;)
November 8, 2022
Late Morning Update:
The New York Times is live-updating election-day developments. CNN's live updates are here. And here are the Washington Post's live updates of election-day hoohah. Surprisingly, Ron DeSantis is behaving very badly.KK
Katelyn Polantz, et al., of CNN: "Pennsylvania Democratic Senate nominee John Fetterman's campaign has gone to a federal court to try to have Pennsylvania voters' mail-in ballots counted if they weren't signed with a valid date." MB: Gosh, swing voters, look who's fighting for you. It ain't teevee doc.
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Shannon Hall of the New York Times: “If you’re planning to wake up early to head to the polls on Tuesday, you'll get a shot at seeing the moon darken as it falls into Earth's shadow ... in the last total lunar eclipse until 2025.... In North America, observers on the West Coast will get the best view.... he total phase of the eclipse -- the true star of the show -- won't begin until 2:16 a.m. [PT] ... [and] will last for roughly 90 minutes until 3:41 a.m. [PT]. Viewers on the East Coast ... can catch totality, which will run from 5:16 a.m. Eastern time to 6:41 a.m...." MB Update: The eclipse was a bust at my house. Couldn't see the eclipse for the forest -- or the sun.
Today's Elections
Perry Stein, et al., of the Washington Post: "The Justice Department announced that it will dispatch workers to 64 jurisdictions in 24 states on Election Day to ensure that they are in compliance with federal voting law, an increase from the 44 jurisdictions to which it sent monitors for the 2020 presidential election.... The list of jurisdictions where the Justice Department will dispatch monitors provides a window into where federal law enforcement officials suspect there could be disputes or tensions around the voting process."
Amy Gardner & Emma Brown of the Washington Post: "Republican officials and candidates in at least three battleground states are pushing to disqualify thousands of mail ballots after urging their own supporters to vote on Election Day, in what critics are calling a concerted attempt at partisan voter suppression. In Pennsylvania, the state Supreme Court has agreed with the Republican National Committee that election officials should not count ballots on which the voter neglected to put a date on the outer envelope -- even in cases when the ballots arrive before Election Day. Thousands of ballots have been set aside as a result, enough to swing a close race. In Michigan, Kristina Karamo, the Republican nominee for secretary of state, sued the top election official in Detroit last month, seeking to toss absentee ballots not cast in person with an ID, even though that runs contrary to state requirements. When asked in a recent court hearing, Karamo's lawyer declined to say why the suit targets Detroit, a heavily Democratic, majority-Black city, and not the entire state. And in Wisconsin, Republicans won a court ruling that will prevent some mail ballots from being counted when the required witness address is not complete.... While the rejections may have some basis in state law, experts say they appear to go against a principle, enshrined in federal law, of not disenfranchising voters for minor errors." Emphasis added. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: I can improve on that lede: "Republican officials and candidates in at least three battleground states are pushing to disqualify thousands of mail ballots after urging their own supporters to vote on Election Day, in what critics are calling a concerted attempt at partisan voter suppression." There. All fixed. As for the emphasized sentence, "appear to"? Really? For Pete's sake, if a ballot was received before Nov. 8, then obviously it was mailed before Nov. 8, unless a mess of Pennsylvania voters are skilled time-travelers or something. ~~~
~~~ So Then. Pennsylvania. Emma Brown & Amy Gardner of the Washington Post: "Six days after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court invalidated thousands of mail-in ballots in response to a Republican lawsuit, citizens in Philadelphia and other parts of this battleground state scrambled to cast replacements so their votes will be counted on Election Day.... 'Oh I'm going to vote. It's not a question,' said [Kirby] Smith, a 59-year-old Democrat who said he viewed the court decision as part of an attempt to block people from voting. 'I'm going to fight back.' Multiple judges have ruled over the past two years that mail ballots returned on time by eligible Pennsylvania voters should be counted even if they lack a date on the outer envelope. Republicans sued in October to reverse that policy, arguing that it violated state law. Last Tuesday, they won a favorable ruling from the state Supreme Court, which directed counties not to count ballots with missing or inaccurate dates. That decision triggered a sprawling volunteer-run effort to make sure voters who had already returned their ballots knew that their votes would not count if they didn't take action.... Not all counties in Pennsylvania notify voters when their mail ballots are deficient and allow them to submit replacements.... On Friday, several voting and rights groups filed a lawsuit in federal court, arguing that not counting those ballots over a 'meaningless technicality' would amount to a violation of civil rights law." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Not only is the state supreme court's decision a stupid violation of the right to vote, the timing of the decision -- about a week before a national election -- is unconscionable, particularly because the court was overruling multiple judges who had validated the ballots. This is changing the rules in the second quarter of a tie game. Four of the six current justices were elected as Democrats. Right.
Joan Greve of the Guardian: "Joe Biden rallied with fellow Democrats on Monday night, delivering a message of optimism and determination in the face of widespread concerns about his party's showing in Tuesday's midterm elections. Addressing a boisterous crowd in Maryland, Biden stressed the high stakes of the races that will determine control of the US Congress for the next two years. Painting a grim picture of a Republican-controlled Congress, Biden predicted that the opposing party would use their majorities to roll back Americans' rights and dismantle social welfare programs. 'Our lifetimes are going to be shaped by what happens the next year to three years,' Biden said. 'It's going to shape what the next couple decades look like.'" Oh, and Jill was there.~~~
~~~ Jada Yuan of the Washington Post: Jill Biden has campaigned in "an astounding number of states with the country's most competitive races -- Rhode Island, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Texas, Virginia and Maryland -- over the past two weeks. Not only that, she is descending onto tougher races than her husband, in states where animosity toward Democrats is high.... It is a testament to her popularity, as the most requested surrogate in the administration, and her ability to track well with Democrats without being toxic to swing voters or Republicans...."
AP: "Kremlin-connected entrepreneur Yevgeny Prigozhin admitted Monday that he had interfered in U.S. elections and would continue to do so -- confirming for the first time the accusations that he has rejected for years. 'Gentlemen, we have interfered, are interfering and will interfere. Carefully, precisely, surgically and in our own way, as we know how to do,' Prigozhin boasted in remarks posted on social media. The statement, from the press service of his catering company that earned him the nickname 'Putin's chef,' came on the eve of U.S. midterm elections in response to a request for comment." MB: Prigozhin also heads the Wagner Group, mercenary soldiers who are fighting in Ukraine. Thanks to Forrest M. for the lead. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) The Washington Post's story is here.
Florida. Suppression & Intimidation Are the Point. Lori Rosza of the Washington Post: "Tuesday will mark the first major election in Florida since the legislature pushed through changes impacting voting in the Sunshine State. Voter advocates say the laws disproportionately impact Black voters -- making it harder for many to vote -- and have created an environment of confusion and fear.... 'These laws were put in place to intimidate people, and that's what's happening,' LaVon Bracy, the director of democracy for Faith in Florida, a religious nonprofit that encourages civic participation. 'People are just wondering, is it worth it?'"
Michigan, etc. Alexandra Berzon & Ken Bensinger of the New York Times: "The New York Times reviewed more than 20 hours of recordings of Michigan Fair Elections meetings, along with training sessions and organizing calls from closely linked groups. What emerged was a picture of an organization fueled by falsehoods, bent on trying to influence the 2022 midterms and determined to change the voting system in ways that would benefit Republicans. The Michigan group has counterparts around the country.... The Michigan coalition has largely kept its focus on the courts.... In [a] recent lawsuit..., [election deniers] joined with Kristina Karamo, Republican candidate for secretary of state, to ask a judge to effectively declare the absentee ballot system used in Detroit unlawful.... In a ruling issued on Monday, Judge Timothy Kenny rejected the claims, noting that the plaintiffs' demands would disenfranchise 60,000 voters who had already cast ballots. Every one of 12 accusations submitted 'are unsubstantiated and/or misinterpret Michigan law,' he wrote." A CBS News report on the failed attempt to throw out Detroit voters' ballots is here.
Amy Wang of the Washington Post: "In her first televised interview since a violent attack on her husband, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) broke her silence about how frightened she was to learn of the assault that took place in their San Francisco home." Capitol Police officers awakened her at her home in Washington D.C. at about 5 am on October 28; they did not know the extent of Paul Pelosi's injuries or his condition. The New York Times story is here. The Guardian's report is here. Video of the interview, with Anderson Cooper, is here.
I'm Just a Poor, Persecuted Patriot, Unlike My Friends. Spencer Hsu & Tom Jackman of the Washington Post: "Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes categorically denied any plan to attack the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and said Monday that his call for co-defendants to come to Washington armed and ready to 'take matters into their own hands' if ... Donald Trump failed to act was meant to inspire action only after he left office. The testimony by Rhodes, a former Army paratrooper and Yale Law School graduate, marked the climax of his seditious conspiracy trial with four others.... Rhodes said he was unaware that accused Florida co-defendant Kelly Meggs led other Oath Keepers members 'off-mission' into the building and that doing so was 'stupid' because 'it opened the door for our political enemies to persecute us'; he claimed he was not involved in defendants' stockpiling of firearms nearby; he blamed girlfriend and Oath Keepers attorney Kellye SoRelle for ordering members under his name to delete evidence; and he asserted that he meant for any call to resist federal authority to apply after Biden took office, and not before the inauguration to keep Trump in power as charged[.]...
"But U.S. prosecutor Kathryn L. Rakoczy led Rhodes through statement after statement, in public and in private, in which Rhodes urged Trump to call on the U.S. military and private militia to overturn the 2020 presidential election.... The contrast between Rhodes's testimony on the stand and his past remarks was a recurring theme of government questioning, which threatened to make Rhodes and his defense regret their calculation that he was the witness best situated to explain his true state of mind to jurors.... In his testimony, Rhodes also implicated other Oath Keepers defendants, and gave U.S. prosecutors wide opening to attack his credibility."
Here's that Rachel Maddow podcast that Akhilleus discussed in yesterday's Comments:
AP: "New Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson has issued her first Supreme Court opinion, a short dissent Monday in support of a death row inmate from Ohio. Jackson wrote that she would have thrown out lower court rulings in the case of inmate Davel Chinn, whose lawyers argued that the state suppressed evidence that might have altered the outcome of his trial. Jackson, in a two-page opinion, wrote that she would have ordered a new look at Chinn's case 'because his life is on the line and given the substantial likelihood that the suppressed records would have changed the outcome at trial.'... Justice Sonia Sotomayor was the only other member of the court to join Jackson's opinion. The two justices also were allies in dissent Monday in Sotomayor's opinion that there was serious prosecutorial misconduct in the trial of a Louisiana man who was convicted of sex trafficking." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Today's Social Media Bulletin
Marie: Gosh, I wish I knew how to do those Twitter hashtag things. Because, if I did, I'd do one called #HowDumbIsElon.
Entry No. 1. Reuters, republished by Yahoo! News: "After Twitter Inc laid off roughly half its staff on Friday following Elon Musk's $44 billion acquisition, the company is now reaching out to dozens of employees who lost their jobs and asking them to return, Bloomberg News reported on Sunday. Some of those who are being asked to return were laid off by mistake. Others were let go before management realized that their work and experience may be necessary to build the new features Musk envisions, the report said citing people familiar with the moves." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Entry No. 2. Nicole Guadiano of Business Insider, republished by Yahoo! News: "... Elon Musk urged his Twitter followers on Monday to elect a Republican Congress on Tuesday in an appeal to 'independent-minded voters.'... 'Shared power curbs the worst excesses of both parties, therefore I recommend voting for a Republican Congress, given that the Presidency is Democratic,' he tweeted...." MB: Let's call that "Notes from La-La Land." You don't have to be much of a student of U.S. politics over the past 20 years to know that "shared power leads to gridlock." Yeah, I suppose it curbs "excesses" because it curbs everything. Which is, Elon, an excess in itself; an excess of inertia & dysfunction. It would help, I suppose, if both parties knew how to "share power," but no one in your preferred party knows how to share. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Trump Is Stuck with Liars Social. Drew Harwell & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: Donald "Trump has told his allies that he can't leave Truth Social, because he's propping it up, and he doesn't want a site so closely associated with his brand to collapse, according to people familiar with his thinking.... Trump's 4 million followers on the platform are a small fraction of the 88 million he once had on Twitter, and his dozens of posts -- called 'truths' -- there in recent weeks have received none of the broad engagement and traction he counted on during his presidency.... In February 2021..., Trump signed a document with a 'mutual noncompete' clause pledging not to work with anyone else in exchange for 90 percent of the company's shares, [Will] Wilkerson, the former Trump Media executive, told The Post. He was fired last month after that interview." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Sheera Frenkel of the New York Times: "Meta plans to lay off employees this week, three people with knowledge of the situation said, adding that the job cuts were set to be the most significant at the company since it was founded in 2004.... Meta had 87,314 employees at the end of September, up 28 percent from a year ago. Meta has been struggling financially for months and has been increasingly clamping down on costs. The Silicon Valley company, which owns Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, has spent billions of dollars on the emerging technology of the metaverse, an immersive online world, just as the global economy has slowed and inflation has soared. At the same time, digital advertising -- which forms the bulk of Meta's revenue -- has weakened as advertisers have pulled back, affecting many social media companies. Meta's business has also been hurt by privacy changes that Apple enacted, which have hampered the ability of many apps to target mobile ads to users." MB: Don't worry, kids. There are a few openings at Twitter, and I hear Elon is an excellent employer.
2024 Election
Michael Bender of the New York Times: "On the climactic, final night of the 2022 midterm campaigns, Donald J. Trump hosted a rally to help lift a Senate hopeful in Ohio -- and instead grabbed the spotlight entirely for himself. In a windy oration on a chilly airport tarmac outside Dayton, Mr. Trump spent the vast majority of his time talking about his four years as president, the multiple investigations he has survived, the handful of new investigations he is now facing, and, once again, a drawn-out tease about his plan to probably-potentially-in-all-likelihood announce a third campaign for president. This time, however, he named the date and place. 'I'm going to be making a very big announcement on Nov. 15 at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida,' he said in the final minutes of his 100-minute speech." ~~~
~~~ Projection of a Dangerous Kind. Ed Mazza of the Huffington Post, republished by Yahoo! News: "... Donald Trump called House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) an 'animal' during a speech on Monday and in response, his supporters cheered. During a rally in Ohio, Trump recalled dismissing MS-13 gang members as 'animals' during his presidency. Then, he said the same insult applied to the House speaker. 'I think she's an animal, too, if you want to know the truth,' Trump said as the crowd roared with approval. 'They'll say, "Oh,what a horrible thing he said about Nancy." She impeached me twice for nothing! Nothing!'"
Trump Finally Gets Something Right. Reid Epstein & Michael Bender of the New York Times: "... a new video released by [Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis'] campaign on Friday hints at the governor's broader national ambitions. Posted to Twitter by his wife, Casey DeSantis, the 96-second video invokes God 10 times and suggests that Mr. DeSantis was sent by a divine power.... Donald J. Trump ... wasn't amused. He called the governor 'Ron DeSanctimonious' during a rally Saturday in Pennsylvania."
Annals of Journalism, Ctd. Erik Wemple of the Washington Post: "No, MSNBC is not the Fox News of the left.... While Fox News remains a talking-point-promotion outlet for Republican candidates, its liberal counterpart on the cable box does something vastly different for Democratic candidates. It covers them, that is."
Way Beyond the Beltway
Ukraine, et al. The New York Times' live updates of developments Tuesday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's live briefings for Tuesday are here. The Guardian's summary report is here. ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's live briefings for Tuesday are here: "Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said world leaders should 'force Russia into genuine peace negotiations,' and that Kyiv had 'repeatedly proposed' talks. He blamed Russia for obstructing those efforts and described Ukraine's demands -- including restoring its territory and receiving security guarantees -- as 'completely understandable conditions.' The speech follows reporting from The Washington Post that the Biden administration has privately encouraged Kyiv to signal an openness to negotiate an end to the war. Washington and Moscow have maintained communication channels at senior levels, the White House says.... Top officials at COP27 are highlighting the impact of the war on energy systems and the crisis wrought by dependence on fossil fuels.... The Kremlin's war has worsened the world's energy and food crises, undermining efforts to halt 'the destruction of the climate,' [Zelensky] said as heads of state from around the world meet in Egypt for the annual U.N. climate summit, or COP27."
Pjotr Sauer of the Guardian: A newly-conscripted Russian soldier, Aleksei Agafonov, says that commanders abandoned him & his fellow conscripts as shelling started in the Luhansk region of Ukraine. "According to Agafonov's estimates, only 130 draftees out of the 570 survived the Ukrainian attack, which would make it the deadliest known incident involving conscripts since the start of the mobilisation drive at the end of September.... The incident points to Russia's willingness to throw hundreds of ill-prepared conscripts on to the frontline in Ukraine's east, where some of the heaviest fighting has been taking place, in an effort to stem Kyiv's advances. There is growing anger in Russia as more coffins return from Ukraine, bringing home the remains of conscripts."
Switzerland. U.S. Arrogance Is Exceeded Only by Swiss Arrogance. Hiroko Tabuchi of the New York Times: "Switzerland, one of the world's richest nations, has an ambitious climate goal: It promises to cut its greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030. But the Swiss don't intend to reduce emissions by that much within their own borders. Instead, the European country is dipping into its sizable coffers to pay poorer nations, like Ghana or Dominica, to reduce emissions there -- and give Switzerland credit for it.... If other nations follow Switzerland's lead, critics say, it could delay climate action in wealthier parts of the world while shifting the work of reducing emissions toward the global poor. In addition, it could take advantage of projects in poorer countries that would have proceeded anyway, with or without foreign funding."
News Lede
Washington Post: "Hurricane watches are in effect for the east coast of Florida and may be upgraded to warnings Tuesday as Subtropical Storm Nicole churns toward the Sunshine State. Confidence is increasing about the potential for the storm to be near or at hurricane strength as it makes landfall on Florida&'s Atlantic coastline Wednesday night." An AP report is here.
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Reader Comments (7)
Let's see now.
16 billion spent on this year's midterm. Possibly 160 million voters.. of which I assume all here are numbered among... which in the good old days of buying elections outright would have put about a hundred xtra bucks in each of our pockets.
At least we'd feel richer, if not better...
It's not all doom & gloom. D's lead early & absentee voting by ~4.5M votes.
Would it be naughty of me to pray that hurricane Nicole blows
through Mar-a-Lardo and sucks out the owner and deposits him
in the middle of Lake Okeechobee? I don't normally pray but this
might be worth it.
And a special thanks to Marie on her suggestion for getting rid of
'stuff'.
Yesterday our new neighbor across the street, who moved here from
a condo in Chicago and doesn't have a lot of gardening 'stuff', was
fertilizing his lawn with one of those hand-held things and the
fertilizer was blowing all around. So I took him one of my spreaders
from the collection and thanked him for taking it.
It's a start.
I suspect that by about 4:00 PM all the GOP(hers) will have been
declared winners, never mind that all the votes haven't been counted.
They'll be off to DC to take over Congress and get to work on those
subpoenas and other (non)important stuff like impeaching President
Biden and Nancy Pelosi, if they could only come up with a reason.
I'm waiting to see how far down the level of office the whine of election fraud will go before some GrOPer shrug his shoulders and say "Yeah, I got my arse kicked".
Our poll station was packed this morning––had a hard time finding a parking place. Inside the workers were all young, extremely cheerful and at the end when we slid our ballot into the slot the young gal smiled and said, "Your vote counted!" As we exited the door the young man holding it open for us said, "Thanks for voting,"
Now that's the way it SHOULD be.
@PD Pepe: Yes, my polling place was busy, too, but I was surprised there was no line; I went after the morning rush. Maybe all the Republicans were waiting till the end of the day to vote, which apparently a "strategy" based on one of their many conspiracy theories. There were a lot of supporters for Democratic candidates gathered outside with signs, a few for Republicans, but my town tends to run liberal.