The New York Times now has Donald Trump’s income tax returns “extending over two decades”. They say that the returns come from a person who had legal access to them. The Times’s first article provides eighteen takeaways. They promise more to come. Each takeaway is a string that other news organizations can pull.
Trump runs through money and then manages to find yet another source to bankroll him. At this point, he owes $421 million to unknown parties. There are hints and guesses about connections to a hotel deal in Azerbaijan that appears to have laundered money for Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and to Deutsche Bank through Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy’s son.
Dicey connections and unknown sources of money point to possible influence over Trump. We don’t know enough about them. At one time, there seems to have been an FBI counterintelligence investigation into these influences. Then, it was said, that investigation (or those investigations) were folded into the special counsel investigation led by Robert Mueller. We have learned, however, that Mueller deliberately avoided the counterintelligence implications.
Was there ever a counterintelligence investigation? Is there one now? This goes back to that New York Times October Surprise in 2016: Investigating Donald Trump, F.B.I. Sees No Clear Link to Russia. The Times has never apologized for or explained this article, nor its concurrent fascination with Hillary Clinton’s emails. If there was an investigation, what happened to its materials? Rod Rosenstein seems like a person who might know.
Shortly after the Times article on Trump’s taxes appeared, Brad Parscale was taken to a hospital by police officers called by his wife. He was threatening suicide after beating his wife. Since he’s a white guy, he wasn’t shot by police as so many Black people are. Demonstrations for Breona Taylor and Black Lives Matter continued through the week after no charges were brought against the police for her death.
Covid-19 continues to kill more than 200,000 people as Trump spreads disinformation. Trump has largely pushed Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx out of his planning circle, if such still exists. Trump’s preference is clearly to pretend that there is no problem, that people are not dying. Republican governors eager to toady up to him are allowing bars and restaurants, major spreading sites, to open up. Trump, of course, has been having close-spaced, no-mask rallies, although he has conceded to the need for air circulation by holding many of them outdoors or in airport hangers. People infected now will by dying shortly before the election. Seems like a bad strategy.
Fauci and Birx have been replaced by Scott Atlas, a Fox commentator who actually is a doctor, but in radiology, a specialty far removed from infectious disease. Like a lot of armchair epidemiologists (largely financially well-off white men), he believes that it’s best to infect the population and see who survives. The total death toll for that, by a number of estimates, would be in the range of two million. Even Robert Redfield, another Trump creature, is concerned about Atlas’s advice. Trump is going in this direction as experts point out that a vaccine will not be ready before the election.cov
Trump also continues his disinformation campaign against the election. Although Russia in particular, and to a smaller degree, China and Iran are spreading disinformation, the largest and loudest source of disinformation is Trump’s tweets. Voting by mail is safe, although it is wise to do it as early as possible because of Postmaster General Louis De Joy’s vandalism. Trump seems to have subsided from his refusal to endorse a peaceful succession. He is unlikely ever to do that, but he is a coward.
Weekend polls show Joe Biden in the lead by 7 or so percentage points. Those polls were taken before the news of Trump’s tax returns broke. Biden continues to pick up endorsements – from almost 500 former military and national security officials, Tom Ridge, and Dwayne Johnson (“The Rock”). Senatorial races are moving well for Democrats also; Jaime Harrison has been getting a steady stream of money while Lindsey Graham has had to beg for money on Fox. The first debate between Trump and Biden is Tuesday night, and Trump is raving about drug tests. Nancy Pelosi is urging supporters to look at races that will tilt state representation Democratic in preparation for Trump funny business that throws the election into the House.
In other news, the administration is trying to run out the time to renew the New START Treaty, the only arms control treaty they have not destroyed. Russia is willing to extend the treaty, but the adminstration negotiator, Marshall Billingslea, continues to insist that China be a party and that Russia accept a number of conditions. Neither will happen. The treaty extends a couple of weeks after January 20, so it is possible that if Biden is elected, the treaty could be extended, although it will be very close.
Almost two months ago in Belarus, Alexander Lukashenka lost an election to Sviatlana Tsikanouskaya. Large demonstrations have taken place in all the main Belarusian cities since then. Lukashenka has begged Vladimir Putin for help, but Lukashenka has been cool to Putin’s desires for the two countries to effectively merge in the past, so what Putin has provided has been very limited. It’s also likely that Putin doesn’t want to be associated with a bloodbath, which is what it would take to end the demonstrations. Lukashenka had himself inaugurated as president in a private ceremony, but over the weekend Tsikanouskaya was inaugurated by the people in a large outdoor ceremony. European nations support Tsikanouskaya, and the US has even made a statement in her favor.
Tanks are rolling between Armenia and Azerbaijan, with Turkey supporting Azerbaijan and Russia taking Armenia’s side. The point of dispute is Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian enclave within Azerbaijan, not contiguous with Armenia. The territory has been a point of conflict since at least 1994. Syrian rebels are signing up to fight with Azerbaijan, but not many seem to be there yet.
Alexei Navalny is recuperating in Germany from Novichok poisoning, obviously by the Russian government, although their position is “Who us?” They have also seized his apartment, so it’s clear they don’t want him back.
Trump is in trouble. No candidate, according to various experts, has ever come back from a 7-point deficit at this time in the campaign, and Trump seems uninterested in broadening his appeal. It’s hard to see how the tax revelations help him, nor that he can turn around a stunning debate. Still, there is the electoral college and the willingness of some governors to aid and abet vote suppression.
He may also be in trouble for likely crimes represented in his tax returns. Although no crime has been proved by the Times articles, they document a number of questionable activities and coincidences. The question of Trump’s creditors hangs over all. Will the counterintelligence investigation be resumed? It seems important to know who the creditors are. They have enormous power over him, whether they are foreign or domestic.
Putin has troubles too. In addition to the demonstrations against his (flawed) man in Belarus, demonstrations are taking place in several cities in Russia. Now there’s another war in the south Caucasus. An arms race, which it looks like we’re heading into, benefits neither side.
My big-picture, 40,000-feet take is that we’re going to make it through to the inauguration of Joe Biden in January. But it won’t be pretty along the way.
Open Thread: Kamala Harris Live
Patricia Kayden
Mike J
36 days from the end of the election. A million people have already voted. If you can, why not vote now?
japa21
In other words, 2020 is just like any other year. Well, maybe a little different.
I won’t be around but I would love to see what the history books say about this year 50 years from now. It is likely there will be more books written about 20120 than any other year in history. At least I hope 2021 doesn’t rival 2020 in that regard.
Martin
Reminder that banks like Deutsche don’t just lend their own money, they also act as brokers between parties. The reason why Deutsche kept banking with Trump is likely that they had
laundererser, lenders, on the other side happy to put up cash for Trump to borrow.Depending on where the returns came from, the sources of that money might also be part of the Times info dump.
Mary G
My California voter book is here, and ballots should arrive next week? This week? Bought knee and elbow pads for the crawl over broken glass,
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Frank Figliuzzi made the point on TV that as an ex-President, trump will still be a national security threat, with lots of information that bad actors would pay for
Cheryl Rofer
@Martin:
This wouldn’t be in the tax returns, but the Times seems to be cross-checking with other sources. This would be quite a scoop!
Patricia Kayden
@Mike J: Waiting for my ballot to arrive.
Cheryl Rofer
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I think that the post-presidency intelligence threat will be mitigated by his reputation as a liar and incompetent. Plus that a great many things will change with Biden.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Patricia Kayden: We’re waiting too. The ballots should have been mailed on Thursday. They didn’t come today.
NotMax
Harding: Follow the money.
Nixon: Follow the money.
Dolt 45: Follow the money.
Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.
Rusty
This endless chaos is ultimately helpful to Biden. Trump being behind needs an issue to gain traction, and every day of chaos is another one lost, while people are already starting to vote. Even a bad debate performance by Biden I don’t think will make any difference, because by the next morning the news will have swamped whatever gaff he supposedly made. Each day down without making headway puts Trump further and further in the hole. Awaiting my absentee ballot so I can get my vote in and let the Biden campaign focus on those that still need to vote. Go Joe!
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Still waiting for ours too. PA has good online tracking, and I check for a status change nearly every day, some indication that they’ve been mailed. Nothing yet.
I also periodically re-check our registration, which everybody should be in the habit of doing given how routine purges have become.
guachi
I live in Georgia so I hope my ballot arrives on time from California. I’ll probably have to priority mail it back or do what I did in 2018 and download the ballot so I can mail it sooner.
jonas
The FBI CI division is going to have to have a permanent field office set up just to monitor Trump family and administration members for years. They’re all crooks, they were given security clearances they never should have had, and they all have ties to Russia. It’s probably also going to take the IC more broadly years to come to terms with all the national security affairs Trump either hobbled, impeded, or compromised during his term.
gvg
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Then I would expect a sting operation to catch him on tape trying. Also he will be watched by the secret service. I would expect it to actually be his family who act as go betweens…I wonder if he can remember enough true information to actually sell it.
lgerard
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I’m more concerned about Jared spending 30 years monetizing all the intelligence information he has been privy to from reading the top secret daily briefings
gvg
I got my ballot last night. Tonight I start researching. The judges are always hard to find info on and there will be amendments to research.
MattF
I guess income from illegal money-laundering activities won’t generally be declared on your Federal income tax forms. But… we all know that’s what’s going on, right?
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
Also if the Senate doesn’t take up and approve, and the President sign, the continuing resolution to fund the government that was passed about a week ago by the House, the Federal Government will shut down again on Thursday. Wheeee!
Hoodie
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I imagine Biden admin would change a lot of stuff to make his info worthless, but WAMW just to provide a reason to send his ass to ADX Florence.
Matt McIrvin
@Patricia Kayden: I am checking the Massachusetts ballot tracking site twice a day to see when my ballot mails out. I know it probably won’t be until after October 1 but it’s a compulsion by now.
When I voted in the primary, it took 5 days to get to me but only 1 day to get back. I plan to hand-deliver the ballot so the return trip won’t be an issue, but it’ll be interesting to see if the delivery time is different.
MattF
Michele Bachmann explains how it will be done.
LuciaMia
Oh, please. The moldy orange sweater cant be unraveled fast enough!
Ruckus
@Cheryl Rofer:
His wonderful memory might not help him much either.
That is snark, just in case it’s not perfectly clear…..
Hungry Joe
Just learned that John Lyndon (Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols) is a Trumpster. (Next album: “Law & Order in the U.S.!”)
If Sid Vicious hadn’t croaked at 21 he’d probably be emceeing a revamped Hollywood Squares.
JoyceH
Anyone hear anything about the person with legal access to the returns who provided them to the NYT? Anyone care to speculate?
Goku (Amerikan Baka)
@MattF:
Aka Crazy Eyes Lady. She’s been a nonentity since 2012. I have no idea who would want to invite her to speak or where they get this crazy shit from
Ceci n est pas mon nym
Yay, my Biden-Harris lawn sign arrived today from the Biden Store! I already had a Biden sign up for weeks, but I wanted one with Harris’ name on it. I ordered it the day after Kamala was announced so… Aug 18? That’s how badly back-ordered they were.
The ugliness of voter purges and various vote-suppression court cases will be ongoing. Right now my horizon goes to Nov. 4. I’m starting to believe that Biden will be comfortably ahead even by then based on in-person and early voting. Are early votes included in the Election Day counts? That would go a long way toward stopping the Supreme Kangaroo Court from overturning the election.
But there’s ugliness that we have yet to see that is festering in what passes for a mind of a Republican. They have shown themselves to be amazingly creative at evil. I’m not looking forward to the next 37 days, though like you I’m becoming more optimistic that it will be all right in the end.
Marcopolo
@Mike J: The single most important thing each of us can do to help win the election is vote as soon as is possible where we live, preferably in person. After that, it is ensuring as many of our like-minded family, friends, relatives, co-workers, neighbors, school mates vote as soon as it is possible where we live.
It is really as simple as that. My household will be voting tomorrow morning. Of the 12 folks I have been badgering personally, that will mean half of us have voted. The goal is to get the rest of them to vote by October 15.
MattF
@JoyceH: I’d guess Deutsche Bank. They need some goodwill from international financial institutions to survive.
Ruckus
@Rusty:
Joe has to show up and sound human, not like dementeddonnie and things should be fine. Might even be better if he doesn’t try to make donnie choke, just lets him ramble, as long as he parries any actual attacks with grace and a touch of wit, and he’ll come off looking a lot better. A lot, lot better.
Joe is not going to sell anyone not sold by now but he can let donnie lose quite a bit of support.
Redshift
I realize Fauci is being diplomatic to keep his job, but Trump “being given” incorrect information is as bogus as Shrub getting “flawed intelligence” on Iraq. In both cases, bad actors demanded information that supported what they wanted to believe, and find people who were willing to polish it with some kind of credentials. I think it’s less likely we’ll get stories painting Trump as innocently misled, but I’ve been too optimistic before…
Evap
Early voting in GA starts two weeks from today. I’ve decided to do early voting instead of absentee since I am comfortable doing so and the absentee ballots take longer to count. (That’s my understanding, anyway.). I’m very flexible about day and time so I’m planning to wait a few days and try to vote late morning. I am chomping at the bit to vote!
hueyplong
@MattF:
It would appear that money laundering has been his only profitable enterprise, ever.
jeffreyw
We filled out our ballots, sealed them in the envelopes along with the signed certifications, and will place them into the drop box outside the county courthouse tomorrow on our way to pickup groceries. I’m afraid to leave them for mail pickup because the mailman is a Trumpster who is spreading mail ballot conspiracy theories. To be fair, he did deliver the ballot materials. Probably coughed on them, the bastard.
dmsilev
@Mary G: LA County told me to expect my ballot towards the end of next week. Not sure how much variation there is across the state.
“Get ballot by mail, leave it in drop-box at City Hall” is my plan.
dmsilev
@Ceci n est pas mon nym:
Varies from state to state, but usually yes. Though with the massive surge this year, we’ll have to see how many states get overwhelmed.
Sab
I am upstairs online. My husband is downstairs watching Nichole Wallace. We are shrieking political comments up and down the stairs.
My cat, lying next to me, is starting to moan in protest. He would not be a likely voter even if human. He also has a brain the size of a walnut, mostly devoted to food and play.
trnc
I would love to ask the Atlas supporters if they would be all good with a dentist performing open heart surgery on them, but I don’t hate myself enough to have a twitter account (not that twitter is bad, but I’m not a social media guy apart from blogs).
Cheryl Rofer
@JoyceH: Someone in his accounting firm. Or does SDNY have his returns yet?
ETA: MattF’s guess of Deutsche Bank is a good one too!
Marcopolo
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: Typically, voter purges do not occur 5 weeks out from an election. Yeah, yeah, I said typically, and if anything, nothing seems to be typical anymore. The big issue this year is the back and forth over absentee/mail in balloting in various states. To whit: witness signatures: yes or no?; mail ballot drop boxes: yes or no?; ballots postmarked by election day but that don’t arrive for several days: should they be counted or not? There are a number of lawsuits playing out right now and different levels of courts are applying different rulings so what might have been the case one week might be stayed by an appeal the next.
Hell last week the Wisconsin republican party sent a cease & desist letter to the Dane County Board of Elections regarding their “election in the parks” events this past (and next) weekend. BoE representatives were at numerous (I think a few dozen) parks around Madison to register folks to vote, to help folks to request mail ballots, and to accept turning in completed ballots and the Rs said that these activities could possibly lead to fraudulent voting.
The new motto of the Republican party: “We really don’t want you to vote and if you do find a way to cast one it we’ll do our damnedest to make sure it isn’t counted.”
Omnes Omnibus
@Hungry Joe: Lydon has never before done or said anything just to be provocative.
trnc
Smart money says Hal Holbrook.
Omnes Omnibus
@trnc: Linda Lovelace?
trnc
My understanding is that Fauci can’t be fired directly by DT, so I don’t get it, either.
trnc
@Omnes Omnibus: Bah-da-BING!
Marcopolo
@Ceci n est pas mon nym:
Depends from state to state. For example, in FL they will start counting mail ballots several days before the election so there should not be a huge backlog of mail ballots to go through on election day. In PA the R legislature refused to allow PA election boards to do any kind of ballot processing prior to either election day or the close of elections (not exactly sure of the detail) so reporting there will take days. In CA although they can begin processing (but not counting) ballots a few days before the election, any ballot that is cast by election day must be counted so long as it arrives with a valid post mark. Those contests may not be decided for several weeks, which is what happened in a number of races in 2018.
JPL
@Evap: I have a mask and shield and plan on voting just a bit north of me on the first day. I’ll arrive a half hour early and wait.
Baud
@Marcopolo: I’m willing to go out on a limb and call California for Biden today.
(And I really appreciate that CA let’s me do that.)
Benw
Only 36 days! Heck, I’d better start comparing the candidates’ positions on the issues. It’s tough being an independent voter, but I’m willing to do it for democracy
Kay
9 is nice. They have to start polling Ohio. If PA is + 9 OH is + 2.
Ocotillo
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: Supreme Kanagroo court, I like that. Maybe we should begin referring to SCOTUS as being Down Under, as in, there are more kangaroos on that court than Down Under.
Needs a bit of work
CaseyL
Washington State voter site says ballots go out October 14. I will fill in my ballot, seal it, and take it to the election division office in Renton to hand to them in person.
BruceFromOhio
Atlas shrugs.
@MattF:
Who exactly do you expect to step on a pile of dog mess clearly labelled DOG MESS ?
Sab
@Cheryl Rofer: Leaking a client’s tax return has seriously bad legal consequences for accountants and also for IRS employees. Also too oaths sworn and professional ethics. That’s probably why they don’t do more of it.
When I was a tax accountant I would not even have considered leaking a client tax return however vile the client. Vile clients should be fired not leaked.
So I am guessing it’s a bank.
MoCA Ace
Exactly. This is why I see Jarvanka as the main “intelligence” threat. Both are nominally intelligent and neither will hesitate for a minute to betray their country for a few paltry millions.
catclub
what about poutine urges?
BruceFromOhio
@Ocotillo: SKOTUS
Montanareddog
@Hungry Joe: Lydon has always been an obnoxious troll
Brachiator
Atlas popped up on a lot of conservative media early in the pandemic, apparently trying to get some attention from those who were close to Trump. I heard him on the top local top radio station in the Los Angeles area talking about how the virus was not that big a deal and that not that many people would be at risk.
I wonder if Trump has scouting teams looking for these people, who are eager to do whatever the administration wants.
Baud
@Kay: Good. All the “problem” states highlighted by the media seem to be trending in the right direction. I know there will be fluctuation (“tightening!”) but I’m pleased to see this.
Villago Delenda Est
Does fuckwit Baquet think that today’s headline makes up for the shit he and his minions pulled four years ago?
He’s got another think coming.
catclub
@hueyplong: Nope, he made a huge amount of money doing The Apprentice. Then he spent it all.
Spanky
@dmsilev: Maryland’s early voting is October 26-November 2, which the Mrs & I plan on doing. That’s mighty close to count ballots by election night, but we shall see.
Kay
@Baud:
Me too. I didn’t consider them “problem states” – I thought he was probably okay- but it was concerning that they weren’t budging. I want that whole section to go up by 5.
Montanareddog
Only just catching up on the overnight posts. I see a lot of chitchat about Parscale, being drunk, and having beaten his wife. No speculation about drug-induced psychosis though. That elongated blowhard always struck me as a typical Andean stimulant abuser.
Marcopolo
@Kay: I like this number a lot too:
I’m with you on polling in OH. Maybe IA as well. Polling over the past several cycles has shown a tendency for IA, MI, WI, PA, OH, and MN to move in tandem (to some degree).
Edited: I was trying to get this commentary from Nate Cohn in my tweet link but I must have screwed up somehow:
trollhattan
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
What about all his vile spawn, and Jared, who all(?) bypassed security clearance and have been listening in four years now? They all observe and understand how knowledge=
powermoney, and each is distinctly for sale at all times.Joe better change the locks.
Narrator: There are no locks
Joe better install locks.
trollhattan
@Marcopolo:
If Joe somehow takes Iowa (not impossible, three of four Reps are Dems) can he sweep Ernst outta there too?
Brachiator
@Mary G:
Very droll. I appreciate the humor.
I will check to see what Amazon has on sale.
Baud
@Kay:
I just saw that the PA GOP is asking the Supreme Court to stop counting absentee ballots received after election day with no postmark. I’m not sure how big an impact that’ll have either way, but they’re trying.
Kay
@Marcopolo:
I made this up, but I put them in 2 sections- OH, PA, MI and then WI and MN. Don’t even ask :)
MoCA Ace
I doubt it, they find him. Incompetency knows its own, and evil attracts evil.
jackmac
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: Still waiting for an order from the Biden-Harris story (made Aug. 19). So if yours from Aug. 18 just arrived, there’s hope that mine might be forthcoming!
trollhattan
@Benw:
Thank you for your service. ?
BruceFromOhio
It will not be pretty. Election Day is really going to be Election Month. The cultists fortunate enough to have slithered into positions of counting or certifying votes will take every opportunity, legal or not, to fuck it up thinking it will help preznit shitwhistle. That is the ONLY focus – count every single Gaia-damned vote, no matter the precinct, the county, the state. Make “Count Every Vote” the only thing that matters, because it is the only thing that matters. And its fun to twist the fascisti words to suit it:
Keep American Counting Votes
Make America Great at Counting Votes
The rest of this will make any sane person bonkers, so measure your helpings of mass media carefully. My plan is to stock up on bourbon and weed and bootleg techno, and watch Rachel Maddow once a week until it’s all over, come what may. (Watching NFL Sunday and the empty stadiums is also planned). May also schedule daily calls to Senator Portman’s office, just to hear the exasperation in the interns voice.
Marcopolo
@trollhattan: That would be the hope. There’s also been a pattern of Senate elections mirroring presidential results over the last decade or so–i.e. much less ticket splitting. I live in MO and we saw that with McCaskill in 2018.
Cheryl Rofer
@Brachiator: They probably clamor to Trump and his toadies to become a part of the administration. No talent scouts needed
ETA: I see MoCA Ace beat me to it.
Baud
@BruceFromOhio:
So nothing special then.
MattF
@Spanky: That’s for voting in person. However, according to the sample ballot booklet I got in the mail, about half the planned drop boxes will be available by Oct. 1, and the one I anticipate using, at BCC High School, will be available by Oct. 15.
Marcopolo
@jackmac: I order 2 Biden/Harris t-shirts on Aug. 26. They arrived on Sept. 26th. I think they were just crushed with orders and are finally working through them. Over the past week I’ve been seeing Biden/Harris signs pop up like mushrooms in my suburb.
And this will probably curse me, but not a one Trump sign yet.
Kay
@Baud:
I think it matters in the sense that every vote should be counted but I have a hard time believing that stuff is going to win it for him. It’s just not enough. It has to be really close for this plan of his to work.
If they would spend less time trying to block votes and more time actually finding some he might be better off. I just don’t think this is going to pay off the way they hope it will. Normal campaigns don’t do it because it’s dumb.
Spanky
@Kay:
Too close. Trump needs to hold a few more super spreader events in Ohio ASAP.
Mary G
@dmsilev: Orange County has been good in the past, so I’m probably going to maybe mail it back.
Baud
@Kay:
I’m not sure how many more votes they can find. They really have nothing new to offer anyone. They’re running on hate fumes now.
JPL
The reason I’m doing early voting is because I never received my absentee ballot for the primary. Fulton Cty had all sorts of problems. A friend has already filled out the absentee, just in case something prevents her from early voting. If she can vote early, she’ll turn in her absentee. The things we do for love.
Cheryl Rofer
I am seeing more Biden – Harris signs. Haven’t seen a single Trump sign, but this is Santa Fe.
jackmac
@Marcopolo:
At least my local Dem storefront HQ had Biden-Harris signs so I grabbed one (for a mere $10 — a small price to pay!)
Ken
I’m reminded of an old board game based on elections, “Lie Cheat & Steal,” where you could buy endorsements from various groups. I recall “The Intellectuals” got you 5 votes, while “The Unions” gave something like 100. I wonder what the value of 500 former military officials is, relative to The Rock.
Marcopolo
@Kay: I realize this will be a stretched metaphor but Trump seems to be treating the election like the way he’s treated Covid-19. No real plan, just hoping for some gimmick or miracle to pull it out for him. And every day the the number of folks dying goes up and the election gets closer.
There are folks who track the media buys for the campaigns and what the Trump campaign is doing atm is totally bizarre. For example, they just took down their media buys for Ohio for the first week/10 days of October. They have done this in a number of must win states over the past week or so. In the meantime, the Biden campaign is ramping up pretty much everywhere. That includes a new huge buy in IA.
BruceFromOhio
@Baud: That’s the media plan. Good bootleg techno is an art, so much of it is just plain bad.
There are other plans Cheryl’s précis did not cover.
What’s your plan? Baud!20!24! ? Sorry, too soon?
Edmund Dantes
Yes I can’t wait for my ballot. Itching to vote already.
Leto
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: @Marcopolo:
Pennsylvania Republicans ask Supreme Court to stop voting accommodations
trollhattan
@Marcopolo:
Cautiously hopeful. Winning Iowa is a LOT more important for the senate seat they represent than their Electoral College count. Plus she’s just awful. And since Steve King is retiring….
indycat32
My sister lives in Ohio. She’s receiving phone calls from the RNC urging her to request an absentee ballot which, they assure her, is completely safe and totally different from the mail-in ballots the Democrats are encouraging people to use. So, if I understand the republicans’ plan, they’re going to court to stop the counting of absentee ballots while, at the same time, encouraging people to vote absentee?
Montanareddog
@Kay:
Normal campaigns are not trying to re-elect such an historically-unpopular, demented crook, so I guess the usual playbook has been abandoned and it is Hail Mary passes (Hunter Biden! Sleepy Joe juices!, Groper governors will appoint electors! A 6-3 SC will call it for Trump!) down to the wire
geg6
@Mike J:
Patiently awaiting my ballot’s arrival. The SCOPA decision last week finally allows them to be printed and mailed out, hopefully this week. They were supposed to go out two weeks ago, but fucking Cheetolini and the Greens held that up.
A Ghost to Most
@Marcopolo:
If that were only true.
Marcopolo
@Leto: Yeah, this was one of the things I was talking about. The issue here is the current order is to count all PA ballots received up to 3 days after the election whether they are postmarked or not. Apparently since the return ballot envelopes are postage paid (not stamped), the USPS cannot guarantee that they will have either any postmark or a postmark that is legible without special equipment. The Rs are arguing, and I think I have to agree with them, that this means that you could wait till Wed to fill out your ballot and mail it in and if it arrived the next day it would be counted & that would violate the federal law that stipulates the official date for the election which is Nov 3rd. I’m not a lawyer so there may be wrinkles I don’t get but that’s my 2 cents.
JPL
@Cheryl Rofer: ha This is Roswell, GA and I’m seeing more Biden/Harris signs. This is also the first time that the state rep had someone knock on my door, which was always a safe republican seat.
Marcopolo
@trollhattan: Sorry, I do not think JD Scholten has much of a chance. Whoever the R nominee in King’s district is they are highly likely to win. Alas, Scholten’s best path to a win was a rematch from 2018 against King. The R primary blew that up.
Ken
AD or Jewish calendar?
Never mind, “at least” means it’s true for both. It’s probably true for the Lebombo bone (assuming it does represent a calendar).
Ohio Mom
In the list of all the chaotic events surrounding us as Election Day nears, I would also add the economy, which is on thin ice — and many have already fallen through — and the stresses unique to families with school-age children.
It’s true that these two things could be subheadings under Covid but they are huge for many people. Lots of people who have managed so far to avoid getting sick are having their lives derailed by these side effects (no pun intended, I swear) of the pandemic.
Dan B
@Cheryl Rofer: I believe that Ivanka was the Trump that went to Azerbaijan.
I don’t know if she’s directly into the laundry. Wait a minute. Did I just have a brain melt?
Montanareddog
@Marcopolo:
Tinfoil hat time: not bizarre if the Russians have assured you that Ohio is already in the bag because they have successfully hacked the OH voting machines. Why spend money unnecessarily that can be skimmed off?
Marcopolo
Off to make dinner, you guys have fun.
BruceFromOhio
The fascisti and their signs are predominant in my neck of the woods. I’ve been out more than usual the last few weeks, and noted a trend, of sorts. A shitwhistle sign-pair would go up on a private, single-family residence – always a pair, never just one. After a few days, a new, different sign would join the first two. Then would come flags – little US flags like what gets handed out at a parade – fastened two to a sign. Next, the signs move around – maybe closer to the street, maybe turned so that rather than facing the street, the signs face the neighbors. Signs moves seem to be triggered by the addition of new signs, as the local races start to hand out signs and the State Representative or State Senator names show up. In a few but notable instances, a much larger sign appears; this one will be wooden stakes several feet apart and signage visible from much farther away. Similarly, a large banner may suddenly appear hanging from a fence, or on the front of the home. The cultist next door obtained streamers that he hung from the light fixture on either side of the garage.
I am very concerned what will happen to these folks, and what actions they will take, as Election Month goes on. I doubt they will be listening to bootleg techno.
trollhattan
“Hey, I don’t know why we have it and anyway, it’s addressed to my wife, see?”
–Me to DEA agent, explaining why we received a catalog from “PERUVIAN Connection.”
geg6
@Marcopolo:
Here in PA, they can start counting mail in ballots when the polls open at 7am.
BRyan
@Kay: I was down near Mansfield this weekend, and it was my first experience with mile after mile of Trump signs, banners, flags. (Saw just one Biden sign, and it was way up at the top of a utility pole, I’m assuming so that it couldn’t be easily stolen or vandalized.) It was very dispiriting, but now I have a better sense for why Ohio keeps getting labeled as purple trending red. Scary.
danielx
@MoCA Ace:
Nor would Orange Julius; his oath of office means no more to him than any other oath he’s taken, promise he’s made or contract he’s signed.
Sab
Two more Biden signs came today. I ordered more when none came, then one came that we put up. Today more came. I gave one to my step- daughter, and am keeping the other in reserve for sign theft. Rare in my neighborhood. Illegal, also not only the right is armed. (We aren’t, but don’t tell anyone.)
Weird times.
Jim Crow was infinitely weirder and also,horrible. We can beat this. I hope we are more determined than we see fron press reports from Ohio diners. I think we are.
Signs aren’t votes, but they do encourage voters.
dmsilev
@Marcopolo: From that thread,
Wow.
Brachiator
@Cheryl Rofer:
Looking back, I see that Attorney General Barr had sent unsolicited memos to the Justice Department and to Trump Administration officials previewing some of his pro Trump positions. But there have got to be a lot of potential lackeys out there. Someone has to be on the lookout for the right kind of toady.
Sab
@BRyan: My husband in Akron is always enthused, but I keep telling him rural downstate. Me be Eeyore. Nicest donkey ever.
Mary G
@Marcopolo: I ordered merch 8/11, when it hadn’t come in 3 weeks I sent an email and got one back that they are working as hard as they can, but due to Covid19 precautions for the union workers not at full capacity. On 9/24 prices on Amazon and Etsy for outside vendors of signs I like had gone from $15.99 – $24.99 to $24.99 – $39.99! A definite sign of high demand. I ordered one 9/24 and both it and Joe’s official one ordered on 8/11 were delivered Friday 9/25. So I have two!
Leto
@geg6: Avalune and I received an email from the state last week stating that our ballots would be here in 10-14 days. So next week at the latest. Our state reps, as well as the county Dem party, have already pushed out the ballot drop locations so as soon as they come, we’re filling them out and putting them in the box. Can’t wait!!!!
BruceFromOhio
@Montanareddog: If it were 2004, I’d be right there with you.
Since then, OH fortunately grew a pair and most (not all) counties obtained better systems. In about half the 88 counties, a voter obtains a ballot, fills in the bubble using ink, then hand-feeds it into a scanner mounted over a bin regrettably resembling a trash bin. Remaining counties use a system that prints out a ballot from a touch-screen user in put, which the voter then deposits into a scanner. While it *may* be possible to hack all 88 counties voting systems night of, it’s very less likely to hack all of the physical ballots which are counted to confirm the electronic results.
This somewhat-alarmist article from the Columbus Dispatch in January spells it out.
You drop a buy because you have it in the bag, or you have no hope of winning. Given my local experience with the neighboring fascisti, it seems it would be the former.
mac8
In Ohio, there is at least one Trump super-fan who has decked out their pickup trucks with 3 huge Trump flags and also stick-on banners on the side of the truck. I am pretty sure this person has been spending at least every Saturday driving up and down I-77 (between Canton and Cleveland) proclaiming their love of Trump. Either that or I’ve been really unlucky in encountering them.
I’m still holding out hope that there are more non-Trumpers than Trumpers in Ohio but the Trumpers are definitely more obnoxious.
VeniceRiley
Video surfaces of the Parscale incident
https://www.the-sun.com/news/1547154/brad-parscale-wife-abuse-tackled-swat-hospitalized-florida/
There go two miscreants
In Montgomery County, MD — waiting on my requested ballot. One of my neighbors has received hers. I will vote using a drop box; MD has revised their procedure and will begin processing mail and dropbox ballots before Nov 3, so should be in the count on election day.
Mary G
Uh, Cheryl?
ETA: Politico reporter and story.
Mai Naem mobile
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: not just Donnie. Donnie will probably be dead within a few years or have dementia to the point where nobody will trust any info he has but Jared is much younger and I am betting has all the same info his f-I-l has. Same goes for Ivanka but Ivanka is about as stupid as daddy. I am betting on Jared ending up in prison over national security and corruption issues.
Ian
@JoyceH:
It was probably an IRS agent or employee. Which would make the act very illegal. I applaud, but perhaps we should not speculate to hard on whom, as they are probably not wanting to be publicized.
trollhattan
@VeniceRiley:
Hey, isn’t that “resisting arrest”–[BANG!]?
Shirtless, skivvies, pickup truck, we sure this isn’t just a “Cops” episode?
E.
@Ohio Mom: Same here. I own a business and the uncertainty of all this along with covid is killing me. I cannot plan for anything and suddenly find myself experiencing what the kids call “precarity.” I need my customers to have some money so they will buy my products. We totally lost one tourist season, will the next be back to normal? Do I renew the lease or not? Do I replace broken equipment or not?
Miss Bianca
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
All the more reason for the fucker to be charged with crimes against the state, brought to trial, convicted upon evidence, and then sentenced to solitary confinement in the big house in Florence, CO.
Why Florence? For selfish reasons, I would love to be able to give a big fat Bronx cheer every time I drive down state highway 67 and pass the SuperMax. Plus, El Chapo. You want bad Mexican hombres, Donnie? Here, here’s the biggest and baddest for ya. Enjoy your delicious plate of karmic cat fud, dude.
BruceFromOhio
@mac8:
Sorry, it’s trending poorly. White middle class economically disdavantaged by the collapse of economies are driving the less-populated counties bloody red as the youngs flee for opportunity elsewhere. As someone else has noted, it’s blue oases in a red sea. Go south of I-80 or west of I-71 and its MAGAts for the win. A dear friend and his wife bolted for California because they couldn’t stand the victimized racist white privileged any more.
There are Biden signs, but precious few.
“Shy Trump Voters,” my ass. Never encountered one who wasn’t shouting all the parts out loud, clear as day.
jackmac
@BRyan: During some recent trips through downstate Illinois (actually pretty much anything outside the six-seven county Chicago region) I’ve noted the many Trump signs and flags (the No More Bullshit variety) plus the obligatory “(Gov. JB) Pritzker sucks” signage. I just snicker and drive on thinking that “We still outvote you MFers.”
BruceFromOhio
@VeniceRiley:
At least they didn’t shoot him in the back seven times.
trollhattan
We truly live in the stupidest of times.
Yeah, they should be heard pleading “guilty.”
Mike in NC
@VeniceRiley: Slightly disappointed to see the drunken, shirtless Parscale captured on video. I didn’t see the White Power and Skinhead tattoos I was expecting.
geg6
@Ian:
No way. It was undoubtedly Deutsche Bank or the accounting firm (Mazars????) who were told to hand them over to the feds by SCOTUS a while ago. They are the only ones with nothing to lose by doing it.
What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?
@There go two miscreants: I’m in MoCo. My ballot arrived today.
LuciaMia
He probably believes his awesome-self can just wing it. Heck, its worked before. And at all his current rallies, he just has to shovel the same old shit (doesnt even have to be coherent) and the minions will hoot and cheer. So, no worries.
Leto
@Mary G: I will say from the military side, AF specifically, there are numerous logistical issues with this. While we have a number of aircraft nuclear capable, they’re currently configured for normal munitions. Reconverting them over for that mission is $$$ because they’re not simultaneously capable of carrying both. Also we have a much smaller, numerically, force so doing that means pulling them from other current missions to just do that singular mission. All the more reason to vote in such numbers that Biden takes the oath in January
Edit: that’s just the aircraft side. Weapon side is a whole different shebang.
Cheryl Rofer
@Mary G: I’ve only read the tweet so far.
The New START Treaty ends about two weeks after the inauguration. It can easily be extended for five years, and Russia is okay with that. But The Trumpies want “a better deal” and are piling on conditions that Russia won’t accept and want China in the mix too. China has long said, not my problem, and they’re not entirely wrong.
So yes, another treaty that the Trumpies are trying to destroy.
Also, they think that by waving their, um, nukes around, they will convince others to accede to their will. This is childish and dangerous.
It’s another reason to vote for Biden. It’s one of the first things he’ll get on, to extend New START.
geg6
@LuciaMia:
I am curious to see how he deals with not having a drooling bunch of Trumpites to cheer and hoot at every dog turd he spits out. I believe I read it will be a very limited and socially distant invited audience.
The Moar You Know
@Marcopolo: Iowa as well. I think they have no longer have any intention of winning. Doubt Trump knows that, but the actions are what they are.
I think the voter fuckery is being aimed at the efforts of the GOP trying hold the wall in the Senate, the idea being they will just do nothing for four years if they can pull that off. Mitch got his judges and his Supreme Court. The GOP really doesn’t need Trump for anything else at this point and he has spent the last year being nothing but a massive liability to the party.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Im OK with him being lodged at Florence ADX, unable to tweet or communicate with anyone other than appropriately security-cleared military attorneys.
RobertDSC-Work
@Miss Bianca:
El Chapo is 5.5 feet tall. But I know what you mean.
Salty Sam
Agreed, and so even though my absentee ballot arrived today, I am following through with my plan to fly back to Texas from Puerto Rico for early in-person voting- I will not give “them” the chance to fuck around with my vote.
Not really looking forward to planes/trains/automobiles during a pandemic, but not panicky about it either.
Best of all, early voting in Texas coincides with granddaughter Iris’ first birthday. Looking forward to her showing me how she just learned to walk!
RSA
The Department of Defense, as one would imagine, is conservative about this kind of situation. It matters less whom Trump’s debt is owed to than that the lever exists. I’ll bet a lot of security people in government think of Trump as an insider threat.
HumboldtBlue
Scheduling reminder from Charles Pierce.
Sab
@BruceFromOhio: Ohioans. Jennifer Brunner, running for Supreme Court, is the Sec of State that got most of us paper, not just purely electronic voting. I. e. traceable and therefore recountable.
Matt McIrvin
@Mary G: Donald the Dove!
The Moar You Know
@trollhattan: California makes the best of everything, including lunatic Republicans. Reagan, Nixon, and Hoover. No other state can match the…quality of our right wing motherfuckers
db11
@Cheryl Rofer: I would love to see you do a deep dive on the Channel 4 expose re the 2016 Trump digital campaign and their successful CA / FB targeting of black voters in swing states for ‘deterrence’.
Not sure if this has been posted elsewhere here today, but the full segment is now up on youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIf5ELaOjOk&feature=emb_logo
…plus they’ve posted a shorter explainer video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reae0qgZ8bM
Explosive stuff and the timing seems related to Parscale’s meltdown yesterday.
LuciaMia
Sweet!
debbie
Thanks for this recap, but how horrifying!
I’m wondering if Putin has begun questioning his own puppet-master skills yet. He may not be the pro he thinks he is. Too many conflicts to juggle all at once.
cain
@Martin:
If there is anything the Times love doing it is bringing politicians down – they prefer Hillary but Trump will do just fine as well.
Omnes Omnibus
@Sab: Brunner is great. That is all.
cope
@Miss Bianca: “cat fud”…hee hee, I saw what you did there.
db11
@db11: Should also note that David Carrol is all over the story in his twitter feed:
https://twitter.com/profcarroll
As is Carole Cadwalladr on the other side of the pond:
https://twitter.com/carolecadwalla
Miss Bianca
@RobertDSC-Work: It ain’t the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.//
As I’m sure you know.
Kathleen
@Ohio Mom: Looks like Ohio Dems won lawsuit requiring more drop boxes be available for voters. David Pepper tweeted this cool story:
Ballots will be mailed a week from today. I got my sample Democratic ballot including state, county and city judges endorsed by the Democratic party. Excited!!!
LuciaMia
Charlie Pierces latest headline:
“I’m Not Confident That the President*’s Very Stable Genius Can Handle All of This at Once
Quite simply, it appears that a lot of people inside of Camp Runamuck are coming unraveled.”
Kathleen
@BruceFromOhio: I’ve seen relatively few yard signs for Presidential campaign. It seems like the most Biden/Harris signs I’ve seen in Cincinnati are in Hyde Park, one of our wealthiest neighborhoods. There are a lot of signs for local races.
db11
Also ran across this BBC story from Nov 2019:
“Without Facebook, we wouldn’t have won. I mean Facebook really and truly put us over the edge. Facebook was the medium that proved most successful for this campaign.” -Theresa Hong, Parscale’s lieutenant
The clip of her chilling interview is here: https://twitter.com/nycsouthpaw/status/1198304710043873282
Follows up the story exposed in ‘the Great Hack’, including that FB and Google employees were embedded in the campaign’s ‘Project Alamo’ — which was run out of a CA office — and puts the lie to all of FaceBook’s BS regarding their efforts to ‘protect’ elections. (Which I suppose is true if they mean protecting Republicans from the votes of those who would dislodge their illegitimate minority rule).
Kathleen
@Sab: Jennifer Brunner and John P. O’Donnell are the 2 judicial candidates Democratic Party is endorsing for the Ohio Supreme Court. I also see on her CV (looking at sample ballot) she was the first woman to serve as Ohio Secretary of State. She was awesome.
Gin & Tonic
@Ken: Nagorno-Karabakh has been a “point of conflict” since the Armenians there basically ethnically cleansed it of Azeris. The only way in is the one road from Armenia proper to Stepanakert. The history of the ethnic composition there is complicated and, as with most ethnic conflicts in the Caucasus, stems from Stalin’s policies of forced relocation of ethnic groups to build a post-ethnic Soviet state.
N.B. – it didn’t work.
db11
@LuciaMia: Love reading Pierce: he’s incisive, insightful and funny.
I think we’re about to observe a big lesson about the naked pursuit of power and the way it sustains, then fails.
All of these hits matter not at all for the longest time, and then they do — all at once.
pluky
@Montanareddog: Booze and blow are not mutually exclusive party favors.
catclub
does anyone know where this tidbit came from? Seems oddly specific.
I did know that he only had very small amount of money in stocks.
Kay
Such a funny way to put it and true, too :)
What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?
@BruceFromOhio: Ohio just turned blue on Nate Silver’s election forecast last Friday. It’s basically tied but barley pro Biden at present, so maybe things aren’t quite as bad as you think.
Mike in NC
Fat Bastard was lying again today about “turning the corner” on Coronavirus. That must be the tenth time we’ve turned that corner. My head is spinning.
BruceFromOhio
@Omnes Omnibus: Seconded.
BruceFromOhio
@What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?: Thank you for the shout out, much appreciated. I do tend to think the worst, while looking for that ray o’ sunshine.
brantl
This is too good to waste and it was orphaned in the last thread:
Biden should hold out $750 dollars, cash to Stump, and say “Here, I’ll pay this years taxes for you Donny, but make sure you declare it next year, I’m claiming it as a charitable donation to a down-and-outer.”; I’m pretty sure Donny’s aneurism would stream blood out of his ears.
Kay
@What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?:
I see what he’s saying though- it DOES look bad. You would not believe the Trump displays. The new thing is they take one of the Trump flags and build a wooden frame so it’s a huge sign. They’re just…incredibly aggressive. Really loud pickup trucks with a Trump flag and always, always some kind of “Blue Lives Matter” additional decorative element.
I can’t figure out if there’s more of them or if they’re just really loud.
cain
@Hoodie:
They will need to monitor Jared and then charge him when he does try to sell what he has under the espionage act. He and his wife should go straight to jail, his kids adopted by Mary Trump.
Chris Johnson
I have got my ballot in the mail as I was supposed to, I have filled everything out and signed it etc EXACTLY BUT EXACTLY the way I was supposed to, and I have voted :)
It was by mail because I’m in Vermont and we can handle that, and I voted by dropping my ballot into the big heavy corner USPS mailbox to be mailed to the town clerk’s office.
I voted in my pajamas. ‘cos I can walk to the corner in my pajamas, if I don’t hang about, and if I am smart and bring my little wallet with my driver’s license etc. in case I am harassed for walking on the street in pajamas. :)
Zzyzx
2 more hours until atonement. Maybe next year it’ll occur to me to not do a 9 mile walk when I’m fasting.
I went by a tiny neighborhood synagogue this morning on my walk in my peaceful residential Seattle neighborhood, and it had two guards out front, one armed, to prevent a Yom Kippur attack. Another way the world has changed in the last few years…
cain
Some great investgative journalism by a local channel – https://www.channel4.com/news/revealed-cambridge-analytica-data-on-thousands-of-facebook-users-still-not-deleted
Basically, Cambridge Analytica is back and Facebook despite promising to destroy the profiles have not. Basically, once again black Americans are being targeted.
Facebook is a company that needs to be broken up or managed because they are not good for any democracy on the planet.
ETA – looks like it got covered already above! Definitely worth a front page post. I’ve texted my gf – who has no plans to get off facebook unless there was something egregious. I’m hoping that this stuff is actively showing that FB is against black folks.
We really need to have a competing platform.
cain
@Gin & Tonic:
Shit so you’re saying that Armenians also were doing genocide just like Turkey did them? That place is a mess.
Sab
@Kathleen: debbie asked a few threads ago if in Ohio the person with the Irish name wins. Yes, but GOP on to that. O’Donnell v Kennedy??
Way back before that the rule used to be that any one named Brown won unless the opponent was Brown.
Did great for Sherrod Brown, until we voted for him, not his surname. He still won.
Jay
Amir Khalid
@trnc:
Trump can’t show cause to have Dr Fauci fired, true; but as POTUS he is situated to make life difficult for any civil servant who displeases him.
Jean
Michael Steele was on Nicole Wallace’s show this evening and expressed doubt about Biden’s 10 point lead because he believes there’s a “coalition” of Trump voters not being counted. With that, I turned off the news.
Sab
@Kay: Scary in my neighborhood. Cattycorner from my lot the Trump Sign is facing us, not the street or across the street.
If I was a real shit I would report her illegal day care to Public Health, since no masks, no social distance, unfenced above the ground pool and trampoline in back yard. But the parents would just find another kindred moron.
Instead I watch, and think “Get covid19 and die.”
Their big front yard tree is dying. Actually sad. There has been such a thing as oak wilt. Don’t saw branches off your tree or pound nails into it to hang your fucking flag. Open tree sores equal open spot for tree wilt fungus to get in. Wait until winter.
Could have told her that three years ago if only she had had a brain to register what went in her ears. Hope the dead tree falls on her house not mine.
Very sad. The tree is gorgeous. It should have had a chance.
debbie
@Kathleen:
She sure was. Stood up to all kinds of verbal abuse from those idiotic legislators and refused to cede even an inch.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@BruceFromOhio:
pissing people off by loudly supporting trump is half the “fun” of supporting trump, I suspect.
debbie
@Jay:
Looks like they recruited that Italian woman who attempted to restore a fresco of Jesus.
Jay
@cain:
as usual, it’s more complex than that. Nagorno was and is majority Armenian. Stalin, stuck it in the Azerbaijan SSR, instead of the Armenia SSR. This resulted in Azeri’s increasing their settlement in Nagorno.
During the Soviet breakdown then breakup, the Nagorno Parliament twice voted to join with the future Armenia, and the referendum votes matched.
Azerbaijan refused, the rump USSR refused, and intercommunal violence began.
A low intensity war became a full on war and Armenia/Nagorno won, to the point of seizing some Azeri territory.
As usual in these conflicts, on both sides there was ethnic cleansing by paramilitaries, ( and sometimes official militaries), along with voluntary refugees.
So Nagorno became much more Armenian and Azerbaijan became much more Azeri/Turkoman.
philostopher
@indycat32:
They’re not as smart as the Ohio Secretary of State, who calls all of it “absentee voting.” This includes early voting, which he calls “in-person absentee voting.” They caught on early, him and DeWine, and they’ve tried to circumvent Trump on that language. Neither of the two of them is up for re-election this year, and the old gerrymanders still apply this election cycle, so the only one who’ll suffer if Democrats turn out in larger numbers is Trump. I don’t think, the way he’s acted, either of them cares much if he’s re-elected or not. In fact, it might help them in a couple of years if they had Biden to campaign against.
cain
@Jay:
Ugh, definitely messy.. and it’ll take generations to forget.. that stuff gets propagated through each generation.
Gin & Tonic
@Jay: While you are largely correct on the history, the word “Nagorno” is an adjective. If you want one word instead of two, call it Karabakh (the name of the mountain range it’s in) or Artsakh (the current Armenian name for the region.)
TS (the original)
Late to the thread:
My current take on the NYT – they see where the wind is blowing & want to make sure they can retain their access with the winning team. Rather like Rasmussen changing the polls as the end draws nigh – so they can say they picked the winner.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Gin & Tonic:
Artsakh is what they renamed a portion of Maryland Ave. here In Beautiful Downtown Glendale(we have a sizable Arminian population).
Jay
@cain:
it was a psychic wound on the national soul of Azerbaijan, so it’s not going to go away.
The War will probably end when Azerbaijan’s Great Victory fails to appear and once again, the Azeri Military has to be redeployed to quell dissent at home.
The scary part of this recent outbreak is that Turkish drones, Syrian mercs, have been deployed to make up for the lack of fighting ability by the Azerbaijan Military,
and the Azeri’s have upped the ante by using ballistic missiles for terrorist strikes against Armenian cities.
the Armenians have ballistic missiles too, ( Iskandars) but so far, have not retaliated.
@Gin & Tonic:
went with the spelling my autocorrect remembered, rather than loading up a wiki.
Suzanne
I feel like I will need to nap for all of 2021. This year is just wearing me out.
Wyatt Salamanca
@Cheryl Rofer:
Cheryl,
Thanks for a great summary!
While I’d be thrilled to see Biden win, I fully expect Trump would remain a thorn in his side for the next 4 years spreading lies and bullshit in his Twitter feed.
The best possible outcome isn’t simply Trump’s defeat in November, it’s a successful prosecution of him that results in a long term spent in a federal prison.
Uncle Cosmo
@Spanky: And it is in fact illegal to even open a mailed-in ballot before 8 AM on November 4. MD Code, Title 11 (Election Law), Section 11-302, Canvassing:
And note this from the MD State Board of Elections (with a 3-2 GOP majority because of Hogan, damn it):
I’m early-voting in person, probably as soon as possible (starts Oct. 26) – one of my Delegates has e-mailed that all the usual Baltimore City early-voting locations will be open (I need to check that!) and one dis ~5 min drive (<15 min walk) from me, ecco!
Jay
Anya
This is a great summary, Cheryl. Very helpful. Thanks.
Wag
@Miss Bianca:
Not to mention the Unabomber, Terry Nichols, Ramsey Yusuf, etc. https://www.5280.com/2019/08/the-14-most-notorious-inmates-at-the-adx-in-florence-colorado/
Miss Bianca
@Wag: Oh, I know. Believe me, I know. One of my actors here at the theater was a corrections officer there. He told me he had once single-handedly ended a Terry Nichols hunger strike by telling the commissary to start ordering Raisin Bran again. Good times, good times…
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Trump doesn’t care about the election, those rallies about fund raising to service his debt.
Benw
@trollhattan: LOL
Kilgore Trout
@VeniceRiley: Every picture I had ever seen of Parscale had him in long sleeved shirts, and I assumed he had white pride tattoos all over his arms. I guess not.
Ohio Mom
My suburban subdivision in Blue Ash (northeastern Cincinnati suburb) has lots of Biden signs and only one Trump. It’s heartening but I won’t be surprised if enough of the rest of Ohio goes for Trump.
Ohio Family’s plan is to vote early in person at the Board of Elections toward the end of next week. We’re skipping the first few days the polls are open because we’re thinking it’s going to be very crowded.
I’m glad to hear we won on drop boxes. Just one site per county was ridiculously inaccessible for too many voters.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Maine, Iowa and Montana
catclub
@Zzyzx: Maybe next year it’ll occur to me to not do a 9 mile walk when I’m fasting.
The Rabbi mystery – not sure which day: “A nine mile walk is no Joke, especially in the rain.” Harry Kemelman
Bnad
@Marcopolo: My money is on the WI legislature sending Trump electors to the EC regardless of the way the state’s vote goes. They have a bulletproof gerrymander and don’t need to worry about voters at all.
Yutsano
@Kilgore Trout: Parscale is in the Republican game for the bling. He’s not a True Believer although he was good at faking it for a while. I don’t know what caused his break, but I wish him health and that his wife will have the courage to end the abuse she’s suffering.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Bnad: Ah, no. From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
They’d have to change the election law, which would require the Governor’s signature.
sgrAstar
@trnc: totally out of left field, I know- but some people are saying that Jared and Ivanka leaked those returns, to save themselves. Many people are saying this…just check the internet.
/s
?
Hellbastard
@CaseyL: I’ll be doing the same in Whitman county.
206inKY
I love Sara Gideon. She’s running way too close for comfort against Collins and needs all the help we can give, even though she has a good war chest. Jamie Harrison is a miracle and needs our help too. Steve Bullock has a shot but a lot less money. I’m feeling good about AZ, CO, and NC. We just need to pick off ME, SC, or MT.
IThink
@Goku (Amerikan Baka):
Me neither TBH but I believe she and her mostly homeschooled super large extended family subscribe to a rabidly reactionary brand of Christian Dominionism. I’d be lying if I didn’t say, Dear Lord, does she remind of our likely-but-not-guaranteed replacement for the incomparable RBG, Amy Coney Barrett in so many ideological ways, albeit quieter, more charming, polite and far more dangerous on the Court than she could be anywhere else!???