US Politics September 2023 - education-getting, income-having, Bible-readin church-goin MOTHERF*****

sigh

good morning!

Will the DeSantis campaign survive the month?

Probably, but why not ask anyway

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/-ron-desantis-super-pac-ends-door-knocking-nevada-super-tuesday-states-rcna102645

It appears that the Never Back Down PAC is backing down

hell of a campaign: https://www.thedailybeast.com/republican-president-candidate-ron-desantis-is-afraid-of-questions-from-15-year-old-quinn-mitchell

Quinn Mitchell has seen at least 35 presidential candidates in person since 2019, when he first started showing up at New Hampshire primary events to ask them questions.

Not a single one of them had ever treated the now-15-year-old as if he were a threat—until Ron DeSantis came to town.

It all started with a straightforward question. In June, when DeSantis stopped for a town hall event in Hollis, Mitchell raised his hand in the crowd.

“Do you believe that Trump violated the peaceful transfer of power,” the teenager asked the governor, “a key principle of American democracy that we must uphold?”

DeSantis dodged the question and said Americans shouldn’t get stuck in the past, but not before remarking—in a somewhat impressed, incredulous tone—on Mitchell’s age. “Are you in high school?” the governor asked.

The moment went viral, with DeSantis’ non-answer encapsulating how even Donald Trump’s lead primary rival could not bring himself to acknowledge the former president’s efforts to undo the 2020 election. CNN even played it during an interview with Chris Christie to tee up a question to the Trump foe.

For Mitchell, however, the exchange kicked off a series of events that deeply rattled him and his family.

Speaking about it for the first time in an interview with The Daily Beast, Mitchell says that he was grabbed and physically intimidated by DeSantis security at two subsequent campaign stops, where the candidate’s staffers also monitored him in a way he perceived as hostile.

The experience, Mitchell said, was “horrifying” and amounted to “intimidation.”

At a Fourth of July parade DeSantis attended, Mitchell was swarmed by security and physically restrained after a brief interaction with the governor—with his private security contractors even demanding Mitchell stay put until they said so.

With his mother alarmed, the situation escalated to such a degree that the candidate’s wife, Casey, spoke directly with her—but to suggest her son was being dishonest about what happened, according to Mitchell.

Then, at an August 19 event—where Mitchell was tailed closely by two security guards—an attendee told The Daily Beast they saw a staffer for DeSantis’ super PAC, Never Back Down, take a photo of the teenager on Snapchat before typing out an ominous caption: “Got our kid.”

So if I understand correctly the Never Back Down PAC is actually running the DeSantis campaign, which is technically against the law. But the PAC gets around the no coordination rules by setting up websites and putting up stuff for the DeSantis to read rather than emailing it to them, which is how reporters got ahold of the debate prep notes.

bob dylan prophesied the rise of this formidable teen

Hey baby, there ain't no easy way out

!! Walking out of courtroom after sentencing, Proud Boy Domenic Pezzola lifts his fist and yells "TRUMP WON"

— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) September 1, 2023

Nearly in tears, Pezzola minutes earlier told the judge he'd given up politics

(Judge was no longer in courtroom when Pezzola made the outburst)

Pezzola had just been sentenced to 10 years in prison

— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) September 1, 2023

obv they treated the kid horribly but this kis is a young sociopath in training

i don't know, that might actually make sense for him, on some level. it's very low probability but there is a non-zero chance that there's some sort of coup or attempt at an 'uprising' in the US in the next 10-30 years (i know, bleak, sorry, probably won't happen, or it's inevitable, or it doesn't matter, whatever is the least pessimistic thing to think), and in that scenario he becomes a hero for sticking for his man trump all the way to the end

now, you know I am against the carceral state and prisons and violence within prisons as we know it, but there is a non-zero chance he gets shivved in the next 0-18 years and we don't have to think about him sticking for his man trump all the way to the end

the tales of probability: an investigation into the wilderness of the imagination

the future is vast and unknowable!

His reaction is reminiscent of that of the women in the Manson family.

the future is vast and unknowable!

the answer to "what is mitch mcconnell thinking about in the void?"

Any member of a violent street fighting cadre trying to overthrow an election violently should be jailed. I don't know what kind of restorative justice or rehabilitation would suffice in this instance as a deterrent.

Wiki scrub-up!

The source of these concerns are changes made by an editor with the screen name “Jhofferman,” who has disclosed that he was paid by Ramaswamy to make alterations to the page.

According to the article’s version history, the editor removed lines about Ramaswamy’s receipt of a Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans in 2011. Paul Soros was the older brother of billionaire funder of leftist causes George Soros...

The Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans, per its website, was founded by the couple “to assist young New Americans at critical points in their education", which they felt was an unmet need.

Vivek’s political career DOA, he’s got the Soros stink

The Deep State Manchurian Candidate

that doesn’t sound like bootstraps, either

handouts from a soros
i know, i know - it’s serious

I am excited to announce that I will be running for the 2024 President of the United States Of America on behalf of the Libertarian party 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/GRDTgYRT7K

— Chris Fronzak (@FRONZ1LLA) September 4, 2023

Yeah, this guy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLYoJgbybes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5O6tfXwRN8I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OS6_lDdLxDU

Pennsylvania is key for Biden. Democrats there say the party is in shambles.
It’s not just the presidential race at stake. A major state Supreme Court race is this year...and a key Senate race next year.

Wait, yr telling me that a member of a Philadelphia political dynasty is corrupt and dysfunctional? I’m shocked, positively shocked.

This may fall under IT/email. However, the right-wing outrage machine was fed one of my current email addresses. The GMail spam filter usually catches them; occasionally I try to unsubscribe but it doesn't make much of a reduction in the flood. Does anyone know of any "creative" ways to mess with the parties behind these emails?

Not "creative" but unsubscribing & marking as spam is the direct way. If you can determine who their email service provider is, you may be able to reach out to them and let them know their customer is sending you unsolicited emails.

The problem with political emails is that they are protected speech in the USA, so its dicey for service providers to take any independent actions that limit them. If your service provider lets you authorize them to block them or segregate them into a spam bin on your behalf, then they can implement that. As for unsubscribing, that's up to the sender to honor your request. For unscrupulous senders all it does is verify your address is active.

I made the mistake of giving Jon Tester $20 and now I am being deluged with some of the worst email subject lines in the history of written English.

The problem with political emails is that they are protected speech in the USA, so its dicey for service providers to take any independent actions that limit them.

No. Anti-spam laws are strict, and more importantly spam complaints can be traced back to the email service provider and damage their overall sending reputation. Any ESP worth their salt will have terms of use that prohibit sending emails to people who didn't grant permission to be added to a mailing list. Email is not like other communication channels (e.g. text messages) which are not regulated in the same way.

Granted, many political organizations may be using providers that explicitly cater to political emails and don't crack down on spam as much. But you can still mark their emails as spam and Gmail will start blocking the sender if they get enough complaints.

Yeah, speaking as someone who runs a subscription email newsletter, the regulations are really strict. I have readers all the time who accidentally unsubscribe from the email (unfortunately easy to do) and the only way they be added back is if I send them a resubscribe link and they confirm it. I can't just add back someone who unsubscribed, even if they send me an email requesting it.

only way they CAN be added back...

You know Enrique Tarrio is fucked when his *defense* tells the judge his sentence shouldn't be more than 15 years. I bet he's real proud now.

A panel of federal judges rejected Alabama’s latest congressional map on Tuesday, ruling that a new map needed to be drawn because Republican lawmakers had failed to comply with orders to create a second majority-Black district or something “close to it.”

In a sharp rebuke, the judges ordered that the new map be independently drawn, taking the responsibility away from the Republican-controlled legislature while chastising state officials who “ultimately did not even nurture the ambition to provide the required remedy.”

The legislature had hastily pushed through a revised map in July after a surprise Supreme Court ruling found that Alabama’s existing map violated a landmark civil rights law by undercutting the power of the state’s Black voters. The revised map, approved over the objections of Democrats, increased the percentage of Black voters in one of the state’s six majority-white congressional districts to about 40 percent, from about 30 percent.

Trump judges too.

That old three-fifths math still sticking around

Tarrio gets 22 years. Good riddance.

bye, fucker

This fucking piece of shit, a Miamian.

The kind of sentence Hitler should have had for the Beer Hall Putsch

holy fuck

That Alabama map was such a fuck you. Republican legislatures are completely unhinged, they don't give a fuck, they'll pass any old thing they want. So that even all these Republican judges are going, uh, tone it down there fellas. (Not ALL the Republican judges, obviously. Some of them are batshit too.)

Retain power at all costs is the mantra.

Because they know that if they lose it, they'll never get it back.

Even sympathetic judges don't like their orders being ignored.

Meanwhile my state rep of Tennessee Three fame announced yesterday she's running against Marsha Blackburn for Senate next year. Blackburn has responded with a website that is kind of the definition of "don't threaten me with a good time": https://www.radicalgloria.com/

Obviously a long shot to actually win the race — Blackburn won by 11 points in 2018 — but I think it's a smart move by Gloria and the state party to capitalize on the celebrity of the Tennessee Three. She'll be able to raise a ton of money for her own campaign but also for other Dems in TN, and in general it will be the highest-profile statewide race the Democrats have managed in years.

Also just nice to see the state party really embrace and get behind an outspoken progressive on a statewide ballot instead of pretending they can win by running milquetoast moderates.

"Over $480,000 in cash—much of it stuffed into envelopes and hidden in clothing, closets, and a safe—was discovered in the home ... Some of the envelopes contained the fingerprints and/or DNA of" co-defendant making alleged bribes.

so New Jersey

xpost Yeah, and Menendez should also resign

As they say, not a good look:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F6oxI-nXQAAoMB1?format=jpg&name=large

did they have Day Day delivering this cash?

I texted my friend about this.

His response: “Yeah, that guy is a stain on the Democrats. Maybe he should change parties.”

My response: “I suspect he may be changing into an orange jumpsuit”

The Dems re-nominated Menendez after the last time he was indicted.

that ended up as a mistrial. he won the primary 2:1 on a miniscule turnout.

funniest outcome would be for Dr. Oz to run for that seat

There's an obvious replacement:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Menendez

Menendez is a sleaze, but he's a sleaze who gets shit done for NJ, and he shows up to all kinds of shit and helps people out. He'll keep winning elections as long as he wants to keep running. I predict jury nullification.

Too bad Paulie Walnuts is no longer with us.

Menendez is a sleaze, but he's a sleaze who gets shit done for NJ, and he shows up to all kinds of shit and helps people out. He'll keep winning elections as long as he wants to keep running. I predict jury nullification.

― read-only (unperson)

A Dem is governor. That's all that mattes.

*matters

From the "couldn't happen to a nicer guy" file, Politico has the knives out for lil' Ron:

‘Waiting for him to drop out’: DeSantis’ influence nosedives in Florida

Interviews with nearly two dozen lobbyists, political consultants and lawmakers revealed that DeSantis’ struggles as a presidential candidate have already eroded his influence in Florida. There is a widespread expectation that his candidacy will end in failure. His standing at home may depend on how long he slogs forward in the presidential campaign — and how he will manage his exit from the race if he eventually drops out.

Now, it may be just a matter of time before Florida Republicans, once unflinchingly loyal, seek distance from DeSantis and his hardball governing methods.

“You don’t get the assumption they are measuring drapes anymore — they are waiting for him to drop out,” one long-time Republican consultant in Tallahassee said of those working for the governor. The consultant, like others quoted in this story, was granted anonymity to freely discuss the sensitive situation.

...

DeSantis is one of Florida’s most powerful governors and has used his influence and sway over the past five years to transform politics in the state, including getting the Republican-controlled Legislature to bow to his agenda.

He reshaped the state’s education system by installing allies in top university positions and pushed legislation that limits how race and gender are taught. He endorsed dozens of K-12 school board candidates in the wake of the pandemic in an effort to help Republicans control all levers of state government. He’s used his power to suspend elected officials, including two Democratic prosecutors, while strong-arming his own party to approve congressional redistricting maps that favored Republicans.

He’s also known for his combative streak, willing to fight major corporations like the Walt Disney Co., Google and the cruise line industry.

But DeSantis’ troubles on the campaign trail have emboldened some in his party who are exhausted by his aggressive tactics. The state party last week rescinded a loyalty pledge that would have obligated the GOP primary candidates to endorse the eventual Republican presidential nominee, a stunning turnaround made at the behest of Trump supporters and against DeSantis’ wishes.

A major lobbyist in Tallahassee said: “There’s no love lost between the Legislature and DeSantis. ... They are faking it. They are waiting long enough to see the king drained of all his power. It’s a slow-motion coup.”

*opens mouth to suggest that florida didn't really have to deal with the man in the first place, if it didn't like him, but thinks better of it because everyone has guns there*

My mom’s idiotically right-wing best friend (lives in The Villages LOL) said a few months ago that she was glad RdS was running for Prez but sad he’d have to leave Florida to do so. Weep no more, lady!

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/-100-matt-gaetz-widely-expected-run-florida-governor-rcna105629

Because things can always get a little worse

Another martini, please.

Hard to think of anyone who exudes more negative charisma than DeSantis, but then Gaetz says "hold my beer."

Dallas mayor switches parties, parrots GOP rhetoric about how Democrats are destroying cities. I don't know this guy, is this a prelude to running for governor?

https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/22/dallas-mayor-eric-johnson-republican/

doesn't sound like he's resigning

Indicted Sen. Bob Menendez issues statement saying, “Those behind this campaign simply cannot accept that a first-generation Latino American from humble beginnings could rise to be a U.S. Senator and serve with honor and distinction.” pic.twitter.com/bGDiGmC3y9

— Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) September 22, 2023

I hope they get to the bottom of who hid all that cash around his house.

"My enemies send me wads of cash. I welcome their hatred."

"the gold bars found in my garage represent not corruption, but a gold standard of integrity and fidelity to the rule of law."

Dallas mayor switches parties, parrots GOP rhetoric about how Democrats are destroying cities. I don't know this guy, is this a prelude to running for governor?

https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/22/dallas-mayor-eric-johnson-republican🕸/

He needs to use the phrase "high-tech lynching."

Something tells me that Menendez's parentage and ethnicity are the main point, but good luck to him for trying to change the subject

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/09/21/kamala-harris-lead-office-gun-violence-prevention-00117497

lol, gold bars, the guy is a legend!

https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/1652942712.jpg

living the American Dream xpost

Dallas mayor switches parties, parrots GOP rhetoric about how Democrats are destroying cities

"i know I fucked up this city as a democrat, but I promise now that I'm a republican I'll do better" doesn't seem like a very good campaign message

whoa what the fuck is up with her pants? hey there Shakira

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNhriA2xq9E

"My enemies send me wads of cash. I welcome their hatred."

Mrs Menendez should be indicted for those jeans

What a loon

Neguse asks Clay Higgins if he thinks COVID is dangerous. Higgins says “I would put a virus along the lines of the flu far down my list of priorities that I would consider dangerous.” Neguse introduces an article titled “Clay Higgins: Covid almost killed me” pic.twitter.com/6kpAazq3lv

— Acyn (@Acyn) September 22, 2023

Clay Higgins seems like a guy that stared covid in the eye and shot it.

Benny Hill visited the WH?

Accused of man's laughter

Seems to be a thing lately to pretend to be a democrat, get elected and then switch.

One of the dynamics I think is underaddressed is how a lot of big (usually richer) cities are Dem heavy, so that any GOP types have to change party affiliation just to get considered. This happened here in Portland, too.

However, once you get in, local incentives are such that you either can or have to switch affiliations depending on party structures or one’s own ambitions.

It’s one of the many reasons why the vote-captured “blue no matter who” stans ain’t exactly promoting the best thinking.

Kingfish, Republicans in the District of Columbia routinely register as Democrats just to get a say in nominations. In DC the Democratic primary is the de facto election. The general election is an afterthought. And no one gives a single shit about it.

In contrast, Arlington County, Virginia (where I live) is as blue as can be, but the dynamic is different. Local candidates will run as "independent" but everyone knows that "independent" is just a code word for. "Republican." No one is fooled.

Come on lol pic.twitter.com/dLaDPcyziH

— Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) September 22, 2023

It's the age-old political riddle: which weighs more, a kilo of feathers or a kilo of gold bricks?

Searches for "how much is a kilo of gold worth" trending on Google.

A: A bit less than $62,000 at present.

Bobby if u have to ask

how did this happen to a Democratic Senator and not George Santos

Santos is googling the price of pyrite.