.. But rather a political one and should be treated as such.

Source: Salon

Instead of conceding the Alabama Senate election to Democratic candidate Doug Jones, the Republican Roy Moore insisted that he would ask for a recount of the results.

"I really want to thank you for coming tonight and when the vote is this close — that it's not over. And we still got to go by the rules and recount provision and the secretary of state has explained it to us and we're expecting that the press will go up there and talk to them to find out what the situation is," Moore told his supporters in his post-election speech. He added, "But we also know that God is always in control."

Unfortunately for Moore, it won't be easy for him to simply obtain a recount, given that Jones defeated him by a large margin. Jones won 49.9 percent of the votes cast compared to Moore's 48.4 percent, according to Politico. While Jones also bested Moore by more than 21,000 votes, it is the difference in percentage points that determines whether an automatic recount is triggered. In Alabama, the difference needs to be 0.5 percentage points or less for that to happen, making the difference between Jones and Moore roughly three times too large.

In order for Moore to obtain a recount, therefore, he will need to pay for it out of pocket, as Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill told CNN's Jake Tapper.

Anna Massoglia
✔
@annalecta
AL Secretary of State tells @jaketapper the Alabama Senate election results are not close enough to qualify for automatic recount at this point, but state law says “Any candidate can ask for a recount—and if they pay for it, they receive it.” #ALSen
8:41 PM - Dec 12, 2017 · Washington, DC

Read more: https://www.salon.com/2017/12/13/roy-moore-said-he-expects-a-recount-but-he-wont-be-getting-one-unless-he-pays-for-it/

Source: Politico

A commission set up to help reform the Democratic presidential nominating process has voted to restrict the number of superdelegates as part of a slew of changes.

The Democratic Party’s Unity Reform Commission is recommending cutting the number of superdelegates by about 400, equal to a 60 percent reduction. Many of the remaining superdelegates would see their vote tied to the results in their state.
...

The recommendations will now go to the Democratic National Committee’s rules and bylaws committee, and then likely to the full 447-member Democratic National Committee for consideration sometime next year, where it will need two-thirds support to pass.

“It’s not going to be about 447 people, it’s going to be about millions of people and how they pick up this challenge and this path,” said Larry Cohen, the former president of the Communication Workers of America who was appointed to this commission by 2016 candidate Bernie Sanders.

Read more: https://www.politico.com/story/2017/12/09/dnc-superdelegates-unity-commission-288634

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Progress... See where it goes...

&t=2s&list=WL&index=1

Even Frank Luntz... fucking Frank Luntz can't believe what he's hearing...

How do you turn that to your advantage?

We've seen time and again that people in America care less about getting their position enshrined in law and more about making sure that the other group, a nebulous 'other', is defeated.

I feel like there's some strategy here that we overlook because in the past policy and positions have been what drove parties.

How do you give someone the perception that they won but make it so meaningless that you can do what you need to do?

If nine out of ten Americans could not find Afghanistan on a map in 2001, it is probable that ten out of ten cannot find Niger on a map in 2017. Count me among those who could not locate Niger on the map of Africa, much less make a case for the U.S. military presence there — at least until 2014. That is when I prepared to command U.S. special operations in West and North Africa, including Niger. I deployed in 2015.

...

When commanding U.S. forces in remote regions, every day I asked myself both sides of this question. The “why or why not be there” inquiry considers available forces, physical access, foreign policy resolve, perceived risk to the U.S. homeland, and the quality and will of America’s host nation partners. Complex enough? Now add in the physics. Africa’s vast spaces empty of infrastructure make logistics, mobility, and medical support difficult.

...

Niger is one of a catalog of countries where U.S. military presence is proclaimed (not covert), yet garners little attention. Niger has the three main ingredients that call for a small, specialized U.S. military presence. First, there are lethal and expeditionary threats that require monitoring and, if merited, action. Second, Niger fields capable and willing host nation security forces, principally in the Forces Armees Nigierienes. Finally, the United States fields a skilled diplomatic team in Niger led by a respected ambassador. During my time commanding forces in Niger, these factors were adroitly in balance. For years, the best zone defense that you never heard of worked superbly.
...

So, to be there or not to be there? When man-to-man defense is neither affordable nor sustainable, America’s options are to play a zone or to walk off the court. Afghanistan showed us the cost of electing to leaving the court in the 1990s. Sixteen years later, America trudges on, retrospectively considering how a small, skilled investment in Afghanistan backed by political resolve decades ago might have altered a tragic history. In Niger, as in other countries difficult to locate on a world map, the middle ground is to play zone. This means incurring calculated risk to select Americans in order to hedge against strategic surprise.

....


Much more at link...

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Article is pretty broken up to meet copy and paste requirements but is worth a read.

COL Petit was a pretty solid Group commander and this gives some solid justifications for what we do and what we choose not to.

Enjoy...

With rumors swirling that Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton will soon head for the CIA, another Senate race may be added to the 2018 list. The safe money is for an open seat in Arkansas to stay in Republican hands. But who thought Alabama would host a competitive Senate race? If Democrats can find a credible candidate, and unruly Republican voters again fail to take their nomination process seriously, anything could happen.

However, to call the Arkansas Democratic Party a shell would be an insult to turtles. There are no Democratic officials holding statewide office, nor any in the U.S. House delegation. Out of the 135 members of the Arkansas state legislature, only 33—less than 25 percent—are Democrats. Not a single Democrat has yet stepped up to run for governor next year. The only Democratic Senate prospect that Arkansas Times columnist Jay Barth could come up with isn’t even a Democrat, but former Republican state House Speaker Davy Carter, who has been critical of President Donald Trump and could run as “an Independent with Democratic backing.”

...

That leaves us with one Clinton: Chelsea.

...

She has the Clinton name but little of the Clinton baggage. She wouldn’t hurt for name recognition or campaign cash. She’s vice chair of the controversy magnet known as the Clinton Foundation, but emails released during the presidential campaign by WikiLeaks and the State Department show Chelsea getting caught doing good, seeking to root out corruption by foundation officials and warning of problems with Haiti earthquake relief.

More at link...


https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/12/03/clinton-should-run-for-tom-cottons-senate-seat-216001

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I just... wow...



I don't know who Bill Scher is but someone needs to find his computer and smash it to bits before he puts out something like this again...

People just don't learn...