Althouse: "It’s almost as if Jill Stein, a regular on Russia Today TV, is pursuing a strategy calculated to foment chaos."

November 28, 2016

"It’s almost as if Jill Stein, a regular on Russia Today TV, is pursuing a strategy calculated to foment chaos."

"But we’re not hearing anything about that from the people who’ve been seeing Russkis under their beds for months."

And...

"So if you believe that Putin hacked the election, you also have to believe that Barack Obama is in on the coverup: 'White House denies that Russia hacked election for Donald Trump win.'"

95 comments:

rhhardin said...: The idea is to make the certification of state returns too late for electoral college so that congress has to pick Trump and Pence, to make them less legitimate.

They have future chaos in mind, not so much today's.; 11/28/16, 7:50 AM
Sydney said...: It is starting to worry me, all this mischief.; 11/28/16, 7:55 AM
Mick said...: There are no provisions for an "election contest" of a Presidential election in the Michigan statutes. Pennsylvania requires that a court find prima fascia evidence of fraud and that 100 qualified electors bring the suit.; 11/28/16, 8:09 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "The idea is to make the certification of state returns too late for electoral college so that congress has to pick Trump and Pence, to make them less legitimate."

Good observation.

But I believe the states will get the recounts done. The deadline for filing was set with the idea of leaving the time needed to meet the federal deadline, and the state will do what it has to to get it done. Remember that in 2000, Florida was going to try to get the recount done in a single weekend. The Supreme Court stayed the counting, and then the decision came out on the last day. Even still, Justices Souter and Breyer thought the recount could be done.

The Electoral College votes 6 days after that safe-harbor deadline.; 11/28/16, 8:13 AM
TrespassersW said...: According to one source, she's raised more than $5 million for this so-called recount effort.

Who knew that pandering to sore losers could be that lucrative?; 11/28/16, 8:29 AM
Levi Starks said...: If your genuine objective is to restore to America it's former greatness as a nation of opportunity for all, it can only be accomplished through the legitimate exercise of power granted in the constitution and laws enacted by Congress.
If on the other hand you hold the belief that America has been from it's foundation an illegitimate nation built only upon the oppression of the "less abled", your objective of tearing it to the ground can be accomplished either with or without the legitimacy of the electoral process, and rule of law.
The election of Trump brings us respite from our inexorable march toward the final objective of a worldwide collective in which the many are truly ruled by the few.
Who of course have in their hearts only our best interests.; 11/28/16, 8:30 AM
chickelit said...: It's starting look like -- once again -- that it will be up to the great state of Wisconsin to complete a timely recount and to show the dishonest Democrats the door -- once again -- like they did to Russ Feingold.; 11/28/16, 8:31 AM
Levi Starks said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 11/28/16, 8:33 AM
tcrosse said...: The idea is to make the certification of state returns too late for electoral college so that congress has to pick Trump and Pence, to make them less legitimate.
This would not make Trump no less legitimate. It would make him seem less legitimate to those who believe that his electoral college victory is, like, totally, sooo unfair. It would leave Trump less likely to go easy on HRC. One wonders how Obama is taking all this hassle.; 11/28/16, 8:35 AM
Mick said...: "Safe Harbor" via 3 US Code 5 is December 13. "Safe Harbor" refers to the automatic acceptance of the state's electoral vote, if all election contests are completed by 12/13 (6 days prior to the electoral; college vote), so long as those "election contests" are stipulated in that state's election statutes prior to 12/13.
There is no "election contest" stipulated in Michigan's election statutes regarding a Presidential election, therefore any "election contest" in Michigan is not valid with regard to the "safe harbor", and the original count giving Trump the win by 10K votes will be upheld.

Even if the votes for PA. and Wisconson were given to the Crooked Old Lady, Trump would still have 276; 11/28/16, 8:37 AM
Mick said...: 3 US Code S. 5

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/3/5; 11/28/16, 8:38 AM
chickelit said...: "They have future chaos in mind, not so much today's."

Chaos is George Soros' specialty. It is how he's always thrived. And it is so easy to believe (without evidence) that he is behind funding Jill al-Franken Stein.; 11/28/16, 8:42 AM
rehajm said...: 3 US Code S. 5

Since Trump is involved, also...

USGA Rules of Golf Rule 2-4: A concession may not be declined or withdrawn.; 11/28/16, 8:43 AM
Mick said...: "Safe Harbor" via 3 US Code 5 is December 13. "Safe Harbor" refers to the automatic acceptance of the state's electoral vote by the Joint session of Congress that counts the electoral votes. Any "election" contest must be stipulated in the election statutes of any state claiming "safe harbor" prior to the "safe harbor" date (12/13).

3 US Code S. 5

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/3/5

Michigan does not have a election contest" statute regarding Presidential elections.; 11/28/16, 8:46 AM
David Begley said...: Rehajm

As if the rules or the law ever applied to the Clintons.; 11/28/16, 8:47 AM
Laslo Spatula said...: I'm Renfro Jeffries. Nazi And Proud Of It!.

The Government-Media-Cosmopolitan Complex will always choose Chaos over its own Replacement: in choosing Chaos it will attempt to direct the Chaos to its own Ends, for if it cannot have complacency it will gladly accept confusion and fear…

By accepting their Rules as Law you are accepting their Rule. They believe they are the Eye of our Society, to which I say: if that Eye offends us then PLUCK IT OUT, motherfuckers…

Those who foment Chaos believe it will never turn on them — and it never will, except at gunpoint. The Only Choice is the Gun or the Boot. Remember: if you're in my foxhole, and we're shooting at the same guys, I'll make room for you...

You are on the wrong side of the barbed wire, friends. Helter Skelter is coming, and it's coming with Cattle Cars: don't say I didn't tell you.

I'm Renfro Jeffries, Nazi And Proud Of It!

I am Laslo.; 11/28/16, 8:51 AM
rehajm said...: As if the rules or the law ever applied to the Clintons.

Bill Clinton took more mulligans than all of the previous presidents combined!; 11/28/16, 9:04 AM
mockturtle said...: You are very wise, Laslo.; 11/28/16, 9:04 AM
traditionalguy said...: But are Spirit Cooking and vote count cooking similar activities? Maybe Jill can order everyone a pizza and wait to see what mysteriously appears. All eyes are on the power of Podesta Brothers.; 11/28/16, 9:05 AM
Bruce Hayden said...: The idea is to make the certification of state returns too late for electoral college so that congress has to pick Trump and Pence, to make them less legitimate.

Here is the link to the American Thinker article: The Democrats’ real strategy in launching recounts

But it is potentially more complicated than that: How The Recounts Pose A Risk To Mike Pence.

If the Dems can prevent all three states from completing recounts in time (by, for example, forcing manual recounts), then the Presidential race would be thrown in the House, where each state has one vote. Win is easy there for Trump, with the state edge being even higher than the Republican edge there, since Democrats in the House tend to come from big states, and Republicans smaller ones (from a population point of view). But, there is also apparently a quorum problem, where they need 2/3 (34) of the states must have at least 1 Congressman present. Doable for the Republicans in the House. The problem is in the Senate, where a Democratic boycott could prevent the needed quorum (remember what they did in Wisconsin?) No Senate quorum, means no VP Pence.

Here is another problem (run together in that article). It is easy to assume that the Republican Speaker will make sure that he has Representatives from the required 2/3 of the states present for a quorum. But, what happens if he doesn't get it done? Who becomes President? Arguably, he does, under the Presidential Succession Act of 1947. EXCEPT, that a bunch of (presumably liberal) legal academics have theorized that it is unconstitutional for the acting presidency to fall to House or Senate officers (such as the Speaker). Thus, if Speaker Ryan fails to get Trump elected by the House, and tries to take the Presidency himself, he is likely to be faced with litigation from the Dems. And, where would that litigation go? Likely the DC Circuit, the Circuit packed by Obama to prevent the judicial repeal of ObamaCare. And, thence to the Supreme Court, which now has a 4-4 party split. But, a 4-4 split on this issue by SCOTUS would mean affirming the ruling by the (Obama packed) DC Circuit, which would mean that some lingering Obama cabinet member could potentially be installed temporarily as President. Say hello to President Kerry (or, maybe even worse). Scary stuff.; 11/28/16, 9:23 AM
khesanh0802 said...: I think we are giving the Dems way too much credit in this ( not that I don't think the whole recount mess is Dem funded). I think this is a primal scream to reverse the irreversible like a little kid who wants what he wants. The Dems were hopelessly hammered in all races Federal, state and local; they have no leadership in waiting; they can see the handwriting on the wall for the next senate election. They have no idea what to do next so, anything being better than nothing, this is what they've got.

Several commenters, including Mick, have pointed out that one may wish a recount in PA and MI but it is not as easily done as in WI. Even Halderman points out in his blog post that MI uses all paper ballots so the chances of a hack a very slim. PA law says essentially “voters or candidates can petition courts for a recount of the vote. A judge is required to make a decision on whether one should go ahead.”

I suspect Obama is not liking this one bit. He has shown reasonable maturity about the election outcome and, I believe, is not anxious to have a big flap in the closing days of his already embarrassing tenure. I also think he is perceptive enough to understand that this business is just going to make angry people angrier and is apt to create an even greater threat to his "legacy". Trump was prepared to play pretty "nice". We have seen that pissing him off can be counterproductive.

Finally: Trump's illegal voter claims. Trump has been laughed at in the past for making " unsubstantiated" claims about the election. Most of those claims have been proven true after a cooling off period. As many commented yesterday, finding illegal voting particularly in CA will be pretty easy to do statistically.; 11/28/16, 9:48 AM
Mark said...: The idea is to make the certification of state returns too late for electoral college

Regardless of recount outcomes or whether they complete recounts or not, the Republican slate of electors will meet and cast their votes and they will forward those votes to Congress. If the recount goes past the EC meeting day, the Republican slate will still meet and vote. If a competing set of votes is sent, then Congress will choose which to accept. In all outcomes, Congress will accept the Republican slate and only the Republican slate. Congress is the sole judge of the EC votes, not the states.; 11/28/16, 10:02 AM
khesanh0802 said...: Here's what True the Vote had to say about Trump's claim: “True the Vote absolutely supports President-elect Trump’s recent comment about the impact of illegal voting, as reflected in the national popular vote. We are still collecting data and will be for several months, but our intent is to publish a comprehensive study on the significant impact of illegal voting in all of its many forms and begin a national discussion on how voters, states, and the Trump Administration can best address this growing problem.”

I look forward to their analysis.; 11/28/16, 10:03 AM
mockturtle said...: From Levi Starks at 8:30 & 8:33: If on the other hand you hold the belief that America has been from it's foundation an illegitimate nation built only upon the oppression of the "less abled", your objective of tearing it to the ground can be accomplished either with or without the legitimacy of the electoral process, and rule of law.

This is exactly the question. Many of us seem to believe--because we want to, I guess--that Progressives love America as much as we do. But they don't. They want America to be humbled, weakened and absorbed.

Worth posting twice, Levi! ;-); 11/28/16, 10:12 AM
Thorley Winston said...: According to one source, she's raised more than $5 million for this so-called recount effort.

And doubtlessly the names, addresses and other contact information for the donors will be used for future fundraising for the Green Party as well as bundled and sold to other groups that raise money for “progressive” causes and candidates.

Sort of like what happens when people sign online petitions.; 11/28/16, 10:18 AM
Danno said...: Blogger chickelit said...It's starting look like -- once again -- that it will be up to the great state of Wisconsin to complete a timely recount and to show the dishonest Democrats the door -- once again -- like they did to Russ Feingold.

On Wisconsin!; 11/28/16, 10:40 AM
Levi Starks said...: Mockturtle, it was an accident, but thanks.; 11/28/16, 10:40 AM
Levi Starks said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 11/28/16, 10:43 AM
Levi Starks said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 11/28/16, 10:43 AM
ga6 said...: well, Jill does admire commies...

https://twitter.com/DrJillStein/status/802674859104935936; 11/28/16, 10:46 AM
Brando said...: Stein wants fifteen more minutes of fame, and maybe to try and redeem herself with liberals who think she's the Ralph Nader of 2016.; 11/28/16, 11:08 AM
damikesc said...: I'd still question what standing Jill Stein has to demand this. She cannot conceivably win by any mathematical formula. I can see allowing Hillary or Trump to demand a recount --- but a distant loser?; 11/28/16, 11:28 AM
mockturtle said...: damikesc asks: I'd still question what standing Jill Stein has to demand this. She cannot conceivably win by any mathematical formula. I can see allowing Hillary or Trump to demand a recount --- but a distant loser?

As others have pointed out, the objective is to create chaos. It's all about chaos---a means to an end.; 11/28/16, 11:46 AM
Sammy Finkelman said...: "It’s almost as if Jill Stein, a regular on Russia Today TV, is pursuing a strategy calculated to foment chaos.""But we’re not hearing anything about that from the people who’ve been seeing Russkis under their beds for months."

I said on another board:

http://patterico.com/2016/11/26/hillary-clinton-says-yes-to-vote-recount-trump-snaps-back-oh-no-you-dont/#comments

In Comment number 36 on Saturday night 11/26/2016 @ 5:48 pm PST (8:48 pm EST)

A possible problem with Jill Stein helping Hillary is that she is much closer to Putin than Trump or Mike Flynn was:

http://www.jill2016.com/stein_in_russia_calls_for_principled_collaboration

But then maybe the Obama Adminsitration was right and Putin wanted not so much to have Trump win, as to make the winner look illegitimate or U.S. democracy look less than first rate.

But there is another possible explanation:

Trump may be reconsidering his attitude toward Vladimir Putin. I mean, Mitt Romney for Secretary of State? Mitt Romney, who said Russia was the number one U.S. foreign policy problem back in 2012, and considers himself vindicated?

Probability zero:

What Putin gives, maybe Putin can take away.

Vladimir Putin doesn’t like Mitt Romney for Secretary of State, and so he encouraged people he can influence in or close to the Trump camp to demand Mitt Romney not be named, and ginned up all those e-mails to Kelly Anne Conway.

And meanwhile also got Jill Stein to demand a recount.

Except he didn’t hack the election results. Just spied, and after he was caught, and stopped, released the results of some spying. But other things were more important.

The only way to get bad vote counting software in place is to change the master software, and then, have it written so that every test made before Election Day is accurate, but it gives inaccurate results starting November 8, and then erases and corrects itself a week or so later. It didn't happen.; 11/28/16, 12:13 PM
Sammy Finkelman said...: Along these lines, maybe Putin didn't just get Jill Stein to demand a recount, but also started taht civil war within the Trump camp and encouraged people he can influence in or close to the Trump camp to demand Mitt Romney not be named, and ginned up all those e-mails to Kelly Anne Conway.

...and got someone to tell Donald Trump maybe he could be edged out somehow, if not by a recount, then by faithless electors?; 11/28/16, 12:15 PM
mockturtle said...: Vladimir Putin doesn’t like Mitt Romney for Secretary of State

Neither do I.; 11/28/16, 12:18 PM
Christopher B said...: I think we need to start questioning the commitment of Democrats to free and fair elections. Loudly and often.

2000 - Gore attempts to recount FL vote in select counties, contra to FL statues
2002 - Frank Lautenberg replaced on NJ Senate ballot after Torricelli steps aside over ethics challenges
2004 - John Kerry delays concession to GWB, contemplates recounting in OH even though he lost by over 100K votes.
Christine Gregoire elected in WA after multiple court ordered recounts discover additional ballots.
2008 - Al Franken elected in MN after multiple court ordered recounts discover additional ballots.; 11/28/16, 12:33 PM
SukieTawdry said...: Word is Wiscon election judges have ruled the recount will go forward if Stein pays for it. They further ruled that counties are not required to do a hand count and need only retabulate. This apparently lays open the possibility of a lawsuit if counties choose different methods. The plot thickens.; 11/28/16, 12:34 PM
SukieTawdry said...: It appears I've taken the sin out of Wisconsin.; 11/28/16, 12:35 PM
Bad Lieutenant said...: Mick said...
"Safe Harbor" via 3 US Code 5 is December 13. "Safe Harbor" refers to the automatic acceptance of the state's electoral vote,...

There is no "election contest" stipulated in Michigan's election statutes regarding a Presidential election...the original count giving Trump the win by 10K votes will be upheld.

Even if the votes for PA. and Wisconson were given to the Crooked Old Lady, Trump would still have 276
11/28/16, 8:37 AM

Mick, again, I don't know what you do in real life but you seem to be the only one on this blog actually dropping some f****** knowledge. Where is Chuck, The fabulous as in fabled as in storytelling Michigan election lawyer? What have you to say to this, Chuck? See, now would be your chance to make some money.; 11/28/16, 12:37 PM
Bad Lieutenant said...: If Vladimir Putin wants to absolutely ensure the worst possible outcome for himself and Russia, he should injure Trump but not kill him.

"He who betrays Tuco and leaves him alive, knows nothing about Tuco. Nothing!" [eats lit cigar]

Trump will hire a billion Mexicans to f*** Putin if that happens.; 11/28/16, 12:41 PM
Alex said...: What we really need is a Democrat junta to save us from the fascist Trump-sters. Just in the nick of time.

I am looking forward to my internment camp.; 11/28/16, 12:43 PM
Alex said...: Don't ya just love the banana republicization of AmeriKKKa?; 11/28/16, 12:43 PM
tcrosse said...: It appears I've taken the sin out of Wisconsin.
But you've left the Con.; 11/28/16, 1:09 PM
Anonymous said...: Who knows, maybe the Russkies are throwing Trump under the bus and have told Stein how they did the hacking.; 11/28/16, 1:19 PM
mikeski said...: It appears I've taken the sin out of Wisconsin.
But you've left the Con.

And there never was any Wis there.

< /gamer_in_jokes>; 11/28/16, 1:20 PM
Anonymous said...: And maybe Obama is faking Trump out. Who knows? Someone does.; 11/28/16, 1:22 PM
tcrosse said...: And there never was any Wis there.
Only Cheez-Wis.; 11/28/16, 1:23 PM
Yancey Ward said...: Like a commenter above wrote, regardless of what happens, the Electoral College will meet and vote on the 19th, and the Republican slate from WI, MI, and PA will cast votes. These can be challenged by a member of the House for the President and in the Senate for the VP, but both challenges will be denied. If memory serves, someone in the House challenged the OH slate in the 2004 election, but was denied by House vote.

I do think this recount was done to prevent Trump from having 270+ fully certified and was meant to put the election into the House, but it will be done as I described above, not with method of the 1824 election.

Bruce Hayden raises some interesting points, but I find a lack of a quorum not likely to happen. It certainly won't happen in the House, though the Senate is possible. However, it would be so politically obtuse to hold up the VP selection that I can't imagine even Democrats being so stupid as to pursue it.; 11/28/16, 1:25 PM
mockturtle said...: However, it would be so politically obtuse to hold up the VP selection that I can't imagine even Democrats being so stupid as to pursue it.

After this campaign year, Yancey, I would never underestimate the stupidity of the DNC.; 11/28/16, 1:41 PM
Bilwick said...: I didn't know what Ms. Stein looked like until very recently, and I saw her on television before any commentator or caption could tell me who she was. But as soon as I saw her I thought: "Gotta be a 'liberal.'" Not a bad looking woman, I guess, but there's just something about certain people's looks that just shout their poilitical philosophy. (For a male example, try Paul Krugman.); 11/28/16, 2:02 PM
Anonymous said...: http://www.aol.com/article/news/2016/11/27/could-recount-efforts-in-3-states-flip-the-2016-presidential-ele/21615124/?a_dgi=aolshare_facebook

"Vote total irregularities discovered

Some mathematical discrepancies were discovered after counties in Wisconsin had shown more votes than ballots cast for president, resulting in nearly 5,000 votes being removed from President-elect Donald Trump's totals in the state.

Trump's Electoral College lead currently sits at 290 electors to Clinton's 232, a result that doesn't currently include Michigan's electors because that state is still too close to call for either candidate. But if Pennsylvania's and Wisconsin's results were to change (and Michigan went into Clinton's column) through a recount that showed Clinton actually won those contests, it would also flip the Electoral College in favor of Clinton, who would then have 278 electoral votes to Trump's 260."

http://www.politicususa.com/2016/11/25/report-thousands-wisconsin-votes-trump-recount-begins.html?utm_source=AOL&utm_medium=readMore&utm_campaign=partner

"Donald Trump’s margin of victory in Wisconsin appears to be shrinking even before the state’s recount gets underway, according to a new report that cites a number of precincts padding the vote count in Trump’s favor.

According to the Palmer Report, some precincts realized the numbers were padded to benefit Trump and had to revise their numbers. As a result, 5,000 votes were essentially wiped out of Trump’s column in an instant. What’s particularly puzzling, the report noted, is that Clinton’s numbers remained virtually unchanged, despite Trump losing thousands of votes from his total.

If this pattern remains consistent across the state, it’s feasible – though unclear how likely – that Clinton could end up on top in Wisconsin."; 11/28/16, 2:10 PM
mikeski said...: Brando said...
Stein wants fifteen more minutes of fame [...]

More?; 11/28/16, 2:10 PM
Anonymous said...: https://www.palmerreport.com/news/ahead-of-recount-wisconsin-has-already-wiped-out-5000-phony-votes-for-donald-trump/234/

"Two things immediately jump out, as first spotted by music critic Dave Greenwald. The first is that, even ahead of the forthcoming recount in Wisconsin, Donald Trump’s lead has already shrunk to just 22,525 votes. That means 18% of his “lead” has already vanished, based on precincts catching some of their own incorrect numbers, and internet gawkers catching others. But the second thing that jumps out is that the revisions have served to erase thousands of votes from Trump, while affirming that Clinton’s vote total was essentially correct to begin with.

Donald Trump has gone from originally having 1,409,467 votes to now having just 1,404,536 votes in Wisconsin. In other words, a total of 4,931 votes were reported for Trump on election night that never existed. In contrast Hillary Clinton has gone from 1,382,210 votes down to 1,382,011 votes, a difference of less than two hundred votes. In other words, Wisconsin essentially had Clinton’s vote total correct all along, but is now acknowledging that nearly five thousand of the supposed votes for Trump simply never existed. Where did these votes come from? Who originally padded his numbers and how? If this was indeed due to an organized effort to pad Trump’s voting totals in various precincts across the state, the recount should fully expose it."; 11/28/16, 2:18 PM
gerry said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 11/28/16, 2:29 PM
Gk1 said...: Wisconsin Elections commission rejects hand counting ballots. Will require machine counting instead. This will be over before the drama begins.

http://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/11/28/elections-staff-layout-recount-timeline/94539210/; 11/28/16, 2:46 PM
Birkel said...: The idea above, that Senate Democrats would be able to keep VP Pence from office is silly. There is a Constitutional Line of Succession. If a Vice President is not elected then the Speaker of the House takes the office.

This happened when Gerald Ford became Vice President when Spiro Agnew was forced from office.

Do Democrats want Vice President Paul Ryan? Why would that be preferable, politically, to Vice President Pence?

No chance.; 11/28/16, 2:59 PM
sane_voter said...: Michigan certifies results, is now officially in Trump's column.; 11/28/16, 3:07 PM
Anonymous said...: https://www.rawstory.com/2016/11/wisconsin-election-commission-wallops-trump-for-feeding-baseless-voter-fraud-conspiracy-theory/

"Wisconsin Elections Commission Chairman Mark Thomsen lashed out at President-elect Donald Trump on Monday for claiming that “millions of people voted illegally.”

During a meeting to discuss details of the Wisconsin recount on Monday, Thomsen expressed his disappointment in the president elect.

“It is a decentralized and relatively safe system,” Thomsen explained. “From my point as the chair of the commission, I think it’s most unfortunate that the president elect is claiming that there is huge problems with our system and that’s feeding what I call this conspiracy theory.”

“Personally, I’d like him to come down out of his Trump Tower and go off to Wautoma County and spend the time with the folks on the ground that are counting the votes. I mean, he won that county. To say it’s not being fair or people are counting illegal votes, from my vantage point, is an insult to the people that run our elections.”"; 11/28/16, 3:07 PM
Anonymous said...: http://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/11/28/elections-staff-layout-recount-timeline/94539210/

"Madison — The Wisconsin Elections Commission set a timetable Monday for a recount of the presidential election but rejected a request to require a count by hand made by Green Party candidate Jill Stein, who quickly responded that she would sue.

Also Monday, Stein filed a lawsuit in Pennsylvania to force a recount there and her supporters began filing recount requests at the precinct level there. Stein — who received just a tiny piece of the vote —also plans to ask for a recount in Michigan on Wednesday.

Unless Stein wins her lawsuit in Dane County Circuit Court, officials in each of Wisconsin’s 72 counties would decide on their own whether to do their recounts by hand. That could mean some counties perform recounts by machine and some by hand."; 11/28/16, 3:13 PM
tcrosse said...: There is a Constitutional Line of Succession. If a Vice President is not elected then the Speaker of the House takes the office.

This happened when Gerald Ford became Vice President when Spiro Agnew was forced from office.
Gerald Ford was House Minority Leader, not Speaker, when Nixon nominated him to replace Agnew. He was then confirmed by the Senate. Speaker of the House at the time was Carl Albert.; 11/28/16, 3:14 PM
sane_voter said...: So sad! Recount deadline missed in PA; 11/28/16, 3:19 PM
sane_voter said...: What's great is that due to this faux recount, the Green party now has millions of dollars to recruit Green candidates and voters that will be siphoned from the Dems in 2018! And it's money that could have been used to help Dem candidates. A real win-win deal!; 11/28/16, 3:24 PM
Anonymous said...: http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/real-time/Despite-successful-fundraising-effort-recount-of-Pennsylvania-remains-difficult.html

"HARRISBURG — Former Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein on Monday continued her campaign to contest the election results in three battleground states, filing suit in Pennsylvania seeking a statewide recount.

Legal papers filed in Commonwealth Court by a lawyer for Stein’s campaign contend the Nov. 8 election was “illegal” and the results inaccurate based on research suggesting there might have been irregularities with electronic voting machines, among other evidence.

“Petitioners have grave concerns about the integrity of electronic voting machines used in their districts,” the suit stated."; 11/28/16, 3:27 PM
rehajm said...: It's people like Jill what causes unrest.; 11/28/16, 3:44 PM
traditionalguy said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 11/28/16, 4:55 PM
traditionalguy said...: This pageant of pretense is 100% BS by Stein who is fronting for Clinton who is fronting for Soros and designed to make Trump delegitimate.

Legitimacy was HST's problem in 1945. He was from a poor area that had been the start of the Oregon Trail in the heart of prairie country always despised by Coastal Power elites They ignored him and all that he had done, or that FDR had selected him as his successor. It did not matter. Harry could never be entitled to the Presidency...never.

So before Harry ran for election in his own right in 1948, he personally offered the Democrat nomination to General Eisenhower. But Eisenhower refused to even speak to lowly Harry, and ran for the GOP 4 years later against a weak Professor Stephenson. After winning easily, Ike refused to ride with HST to the swearing in ceremony or speak to Harry and his lowly Missouri redneck family that day.

But HST had won it himself by running a Trump type campaign personally speaking to 30,000,000 deplorables in two marathon train tours over three months, highlighted by Friday night network radio addresses. He merely reminded the farmers and the workers that Captain Harry had always been a fighter on their side, and he was still on their side. And they rememberd it, stayed on his side and voted for the heroic little man. The stuck up Dewey had never really campaigned or given a reason to elect him other than the obvious that the Highest Office belonged to the GOP more than it could ever belong to a Missourian Truman who only lucked into it. He played it like HRC did and had the same result.; 11/28/16, 4:57 PM
Bill Peschel said...: Scott Adams' prediction about the chaos caused by cognitive dissonance seems to be coming true with a vengeance.; 11/28/16, 4:58 PM
Anonymous said...: "This pageant of pretense is 100% BS by Stein who is fronting for Clinton who is fronting for Soros and designed to make Trump delegitimate."

Maybe it's Karma. Wasn't Trump selling the BS that Obama wasn't a legitimate President because he supposedly was born in Kenya? What goes around comes around.; 11/28/16, 5:04 PM
eric said...: The recount is pretty much useless.

Pennsylvania has already said they are a week late. No recount.

Wisconsin and Michigan have 26 electoral college voters between them. That leaves Trump with 280 if he loses both recounts. Which is highly unlikely to happen.

This whole recount business is just that. Business. A way for Jill Stein to make sole extra cash.; 11/28/16, 5:14 PM
traditionalguy said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 11/28/16, 5:18 PM
eric said...: During a meeting to discuss details of the Wisconsin recount on Monday, Thomsen expressed his disappointment in the president elect.

“It is a decentralized and relatively safe system,” Thomsen explained. “From my point as the chair of the commission, I think it’s most unfortunate that the president elect is claiming that there is huge problems with our system and that’s feeding what I call this conspiracy theory.”

“Personally, I’d like him to come down out of his Trump Tower and go off to Wautoma County and spend the time with the folks on the ground that are counting the votes. I mean, he won that county. To say it’s not being fair or people are counting illegal votes, from my vantage point, is an insult to the people that run our elections.”"

These little diaper babies need to find new jobs. The whole point of your job is to count votes and prevent fraud. If someone says there is fraud or illegal votes, you should say, "Where?!" And help to quash it. Not quash the speech of those asking.

You should be saying, let's have an audit. Let's demonstrate through an independent audit that the election was well run and fair. No cheating. No illegal votes. No fraud.

Instead, they whine. It's an insult! An insult I tell you!

Makes me very suspicious. Why don't they welcome transparency?; 11/28/16, 5:19 PM
Anonymous said...: PA is being sued. The Judge hasn't even heard the case yet.; 11/28/16, 5:20 PM
traditionalguy said...: Actually, Unknown, the Trump position was that he had never seen a real birth certificate for Baby Barry. And we never have. The computer created one released avoids topics such as his religion being Muslim.

HRC tried to say Kenya was his birthplace trying to disqualify him. And she only had to quote the many times Kenyans and Obama said he was born Kenyan to get affirmative action sympathy and favors after he left his Indonesian adoptive Muslim father's family and resumed a life with his grandmother where he had left in Oahu. But Trump knew those were Obama lies.

And what does it really matter now.; 11/28/16, 5:20 PM
Drago said...: Unknown: "PA is being sued. The Judge hasn't even heard the case yet"

How dare PA fall back on it's well established laws and procedures which were known by all parties long before this election! Don't they know the dems need memes? MEME's baby!!!; 11/28/16, 5:32 PM
Drago said...: It is merely a coincidence that the lawyers doing the work for Hillary are all affiliated with Soro's organizations.

This on top of the Soros Secretary of State project gives the game away.

Amazing how all the little lefties can't wait to dance to Uncle Georges tune.

But hey, how about another thousand articles on the Koch brothers by the Journolist team?; 11/28/16, 5:36 PM
HT said...: She's not helping the situation. I don't know what she's doing - I wouldn't think she'd think that her actions can change the election. No one does. So I'm not sure what she's thinking or doing.

This election I have heard such conflicting accounts on the reliability of our voting machines, that I'm not sure what to think about them. And then there was the issue of more votes for president than actual ballots cast.

It would've been good to have some specific questions posed then answered, but I'm not sure that is going to happen. (As for fraud, I will talk about that on the other posting from last night.); 11/28/16, 6:26 PM
Bruce Hayden said...: If Michigan really did certify, then it is over. We are where we were in 2000, when the (Republican) FL Sec. of State certified the GW Bush slate of electors, and the FL Supreme Court was mandating (biased) recounts. At best, they could have required certification of a second (AlGore) slate of electors, (or tried to certify them themselves, which they legally couldn't do) but Congress gets to decide which slate of electors to seat, and it was controlled by the Republicans at the time, as it is now, and will be in the next session. Which very likely meant that what the FL Supreme Court did was effectively irrelevant.; 11/28/16, 6:50 PM
Bruce Hayden said...: There is a Constitutional Line of Succession. If a Vice President is not elected then the Speaker of the House takes the office.

Not quite - the succession is statutory - it is primarily controlled by the Presidential Succession Act 1947. The Presidential Succession Act 1792 had the President Pro Tem of the Senate before the Speaker, then both were dropped in the Presidential Succession Act 1886, in favor of cabinet secretaries, and then reinserted, before the cabinet secretaries in the 1947 Act (The Postmaster General was removed 1971, and the Secretary of Homeland Security was added 2006) (See Wikipedia: United States presidential line of succession); 11/28/16, 7:08 PM
tcrosse said...: Syllogism:
It was Hillary's turn to be President.
She was denied that to which she was entitled.
Ergo: Somebody cheated
QED; 11/28/16, 7:43 PM
walter said...: eric,
I was at that meeting. Big surprise that selective excerpts are being published.(was about an hour long)
The other comments but the same person suggested the whole recount is bullshit, they need to prevent it costing the state ANYTHING.; 11/28/16, 7:49 PM
walter said...: (This was right off the square in Madison..guy likes his car unkeyed so throws in obligatory anti-Trump appeasement); 11/28/16, 8:01 PM
khesanh0802 said...: Stein's efforts are looking more and more like a fundraising effort - as so many have said. She missed the deadline in PA, has no evidence of fraud which might get that state to start a recount. We are so used to thinking only men can be megalomaniacs, but Stein is showing us that even girls can get into the game.; 11/28/16, 8:13 PM
walter said...: Ironic eh? Rails against money in politics, then finds her own way to her own. Noble.; 11/28/16, 8:29 PM
mockturtle said...: We are so used to thinking only men can be megalomaniacs, but Stein is showing us that even girls can get into the game.

I think Hillary beat her to it.; 11/28/16, 8:33 PM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: It's so sad. Here's poor, poor Unknown, consumed by hatred and despair, bitterly clinging to her last, futile hope (Keep hope alive!) - Jill Stein. Did Unknown excitedly send Stein money? Oh, I bet Unknown did. The Dream isn't dead! We can do this! Overturn the election!

Alas, even the Obama administration says there is no evidence at all of Russian hacking changing the election results. Oh, dear. To get one's hopes up and have them cruelly dashed once again, just like they were on November 9, why, it's heartbreaking.

Yet, somehow, I can't stop laughing.; 11/28/16, 9:32 PM
MacMacConnell said...: This is all about Hillary Clinton passing the mantle of the Progressives' Grand Yeast Infection of the Body Politic to Jill Stein.; 11/28/16, 9:36 PM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: Unknown, I have received an email from an exiled Nigerian prince who says he knows for a fact Russians hacked into the computers in PA, MI, and WI. He has evidence that will shock the world and immediately overturn the election results. But he needs your help!

If you are willing to send me a small donation of $500 or so, I will make it sure it gets to him so he can rid us of the usurper Trump. Act now!; 11/28/16, 9:40 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: Hillary learned it from Donna.

Donna Shalalla.

You heard it first from me, it shall be proven thus, ergo you all owe me, big time.

Big time.; 11/28/16, 9:43 PM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: Mac McConnell said...

This is all about Hillary Clinton passing the mantle of the Progressives' Grand Yeast Infection of the Body Politic to Jill Stein."

No, I don't think Stein will ever be more than a marginal figure. She would have to get past Princess Paleface and the Rising Young Star From California to get any traction.

I think this is more about Stein padding her coffers and getting absolution for taking votes away from Hillary. Nader was reviled by the Left after the 2000 mess. Stein is trying to reestablish her bona fides with the Left.; 11/28/16, 9:46 PM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: walter said...
Ironic eh? Rails against money in politics, then finds her own way to her own. Noble.

11/28/16, 8:29 PM

Bernie's got a lovely new house too. And their hero, Fidel, was a billionaire, or close to it.

They are opposed to your money and mine. They are perfectly fine with their own money.; 11/28/16, 9:51 PM
The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...: Sounds like the air is going out of this little diversion, but good for Stein for figuring out a way to monetize the Left's derangement. You'd have to sell a shitload of Not My President bumper stickers to rake in 4.5 million dollars in a week.; 11/28/16, 10:28 PM
Andy said...: Why should anybody assume that if was possible for the machines to be hacked on election night, that it is less possible to hack the recounts; 11/29/16, 2:58 AM
Bruce Hayden said...: We pretty much know that the balloting in these three states wasn't hacked, because to have done so would have required a lot of advance notice as to the election. Part of why we know this is because, esp. in this election, people split their ballots. In particular, there were a number of ballots where people voted differently between the top of the ticket (Trump/Clinton/Johnson/Stein) and the second spot (e.g. Senator in WI). And, the split was partially dependent upon demographics. So, for example, in working class white areas across the Rust Belt (including these three states), Trump tended to run ahead of the second spot (thus a number voting Republican, Democrat), but behind in the more traditional, upper middle class, Republican areas (a number voting Democrat/Libertarian, Republican). The magnitude of this is fairly consistent across the Rust Belt, and, thus, any attempt to hack the voting would either have had to predict this accurately (which most pollsters didn't predict) or fudge the votes all across this part of the country. And, we aren't talking just getting it right on a state by state basis, but on a county by county, and maybe even polling district by polling district basis. We are talking the necessity of hacking hundreds of districts over a half dozen or more states, with multiple types of voting systems. Not really plausible.; 11/29/16, 7:58 AM
walter said...: The Left: They were for election results before they were against them.; 11/29/16, 8:22 AM