Good Day, Newsies. It’s a new month and we are now just over two months to Election Day. A lot will happen between now and November 3 and quite a bit of it is likely to be unpleasant. We are getting down to the wire and — as we have known from the beginning — now that the end is nearing, this unfit, mentally unstable, vicious man and his coterie of co-conspirators will do everything they can to hang on to power. You know it, so be ready and do all you can to prepare emotionally so that you can keep your eyes on the prize and keep working your heart out to GOTV and defeat this monster and all his enablers up and down the ballot.
“Fear never builds the future, but hope does.” Joe Biden, August 31, 2020.
Our most dangerous opponent over the coming weeks will be fear: fear of the unknown, of course, and also the fear that will be evoked in us quite naturally when dumpy and his minions commit worse and worse outrages. The purpose of spreading fear is to cow us and dissuade us from voting. So gird your loins and screw up your courage — we need to hold fast and keep each other strong. The reason they are doing everything they can to prevent people from voting or to persuade people that the vote will not be fair/safe/counted is because it is still the thing that will defeat them! They know it and are desperate to prevent turnout. In particular, paper ballots will be undeniable. But if you live in a place where machine voting/touch screen or whatever is your only option, then vote on the damn thing anyway and do not be dissuaded!
There are tens of thousands of people working on the elections who want it to go well. They want to feel proud of a fair and well-managed election, so have faith that there is at least as much energy going into making the voting secure and accessible as there is working against that goal. And you are one of the millions of Americans who will support the first group. We are stronger together and together we will follow through with this election — no matter what. Check your voter registration, and then check it again in the days leading up to your planned voting day. Vote early if you can do so, by mail as soon as possible if you have that option. Vote — however you can, as early and safely as you can, accompanied by as many family and friends as you can gather. GOTV!
Try to limit your time watching cable news, reading social media and inadvertently soaking in the panic and the trolling and the disinformation. You know this shit is happening, and there’s no better way to inoculate yourself from it than by limiting your exposure. Instead, get busy in whatever way you work best — writing postcards, phone banking, texting to voters, organizing your neighborhood and/or getting your family and friends to commit to voting. As Teri Kanefield points out in her blog, the antidote to the very understandable despair that we all experience from time to time throughout this nightmare is doing something about it. We don’t need to be experts to make a difference in our democracy — just willing to use whatever skills we have and whatever time we can spare and do whatever we can. As someone very wise once said, Nobody can do everything, but everybody can do something. Find your something and get to work! You will feel stronger and more hopeful! And that kind of hopeful strength makes good things happen!
THE ANTIDOTE TO DESPAIR, Teri Kanefield, August 2020.
Yale Professor Timothy Snyder offers insight about despair. He says: “shock is pre-helpless.” First we’re shocked. Then paralyzed with helplessness. This generally happens when people think: “This is entirely new! Nothing like this has ever happened.” If it’s never before happened, we see no way out.
But we’ve been here before, and we’ve gotten out before. If you think we have never been here before, imagine being African American in the year 1850. Or a woman. Or both. Yeah, it’s been worse for a lot of people.
To make a lasting change, we all need to own our democracy and take constructive steps to strengthen the institutions that are currently being battered by the human wrecking ball in the White House and the major political party supporting him.
(follow the link and read on for excellent PRACTICAL and doable suggestions to get busy and take constructive steps using your talents and skills to save our democracy)
The Antidote to darkness is light, truth and decency
(See comments for the highlights of his text — thanks to hpg!)
And now for some news!
⓷ 3 Must-Win Demographics 45 Might Not Win ⓷
1: A huge development — donny is losing the support of active-duty Military
Trump’s popularity slips in latest Military Times poll — and more troops say they’ll vote for Biden, Leo Shane lll, Military Times, August 31, 2020.
July/August 2020 poll of active-duty military troops.
The latest Military Times poll shows a continued decline in active-duty service members’ views of President Donald Trump and a slight but significant preference for former Vice President Joe Biden in the upcoming November election among troops surveyed.✄
In the latest results — based on 1,018 active-duty troops surveyed in late July and early August — nearly half of respondents (49.9 percent) had an unfavorable view of the president, compared to about 38 percent who had a favorable view. Questions in the poll had a margin of error of up to 2 percent. Among all survey participants, 42 percent said they “strongly” disapprove of Trump’s time in office. ✄
“It’s fair to say that Trump is not as popular as Republican nominees have been in the past among this group,” said Peter Feaver, a White House adviser to former President George W. Bush who now works as a political science professor at Duke University. “The bottom line is that in 2020, Trump can’t be claiming to have overwhelming support in the military.”
2: Donny is losing support in the conservative Midwest
WIneRev pointed to this excellent article in yesterday’s comments (thanks WIneRev!) and it suggests that not all is going to be smooth sailing for Donny and the Pubs in the Midwest, either. (DK diarist dewtx wrote about it from the perspective of one Iowa-raised farmboy, and his point of view adds great context here):
Trump must win the Midwest. But out here his breezy reelection gambit falls flat, Art Cullen, the Guardian, August 29, 2020.
It’s shouting distance of Labor Day, when people normally start fixing on the elections. Labor is restless. John Deere laid off Davenport and Waterloo workers last fall and this spring. Deere reported strong profits last week as a result, despite slumping sales from the Trump Trade Wars. There’s the disconnect between the stock market and Main Street – the Dow rises while enhanced unemployment benefits expire.
Atop all this – a pandemic, a climate crisis inspiring a mega-drought and derecho, rotten farm prices and incompetent government – another unarmed black man was shot, this time in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Not so far from Minneapolis, where George Floyd became a household name. Now it’s Jacob Blake, whose mother Julia Jackson pleaded for prayer and healing on national TV, for her son, for the police, for this nation. The Bucks and Brewers refused to play. ✄
Farmers are anxious. Latinos are afraid. Unemployed machinists are frustrated. That prized demographic, suburban women in Urbandale next to Des Moines, are encouraging the school board to sue the governor over her in-person school orders.
They said their older folks who never saw a reason before have finally found one. Even some of those farmers are wondering about Trump as they dig into a harvest so meager that wraps up as they vote. An ill wind blows for incumbents.
3: EVen Evangelical women are cooling towards Donny
I'm Billy Graham's granddaughter. Evangelical support for Donald Trump insults his legacy. Jerushah Duford, USA Today, August 25, 2020.
Trump has gone so far as to brag about his plans, accomplishments and unholy actions toward the marginalized communities I saw my grandfather love and serve. I now see, through the silence of church leaders, that these communities are no longer valued by individuals claiming to uphold the values my grandfather taught.✄
At a recent large family event, I was pulled aside by many female family members thanking me for speaking out against an administration with which they, too, had been uncomfortable. With tears in their eyes, they used a hushed tone, out of fear that they were alone or at risk of undeserved retribution.✄
I chose to listen to my spirit to speak out. Not because doing so feels comfortable, but because it feels like the right way to leverage the voice God has empowered me with. Now I am asking all of you who feel as I do, to embrace your inner tug, and allow it to lead you to use the power of your God-given voice and not allow Trump to lead this country for another four years.
And these two Georgia voters — still lukewarm on Joe, but waking up to the reality of the donald: We are evangelical Christians not voting for Donald Trump this time, Ryan Hurlburt and Katharine Hurlburt, The Hill, August 31, 2020.
🎶 A Musical Break 🎶
💲 It’s Still the Economy, Smarty! 💲
And even the usually right-leaning, Pub-friendly U.S. Chamber of Commerce is having serious second thoughts about trumpism:
Turmoil consumes Chamber of Commerce as it backs Democrats, Alex Isenstadt, Politico, August 27, 2020.
Or in this case...the smarter thing to do.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is poised to endorse nearly two dozen freshmen House Democrats for reelection, triggering a revolt within the right-leaning organization and drawing fierce pushback from the group’s powerful GOP donors.
The decision represents a sharp departure for the traditionally conservative Chamber, which has spent over $100 million backing Republican candidates during the past decade, and it threatens to further complicate the party’s prospects in the November election while driving a split in the business community. ✄
The clash also provides a window into a growing rift in the business community over its place in the Donald Trump-dominated Republican Party, which has at times embraced policies the corporate world opposes. While the Chamber has almost exclusively endorsed Republicans over the past decade, it has collided with the president over everything from tariffs to immigration.
🌍 And It’s About Climate Change 🌎
NEW POLLING: A DEBATE OVER FRACKING AND CLIMATE BOOSTS JOE BIDEN IN PENNSYLVANIA, Global Strategy Group, August 27, 2020.
- Pennsylvania voters believe that climate change is a serious problem and look unkindly at lawmakers who oppose action: an overwhelming majority of voters in the state think climate change is a serious problem (83%) with a plurality saying it is very serious (46%). Pennsylvania voters also do not look kindly upon elected officials who disagree: voters are strongly unfavorable to both lawmakers who deny that climate change is a threat (21% favorable / 70% unfavorable) and lawmakers who oppose strong action to combat climate change (25% favorable / 58% unfavorable).
- Voters in the state also strongly support pro-climate policies, including “the U.S. government taking bold action to combat climate change” (73% support / 20% oppose), plans to move the U.S. to 100% clean electricity by 2035 (74% / 17%) and a 100% clean energy economy by 2050 (73% / 20%), and investing $2 trillion over the next four years to build clean energy infrastructure (71% / 21%).
- Pennsylvania voters’ support for bold action on climate translates to the ballot box: voters would vote for a Democrat who supports taking bold action on climate over a Republican who does not by 19 points – outpacing the standard generic ballot (+7) by 12 points. Democrats gain ground on this exercise in both the Philadelphia market (+8 points net gain) and in the Pittsburgh market (+12 points net gain).
More Good Election News
Companies across the US pledge to give workers time off to vote, ABC News, August 31, 2020.
Starbucks said Thursday it will give its 200,000 U.S. employees flexibility on Election Day, encouraging them to plan ahead with managers and schedule time to vote or volunteer at polling places. The Starbucks app will also help customers learn how to register to vote, the company said.
Walmart says it will give its 1.5 million U.S. workers up to three hours paid time off to vote. Apple is giving workers four hours off. Coca-Cola, Twitter, Cisco and Uber are giving employees the day off.
The idea isn't entirely new. General Motors, Ford and FiatChrysler have given employees the day off to vote since 1999, when they agreed to the change in a contract with the United Auto Workers union. Patagonia gave its workers the day off starting in 2016.But this year, the idea is gaining steam. Six hundred companies, including Lyft, Airbnb and Paramount, have signed on to ElectionDay.org, which asks companies to give employees time off to vote or distribute information on voting, including how to obtain main-in ballots. It is not clear how many of those 600 are allowing time off versus distributing voting information.
🍑 This is Just Peachy, Georgia! 🍑
Judge Extends Georgia's Absentee Ballot Deadline For November Election, Stephen Fowler, GPB (NPR/PBS), August 31, 2020.
A federal judge has ruled Georgia elections officials must count absentee ballots postmarked by Election Day and received by 7 p.m. on Nov. 6, 2020, potentially allowing thousands more votes to count in an election likely to shatter turnout records.
Judge Eleanor Ross ruled Monday that "extending the deadline would ensure that voters who receive their ballots shortly before Election Day are able to mail their ballots without fear that their vote will not count" in her 70-page order.
Currently, Georgia voters can request an absentee ballot as late as the Friday before the election, creating a narrow window for voters to return an absentee ballot through the mail in time for the current 7 p.m. Election Day deadline.
🎶 Musical Break in Honor of Georgia 🎶
⚖ Justice ⚖
Shoulda Taken that plea Deal, Mike
Appeals court denies Michael Flynn and Justice Department's effort to end his case, Katelyn Polantz, CNN News, August 31, 2020.
A federal appeals court ruled Monday against Michael Flynn and the Justice Department in their request to quickly shut down his criminal case.
The 8-2 decision restores power to a judge to question the Justice Department's moves in the politically divisive case, when Attorney General William Barr dropped charges against President Donald Trump's former national security adviser earlier this year despite twice pleading guilty to lying under oath to lying to the FBI.
Flynn had fought District Judge Emmet Sullivan's decision to ask a third-party lawyer to argue against the Justice Department's dismissal in the case, and his plans to hold a hearing, which has not yet happened.
(Reminder ->)
SHoulda Mailed Those DOcs, DeJoy
Oversight panel set to subpoena DeJoy amid clash over Postal Service, Kyle Cheney, Politico, August 31, 2020.
Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY)
Chairwoman, House Oversight Committee
The House Oversight Committee is preparing to issue a subpoena for Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, accusing him of ignoring the panel’s demand for documents related to Postal Service mail delays and contacts with White House officials or the Trump campaign.
Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) indicated Monday that DeJoy had refused to comply with a request for documents she issued during his testimony to the committee last week, when she first made her subpoena threat. ✄
“The subpoena clarifies a number of previous requests based on information obtained to date in order to ensure that it captures all documents within the requested categories, and it also makes clear as a legal matter that the production of these documents is mandatory,” Maloney said.
The committee is also issuing a document request to USPS board chairman Robert Duncan about materials it says Duncan is withholding by citing a Justice Department legal opinion. Maloney intends to issue a subpoena for those documents as well if Duncan doesn’t comply, according to committee aides.
WIth friends like trumps...
This woman is going to be Rachel Maddow’s Interview tonight on TRMS:
‘It’s Taken Over My Life’: Ex-Melania Friend Working With Prosecutors On Inauguration Probe, Cristina Cabrera, Talking Points Memo, August 31, 2020.
Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, a former close friend to first lady Melania Trump, claimed on Monday that she is working with three prosecutors in their investigations into the Trump inaugural committee.
“I’m working with three different prosecutors, and it’s taken over my life,” she told ABC News in a pre-taped interview.
Those would be the U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York, along with the attorneys general in New Jersey and Washington, D.C.
Winston Wolkoff was an adviser to the inaugural committee, which spent a jaw-dropping $104 million on the event after raising more than $107 million. Her ABC News interview is part of her media tour to promote her tell-all book, “Melania and Me: The Rise and Fall of My Friendship with the First Lady.”
It’s About Time
Bill to decriminalize marijuana at federal level up for House vote next month, Meredith Deliso, ABC News, August 30, 2020.
A landmark bill that would decriminalize marijuana use at the federal level is up for vote soon.
The U.S. House of Representatives is set to vote on the legislation in September, according to an email sent out on Friday by Majority Whip James Clyburn. Politico first reported on the pending vote.
The "Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act of 2019" -- also called the MORE Act -- would officially remove cannabis from the list of federally controlled substances. It would also expunge federal marijuana convictions and arrests, and approve the allocation of resources for communities affected by the war on drugs, according to the bill's text.
Thankfully
🎶 Music For This Moment 🎶
⚡️ Lightning RoundUp ⚡️
⚡️ Yer Wonkette: Joe Biden Helpfully Reminds Donald Trump Who's President, What Day It Is, Which One Is 'Camel', Stephen Robinson, Wonkette, August 31, 2020.
⚡️ Everything you need to know! The Best Way to Vote in Every State, Molly Olmstead and Mark Joseph Stern, Slate, August 31, 2020.
⚡️ Let’s go! Democrats Are Winning Their Fight for the States, Joan Walsh, The Nation, September 2020.
⚡️ Ooh! Let’s hope so! Ohio Republicans are embroiled in scandal. Could they lose the election for Trump? Gary Abernathy, Washington Post, August 31, 2020.
⚡️ Read about amazing Dem women! A Guide To All The Women Who Could Help Flip The Senate Blue In 2020, Madison Feller, Elle Magazine, August 31, 2020.
⚡️ Thanks to Ice Blue for this excellent article: How to talk to conspiracy theorists—and still be kind, Tanya Basu, MIT Technology Review, July 15, 2020.
⚡️ University of Illinois! One university may have the best COVID testing operation in the U.S.—and tests students twice a week, Lee Clifford, Fortune, August 29, 2020.
⚡️Well, well, well: Liberty announces investigation into Falwell’s tenure, Sarah Rankin and Elana Schor, AP News, August 31, 2020.
⚡️ A righteous indictment: “America First” is a Lie, Brian Stewart, The Bulwark, August 29, 2020.
⚡️ It’s not strategy, it’s pathology: Donald Trump's hunger for violence isn't just about politics — it's fuel for his bloated ego, Amanda Marcotte, Salon, August 31, 2020.
⚡️ Another psychology perspective: Why Are Dems Nervous? Because They’re Dems. Josh Marshall, Talking Points Memo, August 31, 2020.
⚡️ There is “transformational potential” in this moment: The NBA Wildcat Strike Is How a Revolution Starts, Lester Spence, August 29, 2020.
⚡️ Remember: Good people are everywhere 😍:
🔗 Helpful Links 🔗
Here’s a bunch of links to help you stay involved from home:
Joe Biden’s Action Website
Act Blue — fundraising for Democratic candidates in one easy site.
Ramping up the writing to voters effort!
Postcards to Voters — Our own gnusie, Progressive Muse posts most days with information about PtV and updates on current campaigns and progress. This is the ideal “do it at home” contribution especially suited to those who enjoy getting a little creative and connecting with fellow voters around the country.
Vote Forward — whether organizing an effort to encourage voter registration, including providing addressees with voter registration forms — or working toward the BIG SEND (millions of letters to voters arriving in mailboxes in late October), this is one of several “do it at home” projects through which many of us can really make a difference. Voter to voter initiatives have a track record of increasing voter turnout. The Vote Forward letter system is ideal for those who want to contribute but can’t write too much. The letter templates are provided and all you do is put in a line or two of your own and make sure the letters get to the voters on your list!
Powered By People — Beto O’Rourke’s virtual phone bank center for flipping Texas BLUE! (h/t to Slideman)
Fair Fight — Stacey Abrams’ initiative which has already made a difference in several elections! Find out how you can help out at this link.
Spread the Vote — wonderful organization which works hard to help eligible voters obtain valid ID so they can register and vote.
⭐️ And finally, for one-stop all-purpose voter information (check your registration!):
Everything you need to know to vote — Vote.org — This site covers everything any eligible voter needs to know, from how to register, how to check that you are still registered, how to obtain an absentee ballot and what to do if your right to vote is challenged or you are stopped from voting.
The Best Way to Vote in Every State
💙 RoundUp WindDown 💙
That’s it from me for this week! Curlygirl has been asleep on the floor for the past hour and just got up and put herself to bed. LOL That’s my cue to wrap up my tapping and typing and go to bed myself.
Too...much...tapping...too...much….typing...Zzzzzz!
It’s always an honor to write these GNRs and I hope they are as helpful to you to read as they are to me to write!
As always, I encourage you to take good care of yourself and those you love. Try to limit exposure to gloom and doom, “news” and disinformation. Eat nutritious food, try to get enough rest and try to get outdoors every day for a little while if you can.
Above all, try to do something every day to further the goal of electing Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and Democrats up and down the ballot in November.
There is a new day coming and we are going to make that beautiful, hopeful dawn happen. In November, we will be able to rest after we watch the great Democratic blue wave wash over the country. I am so glad I am working on this great American project with all of you!
To close today’s GNR (until the best comment section on the internet™ commences!), here’s a little Jupiter positivity for you. Go forth and save your country!
🎶 Yes, “I Vow to Thee, My Country” 🎶
Happy Tuesday, Gnusies!
