August 20, 2020 11:18 AM UTC

Get More Smarter on Thursday (August 20)

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• by: Colorado Pols

Happy World Mosquito Day! Wait…what? Let’s Get More Smarter. If you think we missed something important, please include the link in the comments below (here’s a good example). If you are more of an audio learner, check out The Get More Smarter Podcast. And don’t forget to find us on Facebook and Twitter.

BECAUSE CORONAVIRUS…

*Colorado Coronavirus info:
CDPHE Coronavirus website 

*Daily Coronavirus numbers in Colorado:
http://covid19.colorado.gov

*How you can help in Colorado:
COVRN.com

*Locate a COVID-19 testing site in Colorado:
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment 

► The actual President of the United States of America has now essentially endorsed the QAnon conspiracy theories. As Chris Cillizza writes for CNN:

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump did something incredibly dangerous.

Asked by a reporter about QAnon, a conspiracy group that has been labeled a potential domestic terrorism threat by the FBI, Trump said this:

“Well, I don’t know much about the movement other than I understand they like me very much, which I appreciate. But I don’t know much about the movement. I have heard that it is gaining in popularity and from what I hear it’s — these are people that — they watch the streets of Portland — when they watch what happened in New York City in just the last six or seven months, but this was starting even four years ago when I came here. Almost four years, can you believe it?

“These are people that don’t like seeing what’s going on in places like Portland, and places like Chicago, and New York and other cities and states. And I’ve heard these are people that love our country and they just don’t like seeing it.”…

…The President of the United States has now said that he thinks a group of violent conspiracy theorists are “people who love our country” and are a sort of antidote to the protests and violence in major cities in the country.

It’s stunning — even for Trump. And it’s extremely dangerous because it emboldens people who have already shown a willingness to act on their wild conspiracy theories in violent ways.

If this doesn’t concern you, then you should be aware of Trump’s endorsement of Florida Republican congressional candidate Laura Loomer. If THAT doesn’t concern you…well, then enjoy your day.

► Private fundraising efforts to collect enough money to help “build the wall” along the U.S.-Mexico border have turned out to be a giant scam, with help from a couple of notable names in Colorado. Steve Bannon, who was President Trump’s chief political strategist, is among those who have been indicted in the scheme. This leads us to another headline today from The Washington Post:

On the topic of a border wall, here’s a fun old post for #ThrowbackThursday.

► The editorial board of The New York Times cuts straight to the point:

► Vote! Vote! Vote! As The Associated Press explains, Democrats are hammering home a simple message this week at the Democratic National Convention:

Former President Barack Obama warned that American democracy could falter if President Donald Trump is reelected, a stunning rebuke of his successor that was echoed by Kamala Harris at the Democratic Convention as she embraced her historic role as the first Black woman on a national political ticket.

Obama, himself a barrier breaker as the nation’s first Black president, pleaded with voters Wednesday night to “embrace your own responsibility as citizens — to make sure that the basic tenets of our democracy endure. Because that’s what is at stake right now. Our democracy.”

Throughout their convention, the Democrats have summoned a collective urgency about the dangers of Trump as president. In 2016, they dismissed and sometimes trivialized him. Now they are casting him as an existential threat to the country. The tone signals anew that the fall campaign between Trump and Joe Biden, already expected to be among the most negative of the past half-century, will be filled with rancor and recrimination.

Yet on the third night of the Democrats’ four-day convention, party leaders also sought to put forward a cohesive vision of their values and policy priorities, highlighting efforts to combat climate change and tighten gun laws. They drew a sharp contrast with Trump, portraying him as cruel in his treatment of immigrants, disinterested in the nation’s climate crisis and in over his head on virtually all of the nation’s most pressing challenges.

This big news from Wednesday night at the DNC was Kamala Harris’s acceptance of the nomination for Vice President and former President Obama’s complete dismantling of Trump. The DNC’s virtual week winds up tonight with Joe Biden’s acceptance speech for the Democratic Presidential nomination.

More political (and coronavirus) news is available right after the jump…

Now Only Partially Coronavirus-Related…

► Ian Silverii of The Denver Post hammers Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Yuma) for his “pretend to protect pre-existing conditions” legislation:

Gardner has had 10 years in Washington to do what he promised, come up with a health care plan that is less expensive and higher quality than what the ACA offers. He has not only failed, but he has repeatedly thrown his support behind measures that would actively do harm to the people he’s supposed to represent.

To run an empty health care bill now, which accomplishes nothing except providing Gardner with a talking point in a political ad, shows that he will never take responsibility for his terrible record of voting against protecting people with preexisting conditions. Gardner must be held accountable, especially when issues are literally a matter of life or death.

► A federal judge has rejected President Trump’s latest efforts to prevent prosecutors in New York from accessing his tax and financial records. The ruling requires Trump to turn over his tax returns to a Manhattan District Attorney.

► Weekly jobless claims in the United States have again surpassed the 1 million mark.

► 9News has more on the locations of coronavirus outbreaks in Colorado.

► The United States Supreme Court won’t take up the case of a lawsuit seeking to overturn the Affordable Care Act until AFTER the November 3 election.

► The Colorado Supreme Court will institute term limits for Chief Justices.

► Republican Congressional candidate Lauren “Q*Bert” Boebert is having a hard time distancing herself from QAnon conspiracy theories, largely because she totally believes in most of them. She would also be more believable if she would stop promoting crazy Q theories.

► It’s not just you; lakes in Colorado are indeed getting very green. Thanks, Climate Change!

► Denver’s “Stapleton” neighborhood moves another step closer to becoming “Central Park” instead.

Your Daily Dose Of ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

► Sometimes the Universe just decides to pick a different side, as The Washington Post reports:

► This didn’t age well:

NOON UPDATE: “The GoFundMe fundraiser called, “We The People Will Fund The Wall” has an end goal of $1-B. As of Thursday morning, the account has raised over $4.5-M in the third day of fundraising.” #copolitics https://t.co/gl9sz1XrbL pic.twitter.com/TjoVJKCgNA

— Complete Colorado (@CompleteCO) December 20, 2018

ICYMI

► Gah! Don’t look directly into his eyes!

► The Republican Party has crafted quite an odd ballot for itself in 2020.

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