2024 Presidential Election ~ 2

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/150-former-trump-administration-officials-now-b...
More than 150 former Trump administration officials now backing DeSantis for president

Among several others, former DHS Acting Deputy Secretary Ken Cuccinelli has joined the coalition to support DeSantis for president

Sources familiar with the coalition — officially known as "The Eight-Year Alliance" — confirmed the list is rapidly growing and that the initial number of more than 100 former Trump administration officials supporting DeSantis surged past 150 this week.

***
They believe DeSantis could be a two-termer. I hope he becomes a no-termer.

DeSantis is officially in the race. Trump is NOT ~ he continues to jack around the GOP and his faithful cult voters, as usual.

https://www.mediaite.com/politics/don-jr-suffers-awkward-gaffe-during-podcast-ra...
Don Jr. Suffers Awkward Gaffe During Podcast Rant on DeSantis: ‘Trump Has the Personality of a Mortician’

Ron DeSantis administration officials solicit campaign cash from lobbyists
The practice raises ethical and legal questions about state employees trying to raise campaign cash from lobbyists who have business currently before the governor.
Matt Dixon and Jonathan Allen | May 25, 2023

...The legality of the solicitations depends on a series of factors, including whether they were sent on state-owned phones, or if they were sent on state property. A longtime Florida election law attorney said that even if the DeSantis aides are fundraising for the campaign in their personal capacity, off the government clock, it still raised ethical questions.

“At a minimum, even if they are sitting in their home at 9 p.m. using their personal phone and contacting lobbyists that they somehow magically met in their personal capacity and not through their role in the governor’s office, it still smells yucky,” the attorney said. “There’s a misuse of public position issue here that is obvious to anyone paying attention.”

But the practice was still jaw-dropping for those who have long been involved in Florida politics. ..

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/ron-desantis-administration-offic...

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/newt-gingrichs-unintentional-burn-of-don...
Newt Gingrich's Unintentional Burn Of Donald Trump Is Priceless

“One of Trump’s great advantages is he talks at a level where third, fourth and fifth grade educations can say, ‘Oh yeah, I get that. I understand it.’” Gingrich told host Laura Ingraham on her Fox News show.

***
America has been on a scarry downward slide since the day Trump came down the golden escalator in June 2015 because of his ability to con millions of clueless, hate-filled, low-info voters. Limbaugh and his AM radio ilk laid down the foundation for the whole mess.

Woman accuses Bidn of sexual assault before 202e election, defects to Russia and embraces Maria Butina (2023), praises Putin for liberating Ukraine on the Megyn Kelly Show (2023).

Ron Filipkowski @RonFilipkowski | 7:39 AM · Jun 3, 2023:
Attorney, Marine, Fmr Fed Prosec & Repub; now Def Att & Dem. Chair of Normal Caucus, Track & Report on the Right-Wing. Seen on BBC, CNN, MSNBC, CBS, Al-Jazeera

After her recent defection to Russia, Tara Reade goes on Megyn Kelly’s show to praise Vladimir Putin for liberating the Ukrainian people from Nazis, and says the people in Ukraine are happy Russia invaded them.
1:11 ( https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1664959992225493001 )

>5 margd: Really don't know if Reade's claims aren't credible. They were there before Biden's election in 2020. That said running off to Russia---her new pals Butina, Kelly aren't going to do anything positive for her. There's no debate over Butina being a spy and Reade is clouding up her claims by going off on an Ukraine invasion that is every bit as fucked up as our invasion of Iraq. Megyn Kelly meanwhile is a piece of shit.

Rosewind @Rosewind2007 | 2:57 AM · Jun 5, :

...Robert F Kennedy Jr is running for President
He’s chair of “Children’s Health Denfense” a rabidly anti-vaccine organization Raises money via: “contributions, gifts, grants, and similar”
Kennedy gets paid more than $500,000
Grifter with blood on his hands
https://twitter.com/Rosewind2007/status/1665613922538344449/photo/1
https://twitter.com/Rosewind2007/status/1665613922538344449/photo/2
https://twitter.com/Rosewind2007/status/1665613922538344449/photo/3

...And I see Mary-Turtles-Holland there too… Grifters Grifters with blood on their hands

https://www.mediaite.com/politics/gop-governor-insists-donald-trump-doesnt-repre...
GOP Governor Insists ‘Donald Trump Doesn’t Represent the Republican Party’

On Monday, Sununu said he will not run for president in 2024 and blasted the former president.

***
Unfortunately, Trump's cult followers populate the base of the modern-day GOP however much dudes like this refuse to see or believe it. Simply put, the remnants of the once Grand Old Party is populated by people with 1950's mindsets. They are out of step with life in 21st Century America.

If you are a GOP member who claims to be an anti-Trumper, but you continue to make excuses for his actions and rants on a somewhat regular basis, you may as well admit that you are actually a pro-Trumper for all intense and purposes.

Not sure how Sununu can say that Trump doesn't represent the Republican Party when he's won the primaries to win the party's nomination for POTUS two times running. He represents the party more than Sununu does. At least to me that's just a fact. When did Sununu ever get over 70 million voters to vote for him?

The problem for the Sununu's, Hogan's, Baker's etc. is Donald took their party away from them and left them in limbo with nowhere to go. Sununu represents a bubble of the disaffected party members who want their Reagan back. At the same time Donald is very much a symptom of the ineptitude of the two party system (which is also very prone to corruption and deaf to the) and also a symptom of the dumbing down and frustrations/resentments of the same electorate. He has a gift for playing to people's frustrations and anger. That's why so many vote for him.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/06/politics/chris-christie-2024-announcement/index.h...
Chris Christie kicks of 2024 campaign with sharp attacks on Trump

***
Christie has a vision for the future, and he is willing and able to go toe-to-toe against Trump 24/7. It is an even match between a New Yorker and a Jersey-ite. Political appearances by the other GOP candidates illustrate how far over their heads the water is in this election-cycle pool.

Christie knows he doesn't have a chance but he's willing to try to take Trump down so that someone other than Trump can represent the party

Christie needs lots of small donations to get on debate stage.
I would contribute a few $ to see him debate Trump.

https://www.mediaite.com/politics/chris-christie-goes-after-ivanka-and-jared-kus...
Chris Christie Goes After Ivanka and Jared Kushner: ‘The Grift From This Family Is Breathtaking’

“Let me tell you something, everybody,” he said. “The grift from this is breathtaking. It’s breathtaking. Jared Kushner and Ivanka Kushner walk out of the White House and months later get $2 billion from the Saudis? Two billion dollars from the Saudis. You think it’s ’cause some kind of investing genius? Or do you think it’s because he was sitting next to the president of the United States for four years doing favors for the Saudis?”

***
CC has nothing to lose, and he has no fear when it comes to lambasting the con masters named Trump.

>12 margd: To get on the debate stage he would have to support Trump if he wins the nomination. Can he do that after going after him the way he has?

Maybe support with faint praise?

12m Americans believe violence is justified to restore Trump to power (Guardian)

Two and a half years after the January 6 attack on the Capitol, an estimated 12 million American adults, or 4.4% of the adult population, believe violence is justified to restore Donald Trump to the White House. Though the number of adults who believe this has declined since the insurrection, recent survey data from the University of Chicago reveal alarming and dangerous levels of support for political violence and conspiracy theories across the United States... In new data from April shared exclusively with the Guardian, researchers found a continued support for violence to achieve various political goals on both sides of the aisle, and a general distrust for democracy. The results are particularly alarming as the 2024 election approaches without essential safeguards that some lawmakers say could help prevent another violent attack on US democracy...

Frightening that a nation which a few short years ago was able to tout itself as the world's leading democracy has descended to this level. God save America - from its own anti-democratic extremists!

Can you imagine the kind of cronyism and paybacks a President DeSantis would bring to the White House?

DeSantis Signs Bill Blocking Direct-To-Consumer Car Sales (With A Carveout For Tesla)
You'll be shocked to hear that dealer lobbyists support the bill.
Collin Woodard | 15 June 2023

...As a surprise to no one, the bill was written by lobbyists for the Florida Automobile Dealers Association and didn’t initially include the exception for Tesla and other electric startups. Other lobbyists were able to negotiate that exception, which feels like it was meant to benefit Tesla specifically...

https://jalopnik.com/desantis-signs-bill-blocking-direct-to-consumer-car-sal-185...

Brooks: How to stay sane during coming presidential campaign
Drudge Report link
Originally a New York Times article written by David Brooks

https://dnyuz.com/2023/06/15/i-wont-let-donald-trump-invade-my-brain/
I Won’t Let Donald Trump Invade My Brain

Sunday morning, June 18

https://www.mediaite.com/news/bill-barr-ramps-up-his-showdown-with-troubled-man-...
Bill Barr Ramps Up His Showdown With ‘Troubled Man’ Trump in Stunning CBS Interview: He’s Like ‘A Defiant 9-Year-Old’

AND

https://www.mediaite.com/tv/chris-christie-drags-petulant-child-trump-over-all-h...
Chris Christie Drags ‘Petulant Child’ Trump Over All His Staff Hires He’s Since Turned Against: ‘Worst Manager in the History of the Presidency’ (CNN)

***
It appears that Barr and Christie are on a dual mission to take down the man-child and save the GOP. The majority of GOP reps are unwilling and/or unable to gather enough moral courage to perform that democracy-saving duty at this crucial period. I do wonder at times if the modern-day GOP is actually worth saving, however.

https://www.mediaite.com/news/jen-psaki-says-hunter-biden-at-state-dinner-absolu...
Jen Psaki Says Hunter Biden at State Dinner ‘Absolutely Not’ Good Optics — But Was Biden ‘Wanting To Show He Loves His Son’

***
Biden is showing his love for the only child he has left from his first marriage. His daughter died five decades ago along with his first wife. Beau died a few years ago.

https://www.mediaite.com/tv/were-electing-idiots-liz-cheney-has-the-answer-for-w...
‘We’re Electing Idiots’: Liz Cheney Has The Answer For What’s Wrong With American Politics

“What we’ve done in our politics is create a situation where we’re electing idiots,” Cheney then says to loud laughter.

“And so I don’t look at it through the lens of like, you know, is this what I should do or what I shouldn’t do? I look at it through the lens of how do we elect serious people? And I think electing serious people can’t be partisan,” the former House Republican leader concluded.

***
GO LC

https://www.mediaite.com/news/just-in-supreme-court-rejects-pro-trumper-legal-th...
JUST IN: Supreme Court Rejects Pro-Trumper Legal Theory About States Changing Election Laws — In 6-3 Rout

***
AMEN

>22 Molly3028: Gee, I wonder who the three were who voted the other way. Let me guess - Thomas and Alito for sure.

Ah. Gorsuch.

There’s a Time Bomb in Progressives’ Big Supreme Court Voting Case Win
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2023/06/supreme-court-voting-moore-v-harper-...

No Labels, RFK, Jr:

"Would No Labels be doing anything differently if it were a front group for Republicans out to sink Biden?"
-Jennifer Rubi | 27 June 2023
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/06/27/no-labels-third-party-right-w...
-----------------------------------------------------------------

No Labels’ signature-gathering firm has ties to Ron DeSantis
The bipartisan group contracted with a Republican firm for its work to qualify for the ballot in Colorado.
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/06/27/no-labels-signatures-desantis-00103901
___________________________________________________

Pro-RFK Jr. Super PAC Has Deep Ties to Marjorie Taylor Greene, George Santos
The Super PAC is just one example of the nominally Democratic candidate running a campaign that's awash in support from backers of Donald Trump
Adam Rawnsley, Asawin Suebsaeng | June 23, 2023
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/rfk-kennedy-trump-maga-b...
-----------------------------------------------------------------

Of Course the Right Has Welcomed RFK Jr. With Open Arms
Roger Stone has said the quiet part out loud: The conspiracy-peddling Kennedy running in the Democratic primary could do damage to Joe Biden—and boost Donald Trump’s chances.
Molly Jong-Fast | June 21, 2023
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/06/right-has-welcomed-rfk-jr-with-open-arms...
------------------------------------------------------------------

Steve Bannon has spent years promoting RFK Jr. and his crackpot anti-vaccine theories
Bannon used his War Room podcast to help Kennedy spread conspiracy theories and undermine public health efforts well before he announced his 2024 candidacy
John Knefel | 06/26/23
https://www.mediamatters.org/steve-bannon/steve-bannon-has-spent-years-promoting...

Trump's presidency gave us a pretty good idea what having an autocrat looks like. I don't want that fucker back. That's where I am. I get there are at least some anti-Trump conservatives--democrats but mostly republicans that want to go further conservative than Biden who in my eyes is a center/right democrat--that's the No Labels. I don't think it's a good idea. As far as DeSantis he is another would be fascist dictator. As far as RFK Jr. a lot of people don't know who he is yet. His anti-vaccine rhetoric and grudges against America's security state doesn't do anything for the real needs of the populace. When at least some of them figure him out I think his popularity isn't going to hold up. For now he's 'a Kennedy!' and so many Americans are really into the idea of having their own royalty. it's not just the Trump's and Kennedy's either. It's Hillary Clinton. It's why doesn't Michelle Obama run? There's likely to be a Donald Jr., Ivanka or Eric in the future or DeSantis's wife. It's a problem of a dumbed down electorate and a lack of ideas and imagination. So many people think that 'a name' can solve all their problems. What's important if you want to truly work on issues like climate change or give people universal health coverage you've got to find people who are determined to do so.....it's important to understand where candidates are on real issues not bullshit ones which take up about three quarters of our time right now and have been for a long while.

Diane Rehm, one-time host of an NPR radio program had this condition. Every once in a while she would take breaks for treatment (Botox injections as I recall).

Spasmodic dysphonia: What RFK Jr.'s voice condition means for his campaign
Gabrielle M. Etzel | June 10, 2023

...Spasmodic dysphonia is exceedingly rare, affecting one in 100,000...

The disorder affects the muscles in the larynx, colloquially known as the voice box, by preventing the vocal cords from vibrating in a way that produces a normal speech pattern.

“Spasmodic dysphonia causes voice breaks during speaking and can make the voice sound tight, strained, or breathy,” according to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. “In more severe cases, spasms may occur on every word, making a person’s speech very difficult to understand.”

...Although there is no cure for the disorder, speech therapy and Botox injections are the most common forms of treatment.

...Campaign implications
A candidate’s voice is a key indicator of success on the campaign trail. While some analysts point to the high-pitched voices of females as a reason for their underrepresentation in elected office, vocal tonality has been found to affect the viability of both male and female candidates.

An article published in Political Psychology in 2015 found that male and female voters have a greater preference for lower-pitched voices in both controlled scientific environments and real-world elections.

Even when pitch itself might not be a factor, the health and strength of one’s voice can sway public opinion. The infamous first television debate in 1960 between JFK and Richard Nixon, during which Nixon appeared and sounded sick after having just returned from the hospital, poised RFK Jr.’s uncle for victory in large part because he “looked and sounded good” on the new media platform...

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/healthcare/rfk-jr-rare-voice-disorder-...

https://www.mediaite.com/politics/mccarthy-called-trump-to-issue-groveling-apolo...
McCarthy Called Trump to Issue Groveling Apology After Criticizing His 2024 Campaign: I ‘Misspoke’

***
For all intense and purposes, Trump has become a modern-day slave master. When he cracks his whip, GOP reps continue dancing to his tune.

I have come to the conclusion that many GOPers despise Biden because he was Obama's VP. A white guy playing second fiddle in an administration led by a Black man didn't ~ and won't ever ~ sit well with people who have a white nationalism mindset.

>28 Molly3028: it has very much to do with being glued to the same sources of propagandistic media. Biden spent decades in the Senate and it's like not until he became Obama's VP did he even come on their radar. He has a track record for anyone to see but it's too much effort for them to parse so they need these right wing shills to tell them what he's about and that's pretty much that. Biden has always been a conservative democrat.....pretty much that's what Kamala is but I have people that tell me they're communists/socialists. It's laughable. But it's also the same people throwing around these terms who equate fascism as the same thing or that the Nazi's were socialists. It's all ignorance. They put no effort of their own into figuring anything out apart from flicking on a TV switch to their favorite 'news' channel.

So many conservatives also want to be fine with their casual racism, bigotry and homophobia. They get defensive when they're called out on it. This is reason why they like Trump and DeSantis so much. These politicians target minority groups all the time and put a veneer of respectability on it.

Kamala Harris is in a no-win situation. Because Biden is such a low-key 80-year-old, KH must maintain a rather low profile. Under the present circumstances, the last thing she and the Dems want is for her to outshine the elder leader of the party and the 2024 candidate.

Don't DeSantis and his goons realize that his campaign is making a possible second Trump presidency look less harmful to the country than his first presidency would be???

Today, a woman at Trump's rally in S. Carolina said that if Trump's name is not on the ballot next year, she is going to write in his name. I hope millions of clueless GOP voters decide to copycat this activity in November of 2024.

https://www.mediaite.com/tv/its-midnight-in-america-for-republicans-morning-joes...
‘It’s Midnight In America For Republicans’: Morning Joe’s Barnicle Woefully Laments ‘Darkness’ of GOP

Barnicle asked rhetorically, “whatever happened to Morning in America? Ronald Reagan’s great campaign slogan in either 80 or 84 or whenever it was, when he attempted to put a smile on America’s face?”

“Now the Republican Party contrives each and every day and each and every candidate, each and every candidate, to put a scowl on America’s face,” he said. “It’s midnight in America for the Republicans.”

***
In the 20-teens, Trump knew a rotting corpse when he saw it. And the celebrity knew exactly how to gather people with white nationalist leanings ~ MAGAs ~ into his vision of what the new-and-improved GOP should be. DeSantis is on a mission to show those same white nationalists what the next leadership steps must be in order to return the country to the 'good old' 1950's.

A cult leadership personality is not an aura that can be passed on from one individual to another. Trump cultivated his cult persona throughout the Apprentice years. Unfortunately for our democracy, tens of millions of people bought into the "fictional" character created on the scripted show. Cult followers will not abandon a cult leader who continues to prefer "acting" on the world stage 24/7.

https://www.mediaite.com/print/rupert-murdoch-has-picked-his-favorite-to-supplan...
Rupert Murdoch Has Picked a Favorite to Supplant Trump, Per NY Times Report

Rupert Murdoch has a clear favorite on who he wants to enter the 2024 Republican primary as his media empire takes an increasingly dim view of both Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis.

The media mogul likes to watch political races play out, even live-tweeting reactions to one of the Republican presidential debates during the 2016 election. Mr. Murdoch has privately told people that he would still like to see Gov. Glenn Youngkin of Virginia enter the race, according to a person with knowledge of the remarks. And he has made clear in private discussions over the last two years that he thinks Mr. Trump, despite his popularity with Fox News viewers, is unhealthy for the Republican Party.

https://www.mediaite.com/tv/former-fox-executives-apologize-for-helping-birth-bi...
Former Fox Executives Apologize For Helping Birth ‘Bile-Filled Network’ That ‘Has Had Many Negative Impacts On Our Society’

In a blog post titled, “How Our Efforts to Bring Competition To Television Unknowingly Helped Create the Fox Disinformation Machine,” former Fox Broadcasting Company executives Preston Padden, Ken Solomon, and Bill Reyner issued a formal apology for their part in the company’s rise to success.....

Will Trump show, or as George Conway put it, does he have the "testicular fortitude"?

Chris Christie @GovChristie | 8:35 PM · Jul 12, 2023

After being in this race for only a month, we’ve received over 40k individual donations to our campaign and met all RNC requirements to reach the debate stage {23 Aug 2023}. Americans are ready for someone to stand up to Donald Trump, and that’s exactly what I’m doing.

Get your popcorn🍿
0:56 ( https://twitter.com/GovChristie/status/1679288514179919872 )

>37 margd: I think I’m glad Christie will be on the debate stage. I was even tempted to send him a donation to help make it happen. It won’t matter though, if Trump refuses to participate.

A Gigantic Fart Derailed RFK Jr.’s NYC Press Dinner: Report
AIRING GRIEVANCES
Erik Uebelacker | Updated Jul. 12, 2023

..former gossip columnist Doug Dechert, the—reportedly drunk—host of the whole event. “The climate hoax!” Dechert started to yell. His senile screams drew the ire of his longtime friend, art critic Anthony Haden-Guest, who wasted no time condemning Dechert and pleading for him to “shut up.” But Dechert was relentless, continuing to rant about the “scam” of climate change while Haden-Guest disparaged him with insults, calling him “fucking insane” and “insignificant.” That’s when Dechert brought out his secret weapon: a booming fart that he released while shouting, “I’m farting!” All the while, RFJ Jr. calmly watched the gaseous chaos unfold. Dechert said the following to Page Six about the incident: “I apologize for using my flatulence as a medium of public commentary in your presence.”...

https://www.thedailybeast.com/a-gigantic-fart-derailed-rfk-jrs-nyc-press-dinner
----------------------------------------------------------

Page Six: "polemic farting", first use of the term according to google.

https://www.mediaite.com/politics/biden-doubles-trumps-fundraising-haul-bringing...
Biden Doubles Trump’s Fundraising Haul, Bringing In Whopping $72M In Second Quarter

I've never been a fan of Joe Biden. I've looked at him as a center right establishment politician in the past and I still do now. That said his two years have been way more effective and in a more positive way than any of the 8 years of the Obama administration.......and he's dealing with a Republican Party that has gone full blown crazy and is at the mercy of any number of ghouls that make even Mitch McConnell look like a non-entity. That old man Joe can just shuffle about making the odd teasing zinger that really gets under the skins of some of these knuckleheads I find kind of entertaining. Truly it doesn't take much to set some of them off. Not really a lot of hard bark in the GOP anymore. Scratch them and they scream.

>41 lriley:

I don't actually believe that Biden is going to end up being the 2024 candidate. I think he is on a mission to hold on as long as he possible can. He appears to want the GOP and their antics to be the center of attention this year. It would be a mistake for the Dems to pull people's attention away from the GOP's continuing death spiral this far ahead of the election.

Newsom appears to be getting ready for a "hit the ground running" mission if and when Biden bows out. I wouldn't be surprised if Biden gave him some type of an A-OK signal earlier this year.

There would be hard feelings if Kamala Harris isn’t allowed to step into the spot if Biden drops out. But I grok that she probably couldn’t win the election. She was a good Senator, and probably doing a fine job as VP. But she didn’t shine in the 2020 race at all. She would need Obama’s charisma doubled, as she’s fighting the gender barrier too.

>36 Molly3028: Hard to have any sympathy for their apology tour. Why not take some of their earnings and really try to reach that audience with some public service announcement ad buys?

This may make them sleep better at night, but I fear it's too little too late.

Personally, I would prefer to see a Newsom vs. Christie matchup in 2024. Newsom is a regular Dem type and Christie is a regular GOP type. Their debates would be informative, interesting and fact driven. It would be a back-to-basics type of clash.

https://www.kirkusreviews.com/news-and-features/articles/former-trump-aide-hutch...
Former Trump Aide Hutchinson To Publish Book

Cassidy Hutchinson, the former White House aide whose testimony to the U.S. House Select Committee on the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol was damaging to Donald Trump and others in the White House, will tell her story in a new memoir, the Associated Press reports.

Simon & Schuster will publish Hutchinson’s Enough later this year. The publisher describes the book as “a riveting account of her extraordinary experiences as an idealistic young woman thrust into the middle of a national crisis, where she risked everything to tell the truth about some of the most powerful people in Washington.”

***
The release date appears to be September 26.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/new-florida-standards-teach-black-people-be...
New Florida standards teach students that some Black people benefited from slavery because it taught useful skills

The standards, which were blasted by a statewide teachers' union as a "step backward," were approved Wednesday by the State Board of Education.

***
If DeSantis becomes president, this could be the type of "back-to-1850s-basics American teachers will be forced to teach our students in 21st Century America.

I don't think this is limited to DeSantis. There is no Republican candidate who will not be a wholly-controlled tool of the radical Sleepy right wing, because they know that they cannot win without the Radically Drowsy contingent. (or, in Trump's case, because he's such a simple tool, and although he has absolutely no idea what's happening to him at any moment, the Sleepies are very good at using him for their purposes - he is almost the living definition of a "useful idiot")

https://www.mediaite.com/news/desantis-snorts-at-vp-kamala-harris-slam-on-florid...
DeSantis Snorts at VP Kamala Harris Slam on Florida Black History ‘Lies’ — Explains Some ‘Parlayed’ Slave Work ‘Later In Life’

***
In plain English ~ Slaves should have gotten down on their knees and kissed the feet of their white owners. And the slave owners deserve praise and appreciation for their "teaching" methods. Apparently, DeSantis and Country music star Jason Aldean are throwbacks from a time and place the modern-day GOP would like America to revisit after the next election cycle.

People Aren’t Facing Up to the Horrors a New Trump Term Would Bring

https://newrepublic.com/article/174535/people-arent-facing-horrors-new-trump-ter...

The United States is probably about to have a “fuck around and find out” moment that’s lethal to our form of government as we know it. The rapidity of the collapse is going to be terrifying. It will rival the end of the Weimar Republic in terms of its swiftness, and how far it swings away from democracy and human rights. It will come like a tidal wave. So much so fast that civil rights organizations won’t have the resources to fight more than a fraction of it, and the result will be like sandcastle walls trying to hold back a tsunami.

https://www.mediaite.com/tv/ex-gop-chair-says-its-clear-republicans-dont-want-an...
Ex-GOP Chair Says It’s Clear Republicans Don’t Want Anything Other Than ‘Authoritarian Criminal’ Trump

Former New Hampshire Republican Party chairwoman Jennifer Horn told MSNBC on Friday that there was no indication Republicans wanted anything other than “wannabe authoritarian criminal” Donald Trump for president, no matter how hard his rivals fought for the nomination.

***
Trump is way past wannabe!

>51 Molly3028: There is a clear majority of the republican base that it's Trump or bust and this is part of the issue with the No Labels group that some of the anti-Trump republicans and more conservative democrats are falling into. That Bush/Cheney/McCain/Kasich Republican Party is no longer viable on its own and it's also pretty clear at least to me that these anti-Trump republicans are kind of in denial too if they really think they have their traditional avenue still open to get back to power. They don't. They've been abandoned and from my perspective they deserved it anyway....it's just that the Trump thing is so much worse.

It's also not like Joseph Biden hasn't always been a fairly conservative democrat. That's what he is. Generally speaking both major parties throughout the 90's and early 2000's were fucking over their respective voter bases fairly often. The choice between what's best for the voters and what's best for corporations for instance. Democrats for sure leaned more towards the voters than the Republicans did but there was always enough spillover that the corporations almost always came out on top. Your Trump voter these days has been conned into believing Donald cares about them but all you really have to do is listen to him and the politicians supporting them and they don't talk about things hardly ever that's going to make anyone's life better. They talk about targeting minority communities and all this culture war bullshit that strips people of their rights......like with abortion, like with gay rights, like with this woke bs that works its way into library bans and their nonsensical CRT agenda and they think some kind of right wing christian theocracy is some kind of step forward.

https://www.mediaite.com/tv/cnn-political-analyst-says-nominating-donald-trump-i...
CNN Political Analyst Says Nominating Donald Trump Is ‘A Lot Like Peeing Your Pants’: ‘It Feels Good For A Couple Of Seconds’

Former Georgia Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan compared nominating Donald Trump for the presidency to “a lot like peeing your pants” because “it feels good for a couple of seconds” until you wake up and realize “what you just did.”

***
This guy appears to be a Romney-type GOP member. The GOP "normals" would love to have Jack Smith ~ the Hague guy ~ finish off the monster the party created. And Youngkin should be jumping in PDQ.

https://www.businessinsider.com/members-trumps-cabinet-just-4-endorsed-him-2024-...
Just 4 of Donald Trump's 44 former cabinet members have publicly endorsed his 2024 run

The four former cabinet members supportive of Trump 2024 were Matthew Whitaker, former acting attorney general; Mark Meadows, Trump's former chief of staff; Russell Vought, Trump's former budget chief; and Richard Grenell, former acting director of national intelligence, according to NBC.

***
Forty of them can see how high the baggage pile has grown. And Fulton County and 1-6 are still in play.

https://www.mediaite.com/election-2024/its-his-fault-legendary-gop-strategist-bl...
‘It’s His’ Fault: Legendary GOP Strategist Blames DeSantis’ ‘Flawed’ Personality for Campaign Failure

Rollins bluntly assesses that DeSantis is ultimately a “flawed candidate” who fails to connect with voters.

***
Unfortunately, Trump the billionaire celebrity is going to outshine any GOPer who runs against him. That appears to be the situation on the ground now, and it is going to continue to be the situation thru this year and next year. Trump's glittering personality will always attract the most people. Tens of millions of people are drawn to him and his bigger than life personae.

Comparing this cycle's GOP bench of presidential candidates to its 2016 bench of presidential candidates is a ghastly reminder of how much damage the Trump era has done to the once Grand Old Party.

alexander nazaryan {Yahoo News} @alexnazaryan | 10:52 PM · Aug 2, 2023

Ron DeSantis, in New Hampshire, discusses his plans for the federal workforce:

"We are going to start slitting throats on Day One."

(via @joshrogersNHPR)
Photo ( https://twitter.com/alexnazaryan/status/1686933134531526656/photo/1 )

>57 margd: Wow! Here’s commentary on that:

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/8/2/2184920/-Presidential-Hopeful-Anticipa...

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/08/02/desantis-debate-gavin-newsom-fox-001095...
Ron DeSantis agrees to debate Gavin Newsom on Fox News

The California governor has been trying to get his Florida Republican counterpart to engage. On Wednesday, he got it.

***
Great news ~ Newsom is making his move!

The economy of the State of California is the largest in the United States, with a $3.598 trillion gross state product (GSP) as of 2022. If California were a sovereign nation (2022), it would rank in terms of nominal GDP as the world's fifth largest economy.

>58 2wonderY: Surprised that Gov De Santis doesn't seem to realize that federal civil servants--and there are a lot of them--VOTE. He's offended SO many groups, I guess, so why NOT offend civil servants with his rhetoric? De Santis is NOT someone most of us would want to sit down with for a beer, as the metric goes.

Exclusive: About half of US Republicans could spurn Trump if he is convicted, Reuters/Ipsos poll shows
Jason Lange | August 3, 2023
https://www.reuters.com/legal/about-half-us-republicans-could-spurn-trump-if-he-...

Trump told Pence that he was too honest. Pence and Abe Lincoln apparently have honesty in common.

DeSantis said he will be “slitting throats” on his first day in the Oval Office.

Youngkin had better jump into the presidential race PDQ.

https://www.mediaite.com/election-2024/ron-desantis-biggest-donor-vows-to-cut-of...
Ron DeSantis’ Biggest Donor Vows To Cut Off Money Unless He Appeals To Moderates: ‘Extremism Isn’t Going To Get You Elected’

***
And a very wealthy donor added $1m bucks to Youngkin's PAC!

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/george-conway-compares-trumps-lies-to-cr...
George Conway Compares Trump's Lies to Crack for 'Addicted' Supporters

Former President Donald Trump's supporters are "addicted" to falsehoods about the last presidential election as though they were addicted to crack cocaine, according to conservative lawyer and frequent Trump critic George Conway.

"I just think the party is gone," said Conway. "I don't think there's any way that it can be repaired, and I think Trump is going to take them down ... It's like crack. I mean, they've addicted themselves to these lies. They live off of these lies. The conservative media profits off of these lies, the political consultants profit off of these lies."

***
Having to part ways with his former wife ~ Kellyanne ~ is an example of the damage Trump's crack has done.

I actually think Kellyanne too savvy and smart that she really believes in what's being peddled. She's a for real political consultant---she can define what spin is even as it spins more and more out of control. Like others who do the same she is in it for money, fame, attention. People who do this--like Atwater, like Carville almost never backtrack on anything.

https://www.mediaite.com/tv/retired-conservative-judge-declares-american-democra...
Retired Conservative Judge Declares American Democracy ‘In Grave Peril’ Because ‘There Is No Republican Party’

***
During my lifetime, the GOP has gone from Joe McCarthy to Nixon and on to this despicable, long-term Trump era.

https://www.mediaite.com/tv/ex-trump-official-produces-private-email-live-on-cnn...
Ex-Trump Official Produces Private Email Live on CNN Undermining Keith Kellogg’s Trump Endorsement

And you know I did bring a receipt tonight because this is an email that I got from Keith on January 6, in the evening of January 6, in which he said, ‘The president is up in the residence. I recommend you stay on the hill and finish the electoral college issue tonight.’ I responded, ‘That’s our plan,’ and he said, ‘That’s not a good plan, that’s a great plan. Close this thing out tonight.’ So, on January 6, Keith was clearly supporting the vice president’s actions. I know that he’s still on Donald Trump’s payroll and perhaps that’s why he’s saying something different today.

>65 lriley:

What-about-ism does not change the here-and-now facts on the ground. Kellyanne ~ the alternate facts lady ~ has major "daddy" issues.

https://www.mediaite.com/news/time-is-right-for-a-presidential-assassination-uta...
‘Time Is Right For a Presidential Assassination’: Utah Man Who Threatened to Kill Biden and Trump Prosecutors Shot Dead in FBI Raid

FBI agents shot and killed a Utah man during a raid on Wednesday morning after he allegedly threatened President Joe Biden and federal prosecutors with assassination.

The raid happened hours before Biden was expected to land in the state.

>69 Molly3028: simply pointing out the fact that Kellyanne's j-o-b right from the beginning was to spin a narrative for the public like other consultants from the pasts. All presidential campaigns of any relevance in my memory have had at least one someone like that and quite often more than one.....and it's part of the D.C. machinery. These people almost always have political links within their respective parties that go way back.

>70 lriley:

Kellyanne left her savvy twin behind when she decided to join her "daddy's" administration. Bringing Covid home to her family via a stunt get-together on the WH lawn was child abuse and an example of someone with faulty "wiring" between her two ears. It appears that her oldest daughter is going to need years of mental health care thanks to mommy dearest.

>64 Molly3028: In what way does getting free of Kelly Conway count as "damage"?
Both George and his daughter are clearly much better off away from that toxic and apparently abusive troll.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12399525/Is-man-beat-Donald-Trump-Virgi...

Is THIS the man to beat Donald Trump? Virginia's GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin is touted as 'lifeboat' candidate for 2024 nomination if DeSantis continues to flop, after polls showed he'd triumph over Biden in liberal-leaning Old Dominion

***
Voting starts in February. He better hit the ground running PDQ. Normal GOP members are searching for his boat at the boat launch.

>71 Molly3028: Well we don't agree but personally I think it's worse that Kellyanne knows exactly what she's done and continues to do is wrong but continues doing it anyway.

https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/utah-shooting-fbi-biden-threats-rcna...

Utah man killed by the FBI shows how far some Trump supporters are willing to go
A recent poll shows an alarming increase in the number of people who believe it's appropriate to use violence to restore Trump to power.

***
Old coots will continue to be a major problem until they finally die off.

Trump and his cult followers have a strangle hold on the GOP. Now, the saga has turned into a Stockholm Syndrome situation. More people joining the race will not improve or change the situation one iota. Unfortunately, the GOP dropped the ball in the spring. The 3-month detour into the culture war arena was the kiss of death.

https://www.mediaite.com/election-2024/i-will-not-trump-boasts-on-truth-social-h...
‘I WILL NOT!’ Trump Boasts On Truth Social He’ll Be Dodging ALL The GOP Primary Debates

“New CBS POLL, just out, has me leading the field by “legendary” numbers. TRUMP 62%, 46 Points above DeSanctimonious (who is crashing like an ailing bird!), Ramaswamy 7%, Pence 5%, Scott 3%, Haley 2%, Sloppy Chris Christie 2%, “Aida” Hutchinson 1%,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

He added, “The public knows who I am & what a successful Presidency I had, with Energy Independence, Strong Borders & Military, Biggest EVER Tax & Regulation Cuts, No Inflation, Strongest Economy in History, & much more. I WILL THEREFORE NOT BE DOING THE DEBATES!”

***
He doesn't have to worry about losing the votes of his weak-minded cult followers. The brainwashing techniques he and his radio, TV and Internet enablers have performed on his cult followers over the last 7+ years are continuing to weaken our democracy.

Trump’s cult followers truthfulness mindset after years of brainwashing

TRUMP ~ 71%

FRIENDS AND FAMILY ~ 63%

CONSERVATIVE MEDIA FIGURES ~ 56%

RELIGIOUS LEADERS ~ 42% (Christ’s teachings are now liberal talking points in their minds)

The Jesus Christ of the Bible was hardly a conservative. That said most religious institutions are and they like to paint him that way. He wasn't pro-police or pro-military. He believed in sharing and forgiving. He wasn't threatening people with damnation all the time.

Here's a thing too. Every once in a while you hear some knucklehead say that Martin Luther King Jr. was a Republican Party member in good standing. That's a person who is either lying right off for whatever reason or who's done no research. A lot of democrats think he was a democrat too but actually Martin advocated for democratic socialism or kind of a bit to the left of where Bernie Sanders and AOC are now. Maybe more to where Sanders was when he was Mayor of Burlington Vermont or when he was a congressman.

>79 lriley: The Jesus Christ of the Bible was hardly a conservative

Very true. While Christianity cannot be said to be socialist, as the latter is a political, social and economic ideology rather than a set of spiritual, religious and moral values, nevertheless socialism has far more in common with Christianity than the right wing ideologies which are currently in vogue in USA, UK and a few other western countries do. There is nothing Christian about "Christian nationalism", except the name!

In my own Catholic Church we are guided by Catholic Social Teaching, a body of doctrine derived from the bible and other later reflections, which gathers a number of themes, including the dignity of the human person, the common good, the preferential option for the poor and marginalised (from which spring various liberation theologies), subsidiarity and participation, care for creation (ie the environment), rights and responsibilities, the dignity of labour and the rights of workers, good governance, justice and peace. Those are not terms you find in many right wing manifestos! Modern Catholic Social Teaching is reckoned to have begun in 1891 with a teaching document from the then pope, Leo XIII, with the (provocative?!) title "Rights and Duties of Capital and Labour". This document articulates the Catholic Church's response to the social conflict in the wake of capitalism and industrialisation which had provoked socialist and communist movements and ideologies. It aims at some amelioration of "the misery and wretchedness pressing so unjustly on the majority of the working class" (#3). Again, not a sentiment which would find much favour (apart from lip service) amongst the capitalist and right wing classes today.

Edited to add: Just the other day I was watching a YouTube video of a specialist towing company recovering a 4WD vehicle which had got bogged down and stuck in a flash flood in the wilderness, and I noticed that the chap they were rescuing was wearing a T-shirt with the slogan "God, guns, family". I can hardly imagine a more contradictory set of words. God and family, yes, but God and guns, or guns and family? Bewildering, but apparently common amongst the US Christians whom you refer to.

>80 John5918: The one Christian movement that I've always liked is Liberation Theology. Basically about reaching out to the poorest and most oppressed.....it's pretty much the Jesus like sandals on approach. There seems to be a little more leeway with Francis but until him the Catholic church was pretty adamantly against its priests who went that way.

To me the best way to build a society is from the bottom up and economics ties in with well being. That's why you want to reach the impoverished.....to bring them up.....give people hope and ameliorate all kinds of social ills. The issue with capitalism is the deeper its roots the more oppressive it becomes. It's an economic ideology that has to have winners (few as they are) and losers (unfortunately when you have a couple hundred billionaires it's like there needs to be 50 million people struggling to make any economic headway). Reagan's trickle down economics is about making billionaires.....it's not concerned really with the trickle down part to the rest of us. Here in the United States we can't get away from this kind of mindset which is not just about the Republican Party it even permeates throughout the Democratic Party too. They've done a good job of equating socialism with Stalinism. It's almost impossible to talk about these things to most people.....and christians for the most part think of Jesus Christ as a capitalist......not even wondering about what passed for economic theory over 2000 years ago.

Seven-plus years of the Trump “show” has apparently led to two different groups of religious believers being duped by the very same lunatic. One group has decided that Christ’s teachings no longer fit in with their modern-day political indoctrination. On the other hand, a second group has decided that the life-long con man is Christ’s long-awaited Second Coming. Being a religious leader during this precarious time must be a bewildering experience. I assume this kind of situation was never covered during the religious training of any present-day conservative religious leaders.

This kook of a preacher out in Tennessee Greg Locke destroying a Barbie playhouse (because 'Satanic') with a baseball bat (and he tapes a bible to the barrel of said bat) pulls stunts like that because it attracts people to his 'church' and he just bellows nothing but unhinged rage throughout. He's been in the news a number of times. All publicity for him is good I guess. The guy is an attention seeker and a grifter too. Anyway I watched that and then he tosses the bat (with bible still attached at the end of said video clip) on the floor. You wonder about people who would be impressed with that but he draws crowds. It's a show and it's a competition that unfortunately many so called christian religious find themselves competing with each other in. Who's going to be the most angry, have the most violent rhetoric, the most bigoted or even racist, the most unforgiving, the most homophobic? It's sad but not surprising that so many Christians in the United States see Trump or even someone like Locke as a better messenger for what they want and desire than JC.

https://www.mediaite.com/politics/ouch-alex-jones-praises-vivek-ramaswamy-as-ale...
Ouch! Alex Jones Praises Vivek Ramaswamy as ‘Alex Jones 2.0’

***
This is the kiss of death for a general election win. Thanks, Alex!

"...Section 3 of the 14th Amendment states, in brief, that no person who previously swore to support the Constitution but then “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof” can be allowed to hold any federal or state office. As Republican candidates for president who say they believe Trump is unfit for office, one or both of them {Christie, Huchinson} should sue to keep him off the ballot....Steven Calabresi, a law professor at Northwestern and Yale and co-founder of The Federalist Society, has suggested that a candidate, specifically Christie, take the lead: “Chris Christie is legally injured by Donald Trump’s name being on the ballot,” Calabresi wrote this month in The Volokh Conspiracy, a libertarian-leaning legal blog. “They draw from some similar voters. Christie should sue, if necessary, to get Trump’s name off the ballot.” I’d expand Calabresi’s call for Christie to sue to include Hutchinson as well, especially since he seems to be well aware of the arguments in favor of Trump’s disqualification..."
- Hayes Brown ( https://msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/trump-chris-christie-hutchinson-fourteen...

Laurence Tribe 🇺🇦 ⚖️ tribelaw | 9:58 AM · Aug 27, 2023
Steven Calabresi, co-founder of The Federalist Society, is right that “Chris Christie is legally injured by Trump’s name being on the ballot,” but if it’s real impact Christie seeks, a better move might be to first ASK a Secretary of State to remove Trump

@judgeluttig @judgeluttig | 11:04 AM · Aug 27, 2023:
The path suggested...by Professor Laurence H. Tribe tribelaw is the best, surest, soundest, and most direct path to final decision by the Supreme Court of the former president's disqualification from the presidency under Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment.
This path could also be pursued by @AsaHutchinson, alone, or jointly with @GovChristie

.

How Vivek Ramaswamy makes money from climate denial
At Wednesday's {R primary} debate, Ramaswamy said he was the "only candidate who's not bought and paid for." That couldn't be further from the truth.
Emily Atkin | Aug 28, 2023

...in 2022, when Ramaswamy launched Strive with the help of billionaire investors Peter Thiel and Bill Ackman, as well as the same fossil fuel industry-connected group that spearheaded the original movement.

Ramaswamy has reported more than $50 million in holdings in Strive, which to date, is mostly a fund to promote fossil fuel development. As Semafor reports, the largest fund at Strive—called DRLL—“ invests in U.S. energy companies and urges them to keep drilling for oil so long as it’s profitable.”...

https://heated.world/p/how-vivek-ramaswamy-makes-money-from
--------------------------------------------------------------------

text excerpt ( https://twitter.com/MollyJongFast/status/1696345019810988160/photo/1 )

How to Spot an Incompetent Leader
Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic | March 11, 2020

Summary.

If we want less incompetent men in leadership roles, those responsible for judging candidates need to improve their ability to distinguish between confidence and competence. The good news is that, for some time now, we have had at our disposal scientifically valid assessments to predict and avoid managerial and leadership incompetence. There are systematic individual differences in how people present themselves, and these differences predict people’s leadership style and competence. When you are able to put thousands of leaders through the same self-report questionnaires, and you link their responses to their leadership style, performance, and effectiveness, you can identify the key patterns of self-presentation that characterize good and bad leaders. The bad news is that, despite the availability of such tools, very few organizations are using them.

Overconfidence is the natural result of privilege. If the future of leadership were more meritocratic...
... and managers selected leaders on the basis of their talent and potential rather than Machiavellian self-promotion, reckless risk taking, or narcissistic delusions, we would not just end up with more women leaders, but also with better leaders...

https://hbr.org/2020/03/how-to-spot-an-incompetent-leader

The 14th Amendment and Donald Trump (10:16)
Ali Velshi interviews Judge Luttig | Sept. 3, 2023

Retired Federal Judge Michael Luttig joins Ali Velshi to discuss the legal case for disqualifying Trump from being president again under the 14th Amendment. “This is one of the most fundamental questions that could ever be decided under our Constitution,” Luttig says. “And it will be decided by the Supreme Court sooner rather than later, and most likely before the first primaries.” He also debunks the argument that their constitutional argument is legally valid but not politically defensible.

https://www.msnbc.com/ali-velshi/watch/judge-luttig-supreme-court-will-determine...

It’s going to be truly awe-inspiring to watch the party that has insisted for decades that prisoners should not have the right to vote argue that one should be elected President of the United States.

- Andrew—Author of America Rises Newsletter—Wortman @AmoneyResists | 3:51 AM · Aug 2, 2023

ThinkifyUSA🌊🟦🟧Think for yourself @ThinkifyUsa
He might not have the right to vote for himself, particularly in Florida
If he did it would be voter fraud...

>90 margd: He's already voted illegally in Florida, since Magalaga or whatever it's called was not legally a residence... the party of catching voter fraud seems to have missed that one though...

Here’s the scary way Trump could win without the electoral or popular vote (Guardian)

as we have been learning pretty much continuously since 2000, the will of the majority of the American people no longer matters all that much in who is running their country. The abstruse and elaborate mechanisms of the US constitution relating to elections, which used to be matters for historical curiosity, have become more and more relevant every year. In 2024, there is very much a way for Donald Trump to lose the popular vote, lose the electoral college, lose all his legal cases and still end up president of the United States in an entirely legal manner. It’s called a contingent election. A contingent election is the process put in place to deal with the eventuality in which no presidential candidate reaches the threshold of 270 votes in the electoral college. In the early days of the American republic, when the duopoly of the two-party system was neither desired nor expected, this process was essential... the possibility of the electoral college releasing a confusing result, or being unable to certify a satisfying result by two months after the election, is quite real. The electoral college, even at its best, is an arcane system, unworthy of a 21st-century country... If the 270 marker has not been reached by 6 January, the contingent election takes place automatically. And the contingent election isn’t decided by the popular votes or the number of electoral college votes. Each state delegation in the House of Representatives is given a single vote for president. Each state delegation in the Senate is given a single vote for vice-president. The basic unfairness of this process is obvious: California with its 52 representatives, and Texas with its 38 representatives, would have the same say in determining the presidency as Wyoming and Vermont, which have one apiece. State delegations in the House would favor Republicans as a matter of course. In the struggle for congressional delegates, Republicans would have 19 safe House delegations and the Democrats would have 14, as it stands, with more states leaning Republican than Democrat. All that would be required, from a technical, legal standpoint, is for enough electoral college votes to be uncounted or uncertified for the contingent election to take place, virtually guaranteeing a Republican victory and hence a Trump presidency. It would be entirely legal and constitutional. It just wouldn’t be recognizably democratic to anyone. Remember that autocracies have elections. It doesn’t matter who votes. It matters who counts...

Trump’s MAGA cult is made up of two distinct wings. One group includes people in southern states who are still upset about the outcome of the Civil War and yearn for a return to an 1850’s type country. The other half includes people living in states like Ohio and Iowa who want the country to return to the good old 1950’s because women and Blacks knew their places and kept their mouths shut back then. White Nationalism ~ white Christian men controlling outcomes ~ is the uniting force that brings the two halves together into one hate-filled entity.

>93 Molly3028: The other part of the Republican Party---the rich and well to do Neo-conservatives, all the Ayn Randist libertarians have either had to accommodate themselves to the Trump cultists or find a new home. This is kind of what happened to Liz Cheney. It's not that they left their conservative values behind.....it's that the values they hold dear don't carry much weight anymore but it's also why democrats or more like people on the left need to be careful dealing with the disaffected homeless anti-Trump republicans.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/newsom-and-desantis-to-debate-in-novembe...
Newsom and DeSantis to debate in November

The two governors will debate in-person on Nov. 30 in Georgia, the network said Monday. Fox News anchor Sean Hannity will moderate, as the 90-minute-long show will air during the 9 p.m. ET time slot of his show, “Hannity.”

Why did Ron DeSantis go limp when Georgia-Pacific abandoned a small Florida town?
Danny McAuliffe | September 27, 2023

...Koch-owned Georgia-Pacific...threw the entire town of Perry into jeopardy when it said last week that it would soon shutter its Foley Cellulose mill. The announcement was as corporate as it gets: a nine-sentence press release to end 70 years of hard work and 525 jobs.

In a flash, one of the largest employers in Taylor County pulled the rug on the people of Perry — population of around 7,000 — as they still licked their wounds from the Category 4 Hurricane Idalia that swept through the area just weeks ago.

One might think that a corporation puts itself in political crosshairs when it inflicts deliberate economic devastation in the aftermath of a massive hurricane. But it wasn’t until nearly two days after the announcement that DeSantis quietly released a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter.

It read in relevant part: “I am calling on Georgia-Pacific to do what’s right: pay severance and insurance that will bridge the gap and allow these hard working Floridians to get back on their feet — especially after a hurricane.” He also said there will be a job fair to help those displaced, hosted by an agency that has long been tasked with doing just that.

No official press release. No site visit. None of his usual authoritarian hallmarks like manipulating the levers of government to punish corporate dissenters. The statement doesn’t begin to hint at anything resembling admonishment and yet it’s authored by a man who’s been so eager to wield the stick in the past.

...DeSantis (has) tried his very best to prevent corporations from considering anything other than raw profit when making decisions. Earlier this year he prioritized and signed a landmark blow to environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG), something he dubbed as “a worldwide effort to inject woke political ideology across the financial sector.”...

https://floridapolitics.com/archives/636487-essay-why-ron-desantis-went-limp-as-...

>96 margd: DeSantis (has) tried his very best to prevent corporations from considering anything other than raw profit when making decisions.

That's not true. Disney and Bud Light were just thinking about their bottom line when they made their actions. DeSantis objected to Bud Light paying someone to promote their product to a new market, and to Disney making an anodyne statement to quell upset over Florida's law that was having backlash on Disney.

https://www.mediaite.com/print/lunacy-wall-street-journal-editorial-board-slams-...
‘Lunacy’: Wall Street Journal Editorial Board Slams Republicans For Ignoring Trump’s ‘Unhinged’ Posts

The editorial board called “this lunacy” a “direct mind-meld with Mr. Trump’s true social and political self.”

***
The GOP is allowing Trump to be Trumpy.

https://www.mediaite.com/news/new-poll-79-of-republicans-in-iowa-considering-can...
New Poll: 79% of Republicans in Iowa Considering Candidates Other Than Trump

***
A number of voters living in Hooterville-type places are coming to the realization that the lunatic has way too much baggage.

Trump in Michigan

About 400 to 500 Trump supporters were inside a Drake Enterprises facility for the speech. Drake Enterprises employs about 150 people, and the UAW doesn't represent its workforce. It wasn't clear how many auto workers were in the crowd for the speech, which was targeted at them.

One individual in the crowd who held a sign that said "union members for Trump," acknowledged that she wasn't a union member when approached by a Detroit News reporter after the event. Another person with a sign that read "auto workers for Trump" said he wasn't an auto worker when asked for an interview.
…

But, on Tuesday, Shawn Fain, president of the United Auto Workers, criticized Trump's past stances on auto jobs in the U.S.

"I find it odd he’s gonna go to a non-union business to talk to union workers," Fain added of Trump's visit. "I don’t think he gets it."

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2023/09/27/donald-trump-returns-...

>100 2wonderY: It seems like a faux stealth thing where Donald goes before a compliant work force of non union workers who work for a Trump friendly company and makes out like he's talking to a bunch of UAW workers. It's kind of how much of the media including even 'liberal' media have parsed it. Not to get me wrong but there will be a lot of UAW workers I suspect as well as other union workers who will in Nov. 24 vote for this cluck if he's on the ballot. It's just the majority won't. I was in two different unions in my working lifetime in a safe red district in upstate NY and I know a lot of my co-workers voted republican--guns, abortion, pro-police/military flag wavers, and religious or like to think they were etc. etc. They were culture warriors voting for the Bush's, McCain's and Romney's. That said as you get into blue and very urban districts around the United States it goes heavily democratic.

DRUDGE REPORT ~ ALL CAPS IN RED

DEVELOPING: REPUBLICAN RACE ABOUT TO SHAKE WITH LATE ENTRY?