Steve Bannon talked about “flooding the zone with shit,” meaning overwhelming people with disinformation. That is what Donald Trump and his people are doing now with respect to voting. Our job is to resist it and turn it back.
Trump tweets multiple times a day about voting by mail. In his tweets, he emphasizes how unsure, how erratic it is. In fact, Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Utah, and Washington primarily use a vote by mail system. Most other states allow absentee voting by mail, under a variety of rules. That variety is being exploited by Trump’s man in the Post Office, Louis DeJoy, who is sending out postcards claiming to remind people about voting. Those postcards are incorrect for many states. The Colorado Secretary of State has tweeted out a correction and is suing the Postal Service for disrupting the election.
I just found out the @USPS is sending this postcard to every household and PO Box in the nation. For states like Colorado where we send ballots to all voters, the information is not just confusing, it’s WRONG. (Thread) pic.twitter.com/RoTTeJRJVl
— Jena Griswold (@JenaGriswold) September 12, 2020
In response to that suit, a federal court is blocking sending out the postcards.
?BREAKING: Federal Court BLOCKS @Dejoy and @USPS from sending out mailers in Colorado with false and misinformation about voting.
Court says it is deeply troubled" by Defs conduct: "The Notice provides false or misleading information about the manner of Colorado’s elections" pic.twitter.com/qF8oON2Pws
— Marc E. Elias (@marceelias) September 13, 2020
But many have already been sent out. I received one on Saturday (September 12). Others have received them in Maryland, Massachusetts, Kansas, California, and Ohio (see this thread).
Trump has also been tweeting instructions to voters in North Carolina that could lead to double voting, a felony. His argument seems to be that by voting by mail and then showing up to vote in person, voters can make sure their ballots are being counted. States have procedures that weed out duplicate ballots of this type, and the North Carolina Attorney General has told people not to do this.
NORTH CAROLINA: Do NOT do what the President directs. To make sure your ballot COUNTS, sign and send it in EARLY. Then track it ONLINE with BALLOTTRAX. Do NOT vote twice (it’s a felony), or waste your time, or unnecessarily risk exposure to more people. https://t.co/jOKYoR4hnr https://t.co/1cF6tJoHA4
— Josh Stein (@JoshStein_) September 12, 2020
The intention is to confuse voters and make the ballot-counting more difficult. It also sets the stage for Trump to claim problems in the counting. The idea that he might bring legal action or urge his “militia” supporters to riot is an implicit threat.
Roger Stone has brought in his own brand of disruption, suggesting that Trump invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807 to seize Nevada’s ballots and arrest a bunch of his and QAnon’s favorite enemies. On its face, in a law-abiding administration, this suggestion would be shocking. Stone is known for his theatrics and political games (ratf***ing). His intention is that we not know what to expect, up to and including a major illegal seizure of power on election night.
The way to deal with this is to be prepared for many possible disruptions on Election Day and beyond. Back in April, Biden said that he expects Trump to cause some sort of disruption. Ronald Brownstein quotes leaders of progressive organizations preparing to deal with that disruption. David Corn reports on wargaming of the election to help plan.
Biden has a strong volunteer base in his campaign, and I would not be surprised if that base includes lawyers ready to do battle in court as well.
It’s best that the organizations involved in planning not lay out their plans this early, which would help Republicans to develop responses.
My own expectation is that Trump and his people will do much less than they are threatening. Poll watchers are severely restricted in what they can do. The media are starting – barely – to point out that we may not know the results on election night. I’m trying to get that word out on Twitter, as are others. Trump is fundamentally a coward and blowhard, but it’s prudent to prepare for the worst.
Our best defense is an overwhelming and decisive vote for Biden, which is why Trump and others are trying to muddy those waters. Check your state’s election board or Secretary of State. They should have websites. Or you can go to usa.gov to find information.
VOTE
AND GET YOUR FRIENDS TO VOTE FOR JOE BIDEN AND DEMOCRATS DOWN THE LINE
dnfree
We got our postcard in Illinois. I’m voting early in person. I don’t trust the handling of mail ballots.
Steeplejack (phone)
Well stated, Cheryl. Today I talked to a normally calm friend who is freaked out about Election Day disruptions and dirty tracks. I hope the Democrats are planning massive countermeasures behind the scenes. I have to admit the level of public concern seems a little underwhelming.
David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch
Woodward will be on 60 minutes tonight flooding the zone.
Steeplejack (phone)
@dnfree:
Early voting starts Friday here in Virginia. I am planning to vote next week.
schrodingers_cat
BS has emerged rested from his third home ? to tell Biden how he is campaigning wrong
mitzimuffin
New Jersey here. Got my misinformation postcard Friday.
Scout211
I posted in an earlier thread about that. When I got that postcard in the mail last week, I was confused. Our county in California has been 100% mail-in for the past year. Many counties opted in for that and California was in the gradual process of moving to 100% mail-in. This November, every voter will be mailed a ballot.
The postcard was confusing, only mentioning “absentee” requests and also stating that the ballot should be mailed 7 days before the Election Day, which no one believes is enough time. At first I thought it was incompetence but upon further review, nope.
PsiFighter37
@David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch: Knowing how much of a diva Woodward is, he probably has some more juicy bits up his sleeve.
@schrodingers_cat: Fuck Wilmer.
Gravenstone
Those are the same post cards sent to WI voters. I suspect they’re using a “one size fits all” approach because they know it will conflict with a lot of individual state systems.
Ruckus
Already got mine in CA
Already threw it out.
I’ve suggested before that if you get a real ballot in the mail, which for example CA is sending out to every voter, that you vote early and that you take your ballot to a drop off box, rather than trust the mail to get it there on time. Other states vary with the exact procedure but CA now has early voting, and drop off is allowed at polling places and there are boxes in many other places. The registrar of voters has a specific page for the location of the local polls and all drop boxes. The 2016 election I dropped my ballot off at a library and the primary this year at my local polling location. (I’d moved inbetween)
Ruckus
@schrodingers_cat:
I agree with the general principle,
BS is full of BS and should go impale himself upon his organ.
dexwood
Found one stinking up my NM mailbox yesterday.
Scout211
And a further note re: California. Our county had centralized ballot drop boxes throughout the county so no need to mail the ballots and trust the USPS. I assume that will be available in all the other counties now that California is 100% mail-in. We also had regional voting centers for early and Election Day in-person voting. It’s good to live in a Blue State.
Kay
I think they don’t have to repeat the lies when they debunk them. Honestly, this does more harm than good. For this set of lies, the only people who would have heard and been fooled are Trump voters at a rally, and they’re impossible to reach anyway. They’re gone. No point telling them anything.
Kay
I got one and threw it away, naively assuming the postamaster general wasn’t burning the midnight oil seeking to lie to and disenfranchise the people who pay him.
Next time I’ll read it, if only to find out what the low quality hires spend their days doing, because they sure don’t spend any time working. That’s what I get for trusting any one of these crooks and slimeballs for 4 seconds.
Sab
Are they sending these to every postal customer house? We only got one although there are three registered voters using this address. They might end up confusimg more of their own voters than ours.
Gin & Tonic
We have in-person early voting this year, I believe for the first time. Starting October 13 or 14.
I’m not going to go early, though. This is an important election, and I need to take my time and listen carefully to all the candidates before making my decision.
Mallard Filmore
@Kay:
Save the next one. In 100 years it will be a valuable antique keepsake.
TS (the original)
They are also, presumably adding millions of mail items to an already collapsing mail system, which together with confusing voters, was no doubt the plan in the first place.
frosty
PA. We got the same postcard. I’m going in person to get my vote counted on Election Day. No early voting here, I’ll wait in line with my MAGAt neighbors if I have to.
LivingInExile
@Gin & Tonic: Ohhh, such a funny boy. \\
Kay
Another proud, proud day for the Republican Party. They’re using footage taken IN THEIR CHURCH to launch racist attacks against them.
Not one Republican in Congress will dare object. They’re all terrified of the thugs they created and loosed on this country.
Barr should come out and deliver another scolding, sanctimonious lecture on morality to the nation.
What an absolute fraud.
SFAW
I’ve said it more than a couple of times in the past: where is Kevin Uxbridge when we need him, to rid us of these Husnock? Every fucking one of the Murderer-in-Chief’s enablers/minions.
Lapassionara
@Gin & Tonic: Hah!
Baud
@Kay: And they got Mike Pence to do it!
FlyingToaster (Tablet)
We got one Friday, addressed to my husband, and it was completely inaccurate about voting by mail in the
People’s RepublicCommonwealth. Alas for DeJoy, ourPrince of DarknessSecretary of the Commonwealth had sent the actual vote-by-mail instructions postcard a couple weeks earlier.We live 4 blocks from our single-precinct polling place, and .7mi from Town Hall, for early voting. Fuck these never-ending-Gish-Gallop assholes.
Baud
@Gin & Tonic:
Having Kanye in there makes the decision that much more difficult.
debbie
I counted 35 Biden signs on my 28-minute walk just now. (Maybe 36; I was distracted briefly by a very cute puppy bounding my way.)
Baud
@debbie: Did you intend to post that in the signs thread below?
Elizabelle
Settling in for The Princess Bride live reading. Wisconsin Dems. Program not on yet.
They are NOT flooding the zone with shit.
Foo on Bannon and his ilk.
debbie
@Baud:
Why would I suddenly start making sense? //
Seriously, I don’t know how you people keep so many tabs open without getting confused.
opiejeanne
opiejeanne
@Elizabelle: Bannon is worse than dog shit.
West of the Rockies
I’m not able to log into the Princess Bride reading. I paid, everything was a go, but I’m not finding the actual internet comnection to watch. Tried FB, Actblue…
Where are you guys going?
Omnes Omnibus
@Elizabelle: @opiejeanne: I just came to see if I was missing something because it hadn’t started yet.
Omnes Omnibus
@West of the Rockies: You should have received an email with the link.
Baud
@Omnes Omnibus: Inconceivable!
LuciaMia
The simplest thing is for everyone to check their own State’s official voting website..
J R in WV
@debbie:
I’ve seen people talk about dozens of open tabs. I limit myself to a handful or two, a standard set of Google news, my email,, weather, B-J, LGM, and some special interest sites that I open and close pretty promptly.
But I’m with Gin & tonic, regarding a long and careful study of the candidates and their positions! /snark.
Marcopolo
@West of the Rockies: I received a confirmation email after the donation and then giving registration info. The link was in the confirmation email titled: WisDems Presents: A Princess Bride Reunion Registration Confirme
That being said, either they are having issues, I am having issues or it hasn’t started yet cause all I am getting is the start video screen.
skerry
@West of the Rockies: link
Elizabelle
@West of the Rockies: Didn’t they send you an email log in?
Here’s what I got.
Here’s the link to the show: https://wisdems.brand.live/c/princess-bride-reunion
When I clicked on it, they asked for my name, email, zip and phone number.
Then I got the blue screen.
NOW: I just checked email and got a second email with a login button.
And am now looking at a silent backdrop of a castle.
How are you guys doing??
mac8
I think the Wisconsin Democrats and/or the tech team may have underestimated the amount of Princess Bride fans who would be logging on to this thing.
J. Squid
I got my postcard here in Oregon this week. I was so excited I immediately requested my mail-in ballot (often called “absentee” ballot) at least 15 days before Election Day!*
I’m so thankful to the Duke of the USPS for making good use of his service’s budget.**
* I did nothing of the sort because after a quarter century here, I know how voting by mail works in my state. That is that there is no other option.
** I am, in fact, pissed that they’re wasting money this way while destroying the USPS for fictional budgetary reasons.
SiubhanDuinne
Anyone else having trouble with the Princess Bride site?
Bonnie
Washington State has been voting by mail since 2005. I love this system. Also, there are in most places a special box to put only ballots in it. They are usually right next to a mailbox. My sister and I have always used the ballot box for obvious reasons. Also, we usually fill out our ballots as soon as we get them; and, then, we drive to nearest ballot box. However, before Trump, I have always had a high regard for the USPS. (Is there any American institution that trump and is toadies haven’t destroyed?) I don’t care if I know who is President on Tuesday night. As it is, my sister and I always watch movies all day on election day because the election coverage is soooo boring.
LuciaMia
@Omnes Omnibus: Okay, not just me. C’mon, guys. Get Miracle Max on the problem.
West of the Rockies
@SiubhanDuinne:
Yup. Twitter is ablaze with confusion.
sanjeevs
From the Financial Times
Elizabelle
It’s on! Patton Oswalt up!
mac8
@Elizabelle: For me too!
Kent
By which he means that Biden is not campaigning exactly like Wilmer did. Because we all know how well that worked when it was just a select group of primary voters, much less a broad and diverse electorate in critical swing states.
Fuck him. He *could* do what Elizabeth Warren is currently doing which is unreservedly leaving it all on the field for Biden. But no, he’d rather kvetch.
Omnes Omnibus
@mac8: At least then they raised a shitload of money.
Marcopolo
@sanjeevs: And yet, the Ds are outraising them. Dramatically. No link for the article but without that information the article is lacking some context.
skerry
@mac8: I still have the backdrop
SiubhanDuinne
@West of the Rockies:
Glad it’s not just me. I keep getting a message that Safari can’t connect to the server. I seem to recall this happening a year or two ago with some massively-hyped concert. It finally connected, I think, after about an hour of confusion and fuckery.
Elizabelle
Does this gentleman look like the prototypical Democratic liberal male?
He is wonderful.
LuciaMia
It was on, then off, on,then off again. Now its stalled again. oh, cmon.
Libbys Person
@West of the Rockies: have you found it yet? Do you think it’s okay to post the link?
SiubhanDuinne
@Elizabelle:
I can’t even get the castle now.
Will try again….
Elizabelle
@SiubhanDuinne: Hope you are settled in now. It’s a young man in a violet colored shirt giving us a pep talk.
Jinchi
I’m pretty sure the Trump voters are getting the message that Democrats are cheating by letting illegal aliens vote and stuffing ballot boxes, so it’s only fair that Republicans get to vote by mail and in person.
Kent
Mine is the only one I have even seen in my neighborhood (greater Vancouver WA area). I don’t know of another within walking distance of my house. What state are you in?
There go two miscreants
On Firefox, no login just the backdrop. No audio yet.
Edit — now video is up!
mac8
@skerry: Try a different browser, maybe. I was getting that until I switched to chrome, then at least I saw the video player.
N M
Paging @Adam Silverman: https://www.logically.ai/articles/qanon-key-figure-man-from-new-jersey
Marcopolo
Ben should have kept this a lot shorter. Oh well. I guess we are captive, right?
Elizabelle
Guys: try refreshing your browsers? Click the confirmation email again? I ended up with two screens. Wish I could share one with you.
Still a Dems organizing pep.
LuciaMia
Was that the Youtube tribute to Sondheim?
Omnes Omnibus
Okay, I’ve got Ben Wikler talking now.
West of the Rockies
Thanks, everybody! I’ve got the site…
debbie
@Kent:
Columbus, Ohio, believe it or not.
mac8
About to start the reading now. 91K thousand people watching now, up from 65K when it first started.
SiubhanDuinne
@LuciaMia: That’s it!! Thanks.
Elizabelle
I will entertain you all with the loopiest sign I have seen this weekend:
small plane pulling a banner: Confederate flag — is it a Trump ad?
No. It says: STILL CAPITOL OF THE CONFEDERACY.
Absolutely perfectly, I spied it while waiting on the light next to the AP Hill burial monument in Richmond VA, now in the middle of a busy intersection.
I think the plane was up there because — it’s NASCAR weekend in Richmond. Yee haw.
Elizabelle
We get to do all the bookshelf/furnishings looky looing.
Rob Reiner.
SiubhanDuinne
Okay, I finally have the title image but no sound or anything. Just a static picture.
LuciaMia
It started, but it keeps freezing. Have to keep refreshing
Omnes Omnibus
@SiubhanDuinne: Try refreshing. It worked for me.
Kay
@Jinchi:
I think his voters ballots are going to be all fucked up because he has no idea how any of this works and he’s always talking about “signing ballots”.
Omnes Omnibus
Whoopi is having sound problems.
Elizabelle
Fingers crossed you’re all doing well.
Whoopi’s audio was off, but the kid is great, and RReiner is great as the grandfather.
Kay
@Jinchi:
I hope they write all over the ballot. Then it’s spoiled and not counted. People claim that Trump votes but if he does someone else is doing it for him because everything he’s telling them to do is wrong.
LuciaMia
Aw, I was really looking forward to this. Not gonna work if I have to refresh it literally every 30 seconds.
Jinchi
@Kent: Driving in the hills yesterday I came across a large field with 4 large Trump 2020 flags. In the center of the field was an ATV that had burst into flames driving across the dry grass. It was a metaphor for the times, and I was a bit ticked off that the idiot started a grass fire just a few miles upwind of a town of 100,000 people during the worst fire season in memory.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Kent:
She’s from Ohio, of all places. In my neighborhood, there’s no signs at all. Around town I do see plenty of Trump signs
Jinchi
@Kay: I guarantee that Trump signs his ballot. I’m not so sure that he realizes he’s supposed to mark it, though.
Elizabelle
Audio probs with Wallace Shawn.
Omnes Omnibus
@Elizabelle: And Fezzik….
LuciaMia
Working now. This is so wonderfully goofy.
Elizabelle
@Omnes Omnibus: Andre the mute.
Inigo Montoya is in fine voice.
Libbys Person
Whew! They seem to be working through the audio problems.
Jeffro
They’re going to try and disrupt the election, and call any results – small/med/large Biden win – into question. We should
Everyone keeps talking about all the disruption and potential violence if/when trumpov loses…I don’t think he and his supporters get it. If he keeps doing this, or even if he tones it down and somehow manages to eke out a slim EC “victory”…there’s no way a majority of this country would accept the results. I know I won’t.
I don’t think it’ll come to it, but if trumpov’s willing to burn it all down to try and save himself, well, many of us are willing to do that and more to get him out. No. More.
Respect the results or face the consequences, Donnie you fraud.
Elizabelle
The shrieking eels. Forgot about them, for sure.
prostratedragon
@Gin & Tonic: Is my translator correct in rendering that statement as, “I will be knocking people over to get ahead of the early voting line?”
Kent
I guess that makes sense. Columbus is a bluish (I assume?) spot in a state that might be vaguely swingish if the winds blow in the right direction. If WA gets close or goes to Trump then we are truly in Dante’s 9th circle of hell.
Of course that doesn’t prevent our local MAGAts from putting 20 ft high Trump signs on their barns and driving around with tattered big Trump flags mounted in the back of their coal rolling trucks. The Trump flag has become the new Confederate flag around here. The new way for loser racists to self-identify.
But ordinary local suburban folks haven’t engaged yet. Over in Portland I see more signs but then it’s Portland. To properly sign up a Portland yard you need the Biden sign, but also the BLM signs and various other woke stuff like the multi-language everyone is welcome signs.
Omnes Omnibus
I love that Patinkin is acting his part and not just reading.
Elizabelle
@Omnes Omnibus: Yes. He’s fabulous.
And this is more like being the kid listening to Grandfather read the story. Sort of cool.
mac8
Patinkin even brought his sword to the reading. Love it.
Elizabelle
Cary Elwes should be wearing a black mask. Over his eyes.
Would be refreshing, in this day of masks.
Elizabelle
No one of consequence.
We have a jackal of that name. He’s a movie star!
Ken
I know what you mean. Yes, he seems the best of the protest candidates, but I worry that voting for him still amounts to sullying my precious vote by using it for someone less than perfect.
Omnes Omnibus
@Elizabelle: Mask now.
“Everyone will be wearing one in the future.”
LuciaMia
Wallace Shawn is having a fine old time.
Steeplejack (phone)
@N M:
Interesting article. Thanks for the link.
Elizabelle
@Omnes Omnibus: Loved that.
@LuciaMia: Yes. It’s going well.
How did Cary Elwes and Robin Wright only age 15 years in the intervening 37?
mac8
@LuciaMia: He really is having a ball.
Jeffro
It may have been earlier in the day, but apparently Ronna ROMNEY McDaniel has been tweeting about how poor Joe Biden’s response to/plans for the pandemic have been.
Um
Er
What?
Wasn’t it Charles Pierce who said the GOP has a collective prion disease?
mali muso
@Omnes Omnibus: Been waiting for that line!
Elizabelle
Rodent of Unusual Size? ROUS?
How do we not have a jackal of that name?
LuciaMia
Is that a grown up Fred Savage as the kid?
Geoduck
@Bonnie: Yeah, the system works well here Washington state and I wouldn’t want to go back, but I still get a little nostalgic about actually performing the voting ritual over at the local precinct station.
And I got one of the USPS cards.
Elizabelle
@LuciaMia: Don’t think so. I don’t know any of the younger actors these days. Probably really famous and — no clue.
Omnes Omnibus
@LuciaMia: No, a young actor named Finn Wolfhand.
Trollhattan
We received the post card yesterday in CA. IDK if it has misinformation WRT the ballot here.
dnfree
@Sab: ours is addressed to “Postal Customer”. I don’t think it’s tied to voter registration. The articles said it was also going to PO Boxes.
Elizabelle
@Omnes Omnibus: Wolfhard.
Born in 2002. (Feel ancient yet? I do.) Actor from Stranger Things. Canadian.
No wonder we like him.
Do you think that’s his birth name? Finn Wolfhard? Sounds like a Games of Thrones character.
Elizabelle
Isn’t it nice to have a Sarandon on screen and we are not wincing?
Chris Sarandon. He’s been good in a lot of movies.
Omnes Omnibus
@Elizabelle: I have lousy handwriting.
MisterForkbeard
@Jeffro: Apparently the new talking point is to pretend that Biden was getting the exact same intelligence and warning that Trump did, and that Biden’s response would have been worse somehow.
It’s staggeringly weird.
pattonbt
I just wanted to say how impressed I have been with Colorado. I have lived overseas for almost 20 years now and every election cycle they have improved the process for overseas voters. It is quick, simple and electronic. And I think I get my ballot this week!
Omnes Omnibus
I wonder how much money this thing has made. 99,000 + are watching.
Omnes Omnibus
Miracle Max with his hat.
Jeffro
@MisterForkbeard: That’s a good way to to put it… 0_0
“YOUWOULDHAVEDONE ALLTHESAMETHINGS TOLDTHESAME LIESSTILLBEENHOLDINGAL LTHESENO-MASKRALLIESLIKEI’MDOINGNOW …wait…”
All Biden has to say is, “If you knew back in February that it was highly contagious and was spread through respiration…why do you keep having these large in-person rallies? Don’t you care about your cultists?”
Zinsky
Roger Stone is shit wrapped in skin and the most unAmerican scumbag to ever besmirch our political system. The fact that Trump commuted this antisocial, lifelong criminal’s prison sentence may be among the most heinous things Trump has ever done. No one deserves to die in prison more than Roger Stone. I hope in the Biden Administration, additional charges are made against Stone and he lands in prison where he is broken and abused like he has done to so many others.
mac8
I am so distracted looking at everything in Billy Crystal’s background.
prostratedragon
@MisterForkbeard: And apparently Stephanopoulos has started spreading this nonsense around, per earlier threads here and on twitter. Trying to get Symone Sanders on the defensive about it.
Omnes Omnibus
Celery soda.
patrick Il
@Jeffro: Stone was Changed with lying about the Crimes he commitbel. Next time they can charge him with the actual crimes .
Omnes Omnibus
“I hope we win.” I have always loved that line. Fezzik’s simple decency as a war-starting brute is sweet.
Steeplejack
@Jeffro:
Thank you for breaking the blog!
When someone does one of these hilarious run-on-no-spaces things it completely fucks up the comment box in “mobile” mode—phone and tablet displays—because the comment box embiggens itself to encompass the wide line width and leaves the reader able to see only a small part of the comment box on their screen.
Maybe just stick to trying to make “TCNJ” a thing.
mac8
Mandy Patinkin is simply amazing in this.
mali muso
@mac8: Yeah, he is really acting his heart out. Loving this!
WaterGirl
@Jeffro: I edited to add a small number of spaces to fix the formatting issues on mobile.
WaterGirl
@Steeplejack: Spaces added, it should be fine now.
Omnes Omnibus
@mac8: He is having a great time.
Steeplejack (phone)
@WaterGirl:
Thank you.
WaterGirl
@Steeplejack (phone): You can always text me when that happens, and if I’m around I’ll fix it.
Elizabelle
Have you ever considered piracy?
LOL.
Omnes Omnibus
That was great.
Another Scott
I’m glad TPB seems to be going well after some early hick-ups. I’m sure that, unless they planned ahead, it was appearing to be a mini-DDOS (distributed denial of service attack). TPB is popular!!
In other news, Virginia can start voting this Friday September 18.
Vote NO on Amendment #1.
https://bluevirginia.us/2020/09/delegates-mark-levine-and-lamont-bagby-amendment-1-would-enshrine-gerrymandering-in-virginia-constitution-vote-no
Vote NO on Amendment #1!
Cheers,
Scott.
Elizabelle
It’s incredible the whole cast was good with doing this for Wisconsin.
And I thought Vince Vaughan did really well as Fezzick. It was wonderful. Wish we could see it again.
Omnes Omnibus
@Elizabelle: Josh Gad, not Vince Vaughn.
Another Scott
@Elizabelle: Presumably it will be on again. They simply said that this was the only time it would be “live”.
I hope so anyway!
Cheers,
Scott.
Elizabelle
@Omnes Omnibus: Oh.
That’s good. VV was getting extra brownie points cuz he’s a known rightwing type.
Josh Gad. Will have to look him up.
Elizabelle
Maybe they can do Spinal Tap for Pennsylvania.
Omnes Omnibus
@Elizabelle: I think he was the voice of the snowman in Frozen.
Darkrose
FTFNYT, but this from Ben Smith about how the Intercept burned Reality Winner is apalling:
Another Scott
@Darkrose: ‘Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it’s enemy action.’
I’m sorry she trusted them. :-(
Cheers,
Scott.
Jeffro
@Steeplejack: had no idea I had that kind of power…awesome!
I think I’ll use this again on…Tuesday!! ?
mwah-hah-hah!!
Jeffro
@WaterGirl: thank you, greatly appreciated!
Another Scott
I hadn’t seen the WisDems.org blurb about this (from 9/4): https://wisdems.org/news/the-princess-bride-cast-to-hold-reunion-script-reading-fundraiser-for-democratic-party-of-wisconsin/
Well done.
Cheers,
Scott.
debbie
@Elizabelle:
He has always been the better Sarandon.
Wyatt Salamanca
This story about VP debate moderator Susan Page is truly fucked up!
h/t https://twitter.com/murshedz/status/1304251728984977408
zhena gogolia
@Omnes Omnibus:
Wow, my brain broke as I scrolled past that one. Vince Vaughan is a wingnut.
Elizabelle
@zhena gogolia: Yeah. Which is why I was amazed he agreed to do it.
But ….
trollhattan
We know the AQI index tops at 500 but data will deliver results past that mark. IIUC they don’t have a meaning in health outcomes beyond “You’re gonna die!” and with that in mind I note Mammoth Lakes, CA–a tony ski resort on the Sierra Nevada east slope–currently tallies a 968. NB for oxygen fans, Mammoth Lakes elevation is 7,900 feet.
trollhattan
@Darkrose:
It seemed at best to be horrid mishandling on their part back then, and perhaps an active burn on her. Shame on them [editors note: Glem has his shame gland removed while still a young child].
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@Omnes Omnibus: Yep. And the sidekick in the live-action Beauty and the Beast.
I was amazed how well he channeled André, voice, accent, everything.
Did anyone else get a lot of screen freeze (finally bailing in the Q & A when it froze permanently)? Or is that just my internet connection. Other sites seem to be working OK.
Wyatt Salamanca
More on Susan Page conflict of interest:
h/t https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/09/veep-debate-moderator-hosted-dinner-honoring-pence-protg.html
Villago Delenda Est
@schrodingers_cat: Bernie and his fanbase can all go fuck off.
Villago Delenda Est
Update on the air in Tracktown, USA: AQI 427. It was foggy and smoky this morning, visibility as at about 500 feet, tops. The fog has burned (ouch!) off, but still very smokey.
Elizabelle
Chris Sarandon is from “a little coal town” in West Virginia. Hmmm. (He’s 78, too. Inconceivable.)
TS (the original)
@Wyatt Salamanca:
You would begin to think the media & every other organisation wants to re-elect trump. It becomes impossible to understand why – when the first thing a 2nd term trump would do would be to limit any interaction with the media other than with his very best friends. I guess those best friends now run the US media & those “not partisan” organisations.
Villago Delenda Est
@TS (the original): They love the high ratings they think are because of Donald.
Yet another reason why the Village media…well, my nym!
Wipe them out. All of them.
bluehill
Looks like TikTok is going to sell itself to Oracle. Interesting. TikTok rejected Microsoft’s bid even though Oracle doesn’t have much of a consumer business. I think Ellison is a Trump supporter and now he has access to a social media network that’s very popular with a young demographic.
Bill Arnold
@Darkrose:
A lot of people have hated The Intercept since they did that. Myself included. Occasionally I’ll look at a story depending on byline, but I prefer not to. Scum, as an institution.
Reality Winner, on the other hand, was(/is) very brave. Broke the law and had poor OpSec so got caught with The Intercept’s help, but sometimes the law needs to be broken.
“Be good and don’t get caught”.
L85NJGT
@TS (the original):
He’s a celebrity, they want to be celebrities.
Kay
Gross. Toadying up to him. It’s so perfect that they gave such a lofty name to these corruption-fests.
“Madison Dinners”. Insufferable.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@trollhattan: That’s kind of odd, the rest of the eastern Sierra seems to be smoke free.
Kay
Those poor employees. The Trump Administration sucks ’em right into the corruption.
Elizabelle
Reading up on the various cast bios: re Chris Sarandon’s 3rd marriage in 1994, which has lasted to this day: his wife is actress-singer Joanna Gleason, and her father is Monty Hall. The Let’s Make a Deal Monty Hall. Who lived until 2017.
Joanna and Monty are Canadian.
Christopher Guest, husband of Jamie Lee Curtis, is more formally the 5th Baron Haden-Guest. There’s an older brother, the also famous Anthony Haden-Guest, but he was bypassed as Baron because he was born before his parents married. Christopher and both of his brothers are actors.
Jackie
Just saw my first Trump/Pence ad – Sunday night football.
Villago Delenda Est
@Kay: If you hooked up Madison to a generator, you could power most of the northeast from the spinning in his grave.
tokyokie
We got the postcard last week, and I immediately dropped it in the recycling bin. It did prompt me to double-check our voter registrations, and they’re in order. We’re still planning to vote early.
NoraLenderbee
@trollhattan: The AQI in Mammoth swings between extremes quickly. We’re monitoring it because that’s where we go for our annual hiking trip, originally scheduled for Sept. 19th. Not holding my breath. :(
?BillinGlendaleCA
@NoraLenderbee:
Sounds like you might have to if you go to Mammoth.
Steeplejack
Just watched Van der Valk on PBS, and I’ve got some issues. This first episode was okay, as Eurocop series go, but it has fuck-all to do with Nicolas Freeling’s original Inspector Van der Valk. Major HBO Perry Mason syndrome going on. Van der Valk in this series is gruff, hardboiled, packing a gun, while Freeling’s hero is a more cerebral, Maigret-like deteective. That aside, the series has potential.
I highly recommend Freeling’s 10 Van der Valk novels. Gun Before Butter (1963; published in the U.S. as Question of Loyalty) is a classic. The King of the Rainy Country (1966) won an Edgar for best novel.
David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch
Thanks Obama
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Steeplejack:
We know.
SiubhanDuinne
@Elizabelle:
I was just Googling the Wikipedia bios of some of the cast members. In the course of it, I put together the following:
Chris Sarandon used to be married to Susan Sarandon, who had a relationship with Sean Penn, who was married to Robin Wright, whose character was married/not married to Chris Sarandon’s character in The Princess Bride.
Rabbit holes. Gotta love rabbit holes.
Chetan Murthy
@David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch: I’m so old I remember when they used to say that Black football players couldn’t be QBs — that it required too much intellect for them to handle. Yeah, we’ve made progress since then, thank goodness. Even if I don’t watch CTE-ball, I can still appreciate that they’ve made strides towards equality.
Kay
@Villago Delenda Est:
They put Justice Alito way out by the GOP cable tv personality, so he’s not even close to His Royal Highness, Pompeo. He’s a 2nd rank celebrity guest.
Kay
@Villago Delenda Est:
Fox business viewers think “I need somewhere to put my life savings, so I think I’ll take the advice of these raving lunatics on my favorite propaganda show”
Then she sells them a rip-off reverse mortgage.
prostratedragon
@Chetan Murthy:
Believe it or not, they used to say the same about wide receivers, because the WR has to run precise routes and make adjustments on the fly to the quarterback, i.e. think on the same page as the white dude. I think Paul Warfield was the first AA star at the position, and he only retired in 1977. There is nothing in human behavior crazier than white supremacy (though male supremacy is a photo finish).
piratedan
@prostratedragon: HOF Charley Taylor for you on line 1…..
Chetan Murthy
@prostratedragon: Without looking it up, I’d be willing to bet they used to say that shit about women’s tennis until the Williams sisters came along. And now we have Naomi Osaka, Coco Gauff, Sloane Stephens, and gee I wonder who else, just *tearing up* the court.
Steeplejack
@Kay:
Elizabelle
@SiubhanDuinne: Six degrees of separation. And less.
Enjoyed the reading. I definitely have not seen TPB since it was first out in theatres. Remembered the Inigo Montoya character — how could you not? — and just bits of the rest. All had a visual memory, but not for the marvelous dialogue.
Elizabelle
@Steeplejack: Even Oscar Madison is rolling in his grave.
Pompeo. Ick.
James E Powell
@piratedan:
Warfield & Taylor both started in 1964. Bob Hayes the next year. Frank Clarke was a few years ahead of them.
Another Scott
In other news, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/09/european-nations-impose-measures-covid-19-surges-200913181240461.html
:-(
It might be sensible to start stocking up on things again.
It didn’t have to be this bad. The US could have provided leadership in December, and maybe even in November.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-china-cdc-exclusiv/exclusive-u-s-slashed-cdc-staff-inside-china-prior-to-coronavirus-outbreak-idUSKBN21C3N5?utm_source=reddit.com
https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-arrival-united-states-december-2020-6
There’s still no treatment. There’s still no cure. There’s still no vaccine. The virus is everywhere.
Be safe.
Cheers,
Scott.
prostratedragon
@Chetan Murthy: Yes, even players as great as Billie Jean King, Margaret Court, and others of their era had trouble being seen as more than novelty acts by some of the “serious” sports people, though they did at least get their major matches covered on tv. Note that the women’s finals still are always, always treated as the lesser of the two.
Captain C
@David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch:
You could make an argument that six of these QBs have at least an outside shot at the Hall of Fame if things break right for them (Newton, Jackson, Mahomes, Prescott, Watson, Wilson).
opiejeanne
@Captain C: Wilson was brilliant today, and he seemed to have some sort of psychic connection with the players who caught his passes today. They put on an incredible show.
2liberal
does the mobile device allow you to filter him out? do others do this thing also? Maybe ask watergirl for a technical solution?