2020 Presidential Election -- Biden v Trump: Sleepy Joe vs Dopey Don [Results begin on page 409]

[Francisco 2.0 32,290]

And for those wanting to read the article:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-gsa-letter-biden-transition/2020/11/08/07093acc-21e9-11eb-8672-c281c7a2c96e_story.html

 

Quote

A Trump administration appointee is refusing to sign a letter allowing President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team to formally begin its work this week, in another sign the incumbent president has not acknowledged Biden’s victory and could disrupt the transfer of power.

The administrator of the General Services Administration, the low-profile agency in charge of federal buildings, has a little-known role when a new president is elected: to sign paperwork officially turning over millions of dollars, as well as giving access to government officials, office space and equipment authorized for the taxpayer-funded transition teams of the winner.

 

Quote

It amounts to a formal declaration by the federal government, outside of the media, of the winner of the presidential race.

But by Sunday evening, almost 36 hours after media outlets projected Biden as the winner, GSA Administrator Emily Murphy had written no such letter. And the Trump administration, in keeping with the president’s failure to concede the election, has no immediate plans to sign one. This could lead to the first transition delay in modern history, except in 2000, when the Supreme Court decided a recount dispute between Al Gore and George W. Bush in December.

 

Quote

“An ascertainment has not yet been made,” Pamela Pennington, a spokeswoman for GSA, said in an email, “and its Administrator will continue to abide by, and fulfill, all requirements under the law.”

The GSA statement left experts on federal transitions to wonder when the White House expects the handoff from one administration to the next to begin — when the president has exhausted his legal avenues to fight the results, or the formal vote of the electoral college on Dec. 14? There are 74 days, as of Sunday, till the Biden inauguration on Jan. 20.

 

Spoiler

“No agency head is going to get out in front of the president on transition issues right now,” said one senior administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly. The official predicted that agency heads will be told not to talk to the Biden team.

The decision has turned attention to Murphy, whose four-year tenure has been marked by several controversies involving the president, an unusually high profile for an agency little known outside of Washington.

“Her action now has to be condemned,” said Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (D-Va.), who leads a House oversight panel on federal operations. “It’s behavior that is consistent with her subservience to wishes of the president himself, and it is clearly harmful to the orderly transition of power.”

The delay has implications both practical and symbolic.

By declaring the “apparent winner” of a presidential election, the GSA administrator releases computer systems and money for salaries and administrative support for the mammoth undertaking of setting up a new government — $9.9 million this year.

Transition officials get government email addresses. They get office space at every federal agency. They can begin to work with the Office of Government Ethics to process financial disclosure and conflict-of-interest forms for their nominees.

And they get access to senior officials, both political appointees of the outgoing administration and career civil servants, who relay an agency’s ongoing priorities and projects, upcoming deadlines, problem areas and risks. The federal government is a $4.5 trillion operation, and while the Biden team is not new to government, the access is critical, experts said.

This is all on hold for now.

“Now that the election has been independently called for Joe Biden, we look forward to the GSA Administrator quickly ascertaining Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as the President-elect and Vice President-elect,” a Biden transition spokesman said in an email. “America’s national security and economic interests depend on the federal government signaling clearly and swiftly that the United States government will respect the will of the American people and engage in a smooth and peaceful transfer of power.”

As the campaign wound down, President Trump gave signals that he would not easily hand over the reins to his successor, if there was one. But for people who have been through them, a presidential transition is a massive undertaking requiring discipline, decision-making and fast learning under the smoothest circumstances. Each lost day puts the new government behind schedule.

“The transition process is fundamental to safely making sure the next team is ready to go on Day One,” said Max Stier, president and chief executive of the nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service, which has set up a presidential transition center and shares advice with the Biden and Trump teams. “It’s critical that you have access to the agencies before you put your people in place.”

The Biden team can move forward to get preliminary security clearances and begin FBI background checks on potential nominees requiring Senate confirmation.

Another senior administration official who was not authorized to speak publicly said each agency has drafted detailed transition plans for a new administration, but they will not be released to the Biden team until a winner is formally declared.

Trump has been resistant to participating in a transition — fearing it is a bad omen — but has allowed top aides to participate as long as the efforts do not become public, administration officials said. He is unlikely to concede he has lost or participate in traditional activities, the officials said.

In a call on Friday with administration officials, Mary Gibert, the head of the presidential transition team at the GSA, told colleagues the agency was in a holding pattern and not to host people from Biden teams until there is “ascertainment.” She gave no specific timeline on when it was expected.

The delay has already gummed up discussions on critical issues, including plans to distribute a possible coronavirus vaccine, this official said.

GSA has been part of transition planning since the Presidential Transition Act was signed in 1963. Since then, the agency has identified the winner within hours or a day of media projections, and weeks before the results were made official by the electoral college.

Chris Lu, who served as former president Barack Obama’s transition director in 2008, recalled that after Obama was declared the winner over the late senator John McCain on Nov. 4, he went to sleep to get up early the next morning to open the transition office. He missed the call from GSA’s acting administrator, Jim Williams, informing him that he had signed over transition resources to the Obama team.

“Jim left the call at 1 a.m.,” Lu said. “There was simply no controversy involved.”

Robert C. MacKichan Jr., an attorney who served as GSA general counsel for presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, said that because Trump is contesting the election and the electors have not yet voted, it’s too early for Murphy to make a call. Once the administrator issues the letter, the funds can be spent and can’t be recouped.

“I don’t think, at this point, I would feel comfortable making that determination now,” MacKichan said. “It’s premature.”

MacKichan said he was confident Murphy would handle a difficult situation fairly. “As an attorney and as a procurement official, I think she has the highest standard of integrity,” he said.

Murphy has not sought the limelight during her tenure and was described by former colleagues as a by-the-book person. She’s regarded as well-qualified, an expert on contracting with experience both at the agency, where she had previously served as chief acquisition officer, and on Capitol Hill, where she had been a staffer for multiple committees. Heading a federal agency unknown to most Americans seemed like an ideal assignment.

But under Trump, two issues of personal importance to the president became almost constant sources of controversy for her: the lease Trump’s company holds with the agency for its D.C. hotel, located in the federally owned Old Post Office Pavilion, and the planned consolidation of the FBI headquarters.

Both projects have pressed Murphy into duty defending the president, and her actions elicited criticism from the agency’s watchdog and withering criticism from congressional Democrats.

Trump’s hotel lease was signed with the agency before Trump took office, and he resigned his position with the company when he entered office. But he retained ownership of his business, allowing him to profit from the property while in office.

Democrats held repeated hearings to get a better explanation of how the agency decided to allow Trump to keep the lease given that the Constitution bar presidents from accepting gifts of payments from foreign governments, which often patronize the hotel. Under Murphy, the GSA repeatedly declined to provide documents to House Democrats, including the monthly income statements it receives from Trump’s company.

Last year, the agency’s inspector general determined that GSA “improperly” ignored those concerns in allowing Trump’s company to keep the lease. GSA defended itself by saying that the investigation “found no undue influence, pressure or unwarranted involvement of any kind by anyone.”

Trump has personally intervened in the most prominent real estate project in the agency’s entire portfolio: the plan to build a new FBI headquarters that would allow the bureau out of the crumbling and insecure J. Edgar Hoover Building. During his first year in office, Trump and the GSA abruptly canceled a decade-long bipartisan plan to build a new suburban headquarters for the agency, infuriating Democrats who had worked more than a decade on the project and who alleged that Trump canceled the project so a competing hotel could never be built in place of the Hoover building, a site down the street from his hotel.

 

Edited November 9, 2020 by Francisco 2.0

[Anastasis 23,375]

1 minute ago, jimmyjazz said:

Well, it's kinda creepy, but whatever.

I appreciate that it is much easier than simply admitting that you were wrong.  

[Gourmand 7,774]

3 minutes ago, Chewy's Hairy Horn said:

Christ, they’re gonna have to sue to transition, aren’t they?

That will go over really well leading into two January Senate runoffs in Georgia..

[BrickHorn 18,176]

8 minutes ago, Hiphopopotamos said:

 

Anyone want to reconsider their confidence level that we’ll see a peaceful transition of power?

[jimmyjazz 45,513]

1 minute ago, Anastasis said:

I appreciate that it is much easier than simply admitting that you were wrong.  

See, the difference between you and I is that I have no fucking idea what you are talking about.  I'm sure that pleases you.

[Biff Tannen 45,477]

3 minutes ago, AnTiM said:

What can happen here is simply that in the worst possible case it could come down to a choice  of one vote per state for president.  Given that there were more red states than blue, guess what happens then.

I’d rather not. 

[Pig Bellmont 8,679]

13 minutes ago, Hiphopopotamos said:

This is fucked up. 

 

Meh. He can stall until the electoral college vote.  It won’t matter. 

[Neonmoon 38,127]

Why the fuck are all the necessary jobs of government political appointees? 

[AnTiM 1,656]

Can we please vote on impeachment again and get rid of this fucking cancer in the White House?

[burntorangebongos 10,681]

National Security could be compromised. That isn't good. They have to move forward with the transition somehow.

[Biff Tannen 45,477]

7 minutes ago, Francisco 2.0 said:

The delay has already gummed up discussions on critical issues, including plans to distribute a possible coronavirus vaccine, this official said

For fuck’s sake. 

[jimmyjazz 45,513]

Just now, Biff Tannen said:

For fuck’s sake. 

I'm not saying this to you, but if anyone thought this guy was not going to go scorched earth on his way out, they haven't been paying attention.  I fully expect him to not only gum up the works on vaccine approval and distribution, but also put the kibosh on any stimulus, roll back unemployment benefits, and just for shits and grins, deport as many brown people as he possibly can.

Prove me wrong.

[Al Bundy's Napoleon Hand 13,537]

I can't believe Donald Trump would sabotage America after losing an election.

[AnTiM 1,656]

There was a very detailed explanation on the net this morning about what happens when the sitting president refuses to concede.  Don't remember the title, but a search for the last nine words of the previous sentence might yield a result.

Edited November 9, 2020 by AnTiM

[ChiTownDoc 21,091]

3 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

I'm not saying this to you, but if anyone thought this guy was not going to go scorched earth on his way out, they haven't been paying attention.  I fully expect him to not only gum up the works on vaccine approval and distribution, but also put the kibosh on any stimulus, roll back unemployment benefits, and just for shits and grins, deport as many brown people as he possibly can.

Prove me wrong.

He will try but most of what he does can be overturned as soon as Joe B gets inaugurated.  He realizes this and it’s absolutely gonna drive him nuts.  Also there’s gonna be so many charges announced against him and his family the minute he leaves.  Glorious.  

[washparkhorn 9,931]

https://www.gsa.gov/governmentwide-initiatives/presidential-transition-directory

It all prepared and ready to go. 

Count the votes and file a writ of mandamus if the GSA Head will not act "ascertainment" of the election results. 

Trump has difficulty with graciousness and the importance our American Heritage in peacefully transferring power. Not a conservative. 

[Biff Tannen 45,477]

7 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

I'm not saying this to you, but if anyone thought this guy was not going to go scorched earth on his way out, they haven't been paying attention.  I fully expect him to not only gum up the works on vaccine approval and distribution, but also put the kibosh on any stimulus, roll back unemployment benefits, and just for shits and grins, deport as many brown people as he possibly can.

Prove me wrong.

Bill Maher has been saying this for years. 

[washparkhorn 9,931]

7 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

I'm not saying this to you, but if anyone thought this guy was not going to go scorched earth on his way out, they haven't been paying attention.  I fully expect him to not only gum up the works on vaccine approval and distribution, but also put the kibosh on any stimulus, roll back unemployment benefits, and just for shits and grins, deport as many brown people as he possibly can.

Prove me wrong.

 

[aggie08 21,380]

Just now, Biff Tannen said:

Bill Maher has been saying this for years. 

Donald Trump has been saying it for years.

[Bozo_Casanova 26,232]

53 minutes ago, Anastasis said:

@Bozo_Casanova, once upon a time.

 

How about ban the personal strawman argument by posters. This wouldn't include quotes from others or inadvertent strawmen for obvious reasons, but those original to the poster directed at others on the board.

Move posts containing them to a "$#@!ty argumention" metathread.

Perspectives should always be welcome, but I'm not sure what the value is of welcoming low quality posts. Banning a particular structure of argument would thus eliminate (or at least repeatedly correct) people who lack the capacity or aptitude to either abide by the rule or the cleverness to disguise a fallacy.

I drank a lot less back then.

[Gil Bang 25,865]

2 hours ago, cactusflinthead said:

That's the impression that I had of it. It was a political effort to...do what I'm not sure. If it was to establish a shared cultural identity it failed spectacularly. Even the shared language part has problems as you pointed out about the x syllables. 

I'm just sorting through the aftermath trying to figure out how to make the RGV more like Dallas or Houston, but I  suspect that I'm pissing in the wind. Perhaps it's not to be like either of them, but at least not vote against their own interests. 

Yeah, I'm a fucking dreamer.

Fat lotta luck I've had with my own demographic. 

your not the only one

[Hagbard Celine 10,734]

10 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

I'm not saying this to you, but if anyone thought this guy was not going to go scorched earth on his way out, they haven't been paying attention.  I fully expect him to not only gum up the works on vaccine approval and distribution, but also put the kibosh on any stimulus, roll back unemployment benefits, and just for shits and grins, deport as many brown people as he possibly can.

Prove me wrong.

vaccine / operation warpspeed - can't touch it and moving with independent autonomy (see tonight's 60 minutes story)

stimulus / unemployment - the pubs are scared shitless - they need corporate indemnity and they need it badly - and they would much prefer dotard to sign it rather than take something to joe that he will veto - they need a deal before christmas - and pelosi holding out for everyone that's not boeing or a bank now looks like the right move

deportations are just like beautiful healthcare 2 weeks from now - no longer serve any purpose when it comes to milking the maggats

[atomheartbevo 89,362]

49 minutes ago, SizzleChest said:

Strong is the grift.

 

45 minutes ago, hornmpa96 said:

So who had Mark Meadows as the reasonable member of the Trump administration in the pool?

If Meadows and Bossie are pushing that, they must want to work in Washington after Trump is gone.

 

[Anastasis 23,375]

3 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

I drank a lot less back then.

It's all relative. 

[Dark Horse 2,257]

Pooooooor aggy

[Bozo_Casanova 26,232]

35 minutes ago, Hiphopopotamos said:

This is fucked up. 

 

Fucked up, but he’s not the only one with leverage. Assuming that a peaceful transition ultimately occurs, I mean. 

25 minutes ago, BrickHorn said:

Anyone want to reconsider their confidence level that we’ll see a peaceful transition of power?

My confidence is what it has been. About 9:1 for. 

[jimmyjazz 45,513]

5 minutes ago, Hagbard Celine said:

vaccine / operation warpspeed - can't touch it and moving with independent autonomy (see tonight's 60 minutes story)

I'm watching it now.

 

Quote

stimulus / unemployment - the pubs are scared shitless - they need corporate indemnity and they need it badly - and they would much prefer dotard to sign it rather than take something to joe that he will veto - they need a deal before christmas - and pelosi holding out for everyone that's not boeing or a bank now looks like the right move

What makes you think Trump gives a shit about what the 'pubs "need"?

 

Quote

deportations are just like beautiful healthcare 2 weeks from now - no longer serve any purpose when it comes to milking the maggats

He'll do it because he's mean.

[tx 3 putt 76,159]

5 minutes ago, Dark Horse said:

Pooooooor aggy

He ran out of time !!!!!!

[Francisco 2.0 32,290]

1 minute ago, tx 3 putt said:

He ran out of time  votes !!!!!!

This too.

['stache 21,743]

30 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

I'm not saying this to you, but if anyone thought this guy was not going to go scorched earth on his way out, they haven't been paying attention.  I fully expect him to not only gum up the works on vaccine approval and distribution, but also put the kibosh on any stimulus, roll back unemployment benefits, and just for shits and grins, deport as many brown people as he possibly can.

Prove me wrong.

He’s to lazy and incompetent to actually do anything these next to months but bitch and moan which is all he really cares about doing. It’ll be sad and pathetic, but it will be “peaceful” in that we are not a banana republic and the military and secret service aren’t going to abide by any attempts to prevent a transition. He may want it to be like Russia where the military would just not recognize the rightful winners but not in the USA. Trump will have no authority after noon on Jan. 20, and will leave when the prospect of being handcuffed and escorted out as a trespasser becomes a very real possibility. And any attempt to nuke or open fire on US soil or elsewhere without cause will be laughed off by military leaders.

Edited November 9, 2020 by 'stache

[Nivek 16,808]

 
 
 
 
 
 

He’s got reporters to poison, Facebook trolls to throw out of windows.... he’s swamped...

[Bruh Man 3,160]

41 minutes ago, Sawbonz said:

 

Jesus, the Trumpkins are going to end up paying off his Deutsche debt too, right?

[Guadaloopy 10,903]

I’ve been seeing the note that GHWB left for Clinton making it’s rounds on social media.  In contrast, I imagine the note that Trump leaves will be something like this:

[jimmyjazz 45,513]

1 minute ago, 'stache said:

He’s to lazy and incompetent to actually do anything these next to months but bitch and moan which is all he really cares about doing. It’ll be sad and pathetic, but it will be “peaceful” in that we are not a banana republic and the military and secret service aren’t going to abide by any attempts to prevent a transition. He may want it to be like Russia where the military would just not recognize the rightful winners but not in the USA. Trump will have no authority after noon on Jan. 20, and will leave when the prospect of being handcuffed and escorted out as a trespasser becomes a very real possibility. And any attempt to nuke or open fire on US soil or elsewhere without cause will be lighted off by military leaders.

I think this completely underestimates him. He'll issue Executive Orders to do whatever he wants.  Whether other government entities fall in line is a different discussion. 

[Pig Bellmont 8,679]

28 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

I'm not saying this to you, but if anyone thought this guy was not going to go scorched earth on his way out, they haven't been paying attention.  I fully expect him to not only gum up the works on vaccine approval and distribution, but also put the kibosh on any stimulus, roll back unemployment benefits, and just for shits and grins, deport as many brown people as he possibly can.

Prove me wrong.

Honestly best case scenario for Dems to win both senate seats in GA. Go ahead- veto a stimulus. Perdue and Loeffler would be fucked

[staboner 4,955]

Just now, 'stache said:

He’s to lazy and incompetent to actually do anything these next to months but bitch and moan which is all he really cares about doing. It’ll be sad and pathetic, but it will be “peaceful” in that we are not a banana republic and the military and secret service aren’t going to abide by any attempts to prevent a transition. He may want it to be like Russia where the military would just not recognize the rightful winners but not in the USA. Trump will have no authority after noon on Jan. 20, and will leave when the prospect of being handcuffed and escorted out as a trespasser becomes a very real possibility. And any attempt to nuke or open fire on US soil or elsewhere without cause will be lighted off by military leaders.

what was that last sentence there my man? no nukes man, no no no. 

actually,  I would be more worried about people not named Trump. Like terrorists or other folks who may have marching orders in this particular set of circumstances. 

shit is fragile. he needs to GTFO and whine like the bitch he is, is

[Anastasis 23,375]

38 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

See, the difference between you and I is that I have no fucking idea what you are talking about.

Nobody is surprised jimmy. 

[Brisketexan 104,465]

His end game is to sow enough discord in the process to convince idiots that he didn't lose, he was cheated. Literally nothing more. Even he's not dumb enough to think there's a path to actually winning this.

No, his end game is to create chaos, out of which he thinks he can emerge as Supreme Leader.

 
I'm just going to assume that there is no transition, and when Team Biden shows up to work, there's going to be....literally nothing.  It's not as if the outgoing administration is top notch, but they are taking their cues from their boss, who simply doesn't respect any rule or law.
 
 

This is all but certain. Remember, they didn’t participate in any transition when they took power, and they won’t on the way out.

Anyone want to reconsider their confidence level that we’ll see a peaceful transition of power?

Nope....about where I was - tossup. We’re in perilous times.

I'm not saying this to you, but if anyone thought this guy was not going to go scorched earth on his way out, they haven't been paying attention.  I fully expect him to not only gum up the works on vaccine approval and distribution, but also put the kibosh on any stimulus, roll back unemployment benefits, and just for shits and grins, deport as many brown people as he possibly can.
Prove me wrong.

Maybe not these....but something like them. It’s certain, and it’s a dangerous time.

[jimmyjazz 45,513]

1 minute ago, Anastasis said:

Nobody is surprised jimmy. 

I'm sure they're not.

By the way, you missed a comma.  I can recommend multiple resources for improving your writing, if you're interested.

[quigley 1,523]

2 hours ago, gmr548 said:

I mean, the RGV still voted Democratic. Trump team just found a lot of low propensity voters to get out. Latinos in DFW, Houston, CenTex, etc. vote Democratic overwhelmingly.

At the end of the day, it isn’t Latinos keeping Texas red. For that, look toward the whites.

Of course. We've given up on 1/2 - 2/3 of White people from the jump.

The assumption that White people will hold back progress in America has been the bedrock of Republican strategy for three generations and has proven correct. Electorally, White people, especially White men, are happy to keep voting like Dread Scott was still the law of the land.

That's why Spanish-speakers, Blacks, Native Peoples, and Asians have to understand that putting their differences aside will be critical forcing White people to allow equality. Especially important for Spanish-speakers because of their increasing vote power and openness to culture war garbage.

Biden needs to create a carve-out for wet-foot/dry-foot for the Cubans that will allow normalization of Cuba and allow Cuban-Americans to still bring family members over easily. He needs to investigate what people in the RGV really want and give it to them. If it's jobs/money/healthcare, that's the easiest: build a Space Force base there.

Asian-Americans need to understand that Affirmative Action won't ultimately hurt them. Take Ice Cube's Platinum Plan and actually do some of it.

And if you haven't watched Chappelle's SNL monologue, please do. It's refreshingly honest.

[TexEx15 17,444]

Just a PSA we are about an hour away from Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. 

[Anastasis 23,375]

 

4 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

By the way, you missed a comma.

[Firemans4Horn 17,792]

17 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

He ran out of time !!!!!!

In this case time ran on too long. 

[quigley 1,523]

7 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

No, his end game is to create chaos, out of which he thinks he can emerge as Supreme Leader.

It's a multi-pronged strategy.

If he wins the election in the courts or by forcing the election to the states, then of course he wins.

If he loses, he still gets a lot out of it. It sets up the initial talking points for TrumpTV, and it's part of his grift.

[Saint Tacky 1,609]

4 minutes ago, Guadaloopy said:

I’ve been seeing the note that GHWB left for Clinton making it’s rounds on social media.  In contrast, I imagine the note that Trump leaves will be something like this:

I was freelancing as a producer for ABC News on Election Day 1992. I was assigned to Ann Compton and Brint Hume, and was in the Westin Galleria on election night. About 12 of us were let into the hotel room immediately after the concession call and before the President went down to the ballroom. Didn't vote for him. Didn't care for his politics, but damn he had class. and his wife was a very kind lady. They were the only two people in the room maintaining their composure, smiling, and managing to joke about it. Everyone else was a mess. But they were political animals and they understood the stakes and this was bigger than them. 

[Francisco 2.0 32,290]

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-election-2020/i-saw-donald-trump-s-presidency-come-crashing-down-at-four-seasons-total-landscaping-b1699962.html

 

Quote

It began, as all good 2020 capers do, with a tweet from the president of the United States. It ended with his personal lawyer in the parking lot of a landscaping company, struggling to be heard over a man in his underpants shouting about George Soros. 

They say a star burns brightest just before it dies, and this was the Trump presidency in all its flaming glory.

 

 

Quote

For five straight days, the world had waited for news, any news, from Pennsylvania, which for all of that time had been expected to imminently decide the winner of a bitter election. The president had spent much of the intervening period making grave and entirely unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud, but even so he was unusually quiet.  

"Lawyers Press Conference at Four Seasons, Philadelphia. 11:00 A.M," he wrote to his 88 million followers on Saturday morning.

 

Quote

Journalists from around the world who had gathered in Philadelphia, most of whom had spent the last four days transfixed by moving maps on CNN, were eager for stimulation, and perhaps as a side note to see evidence of massive election fraud the president and his lawyers had alleged.

I sprang into action immediately, gathered my things, and was heading out of the door towards the Four Seasons Hotel in downtown Philadelphia when the next tweet came.

“Big press conference today in Philadelphia at Four Seasons Total Landscaping — 11:30am!”

 

Quote

Some mistake, I thought. A presidential typo? We’d seen worse over the last four years. Remember Covfefe?

 

Spoiler

I did a quick Google search. There was indeed a place called Four Seasons Total Landscaping in Philadelphia, but it was a small business in a drab industrial area on the edge of town. I struggled to think of any reason why the president’s lawyers would hold their press conference here, at this establishment, with its 3.1 star rating on Google reviews. 

I decided to call the Four Seasons Hotel, from whom I was sure I would get confirmation that this press conference was indeed being held on their premises — perhaps in a grand ballroom or conference room. 

A woman answered — she was primed: I was obviously not the first person to call.

“Yes there has been some confusion about this,” she said politely. “The press conference is not taking place here, it is taking place at Four Seasons Total Landscaping.” 

It’s hard to explain the confusion I experienced as I sped along the highway out of downtown Philadelphia towards Four Seasons Total Landscaping. Was this one last act of revenge by the president against the lying fake news media while he still had our enrapt attention? Was it a ruse to get all the journalists out of town for when the results were announced? 

Truth be told, it didn’t matter. However this turned out, Four Seasons Total Landscaping was the story now.

I arrived to see a media scrum around a chain link fence that led into the parking lot of Four Seasons Total Landscaping. The building itself was one-storey, with a neat lawn and a row of hedges at the front. It was in that part of town that every town has, where businesses which have no right being grouped together nonetheless gather due to one reason or another — usually the cheap rent. Across the street from Four Seasons Total Landscaping was a crematorium. Next door to it was an adult book store with a bright yellow sign that displayed its offerings: DVDs and lotions, novelty gifts, viewing booths. It was called Fantasy Island. In retrospect, it was an omen of what was to come.

 

The media was told to line up outside while the press conference was prepared. Journalists from Japan, Germany and Britain took their place as a crowd of Trump supporters gathered around them.

I approached by a man named Ron, who held a sign that read: “Biden Laptop Matters.” Since we were about to hear from the president’s lawyers about how this election was stolen, I wanted to hear what he thought about the process.

“What they did is they got ‘em fearful with corona, and once they got them in a fearful state, they suppressed them, they funelled all the ballots through mail-in, where they controlled that process, they can manipulate better,” he said. 

As we waited outside Four Seasons Total Landscaping, we began to wonder what had led us to this point. Had a Trump campaign booked the wrong Four Seasons and diverted to the landscaping company as a quick fix? Was the owner of the business a witness to this massive voter fraud the president was alleging?

The day after the event, a cryptic Facebook post by the owners of Four Seasons Total Landscaping revealed little about how this all came to be.

“Four Seasons Total Landscaping is a family-owned small business run by life long Philadelphians. We were honoured to be asked to host a press conference at our facility. We thank all of those that have shown support for our business and while we understand the negative comments, it saddens us that we have received such harsh judgement. Our team at Four Seasons would have proudly hosted any presidential candidate’s campaign at our business. We strongly believe in America and in democracy” they said, before adding that they would soon be selling T-shirts on their website.

One journalist remarked that the entire episode was beginning to acquire a Muammar Gaddafi flavour to it. When Nato powers started to bomb Tripoli in support of Libyan rebels and it appeared the leader was on his last legs, he emerged briefly from hiding riding a golf cart and holding an oversized umbrella. It was intended to project perseverance and strength — it had the opposite effect. 

Private security guards hired by the president’s lawyers began to call in media outlets by name so they could enter the parking lot. When a media outlet was called, the gathered Trump supporters booed those which they felt had been unfair to the president. “Washington Post”.. “Boooo.” “Fox News”.... “Boooooo!” “CNN” “BOOOOOOOO!”

This was an American pantomime. 

In the Four Seasons Total Landscaping parking lot the cameras were assembled, the sound levels checked, the pens were poised and the gates were closed. The world’s press waited for the evidence that would blow this big scam wide open. The sun shone brightly. 

Then, out of nowhere, a journalist with a European accent announced the news: “CNN called the presidency for Biden!”

The assembled journalists were paralysed for a moment. Phones started to ring and calls were made. Some were given instructions to leave and started to do so. 

Soon after, the sound of car horns honking and cheers in the street began to drift into the backlot of Four Seasons Total Landscaping.

 

A car with a young Black woman named Jada Carter stopped in front of the Trump supporters. She screamed at the top of her lungs: “Black lives matter! Black lives matter!” A flag with a picture of Donald Trump’s head superimposed onto the body of Rocky Balboa fluttered in the wind as she cried out.

Just a few minutes later Rudy Giuliani appeared. This was the second press conference Mr Giuliani had called in Philadelphia in a matter of days, both to make unsubstantiated claims about voter fraud. The first took place at an airport hangar.

The president’s personal lawyer was serious and solemn as he took his place at the podium, in front of a garage door covered with Trump campaign posters and a bright yellow hose pipe attached to the wall.   

“I’m here to describe to you the first part of a situation that is very troubling,” he began. He went on to claim that dead people were still voting in Philadelphia. 

“Joe Frazier is still voting here. Also Will Smith’s father voted here twice since he died.”

He said he had brought with him a number of poll watchers who alleged that they had been blocked from monitoring the vote count. When they spoke, however, their complaint appeared to centre around how far they had been asked to stand away from the counting process. Not the evidence of massive fraud Mr Giuliani or the president had promised.

Amid all the drama of the last 30 minutes, it appeared no one had told him that Joe Biden had been projected the winner of the election. A member of the press asked him how these lawsuits would overturn the call for the former vice president. 

“Who was it called by?” 

“All of them,” came the response. 

Mr Giuliani took a moment before erupting in mock incredulity: “All the networks? Wow! All the networks!” He raised out his arms and looked to the sky, for a moment looking and sounding like Larry David doing a bit. But the wind had been sucked out of him. The smile had gone.

I walked out onto the street, where more Biden supporters had gathered across the road. A Trump supporter in his underwear and a Biden mask pulled up over his head (who appeared to be dressed as an embodiment of Trump’s insult “Sleepy Joe Biden”) shouted: “Who pays for all that? Who pays for it all. George Soros! George Soros! Tell your daughter who George Soros is hun! Give her a real education. Look it up!”

Next to him, a man wearing an American flag suit and hat, and a full Donald Trump mask, stood silently and still. Even the mask he wore seemed to wear a dejected expression.    

Across the road, Kelisha Carter was jubilant. She had come down with two of her daughters and a giant Biden flag to soak up the atmosphere.  

“Relief! There’s some hope coming. God, I prayed for this,” she said, when asked how she felt about the victory.

“It’s not even that I don’t like that man, I just don’t like his tactics,” she said of Mr Trump. “He just divides everybody. He brings the racists out of the closet. It’s scary for Black people, it’s scary for a lot of people. I have daughters and I have a husband that goes out every day and I want him to come home at night.”

Her daughter Jada, who had earlier argued with the Trump supporters from her car, was too excited to stand still. She performed a backflip in the middle of the road. 

The owner of the Fantasy Island adult book store had come out onto his porch to watch the circus. He stood and stared in disbelief until a customer jolted him awake again.

“Are you open?”

“Yes,” he said, before following him inside. 

It felt like an ending.    

 

[Sawbonz 27,375]

53 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

See, the difference between you and I is that I have no fucking idea what you are talking about.  I'm sure that pleases you.

 

10 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

I'm sure they're not.

By the way, you missed a comma.  I can recommend multiple resources for improving your writing, if you're interested.

First rule of grammar smack...

[Continental Op 3,934]

I'm going to guess that Trump won't be in a continuing resolution signing kind of mood at any point between now and December 11.  What happens then?  Will everything be shut down until January 20-somethingth? 

[jimmyjazz 45,513]

1 minute ago, Sawbonz said:

First rule of grammar smack...

Yep.  Sounded wrong, so I went with it.  lulz

Mom was an English prof and I no longer have her to bounce things off . . . of?

[Bateshorn 9,882]

41 minutes ago, washparkhorn said:

https://www.gsa.gov/governmentwide-initiatives/presidential-transition-directory

It all prepared and ready to go. 

Count the votes and file a writ of mandamus if the GSA Head will not act "ascertainment" of the election results. 

Trump has difficulty with graciousness and the importance our American Heritage in peacefully transferring power. Not a conservative. 

This.  I’m not a lawyer, but once the votes are certified, Biden can start legal action and will win.  Worst case scenario is he has to wait until the electoral college meets. That will fuck up an orderly transition, but he’s going to get the keys at some point in the next month. 
 

I suspect sooner, Trump will turn to how he can modify his grift and being dragged out of the Oval Office isn’t part of that.