The Republican Agenda 2021 and Forward

[lizkat]

Gee even in blue New York State, the GOP is going to court --and at this late date!-- hoping to do themselves a favor in the November midterms by contesting changes in election law that have facilitated absentee voting.

Meanwhile absentee ballots are going out already to military and next week to local voters, so wtf?!

Absentee ballot dispute between major political parties now a lawsuit

Democrats and voting-rights advocates are blasting a lawsuit filed by state Republicans and their allies that could upend how absentee ballots are processed in New York.

buffalonews.com

Last Week, GOP and Conservative officials – including the Erie County Republican election commissioner – filed the suit that challenges who is eligible to vote by absentee ballot and challenges how those ballots are counted. They argue that changes to election law made in recent years by Democrats in state government make it more difficult to ensure the security of absentee voting.

Democrats say the election law provisions and party mailer challenged in the lawsuit were good-faith efforts to make it easier for as many eligible voters as possible to cast ballots. The changes to state law have not created more opportunities for voter fraud, and people can still have valid reasons to want to avoid Covid-19 at the polling place, Zellner said.

They also questioned the timing of the lawsuit, noting that Republicans earlier this year participated in primaries conducted under the same rules without raising objections.

Do the Rs still not get it that by doing this, they risk zeroing out the votes for their own candidates? Plenty of the elderly in rural upstate townships vote for Republicans and are now accustomed to doing it absentee, which the state still permits if one remains concerned about covid.

Sure the pandemic is no longer crippling the nation but that doesn't mean elderly people even if vaxxed and boosted are not susceptible to covid variants still floating around. The absentee ballot requests for primaries had a box to check if you also wished to sign up at that point to receive absentee ballots for all further elections in 2022. The GOP is essentially contesting that choice in retrospect in a part of their challenge! Honestly, what they are doing is just casting doubt into people's minds in advance of what should be a pretty trouble-free election compared to the hassle of the primaries in New York this year with special elections and redistricting.

The piece wrapped up by saying no matter which way the district court goes on this, the loser will doubtless appeal. So even on a fast tracked basis, the election will be upon us and we'll still be wondering if we can cast an absentee ballot or should rip it up and risk going to vote in person.

 

[ronntaylor]

Gee even in blue New York State, the GOP is going to court --and at this late date!-- hoping to do themselves a favor in the November midterms by contesting changes in election law that have facilitated absentee voting.

Meanwhile absentee ballots are going out already to military and next week to local voters, so wtf?!

Absentee ballot dispute between major political parties now a lawsuit

Democrats and voting-rights advocates are blasting a lawsuit filed by state Republicans and their allies that could upend how absentee ballots are processed in New York.

buffalonews.com

Do the Rs still not get it that by doing this, they risk zeroing out the votes for their own candidates? Plenty of the elderly in rural upstate townships vote for Republicans and are now accustomed to doing it absentee, which the state still permits if one remains concerned about covid.

Sure the pandemic is no longer crippling the nation but that doesn't mean elderly people even if vaxxed and boosted are not susceptible to covid variants still floating around. The absentee ballot requests for primaries had a box to check if you also wished to sign up at that point to receive absentee ballots for all further elections in 2022. The GOP is essentially contesting that choice in retrospect in a part of their challenge! Honestly, what they are doing is just casting doubt into people's minds in advance of what should be a pretty trouble-free election compared to the hassle of the primaries in New York this year with special elections and redistricting.

The piece wrapped up by saying no matter which way the district court goes on this, the loser will doubtless appeal. So even on a fast tracked basis, the election will be upon us and we'll still be wondering if we can cast an absentee ballot or should rip it up and risk going to vote in person.

Same day that we got our absentee ballots. Heading down to Virginia this weekend, so filing out the ballots down there some time next week. Mostly already know how we're voting. This is a BS move and I hope it isn't overlooked by voters.

 

[Yoused]

Gee even in blue New York State, the GOP is going to court --and at this late date!-- hoping to do themselves a favor in the November midterms by contesting changes in election law that have facilitated absentee voting.

It occurs to me that the Rs have a very substantive reason for opposing vote-by-mail and easy access to absentee ballots: they are ardent users of the "October Surprise", and when voting schedules become stochastic, it becomes a much less effective tactic.

 

[lizkat]

It occurs to me that the Rs have a very substantive reason for opposing vote-by-mail and easy access to absentee ballots: they are ardent users of the "October Surprise", and when voting schedules become stochastic, it becomes a much less effective tactic.

It's substantive all right but it may not have much legal weight as an argument in the upcoming case in NY. Of course neither will their other complaints. They're talking about weird situations like what it someone votes absentee and their ballot is opened and processed but then the person dies before Election Day, and what if someone votes absentee and returns it and it's opened and processed and then the person changes their mind and can't vote in person to overrride it bc already processed etc. All this stuff is covered in the rules, but the Rs just want to raise bogeymen to stir pots ahead of the election...

 

[Pumbaa]

It's substantive all right but it may not have much legal weight as an argument in the upcoming case in NY. Of course neither will their other complaints. They're talking about weird situations like what it someone votes absentee and their ballot is opened and processed but then the person dies before Election Day, and what if someone votes absentee and returns it and it's opened and processed and then the person changes their mind and can't vote in person to overrride it bc already processed etc. All this stuff is covered in the rules, but the Rs just want to raise bogeymen to stir pots ahead of the election...

What if I vote in person and then change my mind? What if my preferred candidate loses? Ban voting in person too!

 

[GermanSuplex]

No wonder the DailyBeast ran with the Herschel Walker abortion story… the woman who’s accusing him is also the mother of one of his (many) children.

She Had an Abortion With Herschel Walker. She Also Had a Child With Him.

Herschel Walker has claimed he has no idea who this woman could be. Here’s why that’s surprising.

www.thedailybeast.com

 

[mac_in_tosh]

More craziness from the Trump led GOP (From HuffPost, Oct. 5, 2022):

Speaking on Fox News, Gingrich hailed Walker as “the most important Senate candidate in the country” due to his “deep commitment to Christ.” That praise was offered despite Walker’s history of violence and domestic abuse and new accusations the supposed “pro-life” candidate paid for an abortion for a then-girlfriend in 2009.

Gingrich’s claim also ignored something else: Warnock is a senior pastor at the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta.

 

[GermanSuplex]

Gingrich also said Walker probably had a lot of concussions... which I can sympathize with, but that's not a very good defense of someone running for congress.

Some people have eaten a lot of paint chips. That may excuse their erratic behavior, but does not explain why they deserve a senate seat.

 

[lizkat]

Gingrich also said Walker probably had a lot of concussions... which I can sympathize with, but that's not a very good defense of someone running for congress.

Some people have eaten a lot of paint chips. That may excuse their erratic behavior, but does not explain why they deserve a senate seat.

The saddest thing from point of view of Republican voters in Georgia is that they did have other choices -- a lot of them-- in the primaries for this Senate race but Donald Trump's endorsement of Walker just eclipsed them all.

Six candidates running in U.S. Senate Republican primary election in Georgia – Ballotpedia News

news.ballotpedia.org

The other candidates' accomplishments included military service, agribusiness expertise, past experience as a White House fellow and on and on... but none of that could apparently top "name recognition" overall: the combo of Walker being a known name for his sports accomplishments and then getting Trump's nod was insurmountable.

With the latest revelations about Walker, it might ordinarily be very hard to imagine his polling won't drop farther behind that of Warnock.

But we don't live in ordinary times, and it's entirely possible by now that a lot of Trump supporters have extrapolated their idol's claim --that he could shoot someone on Fifth Ave and not lose a single vote-- onto other GOP candidates who are either viewed as pro-Trump or who have been endorsed by him. In other words, it does not matter AT ALL what Walker has done or said, he's the guy the pro-Trump crowd will vote for. Any new revelation will only strengthen that defiant stance.

I don't envy Warnock having to debate Walker, if Walker even shows up to the scheduled debate.

Warnock is a honorable politician and a pastor and surely views this whole mess as having turned incredibly ugly and cruel at this point. His opponent is just so unfit for the office... and it's impossible by now to sort out what of Walker's unacceptable behavior should be held to account, versus what has derived from injury and mental illness.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

Listening to the book America: The Farewell Tour and one of the chapters starts with asking and answering one of the big questions we all have. How has Trump become the leader of the evangelical movement when he’s categorically the antithesis of what Christianity is supposedly about. The author lists everything in Trump’s history, values, and personality. The answer is actually quite simple. These exactly match evangelical leaders and their followers have been grifted in the same way for generations. Evangelical leaders passionately beg for money while living like royalty. You need to do it to save your soul/the country! He even quoted one televangelist in the 80’s telling viewers to write a check for $1,000 even if they can’t afford it because Jesus would find a way to send them money if they need it. Be like Jesus. Don't let him down. Their history is also filled with many of the same type scandals as Trump….sex outside marriage and tax and financial fraud.

This also more accurately defines when evangelical leaders went to the white house to pray over Trump. They weren’t praying over him. They were ritualistically thanking him for elevating their grift. It was more like a scene out of Rosemary’s Baby. It’s both scary and funny when the people who fear Satan the most can’t clearly see they are worshipping and supporting his forces. It’s pretty textbook Satanic manipulation for the rest of us outside their bubble.

In the followers/believers defense many of these people feel hopeless and depressed and instead of turning to drugs and alcohol (although some do that too) they turn to these movements. Each donation is chasing the dragon of the salvation high that rarely delivers and isn't based in reality.

 

[lizkat]

Listening to the book America: The Farewell Tour and one of the chapters starts with asking and answering one of the big questions we all have. How has Trump become the leader of the evangelical movement when he’s categorically the antithesis of what Christianity is supposedly about. The author lists everything in Trump’s history, values, and personality. The answer is actually quite simple. These exactly match evangelical leaders and their followers have been grifted in the same way for generations. Evangelical leaders passionately beg for money while living like royalty. You need to do it to save your soul/the country! He even quoted one televangelist in the 80’s telling viewers to write a check for $1,000 even if they can’t afford it because Jesus would find a way to send them money if they need it. Be like Jesus. Don't let him down. Their history is also filled with many of the same type scandals as Trump….sex outside marriage and tax and financial fraud.

This also more accurately defines when evangelical leaders went to the white house to pray over Trump. They weren’t praying over him. They were ritualistically thanking him for elevating their grift. It was more like a scene out of Rosemary’s Baby. It’s both scary and funny when the people who fear Satan the most can’t clearly see they are worshipping and supporting his forces. It’s pretty textbook Satanic manipulation for the rest of us outside their bubble.

In the followers/believers defense many of these people feel hopeless and depressed and instead of turning to drugs and alcohol (although some do that too) they turn to these movements. Each donation is chasing the dragon of the salvation high that rarely delivers and isn't based in reality.

The "sad" emoticon I stuck on your post was for the followers of the high profile evangelicals pitching their dubious wares on TV... An angry one would have been for those preachers.

I have thought about getting that Chris Hedges book, but have been a bit put off by previews of its unrelentingly (if also deservedly) negative take on where we stand in the relentless grind of capitalism on its route to "two dogs fighting over an empty bowl." I think I'd have to pair it with some book having a more optimistic outlook on Americans' ability to pull out of the dive before it's too late.

Not sure how optimistic I am any more really, but I am hoping that Biden's legislative accomplishments will have put a floor under decent job prospects for many more Americans.

What we do with ensuing higher household income and higher tax revenues is up to individuals and municipalities, but it should help stave off the day when the only things for sale are stale soda and chips, and the only way to get them is to walk to the one big store in Texas and offer to dust the mostly empty shelves in exchange for a cut of the wares.

Meanwhile I guess the superwealthy will have taken off for new homes on Mars?

They don't even count as capitalists. Yeah they shed some bucks here and there to fund hospitals or concert halls or sports stadia but that's like a snake molting really. They can't even spend the interest they make and yet the bulk of their "investments" are predatory. They don't quite see the day coming when they will have crushed the very will to survive of the people whose labor now supports them. Who will grow the corn for their beef? Who will plant the soy for their marinated tofu on superfine green beans? Who will make the china plates and fashion the sterling silver cutlery? And what about the Sun, coming to eat Earth? Are we to assume that Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos will build space arks and transport some lucky pairs of everything to a new galaxy, because some yet to be born genius finally figures out how to shrink a light year?​

The problem in the short term for Democrats --to the extent voters consider things outside the walls of their polarized silos-- is that the new jobs are mostly in the offing, even with infrastructure plans finally coming off the shelf now, and some commitments already by chipmakers to build fabrication plants onshore, etc.

The problem for Republicans is a little more stark: how to dismount from the Trump wing and even have a tattered banner left to carry forward. They ARE Trump. They said so in their 2020 convention. Now some are trying to put daylight between them and the orange disgrace, but the mini-Trumps are scattered thoughout the American landscape, so the Republican agenda for 2022 is as empty as it ever was of any public service intentions. The Trump followers of the political class ARE still Donald Trump, and they mean either to retain office or declare their losses null and void and step into office anyway. The other Republicans are mostly just trying to figure out what social media platform to gather on if Elon Musk buys Twitter and turns it into another Truth Social.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

The "sad" emoticon I stuck on your post was for the followers of the high profile evangelicals pitching their dubious wares on TV... An angry one would have been for those preachers.

I have thought about getting that Chris Hedges book, but have been a bit put off by previews of its unrelentingly (if also deservedly) negative take on where we stand in the relentless grind of capitalism on its route to "two dogs fighting over an empty bowl." I think I'd have to pair it with some book having a more optimistic outlook on Americans' ability to pull out of the dive before it's too late.

Not sure how optimistic I am any more really, but I am hoping that Biden's legislative accomplishments will have put a floor under decent job prospects for many more Americans.

What we do with ensuing higher household income and higher tax revenues is up to individuals and municipalities, but it should help stave off the day when the only things for sale are stale soda and chips, and the only way to get them is to walk to the one big store in Texas and offer to dust the mostly empty shelves in exchange for a cut of the wares.

Meanwhile I guess the superwealthy will have taken off for new homes on Mars?

They don't even count as capitalists. Yeah they shed some bucks here and there to fund hospitals or concert halls or sports stadia but that's like a snake molting really. They can't even spend the interest they make and yet the bulk of their "investments" are predatory. They don't quite see the day coming when they will have crushed the very will to survive of the people whose labor now supports them. Who will grow the corn for their beef? Who will plant the soy for their marinated tofu on superfine green beans? Who will make the china plates and fashion the sterling silver cutlery? And what about the Sun, coming to eat Earth? Are we to assume that Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos will build space arks and transport some lucky pairs of everything to a new galaxy, because some yet to be born genius finally figures out how to shrink a light year?​

The problem in the short term for Democrats --to the extent voters consider things outside the walls of their polarized silos-- is that the new jobs are mostly in the offing, even with infrastructure plans finally coming off the shelf now, and some commitments already by chipmakers to build fabrication plants onshore, etc.

The problem for Republicans is a little more stark: how to dismount from the Trump wing and even have a tattered banner left to carry forward. They ARE Trump. They said so in their 2020 convention. Now some are trying to put daylight between them and the orange disgrace, but the mini-Trumps are scattered thoughout the American landscape, so the Republican agenda for 2022 is as empty as it ever was of any public service intentions. The Trump followers of the political class ARE still Donald Trump, and they mean either to retain office or declare their losses null and void and step into office anyway. The other Republicans are mostly just trying to figure out what social media platform to gather on if Elon Musk buys Twitter and turns it into another Truth Social.

The author said the only way to rescue these people is to improve their economic conditions but business leaders don’t want that and would rather switch to fascism where they can exploit people even more than they already are.

I also listened to an interview with the author of Survival of the Richest. Research on the book was inspired by a meeting with a group of billionaires. He really had no idea what the meeting was going to be about going in. What it was about is by their calculations there is a 20% chance that some kind of global catastrophe will happen in their lifetime, economic or climate related, and so they are putting 20% of their wealth towards surviving it. They wanted to know things like if it would be better to build their bunker in New Zealand or Alaska. They thought they would hire Nay Seals to guard it, but the author asked them how would paying them matter when money is completely worthless in such a scenario. This was a real revelation they hadn’t thought of and would have to figure it out. They even toyed with the idea of planting chips on people that would keep them in line under the threat of injury or death activation. The author told them one of the best ways to plan ahead for this is to start treating people better now. This never crossed their mind. The book should be an interesting and horrifying read.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

“Rugged individualism”. Another thing Republicans claim to be champions of that they aren’t. People on the right are far more likely to join the unquestioned hivemind of churches, the military, and militia groups…the farthest thing from individualism. Meanwhile the main reason the left can’t keep their movements together is because there are too many individual opinions and often third or more rails are tossed in that have nothing to do with the movement. How can we ever expect to improve the economic conditions of minorities while our oceans are contaminated with plastic bottles?!?

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

Alabama Sen. Tuberville equates descendants of enslaved people to criminals

Tuberville spoke at a pro-Trump rally in Nevada on Saturday ahead of the November midterm elections. The NAACP called the comments "flat out racist, ignorant and utterly sickening."

www.npr.org

Here's the thing. If they just went full-on blatant racist it would have close to zero impact on a good percentage of Republican voters. FACT. There's no line that can be crossed that they won't just look the other way under "Well, I don't agree with that, but that doesn't have anything to do with why I vote Republican."

Just as troubling, there are minority Republicans who will also overlook racism because they have some shared beliefs about their own race, as if the racist takeover will be issuing them "one of the good ones" badges that will protect them against attacks from the general public.

 

[mac_in_tosh]

Republicans have lost any semblance of respectability. They don't even try anymore. They've openly abandoned all of their supposed foundational beliefs, among them family values. Now two GOP Senators (Rick Scott and Tom Cotton) are going to Georgia to try and salvage Hershel Walker's campaign. The guy held a gun to his wife's head, he spawned multiple children that he has no relationship with, he campaigns on being anti-abortion but paid for one in the past and encouraged the same woman to have another. But all of that doesn't stop Newt Gingrich from saying Walker is committed to Christ or Rick Scott from saying he's proud to stand with Herschel Walker and make sure Georgians know that Walker will always fight to protect them from the forces trying to destroy Georgia's values, led by Raphael Warnock.

Walker is a philanderer who abandons his children and has committed domestic violence, and by the way has trouble uttering a cogent sentence, while Warnock is a pastor but somehow Walker is more in tune with Georgia's values. And let's not even get into Trump's family values.

At this point, the GOP is appealing to people's basest fears and motives, nothing more. They're not interested in governing, just holding power. The poster boy for that is the sleeze Ted Cruz who was caught escaping to Cancun while millions of his fellow Texans were suffering from massive blackouts. Trump incites a coup attempt and steals highly classified documents? No problem for today's GOP.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

Republicans have lost any semblance of respectability. They don't even try anymore. They've openly abandoned all of their supposed foundational beliefs, among them family values. Now two GOP Senators (Rick Scott and Tom Cotton) are going to Georgia to try and salvage Hershel Walker's campaign. The guy held a gun to his wife's head, he spawned multiple children that he has no relationship with, he campaigns on being anti-abortion but paid for one in the past and encouraged the same woman to have another. But all of that doesn't stop Newt Gingrich from saying Walker is committed to Christ or Rick Scott from saying he's proud to stand with Herschel Walker and make sure Georgians know that Walker will always fight to protect them from the forces trying to destroy Georgia's values, led by Raphael Warnock.

Walker is a philanderer who abandons his children and has committed domestic violence, and by the way has trouble uttering a cogent sentence, while Warnock is a pastor but somehow Walker is more in tune with Georgia's values. And let's not even get into Trump's family values.

At this point, the GOP is appealing to people's basest fears and motives, nothing more. They're not interested in governing, just holding power. The poster boy for that is the sleeze Ted Cruz who was caught escaping to Cancun while millions of his fellow Texans were suffering from massive blackouts. Trump incites a coup attempt and steals highly classified documents? No problem for today's GOP.

I heard a soundbite over the weekend from a representative saying she doesn’t care if any of the accusations are true or even if he was killing bald eagles. All that matters is control of the house and his vote they can count on. You have to appreciate that level of honesty and I’d say she probably speaks for the majority of Republican politicians and a good amount of their voters.

 

[mac_in_tosh]

I heard a soundbite over the weekend from a representative saying she doesn’t care if any of the accusations are true or even if he was killing bald eagles. All that matters is control of the house and his vote they can count on. You have to appreciate that level of honesty and I’d say she probably speaks for the majority of Republican politicians and a good amount of their voters.

Okay, but to what end for their voters who aren't wealthy donors? So the GOP can attack Social Security and Medicare that many of them are on, or that their parents are on? So the GOP can attack the Affordable Care Act, that many of them may use for health insurance? Ordinary working folks don't realize that their interests are not served by Republicans, with the only explanation being fear mongering by the GOP. Example - an ad in Pennsylvania accusing Fetterman of advocating Marxist policies. I guess the Red Scare is alive and well.

Trump has shown the GOP that lying works, no matter how obvious. And the bigger the lie (fake news, rigged election, FBI planting documents) the better they work.

 

[Yoused]

I heard a soundbite over the weekend from a representative saying she doesn’t care if any of the accusations are true or even if he was killing bald eagles. All that matters is control of the house and his vote they can count on.

It was Dana Loesch, who is a blithering pimple, not a representative, and Walker is running for a Senate seat.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

Okay, but to what end for their voters who aren't wealthy donors? So the GOP can attack Social Security and Medicare that many of them are on, or that their parents are on? So the GOP can attack the Affordable Care Act, that many of them may use for health insurance? Ordinary working folks don't realize that their interests are not served by Republicans, with the only explanation being fear mongering by the GOP. Example - an ad in Pennsylvania accusing Fetterman of advocating Marxist policies. I guess the Red Scare is alive and well.

Trump has shown the GOP that lying works, no matter how obvious. And the bigger the lie (fake news, rigged election, FBI planting documents) the better they work.

A lot of it started with the biggest lie of all, American exceptionalism. We have some exceptional people and innovations but so do a lot of other countries. The difference is we are told everybody is exceptional for doing completely normal and mundane things, as if nobody else outside the US works a hard week or raises a family….conjuring up the vision of somebody hauling lumber in their Ford truck on a dirt road. Wow, exceptional. Our current biggest exceptional innovation is wealth redistribution to the top by people who do nothing of value for society while convincing some the real problem is people just trying to survive. A+

 

[Huntn]

Okay, but to what end for their voters who aren't wealthy donors? So the GOP can attack Social Security and Medicare that many of them are on, or that their parents are on? So the GOP can attack the Affordable Care Act, that many of them may use for health insurance? Ordinary working folks don't realize that their interests are not served by Republicans, with the only explanation being fear mongering by the GOP. Example - an ad in Pennsylvania accusing Fetterman of advocating Marxist policies. I guess the Red Scare is alive and well.

Trump has shown the GOP that lying works, no matter how obvious. And the bigger the lie (fake news, rigged election, FBI planting documents) the better they work.

It is absolutely amazing depressing that the GOP holds as broad support as it does. Talking about what the GOP can do for the country is like promoting why we’d want the Mafia in charge. The Mafia= self serving, might makes right, corruption. I have concluded that this party’s appeal is based on a combination of:

• Racism
• Self serving
• Viewing Democracy as a threat to your personal racism and interests.
• End justifies the means.
• Membership in the country club. (perception)
• STUPIDITY and GULLIBILITY
• Inability to realize you are being used.

Inadvertently, these people have become a threat to democracy, the rule of reasonable coherent laws, and the Constitution. Cheating to win is not winning, it’s cheating and undermines any system designed to organize a society.

For the crooks, you have to promise the marks you want to fool with something they want, while you pick their pockets, Trump was very good at identifying the self serving flaws in his suckers. The GOP, those remaining have adopted this standard.