The pandemic is raging out of control, especially in the Midwest and western Mountain states. Will this impact in-person voting on election day?
I’m not the only one wondering. Ed Kilgore writes about the surge in early voting by Democrats and wonders if Republican voting suppression efforts are backfiring.
Yes, the surge could mean massive overall turnout — or it could simply reflect fears of health risks for in-person voting on Election Day, or unusually early mail-in or in-person voting based on concerns about postal delivery or long lines. And the Democratic skew could mean a big sweep, or simply the partisanship in voting methods resulting from the president’s endless and false attacks on voting by mail….
…My colleague Eric Levitz recently speculated that Trump’s devious tactics might backfire if ongoing spikes in COVID-19 cases keep Republicans the president has convinced to vote in person instead of voting by mail to stay home on November 3. So it’s possible the GOP effort to shape an electorate in its own image could backfire twice, by scaring away Republicans and turbocharging angry Democrats. What goes around comes around, for sure.
Suppression tactics such as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s limiting drop-off boxes to one per county and shenanigans with the mail have inspired Democrats to get their votes in as early as possible, by mail and by early in-person voting. See ‘Warning flare’: New swing-state data shows massive Democratic early-vote lead at Politico. Trump voters appear to be planning to vote on election day — just in time for peak covid.
There has also been a pattern of covid spikes following in the wake of Trump rallies. Way to go, Trumpers.
(Update: See Trump campaign flouted agreement to follow health guidelines at rally, documents show.)
Elsewhere — see Jenny Gross at the New York Times, Far-Right Groups Are Behind Most U.S. Terrorist Attacks, Report Finds.
The report, published Thursday by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, found that white supremacist groups were responsible for 41 of 61 “terrorist plots and attacks” in the first eight months of this year, or 67 percent.
The finding comes about two weeks after an annual assessment by the Department of Homeland Security warned that violent white supremacy was the “most persistent and lethal threat in the homeland” and that white supremacists were the most deadly among domestic terrorists in recent years.
The report also warned that violence could rise after the election.
Also elsewhere, Jared and Ivanka are upset about these billboards in Times Square.
Jared and Ivanka are suing the Lincoln Project, who paid for the billboards. The quote attributed to Jared is from this Vanity Fair article that said Kushner, in charge of acquiring PPE and other supplies and getting them to where supplies were needed, made the political decision to let the states manage on their own. Blue states, and especially New York City, were being hit hard at the time.
“Free markets will solve this,” Kushner said dismissively. “That is not the role of government.”
The same attendee explained that although he believed in open markets, he feared that the system was breaking. As evidence, he pointed to a CNN report about New York governor Andrew Cuomo and his desperate call for supplies.
“That’s the CNN bullshit,” Kushner snapped. “They lie.”
According to another attendee, Kushner then began to rail against the governor: “Cuomo didn’t pound the phones hard enough to get PPE for his state…. His people are going to suffer and that’s their problem.”
When the Lincoln Project received a warning from the couples’ lawyer demanding the billboards be removed, the Lincoln Project tweeted this response.
Nuts! pic.twitter.com/XxxkG43z3W
— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) October 24, 2020
"Vass ist, 'nutz'?" 😉
ONLY 10 years ago, if I handed over to my agent, editor, and/or publisher my novel (that's fiction; you know, made-up stuff, if any MAGAts found their way in here) that predicted and mirrored what's actually happened this year, I'm sure one of the three would demand that I get a very thorough psychiatric examination, because the plot would be too implausible even as fiction. "Donald Trump? Ha! Ya nuts?…"
The CRAY-CRAY'S IN THE AIR!!!….
I'm sure one of the three would demand that I get a very thorough psychiatric examination, because the plot would be too implausible even as fiction.
This aint nothing, Gulag. I once read a book that had as part of the plot that a certain king demanded as a dowry for his daughter that her suitor provide him with the foreskins of 100 Philistines. Crazy huh, I mean why would anybody want a bunch of foreskins? Ilse Koch, maybe? Well, just when you think it can't get anymore bizarre the guy goes out and brings back 200 Philistine foreskins. Talk about a love story?
That's just one little episode in a book riddled with countless bizarre episodes that make even more implausible then the kind of stuff team Trump is generating. And what makes it even more bizarre is the idea that it is marketed as factual. And like Trump's incessant antics millions of people don't even question the craziness of it all.
It’s time to make up a list. Who are the current aides, employees, hired help now working for President Trump?
You may not care who you work with, who you employ, or who you associate with. But it would behoove you to know who was a former member of the Ku Klux Klan, for example. That does NOT mean you wish those people harm. But it does mean you should know who they are.
So let’s start now. We know who the many are who have been fired, who have resigned, who just aren’t there anymore. But we need the names of the people who are currently Donald Trump’s associates.
Who are they?
I would like to sleep for the next two weeks or so – like Tom Tomorrow said, "The Longest Two Weeks in Human History". Like Stephen Colbert's statement, the best thing about the most recent debate is that it will be the last debate we have to suffer Donald Trump. I hope that's true, but I'm trying to prepare myself for all possible outcomes. I know I can no longer stand to watch that guy. I've read polls where nearly everyone says "I can't stand that guy".
The Lincoln Project put forth a more verbose (and hilarious!) response that I can't blockquote in this post. Look it up on twitter). Those people are bulldogs and heroes.
Just heard a report about Trump MAGA goons being recruited to "poll watch" on election day. The Fuhrer may lose so they're going all out to intimidate democratic voters. It's backfiring, as I've heard many say they'll be damned if they let anyone prevent them from voting. Its making voters even more determined to vote out America's wannabe Hitler.
People are sick and tired of Trump, his family and their goons. Dispatching them on election day is going to feel like a national holiday. The world will celebrate.
1138645 – comment I saw on the Wapo. I love it.
New around here but just thought I’d compliment you on your postings.
I like what you have to say and I like the format.
Thanks.