Thomas Friedman is an arrogant prick. It's OK that Trump said there won't be anymore elections if he gets in, but calling Maga weird is just too much! Clutch the pearls. Magaworld is not used to push back. They're not used to being laughed at. They're sure as hell not used to Dems and never Trumpers pure joy and enthusiasm. It scares them like it does most bullies. We cannot let up or take anything for granted. I don't know where Rachel Maddow got her numbers, but I would hope there would be enough ethically minded people to step in and not allow that to happen.
I still feel that weird doesn’t adequately describe his threat. However if it causes him apoplexy, I’m all in. I prefer loser, loser, loser, or weird loser
Weird separates them and doesnt scarepeople into withdrawing. Everybody know what is "Weird" and the more they say they aren't, the more they demonstrate they are.
Weird instead of existential threat. Well, ok. But what do we call the SC. Or does it matter. According to Google, “quibbling over semantics may seem petty stuff,” but apparently it’s not. Go WEIRD
This 2021 post from Democracy Docket explains how elections are certified from the ground level up. As a volunteer election worker in my small Massachusetts town, I have witnessed this at the most local level. I'm pretty sure that Democracy Docket and many other organizations -- not to mention the Harris campaign -- will be monitoring this in the districts and states that are likely to cause trouble. https://www.democracydocket.com/analysis/after-election-day-the-basics-of-election-certification/
I need more details on that. I seem to recall each state has two sets of electors, so I would think if Harris carries the state her electors go forward, regardless of what the state thinks.
Harris has my vote because she is not Trump, but I want to hear her say she will tax the rich and get us Medicare for All! A Fed funded child care program wouldn't hurt and how about a let's build houses program and name it after Jimmy Carter because of his Habitats for Humanity. Nobody should be homeless or spend every day afraid they won't eat or be without shelter from the elements. Go Kamala!
She's already said she does not now favor Medicare for All. I don't say that to disappoint you. She had dropped that position a couple years ago, but nobody was paying attention because she was "just" the VP.
And in the Atlanta Rally tonight, she gave a ringing defense of Medicare and the ACA. We need to remember the history of how Social Security went from not covering the majority of workers in 1935 - only a primarily-white minority - to what it has been for most of us for most of our lives.
Not good enough. If Harris doesn't promise to fight for Medicare for All, I will stay home on election day. I'm done "hoping." I'm not afraid to lose a democracy we have apparently already lost.
Love your idea about naming a program after Pres. Carter, which seems totally appropriate. I think the former president, who will be 100 in October, is holding on so he can vote for Harris. I'm rooting for him and her.
She co-sponsored Medicare for All with Bernie Sanders when she was in the Senate, and that's about as progressive as you can get. IIRC I heard her say it in a stump speech as well. Young people hate the status quo of healthcare even with PPACA in place, so this will play well with young voters.
A friend of mine tipped me off to Friedman literally decades ago. He was a foreign correspondent at the time. What my friend pointed out was that when Friedman visited a new city, his first report would often feature in-depth quotes from the taxi driver who drove him into town from the airport. The quotes, strange to tell, always gave him an entrée into whatever he wanted to write about. I fantasized parachuting into each city, finding the taxi driver, and asking what he'd *really* said.
Yes! The taxi drivers. Totally made up, I’m sure. Also he had this odd habit of writing as a column speeches for people he disagreed with, fantasizing that they changed their mind and agreed with him. I stopped reading him years ago.
I’ll be honest - two weeks ago I was torqued at a few Democrat elected officials and celebrity fundraisers who lost their nerve and were set to cut Harris out of any role as Biden’s successor. I’m glad that didn’t happen and I’m heartened that Biden had the dignity to take the reins of this shift. Changing the minds of Trumpers will be a generational fight, but giving them a good, sharp ball peen hammer tap between the eyes with Harris may give us another four years to marginalize the goofy bastards.
Rachel Maddow did an analysis of Trump's comment to his supporters that they didn't have to vote - he has all the votes he needs..... Basically, it looks as though the plan is to deny certification of enough votes in enough swing states that the election gets thrown into the House of Representatives where the Republicans control 26 states and the Democrats only 24. A vote for president would elect Trump back into office, 26-24. Basically it's Jan. 6, 2.0..... It is possible under the current rules, and no doubt the miscreants who are part of it are depending on the Donald pardoning them after he is back in the White House. The major flaw in this nasty piece of business is that if the election turns into a blue wave, perhaps a couple of states flip, bringing the House makeup to 26 states for the Democrats and only 24 for the Republicans. The Donald would be cast into outer darkness at that point. Even to try this, even to PLAN this should in any sane world destroy the Republican Party as a political organization, for all time. Rending of garments and sackcloth and ashes will be advised for anyone who ever had anything to do with this foul stench of a plan to cheat the American people..... I hope Trump's MAGA crowd takes his order not to vote - it will be much easier to flip the House and cut them off at the pass if the MAGAs don't vote..... Oh, Kamala is also an eclectic gourmet cook.
Bruce - local (county) certification of results isn't the same as Electors to the Electoral College although it theoretically could affect the January 6 count in Congress. It's a stalling tactic which is unlikely to ultimately be successful because the courts will quickly be involved. I've no doubt that plans for litigation are or soon will be in place.
There were attempts by local election officials to refuse certification in several states in 2020 and 2022 but by Dec. 10, resistant local/county election officials were unable to hold that line when the courts ruled against them.
I've tried to calm the Bride - I told her about this cockamamie plan and it has her spooked. I don't expect it to succeed, but at the moment I can't think of how else Trump and the dark fairies plan to steal the election. As I said, even to PLAN this should destroy the Republican Party as a political organization.....
From the Brennan Center article above, maybe this will calm the Bride a bit. Didn't work then, won't work this time either. I'm pretty sure this is what tfg refers to when he says he doesn't need the votes. I'm also sure that there are those on "our side" who are keeping a weather eye out for any other potential efforts to throw a spanner in the works.
"The board’s refusal to certify threatened to disenfranchise every voter in Cochise County. Arizona law required state officials to begin gathering county returns no later than December 8. This left them with no choice but to complete the process without the county’s 47,000 votes if the board did not certify in time. In the end, the dispute concluded only after a state judge ordered the board to certify the results without delay, explaining that the board had no discretion to refuse to certify the results under Arizona law.
Cochise County was not an isolated incident. During the 2022 election cycle, rogue local officials in Otero County, New Mexico; Esmeralda County, Nevada; Berks, Fayette, Lancaster, and Luzerne Counties, Pennsylvania; Surry County, North Carolina; and Mohave County, Arizona all refused or threatened to refuse to certify valid election results based on claims rooted in election denialism — the false idea that the 2020 election was stolen and that widespread fraud continues to pervade our election system."
It's forward march all the way until Inauguration Day because now we know that merely winning the requisite number of electoral votes won't be enough. We have to look like our allies, the Canadians, coming in "The Devil's Brigade" rather than the hand-to-hand combatants Dems always look like as we fight amongst ourselves. On track and on target.
You write: "Rachel Maddow reported that 70% of the the election day electors in many states are going to refuse to do their jobs on election day and not certify the results should Harris win, which will end up in the supreme court, and that can't end well. That is concerning."
That is more than concerning, it's scary because no matter how many more D votes there may be than R votes, if they're not certified, the D's lose.
But I also read somewhere, and without a source I can't vouch for its validity, that if GOP electors for state counties refuse to certify the votes, then the votes for all counties are in effect thrown into limbo and the decision must go to the Extreme Court. I hope that's not true, but the question/issue is certainly worrisome.
Yeah, I saw the Tom Friedman column as well. My response is that we have only half of a Friedman Unit until the election, so of course the Harris campaign had to hit hard and hit fast. If it troubles his delicate feelings, well, that's a plus!
It would be interesting to know where Ms. Maddow got her information regarding electors doing their jobs. It's also the case that people often say one thing in abstract and do another when reality intrudes. Makes nice click and view bait, but not to be taken too seriously without some backup.
Thomas Friedman is an arrogant prick. It's OK that Trump said there won't be anymore elections if he gets in, but calling Maga weird is just too much! Clutch the pearls. Magaworld is not used to push back. They're not used to being laughed at. They're sure as hell not used to Dems and never Trumpers pure joy and enthusiasm. It scares them like it does most bullies. We cannot let up or take anything for granted. I don't know where Rachel Maddow got her numbers, but I would hope there would be enough ethically minded people to step in and not allow that to happen.
I still feel that weird doesn’t adequately describe his threat. However if it causes him apoplexy, I’m all in. I prefer loser, loser, loser, or weird loser
Weird separates them and doesnt scarepeople into withdrawing. Everybody know what is "Weird" and the more they say they aren't, the more they demonstrate they are.
Weird instead of existential threat. Well, ok. But what do we call the SC. Or does it matter. According to Google, “quibbling over semantics may seem petty stuff,” but apparently it’s not. Go WEIRD
Me, too. But apparently "Weird" connected to people at a visceral level.
How long have I been waiting for that. WHO knew. Weird, it is
I agree. We do not yet have the language to describe the MAGA bunch. But I’m confident that we will find our words going forward..
May weird open Pandora’s Box
Apparently it is 70 not 70%! Got this info from another thread here... So yeah bad, but not so terrible.
Thank you!!
"clutch the pearls!" Indeed, love it!
So good to hear! But that’s concerning about the 70% of electors saying they won’t certify a Harris win. Alarming. Actually, very alarming.
This 2021 post from Democracy Docket explains how elections are certified from the ground level up. As a volunteer election worker in my small Massachusetts town, I have witnessed this at the most local level. I'm pretty sure that Democracy Docket and many other organizations -- not to mention the Harris campaign -- will be monitoring this in the districts and states that are likely to cause trouble. https://www.democracydocket.com/analysis/after-election-day-the-basics-of-election-certification/
Yes. And here's an article from the Brennan Center about why they won't succeed. https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/election-denial-cant-overcome-election-certification-protections
I need more details on that. I seem to recall each state has two sets of electors, so I would think if Harris carries the state her electors go forward, regardless of what the state thinks.
The state has to certify the election. That's where the problem is, that 70% of election deniers are in the local/county/state election commissions.
A reader has pointed out that Maddow said 70 election officials, not 70%. So there's a problem, but not ginormous.
PHEW! 70% vs. 70. A huge difference! Thank you for the correction!
70 In critical places could wreak havoc
They are doing it in plain sight. Likely not even worried that the SC will back them. Very alarming indeed…
I love how "weird" is being used essentially to say, "The emperor has no clothes."
It's about time!
Been saying that for years…
Harris has my vote because she is not Trump, but I want to hear her say she will tax the rich and get us Medicare for All! A Fed funded child care program wouldn't hurt and how about a let's build houses program and name it after Jimmy Carter because of his Habitats for Humanity. Nobody should be homeless or spend every day afraid they won't eat or be without shelter from the elements. Go Kamala!
She's already said she does not now favor Medicare for All. I don't say that to disappoint you. She had dropped that position a couple years ago, but nobody was paying attention because she was "just" the VP.
And in the Atlanta Rally tonight, she gave a ringing defense of Medicare and the ACA. We need to remember the history of how Social Security went from not covering the majority of workers in 1935 - only a primarily-white minority - to what it has been for most of us for most of our lives.
Not good enough. If Harris doesn't promise to fight for Medicare for All, I will stay home on election day. I'm done "hoping." I'm not afraid to lose a democracy we have apparently already lost.
That’s interesting. Not paying attention can get you into a world of trouble.
Love your idea about naming a program after Pres. Carter, which seems totally appropriate. I think the former president, who will be 100 in October, is holding on so he can vote for Harris. I'm rooting for him and her.
She co-sponsored Medicare for All with Bernie Sanders when she was in the Senate, and that's about as progressive as you can get. IIRC I heard her say it in a stump speech as well. Young people hate the status quo of healthcare even with PPACA in place, so this will play well with young voters.
Jay Kuo also shared a great new Harris “ad”, an updated version of the well-known Avengers movie clip:
https://x.com/yourlittldogtwo/status/1816219541313077596
I've never seen an Avengers movie in my life, and here I am, crying in the middle of the day!
me too!!!!!!
Me, too, Gail!
This campaign is actually fun!
Fabulous Ad!!! Thank You!! Sharing throughout the Universe°
Cat Ladies link from HCR comments; hope it works. https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/2217221154175/WN_nRVkZTxlQQGz5uvaeYHLYw?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email#/registration
The Friedman diss is the seal of approval for us. The guy is just off.
A friend of mine tipped me off to Friedman literally decades ago. He was a foreign correspondent at the time. What my friend pointed out was that when Friedman visited a new city, his first report would often feature in-depth quotes from the taxi driver who drove him into town from the airport. The quotes, strange to tell, always gave him an entrée into whatever he wanted to write about. I fantasized parachuting into each city, finding the taxi driver, and asking what he'd *really* said.
Yes! The taxi drivers. Totally made up, I’m sure. Also he had this odd habit of writing as a column speeches for people he disagreed with, fantasizing that they changed their mind and agreed with him. I stopped reading him years ago.
I’ll be honest - two weeks ago I was torqued at a few Democrat elected officials and celebrity fundraisers who lost their nerve and were set to cut Harris out of any role as Biden’s successor. I’m glad that didn’t happen and I’m heartened that Biden had the dignity to take the reins of this shift. Changing the minds of Trumpers will be a generational fight, but giving them a good, sharp ball peen hammer tap between the eyes with Harris may give us another four years to marginalize the goofy bastards.
This makes me feel the same way I did last Tuesday!
When are the Cat Ladies for Harris going to hold their fundraiser? I want to attend.
Rachel Maddow did an analysis of Trump's comment to his supporters that they didn't have to vote - he has all the votes he needs..... Basically, it looks as though the plan is to deny certification of enough votes in enough swing states that the election gets thrown into the House of Representatives where the Republicans control 26 states and the Democrats only 24. A vote for president would elect Trump back into office, 26-24. Basically it's Jan. 6, 2.0..... It is possible under the current rules, and no doubt the miscreants who are part of it are depending on the Donald pardoning them after he is back in the White House. The major flaw in this nasty piece of business is that if the election turns into a blue wave, perhaps a couple of states flip, bringing the House makeup to 26 states for the Democrats and only 24 for the Republicans. The Donald would be cast into outer darkness at that point. Even to try this, even to PLAN this should in any sane world destroy the Republican Party as a political organization, for all time. Rending of garments and sackcloth and ashes will be advised for anyone who ever had anything to do with this foul stench of a plan to cheat the American people..... I hope Trump's MAGA crowd takes his order not to vote - it will be much easier to flip the House and cut them off at the pass if the MAGAs don't vote..... Oh, Kamala is also an eclectic gourmet cook.
Bruce - local (county) certification of results isn't the same as Electors to the Electoral College although it theoretically could affect the January 6 count in Congress. It's a stalling tactic which is unlikely to ultimately be successful because the courts will quickly be involved. I've no doubt that plans for litigation are or soon will be in place.
There were attempts by local election officials to refuse certification in several states in 2020 and 2022 but by Dec. 10, resistant local/county election officials were unable to hold that line when the courts ruled against them.
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/election-denial-cant-overcome-election-certification-protections
I've tried to calm the Bride - I told her about this cockamamie plan and it has her spooked. I don't expect it to succeed, but at the moment I can't think of how else Trump and the dark fairies plan to steal the election. As I said, even to PLAN this should destroy the Republican Party as a political organization.....
From the Brennan Center article above, maybe this will calm the Bride a bit. Didn't work then, won't work this time either. I'm pretty sure this is what tfg refers to when he says he doesn't need the votes. I'm also sure that there are those on "our side" who are keeping a weather eye out for any other potential efforts to throw a spanner in the works.
"The board’s refusal to certify threatened to disenfranchise every voter in Cochise County. Arizona law required state officials to begin gathering county returns no later than December 8. This left them with no choice but to complete the process without the county’s 47,000 votes if the board did not certify in time. In the end, the dispute concluded only after a state judge ordered the board to certify the results without delay, explaining that the board had no discretion to refuse to certify the results under Arizona law.
Cochise County was not an isolated incident. During the 2022 election cycle, rogue local officials in Otero County, New Mexico; Esmeralda County, Nevada; Berks, Fayette, Lancaster, and Luzerne Counties, Pennsylvania; Surry County, North Carolina; and Mohave County, Arizona all refused or threatened to refuse to certify valid election results based on claims rooted in election denialism — the false idea that the 2020 election was stolen and that widespread fraud continues to pervade our election system."
It's forward march all the way until Inauguration Day because now we know that merely winning the requisite number of electoral votes won't be enough. We have to look like our allies, the Canadians, coming in "The Devil's Brigade" rather than the hand-to-hand combatants Dems always look like as we fight amongst ourselves. On track and on target.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWNp8CiCqTM
How uplifting, Tom. Thank you
The Dude abides. Always.
And he raises money to feed kids, which quintuples his coolness in my book.
You write: "Rachel Maddow reported that 70% of the the election day electors in many states are going to refuse to do their jobs on election day and not certify the results should Harris win, which will end up in the supreme court, and that can't end well. That is concerning."
That is more than concerning, it's scary because no matter how many more D votes there may be than R votes, if they're not certified, the D's lose.
In another thread the number was corrected from 70% to 70.
But I also read somewhere, and without a source I can't vouch for its validity, that if GOP electors for state counties refuse to certify the votes, then the votes for all counties are in effect thrown into limbo and the decision must go to the Extreme Court. I hope that's not true, but the question/issue is certainly worrisome.
"Vladimir Futon." 🤣🤣🤣
Yeah, I saw the Tom Friedman column as well. My response is that we have only half of a Friedman Unit until the election, so of course the Harris campaign had to hit hard and hit fast. If it troubles his delicate feelings, well, that's a plus!
It would be interesting to know where Ms. Maddow got her information regarding electors doing their jobs. It's also the case that people often say one thing in abstract and do another when reality intrudes. Makes nice click and view bait, but not to be taken too seriously without some backup.
Trouble is that it's easy to believe given the anti-democratic nature of today's GOP.
It absolutely is, that's why it's so important to have documentation if it exists. Fear mongering is a bad idea even if done for a good cause.