OneBro
OneBro's JournalDamn. I goofed, and mom voted for a republican, or two.
Well, I hope it was only one. She voted Biden for President, but apparently someone put a bug in her ear about the need for "checks and balances" in government, so (and yes, I damned near threw up) she voted for a republican John Cornyn for Senator.
Ironically, she was ranting about how evil republicans are after I mentioned how Biden would need the Senate to make any real headway, so I almost missed it when she said something about "checks and balances." Huh?, I managed to say after my heart dropped into my lower intestine. "You got to have checks and balances," she said. A moment or two passed before I remembered to breathe. I asked "How many republicans did you vote for, mom?" She said "Well . . ." When my mom says "well," in that manner, it's her way of saying she's out of steam and can't really explain herself. She's over 70 and got an 8th grade education in rural Texas back when Texas was loathe to spend resources on educating black people.
I couldn't be mad at mom, but I could be angry with myself. I had preached to my cousins about the importance of voting down ballot and I spoke to my uncles and aunts, but I thought mom was a sure fire straight ticked Democrat.
"Just one," she said. "Maybe two, I think."
"That's how they hurt Obama, mom. Republicans fought tooth and nail when they were in the minority in the Senate, and they essentially shut progress down when they got the majority."
My words sounded kinda hollow at that point. The election was over, and I kept telling myself it was only one vote. I kept thinking, though. If "they" convinced my mom and her circle of friends and relatives, that's more than just a few votes.
I remember hearing McConnell or Graham or one of the other evil f*cks talking about checks and balances a while back, and I thought little of it. They were simply switching gears to limit republican cross-over votes. Silly me didn't consider that it would be an effective way of getting Democrats to cross-over.
Live. Learn. Fight.
Peace
Reach across the aisle, you say? Sure. Let's start with election reform.
Given that MAGAvangelicals are convinced that our election system has been corrupted by an obese Venezuelan living in his grandmother's basement, maybe this is the perfect time to push for nationwide election reform with primary goals of election security ("hack-proof" systems) and election integrity (paper ballots?). I'd go one further and tie significant federal funding to state compliance with security measures because they are a matter of national security.
Yet again, only Democrats are trying to bridge the divide.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/14/us/politics/biden-trump-republicans.htmlMany on the Right Reject the Call for Healing
“My Democratic friends think Biden is going to heal everything and unify everyone,” said Jeanie Smith, who attends the more conservative Spring Street Gospel Church in Mason, which is about 100 miles west of Austin. “They are deceived.”
“Now you want healing,” she added. “Now you want to come together. You have not earned it.”
“We’re willing to accept the results, as long as it’s fair and done correctly and certified correctly,” said Sherrie Strong, another supporter of the president’s. She, like others, took Mr. Trump’s position that it was strange that he had been leading in numerous places because of in-person votes on Election Day, only to be overtaken once mail-in ballots were counted on election night and over the days that followed. (The delay in counting mail-in ballots in several states was because of restrictions imposed by Republican state legislatures.)
That is the hard reality Mr. Biden is facing, even after winning a race in which he secured a larger share of the popular vote than any challenger since 1932. Towering before him is a wall of Republican resistance, starting with Mr. Trump’s refusal to concede, extending to G.O.P. lawmakers’ reluctance to acknowledge his victory and stretching, perhaps most significantly for American politics in the long term, to ordinary voters who steadfastly deny the election’s outcome. (end quotes)
The only way Democrats can "earn" a truce is to give republicans EVERYTHING they want. Republicans keep telling us they'd rather burn the country down than respect a two-party system. What, exactly, does it take for us to finally believe them?
Republicans are updating their playbook that led to the Oklahoma City bombing.
During President Clinton's first term, Limbaugh and other right-wing hate media painted the US Government as public enemy No. 1, labeled federal officers as "jack-booted thugs," and convinced homegrown terrorists like Timothy McVeigh (1995 Oklahoma City bombing) and Eric Rudolph (1996 bombing in Atlanta's Centennial Park) that they were patriots in an all-out war against "government tyranny."
Now McConnell and Graham have taken up the reigns in a similar yet revamped war against the Biden administration before he is even sworn in. Make no mistake. McConnell and Graham present no credible proof of Democratic voter fraud because they have no proof, and they know Trump's legal challenges will fail unless the unabashedly extreme right-wing majority of the US Supreme Court engages in a judicial coup of sorts.
The harsh reality is that McConnell, Graham, Trump and their republican confederates are knowingly inflaming a new generation of armed, ill informed, domestic terrorists who, like Timothy McVeigh, will inevitably heed the calls for "action" against a US government under the Biden/Harris administration.
As before, the results will be tragic, and while sending thoughts and prayers for the victims and their families, republicans will condemn the terror they seeded . . . then blame the Biden administration.
How 'bout some poetic justice for Melania Trump?
As recently written in Slate, Melania is about as honest as her husband Donald.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/11/goodbye-melania-trump.html
"Melania has lied about everything from getting a bachelor’s degree to speaking five languages to the significance of her “I Really Don’t Care Do U” jacket—which she wore as a publicity stunt while visiting desperate children whom the Trump administration had separated from their families."
Now what are the odds that Melania also lied on her application to become a naturalized citizen? Given her insistence that Obama release his birth certificate, surely her application for citizenship is fair game. Anyway, if she lied, I say she should be the first First Lady (cough) to get kicked the f*ck out of America.
Here's a bit of relevant law to wet your whistle:
https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-12-part-l-chapter-2
In general, a person is subject to revocation of naturalization on the following grounds:
A. Person Procures Naturalization Illegally
A person is subject to revocation of naturalization if he or she procured naturalization illegally. Procuring naturalization illegally simply means that the person was not eligible for naturalization in the first place. Accordingly, any eligibility requirement for naturalization that was not met can form the basis for an action to revoke the naturalization of a person. This includes the requirements of residence, physical presence, lawful admission for permanent residence, good moral character, and attachment to the U.S. Constitution.
Discovery that a person failed to comply with any of the requirements for naturalization at the time the person became a U.S. citizen renders his or her naturalization illegally procured. This applies even if the person is innocent of any willful deception or misrepresentation.
B. Concealment of Material Fact or Willful Misrepresentation
1. Concealment of Material Fact or Willful Misrepresentation
A person is subject to revocation of naturalization if there is deliberate deceit on the part of the person in misrepresenting or failing to disclose a material fact or facts on his or her naturalization application and subsequent examination.
In general, a person is subject to revocation of naturalization on this basis if:
The naturalized U.S. citizen misrepresented or concealed some fact;
The misrepresentation or concealment was willful;
The misrepresented or concealed fact or facts were material; and
The naturalized U.S. citizen procured citizenship as a result of the misrepresentation or concealment.
Editing to add this video link (Thanks for the heads-up fierywoman!)
Election official who supervised voting despite positive Covid-19 test has died.
An election official who supervised voting in a suburb of St. Louis despite having tested positive for the coronavirus has died, officials there announced on Thursday, raising concerns for 2,000 voters who passed through the site on Election Day.
The official, an election judge supervisor, worked closely with nine other election workers in St. Charles, which is roughly 25 miles outside St. Louis. The authorities have advised them to be tested. They said the supervisor had not come in close contact with voters.
The supervisor — whose name, gender and age were not released — received a positive test result on Oct. 30 from a private lab and was advised to quarantine, but ignored that advice, according to a statement from the county. No cause of death was given for the death.
Kurt Bahr, the county director of elections, said judges were not screened before reporting to election sites, and had not been told not to come to work if they were supposed to be in quarantine — “for the simple reason that we did not think that needed to be said.”
https://nl.nytimes.com/f/a/0AzmJShh0eJQEmJIBW9kVg~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRhh7x5P4Q2AWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lm55dGltZXMuY29tL2xpdmUvMjAyMC8xMS8wNS93b3JsZC9jb3ZpZC0xOS1jb3JvbmF2aXJ1cy11cGRhdGVzL2EtbWlzc291cmktZWxlY3Rpb24tb2ZmaWNpYWwtd2hvLXdvcmtlZC1hdC10aGUtcG9sbHMtZGVzcGl0ZS10ZXN0aW5nLXBvc2l0aXZlLWhhcy1kaWVkP2NhbXBhaWduX2lkPTkmZW1jPWVkaXRfbm5fMjAyMDExMDYmaW5zdGFuY2VfaWQ9MjM4NjImbmw9dGhlLW1vcm5pbmcmcmVnaV9pZD0xMjM4OTM2NDQmc2VnbWVudF9pZD00MzczNiZ0ZT0xJnVzZXJfaWQ9OWRhZjEyOWNmNGUxMTk1NjFlYzg2ZjMyZjg3YzZkMzNXA255dEIKACd5N6Vf6x9a11IVd2l0dHl0aGluZ3NAZ21haWwuY29tWAQAAAAA
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2020/11/05/world/covid-19-coronavirus-updates
I don't have any political issues, but thanks for asking.
Until Biden is sworn in on January 20, 2021, I don't have any political issues. None.
When Biden won the nomination, I was asked what I thought about it. I said "Yes!, Biden is our nominee!" Not, "He wasn't my first choice, but . . . "
When Biden picked Harris as his running mate, I was was asked what I thought about Harris. I said "Yes!, Biden picked Harris, and she's gonna be our next V.P.!" Not, "Well, she wasn't my first choice, but . . ."
It isn't that I don't care about freedom of choice, separation of church and state, the environment, criminal justice reform and a whole host of other political issues that are important to me, it's that GETTING BIDEN/HARRIS ELECTED IS THE PRIME OBJECTIVE. Majorities in Congress go hand-in-hand with that objective, but any issue, and I do mean ANY issue, outside of that objective, is a non-starter.
Actually, that IS enough for me: Biden/Harris is not Trump/Pence.
Talking heads love jawboning about how Joe must offer something more than the fact that he isn't Trump. Well, they don't speak for me. Joe's whole ad campaign could be "I am not Donald Trump," and that would be enough to get me in a miles-long line to vote for Joe. Luckily we need only drop our ballots in the mail here in Oregon, but you get my point.
It isn't that I don't care about policies and issues, it's that there is not one policy or issue that we are so far apart on as to cause me to not vote for Biden/Harris.
Hell, I don't even know what's currently in our party's platform. Probably something about the environment and a strong middle class and workers' rights and immigration and human rights and other ideals consistent with the modern Democratic Party.
Sure, I look forward to sitting down with my party and discussing prison reform and rebuilding the Civil Rights Act and judicial reform and infrastructure and the ERA and affordable health care and affordable higher education and living wages and what needs to be done to hold every lying, thieving, traitorous republicans accountable . . . but today is not that day.
Today, is about voting for Biden/Harris.
Some folks may choose to exercise their right to voice their concerns and anger and disappointment about a Biden/Harris stand or lack of a stand on this policy or that issue, but my response is gonna be the same: I'm voting Biden/Harris. Everything else is just noise.
Trump's debate performance in 37 seconds.
For those of you who didn't want to watch the whole debate but want the gist of it, I have taken the time to put Trump's most salient moments in this short clip.
Leaked Messages Show Far-Right Group Planned Portland Violence and Posed as Antifa.
Until I read through today's email from the Portland Mercury, a local weekly, here: https://www.portlandmercury.com/blogtown/2020/09/23/28972504/good-afternoon-news-proud-boys-denied-park-permit-good-wildfire-news-and-no-justice-for-breonna-taylor , I had never heard of Bellingcat https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2020/09/23/patriot-coalition-far-right-chat-logs-violence/ , self-described as a "Global Investigative Journalism Network".
Anyway, as we've suspected all along, the keystone nazis - also known as the Patriot Coalition - have posed as Antifa to encourage violence at otherwise peaceful protest, and their lives are consumed with guns, hate, Trump and race. From the article:
"Bellingcat has acquired several months of chat logs from the Patriot Coalition of Oregon, a network of pro-Trump, pro-police activists. These chat logs were provided by an infiltrator affiliated with the antifascist collective Eugene Antifa. We were also given login information for the infiltrator’s account on GroupMe, a secure messaging app owned by Microsoft. This allowed us to directly observe the group’s communications, to verify the information provided to us and to export a log of those chats directly from the application. (Many posts contain spelling and grammatical errors, which we have not altered.)
(snip)
The leaked chat logs appear to reveal that some members of the Patriot Coalition have taken part in multiple violent rallies throughout the summer, and that they claim to have operated a series of vigilante patrols and checkpoints during the Oregon wildfires. While the chats appear to show they work and fight alongside members of extremist groups like the Proud Boys, American Wolf and 1776 2.0, the Patriot Coalition seems to have no coherent ideology beyond a desire to violently confront leftists in the name of the police and President Trump. A user identified as Paige summed up the general feelings of the group in a post made ahead of a what turned out to be a bloody ‘Back the Blue’ rally on August 22nd in Portland when she wrote: “I’m waiting for the presidential go to start open firing.”
(snip)
Discussions of violence in the Patriot Coalition group chat are not hypothetical. While some individuals are likely grandstanding, the chat logs show members gearing up for a number of events where very real violence occurred."
More at the link: https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2020/09/23/patriot-coalition-far-right-chat-logs-violence/
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