Media matters for America have an interesting story on how disproportionately the 'But her emails' story against Hillary Clinton was covered by major newspapers as opposed to Trump's federal criminal indictment relating to Jan 6
I also see he's been calling opponents 'human scum' yet I've seen nothing about that from people who are still criticising Clinton for talking about 'deplorables' eight years ago.
Misogyny (including the internalised sort), right wing bias in the American press or a bit of both?
Media matters for America have an interesting story on how disproportionately the 'But her emails' story against Hillary Clinton was covered by major newspapers as opposed to Trump's federal criminal indictment relating to Jan 6
I also see he's been calling opponents 'human scum' yet I've seen nothing about that from people who are still criticising Clinton for talking about 'deplorables' eight years ago.
Misogyny (including the internalised sort), right wing bias in the American press or a bit of both?
Media matters for America have an interesting story on how disproportionately the 'But her emails' story against Hillary Clinton was covered by major newspapers as opposed to Trump's federal criminal indictment relating to Jan 6
I also see he's been calling opponents 'human scum' yet I've seen nothing about that from people who are still criticising Clinton for talking about 'deplorables' eight years ago.
Misogyny (including the internalised sort), right wing bias in the American press or a bit of both?
"Sane washing". The media is desperate for this to be a normal election with normal candidates so they have to studiously ignore or downplay 90% of the downright batshit things Trump has said and done.
"Sane washing". The media is desperate for this to be a normal election with normal candidates so they have to studiously ignore or downplay 90% of the downright batshit things Trump has said and done.
Yes, there is so much of this going on, and it's infuriating, especially in light of the scrutiny that was on President Biden before he withdrew from the race, but I digress. Here is a case in point from yesterday. Trump gave a speech at the Detroit Economic Club, in which he criticized Detroit and said the rest of the country would become "just like Detroit" if Harris wins. This is the line from his speech that is getting all the airplay - Trump lambasting the very city where he's speaking. Fair enough. But there's much more to it.
He also went on a long, nonsensical ramble, which happens frequently in his speeches and rallies, which are not being reported. (Thus the sane-washing referenced by @Arethosemyfeet.) Here is a transcription posted by writer Jim Wright (a.k.a. Stonekettle) on Facebook yesterday. I hope it's ok to quote it here. The link to the original post is Jim Wright on Facebook.
"Very big plant, uh, many countries they do that, and, uh, and then all of a sudden you hear that they're leaving Milwaukee or wherever they may be, located, very sad to see it, and, it's so simple, I mean, you know, this isn't like Elon with his rocket ships that land within twelve inches on the moon where they wanted to land, or he gets the, engines back, that was the first I really, I said who the hell did that, I saw engines, about three four years ago, these things were coming, cylinders, no wings, no nothing, and they're coming down very slowly, landing on a raft in the middle of the ocean someplace, with the, circle, boom, reminded me of, the Biden circles that he used to have, right, he'd have eight circles, and he couldn't fill them up, but then I heard he BS with the popular vote, I don't know, I don't know, couldn't fill up the eight circles, I always loved those circles, they were so beautiful, they were so beautiful to look at, in fact the person that did that, that was the best thing his, the level of that circle, was, great, but they couldn't get people, so they used to have the Press, stand in for the circles, because they couldn't get the people, then I heard we lost, oh, we lost, now we're never going to let that happen again, but we've been, abused, by other countries, we've been abused by our own politicians really more than other countries."
I've watched this and can verify it's what he said. There's some, but not nearly enough, reporting on his rambling. It's all very disturbing.
Don't take this too seriously though because Democrats tend to early vote a lot a lot more than Republicans. They'll vote though, on Nov 5th
It's not written in stone but it's a bit more than that. The analysis expects Republicans to vote more in person. The analysis is that Harris has such a big lead that she'll end up winning the state. I've seen counts that expecf Harris to be 900,000 ahead based on assumptions that most Dems voting Harris. It's likely to be more as the independents break 65/35 Democrats and upto 15% Republicans voting Harris. That's said to be twice what she needs.
Now, two important thoughts. This is not my analysis - I don't know the data well enough but I'm following a few who do. There is sound logic to the argument. It is another indicator, like opinion polls. The reason I am interested is that it's likely to be a better predictor than opinion polls. I will see if I can find a good link and keep digging.
Counting no chickens but as time goes by I am beginning to think I was wrong about Trump. He will be worse. Hence I am looking at all the data carefully.
A nifty Republican reply might be to ask where the ELCA has its bibles manufactured(*), though the subtly of that would probably be lost on the party's paid propagandists, and certainly the party faithful.
The ELCA Stidy Bible was released by Augsburg Fortress, which is headquartered in Minneapolis MN. That is what it says on its cover page.
But that is not the point. The point is Trump has long decried how China steals American jobs. Here he is selling a Bless the USA Bible published in China. In other words, he outsourced American jobs to where? I rest my case.
If he is able to sell all the Bibles, he will have grossed $7 mil. He is a grifter extraordinaire.
Bids opened Monday for a contract to supply the [ Oklahoma ] state Department of Education with 55,000 Bibles. According to the bid documents, vendors must meet certain specifications: Bibles must be the King James Version; must contain the Old and New Testaments; must include copies of the Pledge of Allegiance, Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights; and must be bound in leather or leather-like material.
A salesperson at Mardel Christian & Education searched, and though they carry 2,900 Bibles, none fit the parameters.
But one Bible fits perfectly: Lee Greenwood’s God Bless the U.S.A. Bible, endorsed by former President Donald Trump and commonly referred to as the Trump Bible. They cost $60 each online, with Trump receiving fees for his endorsement.
Mardel doesn’t carry the God Bless the U.S.A. Bible or another Bible that could meet the specifications, the We The People Bible, which was also endorsed by Donald Trump Jr. It sells for $90.
I'm not sure which I would find more disturbing, Trump colluding with Oklahoma officials to get a taxpayer funded kickback, or state officials knowing Trump likes bribes and kickbacks so they offered him one unprompted. Neither would surprise me at this point.
After that reporting, the Oklahoma Department of Education’s request for proposals (RFP) was amended Monday to say a publisher did not have to provide all the documents under one book.
How many publisher are going to put together a multi-book package to meet this bid? On the other hand the Pledge of Allegiance, Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution, and the Bill of Rights are all in the public domain, so maybe there's separate booklets already of those. I suspect they wouldn't "be bound in leather or leather-like material", though. I can't find a copy of the revised RFP to see if that requirement carries through.
A nifty Republican reply might be to ask where the ELCA has its bibles manufactured(*), though the subtly of that would probably be lost on the party's paid propagandists, and certainly the party faithful.
The ELCA Stidy Bible was released by Augsburg Fortress, which is headquartered in Minneapolis MN. That is what it says on its cover page.
But that is not the point. The point is Trump has long decried how China steals American jobs. Here he is selling a Bless the USA Bible published in China. In other words, he outsourced American jobs to where? I rest my case.
If he is able to sell all the Bibles, he will have grossed $7 mil. He is a grifter extraordinaire.
Bids opened Monday for a contract to supply the [ Oklahoma ] state Department of Education with 55,000 Bibles. According to the bid documents, vendors must meet certain specifications: Bibles must be the King James Version; must contain the Old and New Testaments; must include copies of the Pledge of Allegiance, Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights; and must be bound in leather or leather-like material.
A salesperson at Mardel Christian & Education searched, and though they carry 2,900 Bibles, none fit the parameters.
But one Bible fits perfectly: Lee Greenwood’s God Bless the U.S.A. Bible, endorsed by former President Donald Trump and commonly referred to as the Trump Bible. They cost $60 each online, with Trump receiving fees for his endorsement.
Mardel doesn’t carry the God Bless the U.S.A. Bible or another Bible that could meet the specifications, the We The People Bible, which was also endorsed by Donald Trump Jr. It sells for $90.
I'm not sure which I would find more disturbing, Trump colluding with Oklahoma officials to get a taxpayer funded kickback, or state officials knowing Trump likes bribes and kickbacks so they offered him one unprompted. Neither would surprise me at this point.
After that reporting, the Oklahoma Department of Education’s request for proposals (RFP) was amended Monday to say a publisher did not have to provide all the documents under one book.
How many publisher are going to put together a multi-book package to meet this bid? On the other hand the Pledge of Allegiance, Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution, and the Bill of Rights are all in the public domain, so maybe there's separate booklets already of those. I suspect they wouldn't "be bound in leather or leather-like material", though. I can't find a copy of the revised RFP to see if that requirement carries through.
It stinks nine ways to Sunday.
A King James Version of the Bible containing the Old and New Testament can be bought retail for $5. Probably a lot less with bulk discount and comes on much better paper than the Trump Idolatry edition. So by my calculation, even if one thinks it's a good idea to place bibles in schools, it's an astounding waste of tax-payers money to buy that edition to the tune of $3 million. And there's no possible justification. Even if you really thought that having the Pledge of Allegiance, Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights bound with a bible was a good idea, you could set up your own print run and it work out at about $10 per copy.
It's stunning, not how ridiculous this is but how naked the grift is. But then the Supreme Court has spent a good chunk of time in the last couple of years legalising bribery so, perhaps it's not stunning at all?
In addition to the above, there’s another aspect of the Trump bible and of the Oklahoma law that troubles me. That’s the specification that it include “ the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights.” The Bill of Rights is the first ten amendments, ratified in 1791. As soon as an amendment is ratified by 3/4 if the states, it becomes part of the Constitution.. There’s no need to specify the Bill of Rights … unless perhaps you didn’t intend to include the 17 additional amendments that followed them. You know, pesky things like the abolition of slavery (13th), equal protection under the law (14th), voting rights for other races (15th) and for women (19th). Are they trying to hide the fact that these rights are also in the Constitution?
In addition to the above, there’s another aspect of the Trump bible and of the Oklahoma law that troubles me. That’s the specification that it include “ the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights.” The Bill of Rights is the first ten amendments, ratified in 1791. As soon as an amendment is ratified by 3/4 if the states, it becomes part of the Constitution.. There’s no need to specify the Bill of Rights … unless perhaps you didn’t intend to include the 17 additional amendments that followed them. You know, pesky things like the abolition of slavery (13th), equal protection under the law (14th), voting rights for other races (15th) and for women (19th). Are they trying to hide the fact that these rights are also in the Constitution?
In addition to the above, there’s another aspect of the Trump bible and of the Oklahoma law that troubles me. That’s the specification that it include “ the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights.” The Bill of Rights is the first ten amendments, ratified in 1791. As soon as an amendment is ratified by 3/4 if the states, it becomes part of the Constitution.. There’s no need to specify the Bill of Rights … unless perhaps you didn’t intend to include the 17 additional amendments that followed them. You know, pesky things like the abolition of slavery (13th), equal protection under the law (14th), voting rights for other races (15th) and for women (19th). Are they trying to hide the fact that these rights are also in the Constitution?
Possibly. But I wouldn’t rule out ignorance.
Yeah, I think it's more just that the Bill Of Rights often gets talked about in everyday discourse as if it were a separate document from the rest.
A nifty Republican reply might be to ask where the ELCA has its bibles manufactured(*), though the subtly of that would probably be lost on the party's paid propagandists, and certainly the party faithful.
The ELCA Stidy Bible was released by Augsburg Fortress, which is headquartered in Minneapolis MN. That is what it says on its cover page.
But that is not the point. The point is Trump has long decried how China steals American jobs. Here he is selling a Bless the USA Bible published in China. In other words, he outsourced American jobs to where? I rest my case.
If he is able to sell all the Bibles, he will have grossed $7 mil. He is a grifter extraordinaire.
Bids opened Monday for a contract to supply the [ Oklahoma ] state Department of Education with 55,000 Bibles. According to the bid documents, vendors must meet certain specifications: Bibles must be the King James Version; must contain the Old and New Testaments; must include copies of the Pledge of Allegiance, Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights; and must be bound in leather or leather-like material.
A salesperson at Mardel Christian & Education searched, and though they carry 2,900 Bibles, none fit the parameters.
But one Bible fits perfectly: Lee Greenwood’s God Bless the U.S.A. Bible, endorsed by former President Donald Trump and commonly referred to as the Trump Bible. They cost $60 each online, with Trump receiving fees for his endorsement.
Mardel doesn’t carry the God Bless the U.S.A. Bible or another Bible that could meet the specifications, the We The People Bible, which was also endorsed by Donald Trump Jr. It sells for $90.
I'm not sure which I would find more disturbing, Trump colluding with Oklahoma officials to get a taxpayer funded kickback, or state officials knowing Trump likes bribes and kickbacks so they offered him one unprompted. Neither would surprise me at this point.
After that reporting, the Oklahoma Department of Education’s request for proposals (RFP) was amended Monday to say a publisher did not have to provide all the documents under one book.
How many publisher are going to put together a multi-book package to meet this bid? On the other hand the Pledge of Allegiance, Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution, and the Bill of Rights are all in the public domain, so maybe there's separate booklets already of those. I suspect they wouldn't "be bound in leather or leather-like material", though. I can't find a copy of the revised RFP to see if that requirement carries through.
It stinks nine ways to Sunday.
A King James Version of the Bible containing the Old and New Testament can be bought retail for $5. Probably a lot less with bulk discount and comes on much better paper than the Trump Idolatry edition. So by my calculation, even if one thinks it's a good idea to place bibles in schools, it's an astounding waste of tax-payers money to buy that edition to the tune of $3 million. And there's no possible justification. Even if you really thought that having the Pledge of Allegiance, Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights bound with a bible was a good idea, you could set up your own print run and it work out at about $10 per copy.
It's stunning, not how ridiculous this is but how naked the grift is. But then the Supreme Court has spent a good chunk of time in the last couple of years legalising bribery so, perhaps it's not stunning at all?
AFZ
As I've made clear elsewhere on this thread, I think attacks on Trump's personal moral-failings are generally useless. But I think the Oklahoma Bible Scam might be a good one to try and pin on him, since, in addition to the aforementioned connection with abortion-policy inherent to the TB itself, it also involves a rip-off of the TAXPAYERS(*).
(*) As opposed to workers in dying industries, who everyone loves to lionize as the backbone of the economy, but only wanna help insofar as it doesn't involve state handouts or protection.
Trump is now saying he intends to use the military to go after the enemy within, in particular, the radical left. Echoes of the 30s in Germany, I believe.
Trump is now saying he intends to use the military to go after the enemy within, in particular, the radical left. Echoes of the 30s in Germany, I believe.
Wonder which camp I will be sent to.
The mental contortions of Trump's defenders just get less and less credible.
Trump is getting more bizarre. Yesterday, he was visiting the hometown of Arnold Palmer, the late legendary golfer. He began by saying Arnold was all man. “When he took the showers with other pros, they came out of there. They said, ‘Oh my God. That’s unbelievable,’” Trump said with a laugh.*
Frankly, I bet when Trump took to the showers, those same pros would look at him and ask, "Is that all there is?"
If Harris wins and the Dems take Congress (a big if, I know), what are the chances we'll get elections finance reform? No one in power is talking about it that I've seen. We need legislation to overturn Citizens United, and we need the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Popular_Vote_Interstate_Compact). What else for making our presidential elections more truly democratic?
Technically, according to the CBS link above, CAH aren't offering money to vote, but this:
If an eligible voter did not cast a ballot in 2020, they are offered a payout by the game company, so long as they do the following:
Write an apology for not having voted four years ago.
Create a plan to vote.
Post a pre-written disparaging comment about former President Donald Trump on social media.
... which I think is legal in a way that paying people to vote is not. They just have to make a plan to vote, and do the other non-voting things.
I'm sure Cards Against Humanity consulted lawyers before they put together their stunt. Musk (or his lawyers) will argue that he's just paying people to sign a petition, and there's a decent chance he'll get away with it:
Brad Smith, a former chairman of the Federal Election Commission, said this was “something of a gray area” but “not that close to the line.”
“He’s not paying them to register to vote. He’s paying them to sign a petition — and he wants only people who are registered to vote to sign the petition. So I think he comes out OK here,” he said.
-- NY Times gift link
I don't know why the BBC went with the one expert legal opinion in the piece @Doublethink linked to when they could have talked to Smith, who used to be in charge of these things, who doesn't believe in regulating money in elections, and whose book was cited in the Citizens United decision. And I don't know why the New York Times didn't bother to say more about who Smith is.
The reality is no one will stop Musk before the Pennsylvania voter registration deadline, which is tomorrow (Monday). There's no telling whether he'll push a significant number of people into registering Republican or voting for Trump who wouldn't have otherwise. It's not like he doesn't have form for fucking things up (coughTeslaTwittercough).
“We are registering tens of thousands of voters, signing up tens of thousands to vote by mail, and we are maximizing early vote,” said Kevin Mack, whose tax-deductible nonprofit, the Voter Project, created the comic book and has tried to juice voting by giving away $1,000 Target gift cards, $2,000 rent checks and $10,000 grants to community groups around the Democratic-heavy neighborhoods of Philadelphia. “At the end of the day, the combined efforts will increase youth turnout in Pennsylvania by over 100,000 people.”
...
Christian Leonzo Vargas, a marketing consultant who has been leading many of the efforts, has organized coat giveaways, rent check giveaways, free “brews and ballots” events at a local brewery and backpack giveaways in recent months. This week he will hold a silent journaling event in one neighborhood, followed by a walk to an early-voting place with headphones that allow everyone who gathers to listen to the same songs.
One recent sweepstakes organized on social media gave away two $1,000 Target shopping sprees. Participants had to check their voting registration online, resulting in more than 1,000 new voting registrations, Vargas said. He said the offer of help for people struggling makes the conversation about voting easier.
All an argument for making voting compulsory, IMO.
A related thing I've been reading about is the state of the Republican get out the vote canvassing. That NBC news story talk about how the Republicans have outsourced canvassing to PACs, since the FEC now allows more coordination between PACs and campaigns; there's a real possibility that the folks in charge of this don't know what they're doing and that some of the canvassers are simply lying about knocking doors. We won't know till the dust settles, but it's interesting.
The reality is no one will stop Musk before the Pennsylvania voter registration deadline, which is tomorrow (Monday). There's no telling whether he'll push a significant number of people into registering Republican or voting for Trump who wouldn't have otherwise. It's not like he doesn't have form for fucking things up (coughTeslaTwittercough).
<snip>
A related thing I've been reading about is the state of the Republican get out the vote canvassing. That NBC news story talk about how the Republicans have outsourced canvassing to PACs, since the FEC now allows more coordination between PACs and campaigns; there's a real possibility that the folks in charge of this don't know what they're doing and that some of the canvassers are simply lying about knocking doors. We won't know till the dust settles, but it's interesting.
And bringing this full circle, one of the groups Republicans have outsourced their get out the vote effort to is . . . Elon Musk's America PAC. Things are going about as well as they are at Xitter.
The political action committee funded by billionaire Elon Musk to help re-elect former U.S. President Donald Trump is struggling in some swing states to meet doorknocking goals and is investigating claims that some canvassers lied about the number of voters they have contacted, according to people involved in the group's efforts.
The difficulties, in pivotal battleground states including Wisconsin and Nevada, come as the group, America PAC, races to enlist voters behind the Republican candidate in the final two weeks before the Nov. 5 election. Four people involved in the group's outreach told Reuters that managers warned canvassers they are missing targets and needed to raise the number of would-be voters they contact.
Alysia McMillan, who canvassed for the PAC in Wisconsin, said field organizers recently told campaigners there they weren't reaching daily objectives and were on track to miss an ultimate goal of contacting 450,000 voters by Election Day. In one meeting with canvassers, recorded by McMillan and reviewed by Reuters, a manager warned of the shortfall.
"We're not going to hit 450,000, not with what we've got now," the manager said in the Oct. 8 meeting. It isn't clear how many knocks the Wisconsin teams have reached so far.
I have to say that outsourcing key functions to private sector grifters contractors is very much in keeping with Republican's core philosophy, so kudos for consistency at least.
Another thing: all the organizational energy and money going into "poll watching" (intimidating voters and election workers) is not going into canvassing. And I would love to see how frugal Trump's campaign consultants are.
Money is clearly not everything, though. Harris is outspending Trump at an enormous rate, and the polls aren't budging.
Wasn’t sure where to post this so posted it in both this and the Donald trials and tribulations thread. I think it fits in both.
The BBC is saying that Donald Trump has suggested that Presidential candidates take cognitive tests. Really??? I am listening for words.
Wasn’t sure where to post this so posted it in both this and the Donald trials and tribulations thread. I think it fits in both.
The BBC is saying that Donald Trump has suggested that Presidential candidates take cognitive tests. Really??? I am listening for words.
That is probably the stupidest thing he's ever said in public. And, yes, I know there is very hot competition for that title.
He seems to be confusing a cognitive test with an IQ test. I will leave aside the severe limitations (& strengths) of IQ tests. I think we all understand that one can demonstrate 'brilliance' with an IQ test.
A cognitive test is very different. It is a tool designed to detect disease. It is not possible to 'ace' such a test. (As he was again claiming he had done, recently). One can either 'pass' or 'fail' - even then that's not the correct terminology.
Kamala Harris would perform normally is a cognitive test. Donald Trump would almost certainly show signs of significant mental decline.
Ironically, he's not wrong that such a screening would be a good idea for anyone who wishes to be Commander-in-Chief of the World's biggest military. The responsible way to do it is for the parties to use it as a screening tool before the primaries but that's a different conversation.
There is no way Trump can benefit here. The fact that he clearly believes he would shows just how delusional he is.
I doubt Trump has any intention of taking an independent unbiased cognitive test himself. He just wants to insinuate the impression that he's more likely to pass one than Harris. It's another attempt to project his own failings onto his opponent.
We received our mail-in ballots over the weekend. Post Office is advising people to mail them back in one week before deadline. Our state, though, says it needs to be post marked by the end of election day. Then registers expect all ballots to be in within a week after that--I think.
Wife and I will likely fill ours out this weekend. We will be able to drop them off at a county collection box downtown so will not have to worry about any postal delays.
Our state is pretty blue. Harris will likely win. However, there are four ballot initiatives that we are following. The week after election night will be very interesting as the ballots are counted.
Reports are saying Americans abroad may determine the final outcome of the elections. We will see.
In a close election, a lot of things can be said to "determine" the final outcome of the elections. Any small slice of the electorate moving one way or another matters.
In a close election, a lot of things can be said to "determine" the final outcome of the elections. Any small slice of the electorate moving one way or another matters.
That's our history. Most elections are decided on the margins.
In a close election, a lot of things can be said to "determine" the final outcome of the elections. Any small slice of the electorate moving one way or another matters.
That's our history. Most elections are decided on the margins.
Elections are complex events and their outcomes usually have multiple complex causes. After the fact we like to construct a narrative that the election was [ won / lost ] because campaign X [ did / didn't ] do Y, but it's rarely that simple.
During the campaign, Donald Trump has said several times he would want to bring all the independent agencies created by congress under the office of the president. He keeps railing against the FCC for allowing ABC, CBS, NBC for fact checking his claims.
Well, yesterday, the conservative SCOTUS, indicated it might be not all that easy. They turned down a request from the Consumer Research Council, to put the Consumer Protection Agency--a independent government agency--under the office of the president. Consumer Research is arguing no government agency should be able to make any rulings without checks and balances, that it should be under the executive branch for review.
This kind of stops Trump in his tracks, it seems, should he be re-elected, I think.
If you have 21 minutes to spare and enjoy solid biblical exposition, here's another burst of Pat Kahnke talking about Truth, and Trump. Sorry I have turned into something of a fanboy - I don't often hear preaching like this these days.
In a close election, a lot of things can be said to "determine" the final outcome of the elections. Any small slice of the electorate moving one way or another matters.
All must work together, and in unprecedented numbers to safeguard both the office of the Presidency of this country, as well as the nature and existence of our Democracy itself.
I just voted. I was out and drove by the early voting site nearest our house, and was surprised to see if wasn’t crowded. From getting in line to walking out the door, it was 15 minutes total. Every other time I’ve driven by an early voting site, the lines have been very long.
I am feeling so distressed to live in a country where Trump is even on the ballot. No matter who wins, I do not think I will ever overcome that. If I were younger, I think I would have left by now.
I'm not going anywhere. Worst case scenario, if we go the route Germany took in 1933, I'm safe - I'm white and native-born, and I have money and don't need a job. I'd have choices to make about how many risks I took and how much trouble I got into. If too many people in my shoes leave or just put their heads down and go along, everything gets worse for people at real risk.
Also, it's my country. It's our country. Let's not just give it to those assholes.
I've said the opposite to my kids. Life is preciously short, and the US is merely one of a myriad of freedom-loving, democratic countries, many of which function under stable, competent, even progressive governments. Progeny_1 is 24 and Progeny_2 is 21.
Comments
https://www.mediamatters.org/new-york-times/major-papers-are-giving-trumps-jan-6-indictment-dramatically-less-attention-they-did
I also see he's been calling opponents 'human scum' yet I've seen nothing about that from people who are still criticising Clinton for talking about 'deplorables' eight years ago.
Misogyny (including the internalised sort), right wing bias in the American press or a bit of both?
Both.
See here for another example of how awful the media is
https://x.com/sturdyAlex/status/1844353705069658388?t=ju2v0DmnCTLqrMZqGL82ww&s=19
"Sane washing". The media is desperate for this to be a normal election with normal candidates so they have to studiously ignore or downplay 90% of the downright batshit things Trump has said and done.
Yes, there is so much of this going on, and it's infuriating, especially in light of the scrutiny that was on President Biden before he withdrew from the race, but I digress. Here is a case in point from yesterday. Trump gave a speech at the Detroit Economic Club, in which he criticized Detroit and said the rest of the country would become "just like Detroit" if Harris wins. This is the line from his speech that is getting all the airplay - Trump lambasting the very city where he's speaking. Fair enough. But there's much more to it.
He also went on a long, nonsensical ramble, which happens frequently in his speeches and rallies, which are not being reported. (Thus the sane-washing referenced by @Arethosemyfeet.) Here is a transcription posted by writer Jim Wright (a.k.a. Stonekettle) on Facebook yesterday. I hope it's ok to quote it here. The link to the original post is Jim Wright on Facebook.
I've watched this and can verify it's what he said. There's some, but not nearly enough, reporting on his rambling. It's all very disturbing.
Don't take this too seriously though because Democrats tend to early vote a lot a lot more than Republicans. They'll vote though, on Nov 5th
It's not written in stone but it's a bit more than that. The analysis expects Republicans to vote more in person. The analysis is that Harris has such a big lead that she'll end up winning the state. I've seen counts that expecf Harris to be 900,000 ahead based on assumptions that most Dems voting Harris. It's likely to be more as the independents break 65/35 Democrats and upto 15% Republicans voting Harris. That's said to be twice what she needs.
Now, two important thoughts. This is not my analysis - I don't know the data well enough but I'm following a few who do. There is sound logic to the argument. It is another indicator, like opinion polls. The reason I am interested is that it's likely to be a better predictor than opinion polls. I will see if I can find a good link and keep digging.
Counting no chickens but as time goes by I am beginning to think I was wrong about Trump. He will be worse. Hence I am looking at all the data carefully.
No confidence but cautious optimism.
AFZ
Speaking of the Bible grift, Oklahoma recently passed a law mandating Bible instruction in all public schools. This will probably eventually be ruled unconstitutional costing Oklahoma taxpayers a lot of legal fees, but before that there will be other expenses.
I'm not sure which I would find more disturbing, Trump colluding with Oklahoma officials to get a taxpayer funded kickback, or state officials knowing Trump likes bribes and kickbacks so they offered him one unprompted. Neither would surprise me at this point.
After this came to public attention the RFP was amended, kind of.
How many publisher are going to put together a multi-book package to meet this bid? On the other hand the Pledge of Allegiance, Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution, and the Bill of Rights are all in the public domain, so maybe there's separate booklets already of those. I suspect they wouldn't "be bound in leather or leather-like material", though. I can't find a copy of the revised RFP to see if that requirement carries through.
It stinks nine ways to Sunday.
A King James Version of the Bible containing the Old and New Testament can be bought retail for $5. Probably a lot less with bulk discount and comes on much better paper than the Trump Idolatry edition. So by my calculation, even if one thinks it's a good idea to place bibles in schools, it's an astounding waste of tax-payers money to buy that edition to the tune of $3 million. And there's no possible justification. Even if you really thought that having the Pledge of Allegiance, Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights bound with a bible was a good idea, you could set up your own print run and it work out at about $10 per copy.
It's stunning, not how ridiculous this is but how naked the grift is. But then the Supreme Court has spent a good chunk of time in the last couple of years legalising bribery so, perhaps it's not stunning at all?
AFZ
Yeah, I think it's more just that the Bill Of Rights often gets talked about in everyday discourse as if it were a separate document from the rest.
As I've made clear elsewhere on this thread, I think attacks on Trump's personal moral-failings are generally useless. But I think the Oklahoma Bible Scam might be a good one to try and pin on him, since, in addition to the aforementioned connection with abortion-policy inherent to the TB itself, it also involves a rip-off of the TAXPAYERS(*).
(*) As opposed to workers in dying industries, who everyone loves to lionize as the backbone of the economy, but only wanna help insofar as it doesn't involve state handouts or protection.
Wonder which camp I will be sent to.
The mental contortions of Trump's defenders just get less and less credible.
Time to vote in very big numbers America.
Trump doesn't care. Listen to his rhetoric. He is calling for all out war, not law enforcement.
https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/kamala-harris-in-plagiarising-row-as-shes-accused-of-stealing-from-martin-luther/
Tsk, Tsk, Tsk.
Still, it is shocking that Harris would have claimed that. Donald Trump, of course, has never lied in his whole entire life.
Until he learned to speak.
This.
The sharper irony here is that Martin Luther King plagiarized a fair bit in his own time.
His {MLK's] habit of plagiarizing others’ work, intentionally or not, can be found in the various drafts of his [doctoral] dissertation.
It's the most honest comment I've yet seen on western democracy - and US tech company attitudes to data privacy. He really is the cynic's poster boy.
Frankly, I bet when Trump took to the showers, those same pros would look at him and ask, "Is that all there is?"
*AP story here
Since I'm busy in the Styx complaining about the quality of discussion - Obama's dick joke at the DNC was at least funny.
Cards Against Humanity is only offering $100 to vote against Trump in swing states, but it's a sure thing, not a lottery. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-voting-2024-election-cards-against-humanity-spacex-musk/
If Harris wins and the Dems take Congress (a big if, I know), what are the chances we'll get elections finance reform? No one in power is talking about it that I've seen. We need legislation to overturn Citizens United, and we need the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Popular_Vote_Interstate_Compact). What else for making our presidential elections more truly democratic?
... which I think is legal in a way that paying people to vote is not. They just have to make a plan to vote, and do the other non-voting things.
I don't know why the BBC went with the one expert legal opinion in the piece @Doublethink linked to when they could have talked to Smith, who used to be in charge of these things, who doesn't believe in regulating money in elections, and whose book was cited in the Citizens United decision. And I don't know why the New York Times didn't bother to say more about who Smith is.
The reality is no one will stop Musk before the Pennsylvania voter registration deadline, which is tomorrow (Monday). There's no telling whether he'll push a significant number of people into registering Republican or voting for Trump who wouldn't have otherwise. It's not like he doesn't have form for fucking things up (coughTeslaTwittercough).
There is all sorts of crazy get out the vote shit happening:
All an argument for making voting compulsory, IMO.
A related thing I've been reading about is the state of the Republican get out the vote canvassing. That NBC news story talk about how the Republicans have outsourced canvassing to PACs, since the FEC now allows more coordination between PACs and campaigns; there's a real possibility that the folks in charge of this don't know what they're doing and that some of the canvassers are simply lying about knocking doors. We won't know till the dust settles, but it's interesting.
And bringing this full circle, one of the groups Republicans have outsourced their get out the vote effort to is . . . Elon Musk's America PAC. Things are going about as well as they are at Xitter.
I have to say that outsourcing key functions to private sector grifters contractors is very much in keeping with Republican's core philosophy, so kudos for consistency at least.
Money is clearly not everything, though. Harris is outspending Trump at an enormous rate, and the polls aren't budging.
The BBC is saying that Donald Trump has suggested that Presidential candidates take cognitive tests. Really??? I am listening for words.
That is probably the stupidest thing he's ever said in public. And, yes, I know there is very hot competition for that title.
He seems to be confusing a cognitive test with an IQ test. I will leave aside the severe limitations (& strengths) of IQ tests. I think we all understand that one can demonstrate 'brilliance' with an IQ test.
A cognitive test is very different. It is a tool designed to detect disease. It is not possible to 'ace' such a test. (As he was again claiming he had done, recently). One can either 'pass' or 'fail' - even then that's not the correct terminology.
Kamala Harris would perform normally is a cognitive test. Donald Trump would almost certainly show signs of significant mental decline.
Ironically, he's not wrong that such a screening would be a good idea for anyone who wishes to be Commander-in-Chief of the World's biggest military. The responsible way to do it is for the parties to use it as a screening tool before the primaries but that's a different conversation.
There is no way Trump can benefit here. The fact that he clearly believes he would shows just how delusional he is.
(Dr) AFZ
P.s. This link is helpful:
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/22306-cognitive-test
I see what you mean. Feels like that's not what he was reaching for, but maybe!
Wife and I will likely fill ours out this weekend. We will be able to drop them off at a county collection box downtown so will not have to worry about any postal delays.
Our state is pretty blue. Harris will likely win. However, there are four ballot initiatives that we are following. The week after election night will be very interesting as the ballots are counted.
Reports are saying Americans abroad may determine the final outcome of the elections. We will see.
That's our history. Most elections are decided on the margins.
Elections are complex events and their outcomes usually have multiple complex causes. After the fact we like to construct a narrative that the election was [ won / lost ] because campaign X [ did / didn't ] do Y, but it's rarely that simple.
Well, yesterday, the conservative SCOTUS, indicated it might be not all that easy. They turned down a request from the Consumer Research Council, to put the Consumer Protection Agency--a independent government agency--under the office of the president. Consumer Research is arguing no government agency should be able to make any rulings without checks and balances, that it should be under the executive branch for review.
This kind of stops Trump in his tracks, it seems, should he be re-elected, I think.
Story here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcfO68mObW8
All must work together, and in unprecedented numbers to safeguard both the office of the Presidency of this country, as well as the nature and existence of our Democracy itself.
Also, it's my country. It's our country. Let's not just give it to those assholes.