I say YES. YOU say NO....Numero Tre! Enjoy!
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ruth, your book club friend's mom is a feisty one! I hope she gets her wish.
Dh and I voted at the board of elections this afternoon.
So, ladies, 22 days to election. What does everyone here think our chances of a Biden win are? What are you feeling? I just read an article from The Hill where the Trump campaign is claiming no way the polls showing Biden leading are correct. However, the article also says:
"Biden is viewed far more favorably than Clinton was. In 2016, independents, seniors, suburban voters and voters who disliked both candidates all broke late for Trump. In 2020, polls show those groups breaking heavily for Biden."
They also say polls like 538 that blew it in 2016 readjusted, tweaked or whatever to be more accurate, and 2018 election polls were pretty on-target.
Newsweek is saying Biden has been given an 8.5-point lead by pollsters (IDP/TIPP) who predicted a Trump win.
I never saw Clinton signs in my area last election and this time, every day I see more and more Biden signs and even a few flags. My son said in his area of northern Pittsburgh he actually saw more Biden signs this weekend than Trump.
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A friend of mine in Minnesota just sent me this from today's paper. So there are more awesome old ladies out there (this one still campaigning from beyond the grave!).
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Sorry, double post!
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SCOTUS Hearing Backfires As Democrats Bludgeon Trump And GOP On Healthcare
The hearing that Lindsey Graham, Mitch McConnell, and Trump are rushing through has given Democrats a national platform on the pandemic and healthcare.
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Right now I feel that the ANGER and FRUSTRATION and DISGUST and FEAR that folks are feeling thanks to the reign of Donald Trump are driving many, many people this time around....things are almost at a visceral level......
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Trump has been his own worst enemy, but it hasn't mattered much until now. I think as much as people may have voted for some one very different from the pretty much same old parties, now they are back to needing to vote for what they gave up in having someone different. Both parties were off the beaten track, but even then you sort of could figure out how things were going to go, even when you didn't like it.
It has often been every man for himself with Trump -- even in his own party. So, I do think there are plenty of Republicans who under some circumstances would silently go along to get along -- but not with someone like Trump. He is totally trashing the Reps. party and they are not happy campers.
A lot of pollsters ( thinking 538 here though they screwed up on 2016 ) are predicting a Biden win and I think it quite possible. It is said it will be close, but I've wondered about that. We have lost voters from covid but so has Trump ( sad to say ) but we likely have gained many from the families of those who died. I just see this yr./election as fairly hard to predict for that and many other reasons, but in the end -- people are exhausted with Trump and the tweets and the inability to even guess at what he will do next. He has been so destructive with everything and has not kept promises. People see his failures but they don't all talk about it -- and this is where some Reps. votes could show up as well. I wish it could be a blue tsunami, or a landslide, but I'd settle for there being no question it is for Joe.
Trill , I do think like you that people are being driven -- huge numbers are voting and doing it early. Thousands more are registering. People want to be rid of anyone perceived as an enabler or who can't or won't do the job.
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There is a big difference in MI, WI & PA this year: in 2016 the Green Party candidate was Jill Stein, who while being "niche" was also "cult." People who should have known better--such as Dr. Cornel West--endorsed her because she was a "perfect fit" for young progressives who felt Clinton was too centrist & "corporatist." Many younger voters in those states felt they were in safely "blue" territory and therefore wanted their votes to "make a statement." Trump's margin of victory in each of those states was a fraction of what Stein (and for Libertarians, Gary Johnson) drew. This year, however, both the Green & Libertarian candidates are nonentities and afterthoughts. And by now, there are very few voters who are as yet undecided about whether they will vote for Biden or SpongeBlogSquareTan.
Trill & Caryn, it's fascinating the lengths to which ultra-observant Jews will go to live in a modern world while not technically violating Shabbat rules. There are the aforementioned "Shabbat elevators" and hired "Shabbos goyim" to turn on the lights in synagogues so congregants can see to pray. One may not "carry" anything not on their person outside the home (which includes the surrounding land on one's lot) on Shabbat--nor may they push a baby carriage. But there's a workaround for that: the "eruv." It's a cable strung along telephone & power poles around the perimeter of an ultra-Orthodox neighborhood, turning it into one giant "lot" so that residents within it can carry purses, diaper bags, prayerbook/prayer shawl/phylacteries bags, etc. and wheel the omnipresent strollers & prams on Shabbat.
But sometimes the cleverest and best-laid plans "come a cropper" in a rabbinical court (aka "beit din," Hebrew for "house of justice"). In Brooklyn's Midwood neighborhood, my mom lived next door to a Yeshivish rabbi, his wife, and their eight kids. The entrance to their house was on the side, along a narrow gangway that was quite dark at night. Six days a week, they were fine with turning on exterior lights, but not of course on Friday nights. They didn't want to waste money & energy by leaving the light on for 24 hrs., so they installed a motion sensor light that automatically lit up in the dark when anyone crossed its path. Unfortunately, a rival rabbi complained to the local beit din, whose 3 judges ruled unanimously that by walking past the motion sensor, the rabbi was turning on the light as surely as if he'd flipped a switch. The solution? A solar-powered light that stored sunlight energy by day and turned itself on when the sun set and it was dark enough for Shabbat to begin. Since it turned on with no human intervention--not even waving a hand or taking a step, it was "kosher."
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I think that Trump has been an embarrassing but useful tool for the Republicans/the Federalists/the donors like Koch and Mercer, but his work is done with the nomination of Barrett - the courts have always been the goal and he has succeeded beyond their wildest dreams "packing" the federal courts with young conservatives and even causing the surprise early retirement of Kennedy due to his son's involvement in trump/Deutch Bank irregularities - allowing the Kavanaugh appt. He is now no longer useful and in fact is jeopardizing some key races and doing more harm than good for the Republicans. My question is if fair election counting occurs will the Repubs be satisfied with this adminstration's considerable "wins" and allow for a smooth peaceful transition or will we be embroiled in lawsuits and violence?
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Caryn, no I don't know the source. Let me check back on my FB group and see if it is noted. They just POST SO MUCH it is often hard to go back and find the post again.-- let me go looking,,,,
Ruth: I love that 96 year old woman! My 90 year old friend texted me immediately when she dropped off her ballot at the box on Sunday.
ETA: RUTH!! That obit is so good!!!
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So that letter came from Keith Wolf
Protest Senate Trying to Replace RBG Before Inauguration!--- group on FB
Thornapple Township, is in Middleville, Michigan, Barry County
Trying to find what newspaper would serve the area, and I let a comment on the post asking for the source. Will let you know if I find out more.
ETA: scrolled thru the comments, and someone posted the source. https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/64506284/ha...
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Jelson, your commentary has quite an interesting and thoughtful point of view.
Jackie, your statement is pretty profound: “...as much as people may have voted for some one very different from the pretty much same old parties, now they are back to needing to vote for what they gave up in having someone different.“ I truly hope people see the error in voting Trump 2016 and get back on track with a Biden vote 2020.
Years ago when my son was little, a woman with two small boys moved in next door and we all quickly became friends. Slowly over time, this neighbor became increasingly intrusive and overbearing, always creating upheaval. Then after two years, her world imploded when a shocking secret she had came to light; she moved away and out of my life. It wasn't until after she moved and I found myself enjoying time again out in the yard and around the neighborhood that it dawned on me how long I'd been hunkering down in the house to avoid her. It was so gradual, I wasn't even actually aware until she was gone how much her presence overshadowed my life, my movements, my actions.
We anti-Trumpers see and feel Trump’s ugly effects everywhere, but his fan base...? Over time, he's permeated their lives, influencing all their choices and decisions and even the company they keep and they don't even see it. Their world is colored by the Trump crayon. Orange, of course.
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Joined: Dec 2007 Posts: 38,606 Latest activity: Oct 13, 2020
A few seconds ago IllinoisLady wrote:
Over the years I have come to believe that life
is full of unchosen circumstances, that being
human has to do with the evolution of our
individual consciousness and with it,
responsibilities for choice. Pain and joy
both come with life. I believe that how we
respond to what happens to us and around us
shapes who we become and has to do with
the psyche or the soul's growth.
Jean Shinoda Bolen0 -
'Slayer Pete': Buttigieg emerges as Biden's unlikely Fox News fighter
Former presidential contender receives rave reviews as rapier-tongued opponent of Trump's cable-TV apologists
- The Guardian
Pete Buttigieg has emerged in the homestretch of the presidential campaign as a likable and lethal surrogate for Democrat Joe Biden: "Slayer Pete".
Buttigieg's biggest scores have come on Fox News, an arena not many Democrats deign to enter, unwilling or unable to argue against an alternative reality where Covid-19 is a hoax, Hillary Clinton is public enemy No 1 and Trump is infallible.
Before the vice-presidential debate, Buttigieg was asked on Fox News why Kamala Harris, Biden's running mate, had modified her stance on healthcare reform after joining the presidential ticket.
"Well, there's a classic parlor game of trying to find a little bit of daylight between running mates," Buttigieg said. "And if people want to play that game, we could look into why an evangelical Christian like Mike Pence wants to be on a ticket with the president caught with a porn star, or how he feels about the immigration policy that he called 'unconstitutional' before he decided to team up with Donald Trump."
With Democrats having mended their differences and the battle lines now clearly drawn in an election with epic stakes, Biden supporters of every persuasion might feel free to sit back and enjoy one thing Buttigieg does seem practically perfect at: dissecting Trump sycophants with a smile.
When Fox host Steve Doocy tried to hit Biden for declining to debate Trump in person in the aftermath of Trump's coronavirus diagnosis, Buttigieg deftly turned the tables.
"It's too bad," he said. "I don't know why the president's afraid to debate. All of us have had to get used to a virtual format. Parents are having to deal with e-learning, which is not what we're used to. We're having to take meetings over Zoom. It's not something I think most of us enjoy, but it's a safety measure. I think part of why the US is badly behind the rest of the developed world on dealing with the pandemic is because every time there's been a choice between doing something in a way that's more safe or less safe, this president seems to push for less safe."
The range of Buttigieg's analytical intelligence was on display in an interview in a friendlier forum, on MSNBC, when he was asked gabout a call by the supreme court nominee Amy Coney Barrett for rulings to be "fairly reasoned and grounded in the law".
"This is what nominees do," Buttigieg said. "They write the most seemingly unobjectionable, dry stuff. But really what I see in there is a pathway to judicial activism cloaked in judicial humility.
"At the end of the day, rights in this country have been expanded because courts have understood what the true meaning of the letter of the law and the spirit of the constitution is.
"And that is not about time-traveling yourself back to the 18th century and subjecting yourself to the same prejudices and limitations as the people who write these words. The constitution is a living document because the English language is a living language. And you need to have some readiness to understand that in order to serve on the court in a way that will actually make life better."
Buttigieg then quoted Thomas Jefferson, smiled, and finished with a dagger: "Even the founders that these kind of dead-hand originalists claim fidelity to understood better than their ideological descendants, today's judicial so-called conservatives, the importance of keeping with the times."
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Bipartisan Christian group forms super PAC to oppose Trump
-Politico
A group of prominent Christians from both sides of the aisle is forming a political action committee designed to chip away at Christian support for President Trump in the final weeks of the 2020 campaign.
Dubbed Not Our Faith, the new super PAC plans to roll out six-figure TV and digital ads focused on Christian voters — particularly the evangelical and Catholic voters who helped power Trump to victory in 2016. Its first digital ad, set to run in Michigan and Pennsylvania, takes sharp aim at Trump's claim to a foothold with Christians.
The ad, shared with The Associated Press in advance of its release, says Trump "has used Christianity for his own purposes," invoking imagery of the Republican president's photo op outside a historic Washington church amid this summer's racial justice demonstrations. Urging Christians to break from Trump, the ad states that they "don't need Trump to save them. The truth is that Trump needs Christians to save his flailing campaign."
Among the PAC's advisory council members are Michael Wear, a former faith adviser in Obama's administration and reelection campaign, and Autumn Vandehei, a former aide to onetime Republican Rep. Tom DeLay of Texas. Wear said in an interview that Trump has "in a predatory way attached himself to Christians," asserting that the faith would be "better off" without the president.
"Trump eked out 2016 with unprecedented support from white evangelicals and, important to note, a really strong showing among Catholics. We're going after all of it," Wear said. "We think Christian support is on the table in this election."
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The videos of lineups for early voting in Texas and Georgia are incredible. Judging by mask-wearing and social-distancing of the crowd, I gather they're not Trump supporters. Very promising. And I suspect voter suppression makes the lineups so long, good for the Biden team to mobilize for early voting.
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Divine: I sure hope you are right and the Not Our Faith Pac will help Christians make a far better choice. Trump has done more to give Christianity a bad name this last four yrs. than almost anyone. While I am no longer what you would call actually religious I do consider myself Christian and it has been hard to think positive thoughts many times.
Truly, Trump does need the Christians way more than they need him. I think it is evident that it has been a one-sided relationship pretty much. He never brings them up ( unless he needs them ) or goes to Church, and he in fact, won't even so much as pray for forgiveness since in his mind he never sins in any way That makes his evil ways all the worse. It is said we ALL sin and fall short because no one on this Earth is perfect.
Eren To : I saw those pictures of the long lines too. People heard the message early on to work at not being thwarted and get their vote in early. I do think it is a sign that people want Trump gone. I think I mentioned too that so many new registrations this yr. as well. I think in many places ( please someone correct me if I'm wrong ) the votes can be counted, but can't be shared until election day after the polls close.
It has been said that a lot of Reps. are not going to vote until election day. Trump freaked them out and they think their votes won't count maybe, but I still don't think that will give Trump all that much of an edge. After all, we really don't have any way to tell how many Reps. won't after all vote for Trump. Fingers crossed.
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exbrnxgirl_ I may have found her on FB. If not the correct Olivia Bennett, still a remarkable articulate activist!! https://www.facebook.com/cody.hayes.18847
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LOL, Jackie! (Kanye has a TV spot out--at this point, I think even he has more campaign $ than 45).
What worries me the most about Barrett is not her danger to reproductive rights or the ACA. It's her refusal to commit to recuse herself from any 2020 election cases--her explanation about "not wanting to interfere with the process" (my paraphrase of her quote, which I don't have handy right now) is cryptic, vague and weasel-y. There is a chance that in order to be consistent with her past recusals from death penalty cases, she might recuse herself from those involving abortion. And quite frankly, even a 5-3 conservative SCOTUS would likely overturn Roe/Casey and the ACA--as well as be hostile to labor and civil rights cases--anyway. But I am also extremely concerned about a law review article in which she signaled approval of "separate but equal" workplace racial arrangements.
I salute all those e-mails urging petitions against her confirmation. But quite frankly, when have petitions ever worked at the Senatorial level? McCain gave thumbs-down on Trumpcare not because of public pressure but rather his own principles (especially as someone with a major pre-existing condition).
(For those who haven't followed other BCO threads on which I've posted the following):
Meanwhile, on a personal level, we're getting COVID-tested Thursday, because we found out Sun. night that we were unwittingly exposed Sat. afternoon. Our son's boyhood friend (an L.A.-based director visiting his dad in Oak Lawn long-term) won a raffle to have a local theater show his movie (released to streaming a couple of years ago), privately on that day only, with only 10 invitees in the 300-seat theater & adjacent lounge, socially-distanced & masked. Bob & I wore KN95 masks the whole time, pulling them down only for each sip of our drinks after the movie (and Bob went outside on the sidewalk to drink so he could also smoke). But this kid plopped himself down next to our son Gordy & his girlfriend (telling the usher he was part of their "party"), eating popcorn & drinking beer right next to Gordy for half the flick, keeping his mask fully off till he was finished eating & drinking. Then he made the rounds in the lounge taking questions about the making of the film--again, with his mask down around his chin. He was across the table from me for a total of 5-10 min. (the CDC doesn't consider that sufficient "contact," but still...). However, after Bob & I left with our BFFs (whom we hadn't seen since January) to go to dinner, this kid hung out with Gordy & girlfriend--plus another friend--in the lounge for another 40 min. Then they had him over to their house (unmasked, though distanced) for 1/2 hr. before taking an Uber (masked) downtown to dinner at a steakhouse that had just opened this past week. They wore their masks only when waitstaff were near. It was Gordy's & his girlfriend's first indoor restaurant meal since before the shutdown in March.
The kid is the son of my retinologist, an old family friend who is also dating Bob's medical partner. Said retinologist was double-masked, but I didn't find that unusual because almost every doctor or dentist I've seen does that. Turns out that on Friday, one of his dad's office staff reported a household member was symptomatic and tested positive--so the whole office plus the kid got tested Friday. So all day Sat. they were awaiting test results. Had we been notified, we'd never have gone to the event--which was likely the whole point of not telling us, lest the movie play to an empty house. Sunday night he group-texted us all that he'd tested COVID+, though his dad & staff were negative. (IMHO, his dad & staff need retesting, because the day of exposure is too soon to give a reliably-negative result. So early a test can only rule in an infection, not rule it out--which is why the rest of us are waiting till Thurs., day 5 post-exposure, to be tested).
So on advice of the doctors whose appointments this week I've had to postpone, I'm quarantining--venturing no further than my fenced-in backyard or (masked) on the porch to accept deliveries or gather mail--until the 24th. Bob, though, isn't--he says he's had longer & closer exposures occasionally, albeit being masked. (He wears his mask even when walking from the garage to the house). He also wasn't as near to the "culprit" as was I, nor for even a minute.
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DH delivered my mail-in ballot to post office today. So I should receive email notice when it is received by election bureau.
Way to go Gov. Cuomo for closing the loophole.
Love the farewell tour meme. Shame that Covid didn't close it for him since his apparent recovery diminishes the deaths of those who succumbed to the disease. However, I do want him to be subjected to legal ramifications for his tax cheating.
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I love Mayor Pete!!! He is so awesome!!
And KUDOS to Gov. Cuomo for closing the loophole!!
And the Farewell tour! YES!
I needed some bright spots,, it's just been so depressing,,, 3 more weeks,,, gotta hold on.
ETA: Oh, Sandy!! I'm so sorry to hear about this. That is very distressing and so irresponsible! I am hoping for negative results for you.
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Oh for goodness sakes, Sandy, hope you all stay okay. We are having lots of cases around here....including people I know. Very alarming!
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This was released today just in time to be seen before Trump's PA rally today. Another reason to love Bruce.
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Had to get a hew monitor and lost my sound. Thank goodness JACKsIE I was able a minute ago to figure out how to restore it. BS came through loud and clear.
Maybe cause birds of a feather, ya know !!
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Barrett:
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