For all the shit we’ve given the NYTimes in this election season, they have really pulled out all the stops to make up for it the last couple of days. This was yesterday’s front page. Here are a couple of the inside pages in the same issue. There are more. A huge section was devoted to this subject. I have included a gift link to this online multimedia indictment of Trump. It’s amazing. And here is their endorsement of Kamala Harris which, unlike the Washington Post and the LA Times, they seem to think is something a major national paper has a responsibility to do: It is hard to imagine a candidate more unworthy to serve as president of the United States than Donald Trump. He has proved himself morally unfit for an office that asks its occupant to put the good of the nation above self-interest. He has proved himself temperamentally unfit for a role that requires the very qualities — wisdom, honesty, empathy, courage, restraint, humility, discipline — that he most lacks.
Uncategorized
30,000 people showed up in Houston last night in person too: Betting that abortion access can be a winning message in Texas and across the country, Vice President Kamala Harris rallied more than 30,000 people in downtown Houston Friday night to “Vote for reproductive freedom.” Those words were emblazoned behind Harris, U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, Texas country legend Willie Nelson and global pop superstar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter as they declared the next 11 days leading up to Election Day as the final push in an existential fight for freedom. In her 30-minute speech, Harris keyed in on her campaign’s closing message for the election’s final days, framing the issues of democracy and reproductive rights as two sides of the same coin. Harris argued Trump and other Republican officials will erode citizens’ rights, pointing to the U.S.
To all our progressive and American Muslim friends who are thinking of leaving the presidential slot blank on the ballot, I urge you to read this. It’s the best argument I’ve seen about how to smartly leverage all of our concerns over Gaza and Israel: Arizona Palestinian, Arab, Muslim, and Progressive Democrats and Community Leaders Statement on Presidential Election As Democrats and leaders in the Palestinian, Arab, Muslim and Progressive communities in Arizona, we the undersigned make the following statement, published on 10/24/2024: This past year has been very difficult for all of us. With over 42,000 Palestinians killed by Israel using American-supplied weapons and no end in sight despite all our struggle for a ceasefire, we approach the presidential election heartbroken and outraged. We know that many in our communities are resistant to vote for Kamala Harris because of the Biden administration’s complicity in the genocide. We understand this sentiment. Many of us have felt that way ourselves, even until very recently. Some of us have lost many family members in Gaza and Lebanon.
For three hours!!! I don’t have it in me to watch the whole thing. But here are Tim Miller and Sam Stein giving you the highlights if you are curious. Miller says it was like being at a country club bar listening to two rich guys sitting there talking about some articles they read in the Wall St. Journal about whales. I think that’s being generous. Get this: Trump was three hours late for his rally because he was doing this podcast. Many of the attendees had already left and then he made the rest stand around in the cold and listen to Ave Maria. I’m not kidding.
Who writes her speeches? “I lay awake at night wondering, ‘What in the world is going on?’” asked Michelle Obama early in her Saturday rally speech in Kalamazoo, Michigan. She’s not alone. The woman I spoke with on Friday said the same while choking back tears. But, holy hell, who writes Obama’s speeches? There is a lot of her in them, obviously. Her convention speech in August pulled few punches. This speech last night, her first since the DNC, featured bare knuckles. “Searing and passionate,” the AP called it. “A scathing indictment of Donald Trump,” said CNN. “Y’all know I hate politics,” Obama began, referencing the stakes in the presidential election. “But I hate to see folks taken advantage of even more.” She took on the threats to America, and especially to American women.
“I’m telling you that Donald Trump has said and I agree with them that we should use the US military to go after American people who riot.” The whole Tapper interview with Vance is difficult to watch but in the end it’s utterly satisfying. Vance is a fast talker but it comes through clearly just what a horror he really is. Tapper doesn’t let him go. Trump is 78 and could keel over at any time. Vance is 39 yers old. He could easily end up in the oval office. He is the future of the Republican Party.
I would really like to see some follow-through on this if Harris wins. (Needless to say, Trump will make sure it never happens if he does.) Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-M.D.) called today on Attorney General Merrick Garland to appoint a special counsel to investigate possible violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) by Jared Kushner, son-in-law and former senior White House advisor to ex-President Donald Trump. As part of investigations launched last Congress by House and Senate Democrats, Senate investigators have uncovered that since the end of the Trump administration through mid-2024, Kushner’s firm Affinity Partners has received as much as $157 million in fees from foreign clients—including $87 million from the Saudi government—while generating no return on investment, paying zero earnings to investors, and investing only a small fraction of funds it has received from the sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.
Kamala Harris has raised over a billion dollars, mostly from small donors since July. The Harris campaign raised $97.2 million in the first half of October alone, while the Trump campaign raised only $16.2 million, after Harris shook up what was previously a more evenly matched cash race (Biden and Trump had raised $284.1 million and $217.2 million in total as of the end of June, respectively). The Harris Victory Fund—which raises money for both Harris’ campaign and Democratic groups—raised $1.2 billion this election cycle, according to a FEC filing released Thursday. While Harris had already garnered a fundraising lead over Trump, her donations shot up in September: NBC News first reported that Harris and affiliated committees had passed the $1 billion mark since she entered the race based on her September fundraising, which included $47 million the campaign reported raising in the 24 hours after Harris’ debate against Trump on Sept.
Biennial Republican celebration October is normally leaf-looker season here in the Cesspool of Sin. But after Hurricane Helene’s tragic visit last month, not this year. (We can’t drink the water yet and victims are still missing.) But neither rain, nor snow, neither darkness of heart nor climate change-spawned natural disaster will stop MAGAland’s celebration of migrant caravan season. Republicans celebrate biennially, like clockwork, observes The New Republic’s Greg Sargent. Caravan season may not be an October surprise these days, but it is an October miracle. Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York is chair of the House Republican Conference. And by Jiminy, she will “stop the madness” by electing a madman. A Customs and Border Patrol spokesperson tells Newsweek: “We are aware of recent reports of a migrant caravan that has materialized in Southern Mexico, as we hear about several times per year.”
Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee sent out a statement this week drawing attention to the fact that the Trump campaign is dragging its feet with respect to the presidential transition process in which both candidates are expected to participate in anticipation of a possible win in November. Generally they start months ahead of time to get a head start on vetting people for staffing the large number of political appointee jobs throughout the administration and coordinating with the current staff to ensure a smooth transition to the new presidency. So far, the Trump team has missed two important deadlines to sign agreements to get it started. Trump, you may recall, doesn’t respect this process very much, having fired his first transition team right after the election in 2016. And he prevented the Biden team from accessing the process in 2020 while he contested the election dangerously delaying them from getting started. However, one might think it’s a bit odd for them to do that this time since once you sign the papers you have access to money and services that make the whole thing easier.