Today MAGA Nonsense

Guns don't kill people, gun nuts kill people - with guns - because they're fuckin' nuts.

Some Debunkment

A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week. None of these are legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked them out. Here are the facts:

A gas leak at a Kentucky polling place fuels false claims of election fraud

CLAIM: Reports of a gas leak at a Kentucky polling place were an election-rigging tactic to gain more votes for Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear.

THE FACTS: Louisville Gas & Electric confirmed there was a legitimate report of a gas leak at a polling place at Highland Baptist Church in Jefferson County on Tuesday morning. The leak caused the polls there to close for 30 minutes, so a judge ruled that it should stay open another half-hour that evening to reach a statutorily required 12-hour voting window. Between this location and another where voting was extended, only one more voter cast a ballot after 6 p.m., according to the county clerk’s office. But social media users are questioning the incident, insinuating it was a ruse to give Beshear the votes he needed to win reelection. “Looks a lot like 100k ballots with the Governor race only filled out showed up tonight after the ‘gas leak,’” reads one post on X, formerly known as Twitter. But officials tamped down on the conspiracy theories. “This was a legitimate instance of a gas leak so any claims otherwise, we just think are patently absurd,” said Erran Huber, a spokesperson for the Jefferson County Clerk’s Office. Chris Whelan, a spokesperson for Louisville Gas & Electric, confirmed gas was detected emitting from a stove in the church, but not at hazardous levels. The stove was turned off and it dissipated. A Jefferson Circuit Court judge then extended voting at the church until 6:30 p.m., instead of the scheduled 6 p.m. deadline. The judge ordered the same extension at a polling place at an elementary school, which had also been closed for half an hour Tuesday morning, while police were pursuing a suspect, according to court documents. Huber said that only one voter came to cast a ballot between 6 and 6:30 p.m. at either of the two polling places. Despite suggestions that voters in Kentucky’s most populous county were suspiciously only casting ballots in the gubernatorial contest, state results show only around 4,000 more voters in that race than for attorney general or secretary of state. The Democratic candidates got the majority of Jefferson County’s votes in those two contests, while they fell short in other Kentucky counties.

Posts misrepresent voting machine error in Pennsylvania county as evidence of ‘rigged’ elections

CLAIM: Democrats cheated in Pennsylvania elections with voting machines that were rigged to flip votes.

THE FACTS: Social media users are misrepresenting an issue with machines in one county where there is no evidence of fraud. Instead, the machines’ maker acknowledged it made a clerical error, which resulted in devices in Northampton County printing out records that mixed up the results on two ballot measures. Despite the inaccurate printout, the voters’ actual choices were properly recorded, county officials said. The news was nevertheless wildly misconstrued online. “BREAKING: voting machines in Pennsylvania shut down after getting caught flipping votes,” reads one post on X, formerly Twitter. “Democrats run that state and will cheat in (asterisk)any(asterisk) way possible. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH - Get rid of these damn rigged machines!!” But the claims of cheating are baseless. Voters in Northampton County were asked to decide whether Pennsylvania Superior Court Judges Jack Panella, a Democrat, and Victor Stabile, a Republican, should each be retained for additional 10-year terms by marking “yes” or “no” for each candidate. Officials found that the “yes” or “no” votes for each judge appeared to have been switched on a printed summary shown to voters before they cast their ballot, Charles Dertinger, the Northampton County director of administration, said. For example, if a voter marked “yes” to retain Panella and “no” on Stabile, it was reflected on the summary as “no” on Panella and “yes” on Stabile. Voters’ actual choices were properly recorded by the machines’ backend system, meaning their votes could be tabulated accurately, Dertinger said. Elections Systems & Software, the Ohama, Nebraska-based company that provided the ExpressVoteXL machines, acknowledged it was at fault for the clerical error that caused the issue. Unofficial results released by the Pennsylvania Department of State show both Panella and Stabile retaining their seats, each with a margin of hundreds of thousands of votes. Only about 70,000 votes were cast in Northampton County for those races, the results show. An election integrity expert confirmed that the problem with the machines was not indicative of anything suspicious. “All the facts here are consistent with human error, not fraud,” Mark Lindeman, policy and strategy director at Verified Voting, wrote in an email to The Associated Press. “Anyone who actually wants to steal votes should try to do something that voters wouldn’t notice almost immediately.”

No, Ukraine’s president didn’t surrender to Russia, despite social media claims

CLAIM: Ukraine’s president has surrendered and his country has fallen to Russia’s prolonged invasion.

THE FACTS: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy did not surrender as social media posts have claimed, and the country remains at war with Russia. Some online are nevertheless sharing a post claiming Ukraine is waving the white flag. “Zelensky has surrendered. Ukraine has fallen. Israel is next,” reads the viral post, which was written last Saturday and includes a black-and-white headshot of the Ukrainian president. The post offered no proof of the claim. But Ukraine did not abruptly surrender the day the viral social media post appeared and there hasn’t been any major development on either side to bring the fighting to a close. In recent days, Ukraine has said a Russian missile strike on the port city of Odesa hit a freighter, resulting in at least one death and multiple injuries. Ukraine has also claimed responsibility for a car bombing that killed a member of the Russia-backed authority in the illegally annexed Luhansk region. Zelenskyy, for his part, rejected claims that the war was entering a stalemate in an interview Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” On Monday, he also urged his countrymen to avoid political divides, saying they must concentrate all resources on fighting Russia.

Today's Beau

Polling has become wish-casting - where it's not about testing the results of a given policy, but shaping opinion about that policy.

We have to smarten up as consumers of information.

Stop accepting what's popular, and start demanding what's true.

Short Break

I'm taking the weekend off - heading back to Ol' Virginny to watch my darling daughter get married.

Ukraine

We keep getting distracted by assholes in Gaza and assholes in Tel Aviv, and we don't get to see what the assholes in Moscow are trying to pull in Ukraine.

Which means we're not seeing what could be pretty significant.

Russia deployed all available reserves, military expert says

The Russian military has committed all available reserves to the frontlines in Ukraine, Ukrainian Armed Forces reserve Colonel and military expert Roman Svitan said in an interview with NV Radio on Nov. 8.

“The Russians have deployed all of their reserves,” said Svitan.

“Furthermore, they have done so in areas like Avdiivka, Vuhledar, Robotyno, Luhansk, and, of course, Bakhmut. In other words, their reserves are now fully engaged.”

Thereby, according to Svitan, Moscow is limited in how it can respond to Ukriane’s growing presence on the left bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson Oblast.

He added that transferring troops from combat to other directions results in a loss of at least half their combat capability.

“They need to be replenished and rested...; if a military unit is moved from one combat area to another, it only exacerbates the problem,” the expert said.

“Given that the Russians don't have any reserves left, this is the only operation they can undertake. Again, this move takes a significant amount of time.”

He mentioned that the frontlines' locations are particularly inconvenient for the redeployment of Russian troops because there are nearly no roads running parallel to the front at a depth of 40-50 kilometers, beyond the range of Ukrainian artillery.

On Nov. 7, Ukrainian intelligence reported that Russians were rigging critical infrastructure in the occupied areas of Kherson Oblast with explosives, suggesting the invaders are planning for a potential retreat.

Today's Tweext

Nikki Haley saying the quiet part out loud:
Republicans will put Social Security and Medicare on the chopping block if they get elected.

We cannot let that happen.pic.twitter.com/lrzVhsQsIk

— BrooklynDad_Defiant!☮️ (@mmpadellan) November 9, 2023

Today's Wingnut

• Democrats want no restrictions on abortion... "up to the moment of birth - and beyond."
• We need to stop being shy about this and paint with bright red colors (WTAF, Bob?)
• Bob Good - even his name is a lie

The "Debate"

I don't really expect anyone to have watched the "debate" last night. And I put that word in quote marks because these "debates" aren't debates. They're advertising platforms.

So I have absolutely no expectation that anybody's going to be all that interested in fact-checking anything Republicans have to say at this point.

People with living thinking brains have to know that most politicians are going to spin most things in one way or another, but Republicans in particular have to be viewed as flat-out lying about most things in most cases. It's part of the GOP's brand now.

That said, I consider it part of my civic duty to have some information to back up my general claim that Republicans are posers and flim-flammers - so here's today's installment.

Fact-checking the third Republican primary debate

NBC News aired the third GOP debate of the 2024 election cycle from Miami on Wednesday night, featuring five candidates. Not every candidate uttered facts that are easily checked, but the following is a list of 12 claims that caught our attention. As is our practice, we do not award Pinocchios when we do a roundup of facts in debates. These claims are examined in the order in which they were uttered.

➡︎“We’re almost $34 trillion in debt. Sixty percent of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. Fifty percent of American families can’t afford diapers. One in six American families can’t pay their utility bills. …. He [Trump] put us $8 trillion in debt, and our kids are never going to forgive us for that.”

— Former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley

Haley accurately cited statistics on the national debt, people living paycheck to paycheck and being able to afford diapers and utility bills. She faulted former president Donald Trump for running up the national debt by $8 trillion. That’s also accurate: According to the Treasury Department, the nation’s total public debt, including intragovernmental holdings, climbed from about $20 trillion to $27.8 trillion under Trump, a gain of $7.9 trillion.

Of course, it is arbitrary and somewhat silly to tag presidents with the debt increase, as much of the gain is because of events, such as the pandemic, and policies made long before they took office. More than half of the debt under Trump came in the last 10 months of his term because of the pandemic. Meanwhile, the biggest drivers of the debt are spending on Social Security and Medicare, established decades ago. That spending happens automatically, not subject to annual appropriations made by Congress.

Hold up a minute there, Skippy. Social Security does not drive US national debt.

Medicare and Medicaid are a different proposition, but while all of the "entitlement" spending will eventually become a real problem, and a major drag on the economy, those problems go away if we get up off our butts and fix the tax code.

BTW - "entitlement" is the perfect word for that stuff - because it's mine. I worked for it. I fucking earned it. So take that snide shit you're always flinging and stuffed it back in your asshole.

You may continue now.

➡︎“Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden got a $5 million bribe from Ukraine. That’s why we’re sending $200 billion back to that same country.”

— entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy

This is baseless. Congressional Republicans released an FBI document from 2020 this year that makes a shocking allegation about President Biden — that he and his son Hunter were involved in a foreign bribery scheme with a Ukrainian business executive. The identity of this FBI source and any connection to Ukraine remain unknown, and the FBI has not publicly confirmed any tips the person supplied in the document. Moreover, the person was interviewed by telephone in 2020 about conversations that took place as many as four years earlier.

The Fact Checker examined a business transaction described in the document, comparing its account with publicly available information. Upon examination, the facts didn’t add up.

Ramaswamy then makes an unjustified leap to claim that the United States is backing Ukraine in its war with Russia because of this unproven allegation. There is no evidence that is the case.

➡︎“Obama sent millions to Iran. Frankly, President Biden has sent billions to Iran.”

— Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.)

This is misleading. In both cases, the president returned money that was Iran’s in the first place — to facilitate the release of Americans detained in Iran.

Obama settled a decades-old claim between the two countries. An initial payment of $400 million was handed over on Jan. 17, 2016, the day after Iran released four American detainees, including Washington Post correspondent Jason Rezaian. The timing — which U.S. officials insisted was a coincidence — suggested the cash could be viewed as a ransom payment.

But the initial cash payment was always Iran’s money. In the 1970s, the then-pro-Western Iranian government under the shah paid $400 million for U.S. military equipment. The equipment was never delivered because the two countries broke off relations after the seizure of American hostages at the U.S. Embassy in Iran. Two other payments totaling $1.3 billion — a negotiated agreement on the interest owed on the $400 million — came weeks later.

As for Biden, he released $6 billion in Iranian funds that had been held by South Korea — as part of a deal to win the freedom of five American detainees — but that money has not yet been received by Iran. After the Hamas attack in Israel, the administration said it had prevented Iran from tapping the money.

➡︎“China has the largest naval fleet in the world. They have 350 ships. They’ll have 400 ships in two years. We won’t even have 350 ships in two decades.”

— Haley

Not all ships are created equal. The United States has 11 aircraft carriers, compared with China’s two, and the U.S. Navy operates 92 destroyers compared with China’s 50, according to Global Firepower’s 2023 military rankings. China has an edge on submarines — 78 to 68. The United States is seeking to bolster the number of submarines.

➡︎“Ukraine is not a paragon of democracy. This is a country that has banned 11 opposition parties. It has consolidated all media into one state TV media arm.”

— Ramaswamy

Ramaswamy, who advocates cutting a deal with Russia that would allow Moscow to keep the Ukrainian territory it has seized, often paints an unflattering portrait of a country that is on a war footing.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed decrees that ban religious organizations with ties to Russia and suspended 11 Ukrainian parties with ties to Russia; most are small, but one, Opposition Platform for Life, has 44 seats in the 450-seat Ukrainian parliament. Both actions were aimed at Russia and earned Russian protests. He also consolidated the country’s television outlets into a single TV platform, citing the need for a “unified information policy” under martial law. The stated aim was to combat Russian propaganda on independent TV channels, but the effect is to limit freedom of speech.

Ramaswamy also oddly labeled Zelensky — who is Jewish — a Nazi.

➡︎“She [Haley] welcomed them into South Carolina, gave them land near a military base, wrote the Chinese ambassador a love letter saying what a great friend they were.”

— Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis

DeSantis is echoing an attack ad by a super PAC supporting him — which earned Three Pinocchios.

As South Carolina governor from January 2011 to January 2017, Haley recruited Chinese companies to her state. Chinese capital investment in South Carolina more than doubled, from $308 million in 2011 to nearly $670 million in 2015. Haley has sought to distance herself from the specifics of these deals, but she acknowledged at an Iowa town hall in October: “I recruited a fiberglass company,” known as China Jushi.

According to the contract between the county and China Jushi, the company would receive almost 200 acres of county-owned land free of charge if promised investments were made. The company’s factory is 5 miles from an Army training base, but it’s not a sensitive facility that would require a government review if such a foreign-owned company was located within 1 mile.

As for the “love letter,” DeSantis is referring to a letter sent to then-Chinese Ambassador Cui Tiankai on Dec. 30, 2014. Haley thanked the diplomat for congratulating her on her reelection and said she is “grateful” for China’s “contributions on the economic front.” In the letter, she said she considered China “a friend.”

➡︎“What he left out, though, Ron, and be honest about it, there was a lobbying-based exemption in that bill that allowed Chinese nationals to buy land within a 20-mile radius of a military base, lobbied for by one of your donors.”

— Ramaswamy

Ramaswamy suggested that DeSantis, who signed a bill restricting Chinese land purchases, allowed loopholes in the legislation. He got the radius wrong — it is 10 miles, not 20 — and the exemptions concern residential property. A foreign person can buy a residential property if it is less than 2 acres, if the property is more than 5 miles from a military installation and the buyer has an active visa to lawfully reside in the country. No donor who supposedly successfully lobbied for this exemption has been identified.

➡︎“He [DeSantis] has opposed fracking; he’s opposing drilling.”

— Haley

This is complicated, but Haley’s framing is misleading. Running for president, DeSantis has advocated for fracking. But he has opposed it in Florida. When he ran for governor, he pledged “to pass legislation that bans fracking in the state.”

In November 2018, Florida voters passed a constitutional amendment that banned drilling under Florida waters, a stance supported by many of the state’s Republicans. But it did not mention fracking.

Two days into his term, on Jan. 10, 2019, DeSantis signed an executive order that implemented the measure. The order directed the Department of Environmental Protection to “take necessary actions to adamantly oppose all offshore oil and gas activities off every coast in Florida and hydraulic fracturing in Florida.” In effect, according to PolitiFact, that has meant no oil and gas permit authorizing hydraulic fracturing has been issued during his term as governor.

DeSantis has not yet fulfilled his pledge to pass legislation that would ban fracking. As a member of Congress in 2013, DeSantis voted for a bill that would prohibit the Department of Interior from imposing federal rules and regulations on states’ fracking operations, in effect deferring to state rules.

Asked about offshore drilling at a Sept. 7 town hall, Haley said: “I think that states need to be able to make that decision because it affects the quality of life for people of the states. For the states that want to do it, I’m all for it. For the states that don’t want to do it, the people have a right to make that decision.”

➡︎“I will make sure we claw back the $500 billion of unspent covid dollars that are out there instead of 87,000 IRS agents going after Middle America.”

— Haley

This figure is a common GOP talking point, but it is wildly exaggerated. When Congress passed a bill last year to provide the IRS with an additional $80 billion in funding over 10 years, that money would be used in part to hire 86,852 full-time employees in the next decade. But many would not be enforcement “agents” but employees hired to improve information technology and customer service. Treasury officials say that because of attrition, after 10 years of increasing spending, the size of the agency should grow only 25 to 30 percent when the hiring burst is completed.

The Biden administration’s strategic plan for the IRS, released in April, estimated that an additional 1,543 full-time employees would be hired in enforcement in 2023, or about 15 percent of newly hired staff. That would grown to 7,239 in 2024, or 37 percent of new staff.

Biden administration officials have pledged that enforcement efforts to collect unpaid taxes will concentrate on those earning more than $400,000.

➡︎“Social Security will go bankrupt in 10 years. Medicare will go bankrupt in eight.”

— Haley

Haley, like many politicians, uses “bankrupt” in a misleading way. The trustees for Social Security and Medicare predict there is 80 percent probability that reserves for Social Security will be exhausted between 2032 and 2037. If nothing is done, the program still could pay 75 percent of scheduled benefits. But Congress probably would be forced to act.

As for Medicare, there are four parts to the program, which covers 66 million people: Part A (hospital insurance), Part B (medical insurance), Part C (Medicare Advantage — private plans for parts A and B), and Part D (prescription drug plans). Just Part A, which covers hospital visits, hospice care, nursing facilities and the like, is in danger of going “bankrupt.”

Part B, which involves seeing a doctor, is paid out of general funds and premiums, as is Part D. Thus, if costs rise, premiums can be adjusted. But Part A is financed mainly through payroll taxes of 1.45 percent on earnings paid both by workers and employers; self-employed people pay 2.9 percent. The money raised is then credited to a pay-as-you-go trust fund, which uses the revenue raised to pay the benefits of Medicare beneficiaries.

There is no provision to use general revenue to make up the deficit, but there are various ways that Congress could deal with this problem, as it has in the past. In fact, from its inception, the Part A fund has been on the brink of going “bankrupt.” Page 4 of a useful report by the Congressional Research Service, titled “Medicare: History of Insolvency Projections,” shows that in 1970, it was due to go “bankrupt” in 1972.

➡︎“When life expectancy is declining, I don’t see how you could raise it the other direction. So it’s one thing to peg it on life expectancy. But we have had a significant decline in life expectancy in this country.”

— DeSantis

In avoiding a question on whether he would raise the retirement age for Social Security, DeSantis referred to a recent dip in U.S. life expectancy because of the pandemic and drug overdoses. But that’s a misleading frame because life expectancy has increased greatly since Social Security was established in 1935. Life expectancy at birth in 1930 was 62 for women and 58 for men. In 2021, American women had a life expectancy at birth of 79 years, while men were at about 73. The retirement age was raised slightly in a bill signed by Ronald Reagan in 1983, and even with the recent setback, life expectancy has continued to increase.

➡︎“I certainly wouldn’t allow — not allow — for governors — former governors, Democratic governor of Virginia who talked about infanticide. … I think it’s unethical, unethical and immoral to allow for abortions up until the day of birth.”

— Scott

This is a common Republican talking point — that Democrats support nationwide abortion on demand up until the moment of birth. The implication is that late-term abortions are common — and that they are routinely accepted by Democrats.

The reality, according to federal and state data, is that abortions past the point of viability are extremely rare. When they do happen, they often involve painful, emotional and even moral decisions.

About two-thirds of abortions occur at eight weeks of pregnancy or earlier, and nearly 90 percent take place in the first 12 weeks, or within most definitions of the first trimester, according to estimates by the Guttmacher Institute, which favors abortion rights. About 5.5 percent of abortions take place after 15 weeks, with just 1.3 percent at 21 weeks or longer.

Increasingly, there is a period when premature births and late abortions begin to overlap. In 2021, the CDC recorded almost 22,000 births between 20 and 27 weeks. Babies born before 25 weeks are considered extremely preterm, with vital organs such as heart, lungs and brain very immature. But the survival rate has climbed to 30 percent for 22-week babies and 55 percent for 23-week babies, according to a 2022 study.

Meanwhile, Scott mischaracterizes remarks by former Virginia governor Ralph Northam (D), a physician.

Northam told a radio show in 2019 that late-term abortion procedures are “done in cases where there may be severe deformities. There may be a fetus that’s not viable. So in this particular example, if a mother’s in labor, I can tell you exactly what would happen. The infant would be delivered, the infant would be kept comfortable, the infant would be resuscitated if that’s what the mother and the family desired. And then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother.” Critics suggested the governor was endorsing infanticide. His office later said Northam was referring to medical treatment, not ending the life of a baby.

Better Than Expected

... but at 37%, not worthy of any great praise.

Voter turnout in Colorado sits around 21 percent ahead of Election Day
(Published 11-06-2023)

Only one-fifth of eligible Colorado voters have cast their ballots as of Sunday night, according to the latest tally from the state’s Secretary of State.

The number – 830,000 – is slightly above recent off-year elections in 2019 and 2021. Unaffiliated voters and people 55 years or older make up the largest share of the electorate.

“Turnout is always a little slower at the beginning, but we are seeing Coloradans making their voices heard,” said Secretary of State Jena Griswold.

Registered Democrats and Republicans are almost evenly split, with 245,000 and 260,000 ballots respectively, according to the count. Jefferson, El Paso, and Arapahoe counties saw the largest turnout by sheer volume.

Voters this year are deciding between several statewide ballot questions around property and nicotine taxes. Some cities and towns are also electing new leaders for city councils and school boards.

Ballots for Tuesday’s coordinated election were mailed to all registered voters in October. Drop boxes opened shortly after and will remain open until 7 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 7.

Voters can fill out their ballot and return it to a drop box or polling center any time before then. It’s too late to mail a ballot back in, though, Griswold said.

“There's over 400 ballot boxes, there's over 130 voting centers. So Coloradans can go vote in person or drop their ballot at a Dropbox or a voting center,” she said.

Voters can track their mail-in ballot using BallotTrax, the state’s online system. Anyone 18 years and older can register same-day at an in-person voting center.

DEMOCRACY ISN'T SOMETHING WE HAVE

UNLESS IT'S SOMETHING WE DO

Today's Keith

Why vote for Biden?

Because he beat Trump - what else ya need?

DEMOCRATS KICK MAGA'S ASS

BIDEN'S GOOD POLL NUMBERS - 11.8.23
SEASON 2 EPISODE 70

A-Block

(1:44) ELECTION SCOREBOARD:

Democrats and democracy kick MAGA’s ass: another Trump off-year disaster as Republicans not only don't flip the Virginia Senate, they've lost the Virginia House! Deep discounts on "PRESIDENT YOUNGKIN 2024" Red Vests! In Ohio, it's a landslide as Issue 1 wins by 57-43 and puts Abortion Rights INTO the Ohio Constitution. And Kentucky Democratic Governor Andy Beshear goes from winning by 4000 votes four years ago, to winning by five points last night. Plus there are expansions of Democratic control in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. It's another state-level disaster for Trump's GOP and what's the response of the CNN political director who whored himself out to get Trump live from that disastrous Kaitlan Collins Town Hall? David Chalian says "It's not the Democratic BRAND that's in trouble here, it's Joe Biden that's in trouble here." Actually that's not true either - and CNN should fire this idiot Chalian ASAP because it's CNN that's in trouble here.

(9:43) SPECIAL COMMENT:

Trump managed to combine stochastic terrorism and his Dementia J. Trump/Elmer J. Fudd split personality in one post, insisting someone “must stop” people who don’t realize he’s worth billions more even than he claims. America’s leading Parking Lot Legal Scholar Alina Habba insists they’ll be filing for a mistrial because they didn’t let Trump talk enough in court (oh, they let him talk enough in court). The good news is, Judge Chutkan shut them down on the latest delaying tactic. They wanted three more months for pre-trial motions; she told them she’ll give them two weeks and they’ll like it. And as more details emerge of Trump’s plan for a military dictatorship, Jeff Clark, the mediocre little man who might be the Attorney General who oversees the transition of the DOJ into the Ministry of Vengeance will finally have to face having his law license suspended.

While most reporting stays focused on Sunday’s New York Times Biden poll crater, there’s a new CNN poll that’s a little better. And everybody ignores the work of a private, right-leaning pollster called Cygnal with eye-opening good news for President Biden. Not only has his net approval/disapproval improved a whopping five points in ONE MONTH but the issue seen as sinking Biden – inflation – is beginning to shrink its dominance. A year ago 42% said inflation was the key topic. Two months ago it was still 37%. Now it’s down to 31%. The less it is decisive, the more it points to Biden’s reelection.

Still, Politico reports that after three months the Biden campaign has the results of its almost exclusively positive, issue-focused, non-Trump advertising: It’s failed. Completely. The campaign is being urged to re-focus on Trump but remains reluctant, still convinced that Trump will be torn down enough by his Republican challengers (if it doesn’t happen at tonight’s debate, it won’t). And more over, the question has to be raised: if you ARE selling Joe Biden’s Greatest Accomplishments, isn’t the first thing on that list, the fact that HE beat Trump? Wasn’t the most vivid, youthful, meaningful moment of his presidency his Defense-Of-Democracy speech in Philadelphia last year? Isn’t the greatest image of Biden, “Dark Brandon?”

Joe? You beat him. You’re the only one who has. We need you to do it again. And we need you to TELL US THAT. Not only WHY he and the evil he personifies and spreads MUST be defeated, but, bluntly, that you did it before and you will do it again: that you are the man to… beat the ever-loving shit out of him.

B-BLOCK

(30:49) IN SPORTS:
Now begins the blowback. Wisconsin says goodbye and good riddance to no-longer-beloved-son Craig Counsell. The President of Mexico knows who the next manager of the Padres should be. And that drying up of the nourishing milk of ever-increasing TV fees for baseball? It just spread to basketball and hockey, where right now 26 teams are making $0 for telecasts during the 2024-25 season.

(35:57) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD:
The Washington Post followed up on its Trump Dictatorship piece with more good analysis and a Bothsidesist headline that would’ve looked stupid even above a travel story. There’s yet ANOTHER scandal for new 5th String Speaker Mike Johnson. And yesterday he was excoriating Rep. Tlaib for hate and prejudice. A month ago he was promising to turn Gaza into a parking lot. It isn’t which side you’re on – it’s that violence and destruction are fine as long as you’re MAGA.

C-BLOCK

(41:24) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL:
The New York City Marathon ended Sunday night. I swear, there are people walking the streets of my Fun City, still wearing their gold medals indicating they ran the damn thing. It flashes me back to the days when the Marathon had to beg for me to do a preview for CNN, and to the nightmares I still have of anchoring the Los Angeles Marathon…