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November 2016

Posted by Mary Chastain on November 10, 2016 18 Comments
President-elect Donald Trump and President Barack Obama met at the White House for around 90 minutes to discuss transition of power. Trump called Obama a very good man and hopes to work with him in the future, while Obama called the meeting excellent:
Obama said the two men talked about foreign policy and domestic policy and said he was encouraged by Trump's interest in working together during the transition. "As I said last night, my No. 1 priority in the next two months is to try to facilitate a transition that ensures our President-elect is successful," Obama said.

Posted by Mary Chastain on November 10, 2016 98 Comments
BuzzFeed has obtained a list of potential cabinet picks for President-elect Donald Trump's administration. Sources told the publication no one has finalized the list and it may change. But the list contains names of people who became loud vocal supporters of Trump, including Mayor Rudy Guiliani and former Speaker Newt Gingrich.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on November 10, 2016 42 Comments
While my friends across the nation are celebrating conservative and Republican domination and all the free market, fiscal goodness that it brings, my home state took a slightly different path. As I predicted, retiring U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer is being replaced by Kamala Harris, one of the state Attorney Generals who planned to use RICO statutes to pursue firms that were "climate change deniers". I anticipate she will make Boxer look like a sane and reasonable politician in retrospect.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 10, 2016 32 Comments
Election Day and the day after were mostly travel days for me, so I was not in Ithaca when news broke that Donald Trump was elected President of these United States of America. What is living in Ithaca like? Here's how I described the directions to my house just after Obama was elected in 2008:
To live in Ithaca is to live in a city alive with anti-Bush, anti-war protest.  I often joke that the directions to my house in Ithaca  read as follows:  Take a right at the fifth Obama sign, a left at the third "Impeach Bush" placard, bear right at the "Support Our Troops, End the War" poster, and we are the house just after the "There's a Village in Texas Missing its Idiot" banner.
I was in Ithaca in 2008 when Obama defeated John McCain. Cornell students ran through the Collegetown section next to campus shouting, dancing and setting off fireworks. Although it's been a while, I don't recall anyone expressing concern about the emotional well-being of McCain supporters. Ditto 2012, when Obama beat Romney.

Posted by Mark Finkelstein on November 10, 2016 35 Comments
Want to understand the bubble in which the elite, liberal media lives? Check out the banner headline of today's New York Times: "Democrats, Students and Foreign Allies Face the Reality of a Trump Presidency." On today's Morning Joe, Mark Halperin nailed it: "Look at the headline of this story. This is the day after a surprising underdog sweeping victory and their headline is not "disaffected Americans have a champion going to the White House" or "the country votes for fundamental change." The headline is about how disappointed the friends of the people who run the New York Times are about what's happened.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 09, 2016 40 Comments
The comment by Joy Behar that one party hasn't controlled the presidency, House and Senate since G.W. Bush is wrong -- for two years under Obama Democrats controlled all three, with a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate until Scott Brown's election in January 2011. It was everything I had hoped for.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 09, 2016 28 Comments
We all know how devastating the loss of the presidency is to Democrats, particularly when combined with Republicans holding the Senate and House. But, it was equally bad, if not worse, for Democrats at the state level. In the past 8 years Republicans have made devastating gains at the state level, taking over numerous state houses and other statewide offices, and state legislatures. It's been the equivalent of washing the sand out from under the Democratic political house, depriving Democrats of a training ground in which to grow future leadership. It not only impacts a myriad of social and economic policies, but also various states-rights issues and redistricting. This election cycle continued the trend. The Hill reports, GOP makes big gains at the state level:

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on November 09, 2016 10 Comments
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was one of the first world leaders to congratulate President-elect Donald Trump on his stunning election victory. PM Modi wrote a series of tweets this morning expressing his hope of taking “India-US bilateral ties to a new heights” under Trump presidency. News of Republican candidate's victory also brought Hindu groups out on to the streets in India's capital New Delhi.

Posted by Mary Chastain on November 09, 2016 40 Comments
The 2016 elections season has finally ended, which means speeches galore today. I planned on making them Quick Takes, but the ones from Donald Trump, Paul Ryan, Hillary Clinton, and President Barack Obama surprised me with their class and humanity I feel they deserve more attention. Hillary showed a human side that didn't make much of an appearance on the trail. She congratulated Trump, told her supporters that they "owe him an open mind and a chance to lead."
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