Monday, September 16, 2024
JD Vance admits he is willing to ‘create stories’ to get media attention | US elections 2024 | The Guardian
In a stunning admission, the Republican vice-presidential candidate, JD Vance, said he was willing "to create stories" on the campaign trail while defending his spreading false, racist rumors of pets being abducted and eaten in a town in his home state of Ohio...
More bomb threats hit Springfield after Trump elevates false claims about Haitians
Saturday's threats came even after the woman who started the rumors acknowledged to NBC News that they were unfounded and publicly apologized...
The Most Shameful Interview in the History of American Politics
If I have to make up stories (about Haitians eating pets), I will. (J.D. Vance)
NYT’s Jeremy Peters on Trump’s Bad Debate (Al Franken podcast)
Jeremy Peters from the NYT joins us to recap the wild debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. It was a complete meltdown for Trump while Harris delivered strong messages on abortion, democracy and Trump’s crowd sizes. Trump rambled, made baseless allegations and looked terrible. Even Fox News had to admit that Trump lost the debate badly. So where do we go from here? How does Harris keep her momentum going and transition this energy into votes?
Jeremy’s book Insurgency: How Republicans Lost Their Party and Got Everything They Ever Wanted
Jeremy’s book Insurgency: How Republicans Lost Their Party and Got Everything They Ever Wanted
explains how the party ended up in this situation:
Remove Judge Cannon (Andrew McCabe and Allison Gill; Jack: A Special Counsel podcast, Episode #94)
This week, 
- we’re still 11 days from the deadline for Special Counsel to file their immunity brief in DC. Let's take a look at the two amici briefs to the 11th Circuit requesting that Judge Cannon be removed from the Mar-a-Lago case.
- Then we’ll take a quick look at why claims that the 2020 election cases “were all thrown out on standing” is a lazy lie from Trump and his allies.
- Plus, listener questions.
Interview:
Weekly Roundup: “They’re Eating the Dogs” (Bradley Onishi and Daniel Miller; Straight White American Jesus podcast)
In this weekly roundup, we discuss Donald Trump’s repetition of a conspiracy theory about immigrants eating pets during a recent presidential debate.
We analyze Kamala Harris’s impressive and composed performance, the strategic implications of the debate, and the damaging effects of Trump’s rhetoric.
The episode also covers Taylor Swift’s political endorsement of Kamala Harris, a viral debate moment involving Charlie Kirk, and the historical context of xenophobic conspiracy theories.
We reflect on the significance of these events and their broader impact on American society and politics.
Interview:
Constitutional sheriffs wield unchecked power across America, journalist says (Tonya Mosley; Fresh Air podcast)
Jessica Pishko says a group of sheriffs have become a flashpoint in the current politics of toxic masculinity, guns, white supremacy and rural resentment. Her book is The Highest Law in the Land.
Interview:
Sunday, September 15, 2024
The Case Against School Vouchers (Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor, Freethought Radio podcast)
FFRF Legal Director Patrick Elliot and FFRF Legal Fellow Hirsh Joshi join us to talk about state-church developments in Utah, Alabama, Colorado, Missouri, Tennessee and Minnesota.
Then, we speak with Michigan State University Professor Josh Cowen about his new book, The Privateers: How Billionaires Created a Culture War and Sold School Vouchers.
Interview:
Sofia Nelson: I can't explain my former friend JD Vance's heel turn. But I know it's dangerous.
"The leaders in the post-liberal movement are elites steeped in classical and Catholic philosophy who fancy themselves warriors for the average man. Vermeule, for example, is explicitly against the separation of church and state, and believes the Catholic Church should have ultimate control over all moral questions. (Well, maybe not the church as it's run by Pope Francis.)…"
How Democrats and Republicans are gearing up for a post-election legal fight (Terry Gross; Fresh Air podcast)
Trump has claimed that the only way he can lose on election day is if there’s voter fraud. New York Times reporter Nick Corasaniti explains the battle over the ballot box and post-election results.
Interview:
Opinion | Tucker Carlson and the Right’s Long History of Sanitizing the Nazis - POLITICO
"Carlson's decision to wade into such murky waters shouldn't be a total shock. Over the past few years, Carlson, like others on the right, have embraced a populist-nationalist streak that has courted some of the darkest forces in American politics. This interview comes only a few months after top MAGA influencer Candace Owens declared that Israel was supplying arms for a "Christian Holocaust"; and two years ago, Donald Trump had dinner at Mar-a-Lago with the white nationalist and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes, though he later said he was unaware of Fuentes' identity.
But the mounting attraction of today's America First movement to antisemitism and Holocaust denial has much deeper roots than the rise of Trump or his ideological predecessor Buchanan. It connects to a strain of the radical right that has been present for many decades, one that has nourished hostility to defending democracy at home and abroad. Throughout, a key element of this strain of thinking has been to depict liberals as communists — a tradition many in the GOP continue to follow even if they don't all understand its radical roots. As Trump inveighs against "Comrade" Kamala Harris, he fits snugly into this tradition…"
The Decline of White Christian America with Robert P. Jones (Bradley Onishi and Daniel Miller; Straight White American Jesus podcast)
In this episode of Straight White American Jesus, Brad dives into PRRI’s 2023 Census of American Religion with Dr. Robert P. Jones, author of The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy.
Together, they break down the ongoing decline of White Christian America, the growing number of younger people who are religiously unaffiliated, and the stark differences between the religious demographics of the Democratic and Republican parties.
They dig into how these demographic shifts are shaping the culture and politics of the country, offering key insights into the religious and racial trends transforming the U.S. today.
Interview:
Harris regains small poll lead post-debate as US election inches closer
While so far declining Harris's challenge of a second debate, the former president nevertheless claims that he won the exchange.
Survey respondents beg to differ. The Reuters/Ipsos polls showed 53% who had heard something about the encounter believed that Harris had come out on top, as opposed to 24% thinking Trump had prevailed. The Morning Consult poll showed a similar margin, 55-25%, in favour of thinking Harris had won...
Saturday, September 14, 2024
The News Roundup – Domestic and International (The 1A) 2024-09-13
Domestic
Some 67 million people tuned in to watch Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump face off in their first and maybe only debate of this election season on Tuesday.Inflation dropped to a three-year low in August, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Prices, however, climbed 2.5 percent in the last year.
On Wednesday, state and local officials across the country warned that issues with the U.S. postal service could result in disenfranchised voters this election. In an open letter, two election worker associations accused the postmaster general of not being sufficiently prepared for November.
Interview:
International
The World Health Organization says medical teams wrapped up the emergency polio vaccination campaign launched after the discovery of the Gaza’s first-known case of the illness in more than two decades.This week, an Israeli airstrike on a U.N. school complex sheltering 1,200 displaced Palestinians killed six U.N. staffers at a refugee camp in Central Gaza. At least 18 Palestinians were killed in the attack.
The Department of Justice exposed Russian ties to right wing social media influencers. U.S. prosecutors say the Kremlin media company RT funneled nearly $10 million to a platform for content creators. The company, Tenet Media, worked with popular online personalities like Tim Pool, Benny Johnson, and Dave Rubin.
Interview:
Opinion | The Real ‘Border Czar’ Defends the Biden-Harris Record - The New York Times
Harris was not the border czar; she had little power over policy. But to the extent that there is a border czar, it's the secretary of homeland security, Alejandro Mayorkas. So I wanted to have him on the show to explain what's happened at the border the past few years — the record surge, the administration's record and what it has revealed about our immigration system...
Sentencing Delayed (feat. Mike Nellis) (Allison Gill and Pete Strzok; Cleanup on Aisle 45 podcast episode #190)
This week: 
- Judge Merchan has postponed sentencing and his ruling on whether some of the evidence in the case is subject to presidential immunity;
- Donald fails another time to remove the case to federal court; plus
- updates on Simes, Tenet Media, and E. Jean Carroll
Interview:
GOP-aligned group airs antisemitic ads in Michigan featuring Doug Emhoff and highlighting Harris’ Jewish ties | CNN Politics
Future Coalition PAC has spent nearly $60,000 running several YouTube ads targeting Michigan, according to Google's Ads Transparency Center. Each of the ads emphatically states Harris' support for Israel, and many pointedly highlight her husband, Doug Emhoff, who is Jewish...
Vance Describes Plan to End Ukraine War That Sounds a Lot Like Putin’s - The New York Times
The Kremlin's terms for ending the war have focused on Russia keeping the territory it has captured and forcing Ukraine to become neutral, meaning it would not join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Biden administration officials have long insisted those demands amount to capitulation, not negotiation...
Doctors Give Black Women Unneeded C-Sections to Fill Operating Rooms, Study Suggests - The New York Times
Healthy Black women with low risk factors were far more likely to get C-sections than white women with similar medical histories, a large new study found...
Friday, September 13, 2024
Big oil faces a rising number of climate-focused lawsuits, report finds
Communities, states and advocacy groups push to hold fossil fuel companies accountable for role in climate crisis…
Trump gets fact-checked by Germany over energy claim at debate with Harris
When Harris told Trump at the debate that world leaders laugh at him, I imagine this is the type of mockery she was talking about...
Antisemitic Ads About Doug Emhoff Target Muslim Voters in Michigan - The New York Times
An ad campaign in the state, funded by a group that appears tied to Republicans, seems designed to remind Muslim voters of Kamala Harris's pro-Israel views and her husband's Jewish faith...
Fact check: Trump falsely claims every poll says he won the debate | CNN Politics
Former President Donald Trump has returned to a time-honored tradition of his: citing junk online polls to claim he was the clear winner of a presidential debate that scientific polls found he lost...
Trump's plan to hike tariffs would spike shipping costs, just like in 2018, experts say | Reuters
"Trump's import tariffs are 'history repeating' and will cause a spike in ocean container shipping markets - with consumers picking up the cost," said Peter Sand, chief analyst at shipping pricing platform Xeneta...
Judge strikes down North Dakota’s ban on abortion
A state judge struck down North Dakota's ban on abortion on Thursday, saying that the state constitution creates a fundamental right to access abortion before a fetus is viable...
Opinion | Something Important Is Happening With JD Vance, Laura Loomer, Project 2025 and Donald Trump - The New York Times
"He doesn't necessarily scare me. I think he's incompetent. What scares me is the people he's surrounded himself with and how they can use him. Laura Loomer was on the plane with them. The Heritage Foundation and all the plans they have. It just seems like he's a vessel for other people who are way more competent and have way more plans to do stuff that I personally don't agree with. I feel like they're going to use him and get policies enacted that I personally don't agree with."…
Trump stokes suspicions about assassination attempt, raising fears of more violence - The Washington Post
"This is all set up to prime his base to believe that, if his loses in November, the Democrats have once again stolen the election, that Harris is illegitimate, and they should in some respects come to his defense," said Barbara F. Walter, a professor at the University of California at San Diego and the author of "How Civil Wars Start and How to Stop Them." If his polls deteriorate in coming weeks and it looks like he may lose, she added, "he's going to ratchet up that narrative even further."…
Psychiatrist flags 'alarming' debate tic — and urges Trump to seek a neurologist - Raw Story
Former President Donald Trump should immediately seek a neurologist after exhibiting a classic and common sign of dementia at the presidential debates on Tuesday, according to a prominent psychiatrist...
Opinion | Harris’s role in Afghanistan, Ukraine and other national security hot spots - The Washington Post
They all expressed versions of the same basic theme: Harris behaves like the prosecutor she was for much of her career. She's skeptical, probing, sometimes querulous. She can be impatient and demanding. But she asks good questions. And if she's convinced of the need, she's not afraid to act. "She's more hard-line than most people think," said one retired four-star general who has briefed her many times.
One top member of her staff put it this way: "She's always the same person, pushing for information, making sure people aren't bulls----ing her." Having watched her often in discussions about using military force, he concluded: "Her approach is to measure twice, cut once. But she's not afraid to take the shot."…
Donald Trump a de facto Russian asset, FBI official he fired suggests
Andrew McCabe says Trump-Putin interactions 'raise questions', as Harris says Putin would eat Trump 'for lunch'…
Trump pollster touts post-debate bump for GOP nominee
Other polls following the debate have been more favorable for Harris…https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4877173-trump-pollster-post-debate-bump/
US Postal Service delays threaten to disrupt election voting, officials say
The two groups, the National Association of Secretaries of State and the National Association of State Election Directors, said local election officials "in nearly every state" are receiving timely postmarked ballots after election day and outside the three to five business days USPS claims as the standard for first-class mail...
Thursday, September 12, 2024
Ron DeSantis condemned over Florida’s ‘draconian’ new anti-homelessness law
"The city is at an impasse because while the state has handed all the communities this draconian mandate, it failed to provide a remedy to partner with us in which to fulfill their expectations," he said of the public camping bill...
Opinion | What I Learned When I Read 887 Pages of Project 2025 - The New York Times
And for all the book's rhetoric about the need to "dismantle the administrative state," it soon becomes clear that vanquishing the federal bureaucracy is not the document's animating ambition. There may be plenty worth jettisoning from the executive branch, but "Mandate for Leadership" is about capturing the administrative state, not unmaking it. The main conservative promise here is to wield the state as a tool for concentrating power and entrenching ideology…
Ironically, in this worldview, the people's needs and desires can become circumscribed. In the book's foreword, Kevin D. Roberts, the president of the Heritage Foundation, writes that the "pursuit of happiness" in the Declaration of Independence should be understood as the "pursuit of blessedness," that is, that "an individual must be free to live as his creator ordained — to flourish." The Constitution, he explains, "grants each of us the liberty to do not what we want, but what we ought." The book ties this argument to the philosophical and legal concept of "ordered liberty," in which individual rights are weighed against social stability...
Elon Musk’s misleading election claims reach millions and alarm election officials - The Washington Post
The X billionaire's false posts about noncitizen voting spur officials to fact-check him, lead to requests to purge voter rolls, and add to worries about threats, election officials say...
CPI: Inflation eased in August as Fed eyes interest rate cuts - The Washington Post
With price increases cooling and worries about the job market spreading, the central bank is expected to announce a long-awaited rate cut next week...
Harris’s powerful abortion stance and Trump’s fact-checks: key takeaways from the debate
Presidential candidates face off in fiery debate displaying diverging visions of the country…
Fact-checking Trump’s debate claims: from abortion to Project 2025
Here are the facts on some of the false claims offered during Tuesday's debate.
Trump debate claims about Germany, Nord Stream are wrong, says Berlin - The Washington Post
"You believe in things like, we're not going to frack, we're not going to take fossil fuel, we're not going to do things that are going make this country strong, whether you like it or not," Trump said Tuesday night, referring to Harris. "Germany tried that, and within one year, they were back to building normal energy plants."
Hours later, in an uncharacteristically direct statement, the German Foreign Ministry fact-checked Trump's claims on its English-language X account.
"Like it or not: Germany's energy system is fully operational, with more than 50% renewables," the ministry wrote. "And we are shutting down — not building — coal & nuclear plants. Coal will be off the grid by 2038 at the latest."…
——-
How much did Trump inherit from his father?
The Times claimed that, after reviewing financial documents, it determined Trump received more than $413 million — in 2018 dollars — from his New York City developer father, Fred, for years.
According to the Washington Post, Trump benefited from trusts set up for family members as well as loans from his father and his father's estate. The New York Times said it found Trump and his father avoided gift and inheritance taxes by using a sham corporation and undervaluing assets, The Associated Press reported...
Wednesday, September 11, 2024
Tim Walz Stings GOP With Blunt 'Fact Of Life' After JD Vance's School Shooting Remarks (HuffPost)
“But here’s what I’ll tell you. It’s a fact of life some people are gay, but you know what’s not a fact of life? That our children need to be shot dead in schools. That’s not a fact of life.”
Secure Our World: Simple ways to protect yourself, your family and your business from online threats.
Staying Safe Online is Easier Than You Think.
Every day we are more and more connected—whether messaging family and friends, shopping online or ordering supplies for our small businesses. It’s important to take steps to stay safe when using our phones, laptops and smart devices. We Can Secure Our World by taking simple actions each day when connected. See how Max and Kevin Secure Our World below!...
Trump Promises a ‘Bloody Story’ (The Atlantic)
"Above all, Trump traffics in yearnings for punishment of people he regards as outsiders and inferiors. They will suffer, they will shed blood, they will pay—and somehow their pain and their loss will elevate and empower him and those who support him. It’s never true, but for a moment it feels good. What more vivid form of power is there than the power to inflict pain?"
US says white supremacist group tried to incite followers on Telegram to spark race war
Leaders Dallas Humber and Matthew Allison face 15 counts including soliciting hate crimes and support for terrorism…
Republicans threaten a government shutdown unless Congress makes it harder to vote | Vox
There is no evidence that noncitizens vote in US federal elections in any meaningful numbers, and states typically have safeguards in place to prevent them from doing so. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, for example, claims to have identified 1,634 "potential noncitizens" who attempted to register during a 15-year period. But these possible noncitizens were caught by election officials and were never registered…
CBS News poll for 2024 Senate races shows Democrats lead in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin - CBS News
In CBS News' first poll of the race for Michigan's open Senate seat, Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin is leading former GOP Rep. Mike Rogers by seven points. Meanwhile, Sens. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania and Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin are ahead in their reelection bids by seven points and eight points, respectively...
Biden Admin Strengthens Protections for Mental Health Care Coverage — ProPublica
ProPublica's reporting has found that insurers regularly shortchange patients seeking treatment…
Understanding the federal government’s influence on student debt - The Washington Post
As the Clinton administration and others found out when they sought to bypass corrupt middlemen by lending directly to students, the loan system proved too big to dismantle. When the middlemen overreached, the lending companies and proprietary schools could declare bankruptcy to escape some creditors, but student borrowers could not. They were stuck. That is, until very recently, when President Joe Biden announced the cancellation of millions of loans — though his latest plans have been blocked by the courts…
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