Dear Everybody:
Last chance to vote before election day! If you haven’t and early voting is still open, you can go to your polling place and vote, or, if you do mail-in, fill out your ballot and stick it in a drop box (even if your state allows mail-in ballots to come in late so long as they’re postmarked by Election Day–this is NOT the year to trust the US Postal Service!)
–WineRev: ‘THIS IS IT! 24 hours to go, and YES, it IS the most important election in your lifetime.”
There’s LOTS of election news today, but none better than this story:
–The White House announced that President Donald Trump plans to spend Election Day Eve at the Reflecting Pool.
–Richard S: “Sure. Why not remind everyone of just how incompetent, just how corrupt, just how totally useless you are? And what better time than the evening before the polls open? Even the algae will be stunned into disbelief.”
–88 keys smokin: “The idiot has ZERO ability to ‘read the room’ and it’s only gotten worse.”
–Karen Finney: “I had to read it twice to make sure I was reading that correctly. Thank you, Donald Trump. You’re doing our job for us.”
In other Trump/midterm news:
–Trump gave two rallies yesterday (after canceling them and then rescheduling them) and they may have been his most deranged yet.
–Trump: “We got Greenland. Greenland is worth trillions….you know how long my deal is with Greenland? Infinite. Forever. What a deal…Our acquisition for zero dollars of Greenland. You know we got Greenland?”
–Trump (in Kansas), after doing everything he could to destroy the cattle industry, blamed ranchers for the high beef prices: “We could use a little more beef, if you don’t mind. Could you speed it up a bit?”
–Trump: “Who the hell wants to watch football? It’s boring as hell…I can’t watch.”
–Ben Collins: “Once again, alarming but delightful to me that we got football in the national divorce.”
–Trump: “I’m gonna call the Hormuz Strait the Trump Strait if you don’t mind. I think the jihadists won’t have much of a problem. They’ll love that.”
–Trump said they said he would “take Christians to the promised land. And I’ve done that.”
–Trump said Dem candidate Adam Hamilton’s record is “terrible, like a trans person.”
–Trump: “They went to Canadaaaaa. They went to Meheho.”
–“we could’ve won the Afghanistan War in 3 weeks, Vietnam in a week…but we had stupid presidents…I could have won the Vietnam War in a week.” He complained that we didn’t go after “Ho Chi Minh City.”
–Blue Grueskin: “Which is what we used to call Saigon. Which was in South Vietnam. Which was our ally.”
–Trump: “I have a lot of flagpoles. I have them all over my place in Los Angeles. On the ocean, magnificent place. I call him Flagpole Jim. His whole life, that’s all he does.”
–Trump to Steve Scalise: “At least you have a wife who loves you.”
–Trump: “I could use a little love.”
–Trump: “Biiiiiing! Bing@ Hear yeeee, hear yeeee hear yeee! It’s so fuckin’ cool!” (Absolutely no idea.)
–Trump: “I’m at 99%.”
–Trump about Obama: “I’ll teach you cleanliness.” (Words cannot express how disgustingly racist this is. The “blacks are dirty” is straight out of the Jim Crow and KKK South.)
–Colin Jackson: “‘Black people are dirty’ is a heckuva closing argument for the GOP.”
–DianaX: “So much has been said about Trump many times, but it bears repeating: What a racist piece of shit!”
–Trump on the Iran war: “I haven’t had much of a war. Think about it.”
–Trump: “This isn’t rambling. This is genius.”
–Trump: “You’ve only had one great president in the last fifty years. You know who that was? Me.”
And Trump isn’t the only one shooting his own foot:
–GOP candidate Roger Marshall introduced him, saying, “Glory, glory, hallelujah. God made Trump!” and then followed up with, “This may be your last rally until your next reelection campaign in a couple years.”
–Patric Reynolds: “HahHAHA joking about the president breaking the Constitution is so goddamn hilarious, amirite?”
–And Marshall wasn’t done. Marshall, who’s an ob/gyn accused of siccing collection agents on his own patients when they couldn’t pay on time, decided–against his entire staff’s advice–to do a closing ad explaining why he sicced collection agents on his own patients. “We had to keep the lights on, so we occasionally handed accounts over to collection agencies.”
–Marshall in the ad: “My involvement in any patient’s account ended the minute it was turned over to an outside agency. I never had anyone arrested.” (Didn’t Pontius Pilate say something similar?)
–Daniel Raymond: “He’s accidentally made the best ad ever for Medicare for All.”
–Michael McDonald on the Rogers ad: “I am not a witch.”
Up in Michigan, Democrat Haley Stevens, who lost the primary to Abdul El-Sayed and has been mad ever since, decided to suddenly switch parties and endorse the Republican candidate Mike Rogers, even though she had previously vilified him.
–Stevens attended church with Rogers Sunday morning and tweeted out her endorsement DURING the service. (Now you and I know people don’t pay attention to the sermon, but you’re not supposed to say that out loud.)
–She then held a press conference with Rogers outside the church–until someone in the crowd shouted out, “Haley Steens is a traitor!” at which point the press conference ended.
–She then went on CNN and tried to explain her decision, but it went VERY badly. Haley Stevens: “this is a broader point about what’s going on in our party.” Anderson Cooper: “It’s actually not. It’s really just a question of why you changed your mind.” Stevens: “I haven’t cast my vote yet.” Cooper: “So you might change your mind again?” Stevens: “My mind is made up. I’m rock solid,” etc.
–She also kept saying, “We all want Democrats to win.” While endorsing the Republican in the race.
–Dem Rep Debbie Dingle: “That was one of the most painful interviews I have ever watched.”
–kristinekenyon: “I’m cringing so hard I think I just died of secondhand embarrassment.
–Bensmom33: “I have never seen someone drown who was not in a body of water.”
–Brad Landers: “I didn’t think it was possible to combine primary-loser-sour-grapes and Islamophobia into a more toxic cocktail than Andrew Cuomo. But Haley Stevens has managed to do it.”
The backlash was immediate:
–The Democratic Party of Michigan promptly threw her out: “Congresswoman Stevens is not a current member of the Michigan Democratic Party, nor will she be in the future.”
–Her campaign chief of staff and the entire staff, including her congressional staff, resigned.
–Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer both issued statements condemning her and reaffirming their support for El-Sayed.
–The Black Democratic Caucus disowned her.
–Bruce Springsteen: “Dr. El-Sayed is a fighter for our American Constitution. he’s a fighter for our American Democracy and he’s a fighter against the corrupt, lawless, and anti-American leadership currently in the White House. That’s why I’m in his corner 100%.”
–And El-Sayed had his biggest fundraising day ever.
–StarryMumof4: “I’m not exactly sure what Haley Stevens was trying to achieve by endorsing Mike Rogers at the last minute, but whatever it was, I don’t think she got it.”
–Ben Collins: “Lol, Haley Stevens fucked around and made Abdul a contender for the presidency in 2028. Nice work.”
–two-ch: “Watching her destroy Her political career and any future lobbyist gig in an eight-hour span has been a wild ride.”
–Ben Collins: “I think this is good news for Abdul. If your main pain in the ass does a Hulk Hogan-style performative heel turn two days before your election, it just proves all of your opponents don’t believe in anything. But it does show they’re afraid of the power of your movement.”
–George Conway: “Haley Stevens deserves tremendous credit for unifying the Democratic Party.”
Don, Jr. went to Ohio to help out dad and give HIS closing message for the campaign:
–Don, Jr. once again accused Amy Acton (on no evidence whatsoever) of being a drunk: “Watching Amy–it’s like, every speech, she just got back from a really long happy hour with Kamala Harris.” (And, as a bonus, including Kamala Harris of also being a lush.)
–Don, Jr.: “Everything is at stake. If you woke up on Wednesday morning and you were led by a drunk?”
–Patric Reynolds; “Well, we’re all being led by an adderall-snorting pedophile right now, so I will take a drunk ANY day.”
–shekeepsbees: “The military wakes up being led by a drunk every day. As does the FBI.”
–Don, Jr.: “Remember they used to say those things in backrooms? ‘Well, we want to trans your kids and we don’t want parents to know anything about it. We’ll just let them do it. Three year olds can make those decisions.”
–Don, Jr.: “They want to pack the Supreme Court. They want to make Ohio a state.” (Oh, no, the horror! They want to make Ohio a state! Is there no end to this madness?)
–HockeyDad: “Slippery slope. If we make Ohio a state, then Indiana will want to join the Union.”
–Knew Jersey: “So Canada will be the 52nd state? Just trying to follow along…”
–aghost2most: That boy is doped to the gills.”
RNC chair Joe Gruters went on Fox to try to defend Trump’s having said they couldn’t afford more than a hamburger at Mar-a-lago (Trump: “Unfortunately at Mar-a-lago all you could get for $5000 is a hamburger and a very small dessert.”).
–Joe Gruters: “”I’ve talked to the president about this, and he definitely has empathy for people.”
–Darwin Brandis: “Well, that clears everything up. Thanks, Joe.”
–Jo: “Is it a good or bad thing if someone else has to come out and reassure people that you have a feeling about them?”
And totally off-topic:
–Bill Murray (yes, that Bill Murray–GHOSTBUSTERS, GROUNDHOG DAY) was on the set of CNBC for the show Squawkbox when Trump’s economic adviser Kevin Hassett, the one who smiles constantly no matter what he’s saying, was giving a report, and Murray said what we’ve all been thinking: “Why is that man always smiling? I’m a little concerned. Not worried. Concerned. He then asked Hassett: “Could you just say the words, ‘My dog just died?’ I want to see what happens to your smile.”
In What We’re Up Against:
–Trump asked the Supreme Court to intervene in its lawsuit seeking to block California from counting certain mail-in ballots.
–The DOJ says it’s going to deploy federal law enforcement agents to polling places tomorrow. DC’s federal court ordered a hearing today in an NAACP challenge, which seeks an order blocking the deployment of those federal law enforcement agents from serving as “election monitors” at polling places tomorrow.
–Wholly-owned Trump network CBS did a hit piece on Abdul El-Sayed on 60 MINUTES last night.
In promising news:
–Democrats were ahead in every Senate and Governor’s race in the New York Times/Siena polling in seven states: Michigan, Maine, Ohio, Texas, Kansas, Alaska, and Iowa.
–Pollster Nate Silver predicted that the Democrats have an 80% chance of taking the Senate.
Best meme of the day, from stinson carter: “There will come a time when people will ask for civility and restraint when punishing this criminal regime. It’s important that you tell those people to fuck off.”
–Jay Kuo: “These final chaotic days in the campaign cap a month of red state Trump rallies that have done little to move the political needle. If anything, they may have made things even worse for the GOP.”
–Ben Yelin: “Either the polling indications or the Republicans are completely fucked on Tuesday.”
In other news:
–Google employees are resigning over Google’s AI contracts with the military.
–Five Charlotte, North Carolina cops have resigned after arrest records showed them exchanging racist texts and targeting blacks for arrest.
–ICE agents are mad that the $50,000 signing bonus they were promised never arrived.
In good news:
–A judge dismissed the DOJ complaint against two ex-FBI agents who the DOJ accused of lying about Hunter Biden. Yay!
There isn’t a new Randy Rainbow out, but this one from 2018 is pretty good (if it doesn’t give you flashbacks): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jDGQHaWiNQ
Best sign of the day: Written in chalk on the sidewalk in front of Trump Tower in Manhattan for Halloween–“3 Days Donny. Don’t boo! VOTE BLUE!”
Best comment of the day, from David 54: “I’m cautiously optimistic, but I’m entertaining the thought of a victory beyond my wildest imagination. At the same time, if I’m brutally disappointed, as I’ve been before, I’ll just pick myself up, dust myself off, and get back to work on November 4.”
And, finally, this fake midterms ad from Saturday Night Live is THE BEST thing I’ve seen out there to show how Democrats are really feeling as this Election Day approaches. You HAVE to watch it:
Keep calm (if you can),
Connie Willis
