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Nov 19, 2018
Amy Siskind's List
Week 105 - November 17, 2018
Reporting this week indicates Trump is reeling from the midterms, as additional House seats were called for Democrats, possibly leading to a 40 seat pick-up, as well as the Mueller probe, from which additional indictments are expected soon. This week Trump skipped many duties typically carried out by a head of state, instead brooding and threatening to fire more cabinet level officials — the regime continues to operate in utter dysfunction.
As wildfires raged in California, with 71 dead and more than a thousand missing, Trump blamed forest management, insulted the firefighters risking their lives, and showed a complete lack of empathy for the residents impacted. Trump skipped more ceremonies for fallen soldiers in Paris for Armistice Day and in the U.S. for Veterans Day.
Trump stoked fear of election tampering with false allegations, as other Republicans in close races followed his lead. His tone continued to be divisive, as the FBI reported an alarming rise in anti-Semitic and other hate crimes. Trump continues to alienate the country’s traditional allies, while taking unusual actions seeming to protect Kim Jong-Un and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia.
1. The estimated voter turnout for 2018 midterms was over 115 million votes, or roughly 49% of the eligible voters, the highest turnout of any midterm since 1914.
2. The Democrats’ “blue wave” was propelled by an increase in Latino vote margin from a 26% in 2014 to 40% in 2018, women vote from 4% to 19%, single voters from 13% to 24%, and college graduates from -3% to 20%.
3. Democrats also benefited from voters under 30, whose margin grew from 11% to 35%, as well as a slight tick up in Black American voters and some GOP voters. Independent voter margin went from -12% to 12%.
4. Federal Election Commission filings revealed that Republican campaigns and PACs spent at least $3.2 million at Trump-owned and branded properties in the two years leading up to the midterms.
6. On Thursday, the Toronto Star reported by their count, Trump made 815 false claims in the month leading up to midterms. Previously, it took Trump 286 days from the time of taking office to make 815 false claims.
21. On Sunday, the incoming chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Jerry Nadler, told “Meet the Press” that acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker would be his committee’s first witness come January.
22. Axios reported incoming House Intelligence Committee chairman AdamSchiff plans to probe whether Trump abused White House power by targeting and trying to punish the Washington Post and CNN.
26. On Tuesday, the FBI released its annual hate crimes statistics: overall hate crimes rose 17% in 2017, a jump that was partly driven by a spike in anti-Semitic incidents up 37%, to 938, while anti-Muslim incidents fell.
27. Hate crimes based on race or ethnicity jumped by 18% in 2017 to 4,131, with crimes against black people increasing by 16%, the most in the category. The rise in total hate crimes is the biggest since 2001.
28. On Tuesday, a D.C. area man who described himself as a white nationalist and became a follower of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooter on social media was arrested on gun charges after relatives contacted authorities.
29. Authorities seized two kits to convert semi-automatic AR-15s into fully automatic rifles. Authorities said the man, Jeffrey Clark, “fantasized about killing ‘Jews and blacks’” and believed there would be a civil war.
49. The U.S. recorded a $100.5 billion budget deficit in October, a 59% increase from $63.2 billion from a year earlier. The ballooning shortfall is driven by the GOP tax cuts, spending hikes, and an aging population.
57. On Wednesday, GOP Sen. Jeff Flake and Democrat Sen. Chris Coons went to the Senate floor and tried to bring up legislation which would protect special counsel Robert Mueller from being fired.
58. Sen. Flake said Trump “now has this investigation in his sights and we all know it.” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell objected, saying the legislation is unnecessary because he believes Mueller will not be fired.
59. Later Wednesday, Sen. Flake, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, announced that he will not vote to let judicial nominees advance or be confirmed unless GOP leaders hold a vote on the legislation.
161. As the week came to a close, the Democratic lead in the U.S. House popular vote moved up to 7.3%. In 2010, widely seen as a GOP “wave” cycle, Republicans won the U.S. House popular vote by 6.6%.
Nov 18, 2018
Fresh Onion
Don't panic - it's The Onion:
Khashoggi Assassin Hopes Bonus Check From Saudi Crown Prince Clears Before Execution
RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA—Expressing concerns about losing out on hard-earned blood money, a member of the Khashoggi assassination squad admitted Friday that he hoped his bonus check from the Saudi Crown Prince cleared before his execution. “They said they would do direct deposit, so everything should be good by Monday,” said Maher Mutreb, adding that the Saudi Crown Prince had always made timely payments on past invoices for silencing dissidents. “Plus, I’m pretty sure there aren’t any national holidays coming up that would affect bank hours. I get that I’ll never get the chance to spend it, but that murder and the subsequent cover-up were a lot of work. I already asked that they make it out to my wife, who they’ll probably kill as well, but if they don’t it would be pretty nice if she got what I promised her.” At press time, one of Mutreb’s work friends cashed the check after murdering his entire family.
Welcome Back
...to the once and future reality of Unfettered Free Market Capitalism.
Raw Story:
Thirty-nine members of the United Aryan Brotherhood and Unforgiven neo-Nazi groups were arrested in a Florida drug trafficking sting — and one had functional pipe bombs in his home.
Tampa’s WFTS-TV reported that the multi-agency sting codenamed “Operation Blackjack,” a three-year-long investigation, led to the seizure of more than 110 illegal firearms, a rocket launcher and two pipe bombs from the individuals mostly based in Pasco County, Florida.
Authorities also seized “several pounds” of meth and fentanyl.
Raw Story:
Thirty-nine members of the United Aryan Brotherhood and Unforgiven neo-Nazi groups were arrested in a Florida drug trafficking sting — and one had functional pipe bombs in his home.
Tampa’s WFTS-TV reported that the multi-agency sting codenamed “Operation Blackjack,” a three-year-long investigation, led to the seizure of more than 110 illegal firearms, a rocket launcher and two pipe bombs from the individuals mostly based in Pasco County, Florida.
Authorities also seized “several pounds” of meth and fentanyl.
These outfits are prison-based gangs.
There's nothing ideological about them.
They're commercial enterprises that happen to be criminal.
Much like Cult45.
Much like Cult45.
Today's Tweet
Well - prob'ly not weird at all.
Weird how more than a week after a Democratic wave electing tons of women and further diversifying our government, the mainstream media isn't giving us lavish profiles of Democratic voters who rejected the GOP and Trump.— Oliver Willis (@owillis) November 17, 2018
Cable news needs the catfight. They don't get any nice spikes in the ad revenue chart by running segments on how the majority of voters are actually just normal folk who think normal thoughts.
A Little Spoof
I get a bit suspicious sometimes. Like when certain movies end up looking like commercials that just happen to be 2 hours long.
Today's Quote
Trump allows people to express their racism and bigotry in a way that they haven't been able to in quite a while, and they really love him for that.
It's a shocking thing to realize people love their hatred more than they care about their own actual lives.
It's a shocking thing to realize people love their hatred more than they care about their own actual lives.
--Fran Lebowitz
Nov 17, 2018
Still Waiting
Wondering when we're going to get some followup analysis on this one, now that the numbers are in.
NBC News - Guns In America (11-1-18):
NRA slashes campaign spending, lowers profile in midterms. Why?
The gun group has put $11 million into midterm races this year — less than half what it spent four years ago.
The National Rifle Association — long seen as a kingmaker in Republican politics — is taking a lower profile in this year's high-stakes midterm campaign, a sign of the shifting dynamics of the gun debate as the GOP fights to maintain its grip on Congress.
The NRA has put $11 million into midterm races this year — less than half what it spent four years ago in an election that gave Republicans full control of Congress. This year's totals are also far below the $54 million the group spent in 2016 on both the presidential and congressional races.
NBC News - Guns In America (11-1-18):
NRA slashes campaign spending, lowers profile in midterms. Why?
The gun group has put $11 million into midterm races this year — less than half what it spent four years ago.
The NRA has put $11 million into midterm races this year — less than half what it spent four years ago in an election that gave Republicans full control of Congress. This year's totals are also far below the $54 million the group spent in 2016 on both the presidential and congressional races.
- and -
It's the first time under current campaign finance laws that the NRA might be outspent by gun control groups, though the organization often ramps up spending late in the campaign. That money won't show up in federal financial reports until after Election Day.
BTW - here's a picture from the time Repubs in the House voted to fuck over 20,000,000 Americans by passing ACA Repeal:
BTW - here's a picture from the time Repubs in the House voted to fuck over 20,000,000 Americans by passing ACA Repeal:
A) Guess what the ❌ means
B) Guess which Gun Makers' Trade Group didn't donate as much as usual to most of those people in the picture
Getting the excessive amounts of dark money out of politics will do wonders for the process.
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