Not That It'll Matter

via Right Wing Watch:

A new study by three political science professors found that state laws ostensibly targeting the fictional menace of voter fraud “have a disproportionate effect on minorities.”

Writing today in the Washington Post, professors Zoltan L. Hajnal, Nazita Lajevardi and Lindsay Nielson reveal a wide “turnout gap between whites and Latinos, Asian Americans and African Americans in states with and without strict voter ID laws.”

After noting that “strict voter ID laws suppress minority votes,” they add that these laws have also skewed the electorate to help Republicans win elections.
While proponents of strict voter ID laws—almost always Republicans—claim that there is a need to crack down on virtually nonexistent voter fraud, they effectively tilt elections to help Republicans by preventing people of color from voting, a fact admitted by many Republicans.

I saw this up close in November while I was staffing the Dems' table outside my voting station. A lady was turned away because the address on her Voter Registration card didn't match the address the on her ID. She'd been dropped off by a friend because she doesn't have a car, so I drove her to the County Offices, where it took maybe 10 minutes for her to get a picture printed out on regular PC printer paper - which magically passes as her Voter ID. We went back and she was allowed to vote.

That was not a huge ordeal. But it illustrates the main point of this shit - if you put any obstacle in front of people, a good percentage of them will just blow it off.  And the Repubs know that.  Just like they know exactly what Prof Hajnal et al confirmed with their study.

These people have no honor.

Today's Tweet

Just remember that Pence is all the evil, half the narcissism & none of the entertainment value.#TrumpImpeachmentParty

— John Fugelsang (@JohnFugelsang) February 15, 2017

Today's Winner Of The Internet

A blogger with the Twitter handle of @yourauntemma put this up:

"Fascism doesn't come in with a bang, but with a sycophantic whimper."

Aunt Emma's blog

Meet President Pence

First, I really don't know what I'm talking about here. Because nobody knows what's really going on with the exception of some dedicated spooks and insiders who've been in Washington for a good long time, and who won't be telling us everything that's going on for just as long a time.

Even when (or if) somebody blows it open, we'll see the top layers - maybe several layers - but while we'll be told this is the most amazing revelation of the inner workings of the political machinery, we won't ever know the whole thing. Because if we did, we'd burn the joint down with everybody inside.  But - 'twas ever thus and ever thus 'twill be.

So anyway, Mike Pence.

Pence seems to be under the impression that he's supposed to be 45*'s righthand man; that he'll fill the Veep spot the way the last 3 Veeps have done - as a close advisor for POTUS, and a kind of partner who's in on the top level meetings, helping shape policy and politicking the agenda behind the scenes - more or less The President's Apprentice if you will (Sorry. I knew that one was coming as I was typing it, but I couldn't stop myself)

But it would seem Pence has been kept in the dark. They loaded him up with bullshit and sent him out to be the picket line of the castle's defense, and he ends up looking really stoopid. If he didn't know, then he's a dope, and if he did know, then he's a co-conspirator. Lose and lose some more.

And also but - it's started to look like the White House didn't fuck him over on purpose and they didn't just keep him out of the loop. It now seems this gang is so dysfunctional, Pence didn't know because communications and the decision-making process are completely FUBAR.

WaPo:
First

“The vice president is a very forgiving man,” said one White House official.

(translation: Chump; easily played; ambition overrides integrity; useful fool)

Next

Nonetheless, the two-week lag between when Trump, Bannon and Priebus learned of Flynn’s misdirection and when Pence himself found out through news reports has raised speculation as to Pence’s true clout — or lack thereof — within the White House.

If they're gonna go after 45*, they know it has to be a long slow process of getting an infrastructure (or a shadow version of the administration) in place that can keep things running as Pence gets his feet under him. Somebody has to guide a stealth transition while making sure 45* stays out of trouble as much as possible. 

Yeah - good luck with that whole coup d'etat thing, fellas. We're being told that there could be a monster constitutional crisis in the making, but it kinda looks like we're already in one.

Things have to happen quickly but can't be rushed.  I'm pretty sure it gets worse for a while.

Questions Remain Unanswered

In WaPo's Daily 202 today:

We're working under some assumptions, which is always a little dicey, but I keep thinking 9 corroborating sources makes this a matter of being pretty solidly confident of the conclusions.

And 9 sources means this is a big fucking deal, and that there's a bigger fucking-er deal yet to be uncovered.

1. What, if anything, did Trump authorize Flynn to tell the Russians before his inauguration?

2. Why was Trump planning to stand by Flynn?

3. What did White House counsel Donald McGahn do after the then-acting attorney general notified him last month that Flynn was potentially vulnerable to Russian blackmail?

4. What is the status of the FBI investigation into possible contacts between Trump associates and Russia?

5. Will Spicer and Pence apologize for making false statements to the American people?

6. Will Flynn face prosecution under the Logan Act?

7. What will the Senate Intelligence Committee uncover about contacts Flynn and others affiliated with Trump had with Russia before the election?

8. Who replaces Flynn?

9. Who else leaves the White House because Flynn is gone?

10. Who exactly is in charge at the White House?

We Were Warned

Paul Krugman, NYT, July 2016:

If elected, would Donald Trump be Vladimir Putin’s man in the White House? This should be a ludicrous, outrageous question. After all, he must be a patriot — he even wears hats promising to make America great again.

But we’re talking about a ludicrous, outrageous candidate. And the Trump campaign’s recent behavior has quite a few foreign policy experts wondering just what kind of hold Mr. Putin has over the Republican nominee, and whether that influence will continue if he wins.

I’m not talking about merely admiring Mr. Putin’s performance — being impressed by the de facto dictator’s “strength,” and wanting to emulate his actions. I am, instead, talking about indications that Mr. Trump would, in office, actually follow a pro-Putin foreign policy, at the expense of America’s allies and her own self-interest.

That’s not to deny that Mr. Trump does, indeed, admire Mr. Putin. On the contrary, he has repeatedly praised the Russian strongman, often in extravagant terms. For example, when Mr. Putin published an article attacking American exceptionalism, Mr. Trump called it a “masterpiece.”

 

Keith

Watch this video on The Scene.

The Big Diversion

Time Mag online from two fellows at The Brennan Ctr:

The Trump administration continues to double down on its false and widely-criticized assertion that 3 to 5 million non-citizens illegally voted in the 2016 election.

On Sunday, White House Senior Advisor Stephen Miller claimed 14% of non-citizens are registered to vote. “We know for a fact, you have massive numbers of non-citizens registered to vote in this country,” he said, appearing on ABC’s This Week With George Stephanopoulos. “The White House has provided enormous evidence with respect to voter fraud.”

Actually, it hasn’t. Nevertheless, President Trump announced earlier this month, despite the lack of evidence, that Vice President Mike Pence will lead a federal investigation into voter fraud.

Tons of ink has been devoted to debunking the president’s claims that our elections are marred by widespread voter fraud. But few have focused specifically on his administration’s larger false claims about non-citizens. It is important to put this particular allegation to bed once and for all.

Like voter fraud generally, non-citizen voting is incredibly rare. Simply put, we already know that ineligible non-citizens do not vote in American elections — including the 2016 election — except at negligible rates. Here are the facts.

It's another shiny object dangled in front of us to get us away from the Russia thing. 

• &/or to drive more attempts to suppress the vote 
• &/or to cover the attempts to gut Social Security, etc
• &/or just about any other shitty thing these pricks are always up to

And btw - when did a Veep get the power to investigate anything? That's an honest question for me. I don't know that he doesn't have the standing to do that, it just seems a little, uhm, odd? 

Sure sounds like a snipe hunt to me.

Today's Today

Your Daily Schmuck

Mike Flynn railed against Hillary for "putting national security at extreme risk", possibly while he was committing treason.

Your modern GOP.

RIP Michael #Flynn, who led "LOCK HER UP" chants and then literally committed treason.
pic.twitter.com/W6yM2jVkhz

— E (@esheikh_) February 14, 2017

Today's Quote

Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends? 

--Abraham Lincoln

Keith

Watch this video on The Scene.

Uh - What Now?

Abe Lincoln was the father of the GOP and the savior of our great nation. 

White southern Republicans honor his many achievements and his commitments to equality and unity by proudly displaying the flag of the Confederacy.

Today's Tweet

EXCLUSIVE: Trump releases photo of "huge crowds" on the road as he left Mar-a-Lago. @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/jKpzjwGCR8

— Tea Pain (@TeaPainUSA) February 13, 2017

John Oliver

Feb 12, 2017

"We have a president capable of standing in the rain and saying it was sunny day."

Today's Featured Artist

Ladies and Gents, a recent work from Chuck Williams:

Rachel Brings It

For the most part, I can go without my Daily Rachel. It just takes her too long to get there ("Land the fucking plane, lady." --driftglass).

Anyway, I check in once in a while, and this one has to be seen and acknowledged for it's big-fucking-deal-ness.

Unfortunately, my Blogger Tools have a hard time embedding MSNBC video, so here's the link to that story in URL form so you can paste it into your browser if need be:

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/magnitude-of-trump-adviser-flynn-s-russia-scandal-gains-clarity-874908739801

It's Not Working For Them

Editorial Board, Sacramento Bee:

President Donald Trump’s chaotic first weeks have generated wide disapproval, and not all the protests have been placid. But U.S. Rep. Tom McClintock needs to stop insisting that the seniors, families and middle-aged picketers at his town hall this past weekend were an “anarchist element.”

As The Sacramento Bee’s Angela Hart reported Saturday, the unhappy crowd that greeted the Sierra Nevada’s man in Congress was anti-Trump and noisy. But McClintock’s claims to outside media afterward that “anarchists” had gathered to “disrupt” his meeting was true only if by “anarchists” you mean “neighbors and grandparents.”

Interviews revealed a lot of gray-haired retirees worried about Medicare and workers fearful of the Republican plan to dismantle the Affordable Care Act. Some said they had driven hours through the Sierra to hear the congressman speak in downtown Roseville; others said they had never demonstrated before, but wanted to register their dismay at Trump’s ban on travel from seven Muslim-majority countries and his efforts to roll back environmental rules.

As someone whose district includes Yosemite National Park, and who gleefully embraced the tea party after the election of President Barack Obama, one might think McClintock would be alert to environmental issues and savvy enough to recognize a gathering grassroots firestorm.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/editorials/article131123304.html#storylink=cpy

As always, we can expect politicians to try to shape the debate first by "defining down" the opponent - calling the protesters "anarchists" for example. I always liked that one.  People gathered in large groups on a specifically planned date at a specifically planned time for a specifically planned purpose may be many different things, but "anarchists" they are not.

Like the man said: Anarchy never really caught on because nobody shows up at the meetings.

But that wasn't anarchy, Congressman. That was opposition and that's what democracy looks like. Of course, you being Republican and all, it doesn't surprise me that you didn't recognize it when you saw it.

Anyway, denigrating the opposition is tried-n-true.  If you can count on your own political clique to show up in greater numbers than the other guy's, then it doesn't matter what weird outrageous thing falls outa your tater trap. You say it, Press Poodles print it and we can all go on pretending we're not living in a minority-ruled Oligarchy. Or Plutocracy. Or whatever other shitty system that isn't the Representative Democracy this fucking joint's supposed to be, goddammit.

And a solid pat on the shoulder goes to The Sacramento Bee for doing the job of the 4th Estate in pretty good shape this time.

We Are Not Descended From Fearful Men

Predicting disaster
Expecting disaster
Wanting disaster
Facilitating disaster
Causing disaster

When we stop believing people in positions of leadership can deliver on promises of hope and progress, we get this weird protection racket thing going - where we're told evermore frightening tales of how the bad guys are trying get us - and eventually, that means the people who get the most attention are the ones who have the darkest imaginations, driven by their own paranoia &/or ambition for power.

We put 'em in charge, and sometimes they start to think "keeping their promises" means they at least have to give us a taste of the misery and destruction that they warned us about, and that they alone can save us from.

And suddenly, we have to figure out how to protect ourselves from our protectors.

Here's the thing: I refuse to cower behind the Daddy State while Lobbyists and their Coin-Operated Politicians continue lining their pockets with my tax dollars.

And also too, Best of the Left podcast:

Most Famous Chicken

Daily KOS

Congressman Mo Brooks returned to Alabama, where he planned to have a town hall meeting in Huntsville. But a funny thing happened to Brooks. Like all Republican (and most Democratic) members of Congress lately, he suddenly found his “open to the public” meeting was “sold out”—so he promptly canceled it altogether. Brooks and his tea party pals gave a variety of nonsensical excuses, including, they “didn’t want to meet until all the president’s nominees were confirmed.”

So imagine the surprise of Huntsville-area constituents when they showed up at the “canceled” meeting last night and there was Congressman Mo Brooks, meeting with his conservative supporters. Check out this account from Left in Alabama and be sure to watch the video below to you can see Mo Brooks, his staff, and his conservative supporters scatter like cockroaches when the lights get turned on. Note that Brooks hid in the church somewhere until they were sure no other constituents (which he calls protesters) showed up:

But not “on time.” Those suspicious individuals who attended “just in case” were told that Brooks’ appearance had been canceled. Fortunately, they stayed long enough to send out a confirmed sighting of our district’s most famous chicken.

Earlier in the evening, the Tea Party folks made a great show of complaining about how many extra hot dogs they had, and waved off the hired police presence, since “no protests” were expected.

Once the coast was clear (he thought), Rep. Brooks strolled casually into his native habitat: a Tea Party meeting hosted in a Baptist church. Oh, but word quickly went forth. Fortuitously, Madison County Democrats were meeting just a few miles away, and they quickly headed for the Tea Party event.

Amazingly, it ended as soon as they arrived and began trying to ask questions.

Brooks was looking to create some weasel room and kinda fucked it up.

The staffer leaving the voicemail says the event was scheduled as a Tea Party meeting all along, and then canceled - and gosh, we can't imagine how y'all got the idea it was a Town Hall, but then the congressman just blah blah blah. Big billowing clouds of octopus ink.

And of course, it was never intended to be a Town Hall meeting because they know they can expect protesters and disruption. So they make it a Tea Party meeting and keep it as secret as possible so constituents in opposition to them won't be heard, and then obviously they won't be represented.

But - changing it from Town Hall to Tea Party makes it partisan, and you don't get to do that in a church unless that church is ready to surrender it's tax exemption.

BTW - Most Famous Chicken - MFC - extra credit for catching the double entendre.