Mostly Monday Reads: A Broken Orange Clock

“I know someone who is in serious decline…” John Buss, @repeat1968

Good Day, Sky Dancers!

I usually take a long break from TV in the Fall. I actually don’t have a TV at the moment, although I have a new one sitting on a box on my bed that I haven’t bothered to set up for over a year now.  I stick to the news and weather, so I’m usually okay as long as I can stream those.  I typically like following politics, but that’s not like it used to be, and I prefer to get that from the print media.  I’m even avoiding as much of that as possible because there’s no discussion about policy anymore.   The cult of personality is everywhere these days.

This political season reminds me of all the things I detest about football.  I  ignore football games as much as possible. I usually call it mutants crashing and men fighting over ceremonial big balls.  It starts with a between the legs movement and some guy bending over.  It’s about throwing and catching and running away.  It also causes brain damage. It’s a perfect allegory for today’s Republican politics right up to the part where the adherents of the team wear silly costumes and scream a lot.

Maybe it’s because most people don’t harvest, do something productive, or return to school to meet new kids and teachers.  Maybe social media is the new American circus and it doesn’t just happen one week of the year.  I’m happy for the cooler weather.  Halloween is still the best holiday on the calendar, but it’s short-lived and overrun by the overtly commercial Crassmess season.  But really, America.  This is one of the silliest silly seasons that I’ve experienced in a long time.

So, I’m hesitant to follow the herd into the latest guy with a gun near Trump. There are guys with guns in schools. In our reality, they’re in shopping centers, neighborhoods, and even hospitals every day.  They’re all ready to shoot things up for one reason or another.  Most of them are troubled, surrounded by gun culture, encouraged to take out whoever has run off with their balls, and they’re unfortunately successful.  When we’re encouraged to see all others as a team, we don’t want to play ball with but against, it begins to make sense. Is this the way American governance and law work now?

Everyone knows there’s someone on the team willing to shit talk.  The crowd evidently loves it. Truth be damned.  I mean, ‘concepts of a plan’ wouldn’t win a football game.  Why should it get votes in an election? Every team has a designated shit-talker. But donOLD has a team full of them.  That’s all they can do.  Here’s a great example from The Guardian, as Edward Helmore wrote. “JD Vance admits he is willing to ‘create stories’ to get media attention. Republican vice-presidential candidate defends spreading false, racist claims demonizing Haitian immigrants.”  What happens if the people on the other end aren’t participating in the ball-chasing activities?  Then, the other side looks much more like the droogies in A Clockwork Orange. H/t for this to Hillary Clinton.

In a stunning admission, the Republican vice-presidential candidate, JD Vance, said he was willing “to create stories” on the campaign trail while defending his spreading false, racist rumors of pets being abducted and eaten in a town in his home state of Ohio.

Vance’s remarks came during an appearance on Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union, where he said he felt the need “to create stories so that the … media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people”.  Asked by the CNN host Dana Bash whether the false rumors centering on Springfield, Ohio, were “a story that you created”, Vance replied, “Yes!” He then said the claims were rooted in “accounts from … constituents” and that he as well as the Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump, had spoken publicly about them to draw attention to Springfield’s relatively large Haitian population.

Vance’s remarks drew a quick rebuke from the US transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg, a Democrat who supports his party’s White House nominee in November’s election, Kamala Harris.

“Remarkable confession by JD Vance when he said he will ‘create stories’ (that is, lie) to redirect the media,” Buttigieg wrote on X. “All this to change the subject away from abortion rights, manufacturing jobs, taxation of the rich, and the other things clearly at stake in this election.”

Vance further insulted people in Springfield who are Haitian as “illegal”, though the vast majority of them are in the US legally through a temporary protected status (TPS) that has been allocated to them due to the violence and unrest in their home country in the Caribbean. The status must be renewed after 18 months.

The rumors proliferating out of Springfield have led to bomb threats aimed at local hospitals and government offices. Vance on Sunday told Bash it was “disgusting” for the media to suggest any of his remarks had led to those threats. He also used the same term to refer to the people issuing those threats, though – in a separate appearance on Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press – he made it a point to blame the media for accurately reporting on them, saying it was “amplifying the worst people in the world”.

Vance ultimately defended his endorsement of the lies about Springfield as calling attention to the immigration policies at the White House while Harris has served as vice-president to Joe Biden.

“I’m not mad at Haitian migrants for wanting to have a better life,” Vance said. “We’re angry at Kamala Harris for letting this happen.”

Haitians in Springfield have been thrust under the US’s divisive political spotlight after Trump alleged that some of them were responsible for the abduction and consumption of pets during the former president’s debate with Harris on Tuesday.

Town officials have vociferously rejected the lies, and a woman who helped start the rumors on a widely circulated Facebook post acknowledged they were unfounded hearsay.

Two Springfield Elementary schools were evacuated again today.  Fire Department Investigators are trying to determine the cause of a fire that destroyed two apartment buildings Sunday morning. The buildings were located directly across the street from one elementary school there.  This analysis is from Jonathan V. Last written for The Bulwark. “Trump Is the Main Character of 2024. Again. How to take over the news cycle with this one weird trick.”

Late last week, in between laughing at JD Vance and Donald Trump, I had a thought:

What if the Haitians-stealing-and-eating-your-pets is actually good for the Trump campaign?

Not good in the tactical sense. Polling on the story doesn’t look especially good for him. But good in the strategic sense. This insane lie—which, borders on blood libel—may be reorienting the campaign in ways that are ultimately useful for Trump.

Let me explain.

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(1) Trump needs to be the main character. Trump’s grand unified theory is that politics, like entertainment, is an attention economy. His strategy—always—is to dominate the news and make himself into the main character of every story.

A neo-Nazi march in Charlottesville? It’s about Trump’s response.

A global pandemic? It’s about Trump’s daily antics.

Geostrategic considerations involving a 75-year conflict on the Korean peninsula? It’s about Trump’s relationship with the Korean dictator.

It doesn’t matter what the issue, or context, is. Trump wants it to be about Trump. He believes that if he owns the spotlight—even if it is a very unflattering spotlight—then he can maneuver and find angles.

This theory may be callow, dangerous, and/or immoral. But it is not crazy.

And while it doesn’t always work out for Trump, it works out enough that it’s a good percentage play for him. Like doubling down on an 11. You don’t always win that bet. But you win it often enough that you should do it automatically, without hesitation.

I remember those years in football when knocking the other guy senseless to the point they had to send EMS in with a stretcher was considered fun. Do you suppose all those old guys who loved those wipe-outs still love it even though the NFL finds it costly for them and tries to avoid it?  Then, there are always the folks that boo at the Ref and think the Refs are there to call a play on the part of the other team.  This is from Judd Legume writing at Popular information.  “The attack on the legitimacy of the 2024 presidential election has begun.”  It can’t be that they just suck at the game or that play.  It has to be the fault of someone else!  Right?

There are 49 days until Election Day in the United States. Although the presidential race remains extremely close, Donald Trump and his allies have escalated their efforts to undermine the results.

In a post to Truth Social on Sunday morning, Trump falsely claimed that the United States Postal Service (USPS) “has admitted that it is a poorly run mess that is experiencing mail loss and delays at a level never seen before.” Trump asked, “how can we possibly be expected to allow or trust the U.S. Postal Service to run the 2024 Presidential Election?”

Trump has attacked mail-in voting for years, baselessly asserting that mail-in ballots facilitated fraud that robbed him of victory in 2020. Early this year, Trump appeared to change his tune on the practice. “ABSENTEE VOTING, EARLY VOTING, AND ELECTION DAY VOTING ARE ALL GOOD OPTIONS,” Trump posted to Truth Social on April 19. “REPUBLICANS MUST MAKE A PLAN, REGISTER, AND VOTE!” That change of heart appears to be short-lived.

In addition to attacking mail-in voting, Trump has advanced broader claims that Democrats “want to cheat” in the 2024 election. In a September 7 Truth Social post, Trump pledged to prosecute and jail Democrats who repeat “the rampant Cheating and Skullduggery that has taken place by the Democrats in the 2020 Presidential Election.” (In nearly 4 years since the 2020 election, Trump has produced no evidence of cheating.) Trump claimed that prosecuting “Lawyers, Political Operatives, Donors, Illegal Voters, & Corrupt Election Officials” was the only way to ensure “this Depravity of Justice does not happen again.”

Trump will not commit to accepting the results in November, saying he would only do so “if everything’s honest.” Otherwise, Trump said, he plans to “fight.”

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Remind me again: who appointed Louis DeJoy as Postmaster General and CEO of the USPS?  How about this headline from Forbes in April? “The Trump donor whom Biden can’t fire is running the U.S. Postal Service directly into the ground—just what everyone warned about when he was confirmed during the pandemic.”  Mission accomplished, Asshole!

Let’s see how much airplay this gets today, what with crazies with guns in the bushes and immigrant hellscape stories out there as bait for the media. This is from Newsweek. “Kamala Harris Gets Good News From Economists: New Survey.”  This is reported by Rachel Dopkin.

Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, received good news from economists about her economic agenda, according to a survey published on Saturday.

The economy has been a major talking point in this year’s election following high inflation in recent years. Even though inflation has decreased, falling to its lowest level in three-and-a-half-years in August, many Americans are still feeling its effects.

The Federal Reserve is expected to cut its benchmark rate, known as the federal funds rate, during next week’s meeting by either a modest quarter-point or a larger half-point cut. The Fed raised the rate 11 times in 2022 and 2023 to curb high inflation, which hit both the United States and countries around the world after the COVID-19 pandemic. The expected rate cut would be the first in over four years. The cost of consumer borrowing, including for mortgages, auto loans and credit cards, should go down over time with a series of Fed cuts.

So, which presidential nominee has the better economic agenda to get Americans back on track? According to nearly 40 economists from America’s top schools surveyed by the Financial Times and the University of Chicago Booth School of Business’ Kent A. Clark Center for Global Markets, it’s Harris instead of former President Donald Trump, the GOP presidential nominee.

When asked which nominees’ economic policies would be more inflationary—in other words, which would be more likely to cause inflation—70 percent of the economists said Trump’s while only 3 percent said Harris’. Meanwhile, 27 percent said there is no material difference in each economic platform’s inflationary consequences.

A total of 70 percent also thought Trump’s economic platform would produce larger federal budget deficits, while only 11 percent said Harris’ platform would and 19 percent said there would be no material difference.

Budget deficits are when government expenses exceed revenue. They also add to the national debt, which is not good for the economy.

DonOLD is doing his usual grift thing after being very unaware of a shooter in the bushes of his Florida Golf Club. Oh, the Humanity! This is from The Daily Beast. “Trump Asks for Cash Hours After Second. “I will NEVER SURRENDER!” the former president wrote in an email solicitation Sunday. Assassination Bid. “

Donald Trump wasted no time hitting up potential donors for money Sunday in the immediate aftermath of the second apparent assassination attempt against him in two months.

Within a few hours, the former president sent out an “Alert from Trump” email blast to potential donors saying: “There were gunshots in my vicinity, but before rumors start spiraling out of control, I wanted you to hear this first: I AM SAFE AND WELL! Nothing will slow me down.”

After the first attempt on his life at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, Trump, in spite of blood streaming down his face after his ear was grazed by a bullet, managed to tell his supporters to “fight, fight, fight.”

On Sunday, after Secret Service agents foiled what authorities are calling a possible second assassination attempt, Trump wrote: “I will NEVER SURRENDER! I will always love you for supporting me.”

Never forget that the only thing this guy was successful at for a period of time was being a reality star on TV.  This guy really has no shame.  Meanwhile, Laura Loomer is back in the spotlight again. “GOP Senate nominee Bernie Moreno raised funds on Laura Loomer’s show and met with her in D.C.”  This is reported by Media Matters. 

In late July, Ohio U.S. Senate nominee Bernie Moreno fundraised on the show of Laura Loomer, a far-right extremist who has celebrated the deaths of migrants and mocked Vice President Kamala Harris’ Indian American heritage. Loomer also said on her show that she met with Moreno that month when he was in Washington, D.C.

Moreno’s appearance with Loomer is yet another example showing Republicans’ deep entrenchment with the far-right conspiracy theorist, despite recent efforts to distance the party from her.

Loomer’s history of offensive remarks is long and awful. It includes a toast to “2,000 more” dead migrants; an admission that she’s “not going to care” when there’s anti-immigrant violence; racist insults following the death of “ghetto b—-” Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX); and the claim that the White House “will smell like curry & White House speeches will be facilitated via a call center” if Vice President Kamala Harris wins.

Loomer has also described herself as “pro-white nationalism” and a “proud islamophobe.” Last year she posted a video claiming that “9/11 was an inside job.” Loomer has also promoted the viral, racist lie that Haitian immigrants in Ohio are eating pets.

Trump and his campaign are heavily connected to Loomer, with the far-right bigot flying on his plane to Pennsylvania and New York last week. Their close connections have caused consternation among a few Republicans.

I can only imagine what Senator Sherrod Brown is going through.  Meanwhile, women are dying from the Trump Abortion Laws throughout the country.  This is from ProPublica, which does the most crucial investigative journalism in the country. Trump Lies and people die.  Say her NAME.  Amber Nichole Thurman, She is a victim of MAGA.

In her final hours, Amber Nicole Thurman suffered from a grave infection that her suburban Atlanta hospital was well-equipped to treat.

She’d taken abortion pills and encountered a rare complication; she had not expelled all of the fetal tissue from her body. She showed up at Piedmont Henry Hospital in need of a routine procedure to clear it from her uterus, called a dilation and curettage, or D&C.

But just that summer, her state had made performing the procedure a felony, with few exceptions. Any doctor who violated the new Georgia law could be prosecuted and face up to a decade in prison.

Thurman waited in pain in a hospital bed, worried about what would happen to her 6-year-old son, as doctors monitored her infection spreading, her blood pressure sinking and her organs beginning to fail.

It took 20 hours for doctors to finally operate. By then, it was too late.

The otherwise healthy 28-year-old medical assistant, who had her sights set on nursing school, should not have died, an official state committee recently concluded.

Tasked with examining pregnancy-related deaths to improve maternal health, the experts, including 10 doctors, deemed hers “preventable” and said the hospital’s delay in performing the critical procedure had a “large” impact on her fatal outcome.

Their reviews of individual patient cases are not made public. But ProPublica obtained reports that confirm that at least two women have already died after they couldn’t access legal abortions and timely medical care in their state.

There are almost certainly others.

Committees like the one in Georgia, set up in each state, often operate with a two-year lag behind the cases they examine, meaning that experts are only now beginning to delve into deaths that took place after the Supreme Court overturned the federal right to abortion.

Thurman’s case marks the first time an abortion-related death, officially deemed “preventable,” is coming to public light. ProPublica will share the story of the second in the coming days. We are also exploring other deaths that have not yet been reviewed but appear to be connected to abortion bans.

Doctors warned state legislators women would die if medical procedures sometimes needed to save lives became illegal.

I haven’t heard stories like this since I was in High School awaiting the Roe Decision.  Leaders in my Presbyterian Church in Omaha held a panel of speakers with horrible stories like these.   We learned firsthand what Roe would mean to us if the Supreme Court decided to keep it out of the realm of others’ politics and religion.  This is not acceptable in a country like ours.  The fight is on, and this isn’t a game.  We’re better than this.

What’s on your reading and blogging list today?