TGIF 11/9/18

Most of the midterm elections have been decided, but there are a few key races still unsettled, including some US Senate seats, governors and some House races.

The fact that votes are still being counted is a good thing, compared to the alternative: legitimately cast ballots being cast aside for some self-serving process. That appears to be the hope of some in the GOP, but it's hardly the American way.

They all need to keep counting - the world isn't going to come to an end if we don't know who's going to be the senator from Florida or Arizona, and it's not going to come to an end if we don't know who's going to be the Governor of Georgia.

The best thing, I think everyone agrees, is that the political ads are now a thing of the past. We've been waiting for these days since August. Now, the signs? Yeah, that'll take a little longer. I'm thinking there should be a timeframe for getting those out of the way and recycled, what do you think? By the time the last vote is counted?

The president has left the country, off to France to join others in Armistice Day celebrations, commenting that

It should be a very beautiful period of time, the 100th anniversary of the ending of World War I. We have many countries - the leadership of many countries will be there, especially since they heard the United States will be there. And we look forward to that.

Sigh.

You may recall the alternative was that he'd be here, having a tens-of-millions-of-dollars parade, ostensibly to celebrate our veterans, but perhaps more to get a sense of what it would be like if "his people" gave him the same level of respect that Kim Jong Un gets from his people. Sure, it was a sarcastic remark... right?

Trump also said he didn't know Matt Whitaker, the man he just appointed as acting Attorney General (Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III was ordered to resign, of course) which appears to be a lie, and that the video of CNN's James Acosta allegedly placing his hands on an intern was not doctored, which also appears to be a lie.

It also seems that he may have been more involved in the payoffs to the porn star and the Playboy bunny than he has maintained, which could mean he has committed at least a tiny bit of campaign finance shenanigans. And that's the Wall Street Journal bringing us this news, not CNN or MSNBC.

For his part, Whitaker comes off like a hot mess: comments about the courts, about the Mueller investigation including that there was no collusion; his involvement with a shady company... all great qualifications, right?

 There are bipartisan calls for protecting the investigation, but Mitch "I'm only here to pack the courts" McConnell is not interested in that. It will be interesting to see if that ew spirit of bipartisanship we've had for the past two or three days will still be noticeable by this time next week. My hope is yes, my fear is no.

TGIF.