GET OUT: US politics November 2020

_"I appreciate KFILE showing clearly through past statements that I think for myself, and that my mind was changed based on fact and personal knowledge. President Trump is a sincere Christian, the best president in modern history, and made and kept his promises to the American people. I am proud to stand with him and his goals for the future of this country and all of its citizens," she said._

(in the so baptist bible study tradition)

She's a lawyer, f'rchrissake.

Well, that might be the problem

Hollywood actress Holly Robinson Peete (@hollyrpeete) confirms that during her time on “The Celebrity Apprentice” @realDonaldTrump did call her the n-word. Read: https://t.co/TA7qpU25rJ #HollyRobinsonPeete #WhiteHouse

— AprilDRyan (@AprilDRyan) November 18, 2020

She's a lawyer, f'rchrissake.

xpost - is that Holly Robinson Peete another example of, "well thanks for going on the record now" or just that no one bothered to ask her?

I dont know how anyone can say "President Trump is a sincere Christian" with a fucking straight face.

xp her silence was probably NDA-related. maybe she senses that trump is legally occupied elsewhere?

Okay, I didn't want to dump on her without knowing more context. Just frustrating to keep seeing stuff trickle out now.

Probably best that it didn't come out earlier and increase his voting numbers.

Probably not keen to deal with death threats from his cult too.

I still think there's plenty of political mileage in labor/workers' issues (aside from just being something a decent human should care about), but it may need to be somewhat separated from organized labor, or at least conceived more broadly. You don't want to give up on the union structure that's there, obviously, you want to strengthen it whenever possible. But equating labor issues with unions overlooks that the vast majority of American workers aren't unionized and won't be in the foreseeable future, yet still have immediate needs. You can speak to those needs — for better wages, working conditions, healthcare, child care, paid leave — without positing unions as the only way to get there. Your average Wal-mart shelf-stocker may or may not get excited about an in-store union organizing drive, but they definitely care about the issues.

― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Wednesday, November 18, 2020 4:44 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

Yeah, but this avoids the issue I raised, which is that a bunch of atomized workers are the opposite of a union because they are not ORGANIZED and cannot RAISE MONEY. You are speaking as though this is about "issues" that excite "voters." It's not! It's about money!

Which is to say, you're right, there is "political mileage "in it, but the Democratic party as constituted today mostly doesn't want that mileage!

The Trump campaign says that its first amended complaint "inadvertently withdrew" large sections devoted to their (unsubstantiated) observer claims due to "confusion caused by the withdrawal of [their] lead counsel." Don't miss the footnote. https://t.co/ITTj1OXuel pic.twitter.com/k3ZdJ3av29

— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) November 18, 2020

Okay, I didn't want to dump on her without knowing more context. Just frustrating to keep seeing stuff trickle out now.

I've read the article now, and while I'm sure there was more going into her reasoning, I don't see any reason to doubt her conclusion.

https://d1yjjnpx0p53s8.cloudfront.net/styles/logo-thumbnail/s3/0014/1011/brand.gif?itok=QxNvYxzr

also

During an appearance on SiriusXM Urban View’s The Karen Hunter Show

choosing to believe this is a description of the show's mission, and not a reference to the host

Yes and no. I don’t want to underplay the role of money — and unions even in their current state can still generate some of that — but messaging matters a lot too. I’m just trying to imagine a pro-worker platform that isn’t so union-centric, or that doesn’t rise and fall on the strength of unions.

Is that a Crass song?

It's actually a Happy Mondays song, "Kuff Dam".

_Jesus is a cunt

― Lover of Nixon (or LON for short) (Neanderthal), Wednesday, November 18, 2020 1:53 PM (thirteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Is that a Crass song?

― Andy the Grasshopper, Wednesday, November 18, 2020 1:56 PM (ten minutes ago) _


You're both getting your punk groups and lyrics mixed up.

Jesus was a cock-sucking Jew from Galilee, according to Nervous Gender.

I would simply take steps to ensure that the strength of unions doesn't fall.

Absent collective bargaining and the use of unions as workers' counter-weight to the power of capital that platform is empty, subject to changing political winds (which are subject to the whims of the donor class).

By promoting organized labor - and taking steps to entrench that power, rather than letting it be gutted as Democrats have done for the last fifty years - you create structures that have a vested interest in continually fighting for better wages and better conditions.

taps sign that says "Obama, 59 Democratic Senators and 235 Democratic Reps didn't pass card check"

I need to get a sign

i got something you can tap on

xxxxp different people

Yes and no. I don’t want to underplay the role of money — and unions even in their current state can still generate some of that — but messaging matters a lot too. I’m just trying to imagine a pro-worker platform that isn’t so union-centric, or that doesn’t rise and fall on the strength of unions.

― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Wednesday, November 18, 2020 6:17 PM (fifteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

The Democrats mostly do not want to run on such a platform, and that's because of their donor base and crony consultant network. That's my point. Of course it's good messaging, they just have good reasons not to want to use it.

The Trump campaign's proposal--literally I am not making this up--is that *THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN* will obtain and count all or a subset of the Pennsylvania mail ballot envelopes and, based on the formula in footnote 3, let the judge know if he should declare them the winner. pic.twitter.com/3VI5uG26Gb

— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) November 18, 2020

HAHA

did someone already post the thing where the judge asked Rudy "what standard of scrutiny should I apply" and Rudy replied "the normal one"

seems like the lawsuits and recounts are just meant to delay certification in states like MI, PA, WI, NV for so long that they then lose their ability to appoint electors?

recounts don't delay certification afaik. in Georgia, the recount that was done was an automatic one, but Trump is allowed to request one of his own...*after* the vote has been certified. which will happen today.

Michigan will be meeting on Monday to certify their results, Wisconsin already certified today (and this evening was the deadline for Trump to request a recount, which it seems like he did).

good to know

https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-government/michigan-gop-canvassers-under-pressure-ignore-votes-help-trump

lot to unpack in this

They are facing heavy lobbying from pro-Trump forces such as activist Shane Trejo, who in a Wednesday email blast urged fellow “patriots” to flood Republican state canvassers Norm Shinkle and Aaron Van Lengevelde with messages opposing certification.

“Tell them … that you will never vote Republican again unless they overturn this steal because they will have proven that voting for Republican is pointless by refusing to use their lawful authority to stop the rape of our nation,” he wrote.

first, "norm shinkle"

what they're really trying to do is cast doubt on the validity of the election and convince state legislatures to select their own slate of electors, which would be illegal and never stand up in court. and many of the battleground states have Secs of State, Governors ,or state legislatures who have all indicated they will select electors based on the popular vote.

they're trying it, but they know it will fail

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2020/11/18/voters-pick-president-state-legislatures-no-veto-power-column/6311981002/

Boring, Maryland: not Drew, I'm just a poster who shares a lot of intersecting interests and friends and professional relationships with Drew.

I would simply take steps to ensure that the strength of unions doesn't fall.

I agree with everything you're saying here Milo about the importance of organized labor, but the strength of unions has already fallen precipitously. We're looking at labor force of millions of low-wage workers who are emphatically not going to be unionized any time in the near future. But the federal government has a lot it can do to make their lives a lot better even without a union. So I think you can do both, defend and expand unions as much as possible but also build up the safety net (and honestly, I think the latter is politically a lot more doable than the former).

"convince state legislatures to select their own slate of electors"

yes, I guess that what what I was thinking some of these efforts were aimed at

Dems actually tried to object to the Ohio vote in 2004 on the January 6th joint meeting of Congress - https://www.cnn.com/2005/ALLPOLITICS/01/06/electoral.vote/

From that article about the Michigan state Board of Canvassers:

They are facing heavy lobbying from pro-Trump forces such as activist Shane Trejo, who in a Wednesday email blast urged fellow “patriots” to flood Republican state canvassers Norm Shinkle and Aaron Van Lengevelde with messages opposing certification.

“Tell them … that you will never vote Republican again unless they overturn this steal because they will have proven that voting for Republican is pointless by refusing to use their lawful authority to...”

This would be awesome. Please never vote Republican again!

I’ll believe it when I see it

however, even if Republicans objected to every battleground state, the vote to accept the objection has to be approved in both houses, and it'll never pass the Democratic-lead House (which would require at least 7 Dems defecting, possibly more depending on final House count).

so, basically....we're gonna know things are *ok* by December 14th, when the electors vote. Supreme Court has reaffirmed states rights to punish faithless electors. No faithless elector has ever voted for the candidate of the opposing party - just other unaffiliated people (or other members of their own party).

xxxpost this is referring to January 6th joint session

'Either help our party cheat their way to a win or we will never vote for our party again' is the very essence of upstanding citizens acting in good faith.

Is there a volcano somewhere that all of these people can be dropped into?

... Yes?

The return of the covfefe

The most we’ve heard publicly from the GSA Administrator this week appears to be an inadvertent pocket tweet pic.twitter.com/5tt4AN1vs1

— Betsy Klein (@betsy_klein) November 19, 2020

With Vincent Peef

that's not inadvertent or pocket, it's a Q drop

really? context? plz tell me yr joking