Can you imagine the 45th president being this playful, this serious, this charming, this… cool?

Yeah, me neither.

Sorkin, to his wife, and 15 year old daughter Roxy, following Trump’s win:

Here’s what we’ll do…

…we’ll fucking fight. (Roxy, there’s a time for this kind of language and it’s now.)

I originally quoted three paragraphs, but that seemed unfair. Go read the whole thing.

On a totally unrelated note, I miss Jed Bartlet.

Fantastic take on the initial Trump-Obama meeting the other day:

This was Obama’s chance for the most perfect revenge that would never be picked up on as revenge at all. He was gracious, polite—everything he needed to be for a peaceful transition and a good review from the press. And that would continue when the doors were closed, because that’s the key. Not a Come to Jesus meeting, oh no. If Obama were smart—and he is very smart—he would have treated Trump like an equal, and brought the discussion to a level that assumes far more of Trump than anyone has so far. Assumes that he’s an adult who’s been paying attention. Statistics, esoteric minutiae about the executive branch procedure, economic growth numbers, labor figures, domestic policies, countries Trump has never even heard of, shit that would never in a million years have been in Trump’s campaign soundbites or digestible summaries.

No way to escape. No aides to remember any of it for him. Just the two of them.

Because that’s what would strike a precise chill into Trump. The thundering realization that he’s woefully unprepared for the hard, boring, thankless reality of this, and Obama’s version of a smooth transition won’t and shouldn’t include remedial civics.

That’s what I saw when they shook hands and Trump stared at the floor instead of looking back into Obama’s face. He’s just figured out how little he knows about any of this.

I can only hope this is true.

The day after Trump’s win, the ACLU published an open letter to him on their site, then took out a full-page ad in the New York Times:

If you do not reverse course and instead endeavor to make these campaign promises a reality, you will have to contend with the full firepower of the ACLU at every step. Our staff of litigators and activists in every state, thousands of volunteers and millions of card-carrying members and supporters are ready to fight against any encroachment on our cherished freedoms and rights.

Right now their website is very focused on fighting Trump and his policies. He’s been huge for fundraising:

In just five days, our Facebook followers have increased by 25 percent to nearly one million people; 400,000 people viewed our open letter to President-elect Trump on our website; and 150,000 new people have joined our e-mail list. We have also heard from thousands of people offering to volunteer their time and services and have received roughly 120,000 donations, totaling more than $7.2 million.

This is the greatest outpouring of support for the ACLU in our nearly 100-year history, greater than the days after 9/11.

ACLU will be getting a big donation from me this year. You should donate too. And check if your company matches donations to increase your impact.

Elon Musk, talking about Tesla’s super charger network in 2013:

They will be free forever.

Tesla today:

For Teslas ordered after January 1, 2017, 400 kWh of free Supercharging credits (roughly 1,000 miles) will be included annually so that all owners can continue to enjoy free Supercharging during travel. Beyond that, there will be a small fee to Supercharge which will be charged incrementally and cost less than the price of filling up a comparable gas car. All cars will continue to come standard with the onboard hardware required for Supercharging.

Translation: We found a loophole: We never promised “free unlimited charging!”

These changes will not impact current owners or any new Teslas ordered before January 1, 2017, as long as delivery is taken before April 1, 2017.

Translation: Screw you, future Model E owners.

New York Times:

Mr. Trump, a homebody who often flew several hours late at night during the campaign so he could wake up in his own bed in Trump Tower, is talking with his advisers about how many nights a week he will spend in the White House. He has told them he would like to do what he is used to, which is spending time in New York when he can.

And

The questions reflect what Mr. Trump’s advisers described as the president-elect’s coming to grips with the fact that his life is about to change radically. They say that Mr. Trump, who was shocked when he won the election, might spend most of the week in Washington, much like members of Congress, and return to Trump Tower or his golf course in Bedminster, N.J., or his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach on weekends.

Does he realize the presidency is a full time job? You can’t live where you want. It’s not a commuter job.

The man want to be called president, but he doesn’t want to be president.

Apropos the aforelinked push to a national popular vote, Lawrence Lessig responds to a change.org call to elect Hillary Clinton at the Electoral College vote in December:

I apologize for the technical, law-geek reply but: Hell yes!

The Framers created the electoral college as a safety valve. They were not certain how the states would establish the process for selecting a president. Most assumed they’d have popular elections. But to avoid the chance that some insane passion would sweep the nation, and drive it to elect a nut, or a demagogue, they embedded an electoral college as a kind of circuit breaker. If the people go crazy, the college would be there to check it.

It’s a nice fantasy, but not going to happen. We’re going to have to live with this one.

The National Popular Vote bill would guarantee the Presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Lots of people suddenly want to eliminate the Electoral College, but the National Popular Vote bill has been recommending it since 2006.

The National Popular Vote interstate compact would not take effect until enacted by states possessing a majority of the electoral votes—that is, enough to elect a President (270 of 538). Under the compact, the winner would be the candidate who received the most popular votes from all 50 states (and DC) on Election Day. When the Electoral College meets in mid-December, the national popular vote winner would receive all of the electoral votes of the enacting states.

The effect is to remove the effect of the Electoral College’s influence without actually ending the Electoral College, which would require a change to the constitution, and allow the winner of the national vote to become president.

It’s already in place with jurisdictions to tallying 165 electoral votes, or just about two-thirds of what it needs to be enabled.

What a brilliant hack.

I’ve never been a fan of guns. I think they are dangerous and result in more accidental deaths than lives saved.

But in the new world order where Trump is in charge, and Giuliani is being considered for Attorney General, it seems prudent to investigate this now.

It will be interesting to see how the “fundamental right to bear arms” holds up under the administration of a white supremacist-supported president, and a “stop and frisk”-supporting AG.

This Guardian piece was published a week before Trump was elected:

[Valerie] Aurora is a feminist activist and founder of Frame Shift Consulting, a tech diversity and inclusion firm. She has come to the company to run a three-hour training session for a group of men and women, teaching them how to use their societal privilege – whether male, white, straight or able-bodied – to benefit people who do less well in Silicon Valley.

Her workshop, a version of which has already been adopted by Google, isn’t aimed at the Donald Trumps of the world, says Aurora. The attitudes of the Republican nominee have sparked a national conversation about sexual harassment and sexism in America. Instead, what Aurora calls “ally skills training” is meant to teach people who both understand there is a problem and want to help fix it by taking practical action – including teaching men how to step in when they see other men engaging in casual sexism.

I think the stories of the last week of Trump supporters exhibiting misogynistic behavior suggests this should definitely be “aimed at the Donald Trumps of the world”.

And I agree with her stance on who needs to change their behavior to change sexist behavior:

Aurora sees Silicon Valley’s most prominent efforts to increase diversity as backwards. Encouraging women to give the industry a try and exhortations to “Lean In” – a motto and accompanying book by Facebook’s chief operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg – wrongly puts the onus on those who are marginalized to change their own behavior, she believes.

Instead, her “ally skills” training asks those with the privilege to change theirs. Protected by that privilege, as well as generally having more power and influence, they can speak up and are in a better position to take the heat. “It is the exact opposite of Lean In,” says Aurora. “Everything has been framed in terms of ‘what can women do to overturn sexism’. I have reframed it as ‘what can men do to stop sexism, because it is their responsibility’.”

Absolutely. The problem with sexism isn’t something fixed by women, it’s fixed by men. We’re the ones who are sexist. We’re the ones currently in positions of power. If we truly want equality, we have to be willing to give up some of that power.