In the US election next month, record-breaking numbers of voters will cast their ballots by mail for the first time. Millions of these ballots will be processed by local election administrations inexperienced with large numbers of mail-in votes.
Over 1 million mail-in ballots could be rejected in the US election — and the rules are changing by the day
Iran and Russia have sought to influence the US election by obtaining voter registration data in a bid to spread false information. With less than two weeks before the November poll, US officials today revealed the two countries had tried to target voters with a disinformation campaign designed to undermine the integrity of the election.
US election 2020: Russia, Iran aim to interfere, FBI says
What motivates Trump followers? Racism? Conservatism? Cruelty? Part of it may be simple disruption. A historian explains.
The Chaos Is The Point | Washington Monthly
As Republicans ram through a Supreme Court nominee appointed by a president who lost the popular vote, the anti-democratic rule of the judiciary is on full display.
The Supreme Court Is Smothering American Democracy
The most technically innovative country on the planet It’s easier to vote anywhere on the planet than it is in America why?
A fierce battle over who should vote and how has sparked hundreds of lawsuits and prompted accusations of voter suppression. So what are the barriers to voting and why do they exist?
US election 2020: Why it can be hard to vote in the US – BBC News
Michelle Obama has observed that being president does not change who you are. It reveals who you are. The same could be said of the nation: that its president does not change who we are but reveals who we are. And what Donald Trump has revealed about America has taught us sobering lessons about ourselves.
The Eight Things Trump Reveals About America | Washington Monthly
A 72-year-old voter in Dayton, Ohio, said, “I’m angry about everything.” A retired veterinary technician in Detroit said she voted for one reason only: “Donald Trump. To make sure he’s not reelected.” A federal employee who waited in line for 10 hours in suburban Atlanta explained simply: “I have three black sons.”
‘Black people are literally voting like their lives depend on it’
“The United States is not in a place where we would feel comfortable reopening those borders,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.
Amid Trump Failure to Get Pandemic Under Control, Canada Extends Border Closure With US | Common Dreams News
Even if Trump loses, he can go on screwing up the country for two and a half months thereafter, and it will take years to undo the damage he has done. Pandemics are the sort of thing you want to nip in the bud. If you let them go to national community spread, they become far more difficult to quash. Some analysts are looking at winter 2023 for the US to “put the pandemic in the rear-view mirror,” and that is assuming we get an effective vaccine fairly soon (something of which there is no guarantee), and that it can be mass manufactured and widely distributed and that people will get it.
China grows nearly 5%; Will historians look back at Trump’s disastrous Pandemic Response as the Moment Beijing Overtook the US?
Donald Trump considers any election in which he is not the “winner” to be null and void. Trump’s appointment of Amy Coney Barrett to the United States Supreme Court is an obvious quid pro quo to secure his “reelection” if his attorneys and other agents can sufficiently sabotage the vote on Election Day and beyond.
Historian Timothy Snyder warns that America is already in its own “slow-motion Reichstag Fire” | Salon.com
Break the Law we can always defend it in the Supreme Court
He not only applauded the California GOP’s illegal use of mail-in ballot drop-boxes; he’s urging Republican officials elsewhere to do the same thing.
Trump Is Urging Republicans to Break the Law | The Nation
Donald Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric appears to be informing extremism in Australia and right-wing media is helping, writes James Cutler.
Trumpism: Its firing up the far-Right
With President Donald Trump’s re-election very much in doubt, his administration is rushing to ram through regulatory rollbacks that could adversely affect millions of Americans, the environment, and the ability of Joe Biden—should he win—to pursue his agenda or even undo the damage done over the past four years.
Critics Say Deregulatory Rush Shows Even If Defeated the Trump White House Willing to ‘Scorch the Earth Before They Go’ | Common Dreams News
When all is said and done was working for Trump a career boost?
Lackeys from the Trump administration aren’t one teensy bit concerned about the mess they’ll leave behind should their impeached president lose reelection in just under 20 days. Oh no, the fact that they’re all on a superspreader tour of the country is proof of that. Like their boss, what they’re concerned about instead are their own sorry asses.
Trump Staffers Worry About Resumes After Choosing To Work For An Authoritarian | Crooks and Liars
The nation’s top political reporters actually focused on the extreme contrast between the candidates, not spectacle
A dueling town halls upside: Media finally focuses on the wide gulf between Biden and Trump | Salon.com
Trump is alive because he got the best treatment science can deliver, buttressed by data gathered from the corpses he has already caused. Upon recovery, he declared his intent to abandon millions more to a choking, solitary death so he can keep his job and salvage his junkyard ego. Not for one second does he think this Great Barrington Declaration will do anybody but him any good. It gets him out from under, and that is all that matters. Ladies and gentlemen, the president of the United States.
Trump Got the Best COVID Treatment. For the Rest of Us He Wants “Herd Immunity.” | The Smirking Chimp
On Wednesday morning, the New York Post broke the genuinely unbelievable story about a soggy laptop with a hard drive that contains emails suggesting that Joe Biden had a previously unreported meeting with a Ukrainian businessman … and video of Hunter Biden having a crack-laced party with a sex worker. Because, sure, if you’re going to have illegal drugs while engaging in illegal sex, you have to be sure to film it, right after the email that’s a threat to your father.
Details Emerge On Giuliani-Post Story, And The Obvious Frame-up Looks Clearly Like Russian Propaganda | Crooks and Liars
The White House has abandoned the idea of controlling the virus and instead is openly embracing the idea of “herd immunity.” Officials are arguing that the nation should protect our most vulnerable neighbors — the elderly and the infirm — and the rest of us should go about our lives normally, without waiting for a vaccine.
Plot to kidnap Michigan’s governor grew from the militia movement’s toxic mix of constitutional falsehoods and half-truths
The U.S. militia movement has long been steeped in a peculiar – and unquestionably mistaken – interpretation of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and civil liberties. This is true of an armed militia group that calls itself the Wolverine Watchmen, who were involved in the recently revealed plot to overthrow Michigan’s government and kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
Plot to kidnap Michigan’s governor grew from the militia movement’s toxic mix of constitutional falsehoods and half-truths
But the most chilling moment of her Supreme Court confirmation testimony Tuesday came when she said she would “need to hear arguments” about whether President Trump can postpone the election. “President Trump made claims of voter fraud and suggested he wanted to delay the upcoming election,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein (Calif.), the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, observed. “Does the Constitution give the president of the United States the authority to unilaterally delay a general election under any circumstances? Does federal law?” AD
Opinion | Postpone the election? Voter intimidation? Amy Coney Barrett is open to it. – The Washington Post
This past week, 13 men belonging to paramilitary groups were arrested in a horrifying plot to kidnap Michigan’s Democratic governor, Gretchen Whitmer. Based on what can be gleaned from the men’s social media pages, they fit a familiar profile of far-right vigilantism in America.
All The President’s Men | HuffPost Australia
Rather than admitting that its belated and ineffective response to the novel coronavirus outbreak has cost more than 210,000 American lives and taking measures now to prevent any more loss of lives, the US administration unashamedly continues to blame other countries for the spread of the virus. The international community hoped that after testing positive for COVID-19, the US president’s attitude toward the pandemic would change. Yet the world is greeted by the same chicanery. Because when it comes to “America first”, it is the US administration first; the rest just don’t matter.
Hollowness of ‘America first’ to the fore at UN meeting: China Daily editorial – Opinion – Chinadaily.com.cn
Donald Trump has secured a critical endorsement just 24 days before the election: the Taliban. CBS News is reporting that the Taliban really wants Donald Trump to be reelected for a second term.
I wonder how the military and the rest of the Republican Party feels about this?
Only Trump
President Trump’s reelection bid received a vote of support Friday from an entity most in his party would reject: the Taliban.
The Taliban on Trump: “We hope he will win the election” and withdraw U.S. troops – CBS News
Portland protesters report severe and lasting side effects from the chemical weapons used during Trump’s “Operation Diligent Valor.
Toxic Chemical Smoke Grenades Used in Portland
Soon after the US President’s refusal to attend the debate, Trump’s campaign team then issued a statement suggesting pushing back the encounter to October 22, the scheduled date of a third debate between the candidates, while using the town hall-style format planned for October 15. The Trump campaign proposed holding what would be a third debate on October 29.
US 2020 Election: Second US Presidential debate to be virtual amid concerns of Donald Trump’s COVID-19
A MODERN DAY NERO
US President Donald Trump has described his COVID-19 infection as a “blessing from God” in a new video filmed at the White House in which he promises to make the experimental drug he received available for free to all Americans. Introducing himself as “your favourite president”, Trump said he regarded the experimental antibody treatment, made by pharma company Regeneron, as a “cure” for coronavirus. There is no cure for the virus, according to medical experts.
Trump says COVID-19 infection ‘a blessing from god’, promises Regeneron for free
Even if Joe Biden were to gain enough votes, Trump will not allow him to win the U.S. Election, writes Peter Henning.
Don’t expect due process in the U.S. Election
In fact, throughout his first—and, hopefully, only—term in office, Trump has turned the presidency into a huge swamp, rife with corruption.
King of the Swamp – Progressive.org
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‘Promises Made, Workers Betrayed’: Trump Gave $425 Billion in Federal Contracts to Corporations That Offshored 200,000 Jobs | Common Dreams News
Trump won in 2016 by pledging to voters in key industrial swing states that he would end job offshoring, but 200,000 more American jobs have been offshored during his presidency.”
‘Promises Made, Workers Betrayed’: Trump Gave $425 Billion in Federal Contracts to Corporations That Offshored 200,000 Jobs | Common Dreams News
The Senate went into recess Monday afternoon following the news that at least three Republican senators were waylaid with Covid-19. It was the latest in an ongoing parliamentary battle whose outcome could shape both the judiciary and the Senate for years to come. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had a near-invincible upper hand in the fight, but now his control is far from certain amid the virus outbreak, which seems to have been spread rapidly by the very ceremony that kicked off the confrontation: a reckless White House party to celebrate the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett.
McConnell Put the Senate in Recess. What Happens Now?
“These groups have been waiting for the signal from Trump for some time,” Wagner added. “Many of them explicitly reference the president in waiting for orders.”
“Stand back and stand by”: New report links Trump and NRA to rise of militias behind violent threats | Salon.com
Whether he recovers or not, Trump’s presidency is moribund; so utterly corrupted it is rotten to the core. Mendacity and recklessness are two of its worst traits, notes Frank Bruni. Add a third: Trump’s petty tyranny. If you wanted the boss to be happy, you left your mask at home, report Annie Karni and Maggie Haberman of The White House’s top-down culture of fear. A staff too frightened to displease their boss cannot tell him the hard truths he needs to know. In the end, this is the illness that has undone Trump. He is the architect of his own decline.
Trump is the architect of his own decline – » The Australian Independent Media Network
Will we now see policy discussions and debates in the media? No Effen way. (ODT
Donny SuperSpreader can’t benefit from catching a virus he has claimed affects “virtually nobody”
Trump has COVID-19: More evidence that he’s always put his ego ahead of public health | Salon.com
Trump’s motives could not be more transparent. If he does not win the Electoral College, he’ll muddy the results so that the outcome can be decided only by the Supreme Court or the House of Representatives (where each state delegation gets one vote). Trump has advantages in both right now, which he has boasted about for the past week. I can’t say this any more clearly: Our democracy is in terrible danger — more danger than it has been since the Civil War, more danger than after Pearl Harbor, more danger than during the Cuban missile crisis and more danger than during Watergate. Advertisement
Trump shows American democracy is in terrible danger
Republican Governor Greg Abbott, an ally of the President, today announced that counties in Texas can only have one location to collect completed mail ballots from voters – a move that critics say amounts to voter suppression in populous left-leaning cities such as Austin and Houston.
2020 US Election: Republicans accused of voter suppression to help Trump in Texas
“He’s been blocking the original HEROES Act for 138 days. As always, his priorities are appalling.”
As McConnell Dismisses New Covid Relief Bill as ‘Political Stunt,’ Survey Shows 60% of US Families Struggling to Get By | Common Dreams News
The Republican-led legislature passed a new law presenting another hurdle — felons had to pay off all their fines to vote — but last week, billionaire Michael Bloomberg donated US$16 million to a fund designed to help them do that.
No mail-in votes, proof of citizenship: the long history of preventing minorities from voting in the US
“He’s in a very precarious financial situation,” Painter said. “And we don’t know who the creditors really are. Because if Deutsche Bank makes a loan, you have no idea whether Deutsche Bank has the risk attached to that loan, or whether somebody else has made a commitment to Deutsche Bank to take on a piece of that, or all of it.” That poses national security and other risks to the United States and also highlights the legal and financial uncertainty Trump and his web of businesses may face if he loses in November. “When he’s not president anymore, we don’t know what’s going to happen,” Painter said. “And neither does he, so he wants to stay in order to continue to prop those businesses up. The minute he’s out, I think the loans could get called. And there could be a lot of investigations.”
Trump Needs To Win The Election To Keep His ‘Get Out Of Jail Free’ Card | HuffPost Australia
It’s tempting to turn the new reporting on Donald Trump’s tax shenanigans, paying only $750 in taxes in 2016 and 2017, into a story about Trump as a singular villain. He’s despicable, but he could only get away with it because we live under a system that allows the wealthy to rip off $266 billion from the country every single year.
Our Tax System Allows and Encourages Massive Rip-Offs Like Trump’s
Politically speaking, the world will survive the Trumpocalypse. The United States is a different matter. Trumpism, like COVID-19, has both exposed and amplified the manifold defects of this country, from widespread racial injustice to a failing social safety net. All the world’s a stage, as the Bard once said, and the international community has front row seats to watch, with a mixture of pity and fear, the tragic downfall of the once-great United States.
Has Trump done Irreparable Damage to US Partnerships Abroad?
The hallucinatory world of anticommunism-without-communism is dangerous and violent. Its partisans believe they face an existential threat, which in principle licenses almost any level of violence. The state, as historian Ellen Schrecker points out, has been the teeth of most anti-communist networks. But it has often been bolstered by private militias, whether they be Minutemen, Klans, squadristi, the Sturmabteilung or Brazil’s Green Shirts. That is the significance of the eruptions of militia violence in the US, the hate mobs in India, and the Green Shirt revivalists in Brazil. When these people start to see red, blood flows in the streets.
Why is the nationalist right hallucinating a ‘communist enemy’? | Richard Seymour | Opinion | The Guardian
Trump’s plan to clean the forests up so there’s less to burn(ODT)
Plan to open Alaska’s Tongass national forest to logging faces backlash from environmental advocates, tribal nations and fishermen
Trump administration advances plan to cut protections for largest national forest | US news | The Guardian
I suspect the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg means Donald Trump will win November’s US election. You might think conversely that it favours Joe Biden, and you might even be right. What interests me is that everyone agrees her death is hugely significant.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death a win for Trump in 2020
People in public life tend to fall into one of two broad categories – those who are motivated by principle, and those motivated by power.
For RBG it was all Principle, for Mitch McConnell it’s all Power | The Smirking Chimp
DeSantis’ proposed bill came on the same day that the U.S. Department of Justice designated New York City, Seattle, and Portland—where anti-racism demonstrations continued 119 days after the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd—as “anarchist jurisdictions.”
‘Sledgehammer to Permanently Silence Opposing Voices’: Outrage Over Florida Gov. DeSantis’ Proposed Anti-Protest Bill | Common Dreams News
Today news coverage shows that Americans broadly understand the racial connotations when Donald Trump talks about “restoring law and order” and protecting “the suburbs.” Such phrases are no longer dog whistles, though they are still referred to as such.
Trump’s appeals to white anxiety are not ‘dog whistles’ – they’re racism
Activism in the U.S. Presidential Election by senior military personnel, retired and serving, has reached an unprecedented level. Alan Austin reports.
U.S. military leaders line up to condemn Commander-in-Chief Trump
