November 27, 2016

The Clinton campaign's joining the recount effort is "a total and complete hypocritical joke."

Said Reince Priebus on Fox News Sunday this morning. These people who purported to worry that Trump wouldn't concede the election are now doing recounts "in states where we won by over 68,000 votes."
I think the American people know this is a waste of everyone's time and money, and it's only... to divide this country when we need to come together no matter who you are, Republican, Democrat, race, gender, whatever it is, and look forward to the future of rebuilding this country and getting us back on track. That's what President Trump is going to do, that's what we want to do, and this is a total and complete distraction and a fraud and something that they should drop. But, look, they will waste our time and we will staff up with thousands of people, we will sit there and look through Scantron ballots, we will win again for the second time and they will lose again for the second time. But our country doesn't need it.
Later in the show, Michael Needham, head of Heritage Action for America, said:
The whole thing is just -- it’s a lot to take. I mean the weeping and gnashing of the teeth from the left, if anything remotely similar had gone on from a Republican, especially Donald Trump, would just be endless. It would have been -- and when you want to look at why people across the country feel like cultural elites, like our media establishment, just don't get them. The notion that this is going on, the notion that Hillary Clinton is joining in, the notion that her campaign is -- it’s just, stop it. Donald Trump won the election. Donald Trump is going to be the president of the United States. The alt-left needs to move on from this nonsense. 
The alt-left. That amused me. (Me, the alt-house.)

64 comments:

CarolynnS said...

In Washington State, they kept counting ballots until the Democrat won. What if WA State "experts" lend a hand to these other states in their recounts? "Don't get cocky."

LYNNDH said...

Alt-Left is something that is real, and it should be pushed very hard by Republicans and Trump people. Do an Alinsky on them.

Humperdink said...

The all-in crowd for HRC - the college weepers, the university presidents sending out condolence letters, the media, are about to be let down again. In a big way. This in't the 1972 Olympic basketball finals.

Michael K said...

I think it is a clever, if amoral, fund raising effort by Stein to fill the Green Party coffers.

Lots of lefty fools to contribute but a scam.

jaydub said...

I think it's a yuge mistake to take this as a joke. As Wisconsin proved during the Walker recall fiasco, the left is capable of almost any type of subterfuge. When you're utterly convinced of your moral superiority and the evil that burns in the hearts of your opposition, you can rationalize any type of behavior, including stealing an election.

Nonapod said...

Call me cynical and I'm far from certain, but I'm guessing this whole recount nonsense is yet another grift to the benefit of certain parties. If there's any kind of angle, if there's money to be extracted from suckers, the Clintons will find a way.

At any rate, let the crazy meltdown continue.

mccullough said...

Trump will be the demise of the Left. They are unhinged.

Otto said...

Does the alt-right amuse you? I guess those that voted for Stein (the Alt-houses) find this all amusing.
Jaydud is correct, never underestimate the liberals, they have big money ,ala Soros, behind them.

rehajm said...

When you're losing power it pays to 'muddy the waters'. Republicans would be wise to adopt quick tactical strikes of legislation binging major tax reform, regulatory reform, health insurance reform, energy reform, but since they've been susceptible to calls of 'civility' and 'no mandate' from the left in the past this seems like proper leftie strategy.

There's also so much leftie quid pro quo money sloshing around with nothing to do, so why not?

Tyrone Slothrop said...

I'm kind of amazed that this is the very first time I've encountered the term "alt-left". Why didn't somebody think of this before? Why didn't I?

I think it goes back to the left wing belief that right wingers are extremists, left wingers are middle-of-the-road. I encounter this frequently among denizens of the left, who believe the masses are behind them even when they've lost an election.

Big Mike said...

I could have sworn Hillary said she'd accept the results of the election back in the third debate? Or didn't she get asked the question?

Lewis Wetzel said...

Political radicalism is mainstreamed on the Left. Both of the Democrat presidential candidates sought the endorsement of Black Lives Matter, a Black nationalist organization.

Humperdink said...

During the Thanksgiving holiday, while everyone else was dining on turkey, I performed the herculian task recounting the votes in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Jill Stein lost all three. Again. Did it as a public service (no charge).

Bryant Likes said...

Once again, President-elect Trump is creating jobs.

Mountain Maven said...

Meanwhile, Clinton is hidden away in the attic.

Original Mike said...

Trump should use this to advantage. He should accept the recount as a means to "assure the public that the election results are legitimate.". He should then go further and invite the democrats to join him in a program of strengthen our voter rolls, "assuring the public that only legitimate citizens cast votes in our next election.". The democrats won't, of course, but it will set the predicate for an audit of the voter rolls that we sorely need.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

In other news-- the leftwing mainstream press continue to ignore that fact that Hillary set up a private server while heading the US State Department in order to hide her pay-to-play for personal enrichment schemes.

robother said...

Jill Stein has incontrovertible evidence of Russian hacking of the election--because SHE is the hack! She will confess that she was programmed at a Sino-Russian camp in Manchuria many years ago to run in 2016, and to use their techniques to hypnotize a key segment of Hillary voters to vote instead for the Green Party.

With this dramatic confession, the Secretaries of State of every State will have no choice but to award all Stein votes to Clinton. Jill Stein will check into a well-endowed new deprogramming unit of the Clinton Foundation, with the assurance that she will head same upon completion of her no doubt successful deprogramming.

Ron said...

See as how you've expressed your dislike for travel, you do indeed represent the alt-house.

DavidD said...

I'd seen them called the Ctrl-Left, which is even funnier I think, as well as bitingly insightful.

Michael K said...

He should then go further and invite the democrats to join him in a program of strengthen our voter rolls, "assuring the public that only legitimate citizens cast votes in our next election.". The democrats won't, of course, but it will set the predicate for an audit of the voter rolls that we sorely need.

Yes, this is the opening for real vote reform.

Iconochasm said...

DavidD, I came specifically to mention that. "Alt-left" is dead in the water. The preferred term is "ctrl-left".

cf said...

Alt-left! yeah man the nastiest of hooligans and rich bitches, good name.

just proving what I said over the holidays to our dear wounded friends who love Obama, were active for Bernie, felt they had no choice but vote for Clinton and are sad and worried for this Trump business.

i told them not to worry, we have averted disaster by not electing this Clinton president.

Her police state and corruption would sink this nation and Obama's legacy right with it. I told my friends I believe Trump is going to elevate and improve Obama's legacy in the big scheme of things, for instance: by making the health care revolution WORK. i do hope Trump can reinvent the health care solutions that were imposed on the nation by obamacare, into a thriving American system. it wouldn't have happened without that huge effort Obama made, and he will come out of that one as a triumphant winner. i hope it is true in other areas as well.

that made them feel better, and we all clinked that it be so.

meanwhile, the wicked witch still twitches? yikes!


richard mcenroe said...

Nothing wrong with being an alt-house, per se. Just try to avoid being an alter kocker.

tcrosse said...

Ctrl-Left reminds me that John Sandford has a recurring character named Del Capslock.

readering said...

It's a good thing I follow the comments on this blog or I would never know about the emails Clinton sent and received from her husband's server in Westchester County, NY.

exhelodrvr1 said...

Cntl-Alt-Deleft

n.n said...
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n.n said...
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n.n said...

Mrs. Clinton, will you denounce the class diversitists including racists and female chauvinists that characterize your Party? Will you accept the result of the People's election?

Mrs. Clinton, tear down the walls of abortion chambers and condemn Planned Parenthood's clinical cannibalism.

Oh, well, selective-child. Baby steps.

Bruce Hayden said...

Let me repeat my point from the last thread. There was no hacking. Crooked Hillary lost the Rust Belt because she couldn't or didn't bother to connect with the working class whites who live there and are the ones most affected by the loss of jobs there. The reason that we know this is because people split tickets in these states, and the Trump vote was relatively higher than the 2nd ranking Republican on the ballot (e.g. Sen Ron Johnson in WI) in white working class (traditionally Democratic) communities, and relatively lower in white upper middle class (traditionally Republican) communities. And, this was the case throughout the Rust Belt, and not just in those three states.

JAORE said...

All prep for four (or eight) years of a pronounced "illegitimate" presidency. Fewer votes than Hillary, Russian hackers stole the election. Stirs up the alt-left, emboldens the minority party, strikes fear in the spineless in the majority party.

Big Mike said...

I can see the vast difference between the so-called alt-right and mainstream Republicans. The trouble is that I can't see much of a gap between the stupid alt-left protesters and the likes of Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer, etc.

Captain Drano said...

Hey, get with it folks, according to the youngun's, it's now aptly called the "crtl-left" --I love it!

glenn said...

Actually I think Jill and Hill fomented this to keep the cash flowing. Clinton called Ms. Stein and said "Jill, you jump in, we'll get a bunch of my doofus contributors to fund it and we'll split 50-50." Makes as much sense as anything these grifters have done before.

Lewis Wetzel said...

Trump should call Hillary on the QT, and try to persuade her to drop her time-waste of a recount scheme. If she remains stubborn, Trump should casually mention that a recount is her right, but that some of his voters are hard to control, and it's possible one of them might throw a bucket of water on her.
Game over.

Bruce Hayden said...

Here is a theory I just read about the recounts in The American Thinker. If all three recounts don't complete before the Electoral College meets, Trump only has 260 electoral votes, which throws the election into a Republican Congress (last time was 192 years ago in 1824), where Trump and Pence, will, of course, win. But they lost the popular vote, and this could be used to question their legitimacy over the next four years. So, the goal is not overturning the results of the election, but rather to reduce the legitimacy, and, thus, power, of a Trump Presidency.

Fabi said...

Bryant Likes wins the thread!

Mike Sylwester said...

This is what happens when a Scientific Progressive is allowed to become the Green Party's Presidential candidate.

Michael said...

Every Republican in the country should use the term "alt-Left" in every even vaguely political conversation from now on - whether talking to the Press or to family and friends. Two can play this game.

Ann Althouse said...

"Once again, President-elect Trump is creating jobs."

My former students? (Wisconsin lawyers.)

Bruce Hayden said...

A further thought though that does scare me a bit. There is very little chance that the death threats against Trump electors would flip over 30 electoral votes. But, they could cause a couple of weak electors to not vote (though I do believe that there are alternative electors). Or vote for someone like, maybe, Romney. And, with even two states failing to complete their recounts in time, it would be very possible that Trump would not have his 272 electoral votes. (Back to the Presidency being decided in Congress).

Wince said...

"The alt-left. That amused me. (Me, the alt-house.)"

Craig said...

Terry,

Black Lives Matter is not a black nationalist organization. That's a radical misunderstanding of one movement, the other, or both.

hombre said...

Alt-left preceded alt-right. A friend from SF was sending me their malarkey in 2008.

Craig said...

AprilApple,

"In other news-- the leftwing mainstream press continue to ignore that fact that Hillary set up a private server while heading the US State Department in order to hide her pay-to-play for personal enrichment schemes." <-- You're literally insane if you think the 'leftwing mainstream press' were ignoring this issue. The NYT alone dedicated thousands and thousands of words, many on the front page, to that story.

traditionalguy said...

I thought your family was from the Exalted House.

And how about acceptimg a SCOTUS Justice gig? You can Blog after writing opinions.

LYNNDH said...

I don't think doing a recount invalidates the original award of Electoral votes to Trump. It could overturn the original award.

StephenFearby said...


'...The mere thought of a recount taking place in Pennsylvania is probably making a lot of people cringe right now. It’s a long, cumbersome process that could cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars. Pennsylvania is one of just a handful of states that has a fully computerized voting system without a paper trail.

“The nightmare scenario would be if Pennsylvania decides the election and it is very close. You would have no paper records to do a recount,” Lawrence Norden, the co-author of a report on told voting machines, told the Los Angeles Times.'


"...A candidate can’t actually file for a vote recount under Pennsylvania law. Instead, they would have to challenge a county board regarding its vote computations, and a state appeals judge would have to rule that a statewide recount is necessary. That means [a] campaign would either have to request a recount by petition in every voting district or present a prima facie case showing voter fraud. (Prima facie is a lower threshold than beyond a reasonable doubt. A judge would just have to rule that fraud probably occurred in order to call for a recount.)"

http://billypenn.com/2016/11/23/a-pennsylvania-recount-for-hillary-clinton-a-nightmare-scenario-explained/

The pertinent Pennsylvania statutes are copied here:

http://www.inquisitr.com/3747002/2016-recount-jill-stein-cannot-file-direct-request-for-recount-in-pennsylvania-must-take-it-to-court/

The Jill Stein fundraising solicitation failed to disclose that filing the required amount of money to initiate an appeal in Pennsylvania would by itself be insufficient for a recount to take place.

She has so far collected about $6.1 million...with nothing going back to the donors if a Pennsylvania court finds there was not enough evidence provided to justify a recount.

Since Pennsylvania's 20 electoral votes are critical (along with Wisconsin's and Michigan's) to reverse the election results, donors may be sufficiently unhappy to demand their money back.

The tort bar stands ready to assist.

YoungHegelian said...

@Craig,

Black Lives Matter is not a black nationalist organization.

Well, the "official" BLM movement seems to be this weird melange of every identity lefty trope imaginable, but black nationalism is not one of them.

However, an almost constant concomitant to the BLM at every rally has been the New Black Panther Party & its front groups like Malik Shabazz' Black Lawyers for Justice. They are most definitely black nationalist & black racists. If the folks who run BLM find these folks so upsetting in their views, perhaps they can just publicly dis-invite them from their rallies.

You act as if, at a Tea Party rally, if someone from a white nationalist organization had been given the podium to speak, that the whole rally wouldn't have been tarred as "white supremacist". I'm sorry, this is standard lefty obfuscation.

Yancey Ward said...

Bruce,

I think what would actually happen is the Trump electors go to the vote anyway and if they are challenged, the House would simply vote to accept them and the electoral college vote would still be 306 minus, at most, 2 or 3 faithless ones.

In any case, without ballots to hand-count, Pennsylvania is almost certain to meet the Dec 13th deadline. Probably even Wisconsin can meet the deadline.

However, this is probably the rationale for the challenge in the first place. Hillary Clinton, classless to the bitter end.

YoungHegelian said...

@Yancey,

Hillary Clinton, classless to the bitter end.

I think it's actually "Hillary Clinton, front woman for the Clinton Machine in its dying last days". I have always thought that she was just a figurehead for the cabal around her, & I see nothing in the recount effort that changes that view.

Rick said...

The difference between the alt-left and the alt-right is that the alt-left controls the party and institutions while the "mainstream" left is marginalized.

Gk1 said...

Did anyone notice if the sunday talk shows had any notable scepticism that the recounts would change the outcome one iota? I would hope that would be the first thing they would talk about and the last.

Qwinn said...

Craig:

The NY Times dedicated thousands and thousands of words, many on the front page, to defending Hillary against the charges and attempting to convince as many people as they could that it was a nothing burger story concocted by the evil vast right wing conspiracy in collusion with the Russians.

FIFY.

ilvuszq said...

It seems to me that a quick way to stop the Clintons from proceeding is to threaten to unleash a special prosecutor on the Clinton Global Initiative.

Francisco D said...

The Democrats, with an assist from Jill Stein, are thinking in the short term. They are trying to keep the base stoked up, but creating an opportunity for fair (i.e., single votes from American citizens) voting laws.

If they hope to delegitimize Trump by delaying the electoral college in favor of a House vote, what happens when the results show that Hillary conclusively lost? What happens when they show that 100+ % of Philadelphia precincts went for Clinton as they did for Obama?

Maybe, just maybe Republicans will stop acting like such apologetic pussies.

Left Bank of the Charles said...

As to who is being more hypocritical here, Trump affirmatively reserved the right to complain about the result. But that was when he thought he was going to lose. I think the recounts are good, because they will confirm the results. And if they don't, we can have that out now.

Left Bank of the Charles said...

America loves slow motion replay.

Original Mike said...

Blogger Qwinn said..."The NY Times dedicated thousands and thousands of words, many on the front page, to defending Hillary against the charges and attempting to convince as many people as they could that it was a nothing burger story concocted by the evil vast right wing conspiracy in collusion with the Russians."

Exactly.


Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Thank you Qwinn.

David said...

They know that a recount will not change the result.

So why are they doing it?

Misdirection. Causing confusion. Undermining Trump's credibility. Changing the subject from how badly they botched the election. And in Stein's case publicity whoredom.

Plus they are craze with grief over the fact that Trump won.

Quaestor said...

I suppose the name was originally Althaus and then was partially anglicized to Althouse perhaps because Oldhouse is a bit too literal for American English.

Back in the days of Red heat, the Left was commie — doctrinaire Comintern crapola. The Fifties and Sixties witness the birth of the New Left, a Left that didn't want to be tarred with the same old brush as Stalin. They liked Mao better. And Castro. And especially Che. Unhappily, the problem with the New Left was the same problem afflicting the Old Left. The New Lefties are no longer angry young men with ponytails, tie-dyed teeshirts, and bellbottoms. Now they're complacent old men with pathetic tonsorial wreckage where the ponytail used to swish, button-down shirts, and tenure — but they have the same problems because they stopped learning when Paul McCartney formed Wings. They've had that learning disability so long its gotten stupid to call them the New Left, they're just the old new Old Left. Hillary and Bill are members of the old new Old Left — as is Obama, but only by proxy. There's a new New Left that has the same problems as the Old Left and the old new Old Left with the added complication of being MONUMENTAL PUSSIES.

From the sake of clarity the Old Left should remain the Left of the Comintern, Ethel and Julius, Alger Hiss, etc. The New Left should be the Left of safe spaces and trigger warning. (When one reads New Left one should just think PUSSIES, and everything will be clear.) Which leaves us the old new Old Left, which though coaching up blood is not quite dead yet. So what to call them? The Alt-Left, alt as in old, but different.

I think it works, yes?

Fen said...

I think the recounts are good, because they will confirm the results. And if they don't, we can have that out now.


Hahahahah NO.

Bull Shit. If you are a Leftist you only want recounts so you can cheat and try to steal the election again, just like you did in Florida 2000.

Don't try to pretend you have integrity or honor. WAY too soon for that to fly.