Editors’ Blog
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11.23.20 | 12:53 pm
The TPM Glossary

At TPM, we have certain terms we use over and over. Dignity wraiths. The brittle grip. A new one in recent months: Schrodinger’s DHS secretary. You can find a (very) partial list of these terms — Josh Marshallisms, largely — here.

For our 20th anniversary celebration next month, we’re putting together a master list. It’s quite an undertaking: Twenty years of proprietary terms. But we think it will serve as a useful guide to some of the key themes of the last two decades. Also, we think it will be funny.

However: 20 years is a long time, and we need the help of our dedicated readers to remember some of these terms.

So, if you remember one that we’re missing, shoot us an email.

11.23.20 | 9:10 am
The Short, Happy, Bizarre Defenestration of Sidney Powell Prime Badge

There’s an important and clarifying subtext to Team Trump’s decision to jettison Sidney Powell from the zombie campaign’s legal team. Yes, her theories and accusations are terrifyingly demented. But, c’mon … do we think that’s really supposed to be a problem? The issue is the Georgia senate races.

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11.21.20 | 8:09 am
So What the Hell Happened? Prime Badge

I’m not sure quite what to make of this. Those two Michigan House and Senate leaders who went to visit President Trump at the White House appear to have given Trump an unqualified ‘no’. Indeed, not only do they appear to have given him an unqualified ‘no’ in the joint statement they released after the meeting. But they coupled this with an ask for more COVID relief.

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11.20.20 | 1:18 pm
Where Things Stand: Whispers Of Moving On Prime Badge
This is your TPM afternoon briefing.

At least three members of the Trump family inner orbit are looking to a future that might not necessarily involve the chief patriarch being president of the United States.

While the family publicly continues to hype Trump’s dangerous and ridiculous election delegitimization crusade, privately a few have their sights set on their own political futures.

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11.20.20 | 9:27 am
Worth Your Time

Two weeks ago, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow announced that she had been exposed to COVID-19 and would be stepping away from the network’s post-election coverage to quarantine. Last night, Maddow revealed that her partner of more than two decades, Susan Mikula, has been battling a severe case of the coronavirus.

“At one point, we really thought there was a possibility that it might kill her,” Maddow said, adding that Mikula is thankfully now on the road to recovery.

It was a powerful and authentic moment, and a reminder of the human toll of the virus. Give it a watch after the jump.

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11.20.20 | 8:22 am
Wow

11.19.20 | 6:46 pm
That Today Is Why We Have Trump Prime Badge

Through this corrupt era one of the common refrains has been, “that’s why or how we got Trump.” Usually it is whatever it is the person didn’t like before Trump rebranded as the bad thing that got us Trump. But on display today is one of the real reasons ‘we got Trump.’ It’s not the deepest reason but it is a critical, critical part of the equation. It’s also why Donald Trump was able to careen through the leading candidates of the Republican party so easily in 2016.

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11.19.20 | 1:53 pm
The Corruption is Upon Us Prime Badge

We’re watching the press conference of the President’s legal team. It’s an all star team of rejects and degenerates from the Fox Cinematic Universe: Jenna Ellis, Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, Joe DiGenova. It’s both comical in its slapdash level of nonsense but also deeply corrupt and an attack on the very foundations of the American republic. In the course of this event Giuliani has claimed that most of the votes in Wayne County (Detroit) are invalid and should be discarded. Needless to say, this disenfranchises most of the African-American population in Michigan. As Giuliani succinctly put it, “It changes the results of the election in Michigan if you take out Wayne County.”

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11.19.20 | 12:52 pm
Where Things Stand: Major Roadblock For Trump’s Census Scheme Prime Badge

We have a new, exclusive story up right now.

TPM’s Tierney Sneed has learned that the Census Bureau identified routine issues in data from the 2020 decennial census, and will need time to fix them. This seemingly small wrinkle could have significant implications for how political power is distributed through apportionment.

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11.18.20 | 1:01 pm
Where Things Stand: Austerity For America’s Cities? Prime Badge
This is you TPM afternoon briefing.

In a narrow sense, this is a very New York City-centric issue. But if it comes to fruition, life as we know it in this city will not only collapse further into the unlivable realm than it already has in the wake of COVID-19, but we might see another outbreak spike in the city.

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