Election Interference – Politics Plus

Open Thread October 14 2026

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:00 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Oct 142026

On Monday, I was thinking about what would be better if the Orange Julius dropped dead, or if he were impeached, or Article 25ed. Y’all know by now I’m worried about this – fearing we would be jumping out ofthe frying pan into the fire. After listening to Malcolm (and co-hosts) today, I’m thinking we would be better off if Putin were to be taken out – somehow. Andyes, I know he would be replaced. But whoever replaced him would not have a years-long relationship with Donald, or be immediately worshiped by him. Building a harness like that takes at least some time, during which he would be figuratively in free fall, and we might be able to accomplish something. Also on Monday, DHS raided the home of Ilhan Omar. And- besides that, Ukraine has taken out some (I think the number is 2 out of 6 total.) IF and when they finish that job, the direction of news coverage is going to change world wide.
(28 minutes well spent, filled with details the American press won’t tell you.)

I’ll bet y’all will easily guess how this story makes me feel. But I promise not to take it out on any of you. (1500 years older than Stonehenge, and 4,000 years older than the Nazca Lines. Grrrrr.)

I don’t know – I doubt anyone knows, least of all the Apricot Antichrist himself, whether he made this up out of thein air, saw it in a dream (Virgil is 3 years older, and from time to time dreams something and then believes it really happened), or whether it’s a post-hypnotic suggestion from Putin. It’s definitely not fact based. But if Zelenskyy caan get something out of it that’s worth getting, he likely will. On the other hand, hose Russian data centers are the hardware Russia has been using to interfere with elections (not just ours) for years – maybe decades – and I’d love to see them eliminated.

[alternate link] This almost – but not quite – makes up for the bad news. One point which kind of frosts the cake is that Fresno is the partof California which Devin Nunes represented when he was in Congress. Trespassing, at least two counts of assault and one of battery – I’m guessing they can hold him for a while.

2fer

Open Thread September 10 2026

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 5:49 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Sep 102026

Yesterday,, since there are two occasions to highlight on Friday, I had to make the decision which to feature when, and I decuded to commemorate 9/11 a day early.

This from Adam Klasfeld apears to be good news – as far as it goes -appeals are usually on the horizon. But it’s political, so I’m not saving it for Sunday.

Barf Bag alert – honestly, I don’t see the trial revisited here as at all uncommon in former Confederacy states (which are also generally unmoved by new eidence, or any fault found with evidence previously presented.)

Another Barf Bag Alert here. I’m sorry – but if even one person thinks like Isker, we need to know about it and be prepared to defend against it. And this dude is “well-funded” and has a following.

Hoo boy, is this ever a problem – one which I gather almost no one knows about. It’s called “764.” A video, yes, but there’s a transcript. You can skip up to 8.0 minutes to start – that’s when they actually start on the topic.

Open Thread September 9 2024

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 5:52 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Sep 092024

Yesterday, I visited Virgil and of course we played cribbage. We had hands ranging from zero (several of those) to 26 (only one of those. I’m thinking next time I go, since I always have to wait a few minutes, I might stack the deck to give him a perfect hand, just to see his face. The drive was easy both ways. A little rain just before getting home, but not enough to annoy me, let alone endanger me.

Also yesterday (late) in her weekly “The Week Ahead” post,. Joyce Vance asks her readers to explain to her, if possible, what makes Trump** voters tick. I am not a paid subscriber, so i can’t comment on that post, and I am not on Xitter so I can’t reach her that way. But I would love to recommend that she read the article by Dorothy Thompson in a 1941 issue of Harper’s (link is to archive dot is so no paywall). There’s a lot in it, but I particularly want to point out that she points out (to bastardize a quote from Shalespeare) that some are born Nazi, some become Nazi, and some have Naziism thrust upon them. In other words, there’s not one single reason. But Thompson’s examples provide clues to determining who is which, which is the only thing I can think of that might help.

There’s a new Schmidt Storm, with the bonus that he provides links to last weeks “The Warning’s. To me, any reportage which promises to answer people’s questions is likely worth looking at – even if the questions aren’t your questions, the answers give insight into what others are thinking and wondering.

Heather Cox Richardson dives into the methods of Russian disinformation work. It’s not pretty. But it shouldn’t be ignored.

Open Thread September 6 2024

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:06 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Sep 062024

Yesterday, I read in HuffPost that, now that Jpe Biden has dropped out, his job approval numbers started to go up and have steadily continued to rise. That is certainly a good thing, but it still made me cry, to think of all the artisis, musicians, ans so many others who were nort appreciated until after their deaths. Yes, Joe is still alive to see some of this. But the full measure of his contributions to America will not be appreciated until later – and may be much later. He deserves better. However, there is some bad news with good news. I guess it’s really not news that the Russians are at it again, but it is news that the DOJ just made some important arrests in connection with it. And here’s the official video version.

My response to this was “More of this. Please.” Not just to the story but to the activism iy chronicles. For those of us for whom voting is second nature and not difficult, it’s challenging to grasp how difficult it is made (especially by Republicans) for some (especially for people of color – any color but “white”) and how widespread that suppression is. There really is a need for more – much more – of this kind of activism – and for recognition and praise for what already exists of it.

We could use more of this also. After yesterday, I decided some respite was needed, amd my sources have been co-operating so far.

Trump’s Own Verdict on His 1st Week of Trial: ‘A SNOOZEFEST!’

Posted by SoINeedAName at 11:58 am Politics

Apr 192024

We probably all believed the first-ever criminal trial of a former president would be bit quite riveting. But according to The New York Times’ Maggie Haberman (one of the very few reporters allowed in the actual courtroom) and a handful of sketch artists, not so with Donnie.

As Jon Stewart succinctly framed it:

Given Trump’s now well-documented snooze, you’ve got to hope we’ll be hearing a good deal less about “Sleepy Joe” from viral-trending Sleepy Don.

If Sleepy Don is too low energy to stay awake during the first day of his criminal trial, does he even have the stamina to be President? pic.twitter.com/hrk4FC0lr0

— Christopher David (@Tazerface16) April 15, 2024

In truth, that was just the spicy tidbit the Internet was hoping for – and boy, did they run with it!

But before we get to enjoy some of the highlights, we’ll give Donnie some fair time to whine, noting that he took to Truth Social to strongly deny he was napping by including an “unaltered” photo to prove it.

But that only led to some helpful suggestions on how to better disguise his catnaps.

Almost immediately Trump earned a couple of new monikers that I’m sure would have made Mario Puzo proud:

Both George Takei and MeidasTouch noted that Trump has imitated the persona of at least three of the Snow White Dwarves: Dopey, Grumpy and now Sleepy.

No doubt a good many Americans wondered what Trump dreams about when he drifts off. Can’t help but believe this one comes pretty close …

It’s been noted that this isn’t the first time Trump has been caught “resting his eyes”.

So, like with yawning in a group, there’s some concern that Sleepy Don snoozing in court might be contagious:

And while I suspect more than a few good folks would enjoy playing Shakespeare’s Horatio to Trump’s Hamlet with “Good night … and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest” – right now we’ll just have to make do with “Keep counting those sheep, Don”.

As for me:

I prefer Presidents who DON’T fall asleep before the lunch break in their Hush-Money-Paid-To-A-Porn-Star-Election-Interference trial.

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