> Levitt said that the investigation itself is worthwhile but that it was a baldly political move to announce the probe with partial facts — which officials then had to scramble to correct — while describing which candidate was selected on the ballots.
> “That is the tell, and it says this was not an act of law enforcement, this was a campaign act, and it should mean the end of the career of whoever approved the statement,” said Levitt.
> The new Always Home Cam is an autonomous drone that can fly around inside your home to give you a perspective of any room you want when you’re not home. Once it’s done flying, the Always Home Cam returns to its dock to charge its battery.
> After more than four years of nonstop voter fraud claims, insinuations that he might not accept the presidential election results and at least one float about delaying the November election, it’s no secret. Trump’s refusal to commit to a peaceful transition of power this week — and his choice not to walk back his remarks Thursday in the face of widespread unease — merely broadcasts his strategic intent in terms both parties can understand.
> Democratic lawyers are preparing to challenge any effort by President Trump to swap electors chosen by voters with electors selected by Republican-controlled legislatures. One state of particular concern: Pennsylvania, where the GOP controls the state house.
> Want to know how President Trump is using the machinery of the federal government to benefit his campaign in the final six weeks of the election? Here’s what Trump and his administration did in just the last 24 hours:
it's weird that while i wouldn't be surprised if that was the case, i also definitely wouldn't be surprised if there's more than a bit of cover-up going on there
Again, I posit that you can’t (at least to within one or two order of magnitudes). Sure the exact number can and probably is fudged, but the people there act as if the virus is under control
@Wipqozn Basically the rest of my family is in China, my immediate family are the only members in the US. I think I have a distant cousin or two in Canada, but everyone else is in China.
As far as I know, things seem fine for them. A bit of cabin fever, but that's basically the human condition right now.
> As a result, Republicans can no longer truthfully deny that Trump may be unwilling to leave office in the event he is defeated. And Democrats must now confront the possibility they may not have the power to stop him.
Louis XVI was such a cool guy. Just tossing that out there. For reasons.
Certainly not suggesting what may soon be the only option left to the American people.
> Recalling the 2000 election, in which the Supreme Court prohibited further recounts of the Florida vote, awarding the presidency to George W. Bush, Bennett said, “We’re a lot more organized than in 2000. A lot … But I don’t know if it’s enough.”
not that it's the first time this has happened... but it would certainly be the most blatant and egregious
Although honestly joking aside (Well not really joking...) but Trump rigs the election or loses and refuses to step down, and the courts and governemnt can't or won't do anything about it... then I honestly don't see what option is even left outside of an armed revolution and overthrow of the government.
And at this point I think it's a very real possibility.
which considering just how deeply the divided the country is, woudl then lead to full blown civil war I'm sure
> Former Texas Rep. Ron Paul has been hospitalized for "precautionary" reasons after he appeared to suffer a stroke during a live episode of his political show Liberty Report.
> “He seemed to get a real kick out of it,” one of the sources said, adding that the president seemed to relish making the press, in Trump’s words, “go crazy” over his non-commitment to democratic norms and procedure. “[The president] wasn’t going to be playing by their rules on this just to make them feel comfortable.”
oh, and:
> According to a Justice Department prosecutor, there is internal concern in some department circles that Attorney General William Barr will join post-election lawsuits on behalf of the Trump campaign or its allies. The prosecutor had no inside information about this, and described it instead as an expectation amongst some Justice Department personnel who consider Barr dangerous.
"internal concern, eh??" Barr is already operating as Trump's lackey in lawsuits, in public statements, etc
> The series of events raised alarm among critics of the White House who accused the Justice Department of using an ongoing investigation to politically boost President Trump.
I mean it's the visual and audio signs and symptoms of a stroke, speech becomes suddenly slurred, face started drooping, they seemed to recognize it quickly at least
> President Trump’s Republican enablers — the people who might snicker at his behavior but ultimately support him — tend to dismiss his authoritarian tendencies as harmless rantings. Accordingly, they either ignore or mock the liberals and renegade Republicans who warn that the president poses a serious threat to American democracy.
> And so, when Trump does engage in one of his periodic bouts of threatening to shake the republic to its foundations should his appetite for power be thwarted, their response is not to revisit their own assumptions about Trump. Instead, they get annoyed that it’s simply going to fuel what they regard as completely groundless hysteria.
lolsob
> “There’s a chance he doesn’t understand peaceful as a concept,” explained one frustrated Republican senator. Okay, then. Nothing to worry about. Just the leader of the free world does not understand the concept of a peaceful transfer of power. Hopefully, it will be explained to him by somebody he listens to, like Lou Dobbs.
> On Sept. 16, Luzerne County Elections Director Shelby Watchilla discovered that the worker “incorrectly discarded into the office trash UMOVA ballots” — which are ballots provided to Americans living overseas and military voters — and she “immediately began an internal inquiry and informed her direct supervisor,” Perdri said. Following the inquiry, county staff contacted the local district attorney, who referred the matter to the U.S. Attorney for the region.
> Pedri said all garbage from the Elections Bureau for the days the temporary worker was employed was “placed in a dumpster and secured” by county staff. “Each bag of garbage from the entire building in the dumpster was searched by the Federal Bureau of Investigations, the Luzerne County District Attorney’s Office, Pennsylvania State Police as well as Luzerne County staff. All items of concern were taken into custody by the Federal Bureau of Investigations.”
It's incredible because if anything this should reaffirm people's faith in the process that someone basically hit the big red button and the place went into lockdown, and yet!
> President Trump has selected Judge Amy Coney Barrett, the favorite candidate of conservatives, to succeed Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and will try to force Senate confirmation before Election Day in a move that would significantly alter the ideological makeup of the Supreme Court for years.
> Mr. Trump plans to announce on Saturday that she is his choice, according to people close to the process who asked not to be identified disclosing the decision in advance.
For some analysis of Barret, including why asking about her religious beliefs should not be off the table during her hearings, listen to OA424:
Fun fact Amy Coney Barrett is a member of some sort of secret society that 1) requires some sort of lifetime loyalty pledge, and 2) has some kind of system of mentors which for women until recently were called "handmaidens"
> To anticipate our conclusions just briefly, we believe that Catholic judges (if they are faithful to the teaching of their church) are morally precluded from enforcing the death penalty. This means that they can neither themselves sentence criminals to death nor enforce jury recommendations of death. Whether they may affirm lower court orders of either kind is a question we have the most difficulty in resolving.
and later, down on pp 346-377:
> Our final observation about the first point is that many judges-even some who would regard themselves as orthodox Catholics-when faced with a conflict between moral and legal duties, see themselves as bound to enforce the law.
> We do not defend this position as the proper response for a Catholic judge to take with respect to abortion or the death penalty.
In other words, Catholic judges, if they are faithful to the teachings of the church, must recuse themselves in cases involving death penalty and/or abortion
(Note: she has not recused herself in several abortion-related cases since she was appointed to the appeals court)
(And she has consistently sided with the anti-abortion side, even when that position is legally idiotic)
gotta go, have a good weekend (if that's possible...)
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