Election Day Open Thread II

Thirteen blackbirds waiting for election results

by Thomas Neuburger

By my count we're still several hours away from knowing anything worth hearing about, and as many have pointed out,the evening will go one of two ways — Biden will win the early states (Florida comes to mind) and we can all go home, or this evening will drag out for a week or more. 

Feel free to post your own updates and observations in the comments. 

In the meantime, I've already set my emotional clock to 2021 and the new day that's soon to dawn no matter who takes the White House. Because that new day is likely to have Biden's name on it, I want to offer this, from the same Matt Taibbi piece (paywalled) that Howie quoted earlier. This is his assessment of where we're headed:

The unknown factor is how much more of this lay ahead in a Biden White House. The obvious first concerns would be increased political surveillance, much more aggressive and coordinated propaganda, more McCarthyite manias, and harsher punishments for Assange/Snowden type figures accused of leaking “misinformation” (now re-defined as true adverse information). As a member of the press, the drift toward a Chinese-style digital media landscape, policed by armies of political truth-scorers, probably bothers me more than most, but that’s on the table. There are going to be a lot of people coming back to Washington who are going to insist that something like Trump not be allowed to happen again, even if it means snipping a passage or four out of the Constitution. 

I think Taibbi's right. Two points, and then it's over to you, dear readers.

First, note the Orwellian conflation of "misinformation" with "true adverse information" that can't be allowed to appear before the public. We're already there. From the Washington Post:

We must treat the Hunter Biden leaks as if they were a foreign intelligence operation — even if they probably aren’t.

Get ready for a whole lot more where that came from, and get ready for Party elites, the self-styled "Democrats," to cheer it on.

Second, what Taibbi accurately called our "imperial government-in-exile" will return to power with a vengeance (the bolded passage above addresses that). That's the correct description, right? — Trump as an interregnum, a Cromwell interruption in the march of kings.

The State, both narrowly and broadly defined, has been out of power, at least at the very top, for the last four years. Think there's a chance in hell of a new Trump getting back in, much less a Sanders (as-was) or an unreconstructed AOC? My cynical self says No, not in the least.

With that sad thought, on to the tubes to witness what unfolds. Comments? Post 'em if you got 'em.

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