26 thoughts on “Monday Open Thread”

1. “Unconstitutional slop….”  Statement by Senator Ben Sasse (R-NE) regarding Trump’s executive order done on Saturday, regarding the payroll tax, to “stimulate” the economy.

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   1. So, Sen. Sasse will rally his colleagues and try for Constitutional slop? 

       

       

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      1. Who knows, JiD? Anything is possible in this really weird and unpredictable election cycle.

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2. The march towards a more tolerant, pluralistic society does not mean you give up your rights when others gain theirs.

   Civil rights and equality aren’t a damn pie. 

   ‘Christianity Will Have Power’

   “Evangelicals did not support Mr. Trump in spite of who he is. They supported him because of who he is, and because of who they are. He is their protector, the bully who is on their side, the one who offered safety amid their fears that their country as they know it, and their place in it, is changing, and changing quickly. White straight married couples with children who go to church regularly are no longer the American mainstream. An entire way of life, one in which their values were dominant, could be headed for extinction. And Mr. Trump offered to restore them to power, as though they have not been in power all along.”

    

   If you’re willing to live with kids in cages, 150,000 dead Americans from CoVID, and tens of millions out of work and unable to support their families, then you’re not a Christian. You’re a hypocrite.

   I'm looking at you, Franklin and Jerry the junior. 

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   1. 👍👍…what you said.

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      1. Meanwhile in South Dakota … (Moddy's gunna need a new box of Kleenex)

         Put TRUMP on Mount Rushmoore NOW pic.twitter.com/dLlUIIwiQY

         — Brent Terhune (@BrentTerhune) August 10, 2020

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         1. Brent Terhune is a comedian whose support of Trump is satire. I wonder if my extended fam in S Dakota will get that it’s satire. My fav line from Terhune’s video: “But I digest.” 
             

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            1. If you read through the comments on his Twitter page there are a shocking number of morans who don't understand satire! 

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   2. Preach, brother! 

      But Representative Dismukes won’t be listening. The author, Hemand Mehta, wrote:

      Dismukes is 30. If he’s still working through the whole stealing-is-bad-and-racism-is-wrong thing, he shouldn’t be in a position of power. Stay home. Read a book. Go back to grade school. You don’t have to be in charge of decisions affecting the entire state.

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3. If you looked here for a countdown poem

   I won't write such a ditty.

   But in only 85 more days

   We'll throw out the goon and it won't be pretty.

    

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4. Continuing a string of unsparing commentary in Salon, Lucian K. Truscott IV declares:  Let’s remember that along with everything else, Donald Trump’s a total pig

    

   Can we put aside for the moment Trump’s corruption, ignorance, incompetence, arrogance, racism, stupidity, criminality, greed and buffoonery, and just deal with the fact that he’s a pig? You know what I’m talking about. Look at one of the photographs of Trump and his wife Melania alongside their good friends Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, and you’ve got the whole thing in a proverbial nutshell. I mean, do you have any photographs of yourself with a convicted sex offender and someone accused of procurement in a child sex ring?

   I don’t appear in many photographs, so I think it is safe to answer no. 

   I can only recall one person in my life who was arrested and indicted for any sort of criminal sexual activity — and I’ve not said “I just wish her him well, whatever it is.”

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   1. That about covers it.

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   2. Kentucky Bishop Says Trump Isn't Pro-Life Because 'He Is Only Concerned About Himself'

      The Lexington Diocese Bishop, Rev. John Stowe spoke out against Trump's stance on abortion, calling it disingenuous. The bishop was responding to a question about Catholic relationships to the upcoming election, especially considering the debate surrounding abortion. "For this president to call himself pro-life, and for anybody to back him because of claims of being pro-life, is almost willful ignorance," he said. "He is so much anti-life because he is only concerned about himself, and he gives us every, every, every indication of that."

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   3. Well, if people can rag on President Obama for Reverend Wright, or Bill Ayers, over far less, Trump's ties to Epstein and Maxwell are more than fair game.

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5. Kanye West may get a record … no, not that sort of record.

   Vanity Fair: Could Kanye West Be Charged With Electoral Fraud?

   Given that he didn’t announce his candidacy until July, Kanye West’s presidential bid has been an uphill battle from the start. But now, his campaign is facing a brand-new hurdle to appear on ballots in November, in the form of suggestions of potential electoral fraud.

   The rapper has filed petitions to appear on the presidential ticket in 10 states, but so far has only managed to secure a spot on Oklahoma’s ballot, although he has many petitions pending review. While he managed to meet the filing deadlines for Illinois and New Jersey, the two states are now throwing West’s eligibility into doubt after both announced that the majority of the signatures submitted as part of his petition are invalid.

   I wonder if someone has actually communicated with all 9 of the voters on the Colorado petition.

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   1. The Republican operative who got Kanye onto the ballot told signers that it was “hilarious” and “a joke”. That could be considered fraud. Maybe an election lawyer should follow up on  that angle. 
       

      In Colorado, even though I know low-info voters who would vote for Kanye, it’s not enough to seriously threaten Biden’s lead over Trump. More of a threat is disgruntled high information voters who will sit out the election. 
       

      Wisconsin could be dicey- it could be the one big state prize Kanye “spoils” For Biden, and allows Trump to win. 
      But as of today, West is only on the ballot securely in 3 states: Colorado, Oklahoma, and Vermont. ( 19 electoral votes total) That’s per Wikipedia, which seems on top of developments. 
       

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   2. 9?!

      You must mean 9,000

      or 9 per county

      or 9 per Houe District

      9 people can get a presidential candidate ont he ballot?

      Do they have to want to do it?

      I mean why don’t 9 people put John Elway on every Presidential ballot. Or Jon Caldera? or Kirk producer guy from KHH AM420?

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      1. Here's a list of the current Presidential candidates on the Colorado ballot, courtesy of Marshall Zelinger:

         I need to update the list of presidential candidates in Colorado. There are now 23! And Kanye has name-recognition competition. How do I know? I can feel it coming in the air tonight.

         No, it's not him. He wasn't born in America. https://t.co/ZGwAfJO3UV pic.twitter.com/aSnP7VtuhG

         — Marshall Zelinger (@Marshall9News) August 10, 2020

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         1. Interesting. I know someone named Kasey Wells. 

             

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      2. You too can have your name placed on the Colorado ballot for the low, low price of $1,000 and nine signatures of people who agree to vote for you in the Electoral College if you win the statewide vote.  Of course, you must be constitutionally eligible, which means 35 and a citizen.  No experience needed.  Heck, there's nothing to say you have to be eligible to vote.

         As to why other people don't …   Desire to spend $1,000 differently?  Fear of looking foolish?  Don't have 9 people willing to sign up to spend .a Monday in December on their behalf?  who knows. 

          

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         1. $1000.00 and a native-born citizen, JiD, hence the constant conspiracy theories about Pres. Obama and Kenya, his father's native land.

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6. Climate Denial Spreads on Facebook as Scientists Face Restrictions

   Now, Facebook appears to be weakening a firewall it has built to fact-check such climate denialism. The company recently overruled a fact-check from a group of climate scientists, in a move that concerns researchers about a potentially new precedent by the platform that permits inaccurate claims to be promoted if they’re labeled as opinions.

   At the same time, Facebook has placed restrictions on one of the country’s most visible climate scientists, Katharine Hayhoe, of Texas Tech University and a lead author of the Fourth National Climate Assessment. She has been blocked from promoting videos related to climate research, a move that has limited her efforts to refute false claims.

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7. #thisisTtumpsAmerica. Q the clowns:  

   QAnon groups have millions of members on Facebook, documents show

   An internal investigation by Facebook has uncovered thousands of groups and pages, with millions of members and followers, that support the QAnon conspiracy theory, according to internal company documents reviewed by NBC News. The top 10 groups collectively contain more than 1 million members.

    

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   1. Is it plausible to assume most are Russian or Chinese bots>

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      1. How does one tell the difference between a bot, and say, Moddy? Carnegie?  (asking for a friend)

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      2. Moddy is too dumb to be a bot.  Carnegie was too sophsticated.

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