Glenn Kirschner – Trumps tries to swap stolen documents for info he wants; FBI investigates Trump Tower and Bedminster
The Lincoln Project – Ukraine
MSNBC – DeSantis Auditions For Role Of Green M&M In White Boots
Robert Reich – Organizing a Key Battleground State with @New Georgia Project Action Fund
Brent Terhune – black little mermaid
Beau – Let’s talk about Georgia and the Herschel Walker situation….
Yesterday, I decided not to use a story about The Onion as a short take, but instead to direct y’all to it here. Readers Digest versin, a man posted a parody Facebook page on his own page, mocking his local police department, and got arrested and locked up. The Onion filed an amicus brief on his behalf. Here’s the story, and here’s the actual brief.
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Short Takes –
Brennan Center for Justice – Voting Laws Roundup: October 2022
Quote – Voters in some states are facing new barriers as they cast ballots in the midterms. Other new state laws are increasing the risk of election interference this fall and in future elections…. Between January 1, 2022, and September 12, 2022, state lawmakers have enacted the following voting laws: At least seven states enacted 10 laws that make voting more difficult — of these, 5 laws in five states are in place for the midterms…. At least seven states have enacted 12 election interference laws, of which 11 are in place for the midterms…. At least 12 states have enacted 19 laws that expand access to the vote.
Click through for full details – they break it all down, with receipts. No changes in my state – but that’s not true for everyone here.
Grid – The Supreme Court is hearing a lawsuit over Section 230, the law the internet loves to hate
Quote – The Supreme Court said Monday that it will hear a case this term examining the scope of tech companies’ immunity under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. The law, passed in 1996, has for decades protected internet companies from lawsuits related to content users share on their platforms. If the court breaks with the long-running legal interpretation of Section 230, it could fundamentally change how the internet — and particularly social media sites — functions.
Click through for story. No one is happy now with how the internet – and particularly social media on the internet – work now, and I suspect no one is going to be happy with the way it will work when this case is over – no matter how it’s decided. Because there just isn’t a simple, easy solution.
Food For Thought
Yesterday, I realized that today is Yom Kippur – it began last night at sunset. I didn’t make a graphic greeting for it, because it is such a serious holiday and I did not want to be unintentionally fippant. But I will offer G’mar Chatima Tovah to all who celebrate.
I also learned that the group Faithful Americahas a new website up, “False Prophets Don’t Speak for Me,” to oppose Christofascism. If you agree, you can sign there to say so. Obviusly, just being one of the signers helps. Of course they ae also requesting donations, but it’s not a requirement. It shows who they consider to be the top 30 false prophets currently. I found it a bit scary how many I didn’t know about. And it’s interesting who is not on the list also.
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Short Takes –
Daily Kos (staff Aysha Kumar) – After 2 years of threats, Gaige Grosskreutz, surviving victim of Kyle Rittenhouse, wants name change
Quote – “[T]he real story here isn’t that I am seeking to change my name, but that a process that is supposed to protect and shield those in danger was undermined and sealed information was released to the right-wing media within hours of my filing…. I was told that my filing was confidential. I demand that the court investigate how this was leaked to ensure that those seeking protection in the future receive the protection to which they are entitled. On Tuesday, I was denied that protection.”
Click through – The story was leaked by the Kenosha County Eye, which is run by MAGAt who organized a Faeebook group to “protect” the community from “BLM,” and who “covered” Rittenhouse’s trial as a free-lance photograoher, but could not resist yelling in the face of one of the prosecutors. The Milwaukee County “Clerk of Courts” (a vilid title, but I can’t e=define it) “said he has begun looking into the matter.”
ProPublica – How America’s Democracy Is “Ripe to Be Exploited”
Quote – Voters in Sweden this month gave a leading role to a far-right party with neo-Nazi roots. Italy is also on the cusp of putting a party in power that has fascist origins. And of course, in the United States, one party has increasingly embraced election denialism and attempted to undermine the legitimacy of the electoral process. To try to understand what, exactly, is happening, I talked with Barbara Walter, a political scientist at the University of California San Diego who studies democracies across the world…. Rather than talk about the prospects for political violence, we discussed why many democracies are retrenching and how the U.S. stands alone — and not in a good way.
Click through for full conversation. I am old enough to have immediately thought of Barbara Walters – needless to say, they are not the same.
Food For Thought
Glenn Kirschner – Stewart Rhodes/Oath Keepers seditious conspiracy trial kicks off in DC. Here’s what to expect.
Meidas Touch – Pete Buttigieg BRINGS THE HOUSE DOWN with epic response to GOP political stunts
The Lincoln Project – Making America Fascist
The Alt-Right Playbook: The Cost of Doing Business This is thr first new chapter in two years. And it’s a hard hitter. (And, sadly, long.)
Parody Project – NO SURPRISE (Student Debt)
Beau – Let’s talk about women’s rights, republicans, polls, and reality….
Glenn Kirschner – NY judge tells Rudy Giuliani to pay up or get locked up; Ginni Thomas to testify to J6 committee
Meidas Touch – MAGA Republicans MOCK Marco Rubio in new MEGAVIRAL Supercut by MeidasTouch
The Lincoln Project – Kevin’s Plan
MSNBC – The Rachel Maddow Show 9/26/22 Part 1 and Part 2of the fascism segments
Liberal Redneck – Stacey Abrams, Heartbeats, and Georgia
Beau – Let’s talk about the Electoral Count Act of 1887 being clarified….
Glenn Kirschner – Trump’s new $3 million criminal defense attorney paid for by his Save America PAC/his supporters.
Meidas Touch – BREAKING: Appeals Court RESPONDS to DOJ Mar-A-Lago Search Motion and SETS DEADLINE for Trump (Whew – that was fast)
The Lincoln Project – S.O.S. (I sent this to my Secretary of State, who is running for re-election. Maybe TLP will let her use it on TV.)
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse – The Scheme 18: Leonard Leo’s $1.6 Billion Payday (You can find ## 1-17 here [scroll down a bit], all neatly lined up) https://www.youtube.com/user/SenatorWhitehouse
Hey Fletch – GOP HAS GOT TO GO (The Midterm Song)
Beau – Let’s talk about who gets to pick Georgia’s next gov….
Yesterday, I decided that if I wanted to recognize Banned Books Week, I had better do so before the week was over (hence the FFT). I also received a grocery order. It came kind of late, and a few things were missing, but no substitutions, thank heaven. Both store that deliver are getting better at this (I probably should knock on wood as I type that.) Both now allow you to go down the entire list and mark each item “no substitutions” (or not) – so they don’r need to do any second guessing. One of them allows you to select a preferred substitute from a list of similar items – or specify no substitutions if none of them works This can be time consuming, but it’s way preferable to fighting after the fact about a bad substitution.
Also – Tish James has a mystery press conference scheduled for this morning at 10:30 Eastern.
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Short Takes –
Political Wire – Liz Cheney Introduces Bill to Avoid Repeat of January 6
Quote – [T]he legislation would direct challenges to state elections to courts and limit the vice president’s role in electoral vote-counting as “ministerial.” It also would raise the bar to challenge a state’s electors to one-third of both the House and Senate. Currently, if one member of Congress from each chamber objects to a presidential election during the arcane certification process, the chambers have to debate and hold a vote on the objection, as was done in 2021
Click through for article. It will definitely help (if they can get it through both houses, of course. The co-sponsor is Zoe Lofgren. Both are (says Captain Obvious) on the J6 committee. The more the committee learns, the tighter they could probably make it – but this is insurance against losing one or both houses. No point letting the perfect be the enemy of the good.
CPR News – New COVID Boosters: What to know about the bivalent vaccines that offer better protection against omicron
Quote – Q How is this new bivalent booster different from the original booster? A The original vaccines and booster were monovalent, which means they only contained genetic information for the original coronavirus strain. The new bivalent booster contains information for both the original strain we’ve seen since 2020 and the most commonly seen one now — omicron and its subvariant BA.5, which we’re seeing causing the most infections in Colorado.
Click through for details. Colorado may be aabout a week late to the party, so you may already know this. But just in case.
Food For Thought
Glenn Kirschner – DOJ appeals Judge Cannon’s ruling that FBI may not investigate Trump’s classified documents crimes
Meidas Touch – Former Trump Aide’s EXPLOSIVE ADMISSION will come back to haunt Trump in Mar-A-Lago investigation
The Lincoln Project – Elections Matter
MSNBC – ‘Outrageous’ ‘Untethered’: DOJ Vets Slam Judge’s Ruling On Trump’s Stolen Docs
Parody Project – THE CRIMES THEY ARE ARRANGING
Beau – Let’s talk about red state statistics….