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You are here: Home / Past Elections / 2020 Elections / Planting the Seeds

Planting the Seeds

by | 97 Comments

This post is in: 

If you were going to try to steal an election, you would spend the entire year de-legitimizing it with made up bullshit, and then pepper that with stuff like this:

The Justice Department alarmed voting-law experts Thursday by announcing an investigation into nine discarded ballots found in northeastern Pennsylvania, a case immediately seized upon by the Trump campaign as evidence of a dark Democratic conspiracy to tamper with the presidential election.

President Trump also appeared to cite the case, telling reporters at the White House that ballots had been found “in a wastepaper basket in some location. . . . We want to make sure that the election is honest, and I’m not sure that it can be.”

The president’s comments marked his latest attempt to stoke uncertainty and alarm about the legitimacy of the upcoming election.

Then, if the election is close, the Republican legislature in PA can just appoint whatever electors they want, and say they did it because they were just protecting the wishes of the people and there is just so much fraud they can’t do anything else.

The solution for this is to make sure he gets his fucking ass kicked so hard it isn’t even close. So GOTV.

Reader Interactions

97Comments

  1. 1.

    Jeffro

    Fox is making major hay of this, but the rest of the non FoxBubble world is going to go, “9 ballots?  Ok, so let them vote and let’s add them into the total and…oh what?  Doesn’t make a bit of difference?”

    So your solution is spot-on.  G-O-T-V

  3. 3.

    RaflW

    Like this.
    Fox News poll: Nevada by 11.
    Joe Biden 52%
    Donald Trump 41%

    In 2016 the actual was
    Clinton 48%
    Trump 45.5%
    Johnson 3.3%

    Will third party candidates pull that much this time? I doubt it.

  6. 6.

    Yutsano

    Then, if the election is close, the Republican legislature in PA can just appoint whatever electors they want, and say they did it because they were just protecting the wishes of the people and there is just so much fraud they can’t do anything else.

    Except no, no they can’t. Go to “Who Picks the Electors” on the bottom of page on. The Pennsylvania legislature has zero say in the picking of the electors in Pennsylvania. Biden, should he win, chooses the electors. Cole, I have mad respect for you, but for the love of fuck, get a grip. Dolt45 can’t change the outcome of this election just on his say so.

  7. 7.

    cain

    I’m freaking out less now.. I think though what alarms me is Barr. That man is a bad actor. I hope that the intelligence community can drop in some  nice bombs on that mother fucker.

  8. 8.

    RaflW

    I mean, is the sense that people who turned out repeatedly and in big numbers in Philly for George Floyd would just stay home and shrug if the GOP tried this legislative bullshit? (I’m glossing over the not-legalness mentioned above, since the GOP might also try to.)

    I absolutely think Barr’s DOJ will try all sorts of garbage to muddy the results of the election. But the idea that the citizens would just accept such outright theft as that Atlantic article posited, well, I’m not too convinced.

  10. 10.

    Goku (Amerikan Baka)

    @RaflW:

    But the idea that the citizens would just accept such outright theft as that Atlantic article posited, well, I’m not too convinced

    Neither am I. I’m not necessarily convinced people would accept the SCOTUS invalidating the election and declaring Trump president or pulling another Bush v Gore. It’s not 2000 anymore in more ways than one

  11. 11.

    Omnes Omnibus

    I am starting to think that people who are out on a ledge want to be there and really don’t want anyone to try to talk them down.

  12. 12.

    RaflW

    @Goku (Amerikan Baka):
    “There’s an old saying in Tennessee — I know it’s in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can’t get fooled again.”

  14. 14.

    Ken

    I think someone posted earlier that Pennsylvania hasn’t even mailed out ballots yet, so any discarded ballots would be blank and thus not votes.

  15. 15.

    Mandarama

    @H.E.Wolf:  I’m enjoying writing my Postcards to Voters! I’m on track to get another batch tomorrow, and I hope the Ossoff outreach is still going. It’ll make my 4th state so far.

    I’m so tired and angry and sick at heart. The postcards help a lot.

  18. 18.

    RaflW

    I haven’t followed discard-gate closely. But I saw one item that suggested they could be overseas military ballots. Anyone know if that’s possible? Do they get sent earlier?

    If so it looks pretty bad to have the government fucking around with active duty voters out beyond our shores.

  22. 22.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Ken: That’s true, so far as I can tell. The sites I’ve checked says the PA ballots will all be mailed out in the last week of the month.

     

    So these can’t be valid votes tossed out. They’re trash in some way – misprints, practice ballots, something else. But not valid.

  24. 24.

    Mike in NC

    We all take it for granted that Fat Bastard will do whatever it takes to steal the election. We’re here because four years ago almost 100 million eligible and worthless voters couldn’t bother to even vote.

  25. 25.

    Kay

    The US Attorney’s stunt is going to backfire. This has disaster written all over it.

    John, this is so ham-handed and clumsy it shouldn’t make you scared, it should make you more confident. Jesus Christ. This hack actually announced the 9 votes were Trump votes? Just in case anyone had any doubt it was a planned campaign stunt he added that? This is “crooked county commissioner” level skulduggery. They’re going to have to work harder than this, and hire smarter people, if they plan to steal a national election.

    Low quality employees. They never get better over time, always worse.

  26. 26.

    John S.

    @Mike in NC: And even if we see a surge in voter turnout this year, we will still probably have well over 50 million eligible voters who just couldn’t be bothered.

  28. 28.

    Kay

    Sam Stein
    @samstein
    · 8h
    On call just now HHS Sec Azar makes clear Trump’s forthcoming executive order on preexisting conditions will not carry weight of actual law should SCOTUS strike down the ACA. Said it is a “defined statement of U.S. policy that people with preexisting conditions are protected.”

    They just don’t work very hard. They had 3 and 1/2 years to put together a 10 page fake health care plan and they couldn’t even do that. That’s all they had to do- hand him a sheaf of paper with some health-care sounding words on it and call it a plan.
    That was too much work for them. Instead they sent him out with nothing.

  29. 29.

    H.E.Wolf

    @Mandarama:

    I’m enjoying writing my Postcards to Voters! I’m on track to get another batch tomorrow, and I hope the Ossoff outreach is still going. It’ll make my 4th state so far.

    I’m so tired and angry and sick at heart. The postcards help a lot.

    Woo hoo!!! So happy to be writing our Ossoffs (Ossess-off?) together. :)

    For me, the postcards are a form of sending love to the unknown recipients. It rests my soul, in these trying times. May it be so for you too.

  30. 30.

    Mousebumples

    Actual mail voting issues reported by multiple sites in my neck of the woods (or my Congessional District, at least) –

    https://www.wbay.com/2020/09/24/absentee-ballots-mail-found-along-outagamie-county-ditch/

    The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is investigating after absentee ballots and other mail was found along a ditch in Outagamie County.

    The Outagamie County Sheriff’s Office says three trays of mail that were supposed to be on their way to the post office were found along the side of the road and in a ditch along Highway 96 near County Highway CB in Greenville. Deputies were initially called about a hazard on Highway 96 and found the mail.

    The sheriff’s office said a mix of mail included several absentee ballots but wasn’t specific about the number. Investigators did not say if the ballots were in the process of being delivered to voters or if they had been mailed out by voters.

    Everything was given to the U.S. Postal Inspector, and the sheriff’s office is directing all questions to the postal service, which is handling the investigation.

    For those familiar with wisconsin geography, this is near Appleton (also in Outagamie County, i think).

    And that’s why I’m making sure everyone I talk with is tracking their ballot and hopefully dropping it off in person rather than relying on USPS.

    (Overall, not any more worried about Trump related nonsense than I was yesterday or on Monday, for what it’s worth.)

  34. 34.

    BruceFromOhio

    Then, if the election is close, the Republican legislature in PA can just appoint whatever electors they want, and say they did it because they were just protecting the wishes of the people and there is just so much fraud they can’t do anything else.

    “So much fraud” where? Point at it. Where is it?

    That’s the only response. Nine votes deligitimize millions? How?

    You can’t even identify the perpetrators to stay in power. And you lie all the time. Go away.

  36. 36.

    SFAW

    @Yutsano:

    Completely off-topic, and perhaps better handled off-line, but: I have a vague recollection that you work — or maybe used to work — for the IRS. If my recollection is correct: in which area? [For example: auditing/enforcement, taxpayer support, programming?] I’m asking because I have a filing-related, out-of-the-ordinary situation, and I need to ask someone a few questions regarding it. [Has nothing to do with tax law, but more process-related re: the reviewers. It’s also NOT a rant of any kind. And, naturally, if my recollection is wrong: “Never mind.”]

    Sincere apologies to you and the other jackals for inserting this into this thread

    ETA: Of course, if you’re the right person, we can/should work offline, but I’ll wait to see what your initial response is. Also, if it’s a case of “Yes, I work for them, but I REALLY don’t want to discuss the internal workings,” I’ll be OK with that. Disappointed, but OK.]

  37. 37.

    dmsilev

    @Kay: I love that they think rebranding the ACA as ‘Trump protects pre-existing coverage’ will be convincing. This is, after all, the same group of people that spent a decade branding and attacking the ACA as ‘Obamacare’; bit late to change course now. Sure, the Ministry of Truth  Fox News will play along, but who else?

  38. 38.

    Matt McIrvin

    The solution for this is to make sure he gets his fucking ass kicked so hard it isn’t even close. So GOTV.

    Why would that be a solution? If the argument is bullshit it can be big bullshit. If they can say a hundred ballots are fake they can say a million ballots are fake. They can say every single Democratic vote is fake. They’re unmoored from reality and all that matters is that fanatics believe it and the rest can pretend to believe it.

  39. 39.

    HumboldtBlue

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I think that’s unfair.

    Current conditions are dreadful for millions of people who have no backup, their reserves — if they had them — are being used as a stop-gap and the uncertainty of the outcome of the election is something we should most certainly be concerned about.

  40. 40.

    Quinerly

    @Omnes Omnibus: I came in from the “ledge.” Long walk with puppy JoJo las Orejas and Vietnamese takeaway…  back home working on my copper penny mosaic floor.

    Then… Usually very calm presidential historian, Michael Beschloss, scared the shit out of me.

    Just speaking from personal experience…. 

    Now watching episode 262 of Dark Shadows. Reverting to my childhood seems pretty good right about now.

  43. 43.

    Spiny

    @Yutsano:  Unfortunately, the Constitution pretty much says they can.  It ends up as a court fight where they can claim that their state laws are in violation of the Constitution, which then likely ends up in front of the Supreme Court, which is one of the reasons Republicans are so eager to confirm a 9th justice…

  44. 44.

    SFAW

    @Matt McIrvin:

    Why would that be a solution? If the argument is bullshit it can be big bullshit. If they can say a hundred ballots are fake they can say a million ballots are fake. They can say every single Democratic vote is fake.

    I’m assuming they will anyway, because that’s who they are. But the Traitor-in-Chief losing by 10M votes is a lot harder to gain subsequent Rethug support than him losing by 500,000, and a lot harder to get the country in general to accept it meekly.

  45. 45.

    John Cole

    ffs- I’m not scared. They are, that’s why they are doing this stupid shit. The point of this post was to tell people the best thing we can do regardless is to GOTV.

  47. 47.

    SFAW

    @Ken:

    Even at his most incoherent, W made more sense than Trump.

    Professor Irwin Corey made more sense than Trump, and Corey was trying NOT to make sense.

  48. 48.

    BR

    @Matt McIrvin:

    Imagine a win like 2016 except flipped — 50k votes across three states.  Even sane GOPers would keep quiet while it gets litigated.  But a blowout win?  I bet Dubya himself will give a 2 minute statement on Fox saying it’s over, and others like him, and that will sap any complaints of strength.

  50. 50.

    cain

    Wish me luck tomorrow, I’m speaking at an african open source conference and being part of a panel. I’ll probably be talking out of my ass on the latter. Hah. :D

  51. 51.

    RaflW

    @Mike in NC:

    Via Stacy Abrams: “337,652 Georgians who did not vote in 2016 have already requested ballots.” Many are POC.

    The GOP has systematically disenfranchised so many people, just throwing them all in one lump of non-voters deserving our scorn is not gonna fix the problem.

    If what is being done in GA can be replicated nationwide, that looks to me like it’d yield (very roughly) 10,000,000 more voters. Problem ain’t fixed. But work is happening.

    My partner just told me about Bloc Milwaukee. We’re going to be making a sizable donation. They do core registration and turnout work in the community.

  52. 52.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @HumboldtBlue: Maybe, but I had a shingles shot today and I feel like shit.  This makes me less tolerant of people I know who keep getting out on the ledge and asking me to talk them down.

  53. 53.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @RaflW: My partner just told me about Bloc Milwaukee. We’re going to be making a sizable donation. They do core registration and turnout work in the community.

    It will be worth every penny.

  55. 55.

    SFAW

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Maybe, but I had a shingles shot today and I feel like shit.

    Did you get it because you’ve had shingles in the past? Or just as general preventive meds? [Asking because I had my flu  shot on Monday, but declined a Shingrix shot when offered; don’t know if I made a mistake.]

  57. 57.

    Adam L Silverman

    Here’s what actually happened, which is nothing really out of the ordinary expect some Luzerne County election officials opened them, because they weren’t sent back in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court mandated security envelopes, which led the county officials to think they were absentee ballot requests, not the Special Write In Absentee Ballots that Pennsylvania sends to military voters before they finish printing the actual primary election absentee ballots.

    The whole thing is AG Barr’s USAO in Harrisburg trying to make something out of nothing because AG Barr knows that the initial reporting is all that matters, not the corrections.

    Anyhow, here’s what actually occurred.

  58. 58.

    Adam L Silverman

    Here’s the actually screen grabs of the PA election website explanation of these Special Write In Absentee Ballots so you don’t have to click on anything:

    Image

    Image

  61. 61.

    Eunicecycle

    @SFAW: Everyone I know who has had shingles says you do not want to get it. It is miserable and you can have lingering side effects. I did get the vaccine and had no side effects from it.

  62. 62.

    Adam L Silverman

    Here’s the second DOJ statement issued by USAO Freed in Harrisburg after they pulled the first one that caused the ruckus because they’d figured out this wasn’t some sort of criminal conspiracy, but human error. Specifically good faith human error caused by the Luzerne County officials wanting to ensure that these members of the military did actually get absentee ballots. Frankly, that human error was created because of the confusion that Pennsylvania Republican officials, members of the President’s campaign, and the campaign and RNC attorneys, and the GOP majority on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court have created by constantly taking every good faith attempt to ensure a safe and fair election during the pandemic to court. Emphasis mine in Freed’s statement below.

    https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdpa/pr/letter-luzerne-county-bureau-elections

    Department of Justice
    U.S. Attorney’s Office
    Middle District of Pennsylvania
    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
    Thursday, September 24, 2020

    Letter to Luzerne County Bureau of Elections

    Shelby Watchilla, Director of Elections of Luzerne County Bureau of Elections

    Dear Ms. Watchilla:

    On Monday, September 21, 2020, at the request of Luzerne County District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis, the Office of the United States Attorney along with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Scranton Resident Agency, began an inquiry into reports of potential issues with a small number of mail-in ballots at the Luzerne County Board of Elections.

    Since Monday, FBI personnel have conducted numerous interviews and recovered and reviewed certain physical evidence.  While at this point the inquiry remains active, based on the limited amount of time before the general election and the vital public importance of these issues, I will detail the investigators’ initial findings.

    The FBI has recovered a number of documents relating to military ballots that had been improperly opened by your elections staff, and had the ballots removed and discarded, or removed and placed separately from the envelope containing confidential voter information and attestation.  Specifically, a total of nine (9) military ballots were discovered to have been discarded.  Seven (7) of those ballots when discovered by investigators were outside of any envelope.  Those ballots were all cast for presidential candidate Donald Trump.  One (1) of those seven (7) ballots was able to be identified to an envelope that was recovered, and thereby potentially tied to a specific voter. Two (2) military ballots that had been discarded were previously recovered by elections staff, reinserted into what appeared to be their appropriate envelopes, and then resealed.  Therefore, the votes cast on those two (2) ballots are unknown.  Thus, is appears that three (3) of the nine (9) recovered ballots can be potentially attributed to specific voters.  Six (6) of the ballots were simply removed and discarded, and cannot be attributed to a specific voter at this time.

    In addition to the military ballots and envelopes that were discarded and recovered as detailed above, investigators recovered four (4) apparently official, bar-coded, absentee ballot envelopes that were empty. Two (2) of those envelopes had the completed attestations and signatures on the reverse side.  One (1) envelope with a handwritten return address was blank on the reverse side.  The fourth empty envelope contains basic location information and the words “affirmation enclosed” on the reverse side.  The majority of the recovered materials were found in an outside dumpster.

    As you know, the appropriate method for processing received military ballots is to securely store the ballot, unopened, until such time as ballot pre-canvassing can begin, which is in no event earlier than 7:00 a.m. on Election Day.  Opening a military or overseas ballot, or an absentee or mail-in ballot for that matter, violates the controlling statutes and is contrary to Pennsylvania Department of State guidance.  The preliminary findings of this inquiry are troubling and the Luzerne County Bureau of Elections must comply with all applicable state and federal election laws and guidance to ensure that all votes—regardless of party—are counted to ensure an accurate election count.   Even though your staff has made some attempts to reconstitute certain of the improperly opened ballots, there is no guarantee that any of these votes will be counted in the general election.  In addition, our investigation has revealed that all or nearly all envelopes received in the elections office were opened as a matter of course.  It was explained to investigators the envelopes used for official overseas, military, absentee and mail-in ballot requests are so similar, that the staff believed that adhering to the protocol of preserving envelopes unopened would cause them to miss such ballot requests.  Our interviews further revealed that this issue was a problem in the primary election–therefore a known issue–and that the problem has not been corrected.

    While the assigned investigators are continuing their work including reviewing additional discarded materials, it is imperative that the issues identified be corrected.  District Attorney Salavantis and I would be happy to meet with you at a mutually convenient time to discuss this matter. Please be assured that the investigators will carefully preserve all documents collected in connection with this investigation.  Our goal, that I am sure you share, is to ensure that every properly cast ballot is counted.

    Sincerely,

    DAVID J. FREED

    UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

     

    cc:       David Pedri, Luzerne County Manager

    Tim McGinley, Luzerne County Council Chair

    Stefanie Salavantis, Luzerne County District Attorney

     

     

  63. 63.

    Adam L Silverman

    This has been your early morning, Eastern Daylight Time, counter-influence operation update. I am going to go watch the rest of the Toulouse Vs Ulster European Championship Rugby quarterfinal match.

  64. 64.

    RaflW

    @SFAW: My doc strongly recommended Shigrix last winter. I had both shots. First time I had a mild fever and was really tired for 24 hours (and a very sore arm). I don’t need any more shots for this, but if for some reason a booster was to be suggested in 10-20 years I would not hesitate based on those side effects.

    Anyone who had chicken pox years ago (I did) is at risk, as I understand it. Once one is in their 50s it’s a pretty good idea. The previous shingles vax wasn’t as good, my G.P. said, but this one he heartily endorsed (though he did say it isn’t 100% ) and of course ask your care provider for their rec.

  65. 65.

    Redshift

    @Spiny: 

    Unfortunately, the Constitution pretty much says they can.

    No, it doesn’t. It says:

    Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct

    That’s “the legislature sets the procedure for choosing electors,” not “the legislature is given the power to choose electors.” A legislature could change the procedure to “we pick them,” but if they’ve put a procedure into law, there is no inherent power in the Constitution that lets them ignore that.

  67. 67.

    Redshift

    @RaflW: Yeah, I want to get the shingles vaccine, too. I’ve known quite a few people who’ve had shingles, and it is not something I want to experience.

    SFAW, basically, if you had chicken pox, the virus doesn’t go away, it goes dormant, and can flare up again, but much nastier. That’s shingles.

  69. 69.

    Jackie

    @SFAW: Get your vaccinations at separate times – flu, pneumonia, shingles. If you get a reaction, you’ll know which one caused it that way. I spaced mine about three or four weeks apart. My Dr agreed.

  71. 71.

    Soprano2

    You can only get shingles if you had chicken pox. You don’t want to get shingles. Get the vaccine if you can.

  72. 72.

    frosty

    @Omnes Omnibus: I had an attack of shingles in the year I was waiting for the vaccine, dammit.

    I’ve had recurring pain in the area for a couple of years which scared me but fortunately it doesn’t appear be the permanent nerve damage from Post-Herpetic Neuralgia, just lingering muscle strain.

  73. 73.

    Ian

    @Mike in NC:  That happens every election.  The agency on why we are here is on the <60 million who voted for Trump.

    And if we had taken those 100 million people who couldn’t be bothered to vote, who probably know very little about politics, who’s general knowledge of politics is ‘there the same, so fuck ‘um’ and forced them all to vote how would the outcome have turned out? Different?  Maybe, hopefully, but we do not know.

    Everyone who wishes to vote and of age should be able to.  Not everybody should vote every time.

  76. 76.

    Sally

    @Ian: I strongly believe in the inappropriately named compulsory voting. It’s inappropriate because you have to show up or ask for a ballot but you can submit a blank ballot, or write “they’re all idiots” on it, thus invalidating your ballot. In the secret ballot system, no one can force another person to cast a valid vote, but it means no one can be disenfranchised, and no one should ever be disenfranchised, IMHO. There is less likely to be extremism when more people vote and not just the passionate and us crazies ;)

    People also tend to be a bit more engaged when they know they “have” to vote, even if it’s just for half an hour before Election Day. You don’t have to spend massive amounts of time and money on GOTV campaigns. You can’t apply poll taxes in any form. You can’t turn people away from polling stations, you can’t make up stuff about ID’s or signatures being not quite “right”.  I believe that it is surprisingly effective in maintaining a democracy, with people just growing up in an environment where they know they “have” to vote. This is more freedom not less. YMMV, I know, but I’m right ;)

    Ed: I’m sorry this is so clumsily written.

  78. 78.

    Quaker in a Basement

    The county where those votes were found has not yet sent out absentee ballots.

    So either 1) those aren’t general election ballots, or 2) they were marked for Trump ahead of time.

    Which?

  79. 79.

    opiejeanne

    @SFAW: I got the shingles shot a couple of years ago, but now there’s a New Improved version, so I will probably be getting that soon.

    I had chickenpox as a kid and a very mild bout of shingles when I was 33. Only two spots, that felt like acid had been dripped onto my leg. Stress-related. I don’t ever want to have shingles again, especially not a normal case.

  80. 80.

    trnc

    @Jeffro: Fox is making major hay of this, but the rest of the non FoxBubble world is going to go, “9 ballots? Ok, so let them vote and let’s add them into the total and…oh what? Doesn’t make a bit of difference?”

    That’s easy to say when it’s only 9 votes, but what is the possibility of weaponizing that process? EG, someone is able to fill out a ton of ballots for DT and put them where they can be “found,” but now the standard is “Count ’em all” instead of giving them the scrutiny they should get?

    I don’t think standards should be tossed. That’s how we lose, either during the poll count or in the courts.

  81. 81.

    trnc

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Exactly, basically the Leg would have to change the law and that would involve the Governor signing it(or overriding the Governor’s veto).

    My understanding is that the leg could certify electors under current law, but that requires the governor’s signature. But maybe that’s not in PA.

  82. 82.

    trnc

    @MobiusKlein: @Sally: Brazil has mandatory voting, and still elected Bolansaro.

    Yeah, there’s no guarantee it works out for us, but eliminating the BS obstacles is a worthy goal. My concern would be whether the additional infrastructure necessary would be properly funded and maintained. 100 million more voters will require a lot more poll counters at the very least, and good luck paying for that when our top priority as taxpayers is to make sure Exxon can build more oil rigs without having to cut into their profits.

  83. 83.

    PST

    @opiejeanne: My wife, who had the original shingles vaccine but not the new Shingrix version, recently had an extraordinarily mild case. She had a few square inches if itchy papules on one arm that slowly went away. We both panicked thinking it was some kind of COVID rash. She was lucky; apparently the old vaccine gave her partial protection. Horror stories about shingles are true. Lots of people, including me, had little reaction to Shingrix, but of course not everyone is so fortunate.

  84. 84.

    Zzyzx

    @TEL: that thread has literally no information. It’s dozens of posts of “I’m smarter than you because I’m not falling for Trump’s trick!!” followed by a final tweet that says that they have a friend who went to Harvard who said “nuh-huh!”

    Do I believe that PA’s legislature has this power if we read the laws normally? Probably not? When the president is literally talking about getting a 5th Supreme Court justice to make sure that she interprets laws the way he wants, then it’s harder to trust “normally.”

  85. 85.

    Zzyzx

    @Omnes Omnibus: a major political party that controls 3/4 of the government  has decided that their entire rationale for governance is to trigger the libs. I hate the stress I’ve been under since RBG’s death but it’s because they’re good at triggering people who have seen this play before and know what happens when it goes wrong. The president is literally talking about stealing an election and even if his plan will fall apart or if he’s too lazy to follow through, this isn’t just people freaking out because they’re bored.

  86. 86.

    Sloane Ranger

    @Ken: On the Chris Cuomo show the Penn AG confirmed they were actually Primary votes from military personnel so they’re not actually connected to the General election.

    He wouldn’t be drawn on any more details but this is a good thing. If there is a bad actor out there or an admin issue, this is a chance to find them/it and make sure it doesn’t happen during the main event.

  87. 87.

    Kay

    southpaw
    @nycsouthpaw
    ·6h
    No one is baffled about what’s going on here. It’s a politicized DOJ throwing gift baskets to the campaign. We don’t have time to be obtuse.

    I hope someone competent and ethical can look into it after we win the election and hold anyone at the DOJ who participated in this Trump campaign stunt accountable. It’s an appallingly corrupt incident and more evidence of real rot at the DOJ.
    Getting rid of Barr will help but they have bigger problems over there- they have a bunch of people working there who are cowards and don’t report corruption. They don’t have a choice whether or not to report- they’re required to.

  89. 89.

    Cermet

    @SFAW: Don’t know if already answered but it is age related – if you never had a vaccine against chicken pox, and/or had chicken pox then you really, really need the shingles vaccine.

  90. 90.

    Sally

    @Sally: But I did say less likely. And I stick by my assertion that “compulsory voting” has many benefits. But I take your point. Because I’m a pinko commie fascist libtard, and I see nuance.

  91. 91.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Omnes Omnibus: Half the progressives on my social-media feeds are convinced, more than anything else, that the Democrats are going to abandon them and just roll over like Gore in 2000. Whenever a Democratic politician says some anodyne thing about the sanctity of voting and their trust in the American people, they post cartoons of Charlie Brown running at the football.

    And I have to admit, I can’t reassure them. I think literal war is coming. The Republicans are already directly murdering Democrats in relatively small numbers (we call them “police-involved shootings”, vehicular homicides, etc.) That’s not even counting all the people Trump killed with COVID. Those numbers are going to increase.

    I’ve gotten to the point that when people say reassuring things, it has the opposite effect on me, just dials up my anxiety. It’s like seeing someone go down in the basement in a slasher movie.

  95. 95.

    kindness

    If state legislatures around the country try to enact any of these ignore the votes and appoint Trumpians to their Electoral College plans, I think we would see that right wing nutcases aren’t the only people who own guns in this country.  If that comes to pass there will be some armed revolt push back.  It would get ugly fast and if it ever comes to that I have no doubt Marshall Law would be imposed.  Let’s not go there.  Vote like our Republic depends on it.

  96. 96.

    SFAW

    To all the jackals responding to my Shingrix question(s):
    Thanks very much for the advice, I appreciate it, and will call my doctor’s office to schedule a shot. Also: I’m reasonably well aware of the shingles-associated symptoms, so I really have no excuse for my brainfart when asked by the nurse if I wanted the shot; I was taken a little by surprise, since I was focused on getting my flu shot, but I should be able to handle two different ideas at once. Fucking senility, how do it work?

  97. 97.

    Betty

    @Ken: The story remains one of great confusion. As best as I can tell, these were ballots from overseas, probably accessed by email that did not include the secrecy envelope required by PA law and thus ineligible. I received my overseas email several weeks ago. It was blank.

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