I say YES. YOU say NO....Numero Tre! Enjoy!
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Well, if following the example of Jesus is what makes you a Christian......they are not Christian. Jimmy Carter is a Christian. Martin Luther King was a Christian. John Lewis was a Christian. Mother Teresa was a Christian. My mother was a Christian. Your neighbor is a Christian. The type of religion followed by the Trumpsters, is the kind of region Jesus abhorred, preached against, and advocated against. It's what got him killed.
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Ruth, that one cracked me up. Thanks for the laugh on this sad day as RGB's funeral is going on.
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Ruth: Loved the Spanky meme.
I would text Obama in a heartbeat if I had a smart phone. Never got one because my acquaintances who did have one could not be away from it more than 3 minutes without going through withdrawal and hated when my students used an adjoining toilet stall as a phone booth. Totally skeeved me out and still does. I would not think much of anyone who placed a phone call to me and I could hear flushing toilets in the background. IMHO.
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Love reading the posts here and very cheered to read from Gennie19, Betrayal, Tonneg, have joined various postcard/letter writing groups encouraging voter participation. I am now committed to 100 postcards in the next couple of days, 50 local candidates and 50 to another state. Already sent 75 letters and 50 postcards to other states, encuraging people to vote. Plan on sending postcards to many senators with their own quotes why nominations should not be acted on during an election years. Mitt Romney will get a custom one, nothing nasty, but just expressing disspointment that he is not the strong and principled leader he claims to be, since he has caved in. Anyone know if a government shutdown (budget quibbles) would delay action on the supreme court nomination/confirmation process?
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Regarding Romney, I'll probably do the same thing, BlueGirl. What I'm thinking of writing is something along the lines of: "I remember your father, George Romney, quite well. He was an honorable man who always put service above self interest. Even as a Democrat, he was someone I could have voted for. I don't believe he taught you to lie, or to cheat just for a political win, and I think if he were alive today, he would be terribly ashamed of you. I know I am.
If, on the off chance he actually sees it, I don't think it will matter to him. But it does to me. Character matters.
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As does integrity and that seems to be in very short supply in the Repugnicans. Toomey went back on his word as well and I will work to help unseat him in 2 years. He has never listened to his constituency and has always focused on his own self-interest. That he can support the orange dickhead is unconscionable. He lacks both character and integrity as well as moral grit. Wonder what he sees when he looks in the mirror?
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I just may have to stead that Spanky meme for FB. That's another good one.
And yes, Ruth, you are right. All those people you named are good Christians. I respect them. They are doing good works in this world. I believe they are doing what Jesus would have wanted them to do. (I am not a Christian, but have read most of the New Testament)
Jews believe in repairing the world we are currently in. We mostly don't believe in an afterlife, so it is not that we are seeking a heavenly reward. We just want this world better, right here and right now.
Does anyone remember back in the 80's (maybe?) that there was this bracelet that people were wearing WWJD? What would Jesus do? Well, he sure wouldn't be doing what the CINO's are doing. (Christians in name only)
Good on those who mentioned postcard and letter writing. I'm still doing that, I just got 20 more names tonight to do. I just signed up to be a Poll Greeter too. We stand 150 yards away from the polling place and offer Democratic information. Also we have 4 amendments on this ballot, and I hear the wording is complicated (probably designed to confuse people) and we will have handouts about that too.
Keep fighting the good fight. Get in good trouble.
glennie
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I'm heartbroken over the token indictment in the Breonna Taylor case--not only because justice wasn't done (as an attorney, I realize that law and justice don't always merge but I'm not happy about it), but because the violence that will ensue (thanks to outside right-wing provocateurs who will masquerade as progressives and encourage it online) will play right into rump''s hands.
We have a fascist perennial-loser-candidate (dairy magnate Jim Oberweis) running this time to unseat Rep. Lauren Underwood from the House. His commercial accuses her of refusing to condemn rioting & looting---and runs footage of her saying "With respect to violence & rioting, I think we have seen examples of beautiful protests..." That's where he cuts the clip short, before she continues "...but..." and contrasts those protests from riots & looting. He calls her an "enabler" of rioting. The shameless asshole may just pull it off this time, because that district contains some ultra-conservative lower-middle-class white exurbs full of low-info voters who don't bother to look online behind the commercials. One more brand of ice cream I'll never buy again...
2020 is sucking even worse. But I hold out little if any hope that 2021 will be any better. He will use GOP-dominated state legislatures, Sec'ys of State and courts to prematurely stop counting of e-mail ballots to keep him (and GOP Senate candidates) seemingly in the lead; so we won't even get the chance to expand the Court and save healthcare. I doubt a shutdown would occur in time to prevent a SCOTUS confirmation--neither Collins nor Murkowski are on Judiciary, so they'll ram the nomination through to a floor vote without so much as an interview, much less a hearing. What's even more outrageous is that Graham says he'll deliver the votes without even knowing who the nominee will be! At least Romney has the decency to condition his approval "depending on qualifications."
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I will still stand for feeling a lot of bases have been thought of and covered. We have had four yrs. to experience a lying, cheating filthy lunatic who does not care ( though he certainly digs the power ) what goes in the U.S. as long as he can prance while he lines his pockets. All things basically have opposites and so I do think there could be fixes to what we have heard Trump say he will do and what will happen. I do worry about what may happen to ballots, but at the same time if there is some fix ( some way to know for sure underhanded things are happening ) then while it may be VERY messy to get through, I'll ppt for waiting to see it take -place.
I don't know that the left will automatically blurt out all their possible plays in advance -- should they do something like that it will be because that alone would carry enough wt. to stop that particular instance of abuse. Trump talked long ago of having more time then the four yrs. Just my opinion, but I feel that has been given recognition all along by this side.
Nervous always, but not going to concede anything.
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Doesn't Mitch look like Granny from the Beverly Hillbillies? Just part his hair in the middle and offer him a dress. His wife has a family business based in China so I am sure that pads his bank account as well.
RBG we could use a little help down here if you can do anything about divine intervention. I don't even think Antonin Scalia would be pleased with these behaviors.
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Amen to both of those, Ruth.
All the local news shows are doing features on Amy Coney Barrett because she's on both the 7th Circuit (which sits in Chicago) and the Notre Dame faculty. (Chicago being one of the nation's most Catholic cities and South Bend being not too far away, Notre Dame is a big deal here). But I have a feeling that rump is going to pick Barbara Lagoa--because she's from FL and the daughter of two Cuban immigrants. He has IN sewn up and IL a lost cause no matter what, but FL is essential for him and within Biden's grasp. Picking a Latina would also ingratiate rump to Latinx voters who are either on the fence or not paying attention (if they were paying attention, they'd know Lagoa's dismal stances on issues that matter to them).
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Sep 24
Today Americans were roiled by an article in The Atlantic, detailing the method by which the Trump campaign is planning to steal the 2020 election. The article was slated for The Atlantic's November issue, but the editor decided to release it early because of its importance.
The article's author, Barton Gellman, explains that Trump will not accept losing the 2020 election. If he cannot win it, he plans to steal it. We already know he is trying to suppress voting and his hand-picked Postmaster General is working to hinder the delivery of mail-in ballots. Now Trump's teams are recruiting 50,000 volunteers in 15 states to challenge voters at polling places; this will, of course, intimidate Democrats and likely keep them from showing up.
But if those plans don't manage to depress the Democratic vote enough to let him declare victory, he intends to insist on calling a winner in the election on November 3. His legal teams will challenge later mail-in ballots, which tend to swing Democratic, on the grounds that they are fraudulent, and they will try to silence local election officials by attacking them as agents of antifa or George Soros. The president and his team will continue to insist that the Democrats are refusing to honor the results of the election.
Gellman warns that the Trump team is already exploring a way to work around the vote counts in battleground states. Rather than appointing Democratic electors chosen by voters, a state legislature could conclude that the vote was tainted and appoint a Republican slate instead. A Trump legal advisor who spoke to Trump explained they would insist they were protecting the will of the people from those who were trying to rig an election. "The state legislatures will say, 'All right, we've been given this constitutional power. We don't think the results of our own state are accurate, so here's our slate of electors that we think properly reflect the results of our state,' " the adviser explained. The election would then go to Congress, where there would be two sets of electoral votes to fight over… and things would devolve from there.
They would likely end up at the Supreme Court, to which Trump this morning said he was in a hurry to confirm a new justice so there would be a solid majority to rule in his favor on the election results. "I think this will end up in the Supreme Court and I think it's very important that we have nine justices, and I think the system's going to go very quickly," he said. "Having a 4-4 situation is not a good situation."
Amidst the flurry of concern over The Atlantic piece, a reporter this afternoon asked Trump if he would commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the election. "Well, we're going to have to see what happens," Trump said. "You know that I've been complaining very strongly about the ballots and the ballots are a disaster." He went on to say: "Get rid of the ballots and you'll have a very — we'll have a very peaceful — there won't be a transfer frankly, there'll be a continuation."
In response to this shocking rejection of the basic principles of our government, Adam Schiff (D-CA), chair of the House Intelligence Committee, tweeted, "This is how democracy dies." He said: "This is a moment that I would say to any republican of good conscience working in the administration, it is time for you to resign." But only one Republican, Mitt Romney (R-UT), condemned Trump's comments as "both unthinkable and unacceptable."
On Facebook, veteran journalist Dan Rather wrote of living through the Depression, World War Two, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert Kennedy, Watergate, and 9-11, then said: "This is a moment of reckoning unlike any I have seen in my lifetime…. What Donald Trump said today are the words of a dictator. To telegraph that he would consider becoming the first president in American history not to accept the peaceful transfer of power is not a throw-away line. It's not a joke. He doesn't joke. And it is not prospective. The words are already seeding a threat of violence and illegitimacy into our electoral process."
There is no doubt that Trump's statement today was a watershed moment. Another watershed event is the fact that Republicans are not condemning it.
But there are two significant tells in Trump's statement. First of all, his signature act is to grab headlines away from stories he does not want us to read. Two new polls today put Biden up by ten points nationally. Fifty-eight percent of Americans do not approve of the way Trump is doing his job. Only 38% approve of how he is handling the coronavirus. Voters see Biden as more honest, intelligent, caring, and level-headed than Trump. They think Biden is a better leader.
Trump's headline grabs keep attention from Biden's clear and detailed plans, first for combatting coronavirus and rebuilding the economy, and then for reordering the country. The Republicans didn't bother to write a platform this year, simply saying they supported Trump, but Trump has not been able to articulate why he wants a second term.
In contrast, Biden took his cue from Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and has released detailed and clear plans for a Biden presidency. Focusing on four areas, Biden has called for returning critical supply chains to America and rebuilding union jobs in manufacturing and technology; investing in infrastructure and clean energy; and supporting the long-ignored caregiving sector of the economy by increasing training and pay for those workers who care for children, elderly Americans, and people with disabilities. He has a detailed plan for leveling the playing field between Black and Brown people and whites, beginning by focusing on economic opportunity, but also addressing society's systemic racial biases. Biden's plans get little attention so long as the media is focused on Trump.
The president's antics also overshadow the reality that many prominent Republicans are abandoning him. Yesterday, Arizona Senator John McCain's widow Cindy endorsed Biden. "My husband John lived by a code: country first. We are Republicans, yes, but Americans foremost. There's only one candidate in this race who stands up for our values as a nation, and that is [Biden]." She added "Joe… is a good and honest man. He will lead us with dignity. He will be a commander in chief that the finest fighting force in the history of the world can depend on, because he knows what it is like to send a child off to fight."
McCain is only the latest of many prominent Republicans to endorse Biden, and her endorsement stings. She could help Biden in the crucial state of Arizona, especially with women. "I'm hoping that I can encourage suburban women to take another look, women that are particularly on the fence and are unhappy with what's going on right now but also are not sure they want to cross the line and vote for Joe. I hope they'll take a look at what I believe and will move forward and come with me and join team Biden," McCain said.
That McCain's endorsement stung showed in Trump's tweeted response: "I hardly know Cindy McCain other than having put her on a Committee at her husband's request. Joe Biden was John McCain's lapdog…. Never a fan of John. Cindy can have Sleepy Joe!"
And, of course, Trump's declaration has taken the focus off the Republican senators' abrupt about-face on confirming a Supreme Court justice in an election year. The ploy laid bare their determination to cement their power at all costs, and it is not popular. Sixty-two percent of Americans, including 50% of Republicans, think the next president should name Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's replacement.
The second tell in Trump's statement is that Trump's lawyers confirmed to Gellman that their strategy is to leverage their power in the system to steal the election. Surely, they would want to keep that plan quiet… unless they are hoping to convince voters that the game is so fully rigged there is no point in showing up to vote.
Trump's statement is abhorrent, and we must certainly be prepared for chaos surrounding this election. But never forget that Trump's campaign, which-- according to our intelligence agencies-- is being helped by Russian disinformation, is keen on convincing Americans that our system doesn't work, our democracy is over, and there is no point in participating in it. If you believe them, their disinformation is a self-fulfilling prophecy, despite the fact that a strong majority of Americans prefers Biden to Trump.
Trump's statement is abhorrent, indeed; but the future remains unwritten.
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I do worry about the finale of 2020! Trump has said that he plans on the election being settled by the Supreme Court. His opinion is the judges he appointed will certainly support him; thereby giving him the election. I am very concerned Trump just will not leave. I am pretty sure there is no way the military will follow his orders...
People often say they want someone in Government that is from outside. This is an example of electing a person that does not have any knowledge of government processes, but has the power to make changes. I am very concerned about the future of our country.
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"See yourself in others. Then whom can you hurt? What harm can you do? "
~ Buddha
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JCS and others. We should all be highly concerned, but not do a total melt-down and panic. TRump has been doing this sort of thing for a long time. He said of the 2016 election that he would only believe the results if they were for him. And as Ms. Richardson says he is busy trying to get people to NOT focus on how many Reps. are publicly saying they don't want him. To get our focus off his losses and the fact that he has not fulfilled his 'promises.
I think it is distressing that he has been allowed by the mute Reps. to defy his oath of office to uphold our Constitution and therefore the U.S. citizens but this is where we are and what we have to go through. I'm hoping that we all keep cool heads and get every vote we can to save ourselves. Trump is going to try to talk us into giving up w/o a fight. We let the Reps. and TRump walk all over us for the last 4 yrs. We need to say a highly resounding no now.
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I just fired off another email to our lousy state senator Pat Toomey. He has 2 more years in the Senate and then it is rumored wants to run for governor. I have not to this date engaged in active politicking but will do so when he next runs for office. I will support his opponent no matter who they are. He is not a man of his word since he announced in 2016 he would not appoint anyone to the Supreme Court in an election year and yet did so this year. What a party conformer and a pathetic excuse for a man.
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I have to admit that recent events are discouraging on many fronts. I don't think anyone was surprised with RBG's passing. It's amazing she held on for so long with her history of cancer(s) and her age. It's discouraging that too many women of the voting age of 18 up to 99+ didn't and don't recognize how much we need liberal Supreme Court justices to maintain some semblance of equal rights for women. It's been said many times that younger generations of women take female freedoms for granted.
The other thing that's discouraging is so many Republicans in power are okay with the idea that Trump will try to steal the election. The additional discouragement comes from knowing how many voting U.S. citizens are okay with that, too. I mean, I broke up with God, so I don't even have a spiritual belief that "all things work together for good for those who love" God. It's da-pressing. I can't watch the news right now. It's too stressful. I eliminated several news apps on my phone & ipad. I will be voting early, in person at the Board of Elections.
I'm currently reading a book called "The Choice: Embrace the Possible" by Dr. Edith Eva Eger, a survivor of Auschwitz. She relives chilling accounts of her year there and how she moved beyond it, so it's a very powerful and positive message. But reading it during the times I live in now that make me think, unfortunately, that someone like a Hitler can rise to power again. And that's unsettling. Maybe I'm too entrenched in Trump country. A neighbor across from me (different from my Christian pro-gun neighbor) hung a huge Trump flag out yesterday. No surprise to see it, the man hasn't ever gotten along with anyone on the block, or at his job or elsewhere. At least I have a large dogwood tree that blocks the flag's view when I look out the picture window.
Thanks for listening to me vent.
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Divine, I'm so glad you have a tree to block the view. I know I would hate to see that every time I looked out the window. These are unsettling times, and I too, worry that we will end up with a dictator. We already had children in cages,,,
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A handful of Republicans, including the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, expressed broad support for a peaceful transfer of power after President Trump refused on Wednesday to commit to accepting the results of November's election. But they carefully avoided any direct criticism of the president.
"The winner of the November 3rd election will be inaugurated on January 20th," Mr. McConnell wrote on Twitter early Thursday. "There will be an orderly transition just as there has been every four years since 1792."
"We're going to have to see what happens," is how Mr. Trump responded when asked to guarantee a peaceful transfer of power after the election. No president in modern memory has said what he said.
But members of Mr. Trump's party treated the comment less like a historic threat to a bedrock democratic principle than as just another news-cycle provocation they hoped to dodge — and even the critics who emerged were careful not to call the president out by name.
Senator Mitt Romney of Utah, who this week declared his support for Mr. Trump's decision to fast-track a new nominee for the Supreme Court, was first out with a criticism, as he has often been when Mr. Trump has made inflammatory comments.
"Fundamental to democracy is the peaceful transition of power; without that, there is Belarus. Any suggestion that a president might not respect this Constitutional guarantee is both unthinkable and unacceptable," Mr. Romney wrote on Twitter Wednesday night.
Representative Liz Cheney, Republican of Wyoming and the third-ranking House Republican, took a similar line, tweeting: "The peaceful transfer of power is enshrined in our Constitution and fundamental to the survival of our Republic. America's leaders swear an oath to the Constitution. We will uphold that oath."
Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, who has moderated his criticism of the president after lashing Mr. Trump during the 2016 Republican primary debates, also avoided referring to him directly in his response on Thursday.
"As we have done for over two centuries we will have a legitimate & fair election. It may take longer than usual to know the outcome, but it will be a valid one And at noon on Jan. 20, 2021 we will peacefully swear in the President," wrote Mr. Rubio, who is also supporting Mr. Trump's approach to filling the Supreme Court vacancy.
So did Representative Steve Stivers of Ohio, who tweeted, "Regardless of how divided our country is right now, when elections are over and winners are declared, we must all commit ourselves to the Constitution and accept the results."
Former Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, who has been helping Vice President Mike Pence prepare for the upcoming debates, struck a defiant note. "Smart candidates never concede anything before an election. They focus on what it takes to win," he wrote. "Media could ask @JoeBiden & @KamalaHarris if they plan to concede on election night or drag it out for months." Mr. Trump's remarks, though, were not about whether he would be willing to concede on election night. They were about whether he would step aside if the election showed that he lost.
There was scant mention of Mr. Trump's comments on the president's favorite network, Fox News, on Wednesday, with the hosts Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham focusing on other topics.
Mr. Trump's opponent, Joseph R. Biden Jr., for his part, seemed to reflect on Democrats' ambivalence about responding to what many view as another attempt by the president to divert attention from his failure to contain the coronavirus.
Asked about the president's remarks late Wednesday, Mr. Biden told reporters, "What country are we in?"
"I'm being facetious," Mr. Biden added. "Look, he says the most irrational things. I don't know what to say."
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The Peaceful Transfer of Power is the BEDROCK upon which our country is founded.
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