Trump has it in the bag? Fox leads the charge

These sites are constantly updating, and the 3 a.m. shenanigans are only just starting (Detroit started a few hours back when ballot-filled cars with California license plates arrived... I'm sure there's a perfectly innocent explanation), so nothing is written in stone, but for the moment, it's looking as if El Donaldo Trumpo may have pulled a Grover Cleveland and re-won the presidency. I heard one commentator say that this could make Joe Biden happy because he can now die as the only guy to have defeated Trump (however illegitimately). Kamala can go ghost-write her memoirs, rail about the various injustices—all the vile racism and sexism—and become a regular on talk shows and the lecture circuit, maybe even obtaining a university position as befits so many scummy people in academe.

Fox is leading the charge, calling the election* for Trump at currently 277 to 226, with Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, and Alaska still in play, i.e., Trump could theoretically win another 35 electoral votes for a final total of 312 electoral votes, which is what most of the poll-watching sites have been saying for weeks. 

But that's Fox's site. The left-leaning New York Times hasn't called it for Trump yet: they have the electoral-college count at 267-224 in favor of Trump. AP's map is also currently at 267-224 as I write this. All three sites show Trump having clinched Pennsylvania, a key battleground state. Kamala really could show some class and concede gracefully, but I expect a combination of lawfare and fraud on her behalf. We'll see about the fraud soon enough; even with those 35 extra electoral votes shown on Fox's map, Kamala would still be under 270. But with enough fraud in other states, some of the current results on Fox could be overturned. Again, we'll see. 

Give me a couple weeks before I decide whether I once again trust the American electoral system. My gut feeling is that you can't vote your way out of a corrupt system.

If I recall correctly, Fox called the 2020 election early for Biden, so I'd say the channel has a history of being premature. Treat Fox with caution. At the same time, other outlets all lean left, so don't believe their "information," either.

Some bits of news:

Trump will be the first Republican (well, 90s Democrat wearing an "R") to win the popular vote in two decades.

The GOP seems to be holding the Senate at 51-42 (or 43), but Kari Lake appears not to have made it; she's currently being beaten by Dem rival Ruben Gallego. My boss hopes Trump will give her a good post somewhere on his team. She was one of his biggest cheerleaders.

Fox and AP are saying Trump has taken the other battleground state of Wisconsin, but the New York Times is holding out, calling the race so far undecided.

The GOP has taken the House of Representatives 191-169 (Fox and NYT), 192-172 (AP). This race isn't over. What sort of congress will Trump be dealing with? Preferably a MAGA-dominated one so he can ram through his agenda as enthusiastically as Joe Biden dismantled it through first-day executive orders, all of them rooted in vengefulness and stupidity. If Trump wants the MAGA project to move forward, he has to make sure the next GOP nominee (JD? Vivek? Tulsi?) gets in. Pendular swings every four years only mean there's enough time to undo the damage of one's predecessor. On that note, Glenn Reynolds has an article on why Trump needs to move forward aggressively.

The GOP also won in Puerto Rico, i.e., the comedian's tasteless joke did nothing.

Guam also flips Republican.

Again, nothing is written in stone, and all of this nonsense is far from over. Even if Trump confirms his victory, the next four years will be a massive uphill battle for him and his new team. I hope Elon is as good as his word at making government more efficient by stripping out the rusty, useless bits, guarding himself against corruption, and aggressively dealing with the inevitable inertia and resistance. Realistically speaking, governing a third of a billion Americans can't be done with just a small team, so Elon's going to have to leave the government in some sort of massive state. My fingers are crossed for the future. This is (assuming Trump has won) merely the next step in the ponderously oscillating, pendular history of my creaky country.

ADDENDUM: Vince Dao calls it for Trump. Kamala, predictably, has no class.

ADDENDUM 2:

__________

*The Fox site can't be directly linked to, apparently, at least not on my computer. 

Here's the URL:

https://www.foxnews.com/elections

Copy and paste the above and go there directly.