There are two big stories this weekend: voter intimidation and the Trump campaign’s attempt to game the election by convincing people that the president should declare victory on Tuesday night.
In Charles Blow’s opinion piece in this morning’s New York Times, “Our Most Dangerous Weeks Are Ahead” he describes the prospect of violence surrounding the election and the preparations that are underway to combat it.
The piece itself is disturbing, but what I took away from it was a comment by one of the readers. I have taken the liberty of including it here because it speaks to the devastating personal costs that voter intimidation brings with it, and the efforts some Americans have been forced to take to protect themselves and their families during our Presidential election. The last sentence of the comment felt like a hammer blow to the heart, “This is the America many of us now live in.”
“As a nation, our most dangerous weeks are ahead. But those of us who are minorities and live in Red states are the most vulnerable. I live in a Red state in which seeing white militias is increasingly common. I wish my family had the luxury of considering this election as purely an academic exercise. But we cannot. As Americans of Middle Eastern ancestry, we are literally at risk where we live. So while legal experts will grapple with novel questions never before sent to the nation's high court, my family will have a much more basic concern - how to ensure our own safety. Last year we had planned on being out of the country during the election. But the pandemic put an end to these plans. So we plan not to leave our homes for some time, perhaps weeks. We have a group of families, all close friends (and minorities) whom we've shared housekeys. We have safe words should we need to contact each other in a precarious situation. We know that if one of us is threatened, the rest of us will reach out and try to shelter each other as much as humanly possible. So while we may well see the very real spectre of this Trump Supreme Court extending his term in spite of a Biden win (both popular and electoral vote), families like ours just can't devote much intellectual attention to such weighty matters right now. Our small group has prepared the best we can - and our only aim is to protect ourselves from white supremacists. This is the America many of us now live in.”
This is the way Blacks have been treated through intimidation and threats for centuries in America. Other minorities have always suffered this ugliness. The myth of America is being exposed. I am so, so sorry you are subjected to so much fear and threat that you must organize protection for you, your family, and your friends. It is a crushing understanding that the promise of America is as shallow as it is. That underneath the ideals, monsters play deadly games with the lives of Americans.
I'll state the obvious to say the difference now is that many white people are seeing and experiencing what Blacks and other minorities have been living under lo these many years.
I have to say, and I hate it, I’m beginning to despise Republicans as a group because all of them seem to go along with whatever outrage others are perpetrating. There MUST be Republicans out there who deplore “law enforcement” pepper spraying people walking to the polls and crazies claiming ballots handed over in a drive-through aren’t valid. I am also beginning to resent those who gave us trump in 2016.
Beginning to resent? I started the day of, knowing what a dreadful mistake it was to elevate this creature to the highest office of the land. Every atom of his being is despicable and has been all his sick life.
Ditto to that. I disowned long-time friends and on family member who supported The Asswipe on Nov 9, 2016. And ppl keep misspelling "The Repugnant Party." If you are still a member of that party you are repugnant - no excuses.
No. If they are Republicans and voting for Trump they are not decent or principled. If they are Republicans and voting against Trump and speaking out against Trump they are decent and principled. There is no middle ground on this. Why? Because Trump is advocating violence, election tampering, civil rights violations, hate speech, not to mention promoting the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. I don't know of a single decent, principled human being in any party anywhere who would support the behaviors the Republicans and Trump are advocating.
The distinction is this: Republican Party (RIP) vs trump republicans. So our loathing targets the latter. For sure. The RIPs are staggering at least as much as the left re "what fresh hell is this?!" Joe Biden will be tasked with clearing the wreckage, healing the people, and digging the economy out of its pit. I suspect that authentic RIPs get that. But they have no idea who they are since their party was hijacked and turned into Sedition Swamp. Their original and most egregious sin was blindly voting for party rather than country in 2016. What seemed like a very bad choice has morphed into a national catastrophe. I'm guessing there may be a lot of guilt among sentient RIPs.
It is sad. But the same talent-filled, Republican orgs that have worked so hard to help take back our country from the Pennsylvania Avenue Pandemic-Spreader will be working to resuscitate/rebuild/reframe their party. The Lincoln Project has been clear about that. They are not Democrats. I view them as principled RIPs. And we can be damn sure they haven't voted for trump--possibly neither time, but definitely not in 2020.
Yup, like Romney, Murchowski and other decent and principled Republicans who voted to confirm Justice Barrett before the American people had their say on Election Day. It is difficult to be decent and principled if one is gutless, as is the case with most Republicans. When you sleep with dogs, you get fleas, and the GOP is flea-ridden.
I understand your frustration, however I really do think there is danger in categorizing all "Republicans" as bad. We wouldn't want Republicans lumping all "Democrats" into a bad single group. I believe this leads to further polarization instead of finding agreements where they are. If we identify as a Democrat, are there some Democratic ideas we do not particularly like? Sure.
To me the "Good Repugnants" are sounding like this; "I'm a Nazi, who doesn't believe in torturing and killing Jews and homosexuals. But, what can I do?"
Other than those Republicans who are rebelling in the Lincoln Project (and should become the Lincoln Party) all the others are Repugnant and Following Orders.
I fear for all minorities in red states, including members of my own family. Sadly, "the land of the free, and the home of the brave" has been converted to a land of fear led by cowards and bullies. As a citizen, I will continue to uphold my rights and exercise my responsibilities, but as I work full-time, it is beginning to sap every ounce of energy from my 73 year-old body!
I didn’t read the comments though read the article. This takes my breath away and makes me gasp and cry. WTH have we become? I’m so angry with the sheeples that follow this human being. They can vote on one issue...I like his stance on abortion...and overlook the pure hatred he has for America? I think anyone who votes for him is morally bankrupt.
This is so sad to read, as was Blow's opinion piece. Even if Blow 's predictions are half true, the fall of the America I have lived in will be complete. A banana republic for sure....
In front of a GOP-appointed judge too but i understood that hearings were today and not necesarily a ruling. Appeals if it does go wrong go to a similar band of politicized judges.
As a poll worker, tomorrow I will gird for battle, something I NEVER expected. I’m in TN and I have little faith in our county mayor (an ex-WWE wrestler and libertarian) and sheriff, who enforces only laws he agrees with, to keep voters safe. The good news is the elections admin takes all this seriously.
I am a poll worker too. I have been angry at the voters who came in during early voting not wearing masks. There is a mask mandate in Pasco County and there was a sign at the door that masks were required. Yet these people thought their right to not wear a mask “trumped” my right to be safe. I am expecting the same tomorrow. But after this election I am done and will find other ways to help. Stay safe, Marcy.
I am grateful to be a poll worker in a county that requires a mask to come inside, and if a voter refuses, we offer curbside service for them. Had one today. Guess whose name on his t-shirt. We had to ask him to zip up his jacket to comply with no electioneering. He did, and he voted.
Be really careful, Marcy - I have a cousin in PA and a niece in Mass who also are working at a polling site - in PA they will have an armed constable! - not sure in Mass. We obviously NEED people to be there, but this is scary - for everyone. Be safe
Thank you. Police (and guns) are not allowed at polling places in TN. Police can come if called, of course. Having said that, I realize those who are disgruntled aren't law-abiding citizens. That's who I worry about.
May trump slither out of office unlike the way he peacocked in, this time spotlight-flooded as he is taken in cuffs to appear before the SDNY and to be fitted for an orange jumpsuit.
Installation of unscalable fencing at the White House, with the National Guard called to protect an enemy domestic (also, arguably, an enemy foreign). What in bloody hell is wrong with THAT Election Day picture? Rhetorical.
We now know that part of trump's voting interference plan is to have his thugs generate myriad traffic jams. Dress rehearsal took place over the weekend. Add to that the certain assault on peaceful marchers.
One of my greatest concerns--lordy, there's a boatload of 'em--is the immediate future of Christopher Wray. Governmentally speaking, he is pretty much the Lone Ranger re protecting our nation. And it seems likely that trump will axe him.
(I just had a revelation! The reason no buses are picking up trumpeters from events is that the whole fleet has been immobilized by the humongous piles of people trump has thrown under them over the past four years.)
Regrets. I've had a few...
(1) That Mueller never came forward as a patriotic citizen to blow all the whistles in his possession.
(2) That a second impeachment initiative was not begun. Fuzzy on what the precise justification for that might have been, but it seems/seemed like a good, strategic action to me.
(3) U.S. Senator oath of office: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God." Parse that. Regrettably, I have more rage than regret. There is not one--NOT ONE--Republican Senator who gives a rat's patoot about that pledge. No one who has the moral fiber to speak to the absolute outrage that has been unfolding and escalating for the past four years. Apparently they decided the pledge was just a suggestion.
What this administration is doing is exactly what I read about oppressive, dictator countries doing when I was in grade school and thought, whew, glad I’m in America!
My WWII dad is rolling in his grave. Sorry we’ve lost the country you fought for Dad. We weren’t paying attention.
I too remember reading of these things while in school, feeling pity for those poor, unfortunate countries and feeling profound pride that I lived in the U.S., where this could never happen. I can not, on any level, wrap my mind around the fact they “we” are now “that country” that I felt pity for. I am both ashamed, and terrified.
I've thought the same. My father fought in the First Wave on Iwo Jima and paid a hellish price of two years in a hospital bed, so badly wounded that he was at first left for dead on the field. And this is what he suffered for? Our memories are way too short in this country.
I agree with others. It will be so up to the news media. But that will be like putting a piece of chicken on the noses of untrained dogs and hoping they will just let them sit there and not snap them up. For as professional as the main TV news departments are supposed to be, the pack mentality, and the race for ratings and profits, will make it almost impossible for them not to try and scoop the others with updates and projections and horse-race hype. Instead they should maybe report on the voter suppression. The other thing they've done to prime rural Trump voters to think they're being screwed is put up those big maps and color in states as if dirt could vote. I've mentioned this before. From their graphics, lightly populated states look just the same as heavily populated ones. If they used CARTOGRAMS that adjusted states' sizes or color density by population, it would show better how unbalanced is our "democracy." ( see https://www.wiscontext.org/cartogram-wisconsins-2018-election-governor )
Finally, why aren't the intimidators arrested? If someone can be executed for sleeping in.his car in a parking lot, surely those who threaten harm to and disrupt a political campaign should at least get a ticket? I really see this as like part of the second rollback of reconstruction with a weaker party trying to protect rights. Do you think these Dems would refuse to seat "confederate" colleagues? Thank you for the link to Charles Blow article, too.
I'd like to quote you on this, Cate: "If someone can be executed for sleeping in his car in a parking lot, surely those who threaten harm to and disrupt a political campaign should at least get a ticket?"
Maybe the architects of this 13 foot high non scalable wall around the White House should have noted the world record for the pole vault is now a little over 20 feet.
Or suggest that it be non-scaleable on the inside....a prison by any name. I can't imagine Trump pole-vaulting.... nor successfully poll-vaulting either!
There's a great joke that Washington DC is 68 square miles surrounded by reality. But, I think that needs to be revised to just the federal lands within DC since the residents of DC seem quite sane and have a great mayor. Loved it when she renamed the square and painted Black Lives Matter on the street running up to the White House. And, now that's the view from Trump's prison.
Heather, thanks for your summation of "Life in the day" at Crazyland. We in Central New York had several "Trump trains" as they are called here irritating drivers this weekend as well. None to my knowledge cause anything other than pity from onlookers. I know they think their 10 car "Trump train" is a 1,000 cars in their altered minds when infact there are far more cars in line to get into the local Wegmans grocery store on any given day.
That said, this "unscalable fence" at several locations with the National Guard at the ready, must be a representation of the fear that run through Trumps head that if his dog whistle of lawyers and complicit Government officials to keep him at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue doesn't work, that a childish wall will keep him safe. Perhaps he doesn't realize that this sandcastle he is building will be eroded by the tide. It always does. It isn't a sustainable solution.
Stay safe, be well and don't let the bastards wear you down.
The news media can do a lot to forestall the second of HCR's big stories; calling the election on Tuesday night. Don't give the Big Mouth a mouth piece. Don't broadcast an announcement "from the White House" that the Trump Administration can't legally make. The same for the Biden camp for that matter.
The gangs of deplorables will be active. Take cell phone videos, including license plate numbers.
NPR put out a statement that included: "NPR provides live coverage of the results on the radio and online, and we rely on The Associated Press for all vote counting and race calls." Let's hope that the other non-faux news outlets follow suit. https://www.npr.org/2020/10/29/928863973/heres-how-npr-reports-election-results
I have worked (volunteer) for AP calling in results from my local town polling place as they are announced by town officials. Absentee and mail-in ballots were a tiny percentage of the total vote. This year is different. With so many mail-in and absentee ballots, I hope that AP will withold calling elections until all the votes are counted. This may take a day or two in many locations.
I do agree that AP is as reliably objective and non-partisan as we're likely to get.
And, I'm sure AP will be very careful this year to not call the election until the vote count -- all of it -- warrants it no matter how long it takes. The Bush-Gore Supreme Court decision in 2000 was on December 12th to put things in perspective.
So now he's counting on the "fake news" to correctly call the election the night of. I wonder if he ends up "losing" according to the media on election night if he will then switch to wanting to wait until all the results come in. Been an extremely rough week for me. Hanging on by a thread. My entire family, extended and all, is voting Trump. Im the only one who has already voted Biden and it feels extremely lonely.
I am so sorry. And I am grateful that all of my close family are for Biden. My poor son-in-law is an angel. His entire family, except him, was for Trump. He has turned some around, especially the younger ones. But his parents and brothers and sisters are lost to him. He has worked for the Democratic Party and sent nearly 100,000 texts to voters. He has turned his anguish into actionable items to stop Trump. He is my hero. Find your hero among your friends. Or be the hero for your friends. You can't fix families, as my son-in-law will tell you. Take care!
I feel your pain. My daughter, my flesh and blood, and her husband are voting for Trump. I am beyond distressed. Luckily my brother is on our blue team. I am here for you!
Thank you. They truly believe everything that Trump says so of course they think hes not racist and has done more for the black community than any other president. I know they are good people. They've just been brainwashed into following the wrong crowd. Its so devastating. Im sure they feel the same about me.
My surviving sister (Republican, fundamentalist Christian) has refused to talk to me since January, although she gave a flimsy excuse about how she couldn't find a long enough block of time for us to chat. She lives in WA (I'm in Baltimore), and her husband (was a Republican State Representative, then a State senator) was a campaign honcho for Trump in WA four years ago, and scored a political appointment in WA when Trump was elected. This is what Trump has done to my family, when I can't even talk to my sister, even about anything NOT political. At my age, I have hardly any family from my childhood left. I want my sister back. What will this be like six months from now? A year? This is happening to so many people now! Trump tore his family apart, and now he's tearing ours apart. The man is rotten in his core. Words MATTER.
I have a small, colorful Biden/Harris bumper sticker on my car. It was painted by a friend. I have noticed how few bumper stickers of any kind there are in my Maine town. Usually, before an election, there are a pretty good number of them. I got an idea of why there are few bumper stickers the other day when I was driving on a 4 lane road. A large, high, all black pickup raced up behind my car and started to make loud revving sounds. He, (sorry, I'm assuming it was a he) kept racing up close behind me and feinting back for the next very loud approach. When we reached a part of the road with other cars, he drifted off ahead. I still have my bumper sticker on, but I have a new awareness that some people are enjoying menacing women in Subarus.
In years past, I had political stickers on my car, beyond the candidates in election years. A friend said she was surprised I never got my car keyed in the mall parking lot.
This same friend quit putting election signs on her property because they (whoever 'they' were, but I'm sure they shared the same genetic code as the Trumpsters),would shoot them out. She tried putting them down along the road (her house sits back from the road, up a hill) thinking that at least at that angle, if they shot the signs, they wouldn't hit the house. She also had some kind of exploding device blow up her mailbox. Needless to say, she is more circumspect now as well.
Other Democrats in this very red county resorted to putting a game cam up to catch the culprit that kept stealing his yard signs. It was a public official's brother!! Needless to say, no charges were filed, even though the property owner filed a complaint.
I lived in rural, very red, El Paso County Colorado when I put a RESIST bumper sticker on my car. I was honestly surprised that no one ever keyed my car, made snotty comments or worse when I went into town. Four years later I'm in Mérida, Yucatan with my RESIST sticker still in tact.
Daria, I have--actually had--a friend of over 50 yrs block me in 2016 because she felt unsupported in her support of Trump (her husband is/was an elected official in El Paso County, CO). She felt unsupported bc I asked such things as "why do you think that?" Worse, a mutual friend, whom she had known since grade school, was also broken with. They were both part of a small religious community in our home town. To throw over lifelong friendships for Trump ... Of course, now we know, as things have played out, even families are splitting over trump. Anyway, it was my impression, which you have confirmed, El Paso Co. is VERY red.
I had the same experience before the 2016 election- had a Bernie bumper sticker and was tormented by a big white truck that kept Erving up and almost rear ending me.
Probably only lasted around 5 minutes, but felt like forever.
That's awful, Kristin! I'm so sorry it happened and I'm glad nothing came of it. Sending a hug your way.
That's the reason why I don't put political stickers on my Mini Cooper; there's just too many aggressive idiots in oversized vehicles here in Austin, TX.
The latest from what we’re going through in GA. Because of our “toss-up” status we’ve been getting a LOT of attention from the candidates in the form of campaign stops. We’re not used to that here as we’ve long been considered solidly red, but things seem to be changing and it sure is nice to see it!
As for everything else, what I took away from HCR’s current letter is that we’d best get used to being on a roller-coaster for the coming days. Because of the vagaries of ballot-counting methods in various states we’re probably going to be high one minute and in the depths the next. I’m trying to steel myself for whatever might come, but trying to keep my heart full of hope. I think we’d all best hunker down and wait and see what happens. It might all proceed smoothly. It could be total chaos. It’s the not knowing that is killing us. As a highly sensitive empath, I plan on unplugging a bit tomorrow and the rest of the week…reading folks’ posts on here…purposely keeping media out of my life…doing some crosswords & sudokus…listening to some calming Bach or Mozart…hanging out with my purring cat...relishing silence. I have to think of my sanity. Do whatever works to keep you calm, centered, and grounded. And if you’re the type, PRAY for the coming days! Y’all rock!!
I'm going to hit the grocery store today and stock up on water, wine, and munchies, and shut down for the next day or so. I'm exhausted (as we all are) from the constant influx of events and this non-stop anger against trumpians.
I'm bewildered at their actions, really. It's almost like they've reverted to the ugliest aspect of High School and are acting it out in public, thinking they're so cool and are the leaders of the school, and everyone must obey them & their rules. But, these are (supposedly) grown adults who should know better by now that these 'games' can have deadly results.
I see their actions and am furious, and then I think of the people I know who are part of Cult 45 and wonder if they are part of the Trump Train. Do I cut all ties to them, these people who are actually friends? What about my family- my mom, brother and his family? (Rhetorical questions, no answer needed)
The damage done to our country is immense; I don't think we'll know just how bad it is for years, and I'm not sure how to even begin to heal it, or if it is possible.
I do my regular grocery run tomorrow, but I stocked up on junk and munchies--stuff I NEVER buy--last week ahead of hurricane Zeta, which knocked our power off for 36 hours. Still got lots left (and CHOCOLATE!) so I'm okay.
Well, DUH! I have MY priorities right! (I buy it every year for trick-or-treaters, and for the past 4 years we've not had a SINGLE one...always be prepared, y'know...more for me then! The little buggers can't appreciate it anyway...)
I'm so glad you made it through Zeta safely and to still have chocolate left is either a huge accomplishment or indicative that you bought out the store. 😀
I'm not a huge munchies person either, but I am feeling the need for comfort and will indulge a bit.
I dunno, but my 10 year old nephew, child of 2 Trumpians, said this about the coronavirus: "Don't over think it." My sister in law and her husband were so proud of that comment they shared it on Facebook along with a photo of his beaming face.
Oh, gosh! I hadn't even thought of that! And if they do lose, how will they poison the kids minds against Democracy? The ramifications are bigger than I realized!
If they managed to produce kids with MINDS that is when they demonstrably don't have one themselves. A friend refers to them as "Hardware" empty of the necessary operating "Software" to allow them to function normally in this world.
As long as it is cult 45 and they don't start thinking that we are back into "Westerns" and come at you using a Colt 45 we will come through this OK in the end.
Paris, France and not Paris, Texas i'm afraid. My knowledge of Texas comes from looking over the border from surrounding States, from novels, from conversations with friends and from good old Westerns....but i appreciate what you are saying.
Lots of “God, Guns, Country” flags on parade locally. I have (leaning towards “had”) a 66 year-old friend who has been seriously training shooting human targets at a distance of 500 yards (you read that right) so he can be a sniper in the upcoming battle against the F - - -ing Democrats. We don’t see much of him anymore. Thank God I’m a No Party Preference voter.
As another sensitive ( and I'm so glad you disclosed that,) I have found my dreams full of politics and possible unrest. Good advice for all to take a step back, if we can. God bless HCR, Buddy and all of you. I've picked my travelling companions well. I am grateful for all of you.
My first thought on the myriad of "Trump convoy" incidents and other Trumpoid, intimidatory stupidities in different communities in particular parts of the nation is "WHAT A LOAD OF AMATEURS". It sounds very much like these seperate goups of "people" are fueled more by the beer they are drinking than the ideology they are proclaiming to support....10 year old bullies sneaking into the school kindergarden play-yard to frighten the kids...as on Halloween. The very uncoordinated nature of the different, disparate attacks on decent people would suggest the actions of loose canons or loan wolves and not a professional, disciplined organization. Trump himself underlines this very thesis in his "reactive" response and seems almost surprised at his people doing this for him despite his constant incantations, twittering and hectoring inciting "redneck" rebellion. He thinks it is "fun", "good TV" and "fair game"; he would have liked to have thought of that good "game" himself and is happy to take his meagre, thin-skinned support wherever he can find it....in Putin, Qanon, Fox, Guiliani, Falwell and in many other low-down, white hick-town and bar-room crazies.
The voter suppression tactics and legal challenges to votes, counting systems and results is something else. This is integral to the Koch-funded, fueled and directed Republican long-game to reduce any notion of democracy to a level at which their minority can continue to control society. They have been largely successful across many states as the have perservered in the effort over the past nearly 50 years while the Democrats sat and wailed at the GOP's iniquities and didn't accept the truth of the oppositions anti-democratic intentions. Now they are waking up to the near to spend a great deal of energy combating this insidious disease jsut as they will fight Covid. The Democrats have eqully brilliant legal minds at their disposal and now the motivation to say once and for all STOP!
My feeling though is that in the operational phase of the GOP's legal challenge to the people's wishes expressed through their massive votes to oust the usurper Trump, they will in the end be as disorganized and amateur as their "street, bear-laden, car-train militias playing soldier on the Texas high road.
I have to disagree about the lack of organization. Some of the pro Trump agitators seem to be very well organized, including the Trump Train. They may not have a single governing body but have locally organized pods around the country wreaking havoc at polls, on the highways and city streets. Voter intimidation by Republicans is not new, it's simply exploded and gone public in a big way. But you are right about one thing, Democrats have been civil far too long. If LBJ were alive today we'd be playing a totally different kind of game.
Perhaps this is a side note to your thread, but this morning I woke to an NPR report about sanctuary for illegal immigrants seeking refuge from ICE. The report concluded with the announcer remarking that Steven Miller had announced the administration's intentions to ramp up deportations after the election, and then a clip of Miller came on. But rather than a clip of him talking about the administration policy, it was a clip of Miller stating with emphasis and great certainty that if Biden were elected he would allow millions of illegal immigrants to overrun the country. Huh? Once more, a case of a Republican voice falsely characterizing, in an incendiary way, a Democrat's intentions, a tactic that Newt Gingrich introduced to national discourse and that the Republicans have been polishing since -- while the Democrats have only just figured out that this sort of (uncivil) argument gets airtime. My points: 1) The Republicans figure they don't have to talk about their own policies as long as they lie outrageous ly about their opponents, because a) it'll get them free air time and b) it'll rouse fear and anger in their base. 2) The media -- and not just Fox News -- is complicit in amplifying this asymmetry and its falsehoods. 3) With this strategy, the Republican administation claims deniability of any organization of disorder -- they say the outrage-inciting words, and the base organizes itself.
I appreciate your points about the media amplyfing trump: even the PBS News Hour and Rachel Maddow have an addiction, I call it, to amplify trump. While practically ignoring Biden and other Democratic Party candidates and initiatives.
I’ve tried to contact the news editors at both PBS and MSNBC. I have found NO way to reach the Maddow show and MSNBC, and only an email address for The News Hour
Agree. I have a difficult time watching even PBS News Hour these days because of their relentless focus on all things Republican. (Never followed Maddow)
Interesting to note that the Biden campaign has chosen to focus on speaking about policy and planning -- though in the debates, Biden at least spoke back to Trump in language understandable to Trump's base. And Barack Obama, now speaking up in favor of Biden, is turning the tables a bit on the Republican crowd, and calling out Trump for what he is (a huge departure from former-President protocol, and somehow welcome even for that -- though what it bodes for future elections I hate to think).
I have to say I so enjoy hearing Obama speak out against the current baloney/malarkey (more polite than yahoos?) Now granted he did not fix all the things I wanted fixed, but then who truly expects that? Its just a pleasure hearing someone speak with intelligence & common sense. One thing he said at one of these "rallys" that hit home - something that should be obvious & spoken about more often (paraphrasing here)
we have to realize that it takes more than one vote or one try to fix a problem - maybe we only get a little bit the first time - but we have to vote or try again & again - persist until we succeed. (believe me he said it much better). It pertains to many things, for instance, civil rights! How many years ago was Selma? And still such a long way to go. Its going to take years to undo the damage done by this administration - but everyone who has stepped up/waited in hours long lines to vote/read these letters/and just hangs in there to make things better? We have to keep hanging in there!
Agreed. On the surface may seem organic, but if you understand how social media works, and how Putin and his trolls have been 'ginning up' anger (on both sides), it becomes clearer why even mainstream media continue to fall victim to parroting Trump's latest theme, why even WSJ, NY Times, and occasionally even Washington Post become (in some cases, such as the WSJ Opinion pages, very willing) echo chambers for alt right stories.
This is a link to something called The Count. It’s quite interesting. Since many of us here are political nerds, we can see where the political and procedural pressure points are and what we as citizens can do. It’s pretty emphatic Dems need to take the gloves off, or we will have another Bush v Gore where Gore conceded for the good of the country (an altruistic act, to be clear).
In themselves of course but there is no evident coordination with the Texas or NYC or any other groups that can be seen or imputed. Just emulation from what they see on TV/internet and that's not enough.
See above response. When you have the President's son calling for supporters to stage intimidation events and people respond, that's coordinated. Don't kid yourself, these events are not composed of an amorphous blob that just happens to pull it together for an event here and there. In each of the places where these intimidation events are occurring they are well coordinated locally.
This is local rent-a-crowd of course but they are individual area responses to a clarion call held in isolation and not a pre-planned rising of "rebel forces" that set out to achieve centrally dictated objectives through a coordinated quasi-para-military program.
I hate to say it out loud but the more organized "rebel forces" are what I am afraid will come later, should Trump lose. What we see now are like skirmishes.
I can accept that they would dream of this but with their often unintentional, chaos-creating record in government i would seriously doubt that they have the ability, determination or the physical ressources to carry it out against the opposition of FBI/Army/National Guard/police forces etc
The Koch/Mercer cabal will continue to be dangerous long after Trump & Co are dead and gone. Even after Citizens United is repealed their hooks will be buried so deep it will take years to remove them (if ever)
Those two families make me sick! I tried getting through “Dark Money” but I kept throwing the book against the wall. Made me very aware of their hand in disrupting anything normal. I fear you’re right about the hooks they have.
So interesting that David Frum’s relatives were in line when that horrible spectacle took place. I am telling you, I was raised in NC and those sheriffs, I bet are KKK’ers. They are sick and heartless.
Marlene, you are so right! Our new sheriff is just as bad. He replaced the one who retired after forever in office and there was hope he'd be different, but no such luck. Alamance has been in the news a lot over the past couple of years, due to the sheriff's very anti-undocumented immigrant stance.
In Charles Blow’s opinion piece in this morning’s New York Times, “Our Most Dangerous Weeks Are Ahead” he describes the prospect of violence surrounding the election and the preparations that are underway to combat it.
The piece itself is disturbing, but what I took away from it was a comment by one of the readers. I have taken the liberty of including it here because it speaks to the devastating personal costs that voter intimidation brings with it, and the efforts some Americans have been forced to take to protect themselves and their families during our Presidential election. The last sentence of the comment felt like a hammer blow to the heart, “This is the America many of us now live in.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/01/opinion/trump-election-night-violence.html
“As a nation, our most dangerous weeks are ahead. But those of us who are minorities and live in Red states are the most vulnerable. I live in a Red state in which seeing white militias is increasingly common. I wish my family had the luxury of considering this election as purely an academic exercise. But we cannot. As Americans of Middle Eastern ancestry, we are literally at risk where we live. So while legal experts will grapple with novel questions never before sent to the nation's high court, my family will have a much more basic concern - how to ensure our own safety. Last year we had planned on being out of the country during the election. But the pandemic put an end to these plans. So we plan not to leave our homes for some time, perhaps weeks. We have a group of families, all close friends (and minorities) whom we've shared housekeys. We have safe words should we need to contact each other in a precarious situation. We know that if one of us is threatened, the rest of us will reach out and try to shelter each other as much as humanly possible. So while we may well see the very real spectre of this Trump Supreme Court extending his term in spite of a Biden win (both popular and electoral vote), families like ours just can't devote much intellectual attention to such weighty matters right now. Our small group has prepared the best we can - and our only aim is to protect ourselves from white supremacists. This is the America many of us now live in.”
This is the way Blacks have been treated through intimidation and threats for centuries in America. Other minorities have always suffered this ugliness. The myth of America is being exposed. I am so, so sorry you are subjected to so much fear and threat that you must organize protection for you, your family, and your friends. It is a crushing understanding that the promise of America is as shallow as it is. That underneath the ideals, monsters play deadly games with the lives of Americans.
Yes, Yes, Yes ...
I'll state the obvious to say the difference now is that many white people are seeing and experiencing what Blacks and other minorities have been living under lo these many years.
(white grandma raises hand) Yes, that's me. Not that I know what it feels like, just a glimpse. But so, so disturbing.
Me too, S., without the "grandma" part!
I have to say, and I hate it, I’m beginning to despise Republicans as a group because all of them seem to go along with whatever outrage others are perpetrating. There MUST be Republicans out there who deplore “law enforcement” pepper spraying people walking to the polls and crazies claiming ballots handed over in a drive-through aren’t valid. I am also beginning to resent those who gave us trump in 2016.
Beginning to resent? I started the day of, knowing what a dreadful mistake it was to elevate this creature to the highest office of the land. Every atom of his being is despicable and has been all his sick life.
Ditto to that. I disowned long-time friends and on family member who supported The Asswipe on Nov 9, 2016. And ppl keep misspelling "The Repugnant Party." If you are still a member of that party you are repugnant - no excuses.
For me it started with Reagan.
Well, as a matter of fact...
There are many decent and principled Republicans who do not like Trump. Many.
No. If they are Republicans and voting for Trump they are not decent or principled. If they are Republicans and voting against Trump and speaking out against Trump they are decent and principled. There is no middle ground on this. Why? Because Trump is advocating violence, election tampering, civil rights violations, hate speech, not to mention promoting the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. I don't know of a single decent, principled human being in any party anywhere who would support the behaviors the Republicans and Trump are advocating.
The distinction is this: Republican Party (RIP) vs trump republicans. So our loathing targets the latter. For sure. The RIPs are staggering at least as much as the left re "what fresh hell is this?!" Joe Biden will be tasked with clearing the wreckage, healing the people, and digging the economy out of its pit. I suspect that authentic RIPs get that. But they have no idea who they are since their party was hijacked and turned into Sedition Swamp. Their original and most egregious sin was blindly voting for party rather than country in 2016. What seemed like a very bad choice has morphed into a national catastrophe. I'm guessing there may be a lot of guilt among sentient RIPs.
"Republican Party (RIP)", exactly, sadly.
It is sad. But the same talent-filled, Republican orgs that have worked so hard to help take back our country from the Pennsylvania Avenue Pandemic-Spreader will be working to resuscitate/rebuild/reframe their party. The Lincoln Project has been clear about that. They are not Democrats. I view them as principled RIPs. And we can be damn sure they haven't voted for trump--possibly neither time, but definitely not in 2020.
Yup, like Romney, Murchowski and other decent and principled Republicans who voted to confirm Justice Barrett before the American people had their say on Election Day. It is difficult to be decent and principled if one is gutless, as is the case with most Republicans. When you sleep with dogs, you get fleas, and the GOP is flea-ridden.
Murkowski is not decent when it comes down to picking a woman justice who couldn’t hold a flag anywhere near RBG.
I understand your frustration, however I really do think there is danger in categorizing all "Republicans" as bad. We wouldn't want Republicans lumping all "Democrats" into a bad single group. I believe this leads to further polarization instead of finding agreements where they are. If we identify as a Democrat, are there some Democratic ideas we do not particularly like? Sure.
To me the "Good Repugnants" are sounding like this; "I'm a Nazi, who doesn't believe in torturing and killing Jews and homosexuals. But, what can I do?"
Other than those Republicans who are rebelling in the Lincoln Project (and should become the Lincoln Party) all the others are Repugnant and Following Orders.
And what are they doing about him? What are they doing about the hatred and anger and chaos he perpetrates?
https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2020-11-01/bidens-secret-weapon-anti-trump-republicans
Love Kasich.
We are going to need all hands on deck to rebuild, Kristie.
Yes, I know that. Are they speaking up? Where are they?
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-republicans-biden-exclus/exclusive-over-50-republican-former-u-s-national-security-officials-join-biden-endorsement-idUSKBN26M5F3
Has there ever been a time where so many officials of one party have openly endorsed the election of a candidate of the other party?
Yes Kristie - they are called “The Lincoln Project"
Where are they and have they voted? 😞
I fear for all minorities in red states, including members of my own family. Sadly, "the land of the free, and the home of the brave" has been converted to a land of fear led by cowards and bullies. As a citizen, I will continue to uphold my rights and exercise my responsibilities, but as I work full-time, it is beginning to sap every ounce of energy from my 73 year-old body!
I wish I could somehow protect them all. 😞
I am so sorry you have to go through this...it’s truly appalling and so scary for all of you.
I didn’t read the comments though read the article. This takes my breath away and makes me gasp and cry. WTH have we become? I’m so angry with the sheeples that follow this human being. They can vote on one issue...I like his stance on abortion...and overlook the pure hatred he has for America? I think anyone who votes for him is morally bankrupt.
I am so sorry you do not feel safe. That is awful. Please know that there are many of us here in the US who support you.
This is so sad to read, as was Blow's opinion piece. Even if Blow 's predictions are half true, the fall of the America I have lived in will be complete. A banana republic for sure....
And for some good news...The Texas Supreme Court rejects GOP's attempt to invalidate 127,000 votes in Harris County.
https://www.texastribune.org/2020/11/01/texas-drive-thru-votes-harris-county/
Actually I think it is now in front of a higher federal court that is expected to rule on it today at 10:30 local time. Stay tuned.
In front of a GOP-appointed judge too but i understood that hearings were today and not necesarily a ruling. Appeals if it does go wrong go to a similar band of politicized judges.
YAYAY!!
Wow. Somebody DOES have a spine. Sorry to say, though I'm glad to see it, it has not restored my faith in our judicial system.
YES!
Yeah!
As a poll worker, tomorrow I will gird for battle, something I NEVER expected. I’m in TN and I have little faith in our county mayor (an ex-WWE wrestler and libertarian) and sheriff, who enforces only laws he agrees with, to keep voters safe. The good news is the elections admin takes all this seriously.
I am a poll worker too. I have been angry at the voters who came in during early voting not wearing masks. There is a mask mandate in Pasco County and there was a sign at the door that masks were required. Yet these people thought their right to not wear a mask “trumped” my right to be safe. I am expecting the same tomorrow. But after this election I am done and will find other ways to help. Stay safe, Marcy.
I am grateful to be a poll worker in a county that requires a mask to come inside, and if a voter refuses, we offer curbside service for them. Had one today. Guess whose name on his t-shirt. We had to ask him to zip up his jacket to comply with no electioneering. He did, and he voted.
You, too, Annette. Check in with us on Wednesday so we know that you're safe.
Thanks! Will do.
Marcy, be safe.
Be really careful, Marcy - I have a cousin in PA and a niece in Mass who also are working at a polling site - in PA they will have an armed constable! - not sure in Mass. We obviously NEED people to be there, but this is scary - for everyone. Be safe
Thank you. Police (and guns) are not allowed at polling places in TN. Police can come if called, of course. Having said that, I realize those who are disgruntled aren't law-abiding citizens. That's who I worry about.
Take care, Marcy, and thank you.
Take care and be safe, Marcy. I will "look" for you here on Wednesday to know you are ok.
Oh, thank you!
May trump slither out of office unlike the way he peacocked in, this time spotlight-flooded as he is taken in cuffs to appear before the SDNY and to be fitted for an orange jumpsuit.
Installation of unscalable fencing at the White House, with the National Guard called to protect an enemy domestic (also, arguably, an enemy foreign). What in bloody hell is wrong with THAT Election Day picture? Rhetorical.
We now know that part of trump's voting interference plan is to have his thugs generate myriad traffic jams. Dress rehearsal took place over the weekend. Add to that the certain assault on peaceful marchers.
One of my greatest concerns--lordy, there's a boatload of 'em--is the immediate future of Christopher Wray. Governmentally speaking, he is pretty much the Lone Ranger re protecting our nation. And it seems likely that trump will axe him.
(I just had a revelation! The reason no buses are picking up trumpeters from events is that the whole fleet has been immobilized by the humongous piles of people trump has thrown under them over the past four years.)
Regrets. I've had a few...
(1) That Mueller never came forward as a patriotic citizen to blow all the whistles in his possession.
(2) That a second impeachment initiative was not begun. Fuzzy on what the precise justification for that might have been, but it seems/seemed like a good, strategic action to me.
(3) U.S. Senator oath of office: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God." Parse that. Regrettably, I have more rage than regret. There is not one--NOT ONE--Republican Senator who gives a rat's patoot about that pledge. No one who has the moral fiber to speak to the absolute outrage that has been unfolding and escalating for the past four years. Apparently they decided the pledge was just a suggestion.
(4) Etc.
What this administration is doing is exactly what I read about oppressive, dictator countries doing when I was in grade school and thought, whew, glad I’m in America!
My WWII dad is rolling in his grave. Sorry we’ve lost the country you fought for Dad. We weren’t paying attention.
I too remember reading of these things while in school, feeling pity for those poor, unfortunate countries and feeling profound pride that I lived in the U.S., where this could never happen. I can not, on any level, wrap my mind around the fact they “we” are now “that country” that I felt pity for. I am both ashamed, and terrified.
I've thought the same. My father fought in the First Wave on Iwo Jima and paid a hellish price of two years in a hospital bed, so badly wounded that he was at first left for dead on the field. And this is what he suffered for? Our memories are way too short in this country.
I agree with others. It will be so up to the news media. But that will be like putting a piece of chicken on the noses of untrained dogs and hoping they will just let them sit there and not snap them up. For as professional as the main TV news departments are supposed to be, the pack mentality, and the race for ratings and profits, will make it almost impossible for them not to try and scoop the others with updates and projections and horse-race hype. Instead they should maybe report on the voter suppression. The other thing they've done to prime rural Trump voters to think they're being screwed is put up those big maps and color in states as if dirt could vote. I've mentioned this before. From their graphics, lightly populated states look just the same as heavily populated ones. If they used CARTOGRAMS that adjusted states' sizes or color density by population, it would show better how unbalanced is our "democracy." ( see https://www.wiscontext.org/cartogram-wisconsins-2018-election-governor )
Finally, why aren't the intimidators arrested? If someone can be executed for sleeping in.his car in a parking lot, surely those who threaten harm to and disrupt a political campaign should at least get a ticket? I really see this as like part of the second rollback of reconstruction with a weaker party trying to protect rights. Do you think these Dems would refuse to seat "confederate" colleagues? Thank you for the link to Charles Blow article, too.
Wow! That is totally cool! I just looked at the WI cartogram and think that is a more helpful representation.
I'd like to quote you on this, Cate: "If someone can be executed for sleeping in his car in a parking lot, surely those who threaten harm to and disrupt a political campaign should at least get a ticket?"
Maybe the architects of this 13 foot high non scalable wall around the White House should have noted the world record for the pole vault is now a little over 20 feet.
Or suggest that it be non-scaleable on the inside....a prison by any name. I can't imagine Trump pole-vaulting.... nor successfully poll-vaulting either!
There's a great joke that Washington DC is 68 square miles surrounded by reality. But, I think that needs to be revised to just the federal lands within DC since the residents of DC seem quite sane and have a great mayor. Loved it when she renamed the square and painted Black Lives Matter on the street running up to the White House. And, now that's the view from Trump's prison.
🤭
Heather, thanks for your summation of "Life in the day" at Crazyland. We in Central New York had several "Trump trains" as they are called here irritating drivers this weekend as well. None to my knowledge cause anything other than pity from onlookers. I know they think their 10 car "Trump train" is a 1,000 cars in their altered minds when infact there are far more cars in line to get into the local Wegmans grocery store on any given day.
That said, this "unscalable fence" at several locations with the National Guard at the ready, must be a representation of the fear that run through Trumps head that if his dog whistle of lawyers and complicit Government officials to keep him at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue doesn't work, that a childish wall will keep him safe. Perhaps he doesn't realize that this sandcastle he is building will be eroded by the tide. It always does. It isn't a sustainable solution.
Stay safe, be well and don't let the bastards wear you down.
Trump is really into walls.
Marcy, I'm pretty sure there is a metaphor in there 😊
The news media can do a lot to forestall the second of HCR's big stories; calling the election on Tuesday night. Don't give the Big Mouth a mouth piece. Don't broadcast an announcement "from the White House" that the Trump Administration can't legally make. The same for the Biden camp for that matter.
The gangs of deplorables will be active. Take cell phone videos, including license plate numbers.
HCR interviewed by Bill Moyers;
https://billmoyers.com/story/bill-moyers-and-heather-cox-richards-on-her-daily-letters/
NPR put out a statement that included: "NPR provides live coverage of the results on the radio and online, and we rely on The Associated Press for all vote counting and race calls." Let's hope that the other non-faux news outlets follow suit. https://www.npr.org/2020/10/29/928863973/heres-how-npr-reports-election-results
I have worked (volunteer) for AP calling in results from my local town polling place as they are announced by town officials. Absentee and mail-in ballots were a tiny percentage of the total vote. This year is different. With so many mail-in and absentee ballots, I hope that AP will withold calling elections until all the votes are counted. This may take a day or two in many locations.
I do agree that AP is as reliably objective and non-partisan as we're likely to get.
And, I'm sure AP will be very careful this year to not call the election until the vote count -- all of it -- warrants it no matter how long it takes. The Bush-Gore Supreme Court decision in 2000 was on December 12th to put things in perspective.
That's an excellent interview highlighting some key moments in Letters from an American. The topic of oligarchy vs democracy is most illuminating.
I liked the part where the fisherman told her it was ok with him if she took a day off.
Trump is finally going to have his wall. However, now it’s to protect him from Americans
And the real bite in the behind is that our tax dollars are paying for it. Wow. Just WOW.
So now he's counting on the "fake news" to correctly call the election the night of. I wonder if he ends up "losing" according to the media on election night if he will then switch to wanting to wait until all the results come in. Been an extremely rough week for me. Hanging on by a thread. My entire family, extended and all, is voting Trump. Im the only one who has already voted Biden and it feels extremely lonely.
I am so sorry. And I am grateful that all of my close family are for Biden. My poor son-in-law is an angel. His entire family, except him, was for Trump. He has turned some around, especially the younger ones. But his parents and brothers and sisters are lost to him. He has worked for the Democratic Party and sent nearly 100,000 texts to voters. He has turned his anguish into actionable items to stop Trump. He is my hero. Find your hero among your friends. Or be the hero for your friends. You can't fix families, as my son-in-law will tell you. Take care!
Sending you all comfort and strength! I’m so sorry for all the brainwashing. So crazy!!!
I feel your pain. My daughter, my flesh and blood, and her husband are voting for Trump. I am beyond distressed. Luckily my brother is on our blue team. I am here for you!
Thank you. They truly believe everything that Trump says so of course they think hes not racist and has done more for the black community than any other president. I know they are good people. They've just been brainwashed into following the wrong crowd. Its so devastating. Im sure they feel the same about me.
Thank you, Annette, for your service to fair elections.
It sounds rough, but please hang in there. This community cares about you.
My surviving sister (Republican, fundamentalist Christian) has refused to talk to me since January, although she gave a flimsy excuse about how she couldn't find a long enough block of time for us to chat. She lives in WA (I'm in Baltimore), and her husband (was a Republican State Representative, then a State senator) was a campaign honcho for Trump in WA four years ago, and scored a political appointment in WA when Trump was elected. This is what Trump has done to my family, when I can't even talk to my sister, even about anything NOT political. At my age, I have hardly any family from my childhood left. I want my sister back. What will this be like six months from now? A year? This is happening to so many people now! Trump tore his family apart, and now he's tearing ours apart. The man is rotten in his core. Words MATTER.
I have a small, colorful Biden/Harris bumper sticker on my car. It was painted by a friend. I have noticed how few bumper stickers of any kind there are in my Maine town. Usually, before an election, there are a pretty good number of them. I got an idea of why there are few bumper stickers the other day when I was driving on a 4 lane road. A large, high, all black pickup raced up behind my car and started to make loud revving sounds. He, (sorry, I'm assuming it was a he) kept racing up close behind me and feinting back for the next very loud approach. When we reached a part of the road with other cars, he drifted off ahead. I still have my bumper sticker on, but I have a new awareness that some people are enjoying menacing women in Subarus.
In years past, I had political stickers on my car, beyond the candidates in election years. A friend said she was surprised I never got my car keyed in the mall parking lot.
This same friend quit putting election signs on her property because they (whoever 'they' were, but I'm sure they shared the same genetic code as the Trumpsters),would shoot them out. She tried putting them down along the road (her house sits back from the road, up a hill) thinking that at least at that angle, if they shot the signs, they wouldn't hit the house. She also had some kind of exploding device blow up her mailbox. Needless to say, she is more circumspect now as well.
Other Democrats in this very red county resorted to putting a game cam up to catch the culprit that kept stealing his yard signs. It was a public official's brother!! Needless to say, no charges were filed, even though the property owner filed a complaint.
I lived in rural, very red, El Paso County Colorado when I put a RESIST bumper sticker on my car. I was honestly surprised that no one ever keyed my car, made snotty comments or worse when I went into town. Four years later I'm in Mérida, Yucatan with my RESIST sticker still in tact.
Daria, I have--actually had--a friend of over 50 yrs block me in 2016 because she felt unsupported in her support of Trump (her husband is/was an elected official in El Paso County, CO). She felt unsupported bc I asked such things as "why do you think that?" Worse, a mutual friend, whom she had known since grade school, was also broken with. They were both part of a small religious community in our home town. To throw over lifelong friendships for Trump ... Of course, now we know, as things have played out, even families are splitting over trump. Anyway, it was my impression, which you have confirmed, El Paso Co. is VERY red.
My bumper sticker says Re-Elect No One! Actually, it has been a great conversation starter with people of all parties and persuasions.
Mine reads "voting matters." How better to be anti trump without stirring the ire of his cult?
I did the same thing. I live in a conservative part of the county in the shadow of an enormous Baptist congregation.
I had the same experience before the 2016 election- had a Bernie bumper sticker and was tormented by a big white truck that kept Erving up and almost rear ending me.
Probably only lasted around 5 minutes, but felt like forever.
I was very scared.
Big, lifted trucks are phallic substitutes for pathetic men.
That's awful, Kristin! I'm so sorry it happened and I'm glad nothing came of it. Sending a hug your way.
That's the reason why I don't put political stickers on my Mini Cooper; there's just too many aggressive idiots in oversized vehicles here in Austin, TX.
The latest from what we’re going through in GA. Because of our “toss-up” status we’ve been getting a LOT of attention from the candidates in the form of campaign stops. We’re not used to that here as we’ve long been considered solidly red, but things seem to be changing and it sure is nice to see it!
https://georgiarecorder.com/2020/11/02/countdown-to-a-different-kind-of-georgia-election-day-nears-the-end/
As for everything else, what I took away from HCR’s current letter is that we’d best get used to being on a roller-coaster for the coming days. Because of the vagaries of ballot-counting methods in various states we’re probably going to be high one minute and in the depths the next. I’m trying to steel myself for whatever might come, but trying to keep my heart full of hope. I think we’d all best hunker down and wait and see what happens. It might all proceed smoothly. It could be total chaos. It’s the not knowing that is killing us. As a highly sensitive empath, I plan on unplugging a bit tomorrow and the rest of the week…reading folks’ posts on here…purposely keeping media out of my life…doing some crosswords & sudokus…listening to some calming Bach or Mozart…hanging out with my purring cat...relishing silence. I have to think of my sanity. Do whatever works to keep you calm, centered, and grounded. And if you’re the type, PRAY for the coming days! Y’all rock!!
A purring cat sounds like the best hunkering down of all!
Working the polls so I will tune in after I get home. And I just bought a big new bottle of Johnny Walker Black for the long evening!
Thanks for working the polls, Annette. Stay safe!
I think I'm going to unplug as well. I'm a wreck.
PS,. Bruce, you rock!!
I'm going to hit the grocery store today and stock up on water, wine, and munchies, and shut down for the next day or so. I'm exhausted (as we all are) from the constant influx of events and this non-stop anger against trumpians.
I'm bewildered at their actions, really. It's almost like they've reverted to the ugliest aspect of High School and are acting it out in public, thinking they're so cool and are the leaders of the school, and everyone must obey them & their rules. But, these are (supposedly) grown adults who should know better by now that these 'games' can have deadly results.
I see their actions and am furious, and then I think of the people I know who are part of Cult 45 and wonder if they are part of the Trump Train. Do I cut all ties to them, these people who are actually friends? What about my family- my mom, brother and his family? (Rhetorical questions, no answer needed)
The damage done to our country is immense; I don't think we'll know just how bad it is for years, and I'm not sure how to even begin to heal it, or if it is possible.
I do my regular grocery run tomorrow, but I stocked up on junk and munchies--stuff I NEVER buy--last week ahead of hurricane Zeta, which knocked our power off for 36 hours. Still got lots left (and CHOCOLATE!) so I'm okay.
Real preppers ALWAYS choose chocolate!
I've munched my way through a pound of it so far. Does that count? LOL
Well, DUH! I have MY priorities right! (I buy it every year for trick-or-treaters, and for the past 4 years we've not had a SINGLE one...always be prepared, y'know...more for me then! The little buggers can't appreciate it anyway...)
36 hours! Yikes!
I'm so glad you made it through Zeta safely and to still have chocolate left is either a huge accomplishment or indicative that you bought out the store. 😀
I'm not a huge munchies person either, but I am feeling the need for comfort and will indulge a bit.
I keep thinking, what are they doing to their children’s minds?
I dunno, but my 10 year old nephew, child of 2 Trumpians, said this about the coronavirus: "Don't over think it." My sister in law and her husband were so proud of that comment they shared it on Facebook along with a photo of his beaming face.
I'm at a complete loss for words. So sorry!
Oh, gosh! I hadn't even thought of that! And if they do lose, how will they poison the kids minds against Democracy? The ramifications are bigger than I realized!
If they managed to produce kids with MINDS that is when they demonstrably don't have one themselves. A friend refers to them as "Hardware" empty of the necessary operating "Software" to allow them to function normally in this world.
Down here in Trumpistan I'm not expecting we'll have too much problem, though in Atlanta they're a bit worried.
I don't think things here in Austin will get ugly, but I've learned that bottled water goes fast, no matter the problem, so that is my main concern.
As long as it is cult 45 and they don't start thinking that we are back into "Westerns" and come at you using a Colt 45 we will come through this OK in the end.
Cult/Colt 45...how appropriate
Ha! Too true, Stuart. I sincerely hope they understand the difference, but I do have to wonder about that.
You don't live in Texas, do you? The Old West is alive and well in the Lone Star state!
No, I live in San Luis Obispo, CA an expensive college town with a high degree of college graduates.
Paris, France and not Paris, Texas i'm afraid. My knowledge of Texas comes from looking over the border from surrounding States, from novels, from conversations with friends and from good old Westerns....but i appreciate what you are saying.
Isn't it, though. 😕 Austin is a bit more 'citified' but plenty of folks have their weapons handy and are geared up for anything.
Lots of “God, Guns, Country” flags on parade locally. I have (leaning towards “had”) a 66 year-old friend who has been seriously training shooting human targets at a distance of 500 yards (you read that right) so he can be a sniper in the upcoming battle against the F - - -ing Democrats. We don’t see much of him anymore. Thank God I’m a No Party Preference voter.
Oh my god.
Me too!!
Me too.
As another sensitive ( and I'm so glad you disclosed that,) I have found my dreams full of politics and possible unrest. Good advice for all to take a step back, if we can. God bless HCR, Buddy and all of you. I've picked my travelling companions well. I am grateful for all of you.
I'm keeping this picture firmly in mind while I wait: NYT's 40-point (guessing here--64 point even better!) banner headline: BIDEN WINS BY LANDSLIDE!
Best of luck for Georgia, Bruce!
My first thought on the myriad of "Trump convoy" incidents and other Trumpoid, intimidatory stupidities in different communities in particular parts of the nation is "WHAT A LOAD OF AMATEURS". It sounds very much like these seperate goups of "people" are fueled more by the beer they are drinking than the ideology they are proclaiming to support....10 year old bullies sneaking into the school kindergarden play-yard to frighten the kids...as on Halloween. The very uncoordinated nature of the different, disparate attacks on decent people would suggest the actions of loose canons or loan wolves and not a professional, disciplined organization. Trump himself underlines this very thesis in his "reactive" response and seems almost surprised at his people doing this for him despite his constant incantations, twittering and hectoring inciting "redneck" rebellion. He thinks it is "fun", "good TV" and "fair game"; he would have liked to have thought of that good "game" himself and is happy to take his meagre, thin-skinned support wherever he can find it....in Putin, Qanon, Fox, Guiliani, Falwell and in many other low-down, white hick-town and bar-room crazies.
The voter suppression tactics and legal challenges to votes, counting systems and results is something else. This is integral to the Koch-funded, fueled and directed Republican long-game to reduce any notion of democracy to a level at which their minority can continue to control society. They have been largely successful across many states as the have perservered in the effort over the past nearly 50 years while the Democrats sat and wailed at the GOP's iniquities and didn't accept the truth of the oppositions anti-democratic intentions. Now they are waking up to the near to spend a great deal of energy combating this insidious disease jsut as they will fight Covid. The Democrats have eqully brilliant legal minds at their disposal and now the motivation to say once and for all STOP!
My feeling though is that in the operational phase of the GOP's legal challenge to the people's wishes expressed through their massive votes to oust the usurper Trump, they will in the end be as disorganized and amateur as their "street, bear-laden, car-train militias playing soldier on the Texas high road.
I have to disagree about the lack of organization. Some of the pro Trump agitators seem to be very well organized, including the Trump Train. They may not have a single governing body but have locally organized pods around the country wreaking havoc at polls, on the highways and city streets. Voter intimidation by Republicans is not new, it's simply exploded and gone public in a big way. But you are right about one thing, Democrats have been civil far too long. If LBJ were alive today we'd be playing a totally different kind of game.
Perhaps this is a side note to your thread, but this morning I woke to an NPR report about sanctuary for illegal immigrants seeking refuge from ICE. The report concluded with the announcer remarking that Steven Miller had announced the administration's intentions to ramp up deportations after the election, and then a clip of Miller came on. But rather than a clip of him talking about the administration policy, it was a clip of Miller stating with emphasis and great certainty that if Biden were elected he would allow millions of illegal immigrants to overrun the country. Huh? Once more, a case of a Republican voice falsely characterizing, in an incendiary way, a Democrat's intentions, a tactic that Newt Gingrich introduced to national discourse and that the Republicans have been polishing since -- while the Democrats have only just figured out that this sort of (uncivil) argument gets airtime. My points: 1) The Republicans figure they don't have to talk about their own policies as long as they lie outrageous ly about their opponents, because a) it'll get them free air time and b) it'll rouse fear and anger in their base. 2) The media -- and not just Fox News -- is complicit in amplifying this asymmetry and its falsehoods. 3) With this strategy, the Republican administation claims deniability of any organization of disorder -- they say the outrage-inciting words, and the base organizes itself.
I appreciate your points about the media amplyfing trump: even the PBS News Hour and Rachel Maddow have an addiction, I call it, to amplify trump. While practically ignoring Biden and other Democratic Party candidates and initiatives.
I’ve tried to contact the news editors at both PBS and MSNBC. I have found NO way to reach the Maddow show and MSNBC, and only an email address for The News Hour
Agree. I have a difficult time watching even PBS News Hour these days because of their relentless focus on all things Republican. (Never followed Maddow)
Your points, all of them, are spot on. #2/3 is particularly accurate.
Interesting to note that the Biden campaign has chosen to focus on speaking about policy and planning -- though in the debates, Biden at least spoke back to Trump in language understandable to Trump's base. And Barack Obama, now speaking up in favor of Biden, is turning the tables a bit on the Republican crowd, and calling out Trump for what he is (a huge departure from former-President protocol, and somehow welcome even for that -- though what it bodes for future elections I hate to think).
I have to say I so enjoy hearing Obama speak out against the current baloney/malarkey (more polite than yahoos?) Now granted he did not fix all the things I wanted fixed, but then who truly expects that? Its just a pleasure hearing someone speak with intelligence & common sense. One thing he said at one of these "rallys" that hit home - something that should be obvious & spoken about more often (paraphrasing here)
we have to realize that it takes more than one vote or one try to fix a problem - maybe we only get a little bit the first time - but we have to vote or try again & again - persist until we succeed. (believe me he said it much better). It pertains to many things, for instance, civil rights! How many years ago was Selma? And still such a long way to go. Its going to take years to undo the damage done by this administration - but everyone who has stepped up/waited in hours long lines to vote/read these letters/and just hangs in there to make things better? We have to keep hanging in there!
Agreed. On the surface may seem organic, but if you understand how social media works, and how Putin and his trolls have been 'ginning up' anger (on both sides), it becomes clearer why even mainstream media continue to fall victim to parroting Trump's latest theme, why even WSJ, NY Times, and occasionally even Washington Post become (in some cases, such as the WSJ Opinion pages, very willing) echo chambers for alt right stories.
That's exactly the point I made in reponse to TCinLA.
Ok. We'll have to agree to disagree on this one. :)
This is a link to something called The Count. It’s quite interesting. Since many of us here are political nerds, we can see where the political and procedural pressure points are and what we as citizens can do. It’s pretty emphatic Dems need to take the gloves off, or we will have another Bush v Gore where Gore conceded for the good of the country (an altruistic act, to be clear).
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5f932677fe1da91af4847073/t/5f933607c52a742d351ab493/1603483144387/The+Count+Guide.pdf
The business about the Trumpes in Beverly Hills has been going on every weekend since mid-summer. They're organized.
In themselves of course but there is no evident coordination with the Texas or NYC or any other groups that can be seen or imputed. Just emulation from what they see on TV/internet and that's not enough.
See above response. When you have the President's son calling for supporters to stage intimidation events and people respond, that's coordinated. Don't kid yourself, these events are not composed of an amorphous blob that just happens to pull it together for an event here and there. In each of the places where these intimidation events are occurring they are well coordinated locally.
This is local rent-a-crowd of course but they are individual area responses to a clarion call held in isolation and not a pre-planned rising of "rebel forces" that set out to achieve centrally dictated objectives through a coordinated quasi-para-military program.
I hate to say it out loud but the more organized "rebel forces" are what I am afraid will come later, should Trump lose. What we see now are like skirmishes.
I can accept that they would dream of this but with their often unintentional, chaos-creating record in government i would seriously doubt that they have the ability, determination or the physical ressources to carry it out against the opposition of FBI/Army/National Guard/police forces etc
The Koch/Mercer cabal will continue to be dangerous long after Trump & Co are dead and gone. Even after Citizens United is repealed their hooks will be buried so deep it will take years to remove them (if ever)
Those two families make me sick! I tried getting through “Dark Money” but I kept throwing the book against the wall. Made me very aware of their hand in disrupting anything normal. I fear you’re right about the hooks they have.
So interesting that David Frum’s relatives were in line when that horrible spectacle took place. I am telling you, I was raised in NC and those sheriffs, I bet are KKK’ers. They are sick and heartless.
Marlene, you are so right! Our new sheriff is just as bad. He replaced the one who retired after forever in office and there was hope he'd be different, but no such luck. Alamance has been in the news a lot over the past couple of years, due to the sheriff's very anti-undocumented immigrant stance.
As always, thank you from this (exhausted) resident of Harris County, Texas.