The Midterm Elections

[fraurosena]

2 minutes ago, AmazonGrace said:

 

For me, this kind of sentiment is so degrading to... men. Why would a man feel the need to have a woman submit to him other than because he’s extremely insecure? A real man ( or woman for that matter) doesn’t need anyone to submit to them to make them feel better about themselves. So anyone promoting the submission of one human being to another is showing up how weak and insecure they are themselves. Using religion to cover up your own insecurities and feelings of inferiority (submit to me so I can feel superior) is just weak and whiney. 

[GreyhoundFan]

"An ‘appalling’ robocall as racism invades Florida’s governor’s race for second time this week"

Spoiler

An assertion Wednesday by a white Republican gubernatorial candidate that Florida voters can't afford to "monkey this up" and vote for his black Democratic opponent, Andrew Gillum, was widely viewed as a "dog whistle" to rally racists.

If it was a dog-whistle — the GOP candidate denies any racial intent — a jungle music-scored robo-call that has circulated in Florida is more akin to a bullhorn.

If nothing else, the minute-long audio clip is a clear sign of how quickly racism — subtle in some cases, overt in others — has entered the contest to determine who will lead Florida.

"Well hello there,” the call begins as the sounds of drums and monkeys can be heard in the background, according to the New York Times. “I is Andrew Gillum."

"We Negroes . . . done made mud huts while white folk waste a bunch of time making their home out of wood an stone."

The speaker goes on to say he'll pass a law letting African Americans evade arrest “if the Negro know fo' sho he didn't do nothin'."

It is unclear how many people heard the call.

In a statement emailed to The Washington Post, Gillum's spokesman, Geoff Burgan said: “This is reprehensible — and could only have come from someone with intentions to fuel hatred and seek publicity. Please don’t give it undeserved attention."

People on the other side of the aisle also spoke out against the telephone campaign, which was first reported by the Tallahassee Democrat.

In a tweet, Gov. Rick Scott (R), the current occupant of 700 N. Adams St. in Tallahassee and a candidate for the U.S. Senate, blasted whoever was behind the robo-call.

"There is no room for any racial politics here in Florida — none,” the tweet said. “Florida is a melting pot of people from all over the globe, and we are proud of it. No attempts to divide people by race or ethnicity will be tolerated, from anyone. THIS. STOPS. NOW."

And a spokesman for Rep. Ron DeSantis — the GOP gubernatorial candidate criticized for a racially tinged comment about Gillum — called the robo-calls “disgusting."

"This is absolutely appalling and disgusting — and hopefully whoever is behind this has to answer for this despicable action,” Stephen Lawson, a spokesman for the DeSantis campaign, said, according to the Tampa Bay Times. “Our campaign has and will continue to focus solely on the issues that Floridians care about and uniting our state as we continue to build on our success."

DeSantis has said his comments were aimed at Gillum's policies, not his skin color.

If elected, Gillum would be Florida's first black governor.

“I have been really slow to try to think on it because it’s too big,” Gillum told the Associated Press. “There will absolutely be a part of this that I can’t even put words to, around what it might mean for my children and other people’s kids. Especially growing up, for them, in the age of Donald Trump.”

A disclaimer at the end of the robo-call says it was produced by the Road to Power, a white supremacist and anti-Semitic group based in Idaho. The Southern Poverty Law Center has noted a recent rise in robo-calls across the country, describing them as a “new, high-tech, computer-delivered brand of hate,” according to the Times.

The Road to Power is also the group behind the most unsubtle attempt to turn the killing of Mollie Tibbetts in Iowa into anti-immigration policy and a 2018 campaign talking point.

Tibbetts, a 20-year-old University of Iowa student, disappeared in July while on a jog around her hometown. Authorities found her body in a cornfield a month later, after being led there by a man they said confessed to chasing Tibbetts after seeing her jogging, then dragging her body into a field just outside the town of Brooklyn, Iowa.

The suspect, Cristhian Rivera, is an undocumented immigrant who worked on a dairy farm, and conservatives said Tibbetts's death highlights the need for stronger immigration laws and even a wall on the southern border. Tibbetts's family has pushed back against that argument, with her father speaking favorably of the local Hispanic community.

"If after her life has now been brutally stolen from her, she could be brought back to life for just one moment and asked what do you think now, Mollie Tibbetts would say, 'Kill them all.' " an Iowa robo-call says. “Well, we don't have to kill them all, but we do have to deport them all. The Aztec hybrids known as mestizos are low IQ, bottom feeding savages and is why the country they infest are crime-ridden failures."

According to the Des Moines Register, the man producing the robo-calls is named Scott Rhodes, of Sandpoint, Idaho. He has been linked to similar campaigns in California, Alexandria, Va., and Charlottesville. Rhodes could not immediately be reached for comment.

 

[AmazonGrace]

 

[Cartmann99]

Something tells me that Junior is planning a future run of his own:

More into about Junior's planned shenanigans:

Quote

Don Jr. said he's going to spend much of September most of October on the road, with invitations triaged according to where he can move the needle:

"My job is not to help someone who's going to lose by 20 points only lose by 10 ... I want to help someone who's going to lose by two, win by four."

"I'm there to help people who have been good to me, or become friends and loyal to me and the family."

So in coming weeks, Don Jr. and K.G. are hitting Ohio, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, North Dakota, Montana, Louisiana — and Texas for a day with Sen. Ted Cruz.

I want to know if the papers are signed in blood, or if red ink is symbolic enough for any loyalty contracts signed between candidates and the Trump family.

[fraurosena]

From @Cartmann99's post:

"I'm here to help people who have been good to me, or become friends and loyal to the family"

Loyal to the family? He's either showing his background in the mob, or he believes to be part of royalty. Or both...

[AmazonGrace]

Jr used to say that he wanted to run for Mayor in NYC but I guess he's not too hot over there at the moment.

[Cartmann99]

3 hours ago, AmazonGrace said:

Jr used to say that he wanted to run for Mayor in NYC but I guess he's not too hot over there at the moment.

In that scene of Steil and his wife? walking together, there's a statue of a cow behind them. It made me think of those steakhouses that have big plastic cows out front. Do Wisconsin steakhouses do the plastic cow thing, and if so, has anybody's cow gone missing?

 

[Cartmann99]

I'm putting this in the main midterms thread, because I think we should do this nationwide:

Imagine rallies happening across the United States with the goal of getting people fired up to vote on election day.

[JMarie]

On 9/1/2018 at 2:33 AM, AmazonGrace said:

 

 

So Christian wives should submit to their husbands?  What about the non-Christian wives?

[Cartmann99]

21 minutes ago, JMarie said:

So Christian wives should submit to their husbands?  What about the non-Christian wives?

 I'm guessing his answer would be to ask them to convert to Christianity, and deport everyone who refuses.

I'd also encourage everyone who has the option of voting early in their state to do so.

[Howl]

"Just a few days before 60 day run-up to 2018 elections" is being flogged by Giuliani. 

However, DoJ has no hard and fast rule about releasing information or indicting in the 60 days prior to the elections, but most think that Mueller will not take any action during that time that could possibly be construed  as potentially influencing the mid terms.

But because that window is getting very close, there's a lot of anxiety in certain circles about what shit might rain down in the next few days. From Politico website: 

Anticipation builds around Mueller as 60-day election window nears  The cutoff is not a hard and fast rule, but some former prosecutors expect Mueller to bend over backward to avoid taking steps that might be construed as improper before the midterms.

[AmazonGrace]

Trump and most of the merry band of mobsters are not trying to get elected anyway so I don't understand how it even applies.

[GreyhoundFan]

It must be exhausting to be a Repug, since constant lying and cheating seem to be a requirement: "‘Impeach Trump.’ ‘Open Borders.’ Fake political signs posted in heated Va. congressional race"

Spoiler

RICHMOND — Phony political signs suggesting that Democrat Abigail Spanberger is running for Congress on promises to impeach President Trump and open the nation’s borders popped up in the Richmond suburbs over the weekend.

The red-white-and-blue placards bore Spanberger’s name and a variety of slogans, including “Impeach Trump,” “Open borders” and “Abolish ICE.” Campaign staff for Spanberger, who is trying to unseat Rep. Dave Brat (R-Va.), spotted them Sunday morning in Chesterfield County and quickly pulled them down.

Spanberger, a former CIA officer who has positioned herself as a moderate as she runs in the swing district, has said she opposes open borders and the abolishment of the federal agency known as ICE, Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

As for Trump, she has said that he deserves due process and that she wants to see special counsel Robert S. Mueller III complete his investigation into whether the president’s campaign colluded with Russians who interfered in the 2016 election.

“These signs are nothing but a desperate smear tactic due to the strength of our campaign and how we are resonating with voters across the 7th District,” Spanberger spokesman Justin Jones said.

Brat spokeswoman Katey Price said the campaign had nothing to do with the signs, which did not include the disclaimer required under federal law identifying who paid for them.

“These were unauthorized campaign signs posted by an unknown third party that the Brat campaign had no knowledge of,” she said.

Calls to abolish ICE and impeach Trump have come from the left wing of the Democratic Party. But party leaders and moderates reject both ideas, saying they will turn off independent voters that Democrats need to win back the House.

Brat and Spanberger are locked in a competitive race in the 7th District, a longtime GOP stronghold where Trump is unpopular. The Cook Political Report classifies the contest as a “toss-up.”

Brat won the seat four years ago after pulling off an upset in the GOP primary, snagging the nomination from then-House Majority Leader Eric Cantor. But he faces stiff head winds this year, given Trump’s unpopularity in the largely suburban district and the fact that some Cantor supporters remain cool to him and that past comments angered some female constituents.

The contest drew national headlines last week after the U.S. Postal Service acknowledged it inappropriately released sensitive personal information about Spanberger, a former postal inspector, to GOP opposition researchers.

The Postal Service called the release accidental, saying an employee in a new position mistakenly handled the records request as if Spanberger had been seeking her own personnel records, instead of as a Freedom of Information request from a third party. The release included Spanberger’s Social Security number as well as her medical history and other sensitive information that the government is prohibited from disclosing under the Privacy Act of 1974.

Two members of Congress have asked for an investigation, and 200 national-security officials who served under presidents of both parties signed a letter suggesting the release had been politically motivated.

 

[JMarie]

https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/04/politics/massachusetts-primary-democratic-direction/index.html

[MarblesMom]

As an ACA health insurance type person, this article makes my blood run cold.  Forgive me if it was upthread.

http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-obamacare-legal-challenge-20180904-story.html

[AmericanRose]

After 8 years, the responsible and smart thing to do would be to find ways to help the ACA be better, not try to tear it down. The horse has left the stable, GOP.

[GreyhoundFan]

8 hours ago, AmericanRose said:

After 8 years, the responsible and smart thing to do would be to find ways to help the ACA be better, not try to tear it down. The horse has left the stable, GOP.

Nobody has accused the current GOP of being either responsible or smart.

[GreyhoundFan]

"Gun control or gun rights? The answer may help determine whether Rep. Comstock wins reelection"

Spoiler

As the nation grapples with mass shootings, gun policy could be a deciding factor in the competitive race between Rep. Barbara Comstock (R) and Democratic challenger state Sen. Jennifer T. Wexton in Northern Virginia.

Gabrielle Giffords, the former congresswoman severely injured in a 2011 shooting, last week kicked off her national campaign to elect Democrats with $1 million in cable television ads targeting Comstock. Her group chose the 10th District because Comstock is one of the most vulnerable Republicans in the country and her district is near the National Rifle Association’s headquarters in Fairfax County.

“Shooting after shooting, Barbara Comstock has failed,” Giffords says straight to the camera in the ad. “She’s taken thousands from the NRA. We must do better.”

Giffords; Mark Kelly, her husband and a former astronaut; and Wexton met Sunday with gun-control advocates.

Voters in Virginia believe gun control is more important than protecting gun rights, according to a recent poll that captured a watershed moment in a once-conservative state.

Democrats’ pro-gun-control message contrasts sharply with Comstock’s conservative record on gun issues and A rating from the NRA.

Comstock wrote an op-ed published in a Loudoun County newspaper last week saying she supports more money for law enforcement, school safety and treatment for mental illness, which she said is often behind gun violence.

But experts said the national outrage over mass shootings and clamor for limits on gun sales is a challenge that may be difficult for Comstock to overcome in her quest for a third term. Independent rating agencies say the race leans toward Wexton.

Comstock is working hard to separate herself from President Trump, whose election inspired a wave of Democratic activism that helped Gov. Ralph Northam (D) win the district by 12 points in 2017.

“The national context is having a significant impact on voters’ perceptions in Northern Virginia,” said Mark J. Rozell, dean of the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University. “That’s undeniable. It’s not just a Virginia issue, but it’s definitely playing in the elections here.”

There was a time when Virginia Democrats shied away from gun control for fear of alienating conservative voters. As the state has moved to the middle and the left in statewide elections, more voters have embraced gun control.

“I think it started when the mass school shootings started,” said Elaine Lynch, 42, a Great Falls resident who voted for Comstock in 2014. Lynch said she voted for Comstock’s Democratic challenger in 2016 and will vote for Wexton in November because she feels the congresswoman is too conservative for the district on many issues, including guns.

“People were afraid,” Lynch said. “Parents sent their kids to school praying that they’d come home.”

A year after the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., Terry McAuliffe won the governor’s race in Virginia as an opponent of the NRA.

He called for greater gun control in the state, including an assault weapons ban, stronger background checks, better mental-health care and a return to limiting the number of handguns that an individual can purchase to one per month.

Democratic efforts to restrict guns went nowhere in the GOP-controlled legislature until 2016, when McAuliffe struck a deal with the NRA.

It expanded concealed-carry rights for gun owners in exchange for a law that requires some domestic abusers to relinquish their guns and made it possible to have optional background checks at gun shows.

“At the end of the day, we made Virginia safer, and it’s not about winning elections, it’s about doing what’s right,” McAuliffe said in an interview last Thursday.

The deal was panned by some gun-control groups who at the time objected to any expansion in concealed-carry rights despite the trade-offs, and Wexton’s vote for the legislation was criticized by three of her Democratic opponents in the primary.

Wexton defended her vote by saying the deal presented a historic opportunity to pass limits on guns in a GOP-controlled legislature.

Giffords’s gun-control group, which did not take a public position on the legislation at the time, still decided to support Wexton with the cable ad buy.

“We don’t expect a candidate that we support to be in lockstep with us,” Kelly said in an interview last week. “They need to represent their constituents. That’s why we don’t give people grades. Every one of these districts is different.”

The Giffords organization has endorsed 169 state and federal candidates, including three Republican congressmen, Brian Fitzpatrick in Pennsylvania and Leonard Lance and Christopher H. Smith in New Jersey.

Comstock said she has addressed gun violence by supporting a bill that funds task forces aimed at rooting out gang violence, as well as two NRA-
endorsed measures that passed with bipartisan support.

The STOP School Violence Act of 2018 funds school security, and the Fix NICS Act of 2017 encourages agencies to share records with the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. Neither of the bills directly impact gun sales or purchases.

“Since her days as a senior Justice Department official, Barbara has fought for protecting our families, law enforcement, and public safety, and that advocacy has earned her the endorsement from the Virginia and Fairfax Police Benevolent Associations once again,” her campaign manager, Susan Falconer, said in a statement.

She is not a sponsor of the House version of a bill sponsored by Sens. Patrick J. Toomey (R-Pa.) and Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) that would have required background checks for all commercial sales of guns.

Comstock has enjoyed strong support from the NRA, which has spent $137,232 on her behalf since she was elected in 2014, according to data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks campaign spending. The number includes $17,850 in direct contributions as well as money the group spent to help elect Comstock or defeat her opponents.

But that backing may be a liability for her among some voters.

A Roanoke College poll released last week found 48 percent of likely voters think it’s more important to control gun ownership than to protect the right of Americans to own guns; 44 percent believe gun rights are paramount.

The numbers mark the first time since Roanoke began asking the question in 2015 that more respondents think gun control is more important than gun rights, although the poll used different methodologies over time.

A June poll by Quinnipiac University asked Virginia registered voters if they supported or opposed stricter gun laws “in the United States,” finding that 60 percent supported them, while 35 percent were opposed.

That’s a slight uptick from last year, when the poll found 51 percent support stricter gun laws in Virginia.

Ellen Rubin, 65, of Herndon, said gun control became more of a priority for her after the mass shooting at Virginia Tech in 2007. Her daughter was a senior there at the time. Although her daughter was not injured, Rubin went to Blacksburg the following weekend.

“We need to hug you,” she told her daughter. “I think that made me more motivated to see more gun control because it was so close to home.”

Rubin, a Democrat and Wexton voter, said she was not surprised that Comstock touted her “pro-2nd Amendment” position on mailers in the GOP primary.

“She knows what her constituents want to hear, and she’s feeding it to them,” she said.

Data show public opinion was starting to move in Virginia before the increase in mass shootings, but the national picture “escalated” the shift in support for gun control, said Rozell, of the Schar School.

“And that’s the challenge for Comstock, because, for good or bad, she’s been consistent in that issue area,” he said. “That provides something of an opening for her opponents. That’s why the ads on this issue are out right now. They know it.”

I hope Comstock gets voted out.

[formergothardite]

Well this is depressing. 

https://www.npr.org/2018/09/05/644767877/north-carolina-can-use-gerrymandered-map-in-november-court-rules

Quote

 

Judges in North Carolina on Tuesday said that despite declaring the state's electoral map to be unconstitutionally gerrymandered for partisan reasons, there wasn't enough time for the map to be redrawn before midterm elections in November.

"We further find that imposing a new schedule for North Carolina's congressional elections would, at this late juncture, unduly interfere with the State's electoral machinery and likely confuse voters and depress turnout," judges James Wynn Jr., William Osteen Jr. and W. Earl Britt wrote in their order Tuesday.

 

 

[GreyhoundFan]

A bit of good news: the Repug didn't get to split the Dem vote: "Judge orders independent candidate off the ballot in Va. congressional race, citing ‘out and out fraud’"

Spoiler

RICHMOND — A Richmond Circuit Court judge on Wednesday ordered independent candidate Shaun Brown removed from the ballot in the 2nd District congressional race, finding that her qualifying petition was riddled with “forgery” and “out and out fraud.”

That would leave incumbent U.S. Rep. Scott Taylor (R) to face a sole Democratic challenger, retired Navy officer Elaine Luria, for this fall’s election. Brown vowed to appeal the ruling.

Taylor’s campaign has come under harsh scrutiny for mounting a last-minute effort to gather signatures to help Brown get on the ballot. Many of the signatures gathered by Taylor’s staffers have been alleged to be forgeries, with several dozen people signing affidavits to say that their signatures were not their own.

The Democratic Party of Virginia brought a civil suit to get Brown off the ballot, amid fears that Brown — a former Democratic candidate — would split the vote in a close race and ensure Taylor’s reelection.

The party subpoenaed Taylor and several of his current and former staffers to testify in Wednesday’s hearing, but Judge Gregory L. Rupe granted a motion to quash Taylor’s subpoena under state law that shields sitting members of Congress from being compelled to attend civil court proceedings .

Five of Taylor’s current and former staffers filed affidavits saying that they would invoke the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination if asked to testify about whether they knew they had submitted forged signatures and about whether the congressman directed the effort to get Brown onto the ballot.

There is a separate criminal investigation by a special prosecutor underway about the signatures.

Lawyer Jeffrey Breit, arguing for the Democratic Party, said those affidavits had to be presumed to signify that they were afraid to incriminate themselves. Democrats also argued that Brown’s petitions were invalid because they contained three separate addresses for the candidate, none of which was her legal home, as required by state law.

After about three and a half hours of testimony and arguments, the judge told the Democratic lawyers that “I’m buying almost all of what you are selling.”

Though there was confusion about just how many of the 1,000 signatures needed to qualify for the ballot might be forgeries, Rupe said that “I am satisfied that there are not enough.”

He also termed the problem with addresses to be a “sophomoric” mistake that disqualified those petitions.

Brown said afterward that she would appeal because “there is no doubt there were enough signatures that we collected.”

The clock is ticking, though. Local election officials are required by law to print the Nov. 6 ballots by Sept. 21.

 

[Snowless]

On 9/1/2018 at 8:16 PM, GreyhoundFan said:

"An ‘appalling’ robocall as racism invades Florida’s governor’s race for second time this week"

  Reveal hidden contents

An assertion Wednesday by a white Republican gubernatorial candidate that Florida voters can't afford to "monkey this up" and vote for his black Democratic opponent, Andrew Gillum, was widely viewed as a "dog whistle" to rally racists.

If it was a dog-whistle — the GOP candidate denies any racial intent — a jungle music-scored robo-call that has circulated in Florida is more akin to a bullhorn.

If nothing else, the minute-long audio clip is a clear sign of how quickly racism — subtle in some cases, overt in others — has entered the contest to determine who will lead Florida.

"Well hello there,” the call begins as the sounds of drums and monkeys can be heard in the background, according to the New York Times. “I is Andrew Gillum."

"We Negroes . . . done made mud huts while white folk waste a bunch of time making their home out of wood an stone."

The speaker goes on to say he'll pass a law letting African Americans evade arrest “if the Negro know fo' sho he didn't do nothin'."

It is unclear how many people heard the call.

In a statement emailed to The Washington Post, Gillum's spokesman, Geoff Burgan said: “This is reprehensible — and could only have come from someone with intentions to fuel hatred and seek publicity. Please don’t give it undeserved attention."

People on the other side of the aisle also spoke out against the telephone campaign, which was first reported by the Tallahassee Democrat.

In a tweet, Gov. Rick Scott (R), the current occupant of 700 N. Adams St. in Tallahassee and a candidate for the U.S. Senate, blasted whoever was behind the robo-call.

"There is no room for any racial politics here in Florida — none,” the tweet said. “Florida is a melting pot of people from all over the globe, and we are proud of it. No attempts to divide people by race or ethnicity will be tolerated, from anyone. THIS. STOPS. NOW."

And a spokesman for Rep. Ron DeSantis — the GOP gubernatorial candidate criticized for a racially tinged comment about Gillum — called the robo-calls “disgusting."

"This is absolutely appalling and disgusting — and hopefully whoever is behind this has to answer for this despicable action,” Stephen Lawson, a spokesman for the DeSantis campaign, said, according to the Tampa Bay Times. “Our campaign has and will continue to focus solely on the issues that Floridians care about and uniting our state as we continue to build on our success."

DeSantis has said his comments were aimed at Gillum's policies, not his skin color.

If elected, Gillum would be Florida's first black governor.

“I have been really slow to try to think on it because it’s too big,” Gillum told the Associated Press. “There will absolutely be a part of this that I can’t even put words to, around what it might mean for my children and other people’s kids. Especially growing up, for them, in the age of Donald Trump.”

A disclaimer at the end of the robo-call says it was produced by the Road to Power, a white supremacist and anti-Semitic group based in Idaho. The Southern Poverty Law Center has noted a recent rise in robo-calls across the country, describing them as a “new, high-tech, computer-delivered brand of hate,” according to the Times.

The Road to Power is also the group behind the most unsubtle attempt to turn the killing of Mollie Tibbetts in Iowa into anti-immigration policy and a 2018 campaign talking point.

Tibbetts, a 20-year-old University of Iowa student, disappeared in July while on a jog around her hometown. Authorities found her body in a cornfield a month later, after being led there by a man they said confessed to chasing Tibbetts after seeing her jogging, then dragging her body into a field just outside the town of Brooklyn, Iowa.

The suspect, Cristhian Rivera, is an undocumented immigrant who worked on a dairy farm, and conservatives said Tibbetts's death highlights the need for stronger immigration laws and even a wall on the southern border. Tibbetts's family has pushed back against that argument, with her father speaking favorably of the local Hispanic community.

"If after her life has now been brutally stolen from her, she could be brought back to life for just one moment and asked what do you think now, Mollie Tibbetts would say, 'Kill them all.' " an Iowa robo-call says. “Well, we don't have to kill them all, but we do have to deport them all. The Aztec hybrids known as mestizos are low IQ, bottom feeding savages and is why the country they infest are crime-ridden failures."

According to the Des Moines Register, the man producing the robo-calls is named Scott Rhodes, of Sandpoint, Idaho. He has been linked to similar campaigns in California, Alexandria, Va., and Charlottesville. Rhodes could not immediately be reached for comment.

 

Both the Senate and gubernatorial elections here are shaping up to be dirty, closely-fought campaigns (although the Senate race is getting more ad time at the moment).

What DeSantis (who is actually my outgoing Congresscritter, so...good riddance?) said the morning after the primary was completely classless and uncalled-for.  Anyone worth their dignified salt would know that using the terms “monkey”/“ape”/“gorilla” in reference to an African-American is extremely wrong (even if he was trying to infer “causing monkey business”, it still came across as a dog whistle).  Mayor Gillum has dealt with all this with class and dignity and just in terms of who’s been the better human being in all this, he speaks like he really cares about Florida and really wants to do everything he can to improve things for Floridians.  I haven’t heard a lot of politicians in Florida speak about Florida like that.

And that robocall was just unforgivable.

[AmazonGrace]

When Republicans send their candidates they're not sending the best.

 

[AmazonGrace]

When Republicans send their reps they're not sending their best.

https://www.rawstory.com/2018/09/prosecutors-say-family-values-rep-duncan-hunter-spent-campaign-cash-mistresses-pics-prove/
 

Spoiler

 

Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) may have illegally spent campaign funds on at least five women who are not his wife — whom he has blamed for financial wrongdoing that has gotten them both indicted.

The California Republican and his wife Margaret were indicted last month on 60 counts related to spending more than $250,000 in campaign cash on themselves, but prosecutors say the “family values” lawmaker may have spent some of that on women with whom he was having a “personal relationship,” reported The San Diego Union-Tribune.

The Hunters overdrew their bank account more than 1,100 times in seven years and were penalized nearly $38,000 in overdraft and other fees, and they also maxed out their credit cards and were hit with about $24,600 in fees and penalties.

Prosecutors say the congressman spent some of the campaign money on five individuals living in Washington, D.C.

Defense attorney Gregory Vega wrote a letter to the Department of Justice complaining that prosecutors had notified him that they have photos of an intoxicated Hunter and some of those women.

“While there may be evidence of infidelity, irresponsibility or alcohol dependence, once properly understood, the underlying facts do not equate to criminal activity,” Vega wrote.

Politico reported in February that Hunter had a reputation for partying and that federal investigators had been eyeing his activities, but the 41-year-old Hunter dismissed the reports as “tabloid trash.”

Hunter and then President Donald Trump have blamed the indictment on partisan bias, without any proof, within the Department of Justice intended to sway the midterm elections.

 

 

“While there may be evidence of infidelity, irresponsibility or alcohol dependence, once properly understood, the underlying facts do not equate to criminal activity,” Vega wrote.

 

When your own goddamn DEFENSE atty says you're a cheating irresponsible alcoholic.

 

[Cartmann99]

After reading about Dennis Hof and Duncan Hunter, I'm expecting to hear that Sasha Baron Cohen has done an episode of his show where he auditions televangelists to be the new proprietor for the Family Values Brothel.

 

[fraurosena]

Yay!

Obama to enter midterm ring with ‘pointed’ criticism of Trump

Quote

Former President Obama is preparing a return to the political arena ahead of the midterm elections with a speech Friday that's expected to include sharp criticism of President Trump.

An Obama adviser told the Associated Press that the former president would be “pointed” in his critique of the current political environment, including Trump, in a speech he's scheduled to give at the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign.

The next day, Obama is slated to participate in a campaign rally for several Democratic congressional candidates in California, followed by a Sept. 13 rally for former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate in Ohio.

Obama is also planning campaign trips to Illinois and Pennsylvania, two states with critical gubernatorial and House races.

Former first lady Michelle Obama will step back into the political fray as well, headlining voter registration rallies in Nevada and Florida -- states with tight gubernatorial and Senate races -- later this month.

The reemergence of the Obamas comes as Democrats struggle to find a unifying message, other than opposition to Trump, heading into the midterm elections.