The polls are opening, and tonight we will start to have answers. Will Dems hold the House? Can we have a majority for fixing the filibuster? Protecting our basic rights? Getting on with the Democratic agenda of the best of everything for everybody, like it or not? Ending the Civil War? Saving the planet? Rescuing humanity from poverty, dread disease, oppression? Spreading Truth about? Whatever your favorite issue is? Whatever it is, voting has to be #1, in order to have any chance of addressing it.
I have been posting versions of this Truth Sandwich off and on for months, and I ramped up yesterday.
Voting is good for all or it is good for none.Compare US states & other countries that support or suppress the vote on our rights, education, jobs, health care, business...#Indivisible #TruthBrigade: It’s your country. Vote for it. Your vote matters. Don’t let anyone tell you different. Learn where you vote: 866OURVOTE.ORG
42m early votes as of last night. Some analysis below.
The Usual Gang of Paskudnyaks
Hubris
Newsweek: Dr. Oz Rally Sees 'Half the Crowd' Leave as Trump Still Speaking: Reporter
'Curious': Chris Wallace reacts to DeSantis' campaign ad
And on the eighth day, God looked down on his planned Paradise and said, “I need a protector.” So God made a fighter.
and more ad nauseam.
Crime
As always, the bogus moral panic put about by Wrong-Wingers on violent crime is utterly bogus. Crime is still going down from the Reagan-Bush peak. It is much worse in Red cities and states. It only serves to feed the fear and loathing that White patriarchal Christianist Nationalist Supremacist hypocrites and Dog Whistlers incite among themselves. It’s a shame that the MSM treats this as a factual dispute, when it mentions it at all.
Here is yet another graph making the point.
Elon, #VoteRed
#VoteRed has been trending on Twitter. At first it was the MAGA mob encouraging each other, but yesterday Ds and Never-Trumpers came out against them in force. You can join in.
Losers Going to Court Again
Republicans sue to disqualify thousands of mail ballots in swing states
In Pennsylvania, the state Supreme Court has agreed with the Republican National Committee that election officials should not count ballots on which the voter neglected to put a date on the outer envelope — even in cases when the ballots arrive before Election Day. Thousands of ballots have been set aside as a result, enough to swing a close race.
In Michigan, Kristina Karamo, the Republican nominee for secretary of state, sued the top election official in Detroit last month, seeking to toss absentee ballots not cast in person with an ID, even though that runs contrary to state requirements. When asked in a recent court hearing, Karamo's lawyer declined to say why the suit targets Detroit, a heavily Democratic, majority-Black city, and not the entire state.
And in Wisconsin, Republicans won a court ruling that will prevent some mail ballots from being counted when the required witness address is not complete.
Justice
Speaking of losers…
Oooh! Another Lawsuit on the Pile
Democracy Docket Court Cases
68 last year, 127 so far this year.
Today was a victory for Democracy in court.
Marc Elias
Eight cases won just yesterday allowing voters to vote, and requiring states to tally votes accurately:
Elections
John Legend
This is about Florida voters overwhelmingly voting to give the vote back to felons who completed their sentences. DeSantis and other Wrong-Wingers have been piling other unjustified conditions on them, including a requirement to pay all outstanding fines and judgments. You can contribute to various funds helping such people get out from under these poll taxes.
Closing Arguments
It’s not freedom to tell women what they’re allowed to do with their bodies. That’s not freedom. It’s not freedom to tell our children what books they’re allowed to read. It’s not freedom when he gets to decide who you’re allowed to marry. I say love is love!
Josh Shapiro, running for Governor of Pennsylvania, in Pittsburgh yesterday
The good news is, you have the power in your hands, to steer this country in a better direction. But it only happens if you vote.
Barack Obama, campaigning with Shapiro
Polls are all over the place. Fuggedaboudit, and take your friends to vote. Go watch any election terrorists in your community, at drop boxes, outside the polls, wherever.
Endorsements
Blue Virginia: Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) Joins Former Rep. Denver Riggleman (R-VA05) in Endorsing Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA07) for Reelection!
GOTV!
Actors & Athletes UNITE on Voting Rights
SAG-AFTRA [Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists] has teamed up with the NFL Players Association for the launch of Actors & Athletes: Unions for Democracy, a partnership centered on protecting the right to vote in every state, as well as encouraging every American to register to vote. The inaugural brunch featured remarks from SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher, NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith, SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland and NFLPA Vice President Michael Thomas. More than 100 actors, athletes and allies attended, expressing their support for protecting voting rights.
The event rolled out the “Your Voice. Your Vote.” platform, the centerpiece of which reconfirms support for the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. Other strategies were discussed that can guide the next steps among the cohort of actors and athletes who stand united to effect change.
Drescher was the star in The Nanny.
Terrorism
Reuters: 'Kill them': Arizona election workers face midterm threats
Between July 11 and Aug. 22, the county election office documented at least 140 threats and other hostile communications, the records show. “You will all be executed,” said one. “Wire around their limbs and tied & dragged by a car,” wrote another.
State election officials block federal oversight of Cole County polling locations
The Department of Justice asked to monitor Cole County polling locations Tuesday while people vote on Nov. 8 due to complaints it received.
The request was not received well by Cole County Clerk Steve Korsmeyer or Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft.
In the meeting, the DOJ did not provide the nature of the complaints, according to a news release from Ashcroft's office. Ashcroft also told the DOJ it does not have the jurisdiction or authority to monitor the local election without an invitation.
"If you're really trying to take care of complaints, don't you explain the complaint to the people that have the authority to do that?" Ashcroft said during a Facebook Live question-and-answer livestream on Monday.
The DOJ said it will not reveal why it chose to investigate Cole County or the nature of the complaints. A DOJ spokesman said it's against department policy to share that information during an ongoing investigation.
Ashcroft compared DoJ officials to “jackbooted thugs”
Early Voting in Swing States
Polls are data, but not always information. Here is information from states that track early voting by party of registration, put together by Targetsmart.
Early votes 2018-2022
|
2018 |
2022 |
Ohio, D |
42.4% |
44.1% |
Ohio, R |
44.7% |
39.2% |
Georgia, D |
44.8% |
49.0% |
Georgia, R |
49.4% |
41.2% |
Florida, D |
46.1% |
43.8% |
Florida, R |
48.5% |
50.4 |
Wisconsin, D |
35.1% |
37.1% |
Wisconsin, R |
45.9% |
34.4% |
Florida is always tough, in part because its population of retirees constantly renews itself. But look at that 13-point swing in Ron Johnson’s Wisconsin!
Iran
Ukraine
Russians Spotted Stealing Children's Amusement Park Train in Ukraine—Video
The initial clip was shared on TikTok by user alenakherson on Sunday and received over 25,000 views on the video app.
The video has since begun circulating on Twitter and it has been viewed over 200,000 times over multiple pages.
Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to the Ukrainian Minister of Internal Affairs, according to his Twitter page, also shared the video.
COP27
Ahhh! Reality!
Renewable Thursday: Oil and Gaslighting III, by the "EcoRight"
Carbon Tax FAQs
Why is a carbon tax needed?
Today’s energy market is broken. Due to subsidies, fossil fuels are artificially cheap, obstructing the market and preventing a level playing field. Industries pollute our skies for free, a massive hidden subsidy in addition to the breaks they received back in the day when the U.S. was trying to promote oil and gas development.