Ramblin' Man

 

Is he “weaving” or is his brain eating itself?

 

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The Supreme Court must be on the side of voting rights. Today's decision is a bad omen.

Robert Reich Oct 30

Friends,

Sorry to intrude on your Wednesday but the Supreme Court decided today to allow Virginia to resume purging names from its voter registration rolls. Virginia has purged 1,600 names in the last two months.

Republican officials claim it’s a legitimate effort to stop noncitizens from voting.

But there’s little or no evidence — in Virginia or anywhere else — that non-citizens have voted or are likely to vote.

The Justice Department and civil rights groups allege that U.S. citizens are being caught up in the purge. They also argue that Virginia’s purge violates the “quiet period” of the National Voter Registration Act, a three-decade-old federal law barring states from systematically removing voters from the rolls during the 90 days before a federal election.

Last week, a federal district judge ordered Virginia to stop the program and restore voters whose registrations have been canceled since early August.

As a result of the Supreme Court’s decision today, voters who are eliminated from the rolls may have difficulty getting an absentee ballot before Election Day. Showing up at the polls to discover that they’re not on the voter list will also create delays and confusion. Letters sent to suspected non-citizens mention criminal penalties for illegal voting, which could discourage some citizens from exercising their right to vote.

To make matters worse, the Supreme Court’s decision was 6 to 3 — with all 6 Republican appointees voting to allow Virginia to resume purging names and all 3 Democratic appointees dissenting from the action.

Even worse, the Court didn’t give any reasons. It simply issued a terse, one-page order.

Public confidence in the Supreme Court has already sunk to a near-record low.

At this stressful time in American politics, when Trump and his lapdogs have stirred up baseless fears that the nation is becoming overwhelmed with undocumented people crossing our borders illegally, the Supreme Court must come down squarely on the side of voting rights and not on the side of demagogic fear.

For the Court to intervene in a voting case just days before the 2024 election — and do so on the side of those who want to purge voters, and on the basis of no evidence of voter fraud, and with what appear to be partisan motives — is a bad omen for the next few months when it seems likely the Court will be called on to decide any number of cases emerging from the 2024 election.

 

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Jeff Bezos is Wrong

Donald Trump must be cheering

Dan Rather and Team Steady Oct 30

Credit: Getty Images

What Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos did was cowardly and unconscionable. Just 12 days before the election, he ordered the paper — his paper, one of the last stars of American journalism still alive and breathing — to cease presidential endorsements, just as it was about to publish an endorsement of Kamala Harris.

In response, readers voted with their wallets. As of this writing, more than 250,000 have canceled their subscriptions. While my initial reaction was to do the same, perhaps we all should pause for a moment and consider the consequences of a weakened Washington Post. There’s certainly a desire to hit ‘em where it hurts, but canceling subscriptions is less than lunch money for a man worth more than $200 billion. Instead, a subscriber exodus will hurt the hardworking reporters and staff at the paper, which just went through a round of layoffs and cutbacks.

To defund one of America’s last great journalistic institutions would do a disservice to its readers, and to our country. The Post reporters and editors are damn good at what they do. They are among America’s best, especially when it comes to fearless investigative reporting. We need a healthy, vibrant news business to keep check on the likes of Donald Trump, who would dearly love fewer reporters digging into his actions and exposing his lies.

Don’t think for a moment that Bezos can be counted on to rescue the paper and backfill the Post’s suddenly diminishing coffers with a spare billion. No, if it is to be, it is up to us, the American people, to save the Post and other outlets providing strong, independent journalism.  

So, how do we stand up to America’s new oligarchs and show them it’s the people who have the power? I’m wide open to suggestions. We are suddenly facing the consequences of not establishing guardrails for the new billionaire class of Bezos, Musk, Zuckerberg, et al. But here we are.

In an op-ed on Monday, Bezos attempted to tamp down the outrage. He said he had several reasons for his decision, all of them principled. Make of his defense what you will.

He says what he did is an attempt to improve the media’s standing among Americans. He pointed to a Gallup poll that now has journalists neck and neck with members of Congress for least-trusted professionals. I don’t doubt the poll’s veracity, but I don’t believe political endorsements are the cause or the answer. 

He said that endorsements do nothing to influence voter decisions. I would agree they certainly have less impact in today’s fractured media environment. So why pull it just before the election and after voting had begun in dozens of states? That seems negligent and irresponsible. 

Bezos also wrote that he believes endorsements create a perception of bias. While I was taught to always let each side say its piece, that works only when both sides play by similar rules based in truth. For the last nine years, we have had one side play by rules of their own making, and it has taken many news organizations too long to adjust to this reality. 

It was more than seven years ago that Kellyanne Conway coined the term “alternative facts” to defend Donald Trump’s false claims about crowd size at his inauguration. So saying Trump is unfit and unqualified to be president is not biased. It is the truth, based on mountains of actual facts reported by Bezos’s own staff!

Now, let’s talk about what many people believe are the real reasons Bezos killed the endorsement.

He is scared of Donald Trump. I am not saying he shouldn’t be. Trump has threatened to go after his perceived enemies, and that includes members of the media. But as the owner of one of the most important newspapers in the country, you have to have skin like a rhinoceros.

Bezos says there was no quid pro quo involved, but that claim raises suspicion, at the very least. And to many it rings downright hollow. His companies have billions of dollars in federal government contracts and are bidding for billions more. Those contracts generated more than half of his companies’ profits in the last quarter. Trump’s fondness for retribution is legendary, so the possibility of payback, in the form of a canceled contract, is real.

Trump and Bezos have never been chummy. Trump has been critical of the Amazon founder, but there seems to have been a thawing of late, with recent overtures by Bezos and his executives.

In July, Bezos called Trump after the assassination attempt to tell him how much he liked the fist pump photo.

According to the Post, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy called Trump in August to further the relationship. “Trump told Jassy that he was going to win the election and that Amazon should help him because it would be in the company’s best interests.”

And the head of Blue Origin, Bezos’s space exploration company, spoke with Trump last Friday — coincidently, the same day the Post announced it would not endorse anyone.

“While I do not and will not push my personal interest, I will also not allow this paper to stay on autopilot and fade into irrelevance — overtaken by unresearched podcasts and social media barbs — not without a fight. It’s too important. The stakes are too high,” Bezos wrote. Careful getting off that high horse of yours, Jeff.

Criticism of the decision has come from many at the paper or with ties to it.

Post humor columnist Alexandra Petri took it upon herself to endorse Kamala Harris for president. “I only know what’s happening because our actual journalists are out there reporting, knowing that their editors have their backs, that there’s no one too powerful to report on, that we would never pull a punch out of fear,” Petri wrote in her column.

Marty Baron, a recent editor of the Post, called Bezos’s decision “cowardice, with democracy as its casualty.”

Watergate reporting legends Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein said the decision ignored “The Washington Post’s own overwhelming reportorial evidence on the threat Donald Trump poses to democracy.”

The Post’s David Hoffman, who received a Pulitzer Prize just last week for a series on authoritarian regimes suppressing dissent, said, “I find it untenable and unconscionable that we have lost our voice at this perilous moment.”

What might be the most upsetting aspect of this cowardice is that it proves Trump’s strong-arm tactics work. Timothy Snyder, a Yale historian and scholar of authoritarianism, has published a list of ways to avoid succumbing to autocracy. Three of five apply here: “Do not obey in advance,” “Defend institutions,” and “Remember professional ethics.”

Jeff Bezos has so much money that if he never makes another dime, he would still remain one of the richest men in the world for the rest of his life. So the courageous thing to do would be to stand up to the bully, rather than yield to his threats in advance. That would do more to restore America’s faith in the media than the gutless act of not endorsing Kamala Harris.

From what I’ve heard, before he stubbed his toe, Bezos was well liked at the Post. What newspaper wouldn’t want an owner with unlimited resources? News organizations are expensive to run, so it seemed like a perfect match. But alas, the prospect of more billions got in the way. No matter who wins, Bezos will be OK. As for you, me, and American democracy? Let’s hope we don’t become the collateral damage of his decision.

If you value independent journalism that provides critical information to protect our democracy, please consider upgrading as a supporting member. It allows me to keep Steady sustainable and free for those who cannot afford it, especially in an election season when we need everyone to see it. Thank you.

No matter how you subscribe, I thank you for reading.

Stay Steady,

Dan

Our closing TV ad MISSOURI: PLEASE SUPPORT LUCAS KUNCE!

 

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Our closing TV ad

I need your help immediately to keep this on the air.

Lucas Kunce Oct 30

This is my final message to Missouri: 

I know we can defeat Josh Hawley and take this Senate seat back for real Missourians. But ultimately, our ability to keep this ad on air as often as possible could be the deciding factor in this election — and we’re quickly approaching the deadline for my campaign to purchase our last TV ad reservations before Election Day. 

With new polling out this week showing our race statistically tied, just about anything could tip the scales. That’s why I’m urgently asking: 

Will you chip in $15 to help my campaign reach Missourians with our closing message before they head to the polls? 

CHIP IN NOW

Use of military rank, job titles, and photographs in uniform do not imply endorsement by the Department of the Navy or the Department of Defense.

© 2024 Lucas Kunce
P.O. Box 1240, Independence, MO 64050

POLITICO Nightly: The ballot measures that explain American politics

By Calder McHugh People drop off their ballots at the Los Angeles County Registrar on October 28 in Norwalk, California. | Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images BALLOT MEASURE BATTLES — On Tuesday, voters in 41 states will decide on a total of 146 statewide ballot measures. That’s up from 116 from the last presidential year in 2020 and down slightly from 162 in 2016. They tell us a lot about the priorities of voters across the country — and how major political parties use the ballot initiative process to define their policy priorities and gin up turnout. There’s no clearer way to measure this than to examine Democrats’ abortion advocacy. Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in the summer of 2022, every time an abortion rights protection-related initiative has been on the ballot — no matter whether the state is red or blue — it has passed. Abortion is Democrats’ strongest issue among the American electorate this year, and as such, Democrats across the country engaged in campaigns to get abortion-related initiatives on state ballots. This year, various abortion-related ballot initiatives are at issue in 10 separate states, from the red (South Dakota) to the purple (Arizona) to the blue (Maryland). That theoretically serves two purposes for liberals: It protects a woman’s right to choose and while also juicing Democratic turnout. Other issues don’t fall along such neat ideological lines, pitting different coalitions against one another without clear consequences for one party or another. Still, both kinds of ballot measures have significant policy and political implications. To help understand them, here’s a guide to the five ballot initiatives that will tell us the most about American politics — and why they’re important. Amendment 3, Florida: The latest in the series of marijuana legalization ballot measures that have swept the country in the last decade, Amendment 3 would make Florida the 25th state to legalize recreational cannabis (it’s also on the ballot Tuesday in North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska). The constitutional amendment is remarkable for the amount of money that’s been raised to support or oppose it — more than $100 million, over $80 million of which is through Smart & Safe Florida, a ballot measure committee that supports legalization. It feels almost inevitable that the march to legalize marijuana will continue throughout the country; since Colorado first legalized recreational weed in 2012, only a few states have rejected recreational marijuana legalization initiatives. But as the rollout to actually sell weed has been fraught with issues in states that have previously voted to legalize — and GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis has vigorously opposed it — Amendment 3 in Florida will be useful in understanding just how strongly Floridians believe in loosening restrictions on the drug. Issue 1, Ohio: This proposed constitutional amendment would change Ohio’s redistricting process for congressional and legislative districts — and a group dedicated to ending gerrymandering in the state called Citizens Not Politicians has raised almost $40 million in support of the measure. If Issue 1 passes, it would create a 15-member, independent, bipartisan commission responsible for redistricting, replacing the current seven-member commission of elected officials that draws lines for the state legislature and the multi-step process used for congressional seats. The change isn’t welcomed by Ohio’s ruling party, the GOP, since it could theoretically imperil some safe Republican seats. But independent redistricting commissions — designed to take politics out of drawing congressional or state legislative maps — have been popular with voters elsewhere and similar ballot initiatives have passed in red states including Missouri and Utah. Proposition 36, California: Proposition 47, a California ballot measure that passed with almost 60 percent support in 2014, reduced the penalties for some drug offenses and property crimes. But in the decade since, it’s become a boogeyman for conservatives across the nation, who argue that it’s the basis for increased disorder in the Golden State. Prop 36 — backed by prosecutors and Target and Walmart in the state — would roll back some of the provisions in Prop 47, making it easier to prosecute retail crime like shoplifting in particular. Gov. Gavin Newsom and top statewide Democrats have come out against the measure, but it’s attracted some support from Democratic mayors, and polling suggests it will pass by a landslide. The likely popularity of Prop 36 speaks to a broader turn right on criminal justice in California and elsewhere. In 2022, progressive San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin was successfully recalled by voters, while a separate effort to recall Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascó, fell short after recall supporters failed to get enough signatures. This year, fellow reformer Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price faces her own attempted recall. It’s reflective of a backlash against progressive criminal justice policy and reforms after a brief shift to the left. THOSE 'TIPS' WOULD BECOME THE EMPLOYERS'.... Question 5, Massachusetts: A ‘yes’ on Question 5 would increase the minimum wage for tipped workers in Massachusetts to the state minimum wage — currently $15/hour — by 2029 (tipped workers’ minimum wage in Massachusetts is currently $6.75/hour). Increasing the minimum wage has long been a staple of the progressive movement, but this question has turned into an intra-Democratic Party fight. Earlier today, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll came out against the measure , arguing that increasing the minimum wage would actually lower servers’ total compensation as well as raise costs on customers. Tipped workers themselves are divided on the issue. Workers who favor the proposal argue that the heavy turnover among staff in service jobs largely has to do with a lack of a steady paycheck — and a higher minimum wage could help staffers who want to remain in their jobs without having to rely almost entirely on tips, which fluctuate. Restaurant owners insist that they’ll have to cut jobs and express concern for their survival if they have to more than double the minimum wage. A simple question of whether to increase the minimum wage has suddenly become a much thornier political problem, as Massachusetts progressives find themselves up against the state’s Democratic governor. Proposition 139, Arizona: Prop 139, one of 10 abortion-related measures on the ballot across the country, is not the most expensive or contentious abortion-related initiative (that distinction belongs to a similar measure, Amendment 4, in Florida). But it’s the most representative of the Democratic strategy of putting abortion in front of voters to drive turnout in swing states. Abortion rights are an essential moral issue for many voters. But there’s also a political component at work. Victory in Arizona looks shaky for Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris. Democrats, though, believe Harris’ chances are enhanced in the state by placing one of their strongest issues directly on the ballot along with the presidential race. The question is whether that support can translate directly into votes for Harris herself. September polling from The New York Times/Siena College showed that 58 percent of likely voters supported Prop 139, but only 45 percent supported Harris. That’s a whopping 13-point gap — and potentially speaks to a new kind of ticket splitter, one that supports Democrat-backed issues but not necessarily the Democrat at the top of the ticket. Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Reach out with news, tips and ideas at nightly@politico.com . Or contact tonight’s author at cmchugh@politico.com or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @calder_mchugh. What'd I Miss? ****VIRGINA VOTER PURGES**** — Divided Supreme Court allows Virginia to purge suspected non-citizens from voter rolls: Virginia does not have to restore about 1,600 people who were recently removed from its voter rolls under a controversial program seeking to weed out potential non-citizens, the Supreme Court ruled today. The Justice Department and civil rights groups alleged that U.S. citizens were being caught up in the purge. Last week, a federal district judge ordered the state to stop the program and restore voters whose registrations had been canceled since early August. All three of the high court’s liberal justices dissented from the action, announced in a terse one-page order. — Tesla backs California electric-car rules opposed by Trump: Elon Musk’s electric car company is endorsing a California climate policy that his political ally Donald Trump has promised to dismantle if reelected. Tesla has joined other electric vehicle and charging station manufacturers in urging California lawmakers to support the state’s low-carbon fuel standard, which boosts electric vehicles by setting an emissions limit on all transportation fuels sold in the state. — Judge accelerates, relocates hearing on suit over Elon Musk’s $1 million-a-day giveaway: A Philadelphia judge moved up and relocated a court hearing on Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner’s lawsuit aimed at halting Elon Musk’s $1 million-a-day giveaway to swing-state voters. The moves followed complaints by Krasner that he’s receiving threats and antisemitic messages in connection with the case. Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas Judge Angelo Foglietta said he will now hold the hearing Thursday instead of Friday, and he set it for a courtroom in City Hall, which Krasner said has better security than the courthouse where it was originally scheduled. Nightly Road to 2024 ‘DON’T CALIFORNIA MY NEVADA’ — Since 2020 alone, over 150,000 Californians have moved to Nevada — California expats today make up over 20 percent of Nevada’s population. And in the same time, the gap between registered Republicans and Democrats in the state has shrunk from 111,000 in 2020 to 71,000. In a state that was decided by less than 34,000 votes in 2020, a bloc of highly motivated, California-hating ex-Californians with an ax to grind could play a pivotal role in shaping the presidential outcome in Nevada this year. POLITICO Magazine writes about Nevada’s changing politics on the ground in Reno. BACK TO SCHOOL — Vice President Kamala Harris will hold an election night event at her alma mater Howard University, according to a senior Harris official and another person familiar with the plans, both of whom were not authorized to speak publicly. Harris has spoken often about the important role that the Washington, D.C. HBCU played in her early life. In a letter published earlier this month by the campus newspaper, Harris called herself a “proud” alumna. Her sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha, has also been a fixture on the campaign trail. RETRACTION — Singer Nicky Jam retracted his endorsement of Donald Trump in a video posted to Instagram today following backlash to a comedian who called Puerto Rico a “floating island of hot garbage” at Trump’s rally in New York Sunday. The reggaeton singer endorsed Trump in September, joining him onstage at a rally in Las Vegas, Nevada. The appearance sparked some online response when Trump appeared to not know who the singer was, introducing him with the wrong pronouns. While he did not announce support for Kamala Harris, Nicky Jam joins a growing list of Puerto Rican celebrities who have openly criticized Trump after the New York rally. Bad Bunny, Marc Anthony, Jennifer Lopez and Ricky Martin have all expressed support for Harris in recent days. TRUMP SEIZES ON BIDEN ‘GARBAGE’ COMMENT — Donald Trump finished a rally today in Rocky Mount, North Carolina , a visit to the eastern part of this swing state as Kamala Harris held her own event in Raleigh earlier. Trump focused most of his speech on criticizing both Harris and President Joe Biden, including mocking her speech last night on the Ellipse in Washington, where she delivered her closing argument that America should move on from Trump. Trump took another opportunity to rile up his supporters about Biden’s “garbage” comment last night, reminding them of the remark and saying his “supporters are far higher quality than crooked Joe Biden.” RINO SAFARI — Kamala Harris kicked off a three-stop tour through the battleground states today with a rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, where her campaign continued its explicit outreach to disaffected Republicans . It’s part of a larger effort from the Harris campaign to woo disaffected Republicans and Independents who have been alienated by Donald Trump. Harris aides believe they will win places like Wake County, home to primarily college-educated voters, by even bigger margins than President Joe Biden did in 2020. AROUND THE WORLD Residents stand in front of piled up cars following deadly floods in the Alfafar neighborhood, south of Valencia, today. | Manaure Quintero/AFP via Getty Images ‘MONSTER’ FLOODS — Floods hammered Spain’s third-largest city of Valencia today, leaving at least 92 people dead, said a government official. And Spain’s deadliest floods in decades are another harrowing reminder that Europe is unprepared for the consequences of a superheated atmosphere, said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen today. “This is the dramatic reality of climate change. And we must prepare to deal with it,” she said. The intensity of the rainfall that hit areas around Valencia — in some places, roughly a year’s worth of rain in a single day — exposed the country’s unreadiness and led the Socialist-led national government to slam the center-right regional authorities for failing to pass on early warnings to people in danger. Valencia’s regional government, which is responsible for coordinating emergency services in the affected areas, admitted that it had only sent out a text message warning residents of the impending catastrophe at 8:12 PM, eight hours after the first floods were reported, and 10 hours after Spain’s National State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) issued an alert highlighting “extreme danger” across the Valencia region. Nightly Number 2.8 percent The amount the U.S. economy grew during the third quarter, according to the government’s initial estimate released today — the final GDP report before Election Day. MUST READ! IMPRESSIVE! `Surprisingly strong': Economy shows robust growth in final report before election The rise in the GDP is far from the expectations of many economists from earlier this year, many of whom had predicted a recession during the election year. “While critics thought we’d need a recession to lower inflation, instead we’ve grown around 3 percent a year on average, while inflation has fallen to the level right before the pandemic,” said President Joe Biden, shown in Detroit in 2022. | Evan Vucci/AP By Sam Sutton 10/30/2024 12:29 PM EDT The U.S. economy continued its solid growth through September, defying expectations by powering ahead after an era of soaring inflation and high interest rates. The economy grew 2.8 percent during the third quarter, according to the government’s initial estimate released Wednesday — the final GDP report before Election Day. Consumer confidence is rebounding, the labor market has held steady and inflation is back to pre-pandemic levels. RADAR SWEEP OUT OF VACATIONLAND — In a small, forested lot in the middle of Maine — about an hour from the state capital of Bangor — a man named Christopher Pohlhaus decided he would begin a fascist revolution. Pohlhaus had lived in Texas, where he became well-known on neo-Nazi online forums. He found land in Maine, where he bought two RVs and began to live and continue to post, vaguely about his location but fairly directly about his aims for revolution in the U.S. In doing so, he caught the attention of a longtime Mainer and erstwhile lumberjack named Crash Barry, who made it his goal to drive Pohlhaus out of the state. In The Atavist, Mira Ptacin tells the story of how that came to be. Parting Image On this date in 1988: Then-Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis, flanked by (from Left) Sen. Alan Cranston (D.-Calif.), daughter Kara and actor Rob Lowe, waves to an enthusiastic crowd as he departs the Amtrak station in Bakersfield, Calif. for a tour of California. | Reed Saxon/AP Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter Charlie Mahtesian @PoliticoCharlie Calder McHugh @calder_mchugh   Follow us

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