Saturday, October 31, 2020

HE WON'T STOP UNTIL WE STOP HIM

45 things we have learned about Trump. And this is the most important one
 
#35

Trump’s own advisors are terrified about what he’ll do after Election Day . . . Officials then say Trump will claim some kind of "victory" on November 4th even if the vote tallies show him behind. . . [read on]
 
Top surrogates for President Trump’s reelection campaign have been told that the president could hold campaign events even after the election on Nov. 3 . . . A campaign surrogate and two Trump aides confirmed to the outlet that campaign advisers have said not to rule out additional campaign rallies as ballots continue to be counted . . . “If we still don’t have results in Michigan and North Carolina or Pennsylvania and Nevada on Nov. 4, he might hit those states individually.” 
 
[NB: Now, WHY do they identify those four states already? Do they know something about what is going to happen?]

"What do you have to lose," as Trump likes to say

As U.S. Hits 87,000 Daily COVID Cases, Trump Claims ‘You’re Gonna Get Better’
 
[NB: Well, the ones who don't get better won't be voting anyway, will they?]

Turns out, Trump is lying about this too
 
Democrats Have Enthusiasm Edge
 
[NB: This is what happens when your only exposure to people is at adoring rallies. They love him, and they're fired up -- so he thinks that's the general mood.]
 
People worry about the polls being off, the way they were in 2016. But they weren't very far off in 2016, maybe a couple of percentage points. The polling firms have changed their methodology and they are almost certainly MORE accurate now. The numbers are real, showing a substantial Biden margin. Everything indicates Trump numbers in the low to mid 40s. That's not the problem -- the problem is turnout, and the problem is whether mail snafus and arbitrary deadlines mean that many votes are not counted

Trump Campaign Looks for Targeted Turnout Boosts
 
Biden Aides See Warnings in Black, Latino Turnout
 
More voting shenanigans
 
Five Days Before the Election, a Federal Court Moves Minnesota’s Mail-In Ballot Deadline Up a Full Week
 
How A Last-Minute Appeals Court Order Has Injected Mass Voter Chaos Into A Swing State 
 
[NB: I do not see how you can change the rules in the middle of the process like this, when it is too late for people to correct the decisions they made based on the instructions you originally gave them.]
 
The states that could play the biggest role in tipping the presidential election to Donald Trump or Joe Biden have also experienced some of the starkest delays in delivering ballots by mail, according to newly released data from the U.S. Postal Service. . . . [read on] 

Remember?

[August] Postmaster General Louis DeJoy promised a Senate committee Friday that election mail will be prioritized this November, and that he was “extremely highly confident” that ballots sent a week before Election Day would arrive on time and be counted. . . . 

Judge Orders USPS To Follow Its Own Plan For Getting Ballots In On Time

Trump is leaning hard on the Supreme Court to save him
 
President Trump on Friday sought to preemptively place blame on the Supreme Court should he lose reelection . . . The Supreme Court handed two victories to Democrats in election-related legal disputes this week in allowing extended deadlines to remain in Pennsylvania and North Carolina, two critical swing states. 

Trump Makes 3 a.m. Plea to Justices
 
[NB: Not sleeping so well, Donnie?]

This isn't even news any more is it? Trump doesn't want objective intelligence briefings from professionals who will tell him what he needs to know whether he wants to hear it or not

 
The Evil Elf lays out an even more aggressive anti-immigrant policy for Trump's second term
 
 
A report from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) watchdog continues to confirm that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) lied when it turned away asylum-seekers by claiming officials couldn’t process these families because U.S. ports of entry were full . . . 

Let's make these the last judges Mitch McConnell EVER gets to confirm

 
In investigation news . . .   
 
Happy Halloween! 

Without some of the protections afforded him by the presidency, Trump will become vulnerable to multiple investigations looking into possible fraud in his financial business dealings as a private citizen — both as an individual and through his company. He faces defamation lawsuits sparked by his denials of accusations made by women who have alleged he assaulted them, including E. Jean Carroll, the former magazine columnist who has accused him of rape. And then there are claims he corrupted the presidency for his personal profits. As President, Trump has been able to block and delay several of these investigations and lawsuits — including a yearlong fight over a subpoena for his tax returns — in part because of his official position. Many of those matters have wound through the courts and will come to a head whether he is reelected or not. But with the polls showing that Democratic rival Joe Biden is leading in the race, the stakes become much higher for Trump if he loses the election. A raft of legal issues, including a criminal investigation by New York prosecutors, will come into focus in the weeks after Election Day. . . .
 
Preet Bharara, the former U.S. Attorney of the Southern District of New York, joins “The New Abnormal” host Molly Jong-Fast to chat about the last presidential debate, the story leading up to his resignation, and why there could be an “avalanche” of new revelations if President Donald Trump loses the election. . . .
 
Tucker Carlson said he had some MAJOR NEW documents to reveal about Hunter Biden that would blow the lid off the scandal. Then he said they were lost in the mail. Then he said they'd been found again. Now he says he won't release them because he doesn't want to be accused of "piling on"

 
In other news . . .    
 
Trump has one "path to victory," and only one -- not counting millions of votes that have been cast against him
 

Vote suppression is what Republicans do best — but 2020 is their masterwork
 
Will this election be decided by lawsuit?
 

I really don't think this will happen. But we're talking about it, aren't we?
 
Trump may try to steal the election. Americans may have to take to the streets.
 
Trump to hold 14 rallies in the final 3 days -- gotta infect as many people as he still can
 
 
Trump says "he's fine" with people wearing masks -- and then keeps reminding us that he's not


[NB: He's been giving anti-mask messages from the very start, and still refuses to wear one. You could see the evident glee in his face when he stood on the WH balcony and took his off.]

He's anti-doctor too, apparently

Back in Michigan for another stop on his Superspreader Tour, Trump turned his attack directly on doctors and nurses, insisting that they are falsely reporting COVID-19 cases because they “get more money if someone dies from COVID.” It’s not true on any level, but it’s amazing to see Trump spreading even more distrust. . . .
 
Another Republican has had enough of the Trump presidency
 
 
Trump has made his career through social media -- but also by railing against it
 
 
Biden has some fun mocking Trump -- once you start, it's hard to stop!
 
 
A new ad: "You have the power to silence him"
 
 
Bonus item: Seth Meyers on the surreal turn of the campaign

 
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Friday, October 30, 2020

ROLL VIDEO

 
CNN's Brianna Keilar on why Trump knows NOTHING about women

 
CNN's Don Lemon on Trump complaining about having to attend rallies
 
 
Video: Trump's history of racism

 
The most . . . unique . . . GOTV ad I have seen
 
 
Woman in labor stops to vote on her way to the hospital
 
Whatever he is saying publicly, privately Trump is talking more and more about the prospect of losing
 
 
This is the man who wants to be re-elected as president. This is what he is shouting to his followers at his rallies
 
 
[NB: Hate, resentment, and getting back at his enemies.]
 
Trump's rallies keep making people sick
 
On Thursday, the Gaston County Department of Health and Human Services announced that at least two people who attended the rally on Tuesday, had tested positive for COVID-19. “These cases are not thought to be an indication of spread from the rally at this time, but rather two independent cases among individuals who were in attendance.” The reason the Gaston County HHS made this announcement public is, “Because of the large number of potential contacts from the rally, and the inability to alert them directly, the community is being notified so they can assess their own risk and take appropriate actions.” . . .
 
Multiple attendees of President Trump’s rally in Tampa passed out due to the intense heat, as a truck blasted water at the crowd, NBC News reports. The event comes two days after seven people who attended Trump’s rally in Omaha were hospitalized due to exposure to near-freezing temperatures. . . .
 
Mayo Clinic Takes a Stand On Trump’s Minnesota Rally  

"Rounding the corner"?

U.S. tops 88,000 COVID-19 cases, setting new single-day record 

More lies

‘Enough Of The Lies’: Joe Biden Is Done With Donald Trump’s COVID-19 BS In New Ad

Don Jr. Says Virus Deaths Are ‘Almost Nothing’
 
[NB: Still over a thousand a day.]
 
Trump tried to use $250 million in COVID funding to create a PSA that would have been taxpayer-paid election advertising for him

“Helping the President will Help the Country”

Why herd immunity won't work
 

“Shortly after joining the White House as President Trump’s pandemic adviser, Dr. Scott Atlas launched a quiet effort that seemed counterintuitive to some of his colleagues — encouraging officials to limit Covid-19 testing mainly to people experiencing symptoms” . . .

In investigation news . . .  

We've talked a lot about Trump's shady entanglements with Russia and China. But don't forget Turkey
 
 
 
 
I think this is what they call "politicizing intelligence"
 
DNI John Ratcliffe made up the claim that Iran was out to hurt Donald Trump, without any evidence
 
Oh, they thought they had it all lined up: a final weeks disclosure of "new" Hunter Biden emails, funneled through Rudy Giuliani, then the big announcement from DOJ that they were opening up an investigation into the Bidens. It worked so well for them in 2016. But it isn't working this time -- and it tells you something that this was too much even for AG Bill Barr to go along with
 

“It appears from what’s been uncovered so far that Hunter Biden was trading on his father’s name in order to make money for himself and his family. The question the DOJ has to answer is whether that constitutes a federal crime”. . .

Golly, I don’t know. Maybe they could ask Donald Trump Jr what he has to say about all that . . .
 
Aides have intervened to stop Trump from calling up Bill Barr to demand Hunter Biden probe
 
FAKE NEWS! HOAX!
 
“One month before a purported leak of files from Hunter Biden’s laptop, a fake ‘intelligence’ document about him went viral on the right-wing internet, asserting an elaborate conspiracy theory involving former Vice President Joe Biden’s son and business in China,” NBC News reports. “The document, a 64-page composition that was later disseminated by close associates of President Trump, appears to be the work of a fake ‘intelligence firm’ called Typhoon Investigations.” . . .
 
Incompetence, fraud, and abuse
 
“For a few months this year, a U.S. government aid program meant for struggling small-business owners was handing out $10,000 to just about anyone who asked. All it took was a five-minute online application. You just had to say you owned a business with at least 10 employees, and the grant usually arrived within a few days.” “People caught on fast. In some neighborhoods in Chicago and Miami, it seemed like everyone made a bogus application to the Small Business Administration’s Covid-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan program. Professional thieves from Russia to Nigeria cashed in. Low-level employees at the agency watched helplessly as misspent money flew out the door. Even after the $20 billion in funding for grants dried up in July, the fraud continued, as scammers looted a separate $192 billion pot of money set aside for loans.”
 
In other news . . .    
 
It's all Trump has left -- try to eliminate votes that have ALREADY been cast against him
 
 
 
 
Keep an eye on Pennsylvania
 
Thousands of Mail Ballots Lost In Pennsylvania
 
USPS is in on the scam
 
USPS admits delivery times are plummeting, says there's no "constitutional right" to timely delivery

There’s Some Troubling New Data About Slowdowns in Election Mail 

Court rules Minnesota absentee ballots must be received by 8 p.m. Election Day

Millions of absentee ballots haven't been returned yet
 
 
[NB: By the way, a little item that I haven't seen anyone talk about. Traditionally, a quick way to estimate voting trends were "exit polls," asked of people as they left voting places. They were so predictive that news shows were asked not to report on them until the polls closed. They were also a check against fraud because if vote tallies diverged widely from the exit polls it was an indicator that something was wrong. With the enormous rise of mail-in voting, we don't have that check any more. We can use general polls as an indicator, but you never know whether those folks voted or not.]
 
Trump campaign working with police union to recruit ex-cops as “poll challengers”
 
More on why 2020 isn't 2016
 
 
More: https://www.vox.com/21536114/how-trump-could-win-2020-election
Trump’s path to 270 electoral votes, explained
 
Donald Trump won the presidency with 46 percent of the popular vote. His approval rating, according to Gallup, has never hit 50 percent. He remains under 50 percent in national polling averages. The president’s inability to capture a majority of support sheds light on his extraordinary attempts to limit the number of votes cast across the battleground state map — a massive campaign-within-a-campaign to maximize Trump’s chances of winning a contest in which he’s all but certain to earn less than 50 percent of the vote. . . [read on] 
 
Trump's job rating could tell us a lot about his ballot performance 
 
I won't keep posting daily state by state polls, but Biden continues to lead in all the key battleground states, as well as a few, like Florida, where he can take red states that Trump can't win without. And his margins are growing





The big GDP numbers are misleading
 
 

 

The Senate hearing on social media
 
 
 
Bernie wants to be Labor Sect'y and Elizabeth Warren wants to be Treasury Sect'y
 
 
[NB: My guess is neither of those things is happening.] 

Biden has a plan for helping separated immigrant families

 
Biden has a plan for LGBTQ rights
 

Biden hasn't even won yet, and Fox World is already calling for his "preemptive impeachment"

 
I don't know the "honey badger" video, but this is pretty funny
 
 
Bonus item: A boy with a dream

 
***If you enjoy Progressive Blog Digest and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sharing its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com) with others via email or social media. Thanks for helping to spread the word!  
 
I don’t get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don’t run ads, etc.). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a “mission,” it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***

Thursday, October 29, 2020

UNREALITY TV

In the closing days of the campaign Trump is trying to frame it as a contest between a totally fictional character named "Donald J. Trump" and a totally fictional character named "Joe Biden"
 
On Trump 
 
He says he has "ended the pandemic"

 
HHS official contradicts the ridiculous WH claim that Trump has "ended" the pandemic: cases, hospitalizations, and deaths are all going UP
 
Trump's new ad. What do you notice?
 
 
The GDP numbers

Don’t Be Fooled When Trump Touts Greatest-Ever GDP Report
 
On Biden
 
[Trump] My opponent’s insane immigration plan completely eliminates U.S. borders by implementing nationwide catch-and-release. Joe Biden would make every community into a Sanctuary City for violent criminals.

[Trump] Joe Biden is a corrupt politician. He wants to send YOUR jobs to China, while his family rakes in millions from the Chinese Communist Party. If Biden wins, China will OWN the USA.
 
[Trump] They (his handlers) ripped Sleepy Joe off the stage yesterday when he got lost in a “mental fog”. A disaster. Very little reporting on this! 
 
The Trump campaign took a speech in which Joe Biden quoted Pope Francis on Tuesday and deceptively edited the footage to make it seem as if the Democratic nominee was mentally unfit to be president. . . . 
 
Senior White House adviser Stephen Miller claimed Wednesday, without evidence, that a Biden administration would “incentivize child smuggling and child trafficking on an epic, global scale.” . . . 
 
[Trump] If you vote for Biden, your kids will not be in school, there will be no graduations, no weddings, no Thanksgiving, no Christmas, and no Fourth of July! [Twitter responds . . . don't miss it!]

One of these days someone is going to be killed and Trump will say he had nothing to do with it
 
Trump’s Attacks Often Followed by Safety Threats
 
CIA impeachment whistleblower forced to live under surveillance due to threats 

People are getting bolder and bolder now about making predictions

Joe Biden is on track to win the election decisively 
 
Biden’s Path to 270 Widens 

Trump’s Chances Are Slim

With all the chaos, the shape of the Trump-Biden race is unchanged 

No Late Shift Toward Trump So Far 
 
Trump Needs to Win States Where He’s Never Led 

The Uniter
 
Scaramucci says Trump has united country: 'It just happens to be against him'
 
It should have been Governing 101 -- the best way to show leadership and reassure people during a time of national crisis would have been to pass a stimulus bill that would provide support to families, help struggling businesses, fund state and local coronavirus programs, and prepare an infrastructure for vaccine delivery. Trump couldn't get it done, and aside from some hand-waving that OTHERS should do it, he never put himself on the line to get it done. It would have helped his re-election prospects in key regions. Now it's too late

 
Slightly more voters blame Trump, GOP for lack of stimulus deal, survey finds
 
Remember when Trump said holding superspreader events was okay because HE was safe? Now they're saying the same thing about VP Pence

 
“In the aftermath of the White House outbreak that put the president in the hospital, his administration could have aggressively used contact tracing and genetic analysis to identify how the virus got into the White House and how far it had spread.” “Instead, one month later, the Trump administration consistently failed to effectively deploy either technique in response to the superspreader event, leaving not just the president and his staff at risk, but the hundreds of people who were potentially exposed.”  

Kushner: Trump has taken back the country from the doctors
 
 
Trump’s COVID Advisers: He’s Now Pushing Herd Immunity

In investigation news . . .   
 
Eighteen people in Trump's orbit have been arrested, indicted, and/or convicted
 
 
Trump keeps saying that the shady deals and tax scams he has gotten away with are just proof that he is a "smart" businessman
 
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/10/28/trump-chicago-business-deals-nyt-report-433198
 
 
We finally learn who the author "Anonymous" was 
 
 
 
Trump says ex-staffer who penned 'Anonymous' op-ed should be 'prosecuted' 
 
The Hunter Biden story has proven to be a big nothingburger -- so now, the desperate few are trying to turn the very failure to prove anything into a meta-scandal
 
Instead of publishing the more salacious allegations, conservative media has been more focused on covering alleged suppression of the story
 
Tucker Suggests His Hunter Biden Dirt Was Intercepted in the Mail
 
In other news . . .  
 
Dems warn: don't mail in your ballots this close to the election -- drop them off
 

[NB: Quite a trick on the GOP side -- undermine the postal service so ballots don't arrive on time, even though they are valid and posted before the deadline, then argue that late arriving ballots shouldn't be counted!]
 
Yes, real voter fraud. . . . on the Republican side
 
 
Trump says it out loud
 
"We'll see what happens at the end of [Election Day]," Trump said at a press conference in Las Vegas. "Hopefully, the few states remaining that want to take a lot of time after November 3rd to count ballots, that won't be allowed by the various courts" [read on]

 
It looks as if the Supreme Court WON'T play Trump's game
 
SCOTUS Deals Another Setback To PA GOP Effort To Cut Short Ballot Deadline

Supreme Court Allows North Carolina To Receive Absentee Ballots After Election Day
 
You are not alone
 
Nearly 70% Say Election Is Stressing Them Out 
 
Trump continues to use every branch of government as an extension of his campaign
 
 
 
 
Standard practice at these rallies is to invite in and boost local candidates. But Trump's rallies are for TRUMP goddamn it!
 
President Trump offered a not-very warm welcome to Sen. Martha McSally (R) on Wednesday at his campaign rally in Arizona . . . “Martha, just come up fast. Fast. Fast. Come on. Quick. You got one minute! One minute, Martha! They don’t want to hear this, Martha. Come on. Let’s go. Quick, quick, quick. Come on. Let’s go.”
 
There is no good reason to do this

Trump Plans To Hold Rally At Florida Early Voting Site

Former GOP Senator Jeff Flake endorses Biden
 
Former GOP Sen. Jeff Flake (Ariz.) has filmed an ad for former Vice President Joe Biden, using the spot to urge Republicans to put "country over party" and support the Democratic presidential nominee. “I’ve been a conservative Republican my entire life,” Flake says . . . “I’ve never before voted for a Democrat for president.”  “But this year, principle and conscience require me to do just that . . . I’m voting for Joe Biden. . . . "Who will best restore decency and civility to the White House? Who can I be proud to tell my children and grandchildren I voted for?" 
 
As we have often seen, Lindsey F. Graham has sold his soul to defend Trump -- now that he's in trouble for re-election, why isn't Trump helping him?
 
 
Even Fox News Is Tired Of Lindsey Graham’s Groveling For Donations 
 
What a load of crap
 
When Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ) switched parties, he pledged his “undying support” to President Trump, CNN reports. Van Drew now says it wasn’t what he meant: “I think voters understand that when you’re in the Oval Office and you’re having a very exciting day and you’re making a little piece of history, that sometimes we all say things.” He added: “I think the words didn’t explain as well what I exactly felt. It’s not undying support that, whatever you say I’m going to do, or undying support, I agree with whatever you say. It was undying support for the presidency, for the idea of the greatness of America.”  
 
What will Trump do if he loses?
 
 
Are Trump's rallies losing him more support than they're gaining him?
 

Trump's rallies are run with all the care and finesse we have come to expect from everything Trump does
 
Trump leaving his supporters stranded in the cold is the perfect metaphor for 2016-2020 . . . [read on]  
 
Blame Game Begins After Trump’s Nebraska Rally Sh*tshow 

 
Omarosa dishes on Trump and Melania's weird relationship
 
 
Trump's campaign website got hacked
 
 
The war on science continues


The anti-environment administration
 

As the false light of Trumpism starts to fade, the GOP returns to its fundamental demographics problem
 
 
What the hell is the matter with Chuck Todd?

Stupid Chuck Todd Statement Of The Day: Biden's Taking COVID 'Too Seriously'

Bonus item: Any voter who claims to be "undecided" right now is either ignorant, lying, or jockeying for attention
 
 
***If you enjoy Progressive Blog Digest and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sharing its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com) with others via email or social media. Thanks for helping to spread the word!  

I don’t get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don’t run ads, etc.). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a “mission,” it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***