Photo: Courtesy of Gage Skidmore.

The recount attempts in Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania are not yielding any prospects for a Hillary Clinton victory, so the left is holding out the forlorn hope that enough U.S. electors will bolt to deny Trump the presidency.

The New York Times editorial writer Elizabeth Williamson reports that one Texas elector has publicly stated his intention to ignore the popular verdict of his state and cast his vote for someone else.  Apparently, this has provided some on the left with at least a faint glimmer of hope.

Honestly, I’m surprised this is even being discussed, if only halfway seriously, in a source that purports to be the newspaper of record.  If Hillary had won under similar circumstances, conservative talk of denying her the presidency through some Electoral College ploy would be (1). laughed right out of an NYT Editorial Board meeting as muddle-headed right-wing idiocy or (2). condemned as the rankest expression of right-wing hate mongering and authoritarianism.

Yet, in what will likely be remembered as one of the most remarkable rhetorical turnarounds in U.S. political history, the left seems to be indulging in a lot of “wild” talk regarding secession, even though, until recently, at least, it has characterized such talk on the right as reckless, hateful speech.