SO: any bets on which of the so-called “major” TeeWee networks will call it for Biden around, say, 8 PM or thereabouts—before some polling places are even closed, in other words—as yet another ludicrously transparent tactic aimed at suppressing Republican voter turnout? Or, perhaps, will they ALL do it?

I’ll just use this as my all-purpose election-night thread, and update accordingly as, when, and if I have more to say. Which, I may very well not; unless we get a tremendous Trumpslide, a shellacking of truly historic proportions, I figger there isn’t going to be a final verdict for weeks, if not a couple of months, even. We shall see what we shall we see.

Update the First! Okay, just a personal anecdote for y’all here; doesn’t necessarily mean anything, take it for what it’s worth, ‘kay?

Whilst driving around Belmont/Mt Holly bootlessly trying to make a buck right before sunset yesterday, I noticed a simply unheard-of volume of traffic coming west out of (c)Harlotte. Basically, there are three main arteries providing a direct route into Gaston County from MecklenTurd: I-85, Wilkinson Blvd, and Freedom Drive/Highway 27. I am no way no how kidding about this, people: as bad as traffic heading our way can often be, this was something else altogether. I’ve never seen anything like it, and I’ve seen plenty over the years.

I happened to be on or around all three of those main arteries, and they were all nightmarish. If I had to pick a prize-winner, I’d say Hwy 27 was the champ. Only two lanes most of the way, with a solidly-packed mass of idling vehicles that stretched from Mt Holly-Huntersville Rd (which 27 dead-ends into, on the CLT side of the river just outside of Mt Holly) all the way back well into Paw Creek, a place that’s always been referred to hereabouts as Tank Town (so-called because of the huge fuel tanks at the various gas-and-oil depots located there). Not sure exactly what that stretch of road might amount to mileage-wise—call it, say, eight or ten miles, maybe? Anyways, the line was every bit of three-four times longer than it would normally be, possibly more.

Then it occurred to me: Charlotte was basically emptying out. The urban rats were fleeing their thoroughly-fouled nest for somewhere—ANYWHERE—else, most likely in dread of the predicted election-night rioting and violence to be visited upon kind, loving Biden voters by hordes of white supremacists, Nazis, Kluxers, and those gnarly and ubiquitous Right Wing Militia types. Put-upon Charlotteans, worn down already by the summer-long Black Lies Murder festitivies downtown—however mild those doings had been in comparison to other Democrat-Socialist bastions—were voting with their feet at last, heading for the hills with utmost alacrity.

Naturally, I could very well be all wet with that little guess. Probably am, at that. But I happened to be in and around Charlotte earlier today also, and I tells ya, the place was a fucking ghost town. Traffic was incredibly light everywhere I went, more so than I’ve seen in years and years of making deliveries and driving trucks all over the place. Pedestrian, scooter, and bicycle traffic was simply non-existent. The only things missing from the scene were tumbleweeds blowing by, and a spooky Ennio Morricone soundtrack for what the pros call incidental music.

So I dunno, make of all that what you will. It may well NOT have been a desperate, last-ditch attempt to avoid having some Mostly Peaceful™ violence rained down upon their heads, right enough. Could be any number of unknown explanations for the mass exodus I saw. But whatever the backstory, Charlotteans en masse were damned sure getting the hell out of Dodge yesterday. And as of late this afternoon, they hadn’t come back yet.

Update the Second! Another one of those times when I’m just gonna have to break my No Twitter vow.

Merchants and other storefronts across the country are boarding up windows in anticipation of a highly polarized Election Day, according to reports.

Reports of businesses taking action have emerged in Boston, Washington DC,  St. Louis, San Francisco and other large cities.

In the Los Angeles area, the city of Beverly Hills has already declared its Rodeo Drive shopping area will be on lockdown for two days starting on Election Day. Reports from various sources say merchants on Sunset Boulevard and La Brea Avenue are also preparing their businesses in anticipation of trouble.

Kruiser notes a puzzling coinkydink:

None of those cities are known for their thriving right-wing militia communities. All are, however, familiar with Black Lives Matter and antifa “peaceful” protests.

Virtually every city named (there were more) in this article is overwhelmingly Democrat and has been run by Democrats for years. Elected Democrats spent the summer falling all over themselves to show solidarity with protests that, despite the mainstream media fable-spinning, usually turned violent. The belated, half-hearted “condemnations” that were issued months into the rioting rang hollow. The miscreants had already been emboldened by their elders.

Fascist violence is always blamed on the Right but perpetrated by the Left, to modify an old phrase.

Update the Fourth! Not to imply that the presidential race isn’t of primary importance or anything, but the Senate outcome could end up mattering every bit as much.

Democrats expect that they can win the U.S. Senate, taking the majority from Republicans. The Senate currently has 53 Republican senators and 45 Democratic senators, with two independents who caucus with Democrats. Thirty-five seats are up for grabs.

And more of those contested seats were held by Repubs than Dems: 23 being defended by the ‘Pubbies, 12 by the Demoscum, with 14 of the total “considered competitive,” according to Bloomberg anyway.

So what, you say? Well, grok ye this, brothers and sisters, and grok it fully: if the Demonrats DO flip the Senate and hold onto the House as well, be assured that impeachment proceedings will begin in the House the moment the final syllable of Trump’s oath of office is uttered. Only this go-round, the Demonrat Senate will have the votes to convict and remove him from office.

Don’t any of you kid yourselves that they wouldn’t dare to make such a raw, outrageous move, however ramshackle a pretext they’d need to cobble together to get the dirty deed done. Just…don’t, awright? Because we all know by now that as soon as they think they can, they most certainly will, and right straight to Hell with trivial considerations like ethics; probity; the faith and trust of the American people in their institutions and leaders; the stability of said institutions; whether such a nakedly obvious power play complies in even the smallest conceivable way with Constitional requirements, and etc.

And while y’all are over there trying to convince yourselves that Democrat scumwads will be restrained by the teeniest, tiniest smidgeon of shame, conscience, or basic decency from actually following through on such heinous effrontery, they’ll be busy having Trump frogmarched out of the Oval Office in irons, and working out a scheme to oust Pence in similar fashion most ricky-tick. Meanwhile, Peelousy will be in her chambers rehearsing the oath of office herself, getting all set for the Coronation. Count on it.

Update the Fifth! As of now, it seems sadly apparent that Trump did NOT get the overwhelming victory required to head off an extended vote-finding, manufacturing, and “counting” process, tainted by shenanigans aplenty and shady maneuvering both overt and covert. No, Biden’s “we’re about to go into a dark winter” doomsday prophecy, although no longer easily dismissable as an off-putting joke, is still not an inevitability just yet. But there’s no denying it: difficult as it is to get one’s head around, this thing is way too close for comfort. And unless something changes radically over the next few hours, I don’t see much chance of avoiding a grim, grey autumn.