Lawyers Winners of Elections, Other Lawsuits

The real winners of the midterm elections and the first 662 days of Dictator Donald Trump (DDT) in the Oval Office are the lawyers. Nowhere has this been more obvious in the past week than in the South where Georgia and Florida Republican officials—candidates for offices—are screaming “fraud” and charging off to the courts.

During a campaign rally a few days before the 2016 presidential election, Dictator Donald Trump (DDT) said, “I will totally accept the results of this great and historic presidential election—if I win.” He won and accepted the electoral vote although not the popular vote—which he lost. Now he’s losing in at least three states and refusing to accept the midterm election races.

As Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s lead over his opponent Sen. Bill Nelson (D) dwindles, Scott, also the U.S. Senate candidate, has been joined by Rudy Giuliani and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) to echo DDT’s cry of voter fraud despite disagreement from the state secretary of state, a Scott-appointed Republican. Scott didn’t object to GOP counties breaking his own emergency order when predominantly GOP Bay County, hit hard by a recent hurricane, allowed voters to illegally cast ballots by email.

Scott filed at least five lawsuits trying to defeat Nelson, including not counting all ballots received after Election Day which disenfranchises all overseas voters including veterans. Florida voters are now suing him for illegally abusing his position as governor to win his race for U.S. senator by stopping the counting of legal votes. Despite Scott’s lawsuits, Florida has started a machine recount of the vote and may have a manual vote if the difference in that election drops below 0.25 percent. Scott is ahead by about 12,000 votes in 8 million plus ballots before all have been counted; Florida’s gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum is behind GOP Ron DeSantis by about 40,000 votes.

In Georgia, former Secretary of State Brian Kemp, who resigned when he falsely declared himself governor-elect, has lost a lawsuit to block ballots. In this election of almost four million voters, his Democratic opponent, Stacy Abrams, is behind by about 58,000 votes, but a judge has ruled that provisional ballots must be counted because Kemp, in charge of elections, has not maintained voter information security, increasing the risk that his purge of over 700,000 names on the registered rolls was illegally “manipulated or mismanaged.” The court orders mandated publicity about a website for provisional ballot voters to find information about whether their provisional ballots had been counted and why. The judge stated that the ballots were rejected “through no fault of their own.”

Under Kemp, Georgia voter updates by people getting or renewing state driver’s licenses never moved into the state’s voter database, and they didn’t know that Georgia had illegally failed to register them to vote. State law mandates that provisional ballots are counted only if names are on the voter registration list where they may have been removed because of Kemp’s actions. The Help Americans Vote Act (HAVA) requires the provisional ballots be counted if voters are eligible to vote.

Another judge ordered Georgia to count 5,000 ballots rejected because voters didn’t complete date of birth when signing mail-in ballot envelopes and ordered the state’s vote counting to continue until Friday instead of ending today. As of Sunday, Abrams needed 19,000 more votes to trigger a recount and 21,000 more to force a December runoff. The almost 22,000 provisional ballots plus over 2,000 ballots coming from overseas and military brings the total of uncounted ballots to nearly 29,000.

The November 27 run-off for U.S. Senate pits Mississippi candidates Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R) against Mike Espy, behind by 8,000 votes, for the final two years of a senate term because neither candidates garnered 50 percent of the vote. At a campaign rally four days before the midterm elections, Hyde-Smith responded to a man who praised her, “If he invited me to a public hanging, I’d be on the front row.” Mississippi recorded at least 581 lynchings of black people, about 12 percent of the 4,743 between 1882 and 1968 and the most of any state in the country. DDT-supporter Hyde-Smith repeatedly refused to answer questions by saying that she had issued a statement calling the remark an “exaggerated expression of regard.”

DDT already lost the U.S. Senate position in Arizona that went to the Democrat Krysten Sinema. Opponent Martha McSally was gracious in her concession, perhaps because she expects to be appointed to former Sen. John McCain’s position if Jon Kyle leaves in January.

A sour-grapes failed GOP candidate for the Arizona legislature is suing her winning opponent, U.S.-born Latina Raquel Terán, accusing her of not being a U.S. citizen. Alice Novoa already sued Terán in 2012 for the same (non)offense, and the case was dismissed because her attorney provided the birth certificate. Novoa avoided $650 in court fees with her claim that she doesn’t work and has no income.

Nonelection lawsuits:

Maryland opened to door to lawsuits involving DDT’s unlawful appointment of Matthew Whitaker as acting AG for Jeff Sessions replacement. Brian Frosh, Maryland AG, asked a federal judge to remove Whitaker from that position because the appointment is unconstitutional. This request is part of the state’s ongoing lawsuit to force DDT to retain a key provision of the Affordable are Act, including protections for people with pre-exiting conditions. Maryland AG Brian Frosh declared that any action Whitaker takes regarding the ACA for the federal government would be invalid because he cannot legally serve as acting AG and asks for an immediate injunction. In 2014, Whitaker maintained that the U.S. Supreme Court’s upholding the ACA was one of the worse rulings in its entire history.

DDT believes that he is protected in Whitaker’s appointment by the 1998 Federal Vacancies Reform Act, stating that a president may temporarily fill a vacancy for a position requiring Senate confirmation with any senior official who has been in the department for at least 90 days. Another statute makes the deputy attorney general next in line at the DOJ. The lawsuit maintains that a more specific law takes precedence over a more general law. The AG also argues that DDT should have less flexibility in replacing the AG because a president under investigation could install a “carefully selected senior employee who he was confident would terminate or otherwise severely limit” the inquiry. Whitaker is justifying his position with an 1898 Supreme Court Case supporting the appointment of the acting U.S. consult in the country that is now Thailand when no one else was available after the Senate-confirmed consult was sick. The argument against this case is that the AG office did not become vacant through an unexpected emergency and several Senate-confirmed DOJ officials are available.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) has also called for hearings to address “serious questions” about his appointment because of Whitaker’s outspoken opposition to the Robert Mueller investigation.

In a First Amendment lawsuit, CNN is suing the White House for stripping Jim Acosta’s of his press credentials. Acosta was targeted after false accusations of “laying hands” on a press intern. The accurate video shows her stepping into his space to grab his microphone and his saying, “Pardon me, ma’am.” Also included in the suit are tops aides John Kelly, Sarah Sanders, Bill Shine, the head of the Secret Service, and the officer who took Acosta’s pass. After a complaint was filed, the White House claimed that Acosta lost his credentials because he refused to give up his microphone.

The DOJ has also asked the U.S. Supreme Court to stop lawsuits in three courts of appeal—the 2^nd, the 9^th, and the D.C.—to block President Obama’s DACA program where these courts allow the program to continue.

DDT’s administration is also facing a lawsuit accusing Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and a top deputy of sexism in determining their policy decisions. Filed in January, the lawsuit argues against DeVos’ prevention of Title IX guidance on handling campus sexual assault cases; the current filing adds that her decision was impacted by discriminatory and stereotyped views of women, based on evidence obtained through the Freedom of Information Act. These records show that the Department of Education obtained input from sources pushing inflated and widely discredited statistics about false rape allegations. Another source came from Candice Jackson, who provided a book  Unwanted Advances: Sexual Paranoia Comes to Campus (Laura Kipnis), that falsely described the Title IX guidance permitting women to seek legal recourse for “awkward sexual experiences” and then ask for protection from “sexual bogeymen.” Jackson also received information from Gordon Finley, part of the National Coalition for Men, who referred to the former Title IX guidance as a “war on men,” and she falsely maintained that 90 percent of sexual assault accusations come from misunderstandings or drunken regrets. Other sources provided prejudicial information to the department’s leaders about claims regarding sexual assault. DDT’s statements and behavior toward women also figure into the lawsuit’s amendment on sexism.

Two weeks ago, DeVos lost her court battle after she tried to end regulations helping defrauded students receive federal loan forgiveness and keep colleges from mandating arbitration for complaint resolution instead of going to court. President Obama’s consumer protections are now in effect.

DDT ‘Low Energy’ on 100th Anniversary of World War I

World War I ended at 11:11 am on November 11, 2018—100 years ago today. Thirty-two countries fought in the four-year war that killed nine million combatants and seven million civilians, followed by genocides and the 1918 influenza epidemic, which caused between 50 and 100 million deaths worldwide. One-fifth of the world’s population of under two billion people were infected by the 1918 flu.

In commemoration of the solemn event, French President Emmanuel Macron called over 60 countries together for a three-day Paris Peace Forum, and many world leaders attending commemorative events in France. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau went to Canada’s National Memorial in France at Vimy Ridge on Saturday, and Macron went with German Chancellor Angela Merkel (right) to Compiègne, 80 miles northeast of Paris, where the peace agreement was signed on November 11, 1918. “We owe it to our soldiers,” said Macron about their journey.

Around 1,000 members of the public, including French and German schoolchildren, were invited to the ceremony. Sixteen-year-old Mickaël Arlin, 16, who was visiting World War I commemorative sites, said:

“It has helped us understand what is at stake today and helped us go further than just words.”

Dictator Donald Trump (DDT), who flew to Paris for the weekend, cancelled his visit to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery, next to the site of the Battle of Belleau Wood where American Marines stopped a German offensive in 1918. The remains of 2,289 war dead are buried at the Aines-Marne cemetery is home to the remains of 2,289 war dead. DDT, 72, stayed in Paris and watched television, sending Chief of Staff John Kelly, 68, in his place. Winston Churchill’s grandson, Nicholas Soames, tweeted:

 “They died with their face to the foe and that pathetic inadequate @realDonaldTrump couldn’t even defy the weather to pay his respects to The Fallen #hesnotfittorepresenthisgreatcountry.”

David Frum, George W. Bush’s speech-writer and political commentator, tweeted:

“It’s incredible that a president would travel to France for this significant anniversary—and then remain in his hotel room watching TV rather than pay in person his respects to the Americans who gave their lives in France for the victory gained 100 years ago tomorrow.”

A concern from some is that DDT lacked the strength to make the trip to the cemetery. After the adrenalin-pumping events of rallies for almost two months, DDT reportedly seemed distracted and disengaged, according to the WaPo, especially after his losses in the midterm elections and his problems with journalists. During his meeting with Macron, DDT seemed subdued, almost “sullen.” Kelly Magsamen, who served as a high-ranking Pentagon official on Asia affairs, used DDT’s term in a tweet with the description, “It’s real low energy.” That was DDT’s pejorative term for his opponents, and he ridiculed President Obama by calling him feckless and weak on the world stage.

REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/Pool – RC17A17FAAE0

The only time DDT looked delighted was seeing Russian president Vladimir Putin at the Arc de Triomphe. DDT had not seen Putin since the Helsinki summit in July. WaPo columnist Brian Klass wrote:

“Putin murders journalists & opponents, recently used a nerve agent to assassinate a dissident on British soil, annexed Crimea, facilitates war crimes, and attacked American democracy. This is how Trump reacted when he saw him.”

David Schneider advised his Twitter followers:

“Find someone who looks at you the way Trump looks at Putin.”

The photo (left) showed part of the warm greeting between the two that included nods, shoulder taps, and thumbs-up. DDT denied that he planned to talk with Putin in Paris, but Putin told Russian news agencies that he did talk with DDT.

DDT skipped the meetings to explore ways for world peace. Instead he flew home today, sending angry tweets about taking federal aid from California because of the current disastrous fires and claiming that counting the ballots in Florida is a “STEAL.”

DDT had become angry with Macron for his statement that Europe must be able to “defend itself alone—and without relying on the United States—in a more sovereign manner.” Macron tried to calm DDT’s anger but claims of “good friends” were not supported by body language. Europe has become increasingly upset with DDT after he has pulled out of accords such as the Paris climate agreement, the Iran nuclear deal, and the Russia nuclear agreement.

Weeks ago, DDT declared himself a “nationalist” in campaigning for Republicans; in Macron’s speech today to over 80 world leaders, he said:

“Nationalism is a betrayal of patriotism. By saying, ‘Our interests first, who cares about the others,’ we erase what a nation holds dearest, what gives it life, what gives it grace and what is essential: its moral values.”

DDT has returned from his non-productive 44-hour 3,800-mile trip and faces the same problems he left—viral opposition to his replacement for AG Jeff Sessions, Democratic House members discussion what they will investigate in his administration, spending bills that cannot pass without Democratic approval, the hush money case about women, immigration problems, constitutional concerns of birthright citizenship, and the killing of U.S. resident and journalist Jamal Khashoggi complete with recordings of Saudi Arabians’ murdering him while he wants the Saudis to keep giving his business money. No wonder he’s low energy.

Midterm Elections Not ‘Big Victory’ for GOP

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) claims that Democrats want “to steal the election.” His proof? Democrats want to count every vote. Dictator Donald Trump (DDT) wants new elections in Florida and Arizona because a continued count of ballots is favoring three Democrats, both governor races and the U.S. Senate race in Florida. GOP lawsuits against continuing to count ballots are flying fast and furious, and Gov. Rick Scott, also candidate for U.S. senator from Florida, wants to use his gubernatorial power to stop counting votes before his opponent gets a majority and at least manages a recount. And Republicans no longer care about the caravan in Mexico that consumed their media before the election.

Gov. Scott tried to stop the votes from being counted with the law enforcement after three-fourths of his lead on Election night disappeared, leaving him only 15,000 votes ahead. Candidate Scott is suing to block counting after accusing “liberal activists” of trying to “steal the election.”

Former Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-FL), once a Republican, said his absentee ballot was rejected for “invalid signature.” Another voter was told that her signature with her finger on a smart pad at the polling place didn’t match the ID. Cindy McCain, widow of former Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) tweeted about the vote counting issue:

“I am one of those mail in ballots. I was under the impression my vote was always counted.”

While Republicans win, GOP leaders stay quiet; the minute that the vote swings in the opposite direction, they go batsh*t crazy. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), who once called Dictator Donald Trump (DDT) a “con man,” joined Scott in coming unglued about Broward County, home to almost two million people, taking longer to count votes than Bay County with 150,000 residents. Broward County leans Democrat, so Rubio alleges that “democrat lawyers” are descending on Florida “to try to steal a seat in the U.S. Senate.” The GOP game plan in Florida is the same as in 2000 when Al Gore supposedly lost Florida by 537 votes: stop the recount and declare Republicans the winner before the discovery that the Democrats have more votes.

With no evidence, DDT and his sort-of lawyer Rudy Giuliani leaped into the fray to portray the Florida counts as rigged, supporting Scott and Rubio in their unfounded claims of voter fraud. Despite lack of legal basis, Giuliani wants to “disqualify [Broward and Palm Beach] votes counted only after all other counties were finished.” He also referred to “[Clinton] Hillary’s lawyers trying to steal Florida election,” probably meaning Nelson’s lawyer Marc Elias who was Clinton’s general counsel during her 2016 presidential campaign. Fox’s Sean Hannity said, ““I’ve never seen anything like this in my life,” meaning that he was born after 2000.

Three retired military leaders respond to GOP attempts to stop the voting in three of the 50 states:

“We, the men and women who served under our command, and everyone who served in the Armed Forces swore an oath to protect the Constitution of the United States. Many died, and many were wounded, protecting it, and our sacred right to vote — and see that vote counted.

“It is appalling that Trump Republicans in Florida, Arizona and Georgia are fighting to stop accurately counting all the votes, as they lose ground. It dishonors everything our troops have fought for, and died for.

“We want to be very clear: Taking actions to stop counting votes is not only un-democratic, it is downright un-American.” – General (US Army, Ret.) Wesley K. Clark, Major General (US Army, Ret.) Paul D. Eaton, and Brigadier General (US Army, Ret.) Steven M. Anderson

Despite GOP efforts to suppress the vote, at least 123 women—103 Democrats and 20 Republicans—will be in the 116^th Congress beginning in January 2019, and another ten women could join them. Many of the women are “firsts” in congressional records: age, ethnicity, religion, and states that they represent. Barry Blitt celebrated these women for the New Yorker cover.

Six state legislative chambers also flipped from GOP to Democratic.

Democrats may have fewer senators, governors, and state legislatures, but they comprise the majority of state attorneys general. After flipping four seats in Colorado, Michigan, Nevada, and Wisconsin from Republicans, the 27 Democratic AGs will continue to protect states and serve as a check to DDT’s executive orders. Another four AGs are in play as governors of Alaska, Hawaii, and Wyoming appoint three of them, and the statehouse in Maine elects one.

Voters in 37 states voted on a total of 157 ballot measures on Election Day; here’s sample of the mostly good news:

North Carolina: Voters blocked constitutional amendments that would have packed a state supreme court to continue more gerrymandering and voter suppression, measures that the courts had failed to stop earlier. A GOP election-rigging scheme blew up and installed a civil rights Democrat in the state Supreme Court that led to a court of five Democrats and two Republicans. Voters in the state did pass the GOP photo voter ID mandate, but the state Supreme Court could hear a lawsuit against it.

Michigan: Voters instated a fully independent redistricting commission, removing the ability of GOP lawmakers to gerrymandering congressional and legislative redistricting. Colorado and Missouri passed redistricting reform, and a similar measure in Utah has a one-point lead. To illustrate the importance of Michigan’s vote to remove gerrymandering, President Obama won the popular vote of the state by almost 60 percent in 2012, the same year that the GOP took over 60 percent of the U.S. representatives. Pennsylvania gained three Democratic seats in the House after the state’s Supreme Court struck down its gerrymandered maps last January. These six states show the effect of gerrymandering. [visual gerrymandering]

Maryland: Voters approved same-day voter registration by two to one. Michigan also passed the same law; 18 states and D.C. now let voters register at the same time that they vote on Election Day. North Carolina voters can register during the early-voting period. Other increased voting accessibility in Michigan include automatic voter registration, removal of the need for an excuse to vote absentee, protection of the straight-ticket voting option, and regular election audits for accuracy. Previously, Michigan Republican legislators had allowed unrestricted absentee voting only to voters 60 or older, the GOP base. Republicans also hate straight-ticket voting because it is more popular with blacks, who largely tend to be Democrats.

Nevada: Voters passed an automatic voter registration while doing business with the DMV. That brings the total of “motor-voter” registration to 13 states and D.C.

Florida: Voters overwhelmingly voted to allow people with felony convictions to vote—1.5 million citizens in the state. Laws like this passed in many states after the Civil War were intended to block black voters. Gov. Rick Scott almost ended clemency to return voting rights for specific individuals (aka non-GOP supporters) in 2011. People in prison, on parole or probation, and with murder or sexual offenses may not vote, allowing another 1.4 million people this right. The remaining question is whether Florida will require a poll tax in the form of repaying all court fines and fees, cutting the number to 840,000 new voters.

Michigan & Colorado: Voters elected Democrats for secretaries of state, positions that Republicans use to purge eligible voters. In New Hampshire, the newly-elected Democrat state legislature can replace longtime Secretary of State Bill Gardner, the Democrat-in-name-only appointed by Republicans. Georgia’s Democratic Secretary of State John Barrow, trailing by only 0.6 percent heads to a December 4 runoff. Arizona has called the position for its GOP candidate for the position, but the Democrat is behind by only 21,000 votes with hundreds of thousands of ballots left to be counted.

Idaho, Nebraska, & Utah: Medicaid expansion passed but failed in Montana.

Missouri & Arkansas: Voters passed minimum wage increases.

Washington: New gun control measures passed.

Missouri & Utah: Voters approved medical marijuana with that ballot measure the most popular one in Missouri. Thirty-three states and D.C. now have some form of legalized medical marijuana, and another 14 have laws allowing cannabis but limiting that THC content. Michigan passed recreational marijuana, bringing the total to ten states. Only North Dakota blocked a cannabis initiative, keeping medical marijuana but not approving recreational marijuana. Former AG Jeff Sessions, who declared a war on cannabis, has been fired.

Massachusetts: Voters stopped discrimination against transgender rights by keeping a 2016 law barring discrimination against transgender people in public spaces.

Oregon: Voters rejected a measure banning public funding for abortions available to low-income women. Alabama and West Virginia voters passed measures to prevent a woman’s right to have an abortion through “personhood,” but the initiative is unconstitutional until the GOP Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade.

In paranoid North Dakota, voters approved a change to the constitution: instead of “every citizen” can vote, they approved “only a citizen” can vote. And Colorado voted to prohibit slavery, once and for all, despite 35 percent of the voters—26 DDT-supporting counties of 64 in the state—supporting the practice as punishment for a crime.

Midterm elections are not over. Florida and Georgia are still counting votes for governor, and Arizona and Florida are doing the same for the U.S. Senate. Mississippi has a run-off for one of the U.S. senate positions as well as a congressional representative. Another dozen House races in nine states are still up in the air. And those undecided races don’t include the recounts and lawsuits that will emerge.

DDT: Week 94 – Midterm Elections a ‘Big Victory’

The past week has not been a success for Dictator Donald Trump (DDT), despite what he claims. He did not take the midterm loss of the U.S. House gracefully. George W. Bush called the Dems taking the House in 2006 a “thumping”; President Obama described the GOP taking the House back in 2010 a “shellacking.”  By today, Democrats have taken over at least 32 GOP seats in the House with another possible eight; DDT declared the GOP loss a big victory.

DDT thought he could protect himself by firing AG Jeff Sessions and appointing Matthew Whitaker, but that ploy may also fail. Even Fox’s commentator Judge Anthony Napolitano believes that DDT’s appointment of Matthew Whitaker as Acting AG is illegal because he was never confirmed by the Senate. Napolitano said:

“Under the law, the person running the Department of Justice must have been approved by the United States Senate for some previous position. Even on an interim post.”

Napolitano also pointed out that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is next in line for the position. Napolitano’s position adds fuel to the possibility of Whitaker’s direct ethics violations by taking control of Robert Mueller’s investigation after extensive public criticisms and suggestions for subverting Mueller’s work. Interfering with Mueller’s work could put Whitaker under investigation by the person he is supposedly supervising. Napolitano added that a president cannot fire an AG for the purpose of shaking up the leadership of DOJ and interfere with a criminal investigation that the president opposes. In asserting that Mueller has been authorized to investigate only links and coordination between the DDT campaign and the Russian government is wrong.

George Conway, husband of White House adviser Kellyanne Conway, wrote that DDT’s appointment violates the constitution.

“I don’t know Matt Whitaker,” DDT said in response to a question about whether he had talked to Whitaker about the Russian investigation. That was four weeks after he told Fox & Friends, “I know Matt Whitaker.” The latter is more likely because he hosted him frequently in the Oval Office—at least over a dozen times—and frequently spoke with him on the phone. In September, a White House aide said that Whitaker has an easy chemistry with DDT. While Sessions’ Chief of Staff, Whitaker also privately advised DDT about how he could pressure the DOJ to investigate people he viewed as his political enemies.

DDT tried to claim that Whitaker doesn’t need to be confirmed to the DOJ because special investigator Robert Mueller wasn’t confirmed. Special counsels aren’t confirmed because the DOJ names and supervises them. Instead, Whitaker has been appointed to supervise the entire DOJ although his only “confirmation” was as a federal prosecutor 14 years ago. Rationale people can find many more reasons that Whitaker isn’t fit for the DOJ AG. One might be that he stated that all judges should be Christians with a “biblical sense of justice,” specifically from the New Testament.  That requirement eliminates two Supreme Court justices.

A big problem for Whitaker moving forward, however, may be his role with World Patent Marketing, accused of fraud by customers and settling for over $25 million. More than just an advisor on the board, Whitaker threatened critics, including customers, of legal action if they continued with their complaints. He refused to respond to an October 2017 from the FTC for his records related to the company, and he refused to pay customers his share of monies that the company bilked from them. Some of these people are veterans who lost their life savings after fraudulent promises convinced them to invest in the company. Whitaker sometimes appeared to act as the company’s attorney, going so far as to emphasizing that he was a former U.S. attorney in his threats. Whitaker also appeared in promotional materials for the company and was named in scripts to persuade wishful inventors to pay as much as $400,000 each.

The FBI and the United States Postal Inspection Service have opened a criminal investigation into the company after concluding that it actively “suppressed” complaints about the company through “threats, intimidation and gag clauses.” A press release noted that the company director used legal action as a threatening cudgel to stop customers from posting negative reviews online or reporting it to the Better Business Bureau. Whitaker used his law firm’s logo and his past position as top federal prosecutor in south Iowa to threaten a man who said he would report the company; four days later the company sued the man with information that Whitaker had intervened in the matter. The parties settled the lawsuit out of court in 2016.

Whitaker’s new position includes the supervision of the FBI and its investigations.

In opposition to Whitaker’s appointment for acting AG, a network of activists called Nobody Is above the Law set up a website where protest organizers could list demonstrations on late afternoon Thursday. Hundreds of cities in the U.S., Canada, and parts of Europe responded. Even my small town of Newport (OR) had over 100 protesters at 5:00 pm yesterday. [Right: Newport.] The name of the protest came from Whitaker’s 2017 interview on The David Webb Show when he stated that a U.S. president can end any federal investigation without obstructing justice. [Below New York.]

Last Wednesday, CNN reporter Jim Acosta lost his White House credentials after DDT had a temper tantrum during a press conference and an intern tried to take Acosta’s microphone from him. One version of the event, complete with video, is that Acosta was raising his hand as the intern approached him, and he accidentally touched her arm. The audio clearly indicates that he said, “Pardon me, ma’am.” But Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders drew more attention to the event when she issued a doctored video, possibly from a right-wing site, that makes the action look aggressive. Professionals who examined Sanders’ version said that the action was speeded up and several duplicate frames were added to achieve the effect that conservatives prefer.

In response to Sanders’ false depiction (aka fake news) of the Acosta event, J.K. Rowling, the famous author of Harry Potter books, tweeted a quote from George Orwell’s book 1984:

“And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed—if all records told the same tale—then the lie passed into history and became truth.”

Even conservative writer Ben Shapiro disagreed with Sanders’ false claims about Acosta and tweeted:

“This is not what happened. You could have banned him simply for refusing to abide by any of the normal rules of the press room. No need to state something happened that didn’t.”

In effect, Sanders libeled Jim Acosta by lying about him with actual malice and an intent to ruin his reputation, leaving her open to a lawsuit.

Evidence shows that DDT was a key player in paying off Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal to silence their information about having had affairs with DDT. The U.S. Attorneys Office has evidence of DDT’s role, including multiple meetings with media executive David Pecker who used the National Enquirer tabloid to shut up the two women. Pecker paid off McDougal and was reimbursed by DDT’s legal “fixer” Michael Cohen who was then reimbursed by DDT. Cohen directly paid Daniels after Pecker refused to get involved before DDT reimbursed Cohen. DDT also used Pecker to block negative stories about him during his campaign. DDT cannot be indicted for these wrongdoings, but the DOJ can give the information about personal campaign finance violations to House members for possible impeachment–unless Whitaker blocks that from happening.

As a brief respite for the people in the United States, DDT has gone to Paris for a meeting with French president Emmanuel Macron, but not before he railed at CNN reporter Abby Phillips, calling her question on the Russia investigation “stupid,” and threatened more journalists. DDT tweeted he was insulted by Macron’s call for a “true European army” to guard against the U.S. and other potential adversaries and again demanded that Europe “first pay its fair share of NATO.” Macron was discussing DDT’s decision to withdraw from the nuclear arms INF Treaty that Ronald Reagan negotiated with the former Soviet Union in 1987. Sunday is the 100^th anniversary of the end of World War I. DDT will leave before the Paris Peace Forum, a gathering of 61 countries this weekend to work toward collective decision-making to avoid another world war.

DDT denied Russia’s claim that he will meet with Vladimir Putin but admitted that they will be meeting in Buenos Aires later this month at the G20 meeting.

Another week, another white man, this time a former Marine, murders people. In Thousand Oaks (CA), a 28-year-old white man shot and killed at least 12 people and injured another 21 before turning the gun on himself. Many of the people in the bar had survived the Las Vegas shooting a year ago where 58 people were killed and 852 injured. The shooting marks the 307^th mass shooting in the U.S. of 2018 in 312 days, meaning that mass shootings, defined by four or more people, not including the shooter, being “shot and/or killed” at “the same general time and location,” are an almost daily event in the U.S. Over 12,000 people died from gun-related violence in the US so far this year, and another 24,000+ others have been injured. No one has been killed or injured thus far this year in the U.S. by foreign terrorists. DDT referred to the killer as a “sick puppy.”

The people of Thousand Oaks are further traumatized by the fires sweeping across California that have already burned Paradise, a town of 25,000, and killed nine people.

More news about the ongoing election later, but notable is DDT’s tweet that Arizona might have a new election now that Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) is 20,000 votes ahead of Rep. Martha McSally (R-AZ) for U.S. senator. If only we had that choice two years ago after the presidential election!

Republicans are nuttier than squirrel shit. #ThursdayThoughts

I try to be controlled in my language in Nel’s New Day, but it doesn’t mean I don’t admire the passion of others. For your enjoyment, here’s the take from a blog post by two fabulous elders, Margaret and Helen. Enjoy! Thanks, Helen!

[And for a short note, I’m not writing off Andrew Gillum and Ben Nelson for Florida governor and U.S. senator. Things are so close in that state that Gov. Rick Scott–running for senator–is suing Broward County Elections Supervisor Brenda Snipes over the county’s delay in counting the votes while accusing “unethical liberals” of “trying to steal this election” from him. Stranger things have happened than these changes since Tuesday night. Like pagan bisexual Kyrsten Sinema has taken the lead for U.S. Senate in a sort-of red Arizona. The state has changed since I moved away!]

Margaret, if you want to know just how deplorable Trumpsters are, this week they elected two indicted criminals, a Nazi and a dead brothel owner.  And the fact that most people reading this are asking themselves “which Nazi?” is just bat shit crazy.  To be honest, it could have been multiple Nazis, but it’s getting harder and harder to tell the difference between a GOP Congressman and a Nazi these days. Some might be just your run-of-the-mill racists. You know what they say about old, white men standing in front of a flag, pledging allegiance to Donald Trump… they all look alike.

A dead brothel owner.  I’m sorry.  I just had to say that again. The party of family values elected a dead pimp. Bless their hearts but Republicans are nuttier than squirrel shit.

Now, I know that some of you Democrats out there, especially in Florida, Georgia and Texas, are filling a bit blue today and not in a good Blue Wave way. We’re feeling blue because we fell in love with Andrew, Beto and Stacey and hoped that racists in red states would be standing in line at a Cracker Barrel instead of a polling station.  Damn you Cracker Barrel! What happened to your all-you-can-eat chicken fried opossum steak on Tuesdays?

Honestly, it was going to be an uphill battle and we got a bit ahead of ourselves. After all, this is Florida, Georgia and Texas we are talking about. They are GOP red mixed with a little scarlet, crimson, cardinal, ruby, magenta, brick, carmine, rose, vermilion, cerise, coral, and burgundy. The fact that Beto was even in the hunt and the other two are still too close to call is pretty amazing.  Sure, it stung. But we really do have a great deal to celebrate. We took back the House. Our wave was big enough to overcome gerrymandering and voter suppression, sending several hundred state and federal members of the GOP packing.

If you are feeling a bit down, maybe this will pick you up. Here are a few of my favorite casualties:

Karen Handel.  Remember her? This homophobic, she-devil in wolf’s clothing managed to destroy the otherwise stellar reputation of the Susan G Komen Foundation when she picked a fight with Planned Parenthood.  Komen recovered somewhat but it never returned to its former glory. Well, now a Democrat in Georgia named Lucy McBath is my new favorite person and Georgia’s 6^th Congressional District’s newest Representative.  Kiss my ass Karen. The only organization I liked more than Komen was Planned Parenthood and you damaged one in order to attack the other.  Don’t mess with Planned Parenthood. Ever. By the way, McBath ran on more gun control… in Georgia.

Kim Davis.  This walking hairball in need of a hairstyle became famous in Kentucky for refusing to give marriage licenses to same sex couples, claiming Jesus told her to hate people. She then crashed a party pretending to be the Pope’s BFF and became the white trash darling for white trash religious nutjobs everywhere when she traveled to Romania to fight gay marriage there.  Wait.  What?  Listen, folks.  The cheese slid off this gal’s cracker years ago. Thank goodness that Kentucky Democrats dropped a house on Kim.  To be honest, she lost by less than 700 votes, but that was to be expected considering she was related to, married to, divorced by and otherwise had children out of wedlock with a sizable percentage of the male voting population in the county.  Hypocrisy is what the GOP now calls a family value.

Jason Lewis.  I bet you don’t remember this asshat from Minnesota’s 2^ndCongressional District unless you’re a slut… I mean a woman… I mean a slut.  Lewis complained that political correctness had gotten so bad that he couldn’t even call a woman a slut anymore without getting in trouble. He lost to Democrat Angie Craig.  I don’t know you Angie, but I love you regardless of what Jason is most assuredly calling you at this moment.

Jack Phillips.  He’s probably the most famous baker in Colorado, but not because his cakes taste good, bad or otherwise.   Jack is the Colorado Baker who refused to bake a cake for a gay couple and took his argument all the way to the Supreme Court.  He then tried to sue the Governor of Colorado because he didn’t want to bake a pink and blue cake for a transgender woman. Guess what?  Jack now has a new Governor in Colorado.  His name is Jared Polis and he’s gay.  Please, please, please Governor Polis, order your inauguration cake from Jack if for no other reason than shits and giggles. [Phillips’ new first family; Polis on the right.]

Kevin Yoder.  I know nothing about this congressman from Kansas except he was a Republican in Kansas, which is rarely a good thing. He lost to a Native American woman named Sharice Davids. Now Sharice has a remarkable story and you should read about it.  But I don’t want to talk about that now because I am being a little selfish. I just want to sit a minute and imagine Donald Trump watching Fox News on Tuesday when they gave a Democratic pick up seat to a woman who happens to be Native American and who also happens to be a lesbian and a mixed, martial arts fighter.  Ah! Sweet mystery of life, at last I’ve found thee…  Sharice honey, if you meet the President, please kick him where it counts.

Barbara Comstock.  When Florida Parkland Students came to talk to her about gun violence, she refused to meet with them.  Barbara lost to Democrat Jennifer Wexton.  Bye, bye Barbara. Don’t let the door hit you where the good Lord split you.

Listen.  I was sad.  I wanted Beto as much as anyone.  I really did. But here in Texas we picked up so many down ballot Democrats because of Beto that I don’t think being sad is an appropriate way to remember Beto, or Stacey or Andrew.  And maybe it’s not even over for Stacey who is still fighting the good fight. Good luck Stacey.  Every vote counts. But no.  We can’t be down. We have just too much to be excited about.

• Chairman Elijah Cummings, House Oversight Committee
• Chairman Adam Schiff, House Intelligence Committee
• Chairwoman Maxine Waters, House Financial Services Committee
• Chairman Richard Neal, House Ways and Means Committee
• Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the woman who gave us the Affordable Care Act the last time she had that title

That is huge.  We took back the House and turned a huge section of the country blue, while Trump kept Georgia, Florida and Texas red… barely.  We changed everything.  He changed nothing.

Maybe the Blue Wave wasn’t as big in some parts of the country as others. As it swept from east to west across the country like an invading army of immigrants… no wait.  As it swept from east to west, it hit patches of gerrymandering and mountains of voter suppression.  But it indeed swept across the country no matter how large or small it seemed at times.  One thing we know for sure, if left unchecked, Trump could bring out the worst in all of us.  And sadly, he’s proud of that. But then again, he’s an idiot.  The blue wave came, and it was big enough.  I mean it. Really.

Midterms Lead to New U.S.

Midterms 2018 ended last night after the most vicious campaigning that I can remember. In a bittersweet victory, elections brought at least 27 additional Democrats to the House, giving them a majority in the 435-seat chamber and splitting the Congress as the Senate keeps a GOP majority. Three Democratic incumbent senators in Indiana, Missouri, and North Dakota lost their re-election bid, and the GOP incumbent in Nevada has been replaced by a Democrat. Two other races in Arizona and Florida are still undecided, and a third in Mississippi heads to a recount because no candidate got over 50 percent of the votes.

In seven states, GOP gubernatorial positions lost to Democrats in Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Maine, New Mexico, Nevada, and Wisconsin. The new number of Democratic governors gave the party trifectas in 14 states—those with the same party in both legislative chambers and the governor. The number of GOP trifectas shrank from 34 to 22, leaving 14 states split between the two parties. Going into redistricting for state and federal legislative representation in 2020, Democrats have “regained majorities in seven [state] chambers and flipped 350 seats from red to blue nationwide,” according to the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee.

The flips leave 23 Democrats and 26 Republicans in charge of the 50 states. Stacey Abrams has not conceded to Brian Kemp in Georgia; she is waiting until provisional and absentee ballots are counted, ballots mandated by a court ruling after Kemp, also Secretary of State, had purged or thrown away. Since 2010, Kemp has purged over 1.4 million voters from registration, including 660,000 last year and almost 90,000 this year. Another 53,000 couldn’t vote until the court ruling because of typos; almost 80 percent of these registrations were from black voters. If Kemp drops below 50 percent of the vote, he will be forced into a runoff election with Abrams. Kemp prepared to fight a loss by claiming that Democrats had hacked the voting system, but he has a long record of carelessness and lack of investigation as P.R. Lockhart describes.

Wisconsin governor Scott Walker may have the highest profile of the Democratic flips. Almost eight years ago, at the beginning of his first term, he declared war against unions, teachers, voters, etc., but his decision to provide over $4.5 billion in taxpayer subsidies, the biggest in U.S. history for a foreign corporation, to bring tech plant  and key Apple supplier Foxconn to his state may have helped his downfall. With a cost of up to $1 million per job, averaging $230,000 per job, Foxconn is “trying to tap Chinese engineers through internal transfers to supplement staffing” because “it’s very difficult to find skilled labor in our market.” University of Wisconsin-Madison students worry about intellectual property and academic freedom in a Foxconn takeover, and residents of Wisconsin and neighboring states are concerned about the loss of Lake Michigan’s water when the company uses as much as 7 million gallons per day from the lake, 39 percent of it lost through evaporation. Foxconn, the single largest employer in mainland China with 1.3 million employees, became known for the large number of employee suicides at its enormous Longhua plant in Shenzhen. Life at “iPhone City.”

Yesterday’s election brought several “firsts”:

• Governor-elect Jared Polis (D-CO): First gay man to be elected governor.
• Governor Kate Brown (D-OR): First bisexual to be re-elected for a second time—or even a first time!
• Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY):  At the age of 29, youngest woman elected to Congress.
• Rep.-elect Ayanna Pressley (D-MA): First black representative from Massachusetts.
• Reps.-elect Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Ilhan Omar (D-): First Muslim representatives; Tlaib the first Palestinian-American woman in Congress and Omar, an immigrant, the first Somali-American in Congress.
• Reps.-elect Sharice Davids (D-KS) and Deb Haaland (D-NM): First Native American representatives; Davids also first lesbian representative from Kansas.
• Rep.-elect Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (D-FL): Immigrant from Ecuador flipped a GOP seat.
• Sen.-elect Marsha Blackburn (R-TN): First female senator from Tennessee.
• Gov.-elect Janet Mills: First female governor of Maine.
• Rep.-elect Abby Finkenauer (D-IA): First woman representative from Iowa.
• Rep.-elect Johana Hayes: First black woman representative as well as one of the youngest, matching Ocasio-Cortez at 29 years old.
• Reps.-elect Veronica Escobar and Sylvia Garcia (D-TX): First Latina representatives from Texas, a state that is over one-third Latinx.
• Gov.-elect: Lou Leon Guerrero (D): First woman governor of Guam.
• Iowa State Sen.-elect Zach Wahls (D-IA): 27-year-old winner of 78 percent of the vote, seven years after he stood before the state House of Representatives to defend marriage for his two lesbian mothers.

The oddest win came when pimp Dennis Hof won a seat in the 36^th Nevada State Assembly. The Republican died three weeks before the election, but voters wanted a Republican. Iowa voted for bigotry by re-electing Steve King to the House, and California and New York supported indicted representatives with Chris Collins and Duncan Hunter. (Remember when the GOP ran as the “party of law and order”?) Racism was also victorious in Florida and perhaps Georgia in the governor’s races. Florida also voted to inundate cities with the sea rise with narrow wins for the GOP governor over Andrew Gillum and perhaps a GOP senator over the Dem incumbent.

Over 100 women will be seated in the House of Representatives for the 116^th Congress, far more than the record of 85 of the 435 House seats. Thus far women of color will comprise at least 38 of these seats, and 18 of the 27 flipped seats from GOP to Dem were earned by women, all except two against male opponents.  Projections of 98 women in the house include 84 Democrats and 14 Republicans; the Senate has 12 women, ten Dems and two Republicans. Veterans Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA) and Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) both won; Amy McGrath, former Marine fighter pilot, narrowly lost a House race in Kentucky. Despite false smears from Tea Party incumbent opponent, Dave Brat, Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) had a big win, especially as the first Democrat in this district in a half century.

Dictator Donald Trump (DDT) and Department of (In)Justice (DOJ) AG Jeff Sessions set the scene for the loss of the House by claiming voter fraud before the election, using the same tactic DDT did in 2016 until he took the Electoral College. DDT lied at a recent campaign rally in Cleveland with the false claim that voter fraud is commonplace. The United States has almost zero voter fraud while the GOP perpetuates voter suppression, intimidation, and a massive number of lies about their policy positions. The greatest GOP claims of voter fraud came in races where GOP positions are most at risk, including at least six governors, some senators—including Arizona, Nevada, Tennessee, and Texas—and many representatives.

Session left his job hours after the election when DDT asked for Sessions’ resignation and appointed his bootlicker Matthew Whitaker as the acting AG. Whitaker, good friends of possible Russian colluder Sam Clovis, has constantly lambasted the Robert Mueller investigation, calling it a witch hunt—just like DDT—and limiting “the scope” of the investigation. In his new position, Whitaker will be in charge of Mueller and his investigation, giving a direct pipeline to DDT about any discoveries and curtailing Mueller’s activities. In a segment on Whitaker, Rachel Maddow discussed Whitaker’s strategies for doing away with the investigation such as not funding it and telling lawyers not to cooperate. Much more about Whitaker. Whitaker has defended Donald Trump Jr. for his Trump Tower meeting when DDT’s son looked for dirt on Clinton from the Russians, part of Mueller’s investigation. Whitaker also believes that “[Hillary] Clinton clearly intended to send and store top secret, classified information on an unsecured, personal server, which I believe is a case that any reasonable prosecutor would bring against her or anyone else who committed such reckless acts.” As for corruption, Whitaker was part of World Patent Marketing, fined $26 million by the federal company of running a multimillion-dollar scam. Democratic legislators are protesting Whitaker and stopping the investigation, and protests are organized across the nation for 5:00 pm tomorrow.

After delivering fire and brimstone at his campaign rallies during the last two months, DDT said the day before the election that he “would like to have a much softer tone” but that he had “no choice” in his rhetoric.  He wished for more harmony between Republicans and Democrats after the election but added, “If you’re criticized you have to hit back.” Hours after his interview with a conservative Sinclair station, he delivered his usual racism and hatred in a campaign rally and tweeted threats to Democrats after he got the election results. If Democrats dare investigate him, he claimed, he will institute investigations “of the leaks of Classified Information, and much else” by the Senate and refuse to work with them on substantive issues. [News, DDT: the Senate doesn’t investigate the House, and no one thinks that you can work with anyone.]

In today’s press conference, DDT had a meltdown after CNN reporter Jim Acosta questioned him about the Russian investigation and the term “invasion” for the immigrant caravan in Mexico. Hours later DDT made the unprecedented move of suspending Acosta’s press credentials for the White House. Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders falsely accused Acosta of “placing his hands on a young woman” on an intern when he calmly raised his arm to keep her from taking his microphone. Acosta held on to his microphone and said, “Pardon me, ma’am.” The exchange is shown here; you can decide the truth for yourself.

DDT continued his attacks at the unhinged press conference by snapping at journalist April Ryan to “sit down,” abusing GOP lawmakers who lost elections, accusing PBS Yamiche Alcindor of asking a “racist” question about DDT’s “nationalism,” babbling an answer about uniting the country, and shouting down questions about women’s defeating GOP House candidates. In a weird somber tone, he called out the names of GOP representatives, almost joyously blaming their losses for not wanting his “embrace.”  DDT also claimed that he has a “solution” to abortion but won’t tell anyone what it is. (Maybe the one to the left?)  Jake Tapper’s response to DDT’s behavior at the press conference: “That’s how gangsters act.”

The stock markets like the split Congress, a sign of government inactivity; the Dow Jones shot up over 500 points today. Watch for DDT to take credit for economic success because of the GOP loss.

Voter Suppression, Tricks: ‘We Lie All the Time’

Rep. Dave Brat (R-VA) bragged on the campaign trail that he and his GOP legislative leaders “lie all the time.” And boy, does he lie! Here’s a list from PolitiFact Virginia. He even sent out a press release lying about a WaPo fact check on his opponent by using a a fact check of an attack ad in a completely different race, against GOP Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA). And that’s just one way to get Republicans elected.

In the past, black people in the South went to the polls to cast their votes. The idea, called “Souls to the Polls,” was quashed in many states including North Carolina and Florida because Republican lawmakers decided that GOP candidates could win only if the black vote was stopped. Forty percent of states don’t allow workers time off to vote on Election Day, and many other states are restrictive in permission.

Georgia’s Secretary of State and candidate for governor Brian Kemp, poster child of the nation’s voter suppression, has lamented votes by blacks. The master vote registration purger who declines to process registration forms from blacks registered to vote said he was afraid he would lose the election “if everybody uses and exercises their right to vote.” He’s also afraid of absentee ballots, “especially if everybody uses and exercises their right to vote … and mails those ballots in.” He added that his opponent, a black woman, could win thanks to “the literally tens of millions of dollars that” her campaign is “putting behind the get-out-the-vote effort to their base.”

If voting didn’t make any difference, Republicans wouldn’t go to such extreme lengths to keep people from voting. Updates and new tricks to keep people away from the polls on November 6:

Materials are being sent out with the wrong date to vote, like this “friendly” postcard in Arizona, with a date ten days past Election Day.

Montana Republicans have joined the states falsifying information about voting. The GOP sent a mailer lying about absentee ballots being accepted ten days after Election Day if they were postmarked by 8:00 pm on that day. Wrong. Absentee ballots must reach their destination by Election Day.

A judge denied Native Americans in North Dakota the right to vote without a street address just this past week, and voter suppression continues with the GOP fear that Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D) will be reelected. One woman who went to the county auditor’s office in Sioux County to ask about early voting was told that there was no early voting, unlike most other North Dakota countries. The auditor didn’t mention an absentee voting option. The same auditor ordered a woman filling out an absentee ballot to use blue ink in order for the ballot to be counted; the directions on the state website mandates black ink. A great deal of time was required until someone from the secretary of state’s office said either color of ink was acceptable—that will hopefully be accurate.

A non-partisan election official in Dallas County (TX) said that voter intimidation is the worst she’s seen in 30 years with name calling and voter interrogation in lines waiting to vote, partisan poll watchers looking over voters’ shoulders as they cast their ballots and question voters on their politics, harassment, and verbal abuse with a person driving by and yelling about “baby killers.” Reports of this intimidation have not stopped it although the police removed one “poll watcher.”

In Kansas, people can’t get a passport if they aren’t born in a hospital even if they have a birth certificate. The same probably goes for getting a voter ID. The only way to get permission is to pay money to go to trial with a large number of documents.

The Rachel Maddow Show sent a production crew to Dodge City (KS) after the news that the only polling place for 13,000 voters will be moved far out of town away from a bus stop. County Clerk Debbie Cox [visual] made the excuse of construction at the former place in town [map below], but no construction was found. The venue was also booked on November 4 and November 17 of events. Cox put three polling places in the rest of her county for the remaining 1,300 voters. In addition, she mailed new registrants an official statement of registration with the wrong voting address. Even if the largely Latinx voters working in the meat-packing industry can get a job to the new polling place, they may not have enough time off work to actually vote.  The 22-minute segment provides more details.

Cox forwarded a letter from the ACLU offering voter assistance to the office of Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach with the attached message “LOL” (lots of laughs). In control of voting, Kobach is also a candidate for governor. An 18-year-old high school student, Ashley Romero, sued for more polling places that are accessible to Dodge City voters. A judge ruled against Romero, stating that changing anything now would be too confusing but promising to look into the case after the election.

Last week, reports of voting machines flipping votes in Georgia for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams to her opponent, Kemp, and in Texas from Democratic senate challenger Beto O’Rourke to incumbent Ted Cruz led to thoughts of hacking. Some machines even registered Kemp’s name before a person voted. Despite the GOP trying to blame the voters for these flips, it happens if machines aren’t properly calibrated. In addition, Secretary of State and gubernatorial candidate Kemp refused to provide a paper trail for votes in Georgia. Preparing for a possible loss because of Abrams’ popularity, Kemp declared today that he was investigating Democrats’ hacking into the vulnerable voting computers although he has no evidence. He has been warned for years about the problems with this machines but said nothing as long as he supervised the winning of Republicans.

Voting machines bought almost two decades ago were meant to last no more than 15 years, manufacturing companies have gone out of business or don’t make the computers, and most spare parts are available only on eBay or Craigslist from other discarded computers. Even if voting machines work, they work slowly, meaning long lines with people not staying to vote in a form of voter depression. In 2012, over 500,000 people didn’t vote because of extremely long wait lines. Some states use provisional ballots to solve problems in computers but don’t count them after the election. Three privately held companies, subject to little oversight and put convenience over security, control over 90 percent of all the nation’s election systems. The Associated Press reports three privately held companies sell and service more than 90 percent of the nation’s election systems.

When Republicans aren’t admitting that they want to suppress the votes of minority and lower-income people, they claim laws beginning in 2005 are to stop voter fraud. Between 2000 and 2014, evidence found 35 credible voter fraud allegations among the 834,065,926 ballots. Yet voter ID laws in the red states block about 5 million people from casting ballots—many of for specific groups such as Native Americans in North Dakota, Latinx in Arizona and Kansas, students in New Hampshire, and people of color in Wisconsin. Conservative judge Richard Posner has apologized in his 2013 memoir by writing that the ID law is “now widely regarded as a means of voter suppression rather than of fraud prevention.” In 2018, voter ID laws, polling-place closures or changes, and state legislation to stop voter registration have replace Jim Crow laws of poll taxes, literacy exams, and property deeds. Paul Weyrich plotted Ronald Reagan’s win in 1980:

“I don’t want everybody to vote . . . our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down.”

It’s still a miracle if people vote this year—or ever again. But not all is lost:

A federal judge ordered Georgia’s Secretary of State Brian Kemp, also running for governor, to stop throwing away absentee ballots without giving the voters advance notice and a chance to rectify any issues. Kemp’s workers had been making determinations about whether a signature matched the one on file without any scientific reason. Kemp’s “exact match” requirement threw out voter registrations even if the mistake was only an extra space. The judge used Kemp’s words that absentee voting is “a privilege and a convenience,” not a right by describing the staying of an injunction—that she refused—is also not a right.  The 11^th Circuit Court refused Kemp’s appeal to the judge’s order keeping absentee ballots.

In Ohio, provisional election ballots previously purged from voter rolls between 2011 and 2015 must be counted if voters still live in the same county of their last registration and if they are not disqualified from voting because of a felony conviction, mental incapacity, or death.

Overall, two-thirds of the public (67%) says “everything possible should be done to make it easy for every citizen to vote,” while only about a third (32%) say citizens “should have to prove they want to vote” by registering in advance.  [visual voting]

After 80 percent of voters said that healthcare is extremely or very important to their vote, GOP members of Congress lied to the public that they supported pre-existing conditions–even if they voted to do away with the Affordable Care Act. The 78% importance for the economy is lower than in any recent midterm.

Roxanne Gay encouraged everyone to vote:

“Every single day there is a new, terrifying, preventable tragedy fomented by a president and an administration that uses hate and entitlement as political expedience. If you remain disillusioned or apathetic in this climate, you are complicit. You think your disillusionment is more important than the very real dangers marginalized people in this country live with.”

Republicans claim that the GOP wants freedom, but they want freedom only for themselves, not for minorities, women, and lower-income people. (Below: a sign that police forced a woman to remove from her yard.)

All voter polls are open until at least 6:00 pm, some later. Here’s a list by state.

Vote as if your life depends on it. It might.

DDT: Week 93 – More Details

The 93^rd week after Dictator Donald Trump (DDT) was inaugurated had much more news about him than the scheme to get rid of Robert Mueller, his caravan obsession, movement toward increased nuclearization, and the fascist election of Jair Bolsonaro’s in Brazil. Additional highlights:

A response from author G.K. Parker about DDT’s claim that he can overturn the 14^th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution by signing an executive order:

“Just remind anyone who supports this idea that it means the next time the Democrats get the presidency he or she can swiftly sign an executive order abolishing the Second amendment. Run your hands together and say it with a maniacal grin your face.”

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), whose parents didn’t become U.S. citizens until four years after Marco was born, supported DDT’s call to end birthright citizenship by an executive order from DDT. Without the 14^th Amendment, Rubio might be deported; he certainly could not have not run for president of the United States.

Despite objections from Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas, the GOP Supreme Court will not block 21 young people in their climate change lawsuit to force the federal government to phase out fossil-fuel emissions.  Since Dictator Donald Trump (DDT) was inaugurated, the DOJ has fought against the young people every step of the way. In another refusal, the Supreme Court will not stop the census citizenship question trial despite objections from Gorsuch, Thomas and Samuel Alito.

Rudy Giuliani, DDT’s sort-of lawyer, hasn’t been on television lately contradicting DDT’s statements. He seems instead to be in Russia a lot but no one seems to know why.

DDT, his company, and his three oldest children are facing a lawsuit in New York state accusing them defrauding working-class people in the U.S. in an investment con of sham business opportunities and training programs. The complaint describes the Trump Organization as a “racketeering enterprise” and targets two of its marketing companies, ACN and Trump Network plus the Trump Institute. A case against the Trump Foundation’s violating campaign finance laws and tax regulations is in a battle about whether a sitting president can be named in a civil suit.

The Emoluments Clause case against DDT can move forward after a federal judge used DDT’s own argument to turn down his appeal to stop the lawsuit. The appeal argued that the lawsuit would distract him from his duties—perhaps the many hours a day he spends watching cable news and using a personal cellphone to tell classified secrets to his friends—but the judge noted that DDT had time after his inauguration to threaten suits against Bannon, Stormy, Michael Wolff.” The judge added that DDT had tweeted an invitation for John Brennan to sue him. The Emoluments lawsuit could force DDT to release information about his businesses.

DDT’s egregious behavior is being used by arrested people to exonerate their behavior, which they say is patterned after his or follows his directions. A man who sexually assaulted a woman on Southwest Airlines said he was innocent because DDT did it. A man convicted of a plot to massacre Somali Muslim refugees by bombing a mosque and apartment complex in Garden City (KS) asked for a lenient sentence because of DDT’s rhetoric. The man’s lawyer cited DDT’s false story about Gen. John J. Pershing killing Muslims with bullets dipped in pigs’ blood. The client supposedly feared Muslims because of information from the internet and conservative talk-show hosts such as Sean Hannity and Michael Savage.”

Imagine the United States with no regulations. That’s what DDT’s recent judicial nominee Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs head Neomi Rao wants. She says that the nation should have no regulations unless Congress spells them out. agencies should be restricted to anything that Congress explicitly spells out. No more regulations to keep food and water from poisoning people, stop corruption in public projects, block the medical field from doing anything it wants—the list goes on and on. I hear rabid right-wing people asking if they don’t like something, “Why doesn’t somebody do something about …?” They are the ones who block the regulations.

DDT is keeping one of his campaign promises after he claimed in a campaign debate that wages are “too high.” Larry Kudlow, DDT’s economic advisor supports that position. Kudlow said that a minimum wage is a “terrible idea” and vows to keep it low—right now at $7.25 an hour—as well as opposing minimum wages on state and local levels. The current minimum wage equals purchasing power of $8.53 in 2009, the last time it was increased, a loss of $1.28 an hour in purchasing power in less than a decade. The $7.25 minimum wage is even lower than the value of $8.68 in 1968, 50 years ago when the minimum was $1.60. DDT also took over $100 billion overtime pay from millions of people. He promised “jobs” on the campaign trail but didn’t promise much payment for them. Kudlow also wants DDT to repeal the Affordable Care Act and the GOP wants to remove the safety net for people living in poverty while giving money to farmers, big business, and the wealthy.

The chart on the right may be the reason that DDT isn’t bragging about his tax cuts and economy on the campaign trail.

About lying, DDT said, “When I can, I tell the truth.” His “can’t” record is growing: within the past seven weeks on the campaign trail, he has delivered 1,419 false or misleading claims, about 30 a day. The average rises with the 35 to 40 suspicious claims from each rally with repetitions of false statements at each interview with local interviews before and after the trips. The 30 per day is six times as high as the five per day for his first nine months after inauguration. The more he talks, the more he lies.

One lie overlooked in the tragedies and midterm trauma of the past week comes from DDT’s insistence on keeping the FBI headquarters in its current location, at an increased cost to taxpayers, to protect his Trump Tower from competition. Part of the lie is Press Secretary Huckabee Sanders’ claim that he wants “to save the government money.” Email exchanges show DDT embroiled government officials in his lies about the FBI headquarters when Andrew Abrams, deputy associate director of the White House’s Office of Management and Budget tried to prep Emily Murphy, chief of the General Services Administration, for her congressional testimony under oath. Asked about the president’s involvement, Murphy claimed that the FBI wanted to stay, failing to mention her conversation with DDT to abandon the relocation.

DDT’s worst lie of the week comes from a political ad accusing Democrats of letting undocumented immigrant Luis Bracamontes, convicted of killing two California police officers, into the United States and letting him stay. The ad shows Latinx marching and trying to overcome gates. A Democrat president, Bill Clinton, deported Bracamontes in 1997, during the Clinton administration. Bracamontes returned under a Republican president in 2001 when he was deported. He was back again in 2002, under the same Republican president. Adding to the GOP connection, then-Maricopa County Sheriff “tough guy” Joe Arpaio released him from drug charges after an arrest in the 1990s. DDT couldn’t even find a good example to demonize Democrats: he had to lie.

The blatant racism in the ad matches one against Michael Dukakis (D) 30 years ago that accused him of releasing Willie Horton who then attacked a woman. The program letting Horton out of prison was instated by GOP governor Frank Sargent, but people ignored facts and voted for George H.W. Bush. As DDT admits, he’ll do anything to win, including the promotion of violence.

DDT’s ad drove Florida’s former GOP chair to denounce the ad and the person behind it. A former DDT supporter, Al Cardenas tweeted to DDT:

“You are a despicable divider; the worse social poison to afflict our country in decades. This ad, and your full approval of it, will condemn you and your bigoted legacy forever in the annals of America’s history books.”

New York Times has added to its lists of all lies and all racist remarks from DDT with a new compendium of his corruption organized by theme. DDT doesn’t “tell it the way it is,” as his base likes to claim; he just says and does things to win, no matter what the cost is to individuals, groups, the country, or the world. His only goal is to make money, and he knows that he needs power and control to look like a financial success.

Taxpayers were dinged almost $100,000 for a Cairo hotel room during Melania Trump’s visit where she didn’t even sleep. Rooms cost $119 and the “Presidential Suite” was $699. Even with lodging and food, a 50-person security force would cost less than $10,000 dollars. Remember this grifting the next time that DDT claims that the country cannot afford to help people.

 

 

DDT: Week 93 – Midterm Election Tensions Leading to War

“Are you both prepared for federal prison?” A reporter asked Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman, two men who tried to smear special investigator Robert Mueller (left) with a fake sexual assault accusation, in a press conference. Details of that story swirl around the internet between rabid racist remarks from Dictator Donald Trump (DDT) about a shrinking migrant caravan thousands of miles away from the southern U.S. border.

Wohl, a 20-year-old DDT supporter, began the fake story on Gateway Pundit with his claim that the victim would be at his press conference. She failed to appear, and Wohl had no evidence. Earlier, women had reported to the media that they had been offered tens of thousands of dollars to lie about a non-existent assault. Investigation into Wohl and his lie revealed that his alleged intelligence firm was composed of himself, fake LinkedIn profiles, and his mother’s telephone number. The alleged assault supposedly occurred in New York City on the same day that Mueller served on jury during in Washington, D.C.

In 2017, the Arizona Corporation Commission filed a cease-and-desist order against Wohl for violating securities law misrepresenting how much money would be at risk in an investment and his company’s size in 2015 and 2016. He has failed to make the $1,371.61 monthly payments for his fine. Bloomberg reported that DDT praised Wohl’s support for him. [The hand on DDT’s shoulder in the photo belongs to another man not in the photo’s frame.]

Burkman, a registered Washington lobbyist and conspiracy theorist who raised money for Rick Gates, was identified by a woman offered money to lie about Mueller as the man behind the scam. Gates pled guilty to conspiracy and lying to the FBI. Conservatives are so terrified of possible discoveries from special investigator Robert Mueller about the Russian scandal that they are resorting to fraudulent smear campaigns as shown by this 11-minute segment from The Rachel Maddow Show. HuffPo also trailed the sordid events surrounding Wohl’s and Burkman’s fraud.

Gateway Pundit, the far-right fake news website founded and run by a gay man, Jim Hoft, has backed off on the accusations about Mueller that he published, stating that they were taking down the “information” and looking into the allegations against Wohl. An Esquire article asked what Mueller has on Burkman, known for trying to bring down Bill Clinton, if he’s willing to hire Wohl for such a risky attempt to bring down Mueller.

DDT has been very quiet about the Wohl-Burkman fiasco, but he’s talked a great deal about the “invasion” coming across Mexico from Central America. He plans to send 15,000 active military members to the U.S. southern border—the same number as deployed to Afghanistan—but no one knows what they will do, short of declaring war on Mexico. According to the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, the military cannot enforce U.S. domestic laws, including immigration law, unless Congress authorizes this action—and Congress is on vacation. On the other hand, anyone on U.S. soil can ask for asylum. Immigrants coming across a port of entry break no law; others commit only a federal misdemeanor but can still pursue an asylum claim.

In the past 20 days, the caravan of refugees has traveled about 620 miles; the walking trip to Tijuana, over 2,000 more miles, would require over two months. Before DDT deployed the troops, he was told that “only a small percentage” of migrants could reach the U.S. Even if it keeps 3,000 asylum-seekers, DDT will be assigning at least three military members to each traveler. As more red meat for his followers, DDT declared rocks equivalent to AR-15s, saying that the military should fire back if anyone throws stones at them.

Foreign countries are using DDT’s violence-laced rhetoric to shoot people on the immigrant caravan as a justification for its murders to suppress free speech, for example the Nigerian Army’s killing 45 peaceful protesters. DDT has also exonerated Israel for its killing of dozens of protesters and wounding over 1,000 others, even if they were running away or praying. And he fails to criticize Saudi Arabia for their murder of a WaPo reporter, Jamal Khashoggi, a U.S. resident.

Khashoggi was strangled almost immediately after entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018, and his body was then dismembered and destroyed, according to the first official explanation from Turkey. Department of State Secretary Mike Pompeo said something vague about sanctions but added:

“[DDT] has made very clear not only do we have important commercial relationships, but important strategic relationships, national security relationships with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and we intend to make sure that those relationships remain intact.”

DDT panders to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his desire for an Israel-Saudi Arabia coalition to defeat Iran and destroy Palestinians. Also on the table is Jared Kushner’s to create a Palestinian-Israeli “peace” through threats against Palestine.

Reports that Kushner gave the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) classified information from DDT’s daily briefings have been rampant for over six months. A source said that MBS bragged he had Kushner “in his pocket.” Before Kushner lost his top-security clearance, he was particularly interested in Middle East information and may have given MBS a hit list of enemies. DDT’s sole goal in the Middle East is to destroy Iran, and he will support murderers to accomplish his desired end.

DDT has a new fascist friend leader with the election of Jair Bolsonaro as president of Brazil. Called the “Trump of Latin America,” Bolsonaro ran on the same fears as DDT—crime, bad economy, etc. Hats might as well read “Make Brazil Great Again.” Retired generals will also play a large part in designing his policies as will evangelical Christians. He also pledged freedom for the people, probably correct for a small percentage of his constituency. Bolsonaro’s proposals, similar to those of DDT, include chemical castration for rapists, police impunity to kill more criminals, greater gun ownership, reduction of environmental controls, hydroelectric dams on the Amazon River, deforestation and mining on indigenous reserves, emphasis on the “traditional family,” education about Bolsonaro’s perception of economic successes and institutions during the past dictatorship, and a permissive attitude toward attacks on LGBTQ people. Bolsonaro describes refugees as “the scum of the earth” and says he would be “incapable of loving a homosexual son,” is “in favor of a dictatorship,” and “in favor of torture.”

In his promise to remove left-wing “criminals” from Brazil, Bolsonaro praised its dictatorship from 1964-1985 and allowed his followers to physically attack reporters and threaten to rape them. Ana Campagnola, a member for the state legislature in Santa Catarina, is campaigning to allow students to denounce “indoctrinator teachers” who criticize Bolsonaro’s victory. She sent her 70,000 Facebook followers a WhatsApp number for students to report “party-political or ideological expressions that humiliate or offend your freedom of faith and conscience.”

In other DDT-esque statements, Bolsonaro promised to pay down debt, trim the deficit, and reduce government. DDT’s identical promises failed: The U.S. showed DDT’s same promises to be false: the deficit for the current year will be about double that of President Obama’s last year because of tax cuts for big business and the wealthy, the deficit will soar over $2 trillion within a decade, and DDT’s government is riddled with corruption.

After 11 people were slaughtered a week ago in a Pennsylvania synagogue, faith leaders and the Pittsburgh mayor urged DDT to not disrupt the funerals, but daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner enabled him in his decision to go where he was not welcome. Following the visit, DDT again made himself the victim by complaining about the media and minimized the protest of 4,000 people as “small.”

DDT, the U.S. quitter-in-chief who dumped many of President Obama’s achievements from fits of pique, turned to attacking Ronald Reagan’s 1987 legendary end to the Cold War by pulling out of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty with Russia. DDT doesn’t mind Russia interfering with U.S. elections—because Putin favors Republicans—but he follow’s National Security advisor John Bolton’s war-mongering. Even sometimes crazy and supposedly libertarian Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) opposes both the plan and Bolton. Russia denies actions that violate the agreement: DDT won’t believe that claim although he accepts Putin’s assertion that Russia doesn’t meddle with voting in U.S. In Russia this week, Bolton told the media that he thought Russia did not have “any real effect” on the vote in the presidential election.

During a visit from National Security advisor John Bolton in Russia, Vladimir Putin not only ridiculed the U.S. national seal but also said that said that U.S. global dominance is ending as DDT accelerates the problem with a string of mistakes “typical of an empire.” The usual hawkish Bolton blandly smiled at Putin during his visit and organized a visit between Putin and DDT in Paris on November 11, the U.S. holiday to honor veterans.

After announcing his plan to withdraw from the treaty, DDT said he plans to build up the massive nuclear arsenal in the United States, an action leading to another arms war.Both China and India are jockeying to take over U.S. world power. A war could make DDT think that he can suspend elections in 2020.

 

 

Voters: ‘Don’t Take the Bait’

Dictator Donald Trump (DDT) came up with a new diversion today. He doesn’t want people to notice that the Republicans plan to get rid of pre-existing conditions on health plans and eviscerate Social Security and Medicare. He doesn’t want people to notice that the national debt is ballooning and the deficit is rapidly increasing because he is giving money to the wealthy and big business that he had promised to use for help to the other 80 percent. And he certainly doesn’t want people to know—right before the midterm elections—that they will suffer from his new policies. His strategy is to tell them that he is taking care of the non-existent immigration problem.

Today he told today that he plans to sign an executive order to overturn an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to strip people in the United States of their citizenship. The Fourteenth Amendment that specifically stated that almost everyone born in the U.S. automatically becomes a citizen was to erase the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dred Scott v. Sandford that blacks are “regarded as beings of an inferior order, and altogether unfit to associate with the white race either in social or political relations, and so far inferior that they had no rights which the white man was bound to respect.” The 14^th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution reads:

“All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.”

People are “subject to the jurisdiction” of the U.S. if they are bound by its laws. Removing citizenship to children of undocumented immigrants would make these children immune to U.S. law altogether: the federal government could not arrest, detain, or deport them.

A decision in United States v. Wong Kim Ark (1898) gave a “limited exemption” that excluded children of members of Indian tribes, children born of alien enemies in hostile invasion and occupation, and children of diplomatic representatives of a foreign state—the latter two already exempted from citizenship by earlier law. Wong Kim Ark, a laborer, was born in the United States to “persons of Chinese descent, and subjects of the emperor of China.” The Supreme Court ruled that he was a citizen.

DDT’s appointee to the federal bench, Judge James Ho, may be the most conservative person to reach that position via DDT. His first judicial opinion ruled all campaign contribution limits unconstitutional, railed against the Affordable Care Act on an originalist basis, and laments—in his terms—the “moral tragedy of abortion.” Even this judge firmly from the lunatic fringe agrees with the 14^th Amendment and not DDT. Or at least he did in 2011.

Even a racist Supreme Court rejected the idea over a century ago; the question is what the current GOP Supreme Court will do. Is allowing a president to arbitrarily overturn the constitution a bridge too far for Chief Justice John Roberts?

Republicans fought President Obama in any change of federal immigration law. That, however, may not block DDT’s power over immigration policy. They will probably agree with DDT that his position on citizenship is good campaign fodder.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is back to cozying up with his buddy DDT with his announcement that he will introduce a bill to replicate DDT’s executive order for ending birthright citizenship. Success for Graham requires two-thirds majorities in both congressional houses and ratification by three-fourths of the states. DDT has announced—wrongly, as usual—that an act of Congress can overturn the constitution and maybe even an executive order can accomplish that goal. Despite DDT’s lies, most countries in the Western Hemisphere, including Mexico and Canada, have forms of birthright citizenship.

VP Pence followed his claim that “we all cherish” the 14^th Amendment by saying:

“The Supreme Court of the United States has never ruled on whether or not the language of the 14th Amendment subject to the jurisdiction thereof applies specifically to people who are in the country illegally.”

Axios, which tries to give the appearance of a mainstream internet media source, is in DDT’s pocket. That’s the reason that DDT gave Axios’ Jonathan Swan his press release about his new non-existent plan to change the constitution with an executive order. Like Chuck Todd on Meet the Press, Swan passively nods to every crazy GOP idea designed to hurt people. DDT delivers his wacko message, and Swan says, “Exactly.” Swan did tell DDT that his plan is “very much in dispute.” No, it is completely unconstitutional. But Swan tweets:

“Excited to share with you the first snippet from our interview with President Trump yesterday, ahead of the launch of Axios’ HBO show this Sunday evening.”

For Swan, it’s all about the ratings through enabling DDT, not the horrifying possibilities of DDT’s plan.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) urged voters not to “take the bait.” She added:

“He’ll say anything before the election. Don’t take the bait. Focus on ending the hate. Hug a kid. Be nice to someone you don’t know or agree with. And vote. Please vote.”

Klobuchar is right about not being distracted and being sure to vote. DDT uses his craziness to club people over the head with his immigration distractions. At the same time, he encourages white supremacy throughout the United States and puts everyone of color into great danger. He promotes his racist hatred to incite violence and killing, to reinstate the white genocide of the 19^th century in the United States and promoting the election of only Republicans who will protect no one except wealthy white people.

The FBI concluded a year ago that white nationalists are as threatening to the U.S. as ISIS and that the threat of white nationalists will only grow. White supremacists have carried out three times as many attacks in the United States as people associated with ISIS, but the government holds no congressional hearings on white nationalist attacks. For the first 20 months after his inauguration, DDT protected and supported white nationalists; this past month he moved forward to declare that he is one of them by calling himself a “nationalist.” DDT has affiliated himself with white supremacists to help them drive everyone of color out of the United States. He follows his belief that he can do anything he wants without losing any support.

DDT claims that his self-identification of “nationalist” isn’t racist, yet his speech excoriating people of color overcomes this false claim. He also claims that he has nothing to do with any of the increasing violence in the nation; people are just doing it on their own without attention to his words, according to DDT. If his words mean nothing, why does he keep talking? Why does he keep attacking women and people of color? Because he loves the control and knows that some of the people will follow his “dog-whistles” to commit violence in his name.

If you want to protect democracy, if you want to keep the United States from being an armed battleground where no one is safe either inside or outside homes, don’t be discouraged by the GOP voter suppression that tries to keep everyone except the Republican base from casting ballots.

Vote! (And the deadline is November 6, no matter what Republicans tell you.)