.

And it's unlikely they will understand what makes a good online lesson, given they're (A) thick and (B) don't know what they're doing. I've been teaching online one way and another for 15 years. An OFSTED inspector may know what a laptop is.

So - why are they doing it? Answer - to make everyone think they're important.

Which isn't really a good enough reason.

JACK_W said:

CNN - Ossoff lead widens to 17K.

Winchester 1997.

https://twitter.com/zerohedge/status/1346835839171649538?s=20

TheScreamingEagles said:

https://twitter.com/SamCoatesSky/status/1346834852960727041

What's the wow for? That's the law. 😕

HYUFD said:

Carnyx said:

RochdalePioneers said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

Guido understands that Downing Street’s televised press briefings, to be fronted by Allegra Stratton and due to launch on January 11th, will not be going ahead next week.

https://order-order.com/2021/01/06/allegras-scheduled-televised-briefings-off-air/

They appeared to be advertising for Allegra's job again...

I see also that HYUFD is being let off leafleting when it comes to local elections - as is the blood pressure of residents when strangers comes up othe garden path with leaflets.

https://order-order.com/2021/01/06/cchq-ban-activists-from-campaigning-in-local-elections/

Only while lockdown is in force, once we are back to Tier 2 or 3 you can leaflet again

Optimist!

Carnyx said:

Malmesbury said:

Carnyx said:

MrEd said:

Benpointer said:

williamglenn said:

The reason there were ballots is that there was an election.

https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1346818855298072576?s=21

Can't argue with his second sentence.

Here's a question for PBers. How many of the methods used in US elections would you have no problem in being introduced to UK elections? Would you be happy with drop-off mail-in ballot boxes for example, to boost turnout in poorer areas, or electronic voting. I'm playing Devil's Advocate here in that the vast majority of people on here believe there was no fraud and malice, so I'm assuming everyone would be confident that bringing in US practices over here....:)

We already have things called "pillar boxes" which are conveniently painted red and have Her Maj on them. They can also be used for posting your pools coupon, etc. I'm not quite sure why the Yanks need special boxes, unless it's so they can set fire to the ones in areas full of voters who cannot be trusted to vote the correct way. So no, not a good idea.

Neal Stephenson in The Cryptonomicon observed that British post boxes were obviously designed to deal with a problem of random dynamiting of post boxes.

On a serious note - Royal Mail actually works. Unlike the US postal system - even before Trumps sabotage.

Incidentally, a shout out for Royal Mail. They have recently introduced *pick up* for parcels and letters. For the princely sum of 72p you can pay for collection from your front door. So you can pay for your postage and send your parcel without leaving the house.....

Used it extensively for posting presents for Christmas.

Now that is very useful - thanks.

I checked -

“Of course, the underlying structure of everything in England is posh. There is no in-between with these people. You have to walk a mile to find a telephone booth, but when you find it, it is built as if the senseless dynamiting of pay phones had been a serious problem at some time in the past. And a British mailbox can presumably stop a German tank. None of them have cars, but when they do, they are three-ton hand-built beasts. The concept of stamping out a whole lot of cars is unthinkable—there are certain procedures that have to be followed, Mr. Ford, such as the hand-brazing of radiators, the traditional whittling of the tyres from solid blocks of cahoutchouc.”
― Neal Stephenson, Cryptonomicon

Very odd as they are mostly cast iron - not a good material as it splinters surely. Better with rubber or frangible composition.

He is very good at hyperbole, that Mr Stephenson.

"Not so much a gravy boat as a gravy heavy cruiser"

MrEd said:

TimT said:

Does anyone know where to find how Georgia's Military and Overseas Ballots split in the 2020 Presidential? My guess is that it went to Biden by a hair, but I'd like to confirm with real numbers.

What I read somewhere was military for Trump, overseas Biden but can't be 100% sure

Thanks Mr Ed. I think I read somewhere that active military were marginally pro-Biden, veterans pro-Trump, and overseas I'd take to be solidly Biden (as almost by definition they are internationalists)

Carnyx said:

MrEd said:

Benpointer said:

williamglenn said:

The reason there were ballots is that there was an election.

https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1346818855298072576?s=21

Can't argue with his second sentence.

Here's a question for PBers. How many of the methods used in US elections would you have no problem in being introduced to UK elections? Would you be happy with drop-off mail-in ballot boxes for example, to boost turnout in poorer areas, or electronic voting. I'm playing Devil's Advocate here in that the vast majority of people on here believe there was no fraud and malice, so I'm assuming everyone would be confident that bringing in US practices over here....:)

We already have things called "pillar boxes" which are conveniently painted red and have Her Maj on them. They can also be used for posting your pools coupon, etc. I'm not quite sure why the Yanks need special boxes, unless it's so they can set fire to the ones in areas full of voters who cannot be trusted to vote the correct way. So no, not a good idea.

I agree that postboxes are sufficient, as returning a postal ballot is free if posted from the UK. They are also much less likely to be tampered with or stolen than a temporary box which conspicuosly contains many ballot papers.

As for electronic voting, I have no problem, as long as the hardware, software and HCI is thouroughly tested, and that legal a back-up system is available if the electronic system goes down. Until then, lets stick with pencil and paper voting, which has been shown to be a very robust system.

Scott_xP said:

https://twitter.com/PickardJE/status/1346827953607483394

Sounds like a club chairman 'Full confidence of the board' statement

Carnyx said:

Malmesbury said:

Carnyx said:

MrEd said:

Benpointer said:

williamglenn said:

The reason there were ballots is that there was an election.

https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1346818855298072576?s=21

Can't argue with his second sentence.

Here's a question for PBers. How many of the methods used in US elections would you have no problem in being introduced to UK elections? Would you be happy with drop-off mail-in ballot boxes for example, to boost turnout in poorer areas, or electronic voting. I'm playing Devil's Advocate here in that the vast majority of people on here believe there was no fraud and malice, so I'm assuming everyone would be confident that bringing in US practices over here....:)

We already have things called "pillar boxes" which are conveniently painted red and have Her Maj on them. They can also be used for posting your pools coupon, etc. I'm not quite sure why the Yanks need special boxes, unless it's so they can set fire to the ones in areas full of voters who cannot be trusted to vote the correct way. So no, not a good idea.

Neal Stephenson in The Cryptonomicon observed that British post boxes were obviously designed to deal with a problem of random dynamiting of post boxes.

On a serious note - Royal Mail actually works. Unlike the US postal system - even before Trumps sabotage.

Incidentally, a shout out for Royal Mail. They have recently introduced *pick up* for parcels and letters. For the princely sum of 72p you can pay for collection from your front door. So you can pay for your postage and send your parcel without leaving the house.....

Used it extensively for posting presents for Christmas.

Now that is very useful - thanks.

I checked -

“Of course, the underlying structure of everything in England is posh. There is no in-between with these people. You have to walk a mile to find a telephone booth, but when you find it, it is built as if the senseless dynamiting of pay phones had been a serious problem at some time in the past. And a British mailbox can presumably stop a German tank. None of them have cars, but when they do, they are three-ton hand-built beasts. The concept of stamping out a whole lot of cars is unthinkable—there are certain procedures that have to be followed, Mr. Ford, such as the hand-brazing of radiators, the traditional whittling of the tyres from solid blocks of cahoutchouc.”
― Neal Stephenson, Cryptonomicon

Very odd as they are mostly cast iron - not a good material as it splinters surely. Better with rubber or frangible composition.

Stephenson can be very funny on US culture (particularly in his earlier work), but I don't think he quite gets us.

https://twitter.com/Mark_J_Harper/status/1346837400576806913?s=20

Anabobazina said:

MattW said:

Anabobazina said:

Instead of clapping the NHS why don't we give nurses a pay rise?

One reason is because nurses are not in the round poorly paid in the UK.

If you are looking for relatively poorly paid people working in medical jobs in the UK, there are plenty of others.

Okay a bonus then, to thank them. Better than clapping once a week surely?

Perhaps - for *all* relevant staff, mind.

I would be more inclined to suggest nursing assistants or whoever it is doing the more menial work - toiletting, cleaning and so on (which may be nurses). And all the ones in homecare and homes, who are paid minimum wage + a bit.

Benpointer said:

OnlyLivingBoy said:

Pro_Rata said:

PB rail enthusiast Armageddon??

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-55544616

Sad news, but I am more into heritage diesels anyway.

Now that is sad.

Still, each to their own I suppose. [Goes off to dust his typewriter collection]

Typewriters? Who collects typewriters?

*Pulls out drawer containing his collection of leather bookmarks*

Philip_Thompson said:

JACK_W said:

CNN - Ossoff lead widens to 17K.

Winchester 1997.

You're going to have to explain that one for me @Philip_Thompson

MrEd said:

Benpointer said:

williamglenn said:

The reason there were ballots is that there was an election.

https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1346818855298072576?s=21

Can't argue with his second sentence.

Here's a question for PBers. How many of the methods used in US elections would you have no problem in being introduced to UK elections? Would you be happy with drop-off mail-in ballot boxes for example, to boost turnout in poorer areas, or electronic voting. I'm playing Devil's Advocate here in that the vast majority of people on here believe there was no fraud and malice, so I'm assuming everyone would be confident that bringing in US practices over here....:)

I would have a problem with having to queue for many hours in order to vote, as a result of blatant decisions to restrict voting opportunities surgically targetted to disadvantage one candidate.

Blatantly gerrymandered electoral re districting is also a no-no.

Where else can a presidential contest be settled on the basis of anything other than the winner of the popular vote, to the extent that most recently the winning candidate would not have prevailed had the margin fallen to much below 4%.

In a system where partisanship extends to every level, I don't like the idea of allowing a state official oversight of the conduct of an election in which he is running for governor, or generally that elections should be overseen by political appointees.

Nor is it good that a state can denying about 8% of the population the right to vote on the basis that they might sometime in their life have been convicted of even a minor felony, especially when that rests on a blatant misreading of a court judgement to the contrary.

That'll do for starters.

contrarian said:

kinabalu said:

kjh said:

kle4 said:

Benpointer said:

Nigel_Foremain said:

Philip_Thompson said:

contrarian said:

Alistair said:

I see we are back with the "Trump who got 2 of the 3 lowest Republican votes shares this millennium" is wildly popular line of thinking.

Wow, another leftist promising conservatives they still have a chance if only they select a candidate the left approves of.

I guess we can expect a great deal of this over the next two years.

Well I'm a right winger who thinks Ronald Reagan was America's best postwar POTUS but I find Trump revolting and am glad the Democrats won.

Maybe right wingers finding Trump repellant should be taken seriously? Just an idea.

You fibber, you are the most Trumpian poster on here. I guess you hope that saying you are anti-Trump makes you sound a little more human. Trump is a far right populist and so are you. If you were an American you would be wearing the hat and attending all his rallies and claiming the election was a fraud. You never have any real evidence for your stated views just right wing hunches, just like him. You are probably one of Donald Trump's love children

Not by a long chalk is @Philip_Thompson 'the most Trumpian poster in here'.

I disagree with what PT says but you need to look elsewhere for PB Trump supporters. It isn't hard.

Obviously people wont recall all positions of others but Philip condemned Trump for months and months. It's not even a muted kind of dislike where you might interpret them as secretly still in favour but hiding it with a 'I dont support trump but'.

Just because someone likes Boris doesn't mean they like Trump.

Spot on. Philip has made very clear his disgust for Trump and Boris is no Trump. I certainly detest Trump. I think he is evil. Boris has qualities and he has flaws as do most people. People have different views about him. I don't think he is competent as a PM, but that is a personal opinion, but I feel very confident to say he is definitely not evil, far from it, what is more I do admire his humour and his ability to speak and write (just not to lead).

There are similarities between Johnson and Trump, in particular the dumbing down of political messaging and the "greatest country" shtick, also the immaturity and laziness, but they are at the same time totally different. In particular -

Trump has no intellect to speak of. Johnson does.
Trump has no vocabulary. Johnson has a big one.
Trump has malevolent intentions. Johnson is merely selfish.
Trump's torso is blubbery. Johnson's is toned and muscly.

Doesn;t matter

Whatever you think of Trump, he is his own man. He is eminently able to ride out criticism and bad publicity and not change course. He is very difficult to intimidate or shame and rarely backs down.

Johnson, not so much. In fact, not at all.

Trump deals appallingly with criticism. As for not backing down, he never ADMITS to backing down. But he did, for example, actually sign the stimulus package last week without the $2k and indeed barely changed at all from what he refused to sign earlier. That's called backing down.

So it must be hereditary, the Delingpoles being bell ends.

https://twitter.com/JamesDelingpole/status/1346792937238224896

Benpointer said:

Philip_Thompson said:

JACK_W said:

CNN - Ossoff lead widens to 17K.

Winchester 1997.

You're going to have to explain that one for me @Philip_Thompson

I presume this - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997_Winchester_by-election

Essentially - whining about the result of the previous election didn't go down well.

TheScreamingEagles said:

contrarian said:

kinabalu said:

kjh said:

kle4 said:

Benpointer said:

Nigel_Foremain said:

Philip_Thompson said:

contrarian said:

Alistair said:

I see we are back with the "Trump who got 2 of the 3 lowest Republican votes shares this millennium" is wildly popular line of thinking.

Wow, another leftist promising conservatives they still have a chance if only they select a candidate the left approves of.

I guess we can expect a great deal of this over the next two years.

Well I'm a right winger who thinks Ronald Reagan was America's best postwar POTUS but I find Trump revolting and am glad the Democrats won.

Maybe right wingers finding Trump repellant should be taken seriously? Just an idea.

You fibber, you are the most Trumpian poster on here. I guess you hope that saying you are anti-Trump makes you sound a little more human. Trump is a far right populist and so are you. If you were an American you would be wearing the hat and attending all his rallies and claiming the election was a fraud. You never have any real evidence for your stated views just right wing hunches, just like him. You are probably one of Donald Trump's love children

Not by a long chalk is @Philip_Thompson 'the most Trumpian poster in here'.

I disagree with what PT says but you need to look elsewhere for PB Trump supporters. It isn't hard.

Obviously people wont recall all positions of others but Philip condemned Trump for months and months. It's not even a muted kind of dislike where you might interpret them as secretly still in favour but hiding it with a 'I dont support trump but'.

Just because someone likes Boris doesn't mean they like Trump.

Spot on. Philip has made very clear his disgust for Trump and Boris is no Trump. I certainly detest Trump. I think he is evil. Boris has qualities and he has flaws as do most people. People have different views about him. I don't think he is competent as a PM, but that is a personal opinion, but I feel very confident to say he is definitely not evil, far from it, what is more I do admire his humour and his ability to speak and write (just not to lead).

There are similarities between Johnson and Trump, in particular the dumbing down of political messaging and the "greatest country" shtick, also the immaturity and laziness, but they are at the same time totally different. In particular -

Trump has no intellect to speak of. Johnson does.
Trump has no vocabulary. Johnson has a big one.
Trump has malevolent intentions. Johnson is merely selfish.
Trump's torso is blubbery. Johnson's is toned and muscly.

Doesn;t matter

Whatever you think of Trump, he is his own man. He is eminently able to ride out criticism and bad publicity and not change course. He is very difficult to intimidate or shame and rarely backs down.

Johnson, not so much. In fact, not at all.

What first attracted you to the pussy grabber?

Sorry is that Trump or Johnson?

TheScreamingEagles said:

I was trying to compile this stat earlier.

https://twitter.com/imillhiser/status/1346834407626334209

Then the Senate is doing exactly what it was intended to do, giving extra power to the arm of the little states, to stop them being steam-rollered by California, Texas, New York....

How does that number look for the House of Representatives, where it was always intended to be nearer your vote in Montana being of similar worth to that in Massachussetts? (Acknowledging that the Republicans have done their worst in gerrymandering their way to unfairness.)

Nigelb said:

Carnyx said:

Malmesbury said:

Carnyx said:

MrEd said:

Benpointer said:

williamglenn said:

The reason there were ballots is that there was an election.

https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1346818855298072576?s=21

Can't argue with his second sentence.

Here's a question for PBers. How many of the methods used in US elections would you have no problem in being introduced to UK elections? Would you be happy with drop-off mail-in ballot boxes for example, to boost turnout in poorer areas, or electronic voting. I'm playing Devil's Advocate here in that the vast majority of people on here believe there was no fraud and malice, so I'm assuming everyone would be confident that bringing in US practices over here....:)

We already have things called "pillar boxes" which are conveniently painted red and have Her Maj on them. They can also be used for posting your pools coupon, etc. I'm not quite sure why the Yanks need special boxes, unless it's so they can set fire to the ones in areas full of voters who cannot be trusted to vote the correct way. So no, not a good idea.

Neal Stephenson in The Cryptonomicon observed that British post boxes were obviously designed to deal with a problem of random dynamiting of post boxes.

On a serious note - Royal Mail actually works. Unlike the US postal system - even before Trumps sabotage.

Incidentally, a shout out for Royal Mail. They have recently introduced *pick up* for parcels and letters. For the princely sum of 72p you can pay for collection from your front door. So you can pay for your postage and send your parcel without leaving the house.....

Used it extensively for posting presents for Christmas.

Now that is very useful - thanks.

I checked -

“Of course, the underlying structure of everything in England is posh. There is no in-between with these people. You have to walk a mile to find a telephone booth, but when you find it, it is built as if the senseless dynamiting of pay phones had been a serious problem at some time in the past. And a British mailbox can presumably stop a German tank. None of them have cars, but when they do, they are three-ton hand-built beasts. The concept of stamping out a whole lot of cars is unthinkable—there are certain procedures that have to be followed, Mr. Ford, such as the hand-brazing of radiators, the traditional whittling of the tyres from solid blocks of cahoutchouc.”
― Neal Stephenson, Cryptonomicon

Very odd as they are mostly cast iron - not a good material as it splinters surely. Better with rubber or frangible composition.

Stephenson can be very funny on US culture (particularly in his earlier work), but I don't think he quite gets us.

His portrait of UK bureaucracy in WWII was spot on.

His invention of Qwghlm was a brilliant pastiche of regional British behaviour.

MrEd said:

Benpointer said:

williamglenn said:

The reason there were ballots is that there was an election.

https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1346818855298072576?s=21

Can't argue with his second sentence.

Here's a question for PBers. How many of the methods used in US elections would you have no problem in being introduced to UK elections? Would you be happy with drop-off mail-in ballot boxes for example, to boost turnout in poorer areas, or electronic voting. I'm playing Devil's Advocate here in that the vast majority of people on here believe there was no fraud and malice, so I'm assuming everyone would be confident that bringing in US practices over here....:)

Mail in, drop boxes and early voting are actually reasonably secure. There is little to no risk of people voting on behalf of others, particularly on mass, so long as the rolls of who voted are public. (This is why the dead people voting schtick is such obvious rubbish: you can literally look at the list of people who are said to have voted, and call them.) Likewise, if there was mass voting on behalf of people who didn't actually vote, it would be found very easily, for the same reason. Plus, there's the fact that you'd need to identify people who weren't going to vote, otherwise you'd be caught when voters turned up at polling booths and found they'd already voted.

Where there is an issue is with inter-family (and occasionally, like Tower Hamlets, inter-community) pressure on people to vote a certain way. Dad runs this family, and dad says we all vote this way. But while this may flip a few votes, it's not easy to do this en mass. (And if I were going to be asking, who benefited from dad pressuring family members in 2020, then can you really be sure the answer is Biden? I mean, really?)

Voting machines are an inherently bad idea.

I'm OK with electronic counting, so long as a hand recount is possible, but I think pressing a screen is dangerous. If a paper trail is generated (i.e. a ballot is also printed and the voter can check it before it goes in the box), then I guess it's probably OK. But I still don't particularly like it.

That being said, statistical analysis is a wonderful thing. Based on the evidence from 99% of America, you can usually forecast to within 1% or so of how a particular area will vote. Simply, by the time you have that much data, you'll know how individual demographic segments will likely vote. Fraud by a particular voting machine vendor is therefore likely pretty easy to spot.

AramintaMoonbeamQC said:

ydoethur said:

Floater said:

Scott_xP said:

https://twitter.com/SianGriffiths6/status/1346827558734725121

How dare anyone check the quality of our work

Are you talking about teachers, or OFSTED? In the case of OFSTED, you've made an assumption that there *is* quality in their work. There isn't.

In terms of OFSTED, they still have awkward questions to answer about why in the penultimate week of term they forced two schools to accept onsite inspections, only to then find out that one of their inspectors had tested positive.

They might well be a casualty of covid.

We already had a Plague Inspection last term, before they got suspended due to inspectors getting the plague. Are we to expect another?

The only complaint I had from (a very few) parents last time around was that we were setting 'too much' work i.e. for a normal five period day (upper secondary).

We have had a few comments on the same lines, so we are not setting extra work for homework to Years 7-9 at the moment.

TheScreamingEagles said:

So it must be hereditary, the Delingpoles being bell ends.

https://twitter.com/JamesDelingpole/status/1346792937238224896

And if this is not surreal enough, Toby Young was on Newsnight yesterday. At the start of the worst phase of this terrible pandemic the BBC's flagship current affairs show got Toby on. I thought it was somebody trying to be funny when I heard that, but no. I've checked. He was on.

NerysHughes said:

Luckyguy1983 said:

Anabobazina said:

Every Thursday night, everyone who was going to clap donates £1 via Just Giving with Apple or Android Pay.

Proceeds shared monthly with NHS frontline.

I think it's a lovely idea actually though I'd prefer to spend it on nice espresso machines and cashew nuts and cheese for the NHS staff. Having a bit more take home is great, but it doesn't actually lift ones mood on the day.

Food is free again at Winchester Hospital in the staff canteen. Again they received a huge donation from a local (£1 million plus)

That's good. They need lots of very nourishing food.

kinabalu said:

kjh said:

kle4 said:

Benpointer said:

Nigel_Foremain said:

Philip_Thompson said:

contrarian said:

Alistair said:

I see we are back with the "Trump who got 2 of the 3 lowest Republican votes shares this millennium" is wildly popular line of thinking.

Wow, another leftist promising conservatives they still have a chance if only they select a candidate the left approves of.

I guess we can expect a great deal of this over the next two years.

Well I'm a right winger who thinks Ronald Reagan was America's best postwar POTUS but I find Trump revolting and am glad the Democrats won.

Maybe right wingers finding Trump repellant should be taken seriously? Just an idea.

You fibber, you are the most Trumpian poster on here. I guess you hope that saying you are anti-Trump makes you sound a little more human. Trump is a far right populist and so are you. If you were an American you would be wearing the hat and attending all his rallies and claiming the election was a fraud. You never have any real evidence for your stated views just right wing hunches, just like him. You are probably one of Donald Trump's love children

Not by a long chalk is @Philip_Thompson 'the most Trumpian poster in here'.

I disagree with what PT says but you need to look elsewhere for PB Trump supporters. It isn't hard.

Obviously people wont recall all positions of others but Philip condemned Trump for months and months. It's not even a muted kind of dislike where you might interpret them as secretly still in favour but hiding it with a 'I dont support trump but'.

Just because someone likes Boris doesn't mean they like Trump.

Spot on. Philip has made very clear his disgust for Trump and Boris is no Trump. I certainly detest Trump. I think he is evil. Boris has qualities and he has flaws as do most people. People have different views about him. I don't think he is competent as a PM, but that is a personal opinion, but I feel very confident to say he is definitely not evil, far from it, what is more I do admire his humour and his ability to speak and write (just not to lead).

There are similarities between Johnson and Trump, in particular the dumbing down of political messaging and the "greatest country" shtick, also the immaturity and laziness, but they are at the same time totally different. In particular -

Trump has no intellect to speak of. Johnson does.
Trump has no vocabulary. Johnson has a big one.
Trump has malevolent intentions. Johnson is merely selfish.
Trump's torso is all blubber. Johnson's is toned and muscly.

So what if Johnson "has a big one".. What's that got to do with Trump's bigly vocabulary?

kinabalu said:

Wulfrun_Phil said:

glw said:

kinabalu said:

contrarian said:

kinabalu said:

Scott_xP said:

https://twitter.com/HotlineJosh/status/1346773590000226304

Yep. This is what I am opining will happen. He is net toxic to the GOP brand and so they need to have this battle and win it. Which they will (both) because the Republican party is bigger than any one man - they're not called the GOP for nothing - and they exist to win power not to service the ego of individuals.

Time to dig up the old strapline. Trump is Toast. Again.

I always find it funny when the left give conservatives advice.

Fair point. Which I have to say since I was making it myself in reverse the other day. But I am very objective for my ilk and the "advice" is sound. New American Dream v MAGA would be no contest in a polarized binary in 24. So the GOP will need to come up with something else. And I think they will.

The day Trump leaves office any incentive due to party loyalty to provide cover or protection for Trump will end. The GOP will be just delighted to leave Trump to fight his own legal battles, without any assistance from the DOJ, Senate, etc.

For the other point of view, there's also the question of whether Trump would even persist with much of an active political career, something that he avoided pursuing for most of 7 decades. The past 4 years and the run up to it are the exception, not the rule. He is a narcissist whose every action is taken to benefit himself. On 20th Jan he will once again revert to holding no elected office. He won't really care about those who would like to jump on his coat tails to benefit themselves, because it is hard to see how he could benefit personally by advancing their prospects. Maybe it would smooth his ego, but not his bank balance, so he won't be minded to put himself out beyond trying to settle a few grudges. I think his attitude also extends to his immediate family, who I think he cares little about other than how they can be used to benefit him personally, so why should he go out of his way to help them either? He may just go much the same way as an ageing mafia boss, and try and back away into semi-retirement, his main concern being to fend off attention from those who wish him harm, especially in his case the feds and state prosecutors.

This is broadly my take. He will not stay a political force - and might not even try once it becomes clear it's not happening.

Keep an eye on his Twitter count. It's 88m now.

Do bear in mind that a substantial (& growing minority) of Trump's Twitter followers are bots.

https://qz.com/1422395/how-many-of-donald-trumps-twitter-followers-are-fake/

Peter_the_Punter said:

HYUFD said:

Philip_Thompson said:

JACK_W said:

CNN - Ossoff lead widens to 17K.

Winchester 1997.

Oaten won Winchester by 68% to 28% for Malone, Ossoff currently leads Perdue by just 50.2% to 49.8% with 98% in

I think Purdue has to be within 5% to qualify for a recount.

It's 0.5% Peter.

TheScreamingEagles said:

I was trying to compile this stat earlier.

https://twitter.com/imillhiser/status/1346834407626334209

Split themselves into more states. The sky is the limit, or rather how small the stars will be in the flag

HYUFD said:

IanB2 said:

HYUFD said:

FFUHD said:

HYUFD said:

Peter_the_Punter said:

HYUFD said:

kinabalu said:

OllyT said:

edmundintokyo said:

OllyT said:

another_richard said:

So does the GOP fall into civil war or does it reorganise and retake the House in 2022 ?

The GOP have got themselves into a dire position. Many of them know that the Trump core are batshit crazy / QAnon types but there are too many of them to ignore so they keep quiet because they are scared of them.

I don't see an easy path for any moderately sane Republican to win a GOP Primary. That's why we still have 10 GOP Senators about to humiliate themselves by still pretending Trump won the election.

IDK, parties nearly always pick a moderate against an incumbent, not least because if the governing side isn't contested then politics enthusiasts vote in the opposition race, especially where there are open primaries. It's not clear that Trump will be willing and able to run, and if he's not then it's not clear that anybody similar can pull off what he did.

In some cases you may be correct but I believe the GOP will be dancing to Trump's tune for the next 4 years.

Trump is a malign, vindictive and bullying individual who will take great pleasure in trying to destroy any Republican who has displeased him. The right really have taken the US into a very dark place and now the genii is out of the bottle it's not going to be easy to put it back.

I totally share your opinion on the damage done but I do not think Trump & Clan will be the ongoing political force that many fear (or hope if they're on the dark side). Soon he will out of the White House. He'll be an impeached and disgraced one term ex-president with big legal and money troubles who managed the remarkable negative feat of failing to win a 2nd term after just 4 years of his party in power and while he's at it losing both houses of Congress to the hated other.

From 20 Jan his world will shrink beyond recognition. The difference between being the American president and not being the American president is almost as stark as that between being dead or alive. He'll lose all the trappings of that great office - the most important of which was to have his bullshit piped into people's heads 24/7. Supporters will drift away, not to be replaced by new ones. It will be one way traffic. Drip drip drip until what's left is something not to be taken seriously. He might even realize this himself before too long and concentrate just on cashflow and staying out of jail. Perhaps a deal? Not sure on that one. We'll see.

But Donald Trump the fearsome politician is over. No doubt there will be other grisly characters (the lizard Ted Cruz?) who will battle to own the MAGA space in the GOP, and one will prevail and be a live contender for the 24 nomination, but that person will not be called Trump and they won't be able to recreate what he did in 15/16 because that stunning achievement owed so much to his personal brand and persona. So they won't win the nomination. The Republican Party might look beyond the pale now but my money is on them detoxifying. Looking forward to the opening of the WH24 betting.

I think even if Trump and Trump Jnr do not run in 2024 one of Pence or Cruz will be the GOP nominee, the GOP base are not going to pick an establishment and moderate 'RINO' as their nominee anytime soon

Trump is a cult.* His support will wane now but it won't readily transfer anywhere and certainly not to traditional Republicans. The GoP has a massive problem, very much of its own creation. It will do well to avoid a long period in the wilderness.

* For the avoidance of doubt this is not a typo.

It should be noted that the last time a party lost the White House after only 1 term, when Carter lost in 1980, it took the Democrats 12 years until Bill Clinton in 1992 before they won the White House again.

Which is not encouraging for the GOP, at least at the Presidential level

It should be noted that the last time I flipped 3 tails in a row on a Wednesday when the President-elect's surname began with B, it was followed by a run of two heads and a tail.

Portentous.

I may sue for passing off as me

You should take it as a compliment. Even Sean has to run his own parody accounts.

Well I suppose you have to be famous enough to be worth having a parody or impersonator of you in the first place

It is a sign of blog celebrity. If a poster called "kuntibula" rocked up I'd be rather chuffed.

Now then, you're £25 in hock to me due to Georgia.

Should I come up with a couple of "double or quits" offers to ward off a settlement?

contrarian said:

kinabalu said:

kjh said:

kle4 said:

Benpointer said:

Nigel_Foremain said:

Philip_Thompson said:

contrarian said:

Alistair said:

I see we are back with the "Trump who got 2 of the 3 lowest Republican votes shares this millennium" is wildly popular line of thinking.

Wow, another leftist promising conservatives they still have a chance if only they select a candidate the left approves of.

I guess we can expect a great deal of this over the next two years.

Well I'm a right winger who thinks Ronald Reagan was America's best postwar POTUS but I find Trump revolting and am glad the Democrats won.

Maybe right wingers finding Trump repellant should be taken seriously? Just an idea.

You fibber, you are the most Trumpian poster on here. I guess you hope that saying you are anti-Trump makes you sound a little more human. Trump is a far right populist and so are you. If you were an American you would be wearing the hat and attending all his rallies and claiming the election was a fraud. You never have any real evidence for your stated views just right wing hunches, just like him. You are probably one of Donald Trump's love children

Not by a long chalk is @Philip_Thompson 'the most Trumpian poster in here'.

I disagree with what PT says but you need to look elsewhere for PB Trump supporters. It isn't hard.

Obviously people wont recall all positions of others but Philip condemned Trump for months and months. It's not even a muted kind of dislike where you might interpret them as secretly still in favour but hiding it with a 'I dont support trump but'.

Just because someone likes Boris doesn't mean they like Trump.

Spot on. Philip has made very clear his disgust for Trump and Boris is no Trump. I certainly detest Trump. I think he is evil. Boris has qualities and he has flaws as do most people. People have different views about him. I don't think he is competent as a PM, but that is a personal opinion, but I feel very confident to say he is definitely not evil, far from it, what is more I do admire his humour and his ability to speak and write (just not to lead).

There are similarities between Johnson and Trump, in particular the dumbing down of political messaging and the "greatest country" shtick, also the immaturity and laziness, but they are at the same time totally different. In particular -

Trump has no intellect to speak of. Johnson does.
Trump has no vocabulary. Johnson has a big one.
Trump has malevolent intentions. Johnson is merely selfish.
Trump's torso is blubbery. Johnson's is toned and muscly.

Doesn;t matter

Whatever you think of Trump, he is his own man. He is eminently able to ride out criticism and bad publicity and not change course. He is very difficult to intimidate or shame and rarely backs down.

Johnson, not so much. In fact, not at all.

But Trump was so very much 'his own man' that he just handed the Presidency, the House, and the Senate to the Democrats. Because he is an irremediable moron.

Perhaps he should have tried being someone else's man on this occasion? Or just any other man, really.

SirNorfolkPassmore said:

contrarian said:

kinabalu said:

kjh said:

kle4 said:

Benpointer said:

Nigel_Foremain said:

Philip_Thompson said:

contrarian said:

Alistair said:

I see we are back with the "Trump who got 2 of the 3 lowest Republican votes shares this millennium" is wildly popular line of thinking.

Wow, another leftist promising conservatives they still have a chance if only they select a candidate the left approves of.

I guess we can expect a great deal of this over the next two years.

Well I'm a right winger who thinks Ronald Reagan was America's best postwar POTUS but I find Trump revolting and am glad the Democrats won.

Maybe right wingers finding Trump repellant should be taken seriously? Just an idea.

You fibber, you are the most Trumpian poster on here. I guess you hope that saying you are anti-Trump makes you sound a little more human. Trump is a far right populist and so are you. If you were an American you would be wearing the hat and attending all his rallies and claiming the election was a fraud. You never have any real evidence for your stated views just right wing hunches, just like him. You are probably one of Donald Trump's love children

Not by a long chalk is @Philip_Thompson 'the most Trumpian poster in here'.

I disagree with what PT says but you need to look elsewhere for PB Trump supporters. It isn't hard.

Obviously people wont recall all positions of others but Philip condemned Trump for months and months. It's not even a muted kind of dislike where you might interpret them as secretly still in favour but hiding it with a 'I dont support trump but'.

Just because someone likes Boris doesn't mean they like Trump.

Spot on. Philip has made very clear his disgust for Trump and Boris is no Trump. I certainly detest Trump. I think he is evil. Boris has qualities and he has flaws as do most people. People have different views about him. I don't think he is competent as a PM, but that is a personal opinion, but I feel very confident to say he is definitely not evil, far from it, what is more I do admire his humour and his ability to speak and write (just not to lead).

There are similarities between Johnson and Trump, in particular the dumbing down of political messaging and the "greatest country" shtick, also the immaturity and laziness, but they are at the same time totally different. In particular -

Trump has no intellect to speak of. Johnson does.
Trump has no vocabulary. Johnson has a big one.
Trump has malevolent intentions. Johnson is merely selfish.
Trump's torso is blubbery. Johnson's is toned and muscly.

Doesn;t matter

Whatever you think of Trump, he is his own man. He is eminently able to ride out criticism and bad publicity and not change course. He is very difficult to intimidate or shame and rarely backs down.

Johnson, not so much. In fact, not at all.

Trump deals appallingly with criticism. As for not backing down, he never ADMITS to backing down. But he did, for example, actually sign the stimulus package last week without the $2k and indeed barely changed at all from what he refused to sign earlier. That's called backing down.

And he of course has settled numerous court cases in the favour of the complainant against him rather than go to court. A recent example being the the Trump University scam he was part of,

TheScreamingEagles said:

So it must be hereditary, the Delingpoles being bell ends.

https://twitter.com/JamesDelingpole/status/1346792937238224896

Interesting to see Guido going pretty hard on Delingpole whilst also noting parts of his own comments section agrees with the man.

Mexicanpete said:

kinabalu said:

kjh said:

kle4 said:

Benpointer said:

Nigel_Foremain said:

Philip_Thompson said:

contrarian said:

Alistair said:

I see we are back with the "Trump who got 2 of the 3 lowest Republican votes shares this millennium" is wildly popular line of thinking.

Wow, another leftist promising conservatives they still have a chance if only they select a candidate the left approves of.

I guess we can expect a great deal of this over the next two years.

Well I'm a right winger who thinks Ronald Reagan was America's best postwar POTUS but I find Trump revolting and am glad the Democrats won.

Maybe right wingers finding Trump repellant should be taken seriously? Just an idea.

You fibber, you are the most Trumpian poster on here. I guess you hope that saying you are anti-Trump makes you sound a little more human. Trump is a far right populist and so are you. If you were an American you would be wearing the hat and attending all his rallies and claiming the election was a fraud. You never have any real evidence for your stated views just right wing hunches, just like him. You are probably one of Donald Trump's love children

Not by a long chalk is @Philip_Thompson 'the most Trumpian poster in here'.

I disagree with what PT says but you need to look elsewhere for PB Trump supporters. It isn't hard.

Obviously people wont recall all positions of others but Philip condemned Trump for months and months. It's not even a muted kind of dislike where you might interpret them as secretly still in favour but hiding it with a 'I dont support trump but'.

Just because someone likes Boris doesn't mean they like Trump.

Spot on. Philip has made very clear his disgust for Trump and Boris is no Trump. I certainly detest Trump. I think he is evil. Boris has qualities and he has flaws as do most people. People have different views about him. I don't think he is competent as a PM, but that is a personal opinion, but I feel very confident to say he is definitely not evil, far from it, what is more I do admire his humour and his ability to speak and write (just not to lead).

There are similarities between Johnson and Trump, in particular the dumbing down of political messaging and the "greatest country" shtick, also the immaturity and laziness, but they are at the same time totally different. In particular -

Trump has no intellect to speak of. Johnson does.
Trump has no vocabulary. Johnson has a big one.
Trump has malevolent intentions. Johnson is merely selfish.
Trump's torso is all blubber. Johnson's is toned and muscly.

So what if Johnson "has a big one".. What's that got to do with Trump's bigly vocabulary?

I do hope Biden mangles the English language. I'm going to miss that about Trump bigly. Although damn all else...)

MrEd said:

Benpointer said:

williamglenn said:

The reason there were ballots is that there was an election.

https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1346818855298072576?s=21

Can't argue with his second sentence.

Here's a question for PBers. How many of the methods used in US elections would you have no problem in being introduced to UK elections? Would you be happy with drop-off mail-in ballot boxes for example, to boost turnout in poorer areas, or electronic voting. I'm playing Devil's Advocate here in that the vast majority of people on here believe there was no fraud and malice, so I'm assuming everyone would be confident that bringing in US practices over here....:)

We don't need those measures because the vast majority of people can vote a ten minute walk from their homes with a maximum of 5 minutes waiting time and easily get a postal vote if they prefer.

We don't have a party doing its best to try to make it as difficult as possible for people to cast their vote, making them wait in line for hours, reducing polling stations etc etc. In short we don't have Trump and the MAGAs and frankly I have zero respect for anyone who wants to see them in power.

not_on_fire said:

MrEd said:

kle4 said:

MrEd said:

kle4 said:

MrEd said:

Benpointer said:

williamglenn said:

The reason there were ballots is that there was an election.

https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1346818855298072576?s=21

Can't argue with his second sentence.

Here's a question for PBers. How many of the methods used in US elections would you have no problem in being introduced to UK elections? Would you be happy with drop-off mail-in ballot boxes for example, to boost turnout in poorer areas, or electronic voting. I'm playing Devil's Advocate here in that the vast majority of people on here believe there was no fraud and malice, so I'm assuming everyone would be confident that bringing in US practices over here....:)

I think it's the wrong question. There are practices of US elections i dont think are good, but which are perfectly legal in the US. In some cases they've been used for a long time by many states but only challenged because of the outcome this time.

Additionally, even if there is potential for problems with some aspects those need to be proven, and if dozens of legal cases cannot find sufficient grounds to act then it doesn't matter if some practices are not ideal as they haven't been shown to be faulty.

There have been months to prove fraud and other issues. It hasn't changed the results. And whatever flaws exist in their electoral practices in my personal opinion I'd hope they address. But you cannot do that part way through, without sufficient evidence, because the outcome is not liked.

One benefit to the lengthy delays and multiple processes for sign off is testing to destruction fraud claims.

I would agree with that, you can't change the process half way through because you don't like the result. And they also haven't proven fraud, although it's "interesting" how a candidate like Biden drove up enthusiasm in certain US cities but not in others. What I can see is a number of Republican legislatures now becoming aggressive on the votes - PA's state Senate has just blocked a Democratic Senator who won by 69 votes from taking his seat on the grounds his election is being challenged.

Oh given how aggressive some states already were I'm sure itll be off the charts now. And Democrats will want to move quick and there may be wars of escalation.

It's difficult at the Federal level because so much of the issue to do with voting evolves around the states. Even though Biden has control, bringing a Federal law on protecting votes like in the 1960s is going to be a nightmare.

And the 6-3 conservative majority on SCOTUS will likely rule that many of the changes the Dems would like to make are unconstitutional, infringing states' rights etc.

Watching Roberts try and gut the John Lewis Voting Rights Act that will be shortly be coming is going to make my blood god damn boil I am sure.

Nigelb said:

Roger said:

Anabobazina said:

Benpointer said:

Nigel_Foremain said:

Philip_Thompson said:

contrarian said:

Alistair said:

I see we are back with the "Trump who got 2 of the 3 lowest Republican votes shares this millennium" is wildly popular line of thinking.

Wow, another leftist promising conservatives they still have a chance if only they select a candidate the left approves of.

I guess we can expect a great deal of this over the next two years.

Well I'm a right winger who thinks Ronald Reagan was America's best postwar POTUS but I find Trump revolting and am glad the Democrats won.

Maybe right wingers finding Trump repellant should be taken seriously? Just an idea.

You fibber, you are the most Trumpian poster on here. I guess you hope that saying you are anti-Trump makes you sound a little more human. Trump is a far right populist and so are you. If you were an American you would be wearing the hat and attending all his rallies and claiming the election was a fraud. You never have any real evidence for your stated views just right wing hunches, just like him. You are probably one of Donald Trump's love children

Not by a long chalk is @Philip_Thompson 'the most Trumpian poster in here'.

I disagree with what PT says but you need to look elsewhere for PB Trump supporters. It isn't hard.

Indeed. That's a bizarre attack from Nigel.

Plenty of PB Trumptons linger around, they are easy enough to identify.

Indeed not. Brexiteers all of them. Some because of his strinkingly similar amoral behaviour to Boris some because they think he and Boris can be best friends in a post truth Brexity world.

That's a strinklingly good neologism.

It was wasn't it but just a happy accident I'm afraid! I've recently been working on a photographic book and I entitled a photograh 'Feeding the Geese'. Sounded innocent enough and accurately describes what the girl was doing..........

Alistair said:

Romney in all likelyhood would have thrashed Clinton.

He would have absolutely hammered her: remember, he got pretty close to Obama, hard not to think that he would done very well against the much more unpopular Clinton.

(Worth remembering that he got a much higher share of the vote than Trump did in either 2016 or 2020.)

kinabalu said:

And if this is not surreal enough, Toby Young was on Newsnight yesterday. At the start of the worst phase of this terrible pandemic the BBC's flagship current affairs show got Toby on. I thought it was somebody trying to be funny when I heard that, but no. I've checked. He was on.

https://twitter.com/Aiannucci/status/1346694084531019776

Alistair said:

not_on_fire said:

MrEd said:

kle4 said:

MrEd said:

kle4 said:

MrEd said:

Benpointer said:

williamglenn said:

The reason there were ballots is that there was an election.

https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1346818855298072576?s=21

Can't argue with his second sentence.

Here's a question for PBers. How many of the methods used in US elections would you have no problem in being introduced to UK elections? Would you be happy with drop-off mail-in ballot boxes for example, to boost turnout in poorer areas, or electronic voting. I'm playing Devil's Advocate here in that the vast majority of people on here believe there was no fraud and malice, so I'm assuming everyone would be confident that bringing in US practices over here....:)

I think it's the wrong question. There are practices of US elections i dont think are good, but which are perfectly legal in the US. In some cases they've been used for a long time by many states but only challenged because of the outcome this time.

Additionally, even if there is potential for problems with some aspects those need to be proven, and if dozens of legal cases cannot find sufficient grounds to act then it doesn't matter if some practices are not ideal as they haven't been shown to be faulty.

There have been months to prove fraud and other issues. It hasn't changed the results. And whatever flaws exist in their electoral practices in my personal opinion I'd hope they address. But you cannot do that part way through, without sufficient evidence, because the outcome is not liked.

One benefit to the lengthy delays and multiple processes for sign off is testing to destruction fraud claims.

I would agree with that, you can't change the process half way through because you don't like the result. And they also haven't proven fraud, although it's "interesting" how a candidate like Biden drove up enthusiasm in certain US cities but not in others. What I can see is a number of Republican legislatures now becoming aggressive on the votes - PA's state Senate has just blocked a Democratic Senator who won by 69 votes from taking his seat on the grounds his election is being challenged.

Oh given how aggressive some states already were I'm sure itll be off the charts now. And Democrats will want to move quick and there may be wars of escalation.

It's difficult at the Federal level because so much of the issue to do with voting evolves around the states. Even though Biden has control, bringing a Federal law on protecting votes like in the 1960s is going to be a nightmare.

And the 6-3 conservative majority on SCOTUS will likely rule that many of the changes the Dems would like to make are unconstitutional, infringing states' rights etc.

Watching Roberts try and gut the John Lewis Voting Rights Act that will be shortly be coming is going to make my blood god damn boil I am sure.

It'll come down to Roberts and Kav, the other 4 conservative justices are off the scale right wing for this sort of stuff I suspect.

Malmesbury said:

rcs1000 said:

MrEd said:

TimT said:

Does anyone know where to find how Georgia's Military and Overseas Ballots split in the 2020 Presidential? My guess is that it went to Biden by a hair, but I'd like to confirm with real numbers.

What I read somewhere was military for Trump, overseas Biden but can't be 100% sure

Pre the November election, the Military Times did a poll of active service men, and (for the first time ever), they showed the Republican trailing the Democrat.

President Trump made an enormous number of completely unforced errors. Calling people who died for their country "losers" and "suckers" was not smart. Slagging off a man who spent years - and this David Foster Wallace piece on McCain is worth reading - being tortured in a prisoner of war camp, rather than be sent home earlier than people who had been captured earlier, almost certainly hit him in Arizona.

The thing that really pushed them across the line was treatment of the CO of that aircraft carrier, I believe.

That was insane: flying the Secretary of Defence half way around the world to berate (over the loudhailer) the men of a ship for having cheered their previous CO.

I mean, WTF???

Benpointer said:

Is it really too much to hope that Trump remains just enough of a political force to tear the GOP apart for the next 5 years?

It must be possible - and fine by me - but I think their need to be competitive will prevail.

I predict they will unearth a bright young thing.

HYUFD said:

https://twitter.com/Mark_J_Harper/status/1346837400576806913?s=20

In all fairness to Hancock, he gave a decent(ish) answer to a very good question from Harper.

OllyT said:

MrEd said:

Benpointer said:

williamglenn said:

The reason there were ballots is that there was an election.

https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1346818855298072576?s=21

Can't argue with his second sentence.

Here's a question for PBers. How many of the methods used in US elections would you have no problem in being introduced to UK elections? Would you be happy with drop-off mail-in ballot boxes for example, to boost turnout in poorer areas, or electronic voting. I'm playing Devil's Advocate here in that the vast majority of people on here believe there was no fraud and malice, so I'm assuming everyone would be confident that bringing in US practices over here....:)

We don't need those measures because the vast majority of people can vote a ten minute walk from their homes with a maximum of 5 minutes waiting time and easily get a postal vote if they prefer.

We don't have a party doing its best to try to make it as difficult as possible for people to cast their vote, making them wait in line for hours, reducing polling stations etc etc. In short we don't have Trump and the MAGAs and frankly I have zero respect for anyone who wants to see them in power.

I totally agree. I have never spent more than 5 minutes in a queue to vote, in cities and countryside. I actually would not be happy in having early voting other than postal as it is supposed to be an election day. The hours of our voting stations are from 7am to 10pm so I'm sure anyone who wants to vote can do it sometime in the day. I have never had any difficulty getting a short time off work to vote if I needed it as well.

rcs1000 said:

Malmesbury said:

rcs1000 said:

MrEd said:

TimT said:

Does anyone know where to find how Georgia's Military and Overseas Ballots split in the 2020 Presidential? My guess is that it went to Biden by a hair, but I'd like to confirm with real numbers.

What I read somewhere was military for Trump, overseas Biden but can't be 100% sure

Pre the November election, the Military Times did a poll of active service men, and (for the first time ever), they showed the Republican trailing the Democrat.

President Trump made an enormous number of completely unforced errors. Calling people who died for their country "losers" and "suckers" was not smart. Slagging off a man who spent years - and this David Foster Wallace piece on McCain is worth reading - being tortured in a prisoner of war camp, rather than be sent home earlier than people who had been captured earlier, almost certainly hit him in Arizona.

The thing that really pushed them across the line was treatment of the CO of that aircraft carrier, I believe.

That was insane: flying the Secretary of Defence half way around the world to berate (over the loudhailer) the men of a ship for having cheered their previous CO.

I mean, WTF???

Complete shark jump.....

Malmesbury said:

Benpointer said:

Philip_Thompson said:

JACK_W said:

CNN - Ossoff lead widens to 17K.

Winchester 1997.

You're going to have to explain that one for me @Philip_Thompson

I presume this - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997_Winchester_by-election

Essentially - whining about the result of the previous election didn't go down well.

Precisely.

The GOP should have been overwhelming favourites to win both of these run offs. A concession by Trump would have led to less interest by Democrat voters and a strong desire by Republicans to constrain Biden's incoming power.

Instead the whining has been far less that helpful and gifted the Democrats both of these seats.