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Its almost time for the US to decide who will be in charge of the country for the next four years.

The results announcement of the US presidential election is set to be one of the biggest TV events of the year, with current Republican Donald Trump facing off against Democrat Joe Biden.

Heres how to watch the US election results in the UK and what to expect on the night.

The US election takes place on 3 November 2020.

With the time difference, however, the majority of election shows will air in the early hours of 4 November.

While we will know results from many states on the night, it may be a while longer until we know the full set of results.

Due to the complexity of voting during the coronavirus pandemic, states have taken different approaches to processing and counting votes, with some taking longer than others.

There are three basic ways to vote in the US: in person on election day, in person and early, and via a mail-in ballot all of which will be counted differently, and on different timescales.

For more information on why it may take longer than usual to find out the results of the vote, see our article here.

Here are some of the main election programmes offering overnight coverage:

BBC One and the BBC News Channel will be showing a live US Election 2020 programme, fronted by Katty Kay and Andrew Neil from 11.30pm on Tuesday 3 November.

The coverage, which is split into four parts, will continue through the night and into the next morning, with other presenters taking over for part four, starting at 9am on Wednesday 4 November.

Christian Fraser will show every result from a special screen, Jon Sopel and Clive Myrie will be with the Trump and Biden campaigns with further reporters in key states, and Tina Daheley will present bulletins throughout the night.

A panel of expert political strategists will assess how the night was won, how the campaign was lost and the impact the decision will have on the years ahead, according to the BBCs programme description.

ITV will also broadcast a live election programme, called Trump Vs. Biden: The Results on from 11am to 6am.

Tom Bradby, who will be presenting the show from Washington, said: If we have learned one thing with these overnight programmes in recent years, it is to expect the unexpected and this night might very well be the most interesting of all.

He will be supported from the studio by Washington correspondent, Robert Moore and US political analyst Dr. Keneshia Grant.

Additionally, Julie Etchingham will report live from the swing state of Florida, while a cast of politicians, campaigners and voters from across the US political spectrum will also offer insight and analysis. Those set to make an appearance incude Anthony Scaramucci, Ann Coulter and Martin Luther King III.

Presenter Moore said: Over the years, I have seen many presidential battles in my role as Washington correspondent. But this is a unique moment in so many ways: an election amid a pandemic; extraordinary early voting figures; and the spectre that President Trump may not accept the outcome. This will be a thrilling political night a true test of Americas democratic resilience.

Several other news channels will be showing election coverage on the night, including Sky News.

Skys show, called America Decides, will begin at 10pm on 3 November.

Broadcasting from a studio overlooking The White House, the show will present live results, expert analysis, special guests and a bespoke augmented reality studio allowing viewers to visualise the Race to the White House.

The show will be anchored byDermot Murnaghan, and accompanied by US Correspondent Cordelia Lynch, former aide to Donald Trump, Omarosa Manigault Newman and the former British Ambassador to the US Sir Kim Darroch, among others. Ed Conway will add to the coverage from the London studio.

On the evening of the US presidentialelection on 3 November, polls will close at different times across the United States, usually on the hour.

As soon as this happens, a state can be called by the US news networks for either Mr Trump or Mr Biden.

Here is a guide to how USelectionnight might play out, based on the latest available information for when polls are due to close.

All times are GMT.

11pm 3 November: Polls close in two Republican strongholds Kentucky and Indiana.

12am 4 November: Virginia, Vermont, South Carolina could provide results. Polls also close in two of the swing states Florida and Georgia. While neither will be called straight away, Florida should count its votes quickly and as such will give an early idea of how both the candidates are doing.

12.30am: West Virginia could be called, while North Carolina and Ohio will close their polls but probably wont call results straightaway

1am: More than a dozen states are set to close their polls including Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Washington DC, Alabama, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee anf Texas.

Swing states Michigan and Pennsylvania will also close their polls.

1.30am: Polls close in Arkansas.

2am: Polls close in Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, New York. Three swing states of Arizona, Minnesota and Wisconsin will close their votes.

3am: Idaho, Montana, Nevada and Utah will close their polls, as will the last of the swing states Iowa.

4am: California, Oregon and Washington will close.

5am: Polls close in Hawaii.

6am: Alaska is the last state to conclude voting.

Additional reporting by PA.

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How to watch US election 2020 in the UK: What time results start tonight, and full TV schedule - iNews

With the Amy Coney Barrett hearings in full swing this week, my mailbox has been overflowing with questions from absolutely no readers! Here, I will deliver the answers that no one asked for.

Q: How can you say its fair to fill the seat of a constitutional giant like Ruth Bader Ginsburg with this far-right, anti-choice, conservative woman?

A: Youre right, RBG had patience, will and almost no black law clerks. One (1) black law clerk out of 160, to be precise. To borrow from my journalist colleagues, Are you a white supremacist?

Q: So you think its OK to just ignore her dying wish?

A: Touche! But youve forgotten that the Dying Wish clause of the Constitution is trumped by the Retire When a Democrat Is President clause. RBG was fully entitled to have a Democrat choose her replacement by retiring in 2014 when Obama was president and she was 81 years old, had already survived two bouts of cancer, two falls that broke her ribs and a heart operation. She chose not to.

Q: Youre seriously going to claim that ACB is the most qualified Supreme Court nominee?

A: Of course! Much like being a police chief in modern America, apparently the No. 1 qualification for this job is: being a woman. I dont know when my party signed onto identity politics, but Im not happy about it either. At least we didnt end up with Americas leading Karen, Kamala Harris.

Q: So you think women shouldnt run for president or sit on the Supreme Court?

A: Of course they should. But the way we should find them is not to decide Hey, lets get a woman for this job! Anybody know one? Margaret Thatcher and Golda Meir didnt become the leaders of their nations because someone said, Lets find a woman!

Ironically, the Democrats best candidate for president this year actually was a woman, but unfortunately, Sen. Amy Klobuchar was not a woman of color. So now the Democrats are saddled with the smirking insufferableness of Kamala as their backup candidate to a guy with senile dementia.

Q: What are you talking about, Ann? Kamala is the best! Shes hip, shes cool, shes brilliant.

A: Yes, and she called Joe Biden a racist.

Q: Shes explained that! On Stephen Colberts show, she laughed it off, saying: It was a debate!

A: Glad to get this on the record. So the official position of the Democratic Party is that its fine to falsely accuse a person of racism as long as its done to score political points. At least you guys dont take racism accusations lightly.

Q: Im a conservative, and I thought ACB was terrific at the hearings!

A: If there were an Olympic sport called Keeping a Straight Face While Being Lectured by Morons, ACB would take the gold. Though I might recommend that after repeatedly refusing to answer absurd hypotheticals by claiming, I would need to hear arguments from the litigants and read briefs and consult with my law clerks and talk to my colleagues and go through the opinion-writing process, maybe Barrett should not have prejudged a pending case by saying she cried when she saw the George Floyd video and citing it as an example of hatred and racism.

Instead of the George Washington and the Cherry Tree myth, I guess our new patriotic fable is the George Floyd Was Killed by a Racist Cop myth.

Q: My grandpa is in a relationship with a California hipster, and no one in the family knows what to do about it.

A: This isnt really that kind of advice column, but at least were back to Kamala Harris.

Q: You Republicans are just terrified by a strong woman of color. Mike Pence constantly interrupted her at the vice presidential debate and Harris Republican colleagues in the Senate interrupt her all the time. Theres been gobs of press about it, including an article in The New York Times, The Universal Phenomenon of Men Interrupting Women.

A: My imaginary interlocutors are really obnoxious today.

1) According to ABC News Rick Klein, Harris had slightly more speaking time than Pence at the debate.

2) But I loved how the Biden-Harris campaign had Im still speaking! T-shirts available for sale immediately following the debate. That didnt look at all pre-planned.

3) As for senators interrupting Harris, try looking at the videos that are longer than one minute. Invariably, the reason shes being interrupted is that she is rudely badgering a witness and not allowing him to answer. Yes or no! Yes or no! Please allow me to paint you into a corner by accepting all the ridiculous constraints of my question without further comment or explanation.

See the slightly longer videos here: realclearpolitics.com/video/2017/06/13/sen_harris_told_to_stop_interrupting_and_let_sessions_speak_at_hearing.html and here: youtube.com/watch?v=rshx1U9JgZM

Q: But if ACB is confirmed, women will be forced into back-alley abortions!

A: Let me assure you that even if Roe v. Wade is ever overturned, in California, New York and other liberal states, you will still enjoy a right to abortion right up to birth (at least), and if the baby somehow still survives, youll be allowed to bash in his head in with an oxygen tank.

I dont know what Democrats are so worried about, anyway. According to them, Americans LOVE Roe! Amy Klobuchar said at one of the Democratic debates this year, The people are with us. Over 70% of the people support Roe v. Wade.

Oddly, when I tried to locate this statistic on Google, I found endless polls claiming 70% of Americans support every left-wing policy -- the entire Democratic agenda: legalizing pot; Medicare for all; amnesty for illegals, Black Lives Matter and on and on. All have 70% support!

So Ive got good news for liberals: If these polls are accurate, you dont need left-wing judicial activists concocting imaginary constitutional rights to get your way. Just pass laws, like in a democracy. On the other hand, the hysteria over RBGs death and ACBs nomination tells me that liberals dont believe their own polls.

Continue reading here:
Ann Coulter: Ask Ann anything! The ACB edition - Today's News-Herald

Jeffrey Toobin became the talk of the Internet yesterday, when the world learned that the high profile legal writer and TV analyst had been suspended by The New Yorker after he exposed himself during a video zoom call.

In a statement to Vice, which broke the story, Toobin said, I made an embarrassingly stupid mistake, believing I was off-camera. I apologize to my wife, family, friends and co-workers. He continued, I believed I was not visible on Zoom. I thought no one on the Zoom call could see me. I thought I had muted the Zoom video.

Vice later updated its original story to add that Toobin was masturbating on a Zoom video chat between members of theNew Yorker and WNYC radio last week. The chat was apparently an election simulation in which different prominent New Yorker writers played various parties in a disputed election. Toobin played the courts.

A spokesperson for CNN, where Toobin also works as an a legal analyst, said yesterday that, Jeff Toobin has asked for some time off while he deals with a personal issue, which we have granted.

For a writer at some other magazine, that might be the end of it. But when the writer at the center of an embarrassing incident like this just happens to work for the most distinguished magazine in the country, it gives the highbrow permission for lowbrow gags. Right-wing pundits, left-wing pundits, and even a prominent no-longer-imprisoned former football player who was held liable for his wifes killing, used the opportunity to goof on Toobin and his magazine. Heres a sampling:

1.Sasha Issenberg, journalist and author, via Twitter:

2.Kieran Healy, Professor of Sociology at Duke University, via Twitter:

3.George Conway, via Twitter:

4.Jess Dweck, TV writer, via Twitter:

5.David Klion, writer, via Twitter:

6.O.J. Simpson, whose murder case was the subject of Toobins 1996 book, The Run of His Life: The Peoplev.O.J. Simpson, in a video message posed to Twitter:

7.Paula Reid, CBS News White House Correspondent and lawyer, via Twitter:

8.Ann Coulter, via Twitter:

9. Grace Panetta, politics reporter at Business Insider, via Twitter:

10. Matt Taibbi, via Twitter:

11.Ashley Feinberg, via Twitter:

Join the conversation!

Senior Writer

Luke Mullins is a senior writer at Washingtonian magazine focusing on the people and institutions that control the citys levers of power. He has written about the Koch Brothers attempt to take over The Cato Institute, David Gregorys ouster as moderator of NBCs Meet the Press, the collapse of Washingtons Metro system, and the conflict that split apart the founders of Politico.

Continue reading here:
The Best Reactions to the Jeffrey Toobin Zoom Dick Incident - Washingtonian

After the deluge of the last couple weeks, theres just one newly arriving local film festival going the online-only route this week. Now in its 18th year,3rd is SF International South Asian Film Festivalis going Bollywood and Beyond with a pared-down schedule this weekend only. The opening selection on Friday is a showcase for queer Pakistani-American comedian, actor, producer, writer, and directorFawzia Mirza, a frequent past guest. Shell offer several of her satirical shorts, followed by a live Q&A.

The rest of the schedule encompasses features from South Africa (Avie Luthras dramaLucky), India (Sudhanshu Sarias psychological thrillerKnock, Knock, Knock), and Seti Xs U.S. documentaryWord to Your Motherland, about the relationship between South Asian-American youth and hiphop culture. Theres also a reprise of Ashvin Kumars 2003 U.K.Road to Ladakh, screening as homage to recently deceased Indian superstar Irrfan Khan, whos well-known to western audiences from appearances in films likeSlumdog Millionaire,The Lunchbox,andLife of Pi. Heres the full program, schedule, and ticket info.

Commercial releases arriving today via digital and/or available theatrical options include local hero Wayne Wangs SF-set domestic dramaComing Home Again, which 48 Hills previewed, and is available for streaming through Roxie Virtual Cinema and Rafael@Home; Sofia CoppolasOn the Rocks, a comedy with Bill Murray and Rashida Jones that opened elsewhere in the country earlier this month; and the acclaimed South Korean crime thrillerBeasts Clawing at Straws, now available through CinemaSF. Rafael@Home is adding both UK period pieceRadium Girls, dramatizing a real-life 1920s fight for non-life-threatening workplace conditions by female factory employees, andCitizens of the World, a very Italian social-commentary comedy in the mode of director Gianni Di Gregorios priorMid-August Lunch.

Theres also the general release (on available Bay Area suburban screens) of Justin Benson and Aaron MoorheadsSynchronic, a somewhat disappointing time-travel tale from the makers of intriguing prior indie fantasiesThe Endless,Spring,andResolution. Tyler TaorminasHam on Rye(also in Roxie Virtual Cinema) is a teen ensemble piece about a small towns curious rite-of-passage that has aDazed & ConfusedmeetsDonnie Darkovibe, but is less fun than that sounds, and which I frankly didnt quite get.

While many of these films roam the globe, the more politically attuned new arrivals are all in one way or another about the US of Aor rather Murrica, being reflections of Ugly Americanism in the hopefully-soon-to-be-over Trump era. Most conspicuous among them isBorat Subsequent Moviefilm, a sequel to the original 2006 movie that plowed new ground for big-screen comedy, while its semi-scripted, semi-improvised pranks provided a devastatingly unflattering snapshot of our fellow citizens in the George W. Bush era. In the 14 years since, Sacha Baron Cohen has been a major asset to other peoples movies (including the concurrentTrial of the Chicago 7), but his own major vehicles have been letdowns. Nonetheless, one can hardly resist feeling an uptick of excitement at the return of his most famous character.

That fame is actually a problemMoviefilmstruggles to overcome, even as it incorporates it into the plot. Sent back to the US on a special mission (after several years hard gulag labor for embarrassing his native Kazakhstan with the first film), TV journalist Borat remains too easily recognized by passers-by to get the job done. Ergo he dons various disguisesincluding, at one point, an elaborate Trump getup. But the joke remains the same, as malaprop-spouting, grotesquely misogynist, and anti-Semitic Borat both shocks and finds dismaying agreement amongst real Americans seemingly unaware theyre being pranked. (For various reasons, its often less convincing this time around that his victims really are being duped, rather than choosing to play along.)

Moviefilmstarts out somewhat unpromisingly, with too much rote scatological humor, and easy-picking targets like a self-proclaimed Instagram influencer, an anti-abortion reverend, and a Georgia debutante ball. The sequel also saddles itself with a middling sidekick in Borats previously-unknown daughter Tutar (Maria Bakalova), a stowaway on his return to North America who undergoes a gradual transformation from semi-feral to semi-liberated woman.

Nonetheless, there are scattered big laughs, and things rise to a new level when corona-quarantining empties the streetsbut introduces Borat to Jim & Jerry, two QAnon enthusiasts who prove perfect shutdown company. (Particularly in that, natch, they suspect COVID is a hoax.) Their attendance of an anti-maskers rally is pure gold, topped (at least in terms of newsworthiness) by a climax in which Borat and the sexily made-over Tutar gain access to none other than Rudy Giuliani, who no doubt will already be neck-deep in public denials of his on-camera behavior by the time you read this. (Actually, in the time it took me to write this, Giuliani had already begun denying the films totally sensationalized false account of what very much looks like his preparation for an anticipated hotel-room freebie from in-character Bakalova.)

Subsequent Moviefilmdoes not and probably could not match its predecessors level of inspiration; for one thing, the original triggered too much imitation for even Cohens own efforts (here directed by Jason Woliner rather than usual past collaborator Larry Charles) to seem fresh again. For another, the Trump era has basically killed satirenothing can be more ridiculous than straight-up US political reality now. Still, this belated sequel (which is available on Amazon Prime as of today) is ultimately pointed and funny enough to have been worth the effort.

Perhaps strangely, I found myself laughing at least as often and hard while watching the documentaryWhite Noise(currently on iTunes, Amazon Prime and other streaming platforms), even as it also made the blood boil. Produced by historied (since 1857!) US magazine-slash-multiplatform publisher The Atlantic, journalist Daniel Lombrosos feature is the result of his several years spent embedded amongst numerous figures of the alt-right. He evidently won their trust, as there are many moments that could only have been shot if the subjects assumed they were in sympathetic company. But as the saying goes, Give em enough rope Whether in public or private, the white-supremacist-enabling folk here cant help but hang themselvesthey are by turns petulant, cowardly, evasive, dishonest, self-deluding, hypocritical, opportunistic, egomaniacal, and just flat-out assholes.

Why is this funny? Well, you cant help but perceive a certain hilarity in the gap between the delusional self-importance and reality of Lombrosos principals, all of whom travel the globe spreading a gospel of white panic at growing minority and immigrant populations. Theres poor little rich boy Richard B. Spencer, poster child for neo-Nazidom whos forever protesting being called a neo-Nazi even as he methodically borrows phrases, gestures, symbols, and ideas straight from literal, textbook Nazidom. He says things like I dont want to sound too grandiose, but like, Im bigger than the movement, then later whines about being called a narcissistjust before moving back to his moms Montana mansion in a giant sulk.

The other two main personnel here are not so muchde factoleaders as parasitical media whores whove latched onto white power as an audience easy to exploit at their skill level. Canadian Lauren Southern is a junior Ann Coulter wannabeyounger, blonde, and photogenic of coursebeing a supposed journalist whose main purpose appears to be attracting negative attention for calculated outrages (shes seen holding a sign on a campus saying There Is No Rape Culture In The West) to heighten her brand. Not a complicated character, she appears to have no interest beyond self-interest, and when in a rare moment of honesty she trills, To be a minority can lead to oppression!, shes not acknowledging prejudice against actual minoritiesonly fear at what will happen if/when white people are no longer a majority! OMG, what if they treat us like we do them?!? Yes, the irony does escape her.

Last and quite possibly least is alleged meme mastermind (i.e. hes been a major driver of 4chan-type viral disinformation) Mike Cernovich, who entered the scene as a mens rights advocate (apparently by mainly advising dudes on how to nail resistant chicks, then ditch em). What a man: He admits to having lived off the alimony his first wife paidhim, which coup he desperately suggests was pretty alpha. Hes largely seen here whinging about how his fame in alt-right circles is not turning into income, even as he endlessly hawks his lifestyle products and shows off his luxe new home, complete with saltwater pool and hot tub. Even Spencer calls him a bit of a grifter. Interestingly, Cernovichs second wife is Iranian, and at the films end Southern is apparently marrying a man of color. Alas, this doesnt mean theyve changed, it only confirms that they sell racial hatred for purely commercial reasons. Somehow the lack of sincerity makes it even worse.

Though we get alarming glimpses of Trump era extremist thuggery (including a march in which masses of men chant Jews will not replace us and give Nazi salutes),White Noiseis not about the average people attracted to supremacist ideologieswho are often conspicuously lower on the economic and educational scale than their high-profile leaders. Instead, its about those who lure, incite, and profit from them, invariably declining any responsibility for the violence that frequently results. When Southern posts stickers that say Its Okay To Be White, she, like the others, feeds a thumb-sucking sense that somehow the demographic which has always dominated our nation is somehow being persecuted by other groups wanting an equal (or any) place at the table. This is the true politics of whaaaaah!, no matter how conservatives love to call liberals crybabies.

The documentary ends with a montage of recent hate crimes, incidents (up to and including murder) that all three protags disingenuously claim their rhetoric could have nothing to do with, unless it was misinterpreted. But how do you misinterpret a dog-whistle as piercing as Southern opines Democracy isnt always a good thing, particularly when one might need sterner systems to keep minorities underfoot? As if that werent gruesome enough, this anti-feminist careerist shrugs I mean, gang rape is an inherently democratic process. These people are awfulbut theyre also frequently ridiculous, with their childish behaviors and blatant fibs. Mostly they just seem desperate for a public spotlight, and might have become social influencers or reality-TV aspirants if far-right rabble-rousing didnt work for them.

No laughing matter at all is a contrastingly sober documentary newly added to Roxie Virtual Cinema,The Guardian of Memory. Marcela Arteagas feature trains focus on a geographically immediate yet little-noted or understood humanitarian crisis: How since 2008 the Mexican governments supposed crackdown on drug cartels in northernmost municipalities (particularly Juarez) has resulted in decimation of the civilian population. Where criminal violence had hitherto been mostly limited to within the gangs themselves, since that point average residents have been subject to extortion, kidnappings, and execution-style killings, with the standard defenders of human rights (journalists, physicians, social activists) targeted first.

What have the authorities done about this? Nothing, and worse: As various (sometimes sole) surviving family members testify here, their neighbors and relatives were evidently slain by police and military as often as by cartel personnel. The government has simply abandoned any pretense of order or security in the region, allowing a systemic genocide to occur, its purpose and beneficiaries unclear. As Texas-based Mexican expat immigration lawyer Carlos Spector explains, the flood of refugees from this violence are mostly turned down for asylum by the USbecause theyre only fleeing criminal peril, not the political kind. But its increasingly clear to him that whats going on is both: A murderous collusion between equally corrupt interests on ostensibly opposed sides of the law.

Given a distinctly poetical tilt in its photography and scoring,The Guardian of Memoryis beautiful but excoriating, towards cold-blooded American policy as well as Mexican institutional corruption. Its an important piece of reportage thats also an aesthetic jewel of unconventional documentary technique.

These arent the only political docs newly available. Others, all released to VOD this week, include Sabina Van TasselsThe State of Texas vs. Melissa, about the highly problematic case of the first woman sentenced to death in that state; Brittany HuckabeesHow to Fix a Primary, which charts the unsuccessful 2018 Michigan campaign of Abdul El-Sayed to become the nations first Muslim governor; and a restoration of the late William Greaves long-unavailable uncutNationtime, a Sidney Poitier-narrated record of the National Black Political Convention of 1972. BAMPFA is also (as of tomorrow) hosting two documentaries by Evans Chan, 2016sRaise the Umbrellasand the newWe Have Boots, both charting Hong Kongs ongoing pro-democracy struggles.

See the original post:
Screen Grabs: Borat's 'totally sensationalized false account' and other bombshell releases - 48 Hills

Jen Lancasters new memoir is about anxiety, but the top review on Amazon has nothing to do with the book.

Instead, a reviewer from Seattle, Washington, gives Lancasters Welcome to the United States of Anxiety one star the lowest ranking because of what she perceives to be the authors political views. Although the reviewer admits she hasnt read the book, more than 1,422 Amazon browsers said they found the review helpful.

Call it the United States of Animosity, where less than three weeks before a contentious election, politics are creeping into every aspect of life, even those that have nothing to do with politics. The acrimony has seeped into decorations that children will walk past on Halloween, influences decisions about what people read and where they shop, and has even turned up in an online forum devoted to knitting.

It feels like our choices of entertainment, our choices of where we shop, where we eat, what we read, has become deeply infused with political beliefs, said John Sarrouf, co-executive director of the community building nonprofit Essential Partners, based in Boston. Ive heard people say, I dont want to walk down that street because theres a big Trump sign. They dont even want to look at it.

For Lancaster, a bestselling author of 15 other books, it was jarring to see a spiteful review that she says does not even reflect her current personal views. The reviewer said that Lancaster liked conservative author Ann Coulter, based on something Lancaster published in 2006. But in 2006, I also liked chunky highlights and platform sandals, she said, adding that her political views have similarly evolved since then.

Although the all-encompassing nature of politics feels new, historians say its actually a return to an earlier time when political campaigns were the nations major form of entertainment. And some social scientists say an obsession with politics is better than its antithesis, apathy.

But others are hoping the emphasis on political divisions will end after the votes are counted next month.

It ought to be possible to say, for example, I enjoyed playing golf today, without Democrats and Republicans immediately thinking, That awful president plays golf, too, Charles Lipson, professor emeritus of political science at the University of Chicago wrote for Real Clear Politics.

Lancaster, 52, best known for her humorous titles such as Bitter is the Next Black and Such a Pretty Fat, said that until recently, she has held fairly conservative political views throughout her career, and openly so, until around 2007.

Politics are really important to me; I was a political science major at Purdue, she said, adding that she spoke in support of the late GOP Sen. John McCain when he ran for president in 2008 at a time when other authors came out against him.

But then my entire management team said, Youre not going to have a career if you continue to say anything about being conservative. So Ive kept my mouth shut.

In her new book, she says she no longer identifies with a political party. If I identify with anything, its being an American, which is why I despise how badly weve splintered as a country. The divisions between us arent new, but the ways we deal with them are. Weve lost the social norm of civility, Lancaster wrote.

Adrienne Martini, a member of the Otsego County Board of Representatives in Oneonta, New York, wrote a book about her experience running for office, Somebodys Gotta Do It. But before she was a politician, she was a knitter, and like others, turned the hobby political by knitting pink hats that women wore in a march on Washington in 2017.

They are very easy to knit and made me feel like I was doing something after the 2016 election. The big political thing to knit right now is the dissent collar (a nod to the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who wore lace collars) but it doesnt move me in quite the same way, Martini said.

Knitters have also made things in support of President Donald Trump, such as a pattern for a hat that said Build the Wall, designed by an anonymous woman who calls herself the Deplorable Knitter. On her website, she said she and her husband support our President, our Troops, and our God. If any of those things offend you, this is probably not the place for you.

Her support of the president was deemed offensive by the online knitting community Ravelry, which banned her from the platform, as well as anyone promoting Trump and his policies. The resulting furor caused MIT Technology Review to write about increased politicization of the online knitting world.

But Martini said she isnt surprised or even particularly troubled by the division among knitters.

My feeling is that politics is the water that we all swim in every moment of every day. Were just more aware of how wet that water is right now and how many of us are drowning rather than swimming. Knitting is just one more way that people make their preferences known, she said

Ellen Fitzpatrick, a history professor at the University of New Hampshire who specializes in presidential campaigns, said the current high level of engagement in politics is due in part to the pandemic, but magnified exponentially by widespread use of social media.

Everyone is an authority these days, she said. Theres tremendous explosion of opportunity for people to participate in these ways; whether theyre constructive or not is another question.

But what seems a new level of engagement is actually a return to an earlier period in history, she said.

In the 19th century, fewer Americans were able to vote; women and many Blacks were not eligible, for example. But there was a tremendously high level of enthusiasm and engagement on the part of those who could vote. It was a form of entertainment; it was a way of socializing with each other. There would be these huge torchlight parades and outdoor lectures. Politics was entertainment; it was sport. It filled a lot of needs in the culture, Fitzpatrick said.

During that period, however, people identified more with political parties than with individuals, and in the early 20th century, reforms were instituted (to include secret ballots and the primary process) that made the parties less powerful, and the turnout rate, which once was as high as 80%, began to fall, and interest in elections declined and never recovered to 19th century levels.

Paradoxically, the number of eligible voters expands over the course of the 20th century, but voter enthusiasm seemed to decline, Fitzpatrick said. Whats going on today, there seems to be a high level of engagement, but whether that translates to voting or not remains to be seen.

There are new developments today, though, she noted, including exuberance for the individual candidates rather than the political parties and their platforms.

And politics is infecting everything now. This deep division is a worrisome development because it seems to be so full of anger. The anonymity of some of these platforms allows people to say things they would not say in person to someone else. I think theres a hate-filled rhetoric and divisiveness that is a very lamentable thing were seeing in recent years.

Lipson, at the University of Chicago, said that the political divisions in America are deep and the greatest since the Great Depression and perhaps since 1860. Equally disturbing is that, while in the past, people of differing political parties still found areas on which they can agree, now they rarely do.

The parties are more ideological than they have been since the 1930s, he said. Instead of having cross-cutting cleavages socially, we have reinforcing cleavages. Were slicing the pie down the same middle slice all the time. And were doing so without strong trust in social and governmental institutions, Lipson said.

If you asked in the early 1960s, do you think government generally tries to do the right thing?, 70% would say yes; now the number is like 20%, he said. We have deep social cleavages, parties that are trying to pull us apart, activists within those parties, all dealing with each other in a very low-trust environment. This is a recipe for real trouble.

Lancaster, the Chicago author, said the problem is that people are telling other people what they should think and why they should think it. If you want to make a persuasive argument, the best thing you can do is talk about your personal experience with whatever the subject is, she said.

But, she said, This is such an ugly political season that I dont think not talking about politics is the right call either. I think what we need to do is try to foster some mutual understanding or were going to have a civil war.

Sarrouf, co-author of Essential Partners Guide to Conversations Across the Red-Blue Divide, echoed Lancasters remarks, saying that people can learn a constructive cycle of conversation that they can employ anytime theyre in conversation that is becoming acrimonious.

Research has shown that peoples minds are rarely changed by yard signs, but they can be changed in a thoughtful conversation in which both sides listen deeply to the other and ask sincere questions. Be that positive deviation from the escalating norm, Sarrouf said.

Also, he advises people to quickly remove the physical manifestations of division immediately after the election. If its important to put up a sign in your yard, its important to take it down when its over, Sarrouf said.

I think its important to remember that we are not just one thing. The person down the street is not just a Democrat who voted for Biden; theyre the person who brought a bouquet of flowers when my mom passed away, he said. Or, the person for Trump is also the person who picks up trash at the kids playground so it can be a clean place for the children to play. We are not just our political identities.

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Election 2020: From Halloween to Amazon book reviews, politics are everywhere - Deseret News