Collusion and Crime

Daily Kos provides a report that helps us get a handle on what we're talking about when the subject is Republican collusion with the Russians to interfere with the 2016 election(s).

And there's this alleged attempt by the Russians to hack the Trump Organization, which could open new doors in the FBI investigation.

And what's the story behind this "war room" the Don Cornholio mob is setting up? This is a crime family that's acting like it has plenty of stuff it wants to hide. 

Nazis and Recounts

The Nazis are coming to Texas A&M.

Green Party candidate Jill Stein is trying to raise two million bucks to fund recounts in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. It's the least she can do, since third party candidates probably helped the Rectal Hemorrhage win in the Electoral College.

In the popular vote, Hillary Clinton now leads by 2,128,808 votes.

UPDATE 12/19/16: Hillary Clinton popular vote lead 2,864,974

Fun with Numbers: Thirds

The 2016 presidential election returns, and playing the what-if game ~

Look at what would happen if all the people who voted for Johnson (Libertarian) and Stein (Green) had voted for Hillary Clinton instead:

• FLORIDA (29 electoral votes): Winning margin Agent Orange 118770, combined vote third party candidates 270026. New total: Hillary by 151256.
• PENNSYLVANIA (20 electoral votes): Winning margin Agent Orange 28236, combined third party candidates 191565. New total: Hillary by 163329.
• WISCONSIN (10 electoral votes): Winning margin Agent Orange 24257, combined third party candidates 137422. New total: Hillary by 113165.
• NEW HAMPSHIRE (4 electoral votes): Current margin Agent Orange 1437, combined third party candidates 36622. New total: Hillary by 35185.

Add the 63 additional EC votes in those four states to Clinton's actual 228, and she wins the election with 291. Over the next four years, the DNC needs to find a way to slice off big chunks of Libertarian and Green Party votes in key battleground states.

PS: The political polling industry is as fucked up as Donald Trump. They've tricked me with their bullshit numbers for the last time.

PPS:  Hillary Clinton apparently won New Hampshire after all the votes were counted.

Only half?

Hillary Clinton makes an accurate statement about Cheese Doodle's supporters, and they get bent out of shape. Fuck 'em.

HRC probably underestimated by about twenty percent. And anyone who doesn't recognize the truth in her comment is either (a) one of the people she's describing, or (b) not paying attention to what's going on with Cheese Doodle.

Added 3:32 PM: Hillary makes an apology that isn't actually an apology. She's a pro.

And there's poll data that backs her up.

Bright Whites

In 2012, Mittens had a 14 point advantage among white voters with a college education. At the moment, Hillary is leading Cheese Dip by nearly 9 points with that group. 

Some of the people's choice

Around the www, his fan club members are starting to refer to Thumper as the people's choice, based on voting in the GOP primaries.

The latest information I located on the Internet shows the total popular vote to date in the Republican elections is 26.651 million votes, of which 10.717 million went to Thumper (about 40.2 percent).

In 2012, the estimated voting age population of the United States was 231.2296 million people. Thumper's primary vote amounts to about 4.6 percent of the adult population of the USA, so let's say he's the choice of five out of every hundred people.

Sanders

I'll admit I'm not a big fan of Bernie Sanders. Part of my problem is that he's been an independent in the Senate, but now he wants to be a Democrat so he can run for president. He's also starting to remind me of Ralph Nader in the 2000 election. Nader attacked Gore from the left, insisted there was no difference between Gore and George W. Bush, and picked up a lot of votes in Florida and New Hampshire that might have helped Gore in the Electoral College.

Nader couldn't win the presidential election. All he could do was help Bush win it. That's why Sanders reminds me of Nader. He can't win, but he can make it possible for Trump or Cruz to win.

Kansas

Kansas may be one of the most schizophrenic states in the nation. Bernie Sanders and Rafael Cruz won caucus victories there today, and I can't imagine two people who are more different in every way. Bernie Sanders is likable even if you don't agree with him. Rafael is unlikable. Period. I have a feeling that deep down inside, even people who vote for Cruz wish he wasn't such a pustule.

Meanwhile, in New Hampshire...

I'd probably be a little more enthusiastic about Senator Sanders if he was actually a Democrat instead of an independent. Still, I'm willing to reserve judgment until the evidence shows (a) that Sanders has a clear path to 300 plus votes in the Electoral College, or (b) he doesn't have a goddamned prayer.

Sanders could possibly win if the under 30s who are supposed to be his passionate supporters back up their talk with their votes, but right now that looks like too much to expect. The people who are apparently most enthusiastic about Sanders are also some of the least reliable when it comes to getting off their asses and voting.

Bottom line: If each party nominates an 'unelectable' candidate, one of them becomes 'electable' by default. Risky business.

Updated 6:52 PM ~

From Robert Reich [Facebook, 23 January 2016]~~

"New York Times columnist Paul Krugman yesterday warned Bernie supporters that change doesn’t happen with 'transformative rhetoric' but with 'political pragmatism' -- 'accepting half loaves as being better than none.' He writes that it's dangerous to prefer 'happy dreams (by which he means Bernie) to hard thinking about means and ends (meaning Hillary).'

Krugman doesn't get it. I’ve been in and around Washington for almost fifty years, including a stint in the cabinet, and I’ve learned that real change happens only when a substantial share of the American public is mobilized, organized, energized, and determined to make it happen."

Personally, I define a substantial share of the American public as roughly 54 percent of the popular vote in a presidential election, and at least 300 votes in the Electoral College, although 400 would be better. If Bernie Sanders can round up that level of voter support in November, then he can change anything he damned well pleases.

It worries me that the two groups who are pulling hardest for Bernie Sanders are liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans. I think the GOP sees Sanders as its GET OUT OF JAIL FREE card in this particular Monopoly game.