So now I’m picturing the Supreme Court justices huddling in their huddle room with Amy Coney Barrett all enthusiastic saying come on guys it’s time to stop the vote count the way Trump said to, that’s what I’m here for, what’s the holdup?

In any case, the fact that it’s this close after the past four years is absolutely disgusting. Who ARE these people?

At 2:30 in the morning his time Trump told some cheering people in the East Room that he had more votes in Pennsylvania at that moment so he wanted the vote counting terminated so that he could claim to have won. The cheering people duly cheered. There’s a slight technical problem with that which is he hasn’t actually won.

Addressing an election party in the East Wing of the White House early Wednesday morning, President Trump falsely and prematurely claimed victory in key swing states and pledged to go to the Supreme Court to stop votes from being counted.

If he’s won, why stop the vote counting?

What he said: “This is a fraud on the American public. This is an embarrassment to our country. We were getting ready to win this election. Frankly, we did win this election,” Trump falsely claimed.

“We want the law to be used in a proper manner. So we will be going to the U.S. Supreme Court. We want all voting to stop. We don’t want them to find any ballots at 4 o’clock in the morning and add them to the list.”

But finding and counting the ballots and adding them to the list is how this is done. Freezing the process at a moment when the incumbent has a narrow lead in one crucial state is not how this is done.

Another from Pliny:

I see last time I stopped posting at 3:40 in the afternoon (Pacific time). It’s 5:15 now and it’s not looking good for Florida, which is important.

Last time my first post on the day after was…not happy.

I want him gone.

No it isn’t. It isn’t extreme at all. Trump is a very very very very VERY bad man. I can believe Bush junior is a decent guy in private. I think he probably has some redeeming qualities. Trump has none, and believe me I’ve looked. I’ve said for the past four years that I’ve never seen anything like it – anyone so thoroughly bad in every single detectable category. He doesn’t even have charm, he’s not funny, he doesn’t tell good stories, he’s not interesting, he doesn’t secretly put orphans through college. He’s bad. You would use him as the paradigm if you were explaining the word “bad” to a class.

Maybe this is where Amnesty International’s women-erasing new approach began:

Amnesty International releases updated policy on abortion

The updated policy recognizes abortion, provided in a manner that respects human rights, autonomy, and dignity, as the right of anyone who can become pregnant.

Well duh. Surely it did all along, even if it didn’t put it in that silly way.

“Around 47,000 women die each year as a result of seeking unsafe abortions. This global tragedy will not end until abortion is fully decriminalized and made accessible and affordable to everyone. Abortion must be treated like any other health service, and anyone seeking an abortion must be treated with compassion and dignity and with respect for their human rights,” said Rajat Khosla, Amnesty International’s Senior Director of Research and Advocacy.

“Our updated policy was developed in consultation with human rights experts, medical providers and the Amnesty movement, and informed by years of research and engagement with women and girls whose lives have been shattered by restrictive laws.”

So they are allowing the word “women” some of the time. That’s nice.

The new policy:

• Recognizes that anyone who can become pregnant has the right to an abortion
• Calls for universal access to safe abortion, as early as possible and as late as necessary, and for provision of post-abortion care and evidence-based abortion-related information
• Recognizes that decisions around pregnancy and abortion directly impact the full spectrum of human rights
• Calls for removing abortion from criminal and other punitive laws and policies, and to stop punishing women, girls and all pregnant people, healthcare providers and others for obtaining, assisting with, or providing abortion services

Ah there it is – women, girls and all pregnant people. In other words in their “updated” policy they now pretend that “women and girls” doesn’t cover it, they need to add “and all pregnant people” to appease gender fanatics. People who can get pregnant are female, aka women and girls, by definition. Dress and walk and talk and interact like a male truck driver, and have fun doing it, but if you can get pregnant you’re a woman.

If we stop talking about women’s rights we can’t defend women’s rights.

And even more creepily, the cartoon women have no eyes.

Wtf is that about? Laydee because hair n lipstick but front of head above nostrils is BLANK SPACE.

But don’t worry – it’s actually a brilliant tactic to make real people think abortion matters because it’s not just for those boring blank women.

So if that makes sense then it makes sense to stop talking about women’s rights entirely, because women are too marginal.

If you want a laugh (or a puke-laugh) while waiting for the nightmare to end here’s Trump whining at Fox News for not promoting him enough.

It’s a funny thing; Amnesty International used to get it. It used to know that abortion rights are a women’s issue.

Help women and girls in Poland fight dangerous new restrictions on abortion

Women and girls’ rights are under attack right now in Poland. 

Poland already has one of the most restrictive abortion laws in Europe.  Abortion is only allowed if the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest, if the woman’s life is in danger or in cases of severe or fatal foetal impairment.

…

Act now to support the rights of women and girls in Poland. Sign the petition to call on the President and Polish Parliament to reject further restrictions to the abortion law. 

I can’t find a date on that one but it’s this year because it cites the court ruling from this year. But this news release is dated: October 22. Just 12 days ago AI still knew that it’s women and girls who need abortion rights.

The Polish Constitutional Tribunal’s ruling to invalidate the constitutionality of access to abortion on the ground of “severe and irreversible fetal defect or incurable illness that threatens the fetus’ life” (1) will further harm women and girls and violates their human rights, Amnesty International, the Center for Reproductive Rights and Human Rights Watch said today.

Women and girls. They could say it 12 days ago. Why can’t they say it today? What happened?

Amnesty International, the Center for Reproductive Rights and Human Rights Watch sent independent expert monitors to observe the hearing of the Polish Constitutional Tribunal and to analyze the decision.

“Today’s judgement puts the health and lives of women in Poland at great risk and violates Poland’s obligations under international human rights treaties to refrain from retrogressive measures that roll-back women’s rights to sexual and reproductive health care,” said Leah Hoctor, regional director for Europe at the Center for Reproductive Rights. “Poland must act now to bring its law into line with other EU member states and legalize abortion on a woman’s request or broad social grounds, and guarantee women’s full and effective access to care in situations where women’s physical or mental health is at risk.”

Women woman women. They can say it. They know how.

Say. the. word.

Again.

Women. The word is “women.” It’s not generic “people,” people in general, all people – it’s specifically women. It’s exclusively women. It’s not men who are being forced to gestate a human in their abdomens when they don’t want to, it’s women. Women only. The law in question is depriving women of very basic rights. Saying “I stand with people in Poland” is meaningless in a protest against laws banning abortion. It’s women we have to stand with. Women. WOMEN. Say our name. Say the word.

Where the hell does Amnesty International get off erasing our very existence and presence this way?

It’s like a bad rash.

The word you’re looking for is

WOMEN

On the other hand! The Post says it’s not that easy.

The not-so-subtle threat has prompted questions and concerns over the plausibility of Trump firing the country’s popular health expert, and whether the president has the legal authority to do so.

In short, he does not.

Technically, the president of the United States cannot directly fire Fauci, let’s say by a tweet, mainly because he is not a political appointee. As a career federal employee and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984, Fauci is protected by federal civil-service regulations that shield him from being fired or demoted for political reasons.

Cool, so that means it was very stupid of Trump to admit he planned to do it in response to a rabid crowd at a campaign rally telling him to do it. He can’t very well say it’s not for political reasons.

Fauci could be removed, but it would imply a complicated process layered with civil-service protections that require the government agency to provide evidence that there is a just cause for dismissal, including failure to follow orders or misconduct.

The process to remove him would need to be initiated by someone in Fauci’s chain of command, such as the director of the National Institutes of Health or the Health and Human Services secretary, which is unlikely considering he is an esteemed figure in the scientific and medical community.

Yes but Trump.

However, should that be the case, Fauci would need to be notified about what the allegation was and would then have the opportunity to respond and present evidence to the Merit Systems Protection Board that such action was not warranted. He could also appeal the board’s decision in court.

While these rules are still in place, a controversial executive order issued by Trump two weeks ago could remove these long-held service protections from tens of thousands of civil servants, making it easier to dismiss them with little cause or recourse.

Rep. Don Beyer (D) whose Northern Virginia district includes more than 80,000 federal workers, said the order is intended to “send a clear message that conscientious dissent will not be tolerated,” and could target people like Fauci.

“Trump clearly sees one of his top priority if he is reelected as a settling of scores with civil servants like Dr. Fauci whom he regards as insufficiently loyal,” Beyer told The Washington Post.

He has to lose tomorrow. He has to he has to he has to.

On Monday, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden riffed on Trump’s threats:

“I’ve got a better idea,” Biden said during his campaign rally in Cleveland. “Elect me and I’m going to hire Dr. Fauci! And we’re going to fire Donald Trump!”

Do it do it do it do it do it.

I’m wrong that Trump can’t fire Fauci. Jonathan Chait says he can.

Here the preening smirking goat is saying he will.

It has been obvious for weeks that President Trump plans to fire Dr. Fauci. Trump has stripped Fauci and other public-health officials of all influence in decisions on how to handle the pandemic — or to be precise, not to handle it — and handed it over to unqualified right-wing crank Scott Atlas. Trump and his minions have repeatedly mocked Fauci for saying true things about COVID-19 (masks work, we have not turned the corner, a vaccine is not going to make it disappear quickly) that violate his political line.

Of course, presidents have the right to fire executive branch officials. (Fauci is a civil servant, which means Trump would need to order Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar to fire him.)

Ah. There I was thinking civil servants were protected. Stupid of me.

He might come to regret it though – Fauci would probably be on CNN and MSNBC every night.

But let’s be more optimistic. Let’s hope he loses resoundingly and his head explodes before he has time to get rid of Fauci.

Haw haw yeah let’s get rid of our top experts in contagious diseases as a pandemic rages out of control thanks to a reckless moron driving the bus.

Trump threatened to fire Anthony Fauci, America’s top infectious disease expert, during a midnight rally in Florida 24 hours before the presidential election.

As crowds at the Miami Opa-Locka airport chanted “Fire Fauci”, Trump allowed the chants to continue for several seconds before responding: “Don’t tell anybody, but let me wait until a little bit after the election. I appreciate the advice. I appreciate it.”

He continued: “Nah, he’s been wrong on a lot. He’s a nice man though. He’s been wrong on a lot.”

He didn’t know everything there was to know about the virus at the beginning, that’s true, but then neither did anyone else. He was never as wrong as Trump was every time he said anything on the subject.

Fauci, 79 and one of the world’s foremost infectious diseases experts, has served under six presidents over three decades as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. He is one of the lead experts on Trump’s coronavirus taskforce and has frequently offered frank public health guidance in contrast to the president’s repeated falsehoods on the severity of the Covid-19 pandemic.

So Trump’s fans say fire him, so that more people can die unnecessarily.

Trump and co are mad at Fauci again.

The White House has accused leading infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci of playing politics days before the election in an interview about the coronavirus pandemic.

Oh lord. DARVO much? It’s not Fauci who “plays politics” ffs – it’s Trump and his worthless cohort. Fauci does epidemiology, Trump & Goons play politics. Fauci does his job, Trump lies and steals. Fauci tries to get the truth out, Trump tries to hide it under a billion tons of verbal garbage.

The US has recorded more [Covid] deaths and cases than any other country.

That’s not Fauci’s fault. It is Trump’s fault.

In his interview with the Post published on Saturday night, Dr Fauci warned that “all the stars are aligned in the wrong place as you go into the fall and winter season, with people congregating at home indoors.” “You could not possibly be positioned more poorly,” he said.

When asked about the approaches of the two presidential candidates, Dr Fauci said Mr Biden was “taking it seriously from a public health perspective”, while Mr Trump was “looking at it from a different perspective… the economy and reopening the country”.

That is, Biden is doing the right thing while Trump is not.

The comments drew a sharp rebuke from the White House, which accused Dr Fauci of attempting to bolster Mr Biden’s bid for the presidency. Spokesman Judd Deere said the comments were “unacceptable and breaking with all norms”.

“As a member of the [US Coronavirus] Task Force, Dr Fauci has a duty to express concerns or push for a change in strategy, but he’s not done that, instead choosing to criticise the president in the media and make his political leanings known by praising the president’s opponent,” he added in a statement.

Ah yes please do tell us more about “breaking with all norms.” Trump has broken more norms than Spokesman Judd Deere has had hot dinners, but please do tell us all about what a shocking norm-breaker Anthony Fauci is. Then pack your bags and leave.

One little word…

Perhaps Polish doesn’t have a word for “woman.” Perhaps they have to use clumsy phrases like “people with vaginas.” Perhaps pigs have wings.

Trump voters again demonstrating that Trump is a magnet for assholes.

A group of Trump supporters has gathered at Burke Lakefront airport in Cleveland, hoping to disrupt a Joe Biden event scheduled to begin here shortly.

…

In Cleveland there was a crowd of about 30 Trump adherents at 11am, and they were hoping to disrupt the Biden event. Their chanting had drawn the attention of police.

Report what? 20 or so people yelling? Not really all that newsworthy is it. Anyway the Graun did so ha.

“I don’t think he’ll cancel, but we’re just here to make the noise and hopefully drown him out,” said James Pierse, who was waving a ‘Trump Train’ flag.

Just here to be assholes. That should be Trump’s personal motto.

Trump continues to bully us all.

Donald Trump has once again defended his supporters who participated in a caravan that swarmed a Biden campaign bus driving down a Texas highway on Friday.

One doesn’t consult Donald Trump on what is right and what is wrong.

The FBI confirmed yesterday that it was investigating the highway incident, after videos of the caravan sparked widespread safety concerns.

The president previously appeared to discourage the FBI from investigating the matter, saying in a tweet last night, “In my opinion, these patriots did nothing wrong. Instead, the FBI & Justice should be investigating the terrorists, anarchists, and agitators of ANTIFA, who run around burning down our Democrat run cities and hurting our people!”

From the right and wrong files: he’s not supposed to interfere with the FBI that way. Presidents are not supposed to tell the FBI what to investigate and what not to investigate. See also: Richard Nixon.

I didn’t even know Johnny Depp was suing The Sun for libel. I barely know who he is, to tell the truth – I don’t think I’ve seen any of his work. Anyway, he was was suing The Sun for libel because The Sun called him a wife-beater, and he lost the suit because hey guess what it turned out to be true.

In the 129-page ruling, the judge, Mr Justice Nicol, said: “The claimant [Depp] has not succeeded in his action for libel … The defendants [the Sun and News Group Newspapers] have shown that what they published in the meaning which I have held the words to bear was substantially true.

The judge added: “I have found that the great majority of alleged assaults of Ms Heard by Mr Depp have been proved to the civil standard.” He also said he accepted Heard’s evidence that the allegations she made against Depp “have had a negative effect on her career as an actor and activist”.

Marvelous, isn’t it? He beats her up and her career is harmed because she said he beat her up.

In 12 out of the 14 incidents of assault reported by Heard, the judge said he found the allegations proved. “I do not regard [the Sun’s] inability to make good these allegations [in the other two incidents] as of importance in determining whether they have established the substantial truth of the words that they published.”

In his conclusion, Nicol cited an email sent by Depp in August 2016 as indicative of the actor’s true feelings towards Heard. Depp’s message said: “I have no mercy, no fear and not an ounce of emotion or what I once thought was love for this gold digging, low level, dime a dozen, mushy, pointless dangling overused flappy fish market … I can only hope that karma kicks in and takes the gift of breath from her … Sorry man … But NOW I will stop at nothing!!!”

Jeeeeeeeezus.

The visceral disgust a lot of men feel toward women never fails to creep me out. “The good one” is spared for a time when the man is infatuated with her, but once that’s over she’s just another dangling overused flappy fish market.

Way to inspire everyone to vote for Trump – start the bullying EARLY.

In a show of support of questionable political value, pro-Trump demonstrators clogged freeways Sunday across the country, from blue states like New Jersey, New York, and Washington state, to red-leaning Texas and purple Arizona. “WHOOO! We shut it down baby! We shut it down!” says one pro-Trump videographer as he pans the camera nearly 360 degrees, showing viewers the group of cars that had brought traffic to a complete standstill along the northbound Garden State Parkway in New Jersey.

Whoooooooo baby! Who knew that if a few people made a plan they could stop traffic on a freeway by simply forming a clump across all the lanes and then slowing to a stop? Besides everyone? The genius and skill and concern for others definitely make me want to vote for the mean blowhard from Queens.

Listen up Warsaw:

About one hundred thousand protesters took to the streets of the Polish capital, Warsaw, on Friday, in the largest demonstration of popular anger directed against Poland’s ruling rightwing Law and Justice party (PiS) since it assumed office in 2015.

Protests have been held across the country since Poland’s constitutional tribunal declared earlier this month that abortions in instances where a foetus is diagnosed with a serious and irreversible birth defect were unconstitutional. Such procedures constitute about 96% of legal abortions in Poland, which already has some of the most restrictive abortion laws in Europe.

On Wednesday, pro-choice activists called a “women’s strike” that attracted over 400,000 people to protests in over 400 towns and cities across the central European nation.

The Warsaw protest was impressive.