November 10, 2020

To "shy" is "To take a sudden fright or aversion; to make a difficulty, ‘boggle’ about doing something; to recoil, shrink."

According to the OED, where I looked in an effort to understand the NYT headline "Who’s Going to Tell Him? Republicans Shy From Asking Trump to Concede." 

I get that Republicans are not telling Trump to concede, but I don't see the evidence that they are shying. Who's taking a sudden fright or aversion? Who's recoiling or shrinking?

You'd have to establish that there are Republicans who urgently desire to tell Trump to give up and just freaking out about it, like a horse spotting a snake. To "boggle" is "To start with fright, to shy as a startled horse; to take alarm, be startled, scared." The article identifies no one who's in this position. 

Are there even any Trump-allied Republicans who think it's past time for Trump to abandon his fight, when the votes are not yet fully counted and litigation routes remain open? Mitch McConnell acknowledged Trump's justification for continuing to question the results. Only 4 Senators have congratulated Biden, but all 4 are well-established in their antagonism toward Trump.

There's no suddenness, no fright and therefore no shying. Not that I can see from this article. Maybe somewhere in the dark indoor spaces of Washington, Republicans are cowering in fear, but even that has no suddenness about it. There's no shying. 

I'm going on about this because I am resisting getting drawn into the emotionalism. "Shying" is an absurdly overemotional word in that headline, and the appropriate assumption is not that emotions are raging everywhere among the Washington elite. It's that everyone is behaving strategically. The media's calling of the election when it did, the Biden supporters insisting on a concession now, the outrage that questions about voting are raised, the Trump's refusal to give up, the Republicans giving Trump his space to stir up his supporters — it's all cold, hard strategy. That's my assumption.

***

"It is no wonder, that men are generally very much unsatisfied with the world.... Either we are puffed up with pride, racked with desires, dissolved in pleasures, or blasted with cares; and, which perfects our unhappiness, we are never alone, but in perpetual conflict and controversy with our lusts. We are startled at all accidents; we boggle at our own shadows, and fright one another" — Seneca.

116 comments:

Rusty said...

He shouldn't concede. You never concede to a cheat and a liar.

Gahrie said...

If Trump eventually loses this race he should immediately start a campaign to pass and ratify a Constitutional Amendment setting up a rational and standard voting procedure that the states must follow. It should include the following:

All voters must be registered at least thirty days in advance of the election

All registered voters purged from the rolls after twelve years. Voter sent a reminder to their address of record that they must re-register.

All voting must be done in person on the day of the election except for diplomats and military serving overseas who may request and use an absentee ballot.

Voters must show a valid photo id when voting, all voting occurs via paper, bubble in ballots.

Voters dip their fingers in indelible ink after they vote. (No need for I voted sticker, everyone will see your finger)

C R Krieger said...

With Real Clear Politics moving two states to gray it does seem a little early to concede.  I am not saying to drag it out like he was Hillary Clinton or Nancy Pelosi, for months and months and years, but for a few weeks isn't a bad thing.

Is Wisoncsin going to go gray?

Regards -- Cliff

Brand said...

The left and its allies seem desperate for Trump to stop contesting the election. Methinks a Shakespeare quote may be appropriate.

roesch/voltaire said...

Trump never has understood math or science but soon he will realize that he is in a zero sum game.

Unknown said...

it hasn't even been a week since election night

some places still counting

the TDS remains strong

Shouting Thomas said...

Scott Adams’ prediction:

SCOTUS will throw out late votes in PA, giving that state to Trump.

So, Trump has to turn one state on fraud. Adams says the fraud is “targeted” not “widespread.” He says that that term, “widespread,” is another press attempt to phony up the issue. Trump doesn’t need to prove “widespread” fraud, only sufficient fraud to turn Nevada or Wisconsin or Michigan.

Adams predicts 60-40 that Trump will win.

He also says that the Dems are committing a strategic mistake by hurrying to dismiss the severity of the virus. They are potentially preparing the groundwork for Trump’s second term free of fear of the virus.

Howard said...

The repugs are ascared of you people.

Readering said...

They are shying from contributing all the money he needs to litigate this thing. Did Graham follow through with his promise of half a mil? Please contribute today. Earn Trump rewards points in the process.

Readering said...

Scott Adams!

sean said...

I don't like that OED definition. It doesn't reflect the actual use of the word by native speakers. Horsemen refer to a horse shying when it is simply reluctant to approach a particular object (e.g., a shiny object lying on the ground). A sudden fright would be more typically referred to as "spooking."

JIves said...

The media's calling of the election when it did, the Biden supporters insisting on a concession now, the outrage that questions about voting are raised, the Trump's refusal to give up, the Republicans giving Trump his space to stir up his supporters — it's all cold, hard strategy.

Just noticing your good grammar as you write "media's calling" and "Trump's refusal", but remember, the possessive is always used before the gerund. "Biden supporters' insisting" and "Republicans' giving"

Readering said...

Looking forward to see what Biden-appointed GSA head does with FBI HQ.

Michael K said...

The lefties are celebrating just a bit prematurely. Enjoy it.

Lurker21 said...

"Shy" in that sense probably had to do with horses and other animals. As we don't deal with horses everyday, people may feel free to use it in the sense of "to be shy" or "to be reluctant" or "to be hesitant."

"Boggle" only seems to appear nowadays as the name of a game and in the expression "it boggles the mind." Maybe that word also had an original meaning and wider uses that have been lost over time.

Shouting Thomas said...

I quoted Scott Adams, not to endorse his view, but to illustrate that there are potential remaining scenarios in which Trump can win.

Which, of course, is what this post is about.

Should Trump concede? No, he should not while there are still reasonable scenarios in which he can win.

Dave Begley said...

Speaking of strategy, there is no doubt in my mind that the Fake News and Dems created this covid panic so that they could get mail-in voting, collapse the economy and Biden could steal the election.

All this concern about the health of Americans is pure BS. Look at the ages of the dead. According to Zeke Emmanuel, they deserved to die.

Convince me otherwise.

Mid-Life Lawyer said...

My question is do these people really think that all rational people think Trump should concede and so there must be some who are shying away from the duty to tell him or are they intentionally using language like shying to paint a picture? I don't know the answer to this at this point.

Another way to say it is are they delusional or merely lying?

Darrell said...

Yeah. Let the Democrat vote fraud coup stand. They worked so hard!

Howard said...

As Pat Summerall would say "Joe Biden is just shy of the goal line"

Dave Begley said...

Trump will get the following state legislatures to send Trump electors to the Electoral College: GA, AZ, MI, NC, PA and maybe WI.

Birkel said...

Readering has just the boots to start stomping on our faces, forever.
You can feel the zeal for cattle cars and re-education camps.

Darrell said...

If Nixon didn't concede, JFK would have died from syphilis or a drug overdose, months later than he did.

Michael said...

To shy away from is a common expression and bears no emotional freight.

Birkel said...

All those five yard false start penalties are moving Biden further from the goal line.

Howard will no doubt offer a racist excuse for his metaphor.
Racism is what Howard has.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

This is the most on point tweet I've seen:

Jenna Ellis
@JennaEllisEsq
The enormity of what’s happening in media cannot be ignored. If an attorney held a press conference and said she has evidence exonerating her client, the press should NOT cut away and substitute its own judgment, claiming no proof. That’s acting as a party in interest, not press.

Shouting Thomas said...

The real story that I draw out of this is that the Democratic Party media is attempting to frame the election as decided when it is not.

Go to Real Clear Politics, which is as close to a non-partisan site as you will find. They have not called PA and a number of other states, so they have not called the election for Biden.

How have these conclusory campaigns by the Democratic media panned out over the Trump admin? As I recall, we’ve gone through an almost predictable pattern of claims that Trump’s behavior is crazy and that he should do as they say, only to find out in a few months that Trump was right.

Mr Wibble said...

SCOTUS will throw out late votes in PA, giving that state to Trump.

I want Trump to win AZ, GA, and NC, and then SCOTUS to throw PA to its legislature who chicken out and split the votes, giving us 269-269 in the weirdest way possible. I want riots on the floor of the House!

tim maguire said...

It's all about the manipulation, a lie liberals tell themselves to keep believing they are unquestionably right, no matter the real world circumstances.

Like the "regretted vote" that the left uses to console itself when it loses, they're sure hordes of Republicans secretly want to tell Trump to concede, but lack the courage to do what they know is right.

bagoh20 said...

It would be awesome if the cheating was exposed and we could see how corrupt and dishonest the Demcorats have behaved, and then after seeing them threaten us with arrests, trials and losing jobs just for voting for Trump to then see him stay President. Instead we may end up knowing that happened and watch them keep their ill gotten gains. It's a great lesson for our kids.

wendybar said...

The secret anonymous sources that Democrats always have....Probably somebody like George Conway..the NeverTrumper in the little hate group The Lincoln Project.

Fernandinande said...

Seneca talked English? Who knew?

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

What is more frightening :

Real vote fraud in Philly and Detroit

or

Media insisting you cannot know about it. "You have no proof!"

tim maguire said...

Post-election polls are swinging Trump's way. The media can shout all it wants about "no evidence" in the face of quite a lot of evidence, but according to Rasmussen, less than 50% of the country believes Joe Biden won fair and square. Going by the numbers, there is a non-negligible percentage of Democrats who voted for Biden who think Biden lost.

None of that changes the fact that the vote totals are presumptively valid and the burden is on Trump to show there is not only fraud, but enough fraud to put the outcome in doubt. And he has to do it in multiple states. Even now, even with all these affidavits, that's a tall order.

wendybar said...

And the riots will be frightening....The left pushed the Biden won lie, and if there is fraud, like it look like there is, and it is overturned...there will be HELL to pay, and the left will burn it all down. Trump supporters don't do that. They tried to blame us. Watch and learn.

Mike of Snoqualmie said...

Comrade Joe should concede right now. Why wait to the last minute? The Dems and the DNC media committed election fraud. They won't let Republican observers observe in Philadelphia, even with a court order. What are they trying to hide? Fake votes.

The Benford statistics show that the Dems have been creating fake ballots. There are 100,000s of ballots with only Biden filled in. That doesn't occur for Trump ballots.

The Dems are the party of stolen elections.

Mike of Snoqualmie said...

Comrade Joe should concede right now. Why wait to the last minute? The Dems and the DNC media committed election fraud. They won't let Republican observers observe in Philadelphia, even with a court order. What are they trying to hide? Fake votes.

The Benford statistics show that the Dems have been creating fake ballots. There are 100,000s of ballots with only Biden filled in. That doesn't occur for Trump ballots.

The Dems are the party of stolen elections.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

Joel Pollak
@joelpollak
The people who tell you Trump is resisting the “peaceful transfer of power” (i.e. by going to court, like Democrat Al Gore did) also told us “Proud Boys and militias” would be marauding across the country by now. They are a mix of professional liars and criminally stupid pundits.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

No one talking about democrats who voted Trump.

Jupiter said...

I think you are asking more than is reasonable of the young people at the NYT. For many of them, this is the first job after college, and they were only able to attend college because of affirmative action of one kind or another. These are not the sharpest tools in the shed, and you can't expect them to understand the nuances of a language they seldom speak in their homes. To these vibrant ideologues, "shy", "reluctant" and "reticent" are synonyms, if they even know the words, and the numerous other words they might have used lie concealed in the unopened thesaurus they received when they were first awarded their NYT sinecure.

Furthermore, they are faced with the problem of writing about the motivations of people they don't know and have never gotten high with, many of whom may have led lives of serial accomplishment, yet apparently wanted to work for Donald Trump! How are they to understand such a person, whose thoughts and experiences are so alien to them? And why should they bother, when they'll all be gone as soon as the courts certify the hustle? Better to crib something one of your predecessors wrote about the Clinton administration, which was never published, and get back to plotting against the few remaining old people you work with.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

Press substituting their own judgement for honest coverage

wild chicken said...

As someone who has studied both law and journalism, I am really pissed off about the continual editorializing in the quality of the evidence.

You don't do that. Even a fucking editorial shouldn't judge the evidence, a mere week into the legal process.

The nonlawyers rage on about law, and the lawyers take the fees and laugh.

Big Mike said...

Are there even any Trump-allied Republicans who think it's past time for Trump to abandon his fight, when the votes are not yet fully counted and litigation routes remain open?

Not if by “Trump-allied” you mean support Donald Trump, no.

Shane said...

Kajagoogoo and Mrs. Dennis Miller (the actress in the video) take issue with your focus on this post. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkpG4XApJ28

Big Mike said...

The media can shout all it wants about "no evidence" in the face of quite a lot of evidence, but according to Rasmussen, less than 50% of the country believes Joe Biden won fair and square. Going by the numbers, there is a non-negligible percentage of Democrats who voted for Biden who think Biden lost.

@tim maguire, almost right. There is a non-negligible percentage of Democrats who are happy that Biden cheated because they foolishly think it means the end of Donald Trump.

Big Mike said...

The repugs are ascared of you people.

Ain’t nobody scared of you, Howard the Coward.

Drago said...

I wonder if Biden actually winning in the electoral college, assuming he does, will make it possible for the Althouse lefties to finally concede the 2016 election.

My guess?

Probably not.

Anne in Rockwall, TX said...

Those in the horse world know that a horse shies (moves away suddenly) at an unusual situation or movement.

tcrosse said...

The plywood can stay on the windows a while longer.

Michael K said...

More news about the "Glitch."

We’ve reported on numerous events identified in the 2020 election already which are being referred to as ‘glitches’ by the Democrats. Tonight we just uncovered another ‘glitch’ in Wisconsin.
When this one is confirmed it will result in a 19,500 vote gain for Trump making the Wisconsin race a total toss-up.
There is now a pattern of events we have uncovered across the country where votes are being taken from Republicans at all levels and transferred to competing Democrats in offsetting amounts. These are not random because in every case votes are moved from Republicans to Democrats.


A superglitch.

Ray - SoCal said...

Fixed it.

The GOPe / LLR are terrified of Trump Voters

>Howard said...
>The repugs are ascared of you people.

Rusty said...

"Racism is what Howard has."
With just a skoosh of fascism.

BUMBLE BEE said...

Some pretty shady business around the "GLITCH" owners too. Let God sort them out.

John henry said...

Blogger Gahrie said...

All voters must be registered at least thirty days in advance of the election

All registered voters purged from the rolls after twelve years. Voter sent a reminder to their address of record that they must re-register.

All voting must be done in person on the day of the election except for diplomats and military serving overseas who may request and use an absentee ballot.

Voters must show a valid photo id when voting, all voting occurs via paper, bubble in ballots.

Voters dip their fingers in indelible ink after they vote. (No need for I voted sticker, everyone will see your finger)


Gee, pretty much like we do here in Puerto Rico, right?

2 exceptions:

Not just any ID card. There should be a specific voter ID card here's a pic.

https://noticiasmicrojuris.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/elecc.jpg

Issued by the state board of elections and not valid for any other purpose than voter ID. This reduces the liklihood of counterfeiting. But make it very difficult to counterfeit.

Ink should be invisible UV, with a specific wavelength.

It should be invisible so that once on, the person cannot know if they have washed it off.

Specific wavelength UV, detectable only with the appropriate scanner for that wavelength. Again, if you try to wash it off, you can't tell if you did.

Wavelength specific UV is common in packaging for anti-counterfeiting. It may be incorporated into US paper money. It is one of the secret measures, if it is.

We used to dip our fingers in a jar with a sponge and ink. This year, because of kung flu? they sprayed our hands instead.

They also scan both in an out. In to make sure you do not have ink, out to make sure that you do.

But you are absolutely right. There is more security with movie theatre tickets than with ballots in many parts of the US.

John Henry

Bob Smith said...

Helpful hint. Trump is an effect not a cause. The cause of Trump is normal Americans responding to a political establishment that a WAPO poster identified way better than I ever could on the occasion of John McCains funeral. Goes like this:

“ The people in that cathedral gave us $20T in debt, $800B trade deficits, 9/11, repeated wars in foreign lands, the hollowing out of our industrial base, disrespect for our institutions, disrespect for us as a people, the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, a foreign invasion never before seen in our history and racial tensions as bad as they have been in a long time. Screw em.”

Nobody I see on team SloJoe wants to do anything about this except hide as much of it as they can. And stick their snouts back in the Federal trough. And you’ll notice the bi-partisan nature of the comment.

narciso said...

Seneca was poisoned by nero, wasn't he, if memory serves,

Susan said...

I live in a very red state but work at a middle school where most teachers are lefty Democrats.

It has been strangely silent here. When Obama won they were over the moon happy. When Hillary lost there was actual crying in the halls and they were all wearing safety pins on their clothes in solidarity with the people who were going to be sent to the camps by Trump Hitler.

This week absolutely dead silence. And since the media hasn't stopped cheerleading for ole China Joe it can't be because they think he lost, can it?

It's weird to have nothing said at all about it. It's like it never happened.

Ray - SoCal said...

Lots of elected GOP are scared of Trump. They have aided and abetted numerous attempts to remove him from the Presidency and/ neuter him politically.

A good indicator if they hate Trump, is their public actions on voter fraud. It’s interesting which dogs are not barking.

Look at how little of the Trump agenda was passed in Trump first term, even after McCain died.

How little push back there was in the Russia Hoax.

How a major fundraiser for the GOP became anti Trump, the chamber of commerce.

What the senate intel committee did.

This changed a bit after the mid terms where Trump took out a couple of incumbent Democratic Senators.

narciso said...

the chamber of commerce, mostly loss in 21 races, the intel committee which was effectively run by mark warner, who made his money in russia, who had a cutout that was paid by the Russian foreign ministry,

narciso said...

I don't think there is a cognate for boggle in latin, maybe wonder,

Clyde said...

Demolition Man - What Seems To Be Your Boggle?

5M - Eckstine said...

Say you get a heavily perfumed letter that also seems weighty. Compared to the hardware store flyer. Does cruel neutrality open and read it or toss it in the trash without a second thought?

mikee said...

Boggle and shy? After four years of Dems gyring and gymboling oer the wabe to destroy Trump?

narciso said...

they say it's resilo, but that is not the sense in which it is used,

Ice Nine said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Clyde said...

Readering said...
Looking forward to see what Biden-appointed GSA head does with FBI HQ.


Hunter Biden's new strip club.

Earnest Prole said...

You'd have to establish that there are Republicans who urgently desire to tell Trump to give up and just freaking out about it.

Are you joking? The Republican Establishment is petrified Trump will spend the next four years stoking Deplorable resentment over his loss to Biden while building a media empire to replace Fox News and Rush Limbaugh's show. Since 2015 their deepest desire has been for the man to simply vanish off the face of the earth without a trace. Of course they shy from asking Trump to concede: They're damned if they do and damned if they don't.

Greg The Class Traitor said...

This is actually a pretty good article:

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/11/03/us/politics/election-results-contested-disputed.html

Unresolved by deadline: A state legislature has the authority under the Constitution to appoint the state’s electors, regardless of the status of the popular vote, and particularly when a state hasn’t made a decision by the safe harbor deadline. A state legislature could decide that election results, still in dispute, are unlawful and select their own electors.


This is kind of key:
The newly elected Congress meets on Jan. 6 to formally count the electoral votes and name the president. If there is no clear winner in the Electoral College, Congress holds a contingent election.


The GA Senate runoff election is Jan 5. Which means that the results aren't going to be certified before the Senate meets

So the GOP controls more than 26 States in the House, and will have at least 50 - 48 votes in the Senate, irrespective of the GA results.

Which means in a disputed election, the GOP has the ability to confirm Trump and Pence as the victors.

"You'll riot if we do that"? So what? Burn your cities down, have fun

hombre said...

Republican surrender monkeys want their swamp back! They still don’t understand Trump’s role. He may not be destined for a second term, but he is destined to continue the pushback against the criminal Democrats and their RINO consorts.

Now that Fox News has gone left, if Repubs hold the Senate, Trump’s next four years might be better spent financing a successor to Fox. Newsmax could do.

Greg The Class Traitor said...

States with GOP majority in the House: AK, ID, MT, WY, UT, ND, SD, NE, KS, OK, TX, MO, AR, LA, WI, MS, IN, KY, TN, AL, OH, WV, NC, SC, GA, FL, IA (currently. Might switch to tied)

Tied States: MI, MN, PA

So, that's 26 - 27 GOP, 3 tied, and at most 21 pro-D
Note: IA was 3-1 Dem. MN was 5-3 Dem. I don't know of any other States that changed this year.

They can only chose among the top 3 EC vote getters.

And, just to be clear:
Having watched the Democrats try to steal this election with blatant cheating (this is not arguable: If you force the count observers to stand 20 feet away, and unable to see what the vote processors are doing, you are cheating. If you tell the GOP observers to go home because you're not going to do any more counting that night, they leave, and then you start counting again, that's cheating), I am willing to see the GOP pull ANY possible legal trick to "steal" the election back.

State Legislatures ignoring the "vote count", and certifying Trump as the winner? Awesome! GOP Legislatures / Governors sabotaging the submission of EC results, so the State doesn't get any EC votes (as opposed to them going to Biden)? Golden.

When you decide to do blatant and obvious cheating, you remove any moral obligation on your opponents to accept the results

hombre said...

“All this concern about the health of Americans is pure BS.”

How about their, “Even one death caused by Trump’s failures ....” ? Sanctity of life from those who promote millions of baby deaths by abortion.

Earnest Prole said...

Which means in a disputed election, the GOP has the ability to confirm Trump and Pence as the victors.

Like the GOP Establishment wants to have anything to do with Trump.

Michael K said...

A little more on election fraud.

In Wayne County, Republican poll watchers were denied their legal right to monitor the election and purposefully kept in the dark…there are thousands of reports of poll watchers being intimidated and unable to do their job and as of 4 p.m. this afternoon, 131 affidavits have been completed just in Michigan with over 2,800 incident reports that have been submitted to us since election day. Two new lawsuits were filed today by people who were working in Detroit and a whistleblower.

Chuck ? Chuck ?

Michael K said...


Blogger Earnest Prole said...
Which means in a disputed election, the GOP has the ability to confirm Trump and Pence as the victors.

Like the GOP Establishment wants to have anything to do with Trump.


I doubt you understand what is happening. The GOP "Establishment" is better called the Uniparty." That is to include Romney's chief of staff on the Burisma Board and that GOP Congressman in Michigan whose loyalty is to China.

The Republican Party is leaving the "country club" set behind. The NTs think we need them but they are wrong.

Qwinn said...

I saw Chuck post earlier and it was deleted by "blog adm8nistrator" almost instantly. I wouldn't expect any answer he might give to stick around.

(Good riddance, if the intellectual dishonesty were weaponized it could take out the sun.)

Phil 314 said...

"SCOTUS will throw out late votes in PA, giving that state to Trump."

The late votes in question in this case have not yet been counted.

effinayright said...

Gahrie said...
If Trump eventually loses this race he should immediately start a campaign to pass and ratify a Constitutional Amendment setting up a rational and standard voting procedure that the states must follow. It should include the following:
******************

Not a chance of this happening. A divided Congress won't get the 3/4 majority needed to pass a Constitutional amendment needed to do what you want, and with a 26-24 split between GOP and Dem led states, there's no way to initiate a Convention of the States to address the issue.

IOW we're screwed.

Inga said...

Oh my, how inconvenient.

A team of international observers invited by the Trump administration has issued a preliminary report giving high marks to the conduct of last week’s elections--and it criticizes President Trump for making baseless allegations that the outcome resulted from systematic fraud.

Readering said...

Ridiculous remarks by secretary of state just now.

I'd like to see Susan Rice appointed CA Senator and then Sec of State, so if Senate does not confirm it will be stuck with her as colleague.

Stephen said...

What's Trump's strategy? The one thing that Trump is not actually planning to do, and doesn't have the evidence to do, is to overturn the election in any state essential to Biden's electoral college majority. We know this because in this situation if there were such evidence, we would already have seen it, in some admissible form, in some lawsuit. Instead, we see a lot of lawsuits based on nothing, and then, after they fail, a lot of references to their allegations as if they had been proven, instead of rejected. And shambolic press conferences, of course.

Let's stipulate then, that what Trump is doing is wrong, because he is attacking the legitimacy of the election, and refusing to concede, without any basis for doing so other than personal pique and a wish to devalue the outcome and confound the transition. Althouse would clearly have said the same had Hillary taken this approach in 2016; she should be able to say so now.

In the meantime, no one really wants to get in his way when he's in this mood, because the hits are not strategically directed--they land on whoever steps forward to confront him. And there is the possibility he will do real damage, not just to those he lashes out at, but also to the Republican brand and the country. The Esper firing has some people worried on just those grounds.

So given that, why isn't shying, in the sense of shrinking from doing something because of potentially scary consequences, perfectly consistent with being strategic?

More fundamentally, why would we want to rule emotion out? Emotion can actually be a guide to clear thinking, not an obstacle to it. Althouse's emotional reaction in 2016 was that Hillary should offer a gracious concession; that's my emotional reaction to Trump now. It seems as though in this case Althouse is ruling out emotion because her own emotions tell her that Trump is doing wrong and that the Republicans are enabling him. Rather than recognize the truth in that, she's committed to an amoral analysis that misses the mark.

Michael K said...

We know this because in this situation if there were such evidence, we would already have seen it, in some admissible form, in some lawsuit. Instead, we see a lot of lawsuits based on nothing, and then, after they fail, a lot of references to their allegations as if they had been proven, instead of rejected. And shambolic press conferences, of course.

Stephen, I have come to expect bullshit from you. This is even beyond that. Stop lying or do it someplace else.

Here is a list of events in PA.

I would not be surprised to see the PA legislature send a Trump set of electors since the Democrats have wrecked the election. Soros spent a lot of money to elect minor offices such as SoS.

tim in vermont said...

Tl;dr: “Stop turning over rocks!”

It shows consciousness of guilt.

tim in vermont said...

"Oh my, how inconvenient. “

Are these the same international observers who were barred from observing the ballot processing?

https://www.rebelnews.com/international_elecion_observers_barred_from_philadelphia_counting_process

Is this really the kind of world you want to live in Inga, where you are fed propaganda by a ruling class that believes that “ignorance is strength"

Earnest Prole said...

I doubt you understand what is happening. The GOP "Establishment" is better called the Uniparty."

Of course. We’re in violent agreement. Now explain to me why and how those same Chamber-of-Commerce Republicans (who control the legislatures of virtually every Red state) are going to sign onto a Hail-Mary-in-Orange project to dump the Electoral College and restore Trump as Rightful Leader.

Rick said...

Stephen said...
Let's stipulate then, that what Trump is doing is wrong, because he is attacking the legitimacy of the election, and refusing to concede, without any basis for doing so other than personal pique and a wish to devalue the outcome and confound the transition. Althouse would clearly have said the same had Hillary taken this approach in 2016; she should be able to say so now.


Interestingly Hillary did attack the legitimacy of the election with the full support of the Obama administration and the left media (other than Glenn Greenwald). Literally zero of those currently criticizing Trump had any criticism for Hillary revealing they have no concern over delegitimizing elections. They say this as an appeal to those who do, but they demonstrably have none themselves. Since their assertion is purely mercenary it should be tested.

We're now 7 days past the election and all the votes haven't been counted much less certified. But somehow the election is being delegitimized? It's interesting these leftists have already abandoned the "Count Every Vote" mantra to claim he's "attacking the legitimacy of an election" even as Hillary's delegitimizing effort is ~1500 days and counting without criticism.

It's interesting to see how quick the left abandons their supposed principles.

Michael K said...

Now explain to me why and how those same Chamber-of-Commerce Republicans (who control the legislatures of virtually every Red state) are going to sign onto a Hail-Mary-in-Orange project to dump the Electoral College and restore Trump as Rightful Leader.

My point, which you ignore, is that the GOP is changing. Th Uniparty Congress critters lost in 2018. The new Congress members on the GOP side are Trump supporters. The same for legislators in state houses. Sure there are previous incumbents but. they have seen the future. If they want to stay in office, it is Trump's party now.

The only state that is likely to do what I suggested is PA. They may not but the ballots have been irreversibly mixed. Once those mail in ballots are out of the envelop they cannot be identified. This seems to have been deliberate. The USSC ruled they must keep them separate and they defied the Court.

We'll see.

Greg The Class Traitor said...

Earnest Prole said...
Like the GOP Establishment wants to have anything to do with Trump.

No the DC GOP Establishment hates Trump.

However, they want to live. And they want to remain in office

Which wouldn't be likely if they threw the election to Biden

Arlen Specter switched from the GOP to the Dems in 2009. In 2010 he lost the PA Dem Senate primary, and Tomey won the seat for the GOP that November.

Message to GOP Establishment: You switch from GOP to Dem, your political career is over

Do they hate Trump? Yes. Are they going to commit political (and possibly literal) suicide to throw the election to Biden?

No, they aren't.

The State GOP Establishments have benefitted greatly from Trump, and do NOT want Biden screwing them over (see PA & fracking, MI and cars).

Iman said...

Looking for coherence and/or evidence that supports the contentions made in and by the NYT is a fool’s errand. And you’re no fool.

Is it another in a long line of attempts to expose the perfidy and bad faith of the NYT? That was established a long, long time ago.

OSU '92 said...

Biden is on track to get 15 Million more votes than Hillary and over 7 Million more votes than Obama while doing worse than them in all the swing counties and running up huge margins in urban black precincts when the one thing all the polls agreed on was Trump gaining black support.

Seems reasonable to me. Nothing to see here.

Iman said...

Scott Adams was a colleague of mine during the 90s, when he was the right-hand man of our Science and Technology Department’s V.P. I remember him as a quiet, keeps his own counsel kind of cat and he had to have the patience of a saint to work for that pretentious prick.

I’ve found his predictions and ability to explore - and understand - unusual aspects of a myriad of subject matter to be uncanny.

narciso said...

were you, that's fascinating, lman,

readering said...

If the PA Republicans try to have a different slate of electors vote it will be ignored. Fan fiction. But please contribute more to Trump litigation fund. He will find a use for the money, I am sure, and you seem to enjoy what he spends money on.

tcrosse said...

My college educated niece is convinced that the moment Trump concedes, Biden becomes president. Sad.

Readering said...

Turnover at Defense continues and Trump demanding budgets from all departments. If he waits to leave town until after Biden sworn in, many will be upset if he is permitted to do so by government transportation. Not like he will have to fly coach to Palm Beach.

I'm Not Sure said...

"It's interesting to see how quick the left abandons their supposed principles."

Not to worry, they have others.

Qwinn said...

Amazing, Stephen deems a lawsuit with over a hundred sworn affidavits confirming witness to fraud as "based on nothing" and not in "admissible form".

Those affidavits are probably from Trumpists, after all, and their testimony counts for nothing and should be summarily dismissed.

Die in a fucking fire, tyrant.

Bruce Hayden said...

“ If the PA Republicans try to have a different slate of electors vote it will be ignored. Fan fiction. But please contribute more to Trump litigation fund. He will find a use for the money, I am sure, and you seem to enjoy what he spends money on.”

Who would ignore it? The state contingents in the House, that vote by state? That is the thing - states like MT and WY, with their single GOP House member each have the same number of votes as does CA - one.

Jim at said...

These so-called Republicans urging Trump to concede should STFU. They've done enough damage.

There is only one person who should make that decision.

tim in vermont said...

Why concede when you find stuff like this?

More than 10,000 people confirmed or suspected dead have returned their mail-in ballots to vote in Michigan, according to an analysis of the state’s election data. About 9,500 voters confirmed dead through the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) are marked in the state’s mail voting database as having returned their ballots. Another nearly 2,000 are 100 years old or more and are not listed as known living centenarians.

tim in vermont said...

"and their testimony counts for nothing and should be summarily dismissed.”

Sounds like how the Taliban would handle it, doesn’t it?

tim in vermont said...

"If the PA Republicans try to have a different slate of electors vote it will be ignored. “

Isn’t it pretty to think so. Instead of demonstrating your ignorance daily here, in this case you can go back and read about 2000 and Bush v Gore and the consitutional issues at stake.

Clyde said...

tim in vermont said...

Is this really the kind of world you want to live in Inga, where you are fed propaganda by a ruling class that believes that “ignorance is strength"


She'd be Inga Schwarzenegger.

Michael K said...

The lefties have sure awakened and flooded the zone. I haven't seen so many silly comments since moderation was begun.

Bay Area Guy said...

Fight On, Donald! Count every LEGAL vote, and don't let these see no evil, hear no evil, smell no evil monkees prevail!

WaitingToBuy said...

The races in MI,WI,PA,NV,AZ need to be invalidated and set aside. The SC needs to order a do over for the presidential race. The is no alternative.

Readering said...

You would think the commenters would be showing a little more humility, given how things have been going, but I'll await certification of the results.

Rusty said...

Readering said...
"You would think the commenters would be showing a little more humility, given how things have been going, but I'll await certification of the results."
Kiss my ass, you shit for brains.

B Sharpe said...

Hillary got it right. She said to never concede, and she was right. So, let's see where that goes.

Narayanan said...

you could say "embrace' is opposite of 'shy'

shy also means /toss/ something >> My Fair Lady Professor Higgins

Readering said...

Rusty said ... bad words.

Readering said...

Hillary didn't file pathetic lawsuits.

Nathan Redshield said...

This is 1876 all over again! Have fun, everyone!

Greg The Class Traitor said...

Readering said...
Hillary didn't file pathetic lawsuits.

Yeah, instead she colluded with Putin, and the Obama Admin, to smear Trump

And the Obama Admin illegally spied on the Trump campaign, then set up incoming officials for fraudulent trials, and had the Special Prosecutor going after teh President for almost two years AFTER they'd established that he hadn't colluded with Russia

So, fuck off and die, Readering. It's not possible for President Trump to descend to the level of scumminess that you Democrats have achieved in the last 4+ years

Readering said...

Fan fiction.

Greg The Class Traitor said...

Really, Readering? You should try keeping up with the news. Start with Mueller's angry Democrat "prosecutors" admitting that there was NO collusion between Trump and Putin.

Then go F yourself

Bilwick said...

Readering and Inga: always united in their devotion to Der Staat. They should marry and produce good little serfs like Mom and Dad.