Thursday, October 31, 2024

Trump vows ‘secret’ election plan to steal presidency

no image description available
Donald Trump

At his racist hate-filled rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday night, Donald Trump said he has a "secret" plan with regards to the House of Representatives in the 2024 election, a comment that has legal experts worried he’s concocting yet another plan to try to steal the election.

"I think with our little secret we're gonna do really well with the House, right?” Trump said from the stage, following a string of other speakers who disparaged Latinos, Puerto Ricans, Black people, Palestinians, and Jews, and who made misogynistic comments about Vice President Kamala Harris. “Our little secret is having a big impact. He [House Speaker Mike Johnson] and I have a secret. We'll tell you what it is when the race is over."

It's unclear what exactly Trump was referring to with his “secret.” But legal experts worry that Trump is saying he has a plan to send the results of the election to the House, where the Republican majority will declare Trump the winner.

“Clearest indication yet that if Trump loses, the plan is to sow enough doubt about election results in key states so that the House can declare a contingent election and proclaim Trump the victor,” Jacob Glick, a lawyer who worked on the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection, wrote in a post on X.

Trump's allies already say he has a plan to challenge the election if he comes up short against Harris, saying he will declare victory on election night, even if he is behind, and make up lies about voter fraud to try to challenge the results in court. 

That’s the same playbook Trump used in 2020, which ultimately led to a violent riot at the U.S. Capitol after Trump incited his followers to try to stop the certification of now-President Joe Biden’s win.

Because of the insurrection, Congress passed a law in 2022 to make it harder for Trump to employ this tactic again. It raises the number of members of Congress who can trigger an objection to certifying the results, and explicitly bans a candidate from providing an alternate slate of Electoral College electors, as Trump’s campaign tried to do in order to steal the election in 2020. 

All of this comes as 69% of registered voters think Trump won't accept the results of the election nor concede the race if he loses, according to a poll by SSRS for CNN. The same poll found, however, that 88% of voters believe the loser of the race has an obligation to concede.

It’s hard to believe that such a large majority of voters think it’s an obligation for a candidate to accept the election results, yet will vote for Trump, whom they believe wouldn’t concede in the event of a loss.

In eight days, we’ll see if voters’ cognitive dissonance causes them to do the right thing.

Wonder if Trump has already ordered his dictator's uniform - no doubt from a Chinese company.  Order early and avoid the tariff he promises to impose.  And after he steals the election, he'll try to sell us trading cards of himself in uniform.
 

Wednesday, October 30, 2024

Kamala Harris' stirring closing argument showed she'll be a president we'll be proud of

US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks on The Ellipse just south of the White House in Washington, DC, on October 29, 2024. The Harris-Walz campaign is billing the speech as 'a major closing argument' one week before the November 5 election. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP) (Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign rally in the Ellipse on Oct. 29 in Washington, D.C.

In front of a massive overflow crowd numbering up to 75,000 people, Vice President Kamala Harris delivered her “closing argument” in DC’s Ellipse. 

The crowds were straight out of Donald Trump’s fondest fantasies, the kind of crowd he couldn’t garner this year to save his life. (Madison Square Garden’s capacity is 19,500, so he maybe drew a third of Harris’ crowd at his Nazi rally).

WOAH this is CRAZY— my friend just sent me this video from the OVERFLOW section of the VP’s ellipse speech in DC. This crowd is wild. I’ve only ever seen the mall this full before at the 2017 Women’s March. Historic. We’re all ready for a New Way Forward.

You know how Trump always lies about the 50,000 people outside his venues? That might actually be true for Harris in this case. Remember, this is the OVERFLOW.

Harris spoke about Trump’s inability to campaign for anyone but himself, how he aims to divide the country, and his impulse to turn every single detractor into the enemy.

The rally’s location wasn’t an accident. It delivered a message of its own.

Kamala Harris: Look, we know who Donald Trump is. He is the person who stood at this very spot nearly four years ago and sent an armed mob to the United States capitol to overturn the will of the people in a free and fair election.

Unlike Trump’s airing of grievances and never-ending stream of weird or offensive lies, Harris actually showed up with real issues. “Donald Trump will walk into that office with an enemies list,” she said. “I will walk in with a to-do list.”

She spoke of lowering the cost of child care, making homeownership possible for more people, ending gun violence, and allowing Medicare to cover the cost of home care. Harris promised to sign the bipartisan border bill into law, which got a tepid response from the crowd but is good politics and, quite possibly, good policy. But she followed that up with a full defense of immigrants to a much more enthusiastic audience response. 

Kamala Harris: Politicians have got to stop treating immigration as an issue to scare up votes in an election.

She promised to restore federal abortion rights

Acyn
Kamala Harris: I will fight to restore what Donald Trump and his hand- selected supreme court justices took away from the women of America.

Harris attacked Trump for his disrespect of our men and women in uniform.  “I will always honor, never denigrate, the service and sacrifice of our troops and their families and fulfill our sacred obligation to care for them,” she said. “I will strengthen, not surrender, America’s global leadership. I will stand with our friends because I know our alliances keep Americans safe.”

She said that Trump offers “more chaos,” which is a theme I would love to see stressed even more. People are tired of the Trump circus, even many of his supporters. I suspect that promising some calm in the White House is a winner. She contrasted with Trump’s promises to jail his critics and opponents, offering to be a president for all Americans. 

“I will always put country over party and self,” she said. “I love my country with all my heart, and I believe in its promise.” 

She compared America’s fight for freedom against a petty tyrant to the current fight to prevent another petty tyrant from taking power. I loved this: 

Unlike Trump’s closing statement at Madison Square Garden, she kept things short and sweet. No one left early. No one was insulted in the most vulgar terms. 

And in the end, she made people feel good about supporting her, about heading out to do all the GOTV work we need to do to bring this one home. She’s kind, hopeful, unifying, composed, and coherent.

Kamala Harris: We like a good debate. And the fact that someone disagrees with us does not make them the enemy within. They are family, neighbors, classmates, coworkers. They are fellow Americans, and as Americans, we rise and fall together.

The contrast couldn’t be starker. 

I feel good about next Tuesday. Let’s close strong!


Tuesday, October 29, 2024

Trump's racist Nazi rally at Madison Square Garden backfires spectacularly

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Madison Square Garden, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Donald Trump looks heavenward (because, you know, god talks to him) at his Madison Square Garden hate-in rally.  The Donald fixed it alright.

Donald Trump wanted his Nazi-style rally at Madison Square Garden, in New York City, the media capital of the world. And then he let out his MAGA movement’s ugly all-out bigotry. 

It is his campaign’s biggest blunder, and it’s a big one. Even Republicans are freakin’ the f’ out. 

On Sunday, I immediately wrote up the “jokes” by MAGA “comedian” Tony Hinchcliffe about Puerto Rico being “literally a floating island of garbage, or the one about “Latinos, they love making babies too. Just know that. They do. They do. There’s no pulling out. They don’t do that. They come inside. Just like they did to our country." Nothing like mixing lewd ejaculation jokes with racism.

knew it would send shockwaves through the Boricua community in key battleground states. And boy, did it ever. 

The holy trinity of Puerto Rican stardom—Bad Bunny, J-Lo, and Ricky Martin, with over 315 million combined followers on Instagram alone—have been on a tear, sharing Vice President Kamala Harris’ plan for Puerto Rico side-by-side with the comedian’s racist tirade against the island.

Other Puerto Rican celebrities like Luis Fonsi (16 million Instagram followers) followed suit. This was Bad Bunny’s first time engaging during this election. 

In fact, Bad Bunny shared Harris’ video four times. He’s pissed. 

You know Republicans know they’re in deep shit, and not just because “rally is racist” headlines are now dominating the news (more on that below). 

This joke bombed for a reason. It's not funny and it's not true,” tweeted Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott. “Puerto Ricans are amazing people and amazing Americans! I’ve been to the island many times.”

Not only is Scott locked in a tough reelection battle, but he’s already had to deal with Trump and his pals alienating the Haitian community, another large and politically active Florida voting bloc. 

”Disgusted by @TonyHinchcliffe’s racist comment calling Puerto Rico a 'floating island of garbage,'” tweeted Florida Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar. “This rhetoric does not reflect GOP values.” Except that of course it does. It was literally featured in Trump’s big rally. And Trump sure hasn’t disavowed it (and no, the campaign doesn’t count; he has to apologize for it). 

Other Republicans followed suit, like Puerto Rico’s Republican Party chairman, Florida Rep. Carlos Gimenez, and New York Rep. Anthony D’EspositoMore will likely join the list in the next 24 hours. 

And the headlines, oh the headlines! (These are the headlines as I write this. They are often changed.) 

CNN’s entire top half of its homepage on Sunday night: “Trump loyalists spew racist, vulgar attacks at NYC rally.” You know how hard it is for media outlets to say the word “racist.” That’s how racist it was. 

The Washington Post: “Trump rally speakers invoke racist tropes in denouncing Harris; Vance defends Trump’s ‘enemies within’ comments.” Glad Jeff Bezos decided to cave to the racists! 

The New York Times: “Racist Remarks and Insults Mark Trump’s Madison Square Garden Rally.” OMG, even the Times used the word “racist” to describe racism! Progress! 

Univision: “Aliados de Trump insultan a Harris y denigran a los puertorriqueños en evento en el Madison Square Garden.” In English: “Trump allies insult Harries  and denigrate Puertoricans.” The story explained that “comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s set was full of vulgar and denigrating supposed jokes, full of racist stereotypes of Latinos, Jews, and Blacks.” (My translation.)

Telemundo: “El comediante Tony Hinchcliffe hace chistes racistas sobre los latinos y Puerto Rico en evento de Trump en el Madison Square Garden.” In English, “Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe makes racist jokes about Latinos and Puerto Ricans.” 

Guys, this shit is brutal

In fact, it’s so bad that people are barely focused on whatever drivel Trump spewed. The entire narrative has been reset. 

This is the October surprise: everyone, including the media, finally realizing what the MAGA movement truly is and being unafraid to state it. The “comedian” himself sure as heck sees nothing wrong with his racism and bigotry. And Gimenez, despite criticizing Hinchcliffe, sure went out of his way to praise Trump, the guy whose operation hired Hinchcliffe for the act. 

This is who they are.

Did Trump set his campaign ablaze at Madison Square Garden?

Monday, October 28, 2024

Trashed at Trump closing message: Puerto Ricans, Black Americans, immigrants, transgenders, Jews...

...Palestinians, Women, the enemies within



REPUBLISHED BY:

Blue Country Gazette Blog

Rim Country Gazette Blog

Yesterday, the Trump campaign offered its closing message to voters via a marathon rally at Madison Square Garden. It was a message of division and hate as speakers disparaged Puerto Ricans, Black Americans, immigrants, transgender people, Jews, Palestinians, and women. Trump once again labeled Democrats the “enemies within” while his guests called Kamala Harris “the Antichrist” and -- somehow -- even more offensive things than that.

It was an event so fascistic, misogynistic, and xenophobic that news outlets have dispensed with their usual euphemisms and are calling it out for the racist hate rally it was.

Some have argued that Trump whiffed at the chance to present his vision of the future to voters. He didn’t. This was his vision. The event perfectly captured the danger and divisiveness we can expect from a second Trump term. Many are connecting it with the darkest chapters of our history, but the more horrifying fact is that this was a glimpse not just into the past, but our future if MAGA wins.

Thankfully, we can wash the taste of that rally from our collective palate tomorrow night, when Kamala Harris offers voters another, very different vision for our country. Her closing argument, to be delivered from the site where Trump unleashed the mob on January 6th, will offer a vision of an America where democracy is upheld, where reproductive rights are protected, healthcare is accessible to all, and families are supported to live, thrive, and prosper. Her message will be one of unity, inclusion, and progress -- a powerful contrast to Trump’s rally of hatred and grievance.


Sunday, October 27, 2024

Vice President Harris' closing statement tonight was just wow = huge long sustained applause

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign event at Washington Crossing Historic Park, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024, in Washington Crossing, Pa. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Vice President Harris!

The Bulwark people have been working hard in swing states, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania. They have really stepped up to the plate and they are working extremely hard to make sure that Vice President Kamala Harris wins. They are doing a lot of events and they have been doing a really great job! 

If you don't know who "The Bulwark" is, they are Never Trump Republicans who range from moderate Never Trump Republican to conservative Never Trump Republicans who have very popular podcasts. They are all in.

Republican Liz Cheney on the road for Kamala.

Only Former Representative Liz Cheney has been working harder than them to get Vice President Harris elected president (of people with a public persona) . Vice President Kamala Harris has worked harder than I have ever seen any nominee for president ever work before. 

Again, I have never seen any nominee for president ever work this hard before! I don't know how she is doing it! It is not too much to say that she is carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders.

I will make a statement that might sound exaggerated, but the truth is that who wins this presidential election will largely determine whether we retain our democracy and the free world remains such! 

Therefore, this is one of the four most important presidential elections we have ever had: George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, FDR, and President Kamala D. Harris' elections were the winners of the four most important presidential elections in the history of the United States. 

Retaining our democracy is essential for the peace and security of the free world and the entire world. 

Former First Lady of California Maria Shriver moderated a discussion with Congresswoman Liz Cheney and Vice President Kamala Harris. At the end of the discussion which was an unqualified success in my view, Vice President Kamala Harris said the following:

My family grounds me in every way. But if I can just speak to what people are feeling. We cannot despair. We cannot despair. You know the nature of a democracy is such that I think there's a duality. On the one hand, there's an incredible strength when our democracy is intact, an incredible strength and what it does to protect the freedoms and rights of people. Oh, there's great strength in that and it is very fragile. It is only as strong as our willingness to fight for it.

And so that's the moment we're in. And I say do not despair because in a democracy as long as we can keep it in our democracy the people, every individual has the power to make a decision about what this will be and that's, let's not feel powerless.

Let's not let, and I get it, overwhelming nature of this all, make us feel powerless because then we have been defeated and that's not our character as the American people. We are not one to be defeated . We rise to a moment and we stand on broad shoulders of people who have fought this fight before for our country and in many ways let us look at the challenge that we are being presented and not be overwhelmed by it. The baton is now in our hands to fight for, not against, for this country we love. That's what we have the power to do. So, let's own that , dare I say, be joyful in what we will do in the process of owning that which is knowing that we can and will build community and coalitions and remind people that we are all in this together. Let's not let the overwhelming nature of this strip us of our strength! 



Saturday, October 26, 2024

Harris rallies young voters while Trump calls America a 'garbage can'

 no image description available

Vice President Kamala Harris

Both Vice President Kamala Harris and Donald Trump held campaign rallies on Thursday night. But while Harris discussed forward-looking optimism and encouragement, Trump again denigrated immigrants and trash-talked the United States’ role in the world.

Harris was introduced at the event outside Atlanta, Georgia, by former President Barack Obama. Obama noted that former Trump chief of staff Gen. John Kelly revealed that Trump wanted his generals “to be like Hitler’s generals.”

“In politics a good rule of thumb is: Don’t say you want to do anything like Hitler,” Obama explained.

In her speech, Harris addressed the young people in attendance. “I see you,” Harris said. “You all have grabbed the baton. I’ve seen what you do, and I see how you are doing it. Because you are rightfully impatient for change.”

Harris also referred to Trump’s repeated threat that he would go after an “enemy within,” and countered him, telling supporters to envision the Oval Office in three months. “It’s either Donald Trump in there, stewing over his enemies list. Or me, working for you, checking off my to-do list.”

Iconic musician Bruce Springsteen also appeared at the rally, touting his support for Harris and running mate Gov. Tim Walz.

“I want a president who reveres the Constitution, who does not threaten but wants to protect and guide our great democracy,” Springsteen said.

Meanwhile, at his event in Tempe, Arizona, Trump said the nationbecause of immigrants making a home herehas “become a garbage can for the world.”

“We’re like a garbage can. You know, it’s the first time I ever said that. And every time I come up and talk about what they’ve done to our country, I get angrier and angrier. First time I’ve ever said ‘garbage can.’ But you know what? It’s a very accurate description,” he continued to rant.

Trump has pushed bigotry against immigrants since launching his first presidential campaign in 2015, and it has been a consistent theme throughout his time in politics. In the closing days of the 2024 campaign, Trump is going all-in on bigotry. He has spent a reported $29 million on ads attacking transgender people and immigrants in addition to his rhetoric.

The torrent of bigotry, amplified by Trump’s allies in conservative media like Fox News, stands in stark contrast to fundamental improvements that have been made under the Biden-Harris administration.

Unemployment is down from Trump’s time in office. Crime has decreased since Trump was president. The COVID-19 vaccines were deployed, while Trump instead tended to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s virus needs.

The Biden-Harris administration succeeded in passing a massive infrastructure bill after Trump failed to deliver on his “infrastructure week” promises.

And alongside President Joe Biden, Harris has been able to accomplish these things without indulging in bigotry and fascism.

At his recent event in Tempe, Arizona, Trump said the nationbecause of immigrants making a home herehas “become a garbage can for the world.  We’re like a garbage can."

Friday, October 25, 2024

Here's what Trump allies expect on election night

Election Day is less than two weeks away, but Donald Trump is laying the groundwork to challenge the election if he comes up short against Vice President Kamala Harris.

On Wednesday, NBC News reported that Trump's allies expect that he will quickly declare victory on election night, regardless of whether the election has been called. One Trump ally said Trump would declare victory again if early returns skew more Republican, which is likely to happen again since they won’t include mail-in ballots, just like in 2020.

“There is no part of me who does not think that is part of the conversation,” a Trump donor from North Carolina told NBC News. “We have seen him do it before, and if he is up on election night, I think his campaign—maybe smartly—will try it again.”

As in 2020, Trump and his allies are spreading the same baseless lies that voting machines are stealing votes from Trump, a lie that cost Fox News $787 million in a defamation suit.

"Reports from Whitfield County, GA that Dominion machines are flipping votes," far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia wrote in a post on X, with no proof to back up her claim. "This is exactly the kind of fraud we saw in 2020."

Meanwhile, Republicans in the battleground states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin filed lawsuits to block the counting of military ballots cast overseas.

In September, Trump hinted at why Republicans are targeting these votes, writing on his Truth Social platform: “The Democrats are talking about how they’re working so hard to get millions of votes from Americans living overseas. Actually, they are getting ready to CHEAT!"

House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi slammed Republicans for their effort to block the counting of overseas military ballots.

“MAGA Republicans undermine overseas military voting rights because they know Kamala Harris is more fit to be our commander-in-chief than what’s his name,” Pelosi wrote in a post on X. “Democrats want ALL Americans’ votes counted—including those of our brave servicemembers.” Pelosi then linked to votefromabroad.org.

A judge in Michigan already tossed one of the suits, which was filed by the Michigan Republican Party, calling it an "11th hour attempt to disenfranchise" voters.

It’s not the only preelection lawsuit Republicans have filed to try to make it easier for Trump to win.

In Pennsylvania, the state Supreme Court ruled against a Republican National Committee lawsuit that sought to prevent people who had their mail-in ballots disqualified due to clerical errors from fixing them in order to let them be counted. 

“We have known for some time that Donald Trump uses the legal system not to adjudicate things on the merits but rather to make a point,” Democratic election lawyer Marc Elias said in an interview on MSNBC. 

“In the election context, we know he has used it to try to further a false narrative, the big lie, that serves as a permission structure for him and his supporters to deny the reality that he lost in 2020 and that he will almost certainly lose the popular vote and probably the election in 2024,” Elias continued. “But we have to be clear, those lawsuits are not succeeding.”

Harris said she is also planning for Trump's antics.

“This is a person, Donald Trump, who tried to undo a free and fair election, who still denies the will of the people, who incited a violent mob to attack the United States Capitol and 140 law enforcement officers were attacked," Harris told NBC News of why she believes Trump will try to cause chaos on election night.

Watch the Donald try on election eve.


New Firestorms Erupt Over Pistol Pete Hegseth's Military Misogyny

Ukraine, fighting for its life, has no problem sending women into combat Clown Car Escapee: "No one gives a shit if it's ...