Here's John Oliver on the midterms:
Marie: It isn't often that one learns a new word reading a story about a Trump speech (he speaks at a fourth or fifth grade level, according to a NYT analysis [gift link]). I'm sure you'll guess what that word was: I hadda look it up: ~~~
~~~ The Closing Argument: Drain Pipes Are Very Important. Shawn McCreesh of the New York Times: “It was the day before the election, and the president had decided to come [to the Reflecting Pool], a place that excites him, to talk about many of the topics that make him happiest. Trouble is, almost none of those topics have anything to do with the issues that are driving this election.... Mr. Trump used his final in-person appearance before Americans head to the polls to talk about drain pipes, top soil, limestone, fountains and his favorite kind of columns.... The 'brand-new pipes,' Mr. Trump said, are 'very important in terms of the algae and other things. And it’s a complete job, and we’re very proud of it.' The Lincoln Memorial in front of him, Mr. Trump addressed a small audience seated in folding chairs. There were a few dozen National Park Service employees, reporters, White House officials and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum....
“In the history of American politics, the speech may go down as one of the more unusual closing messages on the eve of an election. But it was a pretty good crystallization of what matters to Mr. Trump as he heads into the lame duck phase of his second term — despite, or maybe because of, his depressed poll numbers and voter unhappiness over the economy, corruption and an unresolved war. And now here he was, using his final in-person address before the election to talk more about his chryselephantine fantasies of ballrooms and arches and Corinthian columns.” The link is a gift link.
Abbie Van Sickle of the New York Times: “The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Monday to require that California set aside 20,000 mail-in ballots that the administration claims have been provided to noncitizens. The emergency application to the justices came after a divided federal appeals court rejected the administration’s arguments that California officials should impound the ballots for further scrutiny.... Filing just one day before the midterm elections may forestall a ruling in the case — and a potential loss for the administration — until after Election Day. The request requires the Supreme Court to consider how much power the federal government has to order states to make last-minute changes to their vote-counting procedures. Under the Constitution, states have responsibility for administering elections. The Justice Department has claimed that it is empowered by a federal law that makes it illegal for noncitizens to cast ballots.” The link is a gift link. ~~~
~~~ Wait, Wait, There's More. Within hours, this story was updated. Here's the new lede, plus:
⭐“The Supreme Court on Monday evening swiftly rejected a request by the Trump administration to require that California set aside 20,000 mail-in ballots that the administration claims have been provided to noncitizens. The order, which was unsigned and gave no reasoning, came the same day that the administration lawyers had asked the court to step in after a divided federal appeals court had rejected the administration’s arguments that California officials should impound the ballots for further scrutiny. No public dissents were noted. The ruling appeared to be an extraordinary rebuke of the Trump administration, sending a message that the court was not interested in stepping in to assist ... [Donald] Trump’s efforts to interfere with how states are administering elections. It was a highly unusual ruling because it came only hours after the administration filed its emergency request and without the court even calling for a response or briefing from the opposing parties. It is nearly unheard of for the court to rule on an application filed by the federal government without first asking for a response from the opposing parties.”
Alan Feuer of the New York Times: “A federal magistrate judge on Monday threw out charges against two former F.B.I. intelligence officials accused of lying to Congress, excoriating prosecutors for what he described as a failure of one of their most basic responsibilities: showing there was any probable cause that crimes had been committed in the first place. In an emotional, hourlong address from the bench in Federal District Court in Washington, the magistrate judge, Zia M. Faruqui, said that the case against the former officials — Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides — was a rushed, political prosecution ordered by the White House intended to affect the upcoming midterm elections. Two weeks ago, the administration charged the former officials with falsely minimizing their work on investigations involving Hunter Biden, the son of the former president. Judge Faruqui blasted the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington for how it handled the case, admonishing prosecutors for trying to avoid some of the fundamental checks and balances of the criminal justice system. At the same time, he apologized directly to Ms. Floris and Mr. Benavides for having been 'dragged through this process' of being charged by the same federal government they had served for decades.” The link is a gift link. ~~~
~~~ Marie: This was yet another shocking abuse of the law enforcement apparatus that is supposed to be looking out for all of us, and it will be barely a blip on the radar among all the other shocking abuses of and by the DOJ.
Charlie Savage of the New York Times: “Since ... [Donald] Trump returned to office nearly two years ago, courts have frequently ordered his administration to pause or halt aggressive actions after they drew legal challenges. But again and again, his executive branch has skirted judicial constraints through delayed, contested or incomplete compliance, all while Mr. Trump has attacked judges appointed by presidents of both parties. An examination of confrontations across the country shows a widening breakdown in trust between the executive branch and the federal judiciary. Judges increasingly greet Justice Department representations with skepticism. Administration officials, meanwhile, have treated courts with disdain — accusing judges of bias and seeking their removal. In an extraordinary step, the administration recently filed a misconduct complaint against nearly every active district judge in Minnesota. The result has been a poisoning of the relations between the branches to such a degree that it is now straining the judiciary’s ability to serve as a check on executive power, as Mr. Trump approaches the second half of his term.” The link is a gift link.
Erika Solomon & Sanam Mahoozi of the New York Times: “Iran is prepared to reopen the Strait of Hormuz in two days if the United States agrees to a set of demands, its foreign ministry said on Monday, after a week of intensified negotiations to avert a return to war. But those demands, which include the Trump administration lifting sanctions on Iran and releasing billions of dollars in frozen Iranian assets, appear difficult for Washington to accept. The foreign ministry’s spokesman, Esmail Baghaei, made the comments hours after ... [Donald] Trump had said at a campaign rally that he might eventually decide to give Iran 'the hammer' if the two sides could not reach a deal to end the war.” The link is a gift link.
Jacob Soboroff of MS NOW: John Roberts: "More Dangerous Than Trump (September 6)":
Will Weissert in the Independent: "... Donald Trump said Sunday that he plans to deliver a closing midterm election message at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, putting his delayed, costly, and troubled restoration project back into the spotlight as Election Day approaches. Speaking to reporters after deplaning from Air Force One before a rally in Iowa, Trump said that holding an event at the landmark would 'show how beautiful it is.' 'We might hold it tomorrow or something,' Trump added without offering specific details. In a social media message posted prior to landing, Trump said his Sunday evening rally in Kansas — following his stop in Iowa — 'Will be my last stop.'" ~~~
~~~ Marie: "Or something?" The old duffer sounds confused. Also confusing -- as far as Art Intel and I know, Will Weissert still works for the AP, but the Independent does not credit the AP for the above story. So, like Trump, I'm confused "or something."
Evan Gorelick of the New York Times: “The Social Security Administration and the Internal Revenue Service praised ... [Donald] Trump in mass emails sent Thursday, Friday and Saturday to people with online accounts, an unusual move days before the midterm elections that some experts said could violate federal ethics laws.... Several legal experts said the emails’ praise of Mr. Trump, coupled with their timing just days before a pivotal election, potentially violated the Hatch Act, an 87-year-old law meant to prevent employees of the executive branch from using their positions to influence the results of partisan elections. Kathleen Clark, a law professor at Washington University in St. Louis, said the emails seemed to function as 'propaganda' rather than as public service announcements providing practical information.” The link is a gift link.
Anna Wilder, et al., of the AP, published by the Huff Post: “A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer accused of intentionally ramming his car into a Mexican construction worker in Houston was indicted by a grand jury Friday on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, prosecutors said. The officer, Mario Alberto Morales, was driving an unmarked SUV on Oct. 10 when he struck and ran over Miguel Parra Hernandez, 48, who was running away during a pursuit through a parking lot, according to the Harris County District Attorney’s Office. Parra Hernandez broke his leg and remains in federal custody at a rehabilitation facility, said District Attorney Sean Teare, who announced the indictment at a news conference that included body camera video of the encounter and a recording of Morales calling 911. ICE has asserted that Parra Hernandez ran in front of the vehicle, an account that Teare said is contradicted by video. 'The evidence we have in this case is as clear as any that I’ve ever prosecuted or investigated,' Teare said.” Thanks to RAS for the link. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: Three cheers for Teare for pursuing the case. Now look at the video on yesterday's page of ICE goons in Portland, Oregon, slashing the tires of U.S. citizens because they had been warning people in a supermarket parking lot that ICE officers were in the lot, a story RAS also found. Here's the Fox News Houston's report: "federal agents call the prosecution poltically motivated.'" Right. The report includes video of the incident: ~~~
Michael Gold of the New York Times: “Senator Christopher S. Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut, was hospitalized on Saturday after suffering a stroke, according to a statement from his chief of staff. The chief of staff, Allison Herwitt, said that Mr. Murphy, 53, was attending his son’s hockey game on Saturday afternoon and “started experiencing numbness in his arm.” He was taken to a nearby hospital, where doctors diagnosed a stroke. Mr. Murphy was transferred to Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore for monitoring and treatment. 'The doctors are encouraged by his progress; he is awake and alert; and we are optimistic he will make a full recovery,' Ms. Herwitt said in her statement.” The link is a gift link.
Christina Morales, et al., of the New York Times: “A business jet carrying nine people from Texas to the Bahamas crashed in Florida on Sunday, exploding into a fireball on impact moments after the pilot declared mayday and told air traffic controllers that it was dropping 20,000 feet per minute. The plane, a Learjet 60, had departed Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas and was headed to North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas, the Federal Aviation Administration said. It crashed on a road adjacent to a neighborhood about four miles from Palm Beach. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed in a statement that all those aboard had died. There was no information available about their identities.” The link is a gift link. ~~~
~~~ Emma Romano of WPTV (West Palm Beach): "Gov. Ron DeSantis visited the scene Sunday and ... [said] the aircraft ... left a large crater along Military Trail. He praised Palm Beach County first responders for their quick response. Officials said they had not received reports at the time of the news conference of people on the ground being killed or injured by the crash or debris. DeSantis said the debris field stretched a significant distance. Palm Beach County officials said approximately 600 people in a nearby mobile home community are expected to be relocated because the crash site is considered a crime scene while authorities investigate. Officials said two shelters were on standby and Palm Tran was prepared to transport residents once law enforcement allowed the evacuation to begin."
~~~~~~~~~
Shane Goldmacher & Ruth Igielnik of the New York Times: “Democrats are ahead of Republicans in almost all of the seven battleground states that will determine which party controls the Senate, according to the final set of polls from The New York Times and Siena University before the midterm elections. The surveys found that Democrats hold sizable leads in Texas, which has not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1988, and Kansas, which has not elected one since 1932.... The new polls found Democratic candidates ahead in five states that now have Republican senators and effectively tied in a sixth. They hold leads in Kansas, Maine, Ohio and Texas and a narrow edge in Alaska. They are effectively tied in Iowa. In Michigan, the lone top Senate battleground already held by Democrats, the poll found the Democratic candidate leading by double digits. (It was conducted before a Democratic feud erupted in Michigan this weekend.) The surveys did not include North Carolina, where polls have long found the Democrat leading and Republicans have pared back their campaign spending.” The link is a gift link. MB: Polls mean nothing if you don't vote. Also, Trump voters are often undercounted. ~~~
~~~ BUT. Can 0.00001 Percent of U.S. Adults Purchase the Rest of the Voters? Paul Krugman: "Donald Trump has urged voters to
pretend that he’s on the ballot in the midterm elections.... Voters should also know, however, that Trump isn’t alone in de facto being on the ballot. America’s oligarchs — a tiny group of almost inconceivably wealthy people — also have a huge stake in this election.... And because they rushed to prostrate themselves at Trump’s feet after the 2024 election, many of the oligarchs may find themselves personally in the crosshairs if a Democratic Congress begins serious hearings on Trumpian corruption. Fearing this outcome, the oligarchs have been pouring money into the midterm elections, in an all-out effort to limit the size of the blue wave. The New York Times reports that just 20 donors — roughly 0.00001 percent of adults, i.e. one ten-millionth of the population — have already pumped about $2 billion into this election, or about 15 percent of total campaign spending. These donors are overwhelmingly supporting Republicans." ~~~
~~~ Adam Serwer of the Atlantic: "Faced with flagging numbers over an unpopular and unnecessary war in Iran, inflation exacerbated by tariffs, lawless immigration enforcement, and corruption, Republicans have gone back to basics for their closing message: stoking hatred against minority groups." Thanks to akaWendy for this gift link.
Alaska Senate Race. Anna Griffin of the New York Times: “A federal judge in Alaska has dismissed the Trump administration’s lawsuit that pre-emptively challenged the results in a U.S. Senate race featuring two candidates with the same name — a Republican incumbent and another man who could be a spoiler. The Justice Department lawsuit, filed last month at ... [Donald] Trump’s direction, asked the judge to block certification of Alaska’s U.S. Senate election results if Senator Daniel S. Sullivan loses but would have won had all votes cast for Daniel J. Sullivan, a retired teacher, gone to the incumbent instead. In that scenario, the suit also demands an investigation into whether voters who selected the retired teacher actually intended to vote for the senator. It’s not clear how an investigation into anonymous ballots would be conducted....
“In her ruling, released Sunday morning, Chief Judge Sharon Gleason of U.S. District Court in Alaska [wrote of] the right of states to control their elections. Judge Gleason, an appointee of President Obama, wrote that she did not see how the federal government’s proposed solution to any confusion — separating out ballots filed for Daniel J. Sullivan and investigating whether people who supported him meant to rank Senator Dan S. Sullivan instead — would solve that problem or even work given the right to a secret ballot is a core principle of American democracy.” (Also linked yesterday.) The link is a gift link. A Politico story is here.
Georgia Senate Race, etc. Emily Kennard & Liz Goodwin of the Washington Post: “A congressional staffer who has worked with four representatives over the past four years, including GOP Senate hopeful Rep. Mike Collins (R-Georgia), appears closely tied to an anonymous social media account that denigrates female politicians, promotes political violence, calls for an end to democracy and laments the existence of civil rights laws, among other views.... Details shared in posts on the account connect it to 25-year-old Jonathon Hatzistefanou, who works as a legislative assistant for Rep. Daniel Webster (R-Florida) and served as a former staff assistant for Collins.... Hatzistefanou worked for Collins from May 2023 to March 2024 and has worked with Webster since January 2025.... Webster’s term expires in January, and he is not running for reelection.
“Hatzistefanou also worked as a research assistant with the House Transportation Committee for Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas) and interned for Rep. Kat Cammack (R-Florida).... Within an hour of The Post calling Hatzistefanou, several posts containing slurs or other extreme language were removed from the profile. At that time, Hatzistefanou was the only person The Post had contacted about the account.”
Kansas Senate Race. Shane Goldmacher, et al., of the New York Times: “About two weeks ago, Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas, an embattled Republican, approached the senior leadership of his campaign with ... [a plan] to film an ad responding to all of the attacks he was taking on medical debts.... His top advisers said no.... Mr. Marshall went rogue. The senator — without the knowledge of at least some top aides — arranged for his own film crew to record and package just such an ad.... Top campaign leaders moved to block the release of the ad, believing it would do more harm than good. Mr. Marshall, however, did not give up. He began sending it directly to people outside the campaign.... On Saturday evening, Pete Mundo, a Kansas City talk radio host, posted the video on X, which is how it became public.” The link is a gift link.
Michigan Senate Race. Marie: This is THE stupidest thing I believe I've heard a Democrat do since Joe Lieberman endorsed John McCain in 2007:
~~~ Chris Hippensteel of the Guardian: “Congresswoman Haley Stevens, who lost the Michigan Democratic Senate primary to Abdul El-Sayed, endorsed his Republican rival, Mike Rogers, in an extraordinary rebuke of her party’s nominee on the eve of the midterm elections. Her endorsement came in a video posted to X after she attended an event with Rogers at the predominantly Black Perfecting church in Detroit on Sunday. Stevens’ endorsement was the culmination of an escalating feud between the former primary rivals that has roiled one of the most fiercely contested Senate contests of the cycle. The endorsement was met with immediate pushback from Democrats, who condemned Stevens for her 'betrayal'.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Violet Jira of the Washington Post: “Stevens’s appearance and endorsement marked a stunning turn in events for a Democrat who insisted she wanted a Democratic victory in the Senate race.... 'We are dismayed that Congresswoman Haley Stevens has revealed herself to be a sellout who used Black Michiganders for a political stunt,' Virgie Rollins, chair of the Democratic National Committee’s Black Caucus, said in a statement.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Bayliss Wagner, et al., of the New York Times: “After [Dr. El-Sayed] narrowly beat her in August, [Stevens] immediately endorsed him and they seemed to reach a quiet truce. Then, this month, she began to criticize him in news interviews, and in recent days, they traded public barbs over his stance on Israel. But she continued to cautiously commit to supporting Dr. El-Sayed and the full Democratic ticket.... Ms. Stevens’s move shocked other Democrats and upended her congressional office, with several top officials announcing their resignations.... Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic minority leader, called the move a 'despicable betrayal.'...
“Representative Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat, said in an interview that ... she had told him in a phone call around 10 p.m. on Saturday night that she was still behind Dr. El-Sayed. Mr. Raskin recalled ... that he had pressed Ms. Stevens. 'I just want to be very clear about that: You’re supporting the whole ticket, including Abdul?' he recalled asking her. 'And she said yes.'... Ms. Stevens said [Sunday] that she 'woke up this morning and I decided to go to church and I am here with the person that I am voting for, for United States Senate. And that is Mike Rogers.'” The link is a gift link. (Also linked yesterday.)
~~~ Dan Merica, et al., of the Washington Post: “Stevens had told multiple people close to her she had no plans to endorse Rogers.... Instead of a symbol of unity, the planned stop at Greater Emmanuel Institutional Church of God in Christ became the campaign’s biggest display of discord, a move that national Democrats described as a likely career-ender for Stevens. The head of the Michigan Democratic Party said Sunday that she 'is not a current member of the Michigan Democratic Party, nor will she be in the future.'... A friend of Stevens’s who had seen both the congresswoman and [her fiancé Jason] Turkish in recent days said Stevens’s fiancé was 'really working her over' to get her to back Rogers, including by telling her that Jewish voters in Michigan supported her during the primary and that 'she betrayed them.'” ~~~
~~~ Erin Doherty & Lisa Kashinsky of Politico: Throughout an interview Sunday night with Anderson Cooper of CNN, Haley Stevens “insisted that she still has a 'whole heck of a lot of love for the Democratic Party' and 'absolutely' still wants Democrats to win Senate control on Tuesday — in spite of her endorsement of the Republican she’d once hoped to beat for the Michigan Senate seat.... Stevens throughout the interview gave vague and evasive answers. At one point, as Cooper tried to nail her down on an answer, she raised her voice and said 'It sounds like you’re upset with me too, Anderson.' 'You’re not really answering any of my questions, so it’s kind of frustrating,' he replied.” ~~~
~~~ David Gilmour of Mediaite dredges up some less circumspect critiques of Haley Stevens' performance on CNN. Theme: "trainwreck." ~~~
~~~ Here's video of Cooper's interview of Stevens. ~~~
~~~ See Steve M. on Stevens' about-face. He wrote his post before Stevens officially went to the dark side. But he updated the post. And he has a theory. Thanks to RAS for the link. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ You can watch the TMZ thang here. Or you may prefer Jimmy Fallon's take on a Haley Stevens interview. It's definitely more entertaining (it begins at about 4:10 min. in). ~~~
~~~ Marie: I do have some bad news for Haley. Unless Mike wins (a possibility) & somehow gets Haley and the boyfriend top jobs in Washington (also possible) -- deputy secretaries of ratfucking or whatever -- that new fiance of hers -- the one she was telling TMZ loves her to pieces -- is going to be dumping her toot sweet. (Maybe Mike promised them jobs; it's not likely El-Sayed would have found a place for either of them.) Probably even if Mike wins & the kids get good gigs in D.C. Honey, that guy's love is strictly transactional. I promise. ~~~
~~~ Erik Loomis in LG&$: "Congrats to Haley Stevens, your racism and Islamophobia has displaced John Fetterman as America's Worst Democrat[.]... What is certain is that Haley Stevens would have been a Joe Lieberman level of ratfucker to Democrats in the caucus. At least Fetterman has the stroke to blame. Stevens is just a terrible human being.... I wonder if this isn’t backfiring on her goal of electing Rogers? It’s one thing for her to give space for her supporters to not come out for El-Sayed, but she’s moving to batshit insanity so quickly and there’s the weirdness with the fiancé and she seems to be losing the thread entirely." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: Loomis is right. Stevens would have been a disaster in the Senate. She is not a very stable genius. She married (I think for the first time) in 2021; she & her husband announced their divorce 13 months later. Now, she's embarking on another marriage. She says she is a Christian Protestant. But now she's considering converting to Judaism because of the boyfriend. Suddenly, she's also out of a job. Marriage (x 2). Religion. Profession. These are big deals, defining markers, in most people's lives. Stevens is confused and unsure about her status on multiple levels. So her equivocation on El-Sayed/Rogers is, well, consistent with her recent history of inconsistency. ~~~
~~~ Josh Marshall weighs in. Also worth a read. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Scott Lemieux in LG&$, with an assist from Josh Marshall on how Stevens betrayed not only her party but also the voters because there is an implicit standard that losers in a primary will endorse the winner, or at the very least, STFU.
21 comments:
Adam Serwer, for The Atlantic, comments on how Republicans Are Closing Ugly
"Faced with flagging numbers over an unpopular and unnecessary war in Iran, inflation exacerbated by tariffs, lawless immigration enforcement, and corruption, Republicans have gone back to basics for their closing message: stoking hatred against minority groups.
....
Put simply, bigotry remains a large part of American politics because some American voters like it, and many others do not find it disqualifying. If Republicans thought this kind of talk was politically ineffective, they would not engage in it."
Isaac Stanley-Becker, for The Atlantic, on voters choosing to punish profligate behavior
"Corruption is topping voter concerns in recent polls, dominating Democratic messaging, and forcing Republicans to play defense in red states. If that marks a sharp shift from recent American elections, in which such allegations have played a relatively minor role, it mirrors a growing global trend. Around the world, a backlash against corruption has roused voters and undercut populist, right-wing politicians. Now it may play a decisive role in the midterm elections."
Waldman on Stevens' (and occasional Dem centrists') perfidy.:
https://paulwaldman.substack.com/p/haley-stevens-proves-it-again-centrists
The Wait
Third From the Left
Statement from the DNC Jewish-American Council Leadership about their support for all the Democrats
Brian Beutler
"Inside Donald Trump’s Secret Plan To Restart The Iran War After The Election
Operatives aligned with the president spent months devising a plan to resume the war—only after ballots had been cast. Republicans have worked studiously to avoid tipping off voters."
"The Longest Day of An Election Worker's Life:"
John Oliver on the 2026 midterms
RAS,
Though I found the Beutler piece a little confusing, I came to one conclusion:
If the Pretender in a post-election fit of pique, restarts his unauthorized Iran war, one of the many casualties will be Jaydee's hopes of the presidency. In fact, though not explicitly stated in the Beutler piece, that may be one of the Pretender's purposes. Doesn't appear he likes Jaydee very much.
In that the Pretender and I agree. I don't like Jaydee very much either. We just have different reasons for our dislike.
Republican Enablers
Why does today feel like Christmas Eve did when you were six? Even if I don't get a Rootie Kazootie magic kazootie, there should be something good in the morning Wednesday.
John Roberts: Enemy of the People
A good video and so nice to hear Soboroff and Mystal agree with a take on John Roberts we here at RC have been propagating for years now.
John Roberts IS the most dangerous man in America. When the Fat Fascist is gone, Roberts will still be there. Soboroff is correct that it doesn't matter what laws Democrats try to pass when and if they return to power. Roberts will stop them. He always has. Remember, Mystal points out that Roberts, just out of law school(!) was brought in to the Reagan circle to gut voting rights and that Ronald fucking Reagan was to the left of John Roberts on allowing black Americans to vote!
We used to say that most people tend to be at least somewhat liberal in their 20s and by the time they're in their 40s they may have grown more conservative. But what if you're a fucking Nazi in your 20s? What will you be when you're 40, or 50, or 73?
I do have to take issue with one thing Elie Mystal says however. He points out that Little Johnny gets away with a being labeled an "institutionalist" because he couches his bald racism in legalese which makes it harder for the media types (supposedly) covering his actions to unravel and find that at heart, Roberts is no more a supporter of Constitutional protections for voting rights than Jim Bob the KKK Grand Wizard. I disagree. I am no Constitutional scholar, but I can read and reading comprehension has never been an issue for me, and shouldn't be for any reporter who rises high enough on the media totem pole to be handed a job covering the Swine Court. That is a copout. They know. They fucking know. They either just don't care, or believe that saying what is clearly the truth will get them demoted from their job. All you have to do is look at the result of his rulings.
When Roberts first shivved the VRA, removing impediments to historically racist states from fucking with black voters, within minutes (Soboroff says months; he's wrong....these fuckers announced new attacks on black voting rights within minutes of the ruling....they knew it was coming. If Jim Bob the KKK Grand Wizard with his sixth grade education knew that Little Johnny was gonna fuck black voters, how come some reporter with advanced degrees from five universities and years writing about the court couldn't figure it out?) historically racist states were all over it. Hooray! We can start screwing with those goddam darkies once more! The South has risen again! Yippee!
How is that being an "institutionalist"? Although, now that I think of it, prisons and mental hospitals are institutions as well.
But here's the other thing. Roberts has made sure that his rulings, all those "emergency" rulings done at the behest of the Orange Monster, and all those shady shadow docket decisions have been written in such a way as to be easily retracted. Once a Democrat is back in the White House, OH! Now we have to serve as a check on the imperial presidency. Whoever thought a president could just run off and do whatever the fuck he or she wanted? Absolutely not! Harumph!
There's a reason we call it the Swine Court. And John Roberts is the chief swine.
This is pounding on a deceased equine, but just take a second to read this:
"Abraham Lincoln — I met a young man from Israel. I said, ‘Who’s your favorite president?’ He said, ‘Abraham Lincoln.’ I said, ‘Oh.’ I said, ‘That’s nice.’ We love Abraham Lincoln. But you’re going to see something later, because they have a poll — they took a poll recently. You’re going to see it. But I also declared a national emergency on energy and terminated the Green New Scam, one of the greatest hoaxes in the history of our country.”
This is the president* of the United States. This is the lexical version of driving while drunk, drugged, and demented. A few minutes earlier, Fatty said "I didn't know George Washington personally, but he never had to deal with what I have to deal with: kids being transed on the way home from school and men playing women's sports!"
Right. First. He didn't know George Washington....personally? Yeah...okay. That's not nutty enough though. Ol' George had it easy compared to the Orange Ogre, doesn't he? I mean all George had to deal with was trying to free the colonies from the control of the most powerful nation on earth and most potent army in the history of the world, and if he failed, he would have been hanged as a traitor. No biggie. Trump, on the other hand, has to deal with....HORRORS!....a FUCKING FANTASY.
But they took a poll. And you'll see it. But first, I did a thing the other day. Wonderful. The greatest ever. You'll see. It was a 'mergency....gaaaaassshhhchhhcc...
This guy, who says he's got more problems than George Washington, whom he didn't really know personally, but Abraham Lincoln, and there's a poll but I did a great thing....then makes weird noises, has the nuclear codes. And there's no one around him to say no if he decides to push the button.
I am trying to be as composed and genteel as I can be in this hour of existential pestilence, but my very simple suggestion for Democrats once we get back in power is to IMPEACH THIS MOTHERFUCKER.
Paul Campos of LG&M makes the case, which I have to agree with. At one point, some months ago, I was thinking that impeachment would be a waste of political capital and would just make the chimerical and very likely braindead independents hate us even more, but then there is a truly moral imperative at stake here. We let Reagan get away with selling weapons to terrorists. We let Dubya get away with an illegal war and lying to get us there. We let him get away with frying the world economy. We let Republicans get away with stealing a presidential election by installing their choice (the Decider) when a Democrat actually WON THE FUCKING THING.
But none of those horrible doings compares with what Donald Trump has done (and does daily) to the country. He and those around him, have to pay. We need our own Nuremberg Trials. We need to do it if for no other reason than to demonstrate that we still know right from wrong and we will not allow the horrors perpetrated on us be allowed to fade into inconsequential claptrap.
And we can't just hold some hearings, issue a report which the NY Times will eviscerate as unfair and inconclusive.
"Democrats [need to] do the one thing they can do over the next two years with majorities in the House and (hopefully) the Senate, which is to investigate the hell out of the entire executive branch, starting with Donald Trump, and including all his main minions, not excluding those that don’t hold elective office, such as Musk and Kushner. But we already know the broad outlines of what those investigations will yield, which is a tsunami of evidence of impeachable offenses, regarding an enormous array of topics, including completely unprecedented financial corruption, election interference and attempted rigging, war crimes, murders on the high seas, Jeffrey Epstein’s rape factory starring Donald Trump and many many others, the illegal destruction of the White House and other Washington monuments, and so on and so forth. Indeed Donald Trump is basically guaranteed to commit a whole bunch of flagrantly impeachable offenses between now and the scheduled seating of the new Congress, since November to January 2027 is going to be in considerable part a replay of November 2020 to January 2021, when he openly tried to overthrow the government, was impeached, and then convicted by most of the Senate, but not enough of it to actually ban him from running again (Nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky)."
And for those who think this is too much....
"...impeaching Trump again is absolutely a moral imperative, and the constitutional duty of a Congress that is supposed to actually embody the government of the United States, rather than Golf Cart Caligula and his band of total degenerates (a whole bunch of whom need to be impeached as well, starting with Tattooed Christian Warrior and the unfortunately not Dead Kennedy.)
If you don’t know whether or not doing the right thing is going to be good politics or not, then maybe you should do it just because it’s the right thing to do?"
Amen to all that.
Democrats are not gonna pass any bills. Fatty will step on anything they try to do and John Roberts and the Swine will back him up. But what we can do is make this motherfucker pay, even if it's just in the court of public opinion and for our historical legacy.
MAKE THEM PAY.
Digby has a read out of one of Fat Hitler's latest rambles. I don't recommend reading it, but you give it a scan to see all the random half thoughts and useless nothingness he blathers on about.
On Haley Stevens and other smelly pathogens.
It's unlikely, in my opinion, that Stevens' 11th hour treason will benefit the disgusting homophobic, Islamophobic election denier and Fat Hitler rubber stamp, Mike Rogers. And for once, Democrats didn't need to look at polls, check out focus groups, or convene with Chuck Schumer's consultancies behind closed doors to figure out how to respond. They instructed her immediately to tell her story walkin'.
If this scandalous shitstorm prefigures the coming battle between wishy-washy centrist Democrats and the rise of the New Democrats with, ya know, actual ideas of how to move forward, then make it so.
Purging the Party of slithering eels like Stevens can only be a good thing. And I hope she's good at bagging groceries because she ain't gonna be working in politics anymore. If she thinks Fatty calling her "brave" for helping out his bigoted buddy will gain her a certain cache with the traitors, she should be paying attention to how women who have been professional R traitors for years fare with the Fat Hitler regime.
So fuck off, Haley. Repeat after me...."Paper or plastic....would you like that milk in a bag?"
This seems like an overly sunny article that starts off with $5 trillion going up in flames. No big deal to the finance guys I guess.
"AI stocks just lost $5 trillion — but history says the stock market's sweetest stretch starts now"
Patti Smith - “People Have the Power” live in Spain joined by the crowd.
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Patti Smith
"Patti Smith calls on citizens to use the power of their vote against Trump’s ‘deplorable leadership’
Speaking in Spain to collect her Princess of Asturias Award for the Arts, the singer and writer offered her views on the US government, religiosity and the influence of Spanish culture on her career"
Cadet (draft dodger) Bone Spurs to the rescue!
Here's the Obese Coward bragging that he would have won the Vietnam War in a week, by bombing Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City). Saigon, a city housing thousands of Americans.
""I could have won the Vietnam War in a week,' Trump declared during a rally in Iowa as he closed out the final weekend of a turbulent midterm campaign. His comments came as his war in Iran, which he initially suggested would last a matter of weeks, stretches beyond the nine-month mark.
'You know they dropped whatever the hell that red [swear] is that they dropped, they kept dropping it in the forest,' the president continued, seemingly forgetting the name of Agent Orange until supporters in the crowd shouted it at him.
This from a draft dodging cowardly simpleton.
"If the US had bombed Ho Chi Minh City during the Vietnam war, they would have been attacking themselves and their allies. Ho Chi Minh City was called Saigon during the Vietnam War and was the capital of US-allied South Vietnam."
But yeah, a war that raged for 20 years, which he worked hard to avoid, he would have ended in a few days. Just like his Iran War, now in its ninth month, would have been over in 24 hours.
I have to wonder how anyone who lived through the Vietnam era, never mind people who were there, can vote for such a disgusting pig liar who claims he, the Great Donald, would have knocked off a war that lasted decades in a few days by bombing the capital of South Vietnam.
I'm sure his drooling sycophants will excuse his ignorance because he is a god to these fucking morons. But I have an old friend who woke up in a sweat for years after having been in Army intelligence on the ground in Vietnam for a little over a year. I can't wait to hear what he has to say about this claim by a fat rich kid who weaseled his way out of service but now claims that everyone there were losers.
Ron Filipkowski
"Montgomery County, OH. Population 537,309. One place you can vote early."
Josh Sweigart
"Early voting lines at the Montgomery County Board of Elections are an estimated 3 hour wait time as of 3 pm today."
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