Thank you to Ann for "Are you watching Kamala's rally" which covers Elon Musk and his efforts to elude the court. Ann did a great job.
Guess what though?
I'm not in the mood to talk Elon tonight. I'm tired and I think we all are. This week, Joe Biden called racists "garbage." Not controversial. But the MAGA nuts tried to make it a big thing. They are trash.
C.I . refuted that garbage and did so with multiple arguments including citing singer-songwriter Nanci Griffith's "It's A Hard Life Wherever You Go."
Nancy died at 68 a few years ago (2021). Like a lot of Americans, I discovered her via PBS. She had a beautiful voice to sing with and she also had a great writing voice.
So tonight, I'm just going to note five of my favorite songs by Nanci.
1) "Once In A Very Blue Moon."
2) "There's A Light Beyond These Woods (Mary Margaret)."
3) "You Made This Love A Teardrop."
4) "Across The Great Divide" with Emmylou Harris.
5) "More Than A Whisper."
So those are five of my favorite Nanci Griffith's songs that she wrote or co-wrote and one that she covered ("Across The Great Divide" was written by Kate Wolf).
Get some much needed rest and spend Sunday and Monday reaching out to friends you know who haven't voted yet and seeing if you can do anything to help -- like giving someone a ride so they can vote on Tuesday.
Kamala's the only sane choice. I am so glad she's running. We have a real chance at winning as a result and she has some great plans. Donald has nothing but hate and his wish to destroy.
Friday, November 1, 2024. Donald Trump threatens violence against
Liz Cheney, Jennifer Lopez nails down why we need to vote for Kamala,
and much more
Jennifer
Lopez: The election is just five days away and there is so much at
stake. The choices facing Americans now are monumental. And you guys
have made this city a place where dreams come true, where people from
all walks of life have planted a flag in hopes of creating a better
future for themselves and their families. And you are the ones who are
going to send the message that Nevada is Harris country. Kamala Harris
is running for the people who dream, for the parents working overtime,
the children studying by street light, the teenagers practicing in the
basement. She's the only candidate that wants to raise the minimum wage
and make college more affordable, keep the Dept of Education and even
put a teacher in the Vice President's job. That's right. On the other
hand, her opponent wants to kill the Affordable Care Act and eliminated
the Dept of Education. Right now, we are on the brink of an election
that demands a choice -- a choice between backwards and forwards, a
choice between the past and the future, a choice between divided and
united. And if you are anything like me and you value the idea that in
this country, any child, from any background, cannot only work their ass
off to bring their dreams to life and to be able to do so with dignity
and respect for their neighbors, then it isn't much of a choice at all.
Whether you're from Castle Hill in the Bronx -- yes, baby -- or Sunrise
Manor in East Las Vegas, we all want a world where our kids feel safe
and free and valued by their president because whoever lead this country
matters -- that's how we make the greatest America. Because I remember
-- I remember growing up thinking my president cared about me, cared
about my parents, cared about my neighbors and my community -- not just
some Americans, but all Americans. I believe that our kids and this
wonderfully progressive, innovative and inclusive young generation
deserve that too. And it is in our hands -- it's our responsibility to
provide that for them. You know, when I started in TV and film, I could
get roles playing the maid or the loud mouthed Latina, but I knew I had
more to offer and I think there are a lot of people in this country who
feel the same way, who know that they are capable of more and we all
just want a chance to prove it. And elections are about choosing
leaders who support that. Not one who stands in the way.
Jennifer Lopez laid out the case for Kamala Harris last night in Las Vegas.
Having already addressed two gatherings of his supporters, the former president ended his day in a sit-down interview with Tucker Carlson on stage in Glendale, Arizona, at which he shockingly fantasised about former Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney being shot at.
He also attacked senior Democrats Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton and Adam Schiff and warned baselessly against “cheating” at the polls and forced sex-change operations in schools.
Vice President Harris closed out Thursday with a raully in Las Vegas in which singer and actor Jennifer Lopez emotionally endorsed her.
But
we were also supposed to be in mourning when Trump went around with the
maxipad taped to the side of his head. He can talk about someone
shooting Liz Cheney, but he wants sympathy when one of his nut job
supporters takes a shot at him?
Donald Trump said
former Rep. Liz Cheney is a “war hawk” who should be fired upon, as he
raged against one of his most prominent intra-party critics while
campaigning Thursday night in Arizona.
“She’s
a radical war hawk. Let’s put her with a rifle standing there with nine
barrels shooting at her, OK?” the former president said at a campaign
event in Glendale with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson. “Let’s see
how she feels about it, you know, when the guns are trained on her
face.”
Trump
also hurled insults at Cheney, once the third-ranking Republican in
House leadership, calling her “very dumb,” a “stupid person” and “the
moron.”
Trump’s suggestion that Cheney be fired upon represents an
escalation of the violent language he has used to target his political
foes. And it comes days before an election in which the former president
— who never accepted his 2020 loss — has already undermined public
confidence. In recent weeks, he has also suggested a military crackdown
on political opponents he has described as “the enemy within.”
Cheney
is perhaps the most vocal Republican critic of Trump’s efforts to
overturn the 2020 election, and his role in his supporters’ January 6,
2021, riot at the US Capitol. She played a leading role on the House
select committee that investigated the attack, and later was ousted from her deep-red Wyoming House seat by a Trump-backed primary opponent in 2022.
Cheney responded to Trump’s comments overnight, saying: “This is how dictators destroy free nations.”
Trump is a danger to this country. He cannot be allowed back in the White House. We have all got to vote in this election.
As for his continued lies about transgender operations taking place at schools?
Maybe he's scared or insulted. Maybe someone's suggested to him that he have top surgery?
Watch Dave Bautista in the video below.
2.2.
million views in less than two weeks. "He's got jugs. Big ones. Like
Dolly Parton," Dave notes. So maybe people have suggested breast
reduction surgery to Donald one time too many and that's what has him
obsessing over trans surgery? Donald, don't panic. Just buy yourself a
bra.
Over
the course of just four years, male voters under 30 have shifted a net
of 14 points towards Republicans, according to polling by the Harvard
Kennedy School of Politics.
Citing
inflation, immigration, the withering of the American dream, the left’s
war on “toxic masculinity,” and the former president’s ability to
bro-out with their favorite podcasters, young men told The Post what
made them ready to get behind Trump this November.
“As
far as young male voters are concerned, I feel like the Democrats have
no message for them. The Democrats have totally ignored that base,” Alex
Bruesewitz, a 27-year-old campaign advisor for Trump, told The Post.
Is
that what the incel feels? He's been for Trump since he could vote.
He published a (bad, really bad) book in 2022 with additional lies
because that's what a liar does. And I guess Rikki's a liar as well
since no research was done before rushing to quote the impotent male.
That's what's behind this -- impotency.
"Toxic masculinity." The term's been misunderstood by many -- especially by idiots like Impotent Alex.
Masculinity
is not toxic. No feminist has argued that. There is a strand of
masculinity that is toxic. That's the sort that bullies and batters.
And
while that strand is toxic, it doesn't just apply to men. Ava and I
long ago dubbed Ellen Barkin's Smurf on ANIMAL KINGDOM as the best
example of toxic masculinity -- see 2017's "TV: Conventions ingrained."
It's
a point lost on Alex who'd rather spend time styling his hair -- what a
big strong man he is using hairspray for his professional photo on
AMAZON! -- than actually thinking.
These
impotent incels worship a fat man with droopy boobs who craps himself
-- as DeSantis' campaign kept whispering to the press (DeSantis had an
accident in a Congressional bathroom, Trump knew about it and made jokes
about it and whispered it to the press, in response DeSantis' campaign
tried to get it known that Trump was crapping himself due to his age) --
and that's because they never learned what masculinity was -- toxic or
otherwise.
That's
why they are afloat and aimless. Alex wanted to run against a sitting
Republican in the House and thought he could win because he's just that
stupid. Then it was pointed out to him that the gay rumors swirl around
him like no one since George Michael, that he's accomplished nothing
with his life, and that his would be opponent was a military veteran
who served in Iraq (really served, not in some glorified steno pad like
Miss Sassy). Even though the US House Rep stepped down, the humiliating
reality that Alex was greeted with prevented him from running for
office. Maybe he can get some life experience?
Incels do feel powerless and do dream of Donald Trump's massive, saggy boobs.
When
I was gifted with a drive of Glenn Greenwald's web life -- it was left
with my agent by someone I do not know -- a number of outlets were
interested. But then I guess it just didn't look believable. That
these incels could be as disgusting as they actually are. But now they
realize that, yes, that wasn't just Glenn's weird surfing habits, this
was an actual movement of weak and powerless men trying to beat up
women, beat up Black men and force themselves on gay men (submissives
into humiliation like Glenn). That is MAGA. They pretend otherwise,
but that is who they are. And their violence against women was
especially disturbing. And you can find all that garbage on Elon Musk's
Twitter.
They're
also strangely obsessed with Hasan Piker. In the last few months,
we've highlighted some videos by Hasan. But when that drive was dropped
off, I had no idea that Hasan was a real person. I thought maybe he
was a character on some teen show. But they have all these fantasies --
these MAGA 'men' - of "breaking" Hasan -- of Charlie Kirk spanking him
over the knee on live television, of them 'breeding' him, etc etc. They
are incels and they get really excited about sex with men despite their
use of the f-term and their supposed hatred of gay men.
Since
we're bringing up Glenn, the prisoner claiming to have had a
relationship with Glenn, who's due out of prison shortly? He
specializes in humiliating other men. So if he and Glenn did have a
relationship, as the prisoner claims, let's be clear that Glenn was
paying for degradation and humiliation. Severe degradation and
humiliation.
The 78-year-old Trump's speeches are
marked by "lower energy" and also a tendency to go off on "nonsensical
tangents," NPR reported Tuesday. What's more, Trump seems to at times
have difficulty recalling very basic vocabulary.
"When
ad-libbing about a visit to a McDonald’s where he served food to
supporters in a campaign stunt meant to attack Vice President [Kamala]
Harris, he couldn’t remember the word fryer," NPR reported.
During the event, Trump reportedly said he took French fries "right out of whatever the hell they may come out of.”
In
June 2019, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. visited Samoa with his anti-vaccine
organization, Children’s Health Defense, meeting with local anti-vaxxers
and government officials at a time when the country’s measles vaccine
was under attack. Prominent anti-vax voices, including CHD, blamed the
vaccine for two infant deaths the prior year, even after the true reason was discovered. Amid the swirling misinformation, vaccine rates plummeted from 60–70 percent to 31 percent.
A
few months after RFK Jr.’s visit, measles swept through the freshly
vulnerable Pacific island nation, killing 83 Samoans—mostly children.
Kennedy doubled down, writing to the Samoan prime minister to question whether a “defective vaccine” was responsible for the outbreak. Even two years later, in 2021, Kennedy called a
Samoan anti-vaxxer who had reportedly discouraged people from getting
vaccinated during the 2019 crisis a “medical freedom hero.” Kennedy has
also insisted for years, against all available scientific evidence, that
vaccines cause autism, blaming them for a “holocaust” in the United States.
This week, Kennedy told supporters that
if Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump wins, he has promised
Kennedy “control of the public health agencies,” including the
Department of Health and Human Services. Trump transition co-chair
Howard Lutnik later denied that
Kennedy would have a job with HHS—although, at the same time, he said
Kennedy had convinced him to pull vaccines from the market. Trump
himself, at his Madison Square Garden rally on Sunday, seemed to lend
credence to the idea of Kennedy leading on health: “I’m gonna let him go
wild on health. I’m gonna let him go wild on the food. I’m gonna let
him go wild on medicines,” Trump said. Trump also said on a three-hour
podcast episode with Joe Rogan last week that he’s told Kennedy, “Focus
on health, focus—you can do whatever you want.” It’s not clear whether
such a promise would have been made in exchange for Kennedy’s political
endorsement, which would be illegal. But if Kennedy were to be
put in charge of HHS, he would be leading the executive department that
oversees the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food
and Drug Administration, and the National Institutes of Health, among
others. In the meantime, Kennedy is an honorary co-chair on the Trump
transition team, and claims to be “deeply involved in helping to choose the people who can run FDA, NIH, and CDC.”
In
his own speech at Madison Square Garden, Kennedy took aim at Democrats,
saying they were once “the party that wanted to protect public health,
and women’s sports”—a bizarre pairing that highlights his recent pivot
to attacking trans athletes and gender-affirming care. Kennedy, who ran
as a Democratic and then independent presidential candidate before
throwing his support behind Trump, is also spreading misinformation on
chronic health issues such as obesity, diabetes, drug overdoses, and
autism; on Tuesday, for example, he said diabetes
could be “cured with good food.” In his Sunday speech, Kennedy
characterized Trump as a president who would “protect our children … and
women’s sports,” as well as “end the corruption at the federal
agencies—at FDA, at NIH, at CDC, and at the CIA”—a constellation of
bodies rarely joined together, which he implied are conducting
surveillance upon and acting against the interests of the American
people.
“This unbridled assault on science and scientists,
it’s highly destabilizing for the country,” Baylor College of Medicine
dean Peter Hotez, author of The Deadly Rise of Anti-Science, told
me earlier this year, a few months after Kennedy announced his run. But
it’s not just Kennedy—Trump and other Republicans in Congress are also
leading the charge to undermine expertise and further erode public trust
in the government, he said. “This is what authoritarianism is all
about,” Hotez said, lamenting “the collateral damage that it’s going to
do to our democracy” and pointing to the ways Stalin portrayed
scientists as public enemies during the Great Purge.
Junior as Secretary of HHS? That's the death Donald wants to sentence us all too.
He
is a menace who must be defeated at the ballot box -- a fact most
Americans recognize. Susan Benjamin -- better known by her stage name
Medea -- has never been one to express patriotism so her decision to put
her name to another column written by the man who controls her really
isn't a surprise nor is its nonsense of pretending grifter Jill Stein is
the 2024 answer for the United States.
No
link to trash -- and Susan made it clear she was trash when she wanted
to share the stage with the Proud Boys because cameras would be
present. We will, however, note this comment to her garbage:
Benjamin
and Davies write: “Most Americans have been persuaded that Stein cannot
win the election.” It’s not a matter of being “persuaded”, any more
than we are “persuaded” that Trump did not win the last election. It’s
simply a fact. No one seriously imagines that Jill Stein will get more
than a few percent of the votes anywhere, so I don’t understand what is
served by encouraging anyone to think maybe she’'ll actually win. It’s
not honest. I also don’t see that we should regard voting for Jill
Stein as just another individual decision, for which no one need be
apologetic. If it leads to a disaster, you should feel bad about it. And
it very well may. I’ve fleshed out some of the reasons voting for the Green Party is destructive, in these pages; I won’t repeat them all. https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/kamala-harris-gaza-2669543360. Two
points. First, I don’t see how anyone here can honestly take the
position it doesn’t matter whether Trump or Harris is elected. We now
have a full fledged fascist party, the Republican Party. The Democrats
are far from a fascist party. Are progressives so locked into hating the
Democrats that they cannot see the dangers of fascism? Is Gaza the sole
issue that matters? Not whether we have a president who plans to deport
11 million people? Not climate change, not the elimination of honestly
counted elections? Not abortion rights? Not whether reactionaries
control the Supreme Court for another generation? Yes, I know the
Democratic Party is a capitalist party dominated by capital. But that
doesn’t mean all the differences between Democrats and Republicans are
trivial. I’m actually mystified anyone could believe that or pretend to. Second,
on whether building a third party is a realistic goal: There are
structural issues that make this very challenging in a political system
with single member districts, as opposed to multiparty list systems. The
single-member district system pushes very hard toward two major
parties. The trend is supported by the fact that – as is obviously the
case here – third parties tend to injure the party closest to them, and
voters grasp that, actually, yes, the lesser of two “evils” is better
than the worse of two evils. Especially when the supposedly ideal party
has no plan that would lead to victory. Below is the Green Party’s percentage of the popular vote for President for every presidential election of this century: 2000 2.74% 2004 0.38% 2008 0.10% 2012 0.36% 2016 1.07% 2020 0.26%
There
have been downs and ups. But the Greens have had more than twenty
years, and we see no progression toward the Green Party playing a
significant role in American politics. Other than as a spoiler. Can someone explain to me what the plan is to break out of this role, in which the Greens are either irrelevant or destructive?
There
is no plan. The Greens committed political suicide this year by making
Jill their presidential nominee for the third time. At 74, she's too
old to run. The Green Party was supposed to be a different party, a new
party. Yet they've run Jill three times now. And she just gets
older. They could have made a break with the past, they could've run
someone young and vital. Instead, they went with tired, old Jill making
it clear that there is no life left in the party.
Jill's
a gifter and a con artist sitting on millions but her fans don't know
that. Just like they didn't know she even had children, let alone that
they weren't voting for mom.
She's a grifter and a con artist.
Maybe
in 2025, the Green Party can rebuild and maybe they'll start focusing
on real races and on building up a presence in the US Congress?
LeBron James endorsed Kamala yesterday and Tavis Smiley participated in a discussion about that on CNN.
I
believe today's the last day of early voting in states that allow it.
Absentee ballots need to be mailed off as well. Tuesday will conclude
voting. We have to vote.
And we have to vote wisely.
But we have to do more than that.
I'm tired and I know you're tired. We've all done everything we could. Or we think we have.
None of us like having to justify ourselves. Having to explain ourselves.
Dana
Bash tried to pull that trick on Kamala, remember. 'Trump says you're
not Black.' Whether it's your race, your gender, your sexuality, your
religion, your ethnicity, whatever. We are a nation of people with
various possibilities and traits. And we don't often fit the straight,
White, hateful model that Donald Trump represents.
But
we do usually have friends and lovers and spouses that care about us
but may not grasp how much is at stake this election. It can really be
tiring to feel that you are always having to explain yourself to other
people or to justify yourself. But if you know even one undecided voter
or one voter planning on staying at home and sitting this election out,
there's one more thing you can do and that's share your own story with
that person. Share what Trump back in the White House means for you,
how your life will suffer. Try to enlarge just one person's
understanding of how much damage Trump can cause to someone they know.
The
election will wrap up Tuesday night. I think Kamala's run a great
campaign. I think she's brought real hope that we did not have in June
-- 'we' meaning We The People as well as the Democrats running for
office lower on the ballot. She's done an amazing job in such a short
time. When I started THE COMMON ILLS, it was right after the 2004
election and it was after a meeting where we talked about what worked
and what failed and what we could do differently. Since starting THE
COMMON ILLS, I have campaigned to end the Iraq War but not for
politicians. I haven't used this space for that. But this is a very
important election that determines the fate of our country and whether
or not we have a democracy.
We've spoken in 48
states since Kamala became the nominee (all but Hawaii and Alaska) and
there is so much excitement for Kamala to be our next president. But to
make that happen, we need everyone to vote. So if you know anyone on
the fence, please reach out to them this weekend. And if you have the
time on Tuesday to drive someone to the polls so they can vote, consider
doing that.
Every vote counts -- even 'safe' states. We've got until Tuesday and then we can all take a deep breath again.
Lastly, a number of e-mails on why I didn't post in the afternoon yesterday. I did:
I
just posted them to THIRD by mistake. I was in the wrong account and
didn't even realize it. That's how tired and exhausted I am. But we're
almost there.
