What? Who?

Aaron Van Langevelde.

And he should be the future of the Republican Party.

Politico takes a look at Mr. Van Langevelde, and the major, patriotic role he played in keeping our democratic republic intact against the authoritarian, dangerous president. The piece is definitely worth your reading time.

Not only will he forever be labeled a loser and a one-term president, historians are already calling Donald Trump’s presidency a complete failure and the worst in United States history.

When you beat presidents like James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, Warren Harding, and Herbert Hoover to the bottom of the heap, you know you really, really sucked.

Another update on the national popular vote:

As of 10:00am, PT, 25 Nov:
Biden/Harris: 80,086,825 (51.1%)
Trump/Pence: 73,8902,604 (47.1%)

Fun facts:

Biden’s current total breaks Barack Obama’s record for most votes ever won by a presidential candidate by over 10 million.

Biden’s percentage of the vote (a solid majority of 51.1%) is the highest figure for a challenger who beat a sitting president since 1932, when Franklin Roosevelt won a whopping 57.4% against President Herbert Hoover during the Great Depression. Ronald Reagan won 50% against President Jimmy Carter in 1980, and Bill Clinton won 43% (in a three way race) against President George H.W. Bush in 1992.

Biden’s six million vote margin, while nowhere near a landslide, is rather comfortable. The allocated 306 votes in the Electoral College is also a relatively comfortable total.

For reference, Harry Truman was elected to a full four year term of his own in 1948 with 49.5% of the popular vote and 303 electoral votes; John Kennedy was elected in 1960 with 49.7% of the popular vote and, like Truman, 303 electoral votes. Both men are often considered among the 10 best presidents in U.S. history.

I would say, then, that while we need to see how he and his team perform, Joe Biden starts out in pretty damn good company.

California reported 17,694 new COVID cases on Monday, well more than any state has reported to date.

STAY HOME!! WEAR YOUR MASKS!!

Nothing (NOTHING!) is worth getting this.

If you want to be with family this holiday season, then agree to a two week quarantine and get tested before getting together.

If not, then cancel your holiday plans and just deal with it.

Period.

If the internet rumors are true, it looks like Joe Biden is going to name women to head the Treasury Department (Janet Yellen) and the Defense Department (Michele Flournoy or Tammy Duckworth). Should these nominations move forward, they would be the first women in both posts.

Fingers crossed.

President-elect Biden’s choices for his national security team are stellar. Competence, integrity, and realism will return to U.S. international affairs.

The second album from this South African R&B group was released last week. The opening track is upbeat, big and bright, and full of heart; it’s the perfect elixir to this thing that’s taken hold out there. Press play, dance, smile, and enjoy…

Trump is scheduled to issue his final Thanksgiving turkey pardon later today.

The White House has not responded to questions regarding reports that Trump plans to only pardon the white meat.

 The Michigan Board of State Canvassers this afternoon voted to certify the state’s presidential election results. One Republican member abstained rather than vote “no,” and the other Republican member joined the two Democratic members to certify.

In Pennsylvania, the state Supreme Court dealt the Trump campaign yet another legal loss, ruling that mail-in ballots cast in the state’s election can be counted even if a voter failed to completely fill out the envelope. This loss comes after a federal judge yesterday dismissed the campaign’s request to block certification of votes expected to confirm a victory there for President-elect Joe Biden.

And Emily Murphy, the administrator at the General Services Administration, has finally green-lighted the transition process. Her letter is a bit on the snarky side, but hey, we’ll take it.

There is a little bit of hope, at least at the moment, that democracy will ultimately prevail, and that the attempted authoritarian attempts to subvert it will continue to fail.

A private email from a friend regarding a Facebook post: “Authoritarian? Really? I know Trump is pretty hard right. Even too hard right for many in his own party. But I am not sure sure Authoritarian is the right term. Not yet, anyway”

Sam Wang over at PEC has put together an authoritarian checklist. And as of 20 September 2020, Trump had checked off each item on it.

So, to answer the question, “Authoritarian? Really?”

YES!!! REALLY!!!