But wait just a dang minute - they think maybe New Jersey is being invaded? How sure are we that Orson Welles is still dead?
Showing posts with label MAGA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MAGA. Show all posts
Dec 15, 2024
Dec 10, 2024
Those Sneaky Bastards
Republicans can't get their policies through Congress if they tell us what they're really trying to do, so they have to disguise it.
Melanie Stansbury (D - NM 01) unmasks another shitty thing Republicans are trying to pull.
Dec 6, 2024
Taking Responsibility
American voters created the monster that spawned attention-addicted freaks like Nancy Mace.
American voters have to step up and do what's necessary to destroy it.
Nov 17, 2024
Overheard
Trump's America:
- Traitors writing foreign policy
- Racists writing immigration policy
- Thieves writing economic policy
- Flat-Earthers writing science policy
- Vax Deniers writing healthcare policy
- A hired goon heading up the DOJ
And one fucking moron
to rule them all
Nov 16, 2024
Today's Tik Tok
@andr3wsky Watch them be in my comments admitting to being the exact people I’m talking about
♬ original sound - Andr3w
Nov 9, 2024
Nov 6, 2024
Understandable
I'm tired of the fight. But I don't know what else to do.
I will not lay me down - I have to stay and fight until there's nothing left of me.
Goodbye I love you all pic.twitter.com/39ADbx0JGf
— Bob south florida water man 🇺🇸 (@WaterDean) November 6, 2024
I make this promise - paraphrasing Gandhi:
They can harass me.
They can steal from me.
They can arrest me.
They can imprison me.
They can torture me.
They can beat me to death.
They can have my dead broken body.
But they will never have my obedience.
Ever.
Nov 3, 2024
Oct 30, 2024
These Bros
These idiots are not 'alpha'.
And I'm not sure they qualify as beta - unless you look at it as a contest to see who can be more beta than all the others. The Alpha Beta?
They seem to be striving to prove and re-affirm their beta-ness by constantly supplicating at Trump's feet, and even more - they're always trying to out-suck-up each other by showing how far they're willing to crawl to lick Trump's boots.
Oct 28, 2024
Oct 26, 2024
Today's MAGA
She showed up to vote wearing Trump gear - shirt, hat, buttons, etc. She was told that the law prohibits campaign stuff inside the polling place.
So she stripped off her shirt, called one poll worker "dickhead", and told another, "suck my cunt" and "this is why I vote for Trump".
Please - we gotta beat these people.
Oct 18, 2024
Oct 7, 2024
Here We Go Again
Hey, MAGA - instead of swallowing a buncha stupid bullshit about "bad gubmint stealin' muh money to pay for illegal immigrants" (or whatever fucked up lies you're buying into today), maybe you could try looking to the coin-operated politicians you've been voting for.
Hurricane Milton reaches Category 5 strength on approach to Florida
The storm is expected to produce a devasting surge along Florida’s west coast, which could include the Tampa Bay area. Some decrease in strength is forecast ahead of landfall.
Milton, a top-tier Category 5 hurricane over the Gulf of Mexico, is intensifying at breakneck speed as it churns toward the west coast of Florida. The storm is expected to make landfall Wednesday or early Thursday as a “large and powerful hurricane,” according to the National Hurricane Center. It is predicted to produce a potentially devastating ocean surge over 10 feet in some areas, including perhaps in flood-prone Tampa Bay.
Want to know how your actions can help make a difference for our planet? Sign up for the Climate Coach newsletter, in your inbox every Tuesday and Thursday.
Since Sunday night, the storm’s rate of strengthening has reached extreme levels — its intensity leaping from a Category 1 to 5. The storm’s peak winds Monday midday were up to 160 mph, a 70 mph increase in 12 hours.
The Hurricane Center described the storm’s rate of intensification as “remarkable.” The explosive development has occurred over record-warm waters in the Gulf, with the extreme warmth linked to human-caused climate change.
Milton is the strongest hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico since Michael in 2018 and is poised to become even stronger until a very gradual weakening trend commences Tuesday. It is the strongest Gulf of Mexico hurricane this late in the year since at least 1966. Milton is one of only seven hurricanes on record to increase from Category 1 to 5 in 24 hours and did so at the second-fastest rate.
Only 48 to 60 hours remain before Milton is set to arrive in Florida. Landfall now looks to be Wednesday afternoon or evening, and the storm — despite some weakening — is anticipated to remain a major hurricane with winds around 120 mph when it strikes the state’s west coast.
Moreover, Milton’s wind field will expand, meaning the storm will more efficiently be able to pile water against the coastline. The National Hurricane Center is warning of a surge of 5 to 10 feet along much of the Gulf Coast of Florida’s peninsula, with locally up to 8 to 12 feet — including in Tampa Bay.
Depending on Milton’s exact track, Tampa could find itself in the most dangerous part of the hurricane. The vulnerable coastal city could suffer billions of dollars in damage in a worst-case-scenario track, which is a possible outcome. Some neighborhoods would be entirely inundated and inaccessible. Ongoing evacuations are expected to be the most expansive in Florida since Hurricane Irma struck in 2017.
It’s important to note that subtle shifts of only 5 to 10 miles in track will have an enormous bearing on surge outcomes. While it’s impossible to outline exactly who will see the worst surge at this point, a devastating surge is virtually a certainty somewhere along Florida’s west coast.
A storm surge watch is in effect from the southern tip of the Everglades to the mouth of the Suwanee River in the Big Bend. That includes Tampa Bay and Charlotte Harbor — the latter a region that was ravaged by Hurricane Ian in late September 2022.
In addition, Milton will bring destructive winds — perhaps gusting over 100 mph at the coastline — as well as flooding rains and the risk of a few tornadoes. Hurricane watches span the southern part of Florida’s Big Bend, ravaged by Helene less than two weeks ago, to just south of Marco Island.
Tropical alerts for Hurricane Milton.
Widespread power outages are probable in Florida’s interior and even as far away as the state’s east coast and could affect cities such as Orlando and Daytona Beach — in addition to Tampa, Fort Myers and Sarasota.
Late Monday morning, the storm was centered about 130 miles west-northwest of the northern tip of Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula and 720 miles southwest of Tampa, headed to the east-southeast at 9 mph. The storm is expected to take a turn to the northeast Tuesday.
On satellite, the storm also exhibited an ominous “enveloped eyewall lightning” signature. Hurricanes only produce lightning when they’re strengthening, usually quickly. The entire eyewall, or innermost ring of ferocious winds, has been sparking hundreds of lightning strikes — a portent of a top-tier storm. The Hurricane Hunters even encountered hail when entering the eyewall from the northwest.
Milton is expected to affect some of the same areas that experienced a destructive surge from Helene, representing a major setback for recovery efforts. Parts of Florida’s west coast already saw a 5- to 7-foot storm surge and are in the process of removing debris and sand left over from Helene.
What are the areas most threatened by this storm?
The Tampa Bay to Fort Myers corridor is at greatest risk from the storm. Milton will be arriving from the west, a highly unusual trajectory for hurricanes. Since 1850, there are no records of any Category 2 or greater hurricanes originating from the west and passing within 60 miles of Tampa. Milton’s trajectory will prime it to be a major surge producer.
Surge will be a hazard near and south of the center, but could be an issue along much of Florida’s west coast. Where the southern eyewall makes landfall, a surge of 8 to 12 feet is possible.
Within the eyewall, winds gusting over 100 mph at the coastline are possible. Within a county or two along the coast, gusts of 80 to 90 mph are likely. Even far inland, places such as Lakeland and Orlando might see gusts of 75 mph — maybe more. That will result in widespread power outages. Based on current modeling, winds of 70 mph might reach all the way south to Lake Okeechobee.
Heavy rains are ongoing across South Florida now due to the moisture preceding Milton’s arrival. That moisture is pooling along a stalled front. Milton itself will bring a widespread 6 to 8 inches of rain, with localized 12-inch totals, across central and north central Florida. Some inland flooding is possible.
When and where will landfall probably occur?
The most likely landfall location is between New Port Richey, about 40 miles north of Tampa Bay, and North Port or Cape Coral, Fla., just to the north of Fort Myers, but shifts in the track are possible. It’s important to remember that hurricane impacts reach far beyond the center. The most dangerous conditions from wind and surge will be found near and just south of where the center crosses the coast.
Conditions will begin to deteriorate late Tuesday. Heavy rains will become more widespread, but the worst of the winds will probably hold off until Wednesday. Especially by midday Wednesday, an abrupt uptick in destructive winds is probable near where the storm comes ashore. The worst winds will come only two or three hours before Milton’s landfall and will arrive abruptly.
How large and intense will the storm be at landfall?
Milton is a small storm. Hurricane-force winds only reach outward some 30 miles from the center. Small, compact storms are more sensitive to fluctuations in strength, which is why Milton has been able to strengthen so fast.
The storm will be expanding as it interacts with nontropical weather systems and begins to feel the effects of the mid-latitude jet stream. Even though maximum winds will come down Tuesday night and Wednesday, the area affected by hurricane-force winds may triple. That will increase the area susceptible to downed trees, wires and power outages.
Uncertainty is unusually high with regard to Milton’s landfall strength. Even if the storm weakens to a Category 3, as predicted by the Hurricane Center, it will be coming down from a Category 5. And if weakening is more gradual than expected, a storm stronger than a Category 3 can’t be ruled out.
Dry air near the coast of Florida could also weaken the storm more than models suggest, but that is a low likelihood.
Could areas affected by Helene be hit again?
Computer models forecast Milton to generally to follow a course farther south than Helene, which should spare the Southern Appalachians from serious impacts. Little or no rain or wind from the storm should reach the western Carolinas.
However, Milton could seriously affect some parts of Florida that are still recovering from Helene, including parts of the Big Bend and much of the west coast.
The potential storm surge generated by Milton in the Tampa Bay Area could be twice as large as Helene’s. However, this worst-case surge scenario could be avoided if the storm veers to the south or north.
If Milton makes landfall north of Tampa Bay, it could mean another blow for the Big Bend area while also producing some heavy rain and strong winds in southern Georgia and the eastern Carolinas, which were affected by Helene. However, Milton’s effects on Georgia will probably be less severe than Helene’s.
a) They don't give a fuck about you, and...
b) They're the ones stealing from you in order to keep you ignorant, poor, and feeling grateful they don't fuck you over even more than they already have by lying to you about Climate Change
What's happening now is exactly what the science guys have been telling us would happen, you stupid fucking rubes.
And now, here comes another'n.
And I've already seen at least one fantasy tweet about how something must be up with that whole "weather weapons" thing cuz no hurricane has ever just appeared outa nowhere in the Gulf of Mexico like that, and blah blah blah.
Sweet screamin' Jesus - you have to try to get your heads out of your asses. Please.
The storm is expected to produce a devasting surge along Florida’s west coast, which could include the Tampa Bay area. Some decrease in strength is forecast ahead of landfall.
Milton, a top-tier Category 5 hurricane over the Gulf of Mexico, is intensifying at breakneck speed as it churns toward the west coast of Florida. The storm is expected to make landfall Wednesday or early Thursday as a “large and powerful hurricane,” according to the National Hurricane Center. It is predicted to produce a potentially devastating ocean surge over 10 feet in some areas, including perhaps in flood-prone Tampa Bay.
Want to know how your actions can help make a difference for our planet? Sign up for the Climate Coach newsletter, in your inbox every Tuesday and Thursday.
Since Sunday night, the storm’s rate of strengthening has reached extreme levels — its intensity leaping from a Category 1 to 5. The storm’s peak winds Monday midday were up to 160 mph, a 70 mph increase in 12 hours.
The Hurricane Center described the storm’s rate of intensification as “remarkable.” The explosive development has occurred over record-warm waters in the Gulf, with the extreme warmth linked to human-caused climate change.
Milton is the strongest hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico since Michael in 2018 and is poised to become even stronger until a very gradual weakening trend commences Tuesday. It is the strongest Gulf of Mexico hurricane this late in the year since at least 1966. Milton is one of only seven hurricanes on record to increase from Category 1 to 5 in 24 hours and did so at the second-fastest rate.
Only 48 to 60 hours remain before Milton is set to arrive in Florida. Landfall now looks to be Wednesday afternoon or evening, and the storm — despite some weakening — is anticipated to remain a major hurricane with winds around 120 mph when it strikes the state’s west coast.
Moreover, Milton’s wind field will expand, meaning the storm will more efficiently be able to pile water against the coastline. The National Hurricane Center is warning of a surge of 5 to 10 feet along much of the Gulf Coast of Florida’s peninsula, with locally up to 8 to 12 feet — including in Tampa Bay.
Depending on Milton’s exact track, Tampa could find itself in the most dangerous part of the hurricane. The vulnerable coastal city could suffer billions of dollars in damage in a worst-case-scenario track, which is a possible outcome. Some neighborhoods would be entirely inundated and inaccessible. Ongoing evacuations are expected to be the most expansive in Florida since Hurricane Irma struck in 2017.
It’s important to note that subtle shifts of only 5 to 10 miles in track will have an enormous bearing on surge outcomes. While it’s impossible to outline exactly who will see the worst surge at this point, a devastating surge is virtually a certainty somewhere along Florida’s west coast.
A storm surge watch is in effect from the southern tip of the Everglades to the mouth of the Suwanee River in the Big Bend. That includes Tampa Bay and Charlotte Harbor — the latter a region that was ravaged by Hurricane Ian in late September 2022.
In addition, Milton will bring destructive winds — perhaps gusting over 100 mph at the coastline — as well as flooding rains and the risk of a few tornadoes. Hurricane watches span the southern part of Florida’s Big Bend, ravaged by Helene less than two weeks ago, to just south of Marco Island.
Tropical alerts for Hurricane Milton.
Widespread power outages are probable in Florida’s interior and even as far away as the state’s east coast and could affect cities such as Orlando and Daytona Beach — in addition to Tampa, Fort Myers and Sarasota.
Late Monday morning, the storm was centered about 130 miles west-northwest of the northern tip of Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula and 720 miles southwest of Tampa, headed to the east-southeast at 9 mph. The storm is expected to take a turn to the northeast Tuesday.
On satellite, the storm also exhibited an ominous “enveloped eyewall lightning” signature. Hurricanes only produce lightning when they’re strengthening, usually quickly. The entire eyewall, or innermost ring of ferocious winds, has been sparking hundreds of lightning strikes — a portent of a top-tier storm. The Hurricane Hunters even encountered hail when entering the eyewall from the northwest.
Milton is expected to affect some of the same areas that experienced a destructive surge from Helene, representing a major setback for recovery efforts. Parts of Florida’s west coast already saw a 5- to 7-foot storm surge and are in the process of removing debris and sand left over from Helene.
What are the areas most threatened by this storm?
The Tampa Bay to Fort Myers corridor is at greatest risk from the storm. Milton will be arriving from the west, a highly unusual trajectory for hurricanes. Since 1850, there are no records of any Category 2 or greater hurricanes originating from the west and passing within 60 miles of Tampa. Milton’s trajectory will prime it to be a major surge producer.
Surge will be a hazard near and south of the center, but could be an issue along much of Florida’s west coast. Where the southern eyewall makes landfall, a surge of 8 to 12 feet is possible.
Within the eyewall, winds gusting over 100 mph at the coastline are possible. Within a county or two along the coast, gusts of 80 to 90 mph are likely. Even far inland, places such as Lakeland and Orlando might see gusts of 75 mph — maybe more. That will result in widespread power outages. Based on current modeling, winds of 70 mph might reach all the way south to Lake Okeechobee.
Heavy rains are ongoing across South Florida now due to the moisture preceding Milton’s arrival. That moisture is pooling along a stalled front. Milton itself will bring a widespread 6 to 8 inches of rain, with localized 12-inch totals, across central and north central Florida. Some inland flooding is possible.
When and where will landfall probably occur?
When will conditions deteriorate and become dangerous?
The most likely landfall location is between New Port Richey, about 40 miles north of Tampa Bay, and North Port or Cape Coral, Fla., just to the north of Fort Myers, but shifts in the track are possible. It’s important to remember that hurricane impacts reach far beyond the center. The most dangerous conditions from wind and surge will be found near and just south of where the center crosses the coast.
Conditions will begin to deteriorate late Tuesday. Heavy rains will become more widespread, but the worst of the winds will probably hold off until Wednesday. Especially by midday Wednesday, an abrupt uptick in destructive winds is probable near where the storm comes ashore. The worst winds will come only two or three hours before Milton’s landfall and will arrive abruptly.
How large and intense will the storm be at landfall?
Milton is a small storm. Hurricane-force winds only reach outward some 30 miles from the center. Small, compact storms are more sensitive to fluctuations in strength, which is why Milton has been able to strengthen so fast.
The storm will be expanding as it interacts with nontropical weather systems and begins to feel the effects of the mid-latitude jet stream. Even though maximum winds will come down Tuesday night and Wednesday, the area affected by hurricane-force winds may triple. That will increase the area susceptible to downed trees, wires and power outages.
Uncertainty is unusually high with regard to Milton’s landfall strength. Even if the storm weakens to a Category 3, as predicted by the Hurricane Center, it will be coming down from a Category 5. And if weakening is more gradual than expected, a storm stronger than a Category 3 can’t be ruled out.
Dry air near the coast of Florida could also weaken the storm more than models suggest, but that is a low likelihood.
Could areas affected by Helene be hit again?
Computer models forecast Milton to generally to follow a course farther south than Helene, which should spare the Southern Appalachians from serious impacts. Little or no rain or wind from the storm should reach the western Carolinas.
However, Milton could seriously affect some parts of Florida that are still recovering from Helene, including parts of the Big Bend and much of the west coast.
The potential storm surge generated by Milton in the Tampa Bay Area could be twice as large as Helene’s. However, this worst-case surge scenario could be avoided if the storm veers to the south or north.
If Milton makes landfall north of Tampa Bay, it could mean another blow for the Big Bend area while also producing some heavy rain and strong winds in southern Georgia and the eastern Carolinas, which were affected by Helene. However, Milton’s effects on Georgia will probably be less severe than Helene’s.
Oct 1, 2024
Sep 28, 2024
About That "Crime Crisis"
The crisis is in MAGA's WWE melodrama-addicted minds.
Crime continues to head downward, having reached pre-pandemic levels a while back.
And the numbers do include every city over a million, covering 94% of the US population.
So they're either ignorant or they're just lying about it.
Could be more projection, and what's really going on is that there's a crime crisis in red state rural areas, that they need us not to see, so they throw all this other bullshit up in the air to distract us, while they lay it on good and thick to get the rubes to blame everybody but the dog-ass Republican politicians in their own back yards.
It's a puzzlement.
Further 'Round The Bend
There're only a coupla ways this ends.
- At the ballot box, before it goes too far
- In a bunker, where fanatics are poisoning their children and then painting the concrete walls with their brains.
Lance Wallnau and Turning Point USA have been working to recruit swing-state Christian pastors to Trump's cause
Fresh off an appearance on Tucker Carlson’s extremist election tour, Republican vice-presidential nominee J.D. Vance is set to sit for a Pennsylvania town hall hosted by far-right Christian nationalist Lance Wallnau.
Wallnau will be hosting Vance as part of the “Courage Tour,” a collaboration with the right-wing activist group Turning Point USA (TPUSA) aimed at ushering in “the dawn of our nation’s Third Great Awakening,” by recruiting “civically enlightened” pastors to lead their flock into the fold of the MAGA movement — a project that could run afoul of legal prohibitions barring churches and nonprofits from engaging in campaign activities.
The tour has concentrated on generating turnout for Donald Trump in critical swing states, and melding the evangelical right with the growing Christian nationalist movement within the Republican Party.
Vance is their biggest get to-date. Wallnau, who will host the town hall, was a major figure driving evangelical support for the 2020 “Stop the Steal” movement, and promoted the deification of Trump as a figure akin to the biblical King Cyrus.
Wallnau has pushed a litany of extreme views, including that Vice President Kamala Harris of embodying “the spirit of Jezebel.”
“What you’re seeing now is a real Jezebel,” Wallnau said earlier this month. “When you’ve got somebody operating in manipulation, intimidation and domination — especially when it’s in a female role trying to emasculate a man who is standing up for truth — you’re dealing with the Jezebel spirit.”
“So, with Kamala, you have a Jezebel spirit, a characteristic in the Bible that is the personification of intimidation, seduction, domination and manipulation,” he added.
Christian nationalist MAGA cultist Lance Wallnau says Kamala Harris is under an occult spirit and blames her success on the seduction of witchcraft: "What you’re seeing now is a real Jezebel." https://t.co/E5glJN6h4R pic.twitter.com/3Aqkr15M5H
— Right Wing Watch (@RightWingWatch) September 12, 2024
Disdain for women is just one shared position between Wallnau and Vance, who has sparked intense criticism for a series of comments maligning women without children as something he finds “disturbing” and “disorienting.”
Both Wallnau and Vance have described the right to abortion care in apocalyptic terms.
Vance has asserted that he would “certainly would like abortion to be illegal nationally,” compared abortion to slavery, and referred to pregnancies resulting from rape or incest as “inconvenient.”
In December, Wallnau expressed frustration with the fact that the overturning of Roe v. Wade had allowed some states to enshrine reproductive rights into state law. “For those Christians like myself who thought we had a victory regarding abortion at the Supreme Court, we need to face the fact. The Court merely sent abortion policy back to the states — where referendum after referendum has been approving wildly liberal abortion laws,” he said. “Republicans at the RNC have no messaging campaign for Life. We better come up with one on our own or our pro-life victory will be a pro-abortion victory for 2024 and the White House is in the balance.”
In a statement provided to Rolling Stone, Harris Campaign Spokesperson Sarafina Chitika wrote that “it should come as no surprise J.D. Vance, who has spread Trump’s election lies and has said he would not certify election results, is campaigning alongside a January 6 rioter and conspiracy theorist.”
“While Vance and Donald Trump are peddling lies, stoking division, and clinging to the past because they have no solutions to lead us forward, Kamala Harris is leading us into a future of opportunity for all Americans. That’s the leadership Americans deserve, not the distraction and dysfunction the Trump-Vance ticket has to offer,” she added.
The meeting of these two conservative minds is unsurprising. As previously reported by Rolling Stone, Vance’s 2019 conversion to Catholicism has deeply — if quietly — shaped his profile as a politician. In recent years, Vance has melded his political philosophy with a rising movement of conservative Catholicism melding traditionalist dogma with the increasingly violent nativism of the political right.
“For Vance, Christianity and the church are not the problem but the solution to the ills of the political-religious project called the United States of America,” Catholic theologian Massimo Faggioli wrote in LaCroix International earlier this year.
Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA and the main backer behind the Courage Tour, has adopted a similar philosophy. Kirk and his organization have invested heavily in imbuing Christian congregations with pro-conservative political activism, and has offered resources to pastors seeking to “challenge the IRS.”
According to Wallnau, TPUSA’s work has already recruited 2,500 churches “to stand with an America First Agenda.” It’s clear that the fervent hope of Wallnau and his allies is that under a TrumpVance administration, Christian nationalism will become the law of the land.
Sep 25, 2024
Overheard
A young TikTokker posted:
So I went to the grocery store here in my little red town, wearing a Harris Walz 2024 t-shirt.
As I was heading back out to my car, a man in a MAGA hat pointed and told me I was brave for "wearing that shirt in this neck of the woods."
I asked him why he seemed proud to tell me that the party he's aligned with is so dangerous and prone to violence that he feels compelled to warn me that they may do me harm for wearing a t-shirt that says nothing really different from what it says on his hat.
The Next Step
Daddy State Awareness Guide, Rule 1 (this time with a slight variation):
Every accusation is a confession.
By excessively bitching about how "the election was rigged", they believe they've inoculated themselves, and now they can proceed to actively trying to rig the election.
Everyone knows that you don’t change the rules in the middle of the game just because you don’t like the way the game is going — everyone, that is, except Donald Trump and his MAGA allies.
Four years ago, they complained bitterly that states were not following long established rules in the conduct of the presidential election. Today, Trump and his friends have changed their tune, with a well-developed strategy designed to make sure that the rules of the 2024 election will rebound to their advantage.
It has already produced results.
The Brennan Center for Justice reports that “between January 1 and December 31, 2023, at least 14 states enacted 17 restrictive voting laws, all of which will be in place for the 2024 election.” Backed by the former president, those changes will mean voters “now face additional hurdles to reach the ballot box.”
The report goes to on specify: “Most of the restrictions limit mail voting, such as requiring additional information on a mail ballot application, shortening the window to request a mail ballot, or banning drop boxes.” In addition, “at least six states enacted seven election interference laws….Many create criminal penalties for election workers for minor mistakes such as not allowing a poll watcher to stand close enough to voters.”
Such efforts did not end last year. They are continuing even as voters in several states have already started casting their ballots.
Last week, we saw new evidence of these efforts in Nebraska and Georgia. Those efforts are nakedly partisan and threaten to throw a wrench into the campaign as it enters the home stretch.
State legislators and election officials in those and other states must remember that their duty is to ensure the fairness and integrity of the electoral process, not follow the MAGA playbook. They should be guided by the wisdom of the “Purcell Principle,” which, as SCOTUSblog explains, holds that “courts should not change election rules during the period of time just prior to an election because doing so could confuse voters and create problems for officials administering the election.”
That principle derives from the 2006 Supreme Court case Purcell v. Gonzalez, which dealt with an Arizona law (Proposition 200) “requiring voters to present proof of citizenship when they register to vote and to present identification when they vote on election day.”
A lower court had barred Arizona from enforcing Proposition 200 a mere four weeks before the 2006 midterm elections. The Supreme Court was troubled by such a change in election procedures “just weeks before an election.”
“Court orders affecting elections,” the justices wrote, “can themselves result in voter confusion and consequent incentive to remain away from the polls. As an election draws closer, that risk will increase.”
Strictly speaking, the Purcell Principle applies only to courts. But its concerns about voter confusion, and the possibility that late rules changes might have a deleterious effect on voting, should be the concern of legislators, election officials and even candidates for office, not just judges.
Trump and his allies care less about the possibility of voter confusion and keeping voters away from the polls than they do about changing the rules to gain electoral advantage.
Just look at what they tried to do in Nebraska. According to a state law adopted in 1991, the state does not “use the winner-take-all approach to awarding electoral votes. The winner of the popular vote gets two electoral votes, while one is assigned to the winner of each of the state’s three congressional districts.”
It is one of only two states, the other being Maine, that awards its electoral votes in this manner. Nebraska Public Media notes that bills recently “have been introduced in Wisconsin, Michigan, and New Hampshire to go to a split electoral system, but they’ve stalled in legislatures.”
Nebraska is a reliably Republican state. The last time it voted for a Democratic presidential candidate was 1964.
But twice — in 2008 and in 2020 — its Second Congressional District, which includes Omaha, cast its one electoral vote for the Democratic presidential candidate. The first time, it went to Barack Obama; the second time was to Joe Biden.
With the 2024 election being a toss-up, Team Trump launched a full-court press to get the state’s Republican-dominated unicameral legislature to change its election laws. As ABC News reports, he wants “to reapportion the three electors awarded to the winner of each of the state’s three congressional districts, instead awarding all five of them to the overall victor of the state.”
All five members of Nebraska’s congressional delegation have vocally supported Trump’s desire to change the rules. On Sept. 18, they wrote a letter to their state legislative colleagues saying that “the state should speak with a united voice in presidential elections….After all, we are Nebraskans first, not members of Nebraska’s three congressional districts.”
Trump himself has intervened, speaking to at least one Nebraska legislator about the need for the change.
Leaving no stone unturned, he dispatched the ever-loyal Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) to go to Nebraska and lobby on his behalf. Between now and Election Day, Nebraska officials can expect more calls from Trump and visits from MAGA luminaries.
While it appears the move has been thwarted in Nebraska, thanks to Gov. Jim Pillen’s failure to call a special legislative session, the Trump strategy of changing the rules in middle of the game has been more successful in Georgia.
Last Friday, less than a month before early voting begins in that state, the Georgia State Election Board approved a rule change “requiring counties in the critical presidential battleground to hand-count the total number of ballots this year.”
The Washington Post explains that “the move was spearheaded by a pro-Trump majority that has enacted a series of changes to the state’s election rules in recent weeks and approved the hand-count requirement despite a string of public commenters who begged board members not to.”
The new rule “requires the hand count to take place the night of the November election or the next day.” Election officials from across the state said that doing so “would be physically impossible in all but the smallest counties,” and Chris Carr, the state’s Republican attorney general, said “that state law does not permit hand-counting ballots at the precinct level.”
But to no avail.
If Trump does not win Georgia, the new rule seems likely, as the New York Times put it, to “significantly delay the reporting of results in the battleground state” and inject the kind of chaos into the 2024 election that the Supreme Court has warned would accompany late changes in election rules and procedures.
If Trump loses, Americans need to buckle up and ready themselves for a post-election period every bit as difficult and damaging to democracy as what happened after the 2020 election.
Sep 18, 2024
Dealing With Them
Be kind to them, challenge them directly, walk away.
They believe they've discovered the magic formula for never being wrong. All they have to do is declare themselves always right, and everybody else always wrong. There's no "proving" for them. If your evidence is beyond reproach, they just claim "fake news", "lackey of the establishment" etc etc etc.
An updated Serenity Prayer:
Grant me the serenity to accommodate, and the courage to fight, and the wisdom to know when to walk away.
Slightly altered:
Grant me the self-respect to exit, and to ignore what I need not change -
the serenity to accept what I want to change but can't -
the courage to try to change what I can -
and the wisdom to know the difference.
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