The Virus Strikes Back

                                                               President-Elect Joe Biden

Donald Trump appears to be increasingly unhinged mentally, pathetically claiming he has been cheated when in fact he has been repudiated. He knows what all of us following the numbers know -- that he is losing this election fair and square. But he is psychologically incapable of accepting that.

Since the outcome will be determined in the Electoral College, it has been apparent since yesterday that if Joe Biden won Arizona and Nevada, he'd be President. If he won only one of those plus Georgia, he'd be President. If he lost all those three and won Pennsylvania, he'd be President.

Biden is in the process of winning most or all of those states, though we still have to wait until it becomes official.

The math of all of this suggests that Covid-19 is at the root of what is called the "blue shift' we are witnessing. Many more Democrats than Republicans voted by mail, and in the relevant states, the mail-in ballots are being counted after the in-person ballots. the irony is that Trump has worked for many weeks to undermine the mail-in ballot option, as well as to be publicly dismissive of the virus.

You could say that the virus struck back.

Meanwhile, over 100,000 new infections are reported daily, with 1,000 new deaths. So far 240,000 Americans have died -- that's the equivalent of 80 9/11s. One candidate acted as if he didn't care. He lost.

The other does care. He will be the one who won.

***

An extremely positive aspect of this presidential election is the size of the popular vote.  The country is on track to log more than 160 million total votes cast, which would result in the highest turnout rate in 100 years, at 67 percent of eligible voters. 

Biden will win a clear majority of that total by 4.5 million or more. California alone will provide most of that total, since Biden is carrying around 65 percent of the vote out here. Statistically, that is remarkable -- that one state with about 10 percent of the overall population -- guarantees a lopsided outcome of that scale.

Given the size of California's economy, almost $3 trillion, it ranks as the fifth largest in the world, were it a separate country. The U.S. would still be number one, with roughly $17.5 trillion outside of the Golden State, followed by China, Japan, and Germany.

***

Okay, after all this serious shit, it's time for some fun:

I'm hell on heels
Say what you will
I've done made the devil a deal
He made me pretty
He made me smart
And I'm going to break me a million hearts
I'm hell on heels, baby I'm comin' for you 

-- Miranda Lambert

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