Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

Battle won, war still ongoing.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

You cannot shame the shameless.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

The revolution will be supervised.

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

John Fetterman: Too Manly for Pennsylvania.  Paid for by the Oz for Senator campaign.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

Come on, man.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

Fuck the extremist election deniers. What’s money for if not for keeping them out of office?

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

Schmidt just says fuck it, opens a tea shop.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

I did not have this on my fuck 2022 bingo card.

You are here: Home / Past Elections / 2020 Elections / Late Night Horrorshow Open Thread: Squatter-in-Chief Announces His Plan to Steal the Election

Late Night Horrorshow Open Thread: Squatter-in-Chief Announces His Plan to Steal the Election

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Dumbarse was supposed to keep this cunning plan on the down low until after Labor Day, but he Just. Could NOT. Resist…


Enabler-in-chief Bill ‘Ever Lower’ Barr announces his intention to help as much as he can…

Donald Trump is a venal moron. Bill Barr is not a moron, ergo far more culpable for his actions.

Reader Interactions

111Comments

  1. 1.

    bluehill

    The conventions were like half time in a game. Now, we’re seeing what the second half adjustments are. Trump’s plan seems to be a bunch of hail marys. Why not, I guess. Worked in 2016 and there is no convention way to overcome his deficit.

  2. 2.

    Emma from FL

    Lord a’ mercy. Maybe Democrats should insist that all duplicate ballots should be thrown away uncounted. Biden by a landslide!!!

  3. 3.

    Omnes Omnibus

    Donald Trump is a venal moron. Bill Barr is not a moron, ergo far more culpable for his actions.

    No, I don’t accept that.  Morality and intelligence are independent variables.

  4. 4.

    Raoul Paste

    Barr is a major problem
    He needs to be denounced by the major networks because this is serious stuff
    There also needs to be a major revolt at the Department of Justice

  5. 5.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Joint House-Senate Select Committee to investigate the Barr Justice Department

    Or set up an independent investigation under Claire NFLTG McCaskill

  6. 6.

    Ken

    Trump telling his supporters to invalidate their votes is definitely a “Please proceed, governor” moment.

    Barr’s “logic” statement reminds me of Queeg and the strawberries from The Caine Mutiny.

  8. 8.

    opiejeanne

    @Emma from FL:  If they’re created and tracked like they are in WA, those voters who vote twice will be caught. Every mail-in ballot has a unique bar code, and if someone comes into a polling place whose mailed ballot has already been tallied, or vice versa, it will be caught.
    WA processes ballots as soon as they are delivered, and the drop boxes are emptied at least once a day and delivered straight to be counted. The tally will be announced after 8pm on November 3rd.

  10. 10.

    opiejeanne

    @Ken: His voters may also go to jail if they try this. Those ballots will be caught as duplicate attempts to vote, and if enough duplicates occur it will cause a major scandal. Not that the Republicans will notice, except that it might impact the election in a way they don’t like.

    It is not only illegal to vote twice, it’s also illegal TO TELL PEOPLE TO DO SO.

  12. 12.

    Ed Marshall

    @Emma from FL:

    They are thrown away instantly.  Anyone who has ever been a poll worker understands that that is *all* that could happen.

    The votes can’t be counted twice, but they *could* make a huge mess and provide cover for his story about a tainted election that he won while people try and count votes through it.

  13. 13.

    RaflW

    Haven’t watched the clip, but I gather that Wolf Blitzer asked Attorney Specific Barr about the legality of this double-voting idea, and his answer was “Duh, I dunno.”

    To which, I have to ask: What fucking Bar Associations have admitted this roaring arsehole? And how do we unleash the howler monkeys to have him tossed? He is an absolute disgrace to the profession.

    Any Bar that keeps him in good graces is smearing itself in orange offal.

  14. 14.

    dmsilev

    When you’re so transparently acting in bad faith that Wolf Blitzer of all people gives you a hard time…

  17. 17.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    TBogg @tbogg 5h
    Bill Barr pretty much served notice today that he is far more evil and dangerous than Dick Cheney ever dreamed of being.

    Not even Dubya could corral the bitter white vote like trump. Even after all this time, it’s hard for me to believe, and my face is rubbed in it every damn day.

  18. 18.

    Ed Marshall

    @opiejeanne:

    Yeah, true.  You would have to hope the other ballot didn’t get there first to cast it in person.  Although you would still gum up the process standing there being a jerk trying to vote twice.

  19. 19.

    randy khan

    Since it’s an open thread, I want to have someone throw a nasty fastball with late action in memory of the greatest player the New York Mets ever had, the Franchise, Tom Terrific, George Thomas Seaver, who passed away today at 75.  He’d been suffering from dementia the last several years, bad enough that he couldn’t attend the celebration of the 1969 Miracle Mets last year, so it may well have been a blessing for his family.

    With the Mets, he won 3 Cy Young Awards, Rookie of the Year and that Amazin'(TM) World Series, and was chosen for the All Star Game 9 times.  After the odious trade in 1977, he won another 120 games, including a brief stint back with the Mets.  And although he didn’t win his 300th game with the Mets, he did something almost as good by winning it against the hated Yankees at Yankee Stadium.  By all accounts, also a real class act from beginning to end.  A first ballot, inner-circle Hall of Famer on the diamond and in the rest of his life as well.

    RIP.

  21. 21.

    Bill Arnold

    @Danielx:

    So Barr is an intelligent evil fuck, like Reinhard Heydrich. Thanks for clarifying that.

    Intelligent, but he feeds his mind at the loony-right meme trough. Maybe the highbrow end of the trough. This makes him more likely to make mistakes.

  22. 22.

    Bill Arnold

    @opiejeanne:

    It is not only illegal to vote twice, it’s also illegal TO TELL PEOPLE TO DO SO.

    POTUS DJT can just pardon them, and himself.
    Checkmate, libtards. DJT and his loyal cultists can break any laws they want need to, with the full support of the Republican Senate.[1]

    [1] Note: this does not indicate a disrespect for LAW AND ORDER, because Trump cultists are not libtards, duh.

  24. 24.

    RaflW

    @bluehill: As I was starting the day this morning, and marveling at the madness, it did occur to me that the bind for the GOP is that with 62 days remaining, they can’t recalibrate.

    There simply isn’t time (not that the MAGA hordes would tolerate any adjustment that even hinted at a softening of tone).

    And then today I see that one poll came out showing Martha McSally down seventeen points. At that level, why re-calibrate? We can see why the GOP is going super-nova. It’s the only strategery they can think of. Scorched earth is too gentle.

  25. 25.

    joel hanes

    @Raoul Paste:

    Barr … needs to be denounced

    A Biden administration should make prosecution of William P Barr a priority … after a couple months of doing other things that are even more urgent.

    But that Barr has not yet been disbarred, nor even censured by the ABA, says something about the so-called discipline structures of the legal profession.

    I’m a bit surprised that he has not yet run afoul of a judge who is having none of his prevarication.

  27. 27.

    Roger Moore

    @opiejeanne:

    The system here in California is a bit more cumbersome.  If the system shows you’ve been sent an absentee ballot when you show up to vote in person, you either have to surrender the ballot or vote provisionally.  If they don’t receive your absentee ballot, the provisional vote will be counted.  I don’t think the system is smart enough to tell if your ballot has been received.

  28. 28.

    RaflW

    @Zzyzx: This is another of Trump’s brilliant moves that could pay horrible dividends down the road.

    Once this seal is broken, what’s to keep condescending hyper libs like me from advocating that a future admin cut federal funding to counties that are flagrant undocumented farmworker havens?

    What’s that, small Nebraska town with the feedlots? I can’t hear your screams over the mooing. Sorry!

  30. 30.

    Kristine

    @Ed Marshall: In Illinois–in Lake County, at least–the ballot status info shows up at check-in. The check-in judge would see that a mail ballot had been sent to the voter, but not returned. If you bring that mail-in ballot with you, you surrender it, and you vote the old-fashioned way. If you haven’t brought the ballot with, you need to vote provisionally.

    That’s why I shake my head when I hear about floods of fake ballots being mailed in. They would have to pinpoint voters, match signatures…I just, no.

  31. 31.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Zzyzx:

    Well, then I guess the city of Seattle and state of Washington can stop collecting federal taxes (or do and withhold them) until the funding is returned, right?

  32. 32.

    sanjeevs

    Karl Rove has a piece in the WSJ today where I think he lays out some of their likely strategies to fuck the voters.

    Five battleground states already permit ballots to arrive after Election Day. In Iowa, ballots must be postmarked by Nov. 2 and received by noon on Nov. 9; in Ohio, postmarked by Nov. 2 and received by Nov. 13; in North Carolina, Nov. 3 and Nov. 6; In Minnesota and Nevada, Nov. 3 and Nov. 10. This could string things out if the race is close.

    The bigger issue is when states are allowed to start matching signatures on the ballots to those on voter rolls and verifying that each ballot is valid. This is time-consuming and difficult. Seven states in contention let authorities begin verification early: Georgia, Minnesota and Nevada on a ballot’s receipt, Florida starting 22 days before the election, Arizona 14 days ahead, and North Carolina and Ohio on the discretion of local election boards.

    Six battleground states don’t allow verification to begin until the day before Election Day (Iowa) or on Election Day itself (Maine, Michigan, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin). Real problems will emerge here, especially when there’s a big increase in mail-in ballots over 2016.

    There will also be problems in states that send applications or ballots to everyone on the rolls, even people classified as “inactive,” meaning they haven’t voted in years and the Postal Service says they don’t live at that address anymore. At minimum, this will cost money and divert staff. It could also result in fraudulent ballots.

    One other thing: Mail-in ballots are rejected at a not insignificant rate, especially those filed by first-time mail-in voters who didn’t follow instructions properly. Imagine the scrutiny these will receive in a close contest. Democrats are likely to sue to force the counting of rejected and late-arriving ballots.

  35. 35.

    Redshift

    @Ed Marshall:

    The votes can’t be counted twice, but they *could* make a huge mess and provide cover for his story about a tainted election that he won while people try and count votes through it. 

    I can’t believe this is a deliberate plan, rather than Trump blurting out stuff he doesn’t understand. There’s going to be plenty of difficulty with an unprecedented number of mail in ballots anyway. He’s just BSing about how hard it would be to avoid duplicate ballots if, unlike election officials, you make no effort at all.

  36. 36.

    Mousebumples

    So apparently when I got married, and changed my name (and, I thought, changed the name on my registration), they just registered me as a new voter. So I could have been voting twice! (i called my Clerk of Elections earlier this week, and the voter files have now been combined)

    Probably somewhere that technology trips things up?

  37. 37.

    H.E.Wolf

    @Zzyzx: Greetings from an anarchist city. Apparently a few protests means that all of Seattle’s funds can be stripped.

    Not with Bob Ferguson as the WA State Attorney General, I betcha. He has consistently won lawsuits against the current administration, and shows no signs of stopping.

    2017 detailed profile here: https://www.thestranger.com/features/2017/03/15/25019169/how-washington-state-attorney-general-bob-ferguson-fought-trump-and-won-americas-heart

  39. 39.

    RaflW

    @Omnes Omnibus: I did say ‘could’. And to some extent, even the threat makes the seal just a little thinner.

    Indeed, as @Goku  is I think suggesting, even the threat of cutting funding makes the recipients of the coercive leverage all the less interested in federalism. If the places threatened are net tax donor regions, all the more reason to not want to let that genie out of the bottle. But, Trump is dumb. And desperate.

  40. 40.

    Zzyzx

    He has signed the EO. Whether it has power or not is a different story. Regardless, I’m furious. I mean if he wants to let us form Cascadia, I guess I’ll be down but we’re talking western Montana and the Bay Area with us.

  41. 41.

    Redshift

    @Kristine:

    In Illinois–in Lake County, at least–the ballot status info shows up at check-in. The check-in judge would see that a mail ballot had been sent to the voter, but not returned. If you bring that mail-in ballot with you, you surrender it, and you vote the old-fashioned way. If you haven’t brought the ballot with, you need to vote provisionally. 

    Same here in Virginia.

  43. 43.

    randy khan

    @sanjeevs:

    Rove’s list of battleground states is interesting.  If some of them really are battleground states, it’s hard to see how Trump wins.

  44. 44.

    Kay

    “I don’t know what the law in the particular state says,” the attorney general responded.
    “You can’t vote twice,” Blitzer pointed out.
    “I don’t know what the law in that particular state says,” Barr dodged again.
    “Is there any state that says you can vote twice?” Blitzer said, trying another tack.
    “There are some that maybe you can change your vote up to a particular term,” Barr said, before quickly hitting back at Blitzer for ambushing him. “Why are you asking me what he’s saying?”

    Voting More than Once. 42 U.S.C. § 1973i(e)
    Section 1973i(e), enacted as part of the 1975 amendments to
    the Voting Rights Act of 1965, makes it a crime to vote “more than
    once” in any election in which a federal candidate is on the ballot.
    Violations are punishable by imprisonment for up to five years.

    Donald Trump hires bad people.

  47. 47.

    jonas

    @Ken: Barr’s “logic” statement reminds me of Queeg and the strawberries from The Caine Mutiny.

    OMG this!!

    They laughed at me and made jokes, but I proved beyond the shadow of a doubt and with – geometric logic – that a duplicate key to the wardroom icebox DID exist! And I’d have PRODUCED that key if they hadn’t’ve pulled the Caine out of action! I, I, I know now they were only trying to protect some fellow officers…

    The only difference is that Queeg realizes at that moment that he’s inadvertently confirming the accusations that he’s delusional. Barr’s just like “Fuck it. And fuck you, Blitzer.”

  48. 48.

    Kent

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):Well, then I guess the city of Seattle and state of Washington can stop collecting federal taxes (or do and withhold them) until the funding is returned, right?

    Unfortunately my Federal taxes don’t pass through the hands of the city of Seattle or State of Washington.  They go straight to the IRS.  I’m not aware that cities or states pay any Federal taxes.

  50. 50.

    jonas

    @Heywood J.: Not gonna happen. But agree that he’s easily the most dangerous villain in this whole shitshow. Trump’s a stroke and/or dementia-addled idiot. Barr really does want to use this opportunity to turn the country into a Franco/Pinochet-style religious autocracy.

  51. 51.

    craigie

    I believe the only people who vote twice are rich Republicans with homes in several states. You can’t convince me that Rupert Murdoch, the Cheneys, and John McCain (when alive), all didn’t or don’t vote from all their residences. That’s the only mail vote fraud that really happens.

  52. 52.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Kent:

    Surely, there must be something the city can do to retaliate. This is outrageous. Stripping a city of all federal funds just because they don’t bend the knee? What’s to stop a future Dem admin from stripping whole red states of federal funding?

    @Zzyzx:

    So much for federalism and local control, huh?

  53. 53.

    mrmoshpotato

    Anyone have Kurt Eichenwald calling Adam Carolla a stupid bitchwaffle?

    Oh, and also @adamcarolla, you fucking unread moron – COVID causes myocarditis & lung lesions in majority of infected, even the young asymptomatic. So please, go lick some doorknobs. Show the epidemiologists how brilliant you are. And while you're at – shut the hell up again.— Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) September 2, 2020

  54. 54.

    RaflW

    @randy khan: If today’s AZ poll is even remotely reflective of early November sentiment, Trump is in deep doo doo. He’s down by nine, and McSally is gasping for oxygen.

    There are probably maps that get the shigibbon to an E.C. win without AZ, but it is definitely more difficult.

    Not advocating letting up one iota. But the RNC (nor the DNC) really didn’t shift things. And that’s bad for Trumpublicans.

  55. 55.

    West of the Rockies

    @Zzyzx:

    Maybe Inslee and Gavin Newsom should say their states won’t be contributing any taxes.  Both states give more than they receive, unlike states that get more than they contribute.  See how The Orange Turd likes that idea.

  56. 56.

    RaflW

    @mrmoshpotato: I stopped following Kurt quite a while ago. It was a little too much for me. So I hadn’t known that he’d lost a sibling to Covid. Dang.

    And from the little I know of Corolla, he’s a jackknob.

  57. 57.

    Martin

    @Roger Moore: Down here in OC they’ll actually call you to reconcile the discrepancy. They’ll also call you if the ballot is unclear.

    That’s why it takes a month to certify the count.

  58. 58.

    Kay

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    It’s probably a lie though. It’s part of their law n order political campaign. It isn’t real. They spend all their time performing these stunts and it’s all bullshit. No one ever does any real work.

  59. 59.

    Martin

    @West of the Rockies: The taxes aren’t a problem – we’re infinite dollars into deficit spending now.

    But, stop the flow of goods out of SeaTac and Port of LA/LB and shit will get real, fast. CA can additionally start hoarding fruits and vegetables.

  60. 60.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @West of the Rockies:

    According to Kent up above, states don’t collect federal taxes. No idea if that’s accurate or not. Personally, I definitely think the state and Seattle should do something to fuck over the Trump admin twice as hard. It’s the only thing they understand

  61. 61.

    Calouste

    @jonas: Minor problem for Barr in the execution: Spain and Chile were both 90%+ Catholic under those dictatorships, a religion with a single leader (conveniently living abroad). A US religious dictatorship would quickly devolve into what religion exactly to follow. I’m just reading a book about Oliver Cromwell and there was some serious infighting going on between different flavors of Protestantism (Anglicans, Presbyterians, Puritans etc) at that time.

  63. 63.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): It was pure theater on the part of Trump.  He’s is going to do a lot of shit like that over the next couple of months, and it is important that people stay on task.  Voting, the ability to vote, and the counting of votes are it.  Pretty much everything else requires hunkering down and weathering the storm.

  64. 64.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Martin:

    Do states control those ports? Couldn’t the Trump admin claim that the Feds control those ports (since they’re international ports of entry), or at least that the federal government should control them for the time being, that it’s a matter of “national security” and take direct control of the ports with Border Patrol storm troopers?

  66. 66.

    Yutsano

    @Kent:

    I’m not aware that cities or states pay any Federal taxes.

    Well…Cities pay federal payroll taxes for their employees. Some states do, some don’t, depending on their retirement systems. Washington has all pensions so they don’t withhold Social Security for state employees. I’m not certain if they do for Medicare. As far as I know no state has a federal tax liability.

    You are correct in that no state or city collects any taxes for the federal government. That happens when the employer files and pays for their 941 form.

  67. 67.

    Mallard Filmore

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

     

    Do states control those ports? Couldn’t the Trump admin claim that the Feds control those ports (since they’re international ports of entry), that it’s a matter of “national security” and take direct control of them with Border Patrol storm troopers?

    OK, let’s say the feds control the ports. It’s a long way inland to red states. It would take a very large occupation force to protect the road and rail corridors

    add:  and any little disturbance will chase the international shipping away.  Insurance for the ships will evaporate.

  70. 70.

    Yutsano

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):  The ports are state enterprises from what I understand. The Supreme Court has weighed in on whether a private corporation can be seized by the federal government for its own purposes. (Spoiler: no. No it can’t.) And odds are before that case even gets through the lower courts he’s lost the election and the question is moot.

  72. 72.

    tokyokie

    @randy khan: Tom Seaver originally signed with my team, the Braves, in 1966, except because he was a student at USC, that was a rule violation. But because he’d signed a contract, he could no longer play at Southern California. So any team willing to meet the Braves’ bonus offer of $40,000 could claim his services, and three teams — the Mets, Indians, and Phillies — were willing to pay that much. So the teams’ names went into a hat, and the Mets’ name was drawn, and the rest is history.

     

    Although I’ve never been a Mets fan, I always thought Seaver was a class act, and could never work up much hate against him, as opposed to the likes Curt Schilling or Steve Garvey. But when I read that his Alzheimer’s was so bad that he couldn’t attend the 50-year reunion of the Miracle Mets, I was deeply saddened and knew that he wasn’t long for this world.

     

    By the way, Adam Duvall hammered three home runs for the Braves tonight, and as Marcell Ozuna did likewise the previous game, they became the first teammates to have three-homer games in consecutive games. I also think it might have been the Braves’ first sweep of a three-game series in Boston since 1952.

  73. 73.

    Martin

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Ports are regulated by the feds as ports of entry, but the Port of LA/LB is managed by the city.

    The state can deal with this however works best for them – stopping operation of the port, stopping traffic leaving the port., stopping traffic leaving the state, etc.

    These are all arguably violations of the commerce clause or interstate transport act, but defunding a city is comparably illegal. So, it’s a game of chicken in the courts.

    I mean, none of this is about making a nation work better – it’s about signaling power. Yes, defunding Seattle will make Seattleites suffer, but it’s going to be pretty fucking noticeable nationally  when nobody can buy leafy greens or buy, well, almost any durable good, virtually all of which have some part of their supply chain in Asia.

  75. 75.

    Bill Arnold

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    Border Patrol storm troopers?

    Pretty sure that Border Patrol personnel could not run ports. They could try to force others to run ports.

    Anyway, who the fuck wrote the memorandum? It’s a bunch of Fox News grievance bullshit. I’m not sure about some of the numbers (e.g. how is a police officer injury defined?), and I would bet big money that many cities without protests, some with Republican leadership, have worse increases in crime rates. The botched Executive Branch handling of the COVID-19 pandemic response is perturbing the populace by causing joblessnes, lockdowns/unsatisfied social needs, etc. (Also, it is destroying 10s of thousands of businesses.)
    https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/memorandum-reviewing-funding-state-local-government-recipients-permitting-anarchy-violence-destruction-american-cities/

  77. 77.

    randal m sexton

    @Roger Moore: I worked as a judge at many elections in California.  Some of the material given to a precinct is a list of the voters, and whether they have recieved a VBM ballot, And, whether that VBM ballot has been counted already- already processed by the district.  In any case if a provisional ballot is cast AND a VBM ballot shows up- this is noticed, and the district can try and determine if it was a fraud attempt. But every ballot is associated with one and one only voter, but the choices on the ballot are private.  There is no chance of voting twice.

  79. 79.

    Yutsano

    @Martin: I can’t think of a single business that wants that tax liability. I could see pretty much everyone else besides the federal government (fuck you very much OPM) just sending the payroll taxes as normal. Especially since I didn’t see anywhere that the business portion was deferred. Just the personal side.

  80. 80.

    Ian

    @RaflW:

    Withholding money from states over policy been going on for a long time.  States lost transportation funding when they didn’t set speed limits according to national standards, Southern states were often threatened with withholding funding during post-civil rights integration, educational federal funding is tied to federal standards, and on and on.

    Trump is just being overly obnoxious about it.  This money gets set and allocated by Congress, and he can only order his agencies to dick around with it so much.

  82. 82.

    Martin

    @Ian: Except the authority to withhold that funding was built into the legislation, IIRC. It was up to the executive to actually withhold it, but Congress said it was okay to do so.

    Not so much in this case. There’s no law in Congress that has a clause saying a state/city can be withheld funding because people are protesting the President or the police.

  84. 84.

    rikyrah

    The moment the ballot is mailed, you are placed on a WHO VOTED LIST.

    If you try and vote in person, you will be voting a Provisional Ballot. They are all researched before accepting or rejecting.

  85. 85.

    Sebastian

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    Ports and airports are usually legal entities under local law, like utility companies and such. LAX for instance is LAWA with CEO, board, etc but they have to procure like any other Los Angeles County agency. The Feds can try to take over but it’s very hard to force hundreds of people to keep a complex machine running. All you need is a few folks slow walking and the whole thing comes to a grinding halt.

    “no, I don’t know how to operate this 75 ton truck blocking all the others. Jim does that but he is on sick leave I think. You have to ask my boss!”

  86. 86.

    Jay

    In 2015, Kenosha cop Pablo Torres shot and killed a man armed with a bucket. It was his first day back after another shooting 10 days earlier. He had a 200-page disciplinary file, with 9 excessive force complaints. The Kenosha police union paid tribute to him with this billboard. pic.twitter.com/2OBGqoD1Zz— Radley Balko (@radleybalko) September 2, 2020

  87. 87.

    Jackmac

    @randy khan: White Sox fans can also claim a piece of Seaver. After all, he won No. 300 while with the Sox and in front of Thousands of howling Mets fans at Yankee Stadium.  Pretty cool scene.

  93. 93.

    Kent

    @West of the Rockies:Maybe Inslee and Gavin Newsom should say their states won’t be contributing any taxes.  Both states give more than they receive, unlike states that get more than they contribute.  See how The Orange Turd likes that idea.

    States don’t pay taxes.  People do.  Good luck convincing the IRS you don’t owe federal taxes because you live in CA and your governor said so.

  94. 94.

    mrmoshpotato

    Again – congrats to all of the selfish shithead children who just couldn’t vote for Hillary.

    Well. Fucking. Done.  Assholes.

  95. 95.

    Kent

    @Ian:

    @RaflW:

    Withholding money from states over policy been going on for a long time.  States lost transportation funding when they didn’t set speed limits according to national standards, Southern states were often threatened with withholding funding during post-civil rights integration, educational federal funding is tied to federal standards, and on and on.

    Trump is just being overly obnoxious about it.  This money gets set and allocated by Congress, and he can only order his agencies to dick around with it so much.

    All of that was done by legislation, not personal whim of the president.

  96. 96.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @Kent: Correct, though as Kay has pointed out compliance is more of a norm.  If a significant number of people(say the taxpayers in California) told the IRS to fuck off, there’s little the IRS could do except attempt to make examples of a small number of people.  They don’t have the personnel to go after a large number of people that don’t comply.

  98. 98.

    TS (the original)

    A Minnesota biker who attended the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally has died of covid-19 — the first fatality from the virus traced to the 10-day event that drew more than 400,000 to South Dakota.

    The man was in his 60s, had underlying conditions and was hospitalized in intensive care after returning from the rally, said Kris Ehresmann, infectious-disease director at the Minnesota Department of Health

    I guess one of the underlying conditions was being stupid/believing trump/thinking the virus cares about who it kills.

    The case is among at least 260 cases in 11 states tied directly to the event, according to a survey of health departments by The Washington Post.

     

  106. 106.

    Mart

    I was going to vote absentee but changed plans. After standing in line when they looked up my name they said I can’t vote in person, I have an absentee ballot. I said I did not use it. Man said bring It in and he will tear it up and allow me to vote. Had a plane to catch so no vote from me. Me and Trump are dumbasses thinking there were no controls.

  110. 110.

    Jim Buell

    @rikyrah: I’m trying to learn more about these “Who Voted” Lists, and spotted your post in a web search just now. What’s your source for this? I’m really worried about this as a potential voter suppression tactic come Nov. 3, and a ballot counting suppression tactic from Nov. 4. Provisional ballots are also known widely as ‘placebo’ ballots, because they’re so seldom ever actually counted, and certainly never on election night (see e.g. Brennan Center, ACLU, Palast Investigative Fund, etc.). The only official mention I’ve seen of such a ‘Who Voted’ list being used to cage voters this time is in an FAQ from the Cook County IL clerk’s office (i.e., Chicago and surrounding localities). They say that anyone who requests a mail-in ballot and then decides to vote in person instead of using it may do so, but they need to BRING their un-returned mail-in ballot WITH THEM and surrender it when they vote; otherwise, they’ll be handed a provisional ballot rather than being allowed to vote normally. (https://www.cookcountyclerk.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/Mail%20Voting%20Frequently%20Asked%20Questions_0.pdf – “3. If I apply for a Mail Ballot and decide to vote in-person, is that allowed?”) Is this common practice in other states, particularly the expected battlegrounds e.g. WI, MI, FL?

  111. 111.

    WaterGirl

    @Jim Buell:  The first comment by a new person has to be manually approved.  I have just approved yours.

    However, this thread is so old that rikyrah will not see your question.

    Yes, in Illinois it is true that:IF you send in your completed application to vote by mail

    and

    then you decide to vote in person

    You must bring your mail-in ballot when you go to vote in person.

    If you do not bring it with you, you will get a provisional ballot.

    I do not know about other states.  You can go to each state website and find out how they handle it.

    You can also try posting your question in a current thread where people will be likely to see your question!

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