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This will be the end result if the this year’s presidential election results in chaos

Posted: October 1, 2020 by Jon Fournier in Uncategorized
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The internet is full of conflicting information about what would happen if there is no clear winner by inauguration day in this upcoming presidential election.  This scenario is highly likely because of the absolute chaos that will be caused by so many states adopting mail in ballots because of the Coronavirus pandemic.  To find the truth about what would happen I decided to check the most original source material I could find on the subject, the United States Constitution.  

The Twelfth Amendment governs exactly what would happen if there is no clear winner of the presidential election.   I knew it would end up in the House of Representatives and I dreaded that because, as we all know, the Democrats control the House.  After reading the amendment and doing some research I was greatly relieved.  Here is the appropriate clause of the amendment.

The person having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by States, the representation from each State having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the States, and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to a choice.

I tried to use Google to find out the breakdown of the House of Representatives by party and state.  Google as usual failed to provide search results for a clear and concise search request.  Thankfully I found the information in this Breitbart article Pollak: How Pelosi’s House of Representatives Could Re-elect Trump.  As you can see it was great news for us lovers of liberty.

While there are 435 representatives, there will only be 50 votes. And a current tally of representatives in each state shows that there are more Republican-majority delegations than Democrat-majority delegations. Republicans control 26 delegations; Democrats dominate 22; Pennsylvania is tied and Democrats have a 7-6 Michigan plurality.

I was concerned about the Democrats derailing the entire election, which should result in a Trump victory, by not Showing up when the election is handed off to the House.  To prevent that from happening there would need to be more than thirty four States that have at least one Republican Representatives who would show up.  There are only seven or eight states that have no Republicans so we are safe. 

The Breitbart article gives the exact timing of when the election would be handed off to the House of Representatives if there is no victor.

It seems almost certain that neither party will accept a close result in the presidential election on November 3. And given the likely delays due to vote-by-mail, recounts, and legal challenges, it is possible neither President Donald Trump nor former Vice President Joe Biden will have an Electoral College majority by December 14, when the Electors cast their votes.

The Twenieth Amendment governs exactly what would happen if the House of Representatives could not come up with a winner by Inauguration Day.

 If a President shall not have been chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of his term, or if the President elect shall have failed to qualify, then the Vice-President elect shall act as President until a President shall have qualified; and the Congress may by law provide for the case wherein neither a President elect nor a Vice-President shall have qualified, declaring who shall then act as President, or the manner in which one who is to act shall be selected, and such person shall act accordingly until a President or Vice-President shall have qualified.

As you can see, whichever party wins the House in the November election would appoint a temporary president until the election mess is finally sorted out.  It is a tremendous incentive to do our best to make sure the Republicans take back the House.

Last Night’s Debate Trump by Decision and What’s Was With Biden’s Eyes?

Posted: September 30, 2020 by datechguy in Uncategorized

Because I was working last night I only got to hear about 25 min of the debate on the radio before coming home and watching the whole thing.

I did a twitter thread (accidentally in several parts during the night on my impressions of that 25 min then livetweeted my thoughts as I watched the debate making sure I didn’t see any social media so I could judge on what I saw.

I did it on twitter because I figured nobody would read a liveblog that’s three hours late. The full thread is here but here are the main points.

  1. The biggest question going into the debate was if Biden could function. He clearly could which means that his position on the ticket is secure, and that debate is over. That’s the good news for him, the bad news is that if either during the next debates or during interviews he slips back into “slo Joe” mode the question is going to be what happened? Did he just rise to the occasion as an Ezzard Charles in round 14 vs Marciano or was he drugged up for the debate.
  2. There was a big difference between watching the Debate and listening to it. Biden’s voice was pretty good and his comeback, while factually BS were not bad, but his appearance was terrible, particularly his eyes which jumped out at you. He also had a habit of looking down while the president was speaking which, while it might have been to consult or take notes made it look like he was out on his feet, sort of like an android being shut off to conserve power. I submit and suggest that if you were watching you could not help but notice that.
  3. All of that being said I really liked the back and forth and when they would go back and forth he usually held his own. I think that while Trump was and is superior in those things it’s the type of thing that brought him to life the most.
  4. After the debate I saw a lot of hitting of Chris Wallace but it seemed to me that while he did favor Biden slightly he clearly asked good questions and tough questions to both candidate and as stated he did allow them to free for all a bit which were in my opinion the best (and most entertaining) parts of the show.
  5. Yeah he was harder on Trump, at some points a lot harder, but the media’s always hard on Trump, so I judged him on that scale. The fact that he was also hard on Biden is the difference to me.
  6. As for President Trump he was, pretty much himself. I think he had a good debate and several huge hits. The Hunter Biden stuff was strong (Biden’s attempt to pivot to his other son was smart as was admitting the drug problem there). The democrat cities there was a big hit, but his best thing was the 47 year theme. I only heard it once on the radio not knowing that it was a reoccurring piece for him. That left a mark.
  7. The: “I’ve done more in 47 months that you have in 47 years” was the line of the night for him. That being said I think he passed up several open shots where he could have touted his actual record of accomplishments and instead used those moments to hit Biden. Particularly on the exchange about race. I’m also shocked that when he had the chance he didn’t bring up his peace deals. It was almost the Maricano / LaStrazza fight where he was punishing him rather than knocking him out.
  8. My final judgement. I think Trump won both on the radio or watching but on the radio he might have won (based on a twelve rounder) 118-110 but on TV he won 118-105 but either way it was clearly a 12 round decision not a knockout, although Andrew Sullivan (who endorsed Biden this week) may disagree

Update: Cue classic SNL

Five Debate (if it happens) Thoughts Under the Fedora

Posted: September 29, 2020 by datechguy in Uncategorized

As of this writing, (9 AM EST Monday) the 1st Debate between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden is still on.

This is undoubtedly a surprise to many who thought the Democrats would not risk such a thing but they may have decided it is too big a risk NOT to have said debate.

Anyways how Biden does will in my opinion determine if there are any more debates or even if he stays on the ticket, but one thing is certain. If he is still breathing and can remember his own name it will be proclaimed an unadulterated triumph.

I really thought Ginsberg’s death and the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett would “Trump” any new “October Surprise” that the left was playing but the NYT decided to go all in on illegally leaked tax forms.

I suspect that the media will make much of it and Biden will try to play it up in the debate but as the leaked data not only shows no illegality, nor links to the Russians but verifies what POTUS has said for years that he’s been under audit I suspect he will be able to swat that away pretty well, and even counter that if a President’s taxes can be illegally leaked by the Deep state Democrats with an agenda then how safe is your “confidential” data if they are in power with an AG that will ignore this stuff. This tweet and reply says it all

Speaking of Barrett it will be interesting to see how Joe “I’m a good catholic really I am” Biden answer questions concerning the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. I’m sure President Trump will challenge him on some of the anti-catholic stuff but I’m thinking Biden will come back with healthcare Healthcare HEALTHCARE which actually means obamacare Obamacare OBAMACARE

I don’t think that’s a winning issue for the left but it’s their safest move.

The real danger for the Biden campaign if the James O’Keefe Stuff that dropped Sunday Night documenting voter fraud in Minnesota and more importantly unlike the “big stories” that the media has pushed, contains actual video and on the record sources.

It goes without saying that the moderator will avoid this like the plague, although attempts to bring up “will you commit to concede if defeated” questions will give President Trump a huge opening to run with this story.

This is exactly the type of thing that will get an already motivated Trump base excited and will, if viewed by people who watch the debate will cause them to distrust Democrats.

Finally who will win? Well Powerline says this:

Going back at least as far as Ronald Reagan, incumbent presidents have not done well in first debates. Bill Clinton is the only exception.

I think the problem for incumbents is overconfidence. After four years in office, presidents think they know enough and have enough experience handling questions to get through a debate in good shape. I suspect this overconfidence leads to insufficient preparation.

In addition, incumbents tend not to be used to having their statements challenged. As a result of these factors, incumbents typically struggle under the onslaught of challengers, who typically are desperate.

I think this will not be a problem. Trump has dealt with the onslaught of a hostile press every day in office, additionally You have to remember who Trump is speaking to. His escalator speech was universally panned by the experts but was designed to be understood and applauded by normal people. Expect more of that.

But I’ll repeat my line from the 1st paragraph, If he is still breathing and can remember his own name it will be proclaimed an unadulterated triumph for him by the media.

Side thought. If Drudge puts up a “who won the debate” poll it will be the 1st time in months that conservatives bother to visit his site.

Report from Louisiana: Cassidy v. Perkins, Senate 2020

Posted: September 28, 2020 by Pat Austin in Uncategorized
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By:  Pat Austin

SHREVEPORT – One of the races people in Louisiana will be watching this fall will be the Senate race; incumbent Bill Cassidy will be challenged by Shreveport Mayor Adrian Perkins. I will tell you, a lot of people in Shreveport were not surprised when Perkins announced his candidacy; not many people really believe he has true dedication for the betterment of Shreveport.

When Perkins ran for mayor of Shreveport in 2018, he won in a runoff against incumbent Mayor Ollie Tyler. On paper, Perkins looks like a wunderkid: Harvard Law School, Army veteran, recipient of the Bronze Star, young, black, upwardly mobile…it all looks swell.

Looks are deceiving.

From the start Perkins drew controversy and criticism because he really did not live in Shreveport, and people could not figure out why he wanted to be mayor here.  Perkins was raised in Shreveport, graduated high school in Shreveport, but then left Louisiana to serve in the U.S. Army, and then was selected by the Pat Tillman Foundation to be a Tillman scholar; he went to Harvard.  Perkins was absent from Shreveport for fourteen years before he came back in 2017 to prime the pump for his mayoral run.

Perkins never voted in any election until he voted for himself at age 32 for mayor.

Local political pundit Elliot Stonecipher asked a lot of questions about the mysterious Adrian Perkins back in 2018 after Perkins won the election.

Stonecipher was not wrong.  There have been a lot of questions about Perkins and his behavior in the past two years.

For example, one of the first acts as mayor was to change insurance companies for the City. The new plan cost far more for far less coverage. As it turned out, the new plan was awarded to a man named Roddrelle Sykes of Frost Bank Insurance; Sykes is the first cousin of Perkins’s campaign manager.  Perkins did not get City Council authorization for this change which was required, nor did he go through the bid process.

The whole affair was very sketchy and prompted an Internal Audit. Scandal number one.

There was also a scandal, or controversy, about his car allowance; Perkins took both the car assigned to him AND the car allowance, rather than one or the other.

And then there were the rumors of potential drunk driving stops, which the mayor explained away and was never cited.

There have been a series of these unfortunate events that have caused many in Shreveport to question the mayor’s dedication to the city; does he really care about improving life in Shreveport or is this just a stepping stone to higher aspirations?

To that end, Barack Obama endorsed Perkins last week for his Senate bid, apparently only because Perkins is a Democrat rather than for any actual accomplishment he has done for the city.

One of his pet projects is Universal Basic Income which is obviously highly controversial.

In fact, Perkins cares so much for Shreveport, the first thing he did when Hurricane Laura blew threw earlier in the month, leaving thousands without power in Shreveport, Perkins decamped for Lake Charles to volunteer there for photo ops.

Under his tenure, crime in Shreveport has been epidemic with nearly daily shootings. We had this problem before, certainly, but it has gotten no better under Perkins. It seems to have gotten worse. Police officer pay is so low we are some forty officers short; the streets are drag strips and infrastructure is literally crumbling.

It would not be fair to attribute all of the Shreveport woes (and there are many) to Perkins, but as a man who vowed to improve life in Shreveport as part of his campaign, what has he done? Not much. Not much at all.  

I don’t think anyone really expects Perkins to win against Cassidy, but stranger things have happened. Perhaps this is more for exposure, paving the way later on for another bid at something else. He appears to have some fairly savvy handlers.

Suffice to say that many in town thought it was a joke when Perkins announced this run; I thought it was a Babylon Bee article at first, seriously.

But, time will tell.

Pat Austin blogs at And So it Goes in Shreveport and is the author of Cane River Bohemia: Cammie Henry and her Circle at Melrose Plantation. Follow her on Instagram @patbecker25 and Twitter @paustin110.

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