This guy was at the rallies with you. He was standing among you chanting âlock her up,â and âbuild the wall.â He believes all the conspiracy theories Trump sells. He thinks the media is âfake newsâ and the âenemy of the American people.â He believes Mueller is on a witch hunt. He believes Trump got something from North Korea and Putin. He believes weâre winning the tariff war. He believes there were millions of illegal voters in 2016. He believes thereâs an impending invasion from a caravan of refugee women and children thatâs a national âemergency.â
A toxic recipe:
Trumpâs iPhones arenât secure, but there’s no irony:
When you need it scarier, think Mexicans:
MAGA men think of themselves as “tough” when maybe they’re not:
Mitchâs plan to gut social security and Medicare depends on winning the midterms:
Autumn, near Hopkinton, MA â October 2018 photo by Karen Randall
Thereâs been lots of talk this week that the bombs delivered to Democrats were a âfalse flagâ operation, designed by Democrats to make Republicans look bad just before the mid-terms. Rush Limbaugh said: (emphasis by Wrongo)
Thereâs a smell test that this stuff has to pass, and, so far, a lot of peopleâs noses are in the air, not quite certain of what to make of thisâŚ. Republicans just donât do this kind of thing.
Well, itâs early in the investigation, but the guy they arrested has a van with Trump stickers on it, and news sources say heâs a registered Republican.
Some will claim its fake news. Some on the internet are already minimizing the Trump influence, saying heâs âjust another crazy guy, nothing really links him to Trumpâ. Except those stickers on the MAGAbomberâs van.
Can you imagine what Trump would be saying if Republicans had been targeted by a Democrat?
We live in a world filled with hate, mistrust and anger that was hand-built by Trump, for Trump. This is your first view of what might result from that. Every GOP politician now needs to speak up, saying that their political opponents are not an enemy who is deserving of death.
Weâre founded on the belief that we can disagree, that we can be part of our own tribes, but we belong to a super-group: weâre Americans. This incident should impress on the public that angry speech and rhetoric have consequences way beyond partisan political positioning.
Kudos to the DOJ, the FBI and the postal service for bagging the suspect. Notwithstanding recent comments from the president denigrating them, it is a job well done by law enforcement.
Just another week that jangled the nerves! Time to sit out the Norâeaster weâre feeling here in New England. Start by brewing up a hot cuppa Lukeâs Coffee, from Kent Coffee and Chocolates, in Kent, CT. The fine people at Kent Coffee have adopted a dog named Luke from a local shelter, and 100% of the proceeds from the sale of Lukeâs Coffee goes to The Little Guild Shelter in Cornwall, CT. Hereâs a picture of Luke:
(iPhone photo by Wrongo)
Luke is Kent Coffeeâs third adoption from the Little Guild. They also make spectacular chocolates.
Now, unplug from your devices, (except for Wrongoâs site), and think about the end of autumn, which is just around the corner. Here, the rain and winds are taking down most leaves, except for those on the Oak trees, which will hang on for quite a while longer.
Settle back and listen to Ed Sheeran sing his song âPerfect Symphonyâ live at Wembley Stadium in London on June 14, 2018. Heâs joined on stage by Andrea Bocelli, and itâs magic. Most likely, this will be the first dance song at weddings for the next decade:
Those who read the Wrongologist in email can view the video here.
The Trump administration is expected to deploy additional US troops to assist in security operations at the southern border in response to a caravan of migrants traveling north on foot through Mexico, three US officials confirmed Thursday.
The Pentagon is sending 800 more troops, including some active-duty forces primarily from the Army. The new deployments would add to the estimated 2,100 National Guard troops already involved in border operations. Zandar says:
But will really be a winner for the GOP? Although the GOP and Trump are continually trying to instill fear of undocumented immigrants, most of us havenât been persuaded. In fact, according to a Chapman University Survey of American Fears, a larger share of the public is afraid of Trump (59%) than are afraid of illegal immigrants (41%):
Fear of illegal immigrants
59.3% are not afraid
19.3% are slightly afraid
12.2% are afraid
9.3% are very afraid
The Chapman study shows that the proportion of Americans expressing concern about immigrants is about one in 3. So, why are Republicans acting like weâre about to be invaded? Hereâs one Congress critter who’s sounding the alarm:
Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) suggested that President Donald Trump might have to declare martial law along the southern border of the United States to prevent a large group of Central American refugees and migrants from entering the country.
Gohmert was speaking on a Fox radio show. When asked what âmartial lawâ would look like, the congressman responded that it would mean Federal troops at the border dealing with the mob invasion: (brackets by Wrongo)
This has got to be so massive, I mean, you might have to declare martial law along the border…And the Democrats have been too stupid to realize that [by] encouraging this caravan they may actually empower the president to do things they never wanted.
It got worse: (emphasis by Wrongo)
The military needs to have their weapons pointed towards Mexico and not toward the American people, but it may be that we have to have enough federal law enforcement, and maybe we have to have the National Guard if Jerry Brown is going to force the issue â but I hope and pray he wonât be so stupid as to try to stop the US government from enforcing our border because then weâre talking treasonous-type acts.
Wow, we know that Gohmert isnât the brightest bulb in the House, but, training guns on Jerry Brown? And what’s treasonous? It is perfectly legal for persons to request asylum at the border. That’s how it’s done.
Anyone else see a line between this, and bombs showing up at the homes and offices of some Democrats who criticize Donald Trump?
There may be decent reasons to add more military on the southern border, assuming that the volume of migrants asking for asylum is about to increase. The key is that there will be a surge of people seeking asylum if/when the caravan gets to the border, so additional resources will be useful.
The guardsmen already at the border are under orders from their respective state governors and remain under their governorâs control. Gen. Mattis issued a memo this year that prohibits them from interacting directly with âmigrants or other persons detained,â and that directive is still in place, said a Pentagon spokesman.
Officials said Thursday that the additional forces will mostly include engineers to build new traffic barriers, aviation support, doctors and lawyers to provide legal representation.
Thatâs fine, but Trump, the GOP, and especially Rep. Gohmert, ought to read up on the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act which expressly prohibits the use of US military forces to perform the tasks of civilian law enforcement such as arrest, apprehension, interrogation, and detention inside the US, unless explicitly authorized by Congress.
Despite Trumpâs tweets, there is no crisis at the border. And using the military as Gohmert suggests, violates the Act.
As the mid-term election fast approaches, we need to see that there are many in Congress who are willing to flaunt, or straight up violate laws in order to make a political point.
They have to be turned out of office next month.
This time, make the 2018 election have consequences for the other side.
The short version of Trumpâs mid-term message is: âBe afraidâ. Think about their messages: The Caravan. Terrorists crossing the southern border. Socialism. Democrat mobs. Soros.
For Republicans, the sharp turn toward immigration fears, and those related to the caravan in particular, has been viewed a clear political winner, even as some acknowledge that the rhetoric from the president and others â including [that]….George Soros was funding the caravan â has been overblown.
The caravan is politically useful because it resonates with precisely the voters that the GOP needed to turnout in the next two weeks. The Republican worry has been turnout, and illegal immigrants motivate Trumpâs base.
Trump supporters have seized on an image of Hondurans burning an American flag with a swastika drawn on it, calling them the âcaravan protestersâ, and implying that they were members of the caravan. In reality, those Hondurans were protesting in front of the US Embassy in Honduras.
In the fall of 2014, with the midterms approaching, Fox and other conservative media went in overdrive on the âborder crisisâ and ISIS â two issues that Republicans were using to suggest that the Obama administration was failing to protect America from teeming hordes.
According to the GOP, terrorist organizations were poised on the Mexican border to sneak into the US. Representative Duncan Hunter, (R-CA), claimed on Fox that 10 ISIS operatives had been apprehended crossing the border. On Oct. 8th 2014, Donald Trump amplified Hunterâs bogus claim, tweeting:
âAt leastâ 10 ISIS have been caught crossing the Mexico border…
So, back to the future. We are weeks away from another midterm election, and immigration and terror are back in heavy rotation by the GOP. On Mondayâs âFox & Friendsâ, co-host Pete Hegseth said:
They caught over 100 ISIS fighters in Guatemala trying to use this caravan.
Hegseth was wrong. He mischaracterized a comment by president Morales of Guatemala about past terrorist apprehensions: (emphasis by Wrongo)
Morales told Guatemalaâs Prensa Libre that his country had cooperated with the security forces of neighboring countries to halt the movement of terrorists. The individuals had been âintercepted, detained, processed and returned to their country of origin,â according to Guatemalan security officials. Some of these arrests, including the arrests of several Syrians, occurred in 2016.
Facts donât support GOP fear-mongering on the border. From the NYT:
Whatâs a political animal to do when you want to win, but you have very few ideas to sell? If youâre Trump, you sell what put you in the White House in 2016: Fear, lies, and apocalyptic visions of what America will become if Democrats win.
Selling fear is pathetic and morally vacant, but it works with casual news consumers. They simply hear âcaravanâ and âborderâ and âterrorismâ and that creates a sense of looming danger.
Today, another fear-mongering Fox News segment about ‘left-wing mobs’ and ‘incivility’ toward Mitch McConnell was interrupted by breaking news coverage of a string of bombs sent to Bill and Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. A bomb treat was issued for the Time Warner building in NYC. An improvised explosive device was found at George Sorosâs Westchester, NY home.
Other suspicious packages were sent to Sen. Kamala Harrisâs state office, to Eric Holder, and to Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
There are consequences when the president and his party tout lies, embrace conspiracy theories, demonize political opponents, and applaud violence against reporters. They have been doing this since at least 2014.
We donât know what impact these bomb threats will have on the mid-term election, who will be angered, and therefore more energized to turn out and vote.
We have no idea who is responsible for sending the bombs. Republicans will say itâs an attempt to make them look bad. But, itâs more likely that they were sent by someone who was radicalized by overheated right-wing rhetoric.
Rhetoric that has been pounded home by Trump.
Finally, we have no idea if there are any more bombs are out there. We can only hope that all will be intercepted.
Fall near Halifax, Nova Scotia â October 2018 photo by zenox
Trump visited Montana on Thursday, where he praised Rep. Greg Gianforte (R-Mont.) for assaulting a reporter in his bid for Congress last year:
Any guy that can do a body slam, heâs my kind of â heâs my guy… By the way, never wrestle him…
He said that even though the US is hip-deep in the Jamal Khashoggi mess.
Gianforte pleaded guilty to assaulting Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs during the final days of Gianforteâs special election race in May 2017. When Jacobs tried to interview him about the GOP health-care plan, Gianforte grabbed Jacobs, threw him to the ground and punched him. Gianforte won the special election, and later pleaded guilty, receiving a six-month deferred sentence.
An election of Kavanaugh, the caravan, law and order, and common sense. Thatâs what itâs going to be. Itâs going to be an election of those things: law and order, Kavanaugh, remember common sense and remember that itâs going to be an election of the caravan, you know what Iâm talking about…
Facing a sharp increase in unauthorized immigration, President Trump on Thursday lashed out at Democrats and the leaders of Latin American nations, seeking to deflect blame and mitigate political damage by riling up his base just weeks before the midterm elections.
Trump signaled with zero proof, that Democrats are somehow behind the caravan of immigrants moving toward the US:
But a lot of money has been passing to people to come up and try and get to the border by Election Day, because they think that’s a negative for us. Number one, they’re being stopped. And number two, regardless, that’s our issue.
He has also tweeted that he might summon the military to guard the southern border, cut off aid to Central American nations and upend the new trade deal with Mexico if those governments fail to stop a caravan of migrants from Honduras making its way toward the US.
He wants to use the military to mow them down at the border.
Stop in the name of your sanity! Itâs time for a Saturday Soothing. Fall is upon us, and yard work beckons, but letâs take a few minutes to unplug from the mid-terms and focus on…quiet.
Start by brewing up a tall cup of Esmeralda Estate Porton Geisha Natural ($75/8oz.) Itâs expensive, but you donate more than that to candidates who have zero chance of winning two weeks from now. So why not treat yourself? Itâs from Dragonfly Coffee, a Boulder, Colorado-based micro-roaster that also supports worthy causes.
Now, move outside with your coffee, put on a pair of Bluetooth headphones, and listen to Samuel Barberâs âAdagio for Stringsâ, played in the original version by the Dover Quartet. Barber finished the arrangement in 1936. In January 1938, Barber sent an orchestrated version of the Adagio for Strings to Arturo Toscanini. The conductor returned the score without comment, which annoyed Barber.
Toscanini later sent word that he was planning to perform the piece, and had returned it simply because he had already memorized it! It was performed for the first time by Toscanini in November, 1938. Here is the quartet version of âAdagio for Stringsâ:
Those who read the Wrongologist in email can view the video here.
Fall in Paradise Valley, Yellowstone NP – photo by Annie Griffiths
The mid-terms are coming, and we are having difficulty focusing on some important issues, because America has a short attention span, and weâve been Kavanaugh âed and Khashoggi âed so much lately.
Two issues that are linked are the amazing deficit caused by the Trump tax cuts, and the moves being plotted by Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan and others to cut Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.
Letâs start with tax revenues. It was clear to critics that the 2017 GOP tax cut was going to quickly increase the budget deficit and add $ trillions of the national debt, and here it is:
The federal deficit grew by nearly $800 billion over the first fiscal year of Trumpâs presidency, during which the Republican Congress passed a tax cut targeted mostly to corporations and the wealthy, which is projected to add more than $1 trillion to the deficit over the next 10 years.
And it didnât take long for Republicans to insist that the deficits were actually caused by Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, not their tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy. From Vox:
Fresh off the news that the deficit is increasing under President Donald Trump, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told Bloomberg News that Congress should target Social Security and Medicare for cuts to address the growing federal debt.
The White House and GOP leaders promised America that the tax cuts would pay for themselves, but they havenât. The growing federal deficit hasnât caused Republican leaders to reconsider their tax policy. Instead, they argue that entitlement reform â Republican-speak for cuts to social safety net programs â is whatâs really needed to address the federal deficit. From McConnellâs interview with Bloomberg this week:
Itâs disappointing, but itâs not a Republican problem….Itâs a bipartisan problem: unwillingness to address the real drivers of the debt by doing anything to adjust those programs to the demographics of America in the future.
Republicans have opposed Social Security and Medicare since they were created. But because these programs enjoy overwhelming support from the American people, they would not normally talk about their plans for benefit cuts three weeks before an election.
But, they are doing just that.
This is a real issue, since those programs make up a large share of federal spending: Medicare was 15% of the federal budget in 2017, and itâs projected to grow to 18% by 2028. Social Security is a bigger chunk of the budget (24% in 2016), and our aging population will put a greater strain on the program. Here is the budget breakdown:
Democrats want to expand, not cut these programs. Republicans may see their last, best chance to cut them slipping away with the mid-terms. They seem determined not to let that happen, so this will be a big issue in the lame duck sessions. The GOP will use the cost of their tax giveaways as the excuse to do what they have wanted to do to social programs all along.
If the GOP is talking like this before the mid-terms, imagine the carnage if they keep control of both Houses of Congress!
People who want to defend Social Security and Medicare better work hard to get out the vote in November. And the latest news about the House isnât encouraging. Larry Sabatoâs Crystal Ball reports that Democrats arenât there yet:
A race-by-race analysis of Democratic House targets shows the party is close to winning the majority, but they do not have it put away, in our judgment, with Election Day less than three weeks away.
Barring a big, positive late change in the political environment in favor of Republicans, the bare minimum for Democratic House gains is in the mid-to-high teens. The needed 23-seat net gain is not that far beyond that and there are many different paths Democrats can take to achieve it.
He says Dems can count on 18, but need 23…
Assuming that the Dems wonât go along with the GOPâs planned social spending cuts, Republicans will try to blame Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer and the Democrats, assuming their cuts to social programs fail.
Republicans will say “Democrats plan to raise taxes on tens of millions of middle-class Americans” to cut the deficit, and thatâs true. But, it would be just a part of the package of fiscal moves to cut the deficit, with the primary focus on clawing back some of the massive Republican corporate tax cuts.
Democrats need to talk this up in the next three weeks to counter the GOPâs clearly articulated game plan.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) had said she would not “sit quietly” as President Trump made claims about her ancestry that she called racist. On Monday morning, she released a DNA test that suggested she did have a distant Native American ancestor, and by the evening, she was using the ensuing dust-up to attack Trump.
Warren took Trump’s gambit. He delights in calling her “Pocahontas” because she has claimed Native American heritage. Not that she used it as a basis for getting a job, or for career advancement. Her family is from Oklahoma, and many in the Sooner State claim Indian heritage. About 8.7% of Oklahomans are Native American. However, they shouldn’t have to prove their ancestral background if they don’t want to. Although, it might be nice to learn more about your background if you’re interested in that sort of thing. Perhaps more people would be interested in looking at some 1930 census records to see if they can find out their heritage and learn some things about their ancestors at the same time. Perhaps Elizabeth Warren will inspire many more people to discover some interesting things about their family’s history.
Part of her received history includes a story handed down about how white parents of a family member disapproved of a marriage to someone of Indian descent.
In July, Trump told supporters at a Montana rally that he would donate $1 million to charity if Elizabeth Warren would take a DNA test to prove her Native American heritage. And she took the DNA test. It showed some Native American heritage, so he owes her one million dollars. It’s unlikely that he will offer the same sum to anyone else undergoing dna testing Lancaster PA but, regardless, such tests are useful in determining parentage and more.
Trump then said he never said anything like that. But all the news shows aired the clip of him saying just that. It led to a tweet-war between Trump and Warren. Depending on the party you identify with, you think either Warren or Trump won a battle in a political war that will continue until 2020.
This raises so many questions.
It’s important to understand that the immediate question isn’t whether or not Sen. Warren has Native American ancestry, or whether Trump really said he’d give a million dollars to her favorite charity and then reneged on what everyone can clearly see on video anywhere on the internet.
The question is have we gotten to the point where the future of the country and its leadership comes down to which one wins a spitting contest? Sen. Warren spits in a test tube to prove her point, and Trump spits in the eye of the American people, lying about what he said.
These aren’t normal times. American politics has always had the capacity to be a freak show, but questioning the racial heritage of a candidate shows we really haven’t gotten past the point where E Pluribus Unum isn’t what we mean.
Republicans are always asking “Are THEY one of US?”
So, why did Sen. Warren announce this now, three weeks before the mid-terms?
Some Democrats argue that the timing of her announcement distracts from the messages of other Democratic candidates, particularly those in close races who really need media attention in order to compete. There’s a chance that media attention will now be sucked up by this Warren/Trump sideshow.
Argue the substance all you want, but why 22 days before a crucial election where we MUST win house and senate to save America, why did @SenWarren have to do her announcement now? Why can’t Dems ever stay focused???
Others think Warren’s decision to take on Trump so far ahead of a general election is unnecessary. It takes away from Trump and FEMA’s uneven response to Hurricane Michael, and Trump’s unintelligible response to Saudi Arabia’s denials of complicity in the Khashoggi mystery.
But Warren showing that she won’t back down from Trump was probably her number one reason for the announcement. We should interpret this as clear evidence that she plans to run for the presidency.
She got support from her family. The video Warren released includes footage of her three brothers, and other relatives who still live in her native Oklahoma. They are Republicans. They call the president’s belittling nickname “ridiculous” and “silly.”
Warren seems prepared to fight Trump’s full-tilt racist demagoguery. She hopes to blunt that part of his game, a job that may be more difficult for possible candidates Kamala Harris, or Cory Booker.
The real DNA issue isn’t Warren’s. Who belongs in America is deep in the GOP’s DNA.
They’re always asking who belongs. It didn’t start with GW Bush spreading rumors about John McCain’s adopted daughter. It didn’t end with Obama’s birth certificate, it continued to Trump happily deporting people who have Green Cards.
Now, Trump and the GOP will take on Sen. Warren by questioning her Oklahoma roots.
What we are seeing is the first, but not the last “pitooi” in the 2020 fight for the White House.
Early fall in Nuremberg, Germany – photo by voyageblonde
With so much anger about Brett Kavanaugh becoming a Supreme Court justice, it seems that Democrats care more about the Supreme Court than Republicans. As Sean McElwee has noted:
Democrats were more likely to approve of the court than Republicans by an average of a 14 point margin from 2010 to 2014. This gap increased…to a 32-point margin in 2016…even while the court decided cases like Trinity Lutheran, in which the court required the government to subsidize churches.
Democratsâ view of the Court was shaped by the Warren Courtâs civil rights decisions (Brown vs. Board of Education), and Anthony Kennedyâs occasionally siding with Democrats on a few socially liberal issues.
The Demâs higher approval of the court is striking, because it has been 49 years since the Supreme Court has had a liberal majority. From Marty Lederman:
On May 15, 1969, Justice Fortas resigned from the Supreme Court, thereby ending a seven-year period in which a 5-4 majority of the sitting Justices had been appointed by Democratic Presidents. I had just turned eight years old.  Iâm now almost 58. And yet that day in May 1969 remains the last moment in time that a majority of the Court was appointed by Democrats.
In the 2016 presidential election, many Democrats said that the chance to appoint new Supreme Court justices was reason enough to vote for Hillary Clinton, but too few Democrats turned out in 2016, so control of the Court is safely in the hands of Donald Trump and the GOP for what could be another 50 years. More from Lederman:
In only seven of the past 108 years (1946-1953) has the Chief Justice of the United States been a Democrat who did not fight on behalf of the Confederacy.)
So, should we conclude that Democrats like the Court, but fail to see it as a priority at election time? There are a few other ideas to go along with that.
Democratic Presidents have served five terms since 1969, and have won a majority, or plurality of the popular vote in seven of the twelve elections in that period–including in six of the past seven elections.
Democrats have held a majority of the Senate in more than half of the 25 Congresses since Fortas’s resignation, including some with huge majorities. But the Court has remained in GOP control, and will for decades to come.
Consider that only Justice Thomas was appointed by a Republican President who entered office with a majority, or plurality of the popular vote.
In the 27-year span, which covers the entire tenure of all of the current Justices, a Republican President has won the popular vote in just one election, 2004.
It gets worse: The Senators who confirmed Gorsuch represented states in which only 47% of Americans lived. Back to Lederman:
Using estimated 2018 population figuresâand not even counting the millions of Americans in the territories, including Puerto Ricoâmy rough calculation is that Kavanaugh was confirmed by the votes of Senators representing only 44% or so of the nationâs population…
So, our democracy, which specifies two Senators per state, makes approval of liberal justices an issue, since too few Senators represent liberal-leaning states.
But, liberals didnât need to care about the Courtâs direction for most of the second half of the 20th century. During that period, there were many victories in the Court that either enshrined liberal policy preferences directly, or made it possible for them to be legislated into existence.
There is a Japanese concept in military science called âVictory Diseaseâ which occurs when complacency or arrogance, brought on by a victory, or a series of victories, makes an army underestimate the battle at hand. This is what infected Dems over the past 50+ years about the Supreme Court.
By the 1990s, liberals had largely stopped caring about the courts, except for the gay rights movement.
But, since the Rehnquist and the Roberts Court, it is now conservative policy preferences that are either being enshrined directly, (Shelby County, Hobby Lobby, and Citizens United) or are possible because of refusals to hear cases, such as Brakebill v. Jaeger, which disenfranchised Native Americans in North Dakota.
So itâs time for Democrats to Wake Up! And to have a laser focus on the Court.
When Hillary lost and Trump was inaugurated, many people were furious. Now isnât the time to be furious, itâs time to be serious.
The mid-term election isnât a game, and turnout is everything!
Otherwise, Dems wonât take back the House.
Then, they would be in danger of becoming a fringe party.
Last week was dominated by an emerging Republican narrative about Democrats: Dems are socialists. They are an angry mob. They frighten ordinary people. The framing by Trump is that the mid-term election is âpatriots vs. socialistsâ.
And Trump said this on Friday night in Cincinnati:
A vote for a Republican is a vote to reject the Democratic politics of hatred, anger and division.
The Democratsâ closing argument for the mid-terms is considerably more nuanced, and it may not be heard clearly. They are against Trump, and all that he and his party stand for, but they talk about wanting a chance to provide a âcheck and balanceâ against Trumpâs (and the GOPâs) worst instincts.
Sure, some will vote for that, but will enough turn out to vote for it to take the House?
The Democrats havenât recovered from the publicâs disapproval of their demonstrations against Kavanaugh after his swearing in. A reasonable minority of Dems donât understand that most Americans are uncomfortable with demonstrations. Amy Chua has an astute observation in her book, âPolitical Tribesâ where she quotes a South Carolina student:
I think protesting is almost a status symbol for elites. Thatâs why they always post pictures on Facebook, so all their friends know theyâre protesting. When elites protest on behalf of us poor people, itâs not just that we see them as unhelpful; it seems that they are turning us…into the next âmemeâ. We donât like being used for someone elseâs self-validation.
On one side, we have the GOP, who can apparently say anything, offer insults and tell lies. On the other side, we have the Democrats who canât do much of that without the mainstream media taking umbrage. Dems allow the media and the Right to write their story. The GOP and the media have made the Democrats the party of identity politics, the PC party, one that is so busy protecting the big tent that itâs unable to govern.
Trumpâs Traveling Nuremberg Rallies will continue until the mid-terms, and Dems must decide what messaging will be successful in 2018. Itâs going to be tough, because since the dawn of time, no one has truly figured out how to deal effectively (and conclusively) with authoritarian and anti-democratic ideas.
But, Dems have to do just that, or else remain a fringe party.
In American politics, it seems like itâs always 1968. Republicans are the law-and-order party. Democrats are the party affiliated with the demonstrators in the streets of Chicago, even though those demonstrators were radicals, not Democrats. The demonstrators were furious at the Vietnam War, which was led then by Democrats. And today, that viewpoint persists.
Both parties think the other is appalling, so you donât have to like your own party, you just have to hate the other one. And one thing the Kavanaugh mess has done, itâs made both sides feel the other is appalling.
How it all turns out 22 days from now is anyoneâs guess. Letâs hope the Democrats fight hard for the issues that really matter. On to cartoons.
Itâs football and election seasons, and itâs always tough to pick the winners:
Itâs laughable to think back to the days when the US sent observers to other countries to ensure fair elections:
Nikki Haley resigned. Kanye went to the White House. What to expect next:
Hurricanes have become like school shootings, so many of them, and all so devastating. We treat these events the same, with thought and prayers, but no plan to deal with the causes:
What Trump and Fox want the campaign trail to look like:
Trump sprang into action after Jamal Khashoggiâs disappearance. He said we shouldnât jeopardize our arms sales to Saudi Arabia:
St. Basilâs, Red Square, Moscow, RU.It was built in 1561. â 2018 photo by Wrongo
Welcome to Saturday! Forget about Kanye hugging the Orange Overlord, we have bigger fish to fry.
Yesterday, we talked about how state legislatures with help from the courts, have been disenfranchising minorities. This is likely to reduce turnout in the 2018 mid-terms, as studies have shown in the past, and despite encouraging polls, if someone canât vote, nobody can be sure who will win in the mid-terms.
So today, we take a closer look at how some states have systematically worked to close polling places after the Supreme Courtâs Shelby County vs. Holder decision that stopped federal oversight of election practices in states with a history of Jim Crow practices.
Prior to the Shelby decision, Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA) provided a process to ensure that jurisdictions known to engage in voter discrimination werenât using budget cuts or voter modernization as arguments to disenfranchise people of color. Under Section 5, jurisdictions had to demonstrate that saving money by making changes to polling places did not disenfranchise voters of color. Now Section 5 is no longer useful for the protection for minority voters.
One reason is that Shelby triggered a fundamental shift in who was responsible for protecting minority voters, from the federal authorities, to the individuals who believed they were wronged. The cost and burden of proof that local election laws are discriminatory, is now borne by those least able to afford it.
This map makes it clear that the states formerly covered by the VRA are engaging in precisely the kind voter suppression that would have been impossible before the Supreme Courtâs Shelby decision:
Fewer polling places leads to longer lines, which will dissuade some people from voting, the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington, DC think tank found. This means election officials can affect the outcome of an election by manipulating the number and location of polling places.
According to Pew Research, other efforts are underway in counties in Illinois, Kansas, Mississippi, Ohio and Wisconsin to move thousands of voters to new locations: (emphasis by Wrongo)
Some voters in Barton County, Kansas, now will have to drive 18 miles to vote in Novemberâs election because of polling place consolidation. In the past three decades, the county has gone from 40 polling places to 11. The main reason, said County Clerk Donna Zimmerman, is cost.
Local election officials responsible for closing polling places often say that the closed locations were too expensive, underused, or inaccessible to people with disabilities. Often, local election officials fly under the radar, sometimes not even notifying voters in their jurisdictions of changes in polling locations.
This year, Georgia put the voter registrations of about 50,000 voters on hold, due to a policy implemented by Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp, who is also the Republican candidate for governor in next monthâs election. Of the 53,000 applications in limbo, 70% are from African-Americans, according to the Associated Press, even though Georgia is approximately 32% black.
So the guy running for governor is ALSO overseeing the election. He tried to close 3/4 of polling places in predominantly black Randolph County this summer. Kemp is in a close race with Stacy Abrams, an African-American. You be the judge of whatâs really going on.
Americans say we live in a democracy. But, with gerrymandering and vote suppression, we have to remain vigilant if we are to keep both our civil rights, and our Constitution, intact.
Enough for today! Take a step back, unplug, and chill a bit, because itâs Saturday, the Wrongologistâs day for a little Soothing.
Letâs start by brewing up a yuuge cuppa Ethiopia Hambela Natural from Chicagoâs Big Shoulders Coffee. It is said to be deeply sweet, with flavors of raspberry, dark chocolate, and cedar, along with a syrupy mouthfeel.
Now, go and sit by a large window, and take in the changing fall colors and the nip of cool air. Put on your best headphones and listen to âAutumn Leavesâ by Eva Cassidy, recorded live at Blues Alley in Washington, DC in 1996. Cassidy died far too young at 33, in 2006.
Those who read the Wrongologist in email can view the video here.
