Beaitiful nebula! And great clarification of the elector scheme that is working about as well as the rest of their desperate schemes. Amazing that Miller would even show his face let alone backpedal in desperation...but that is really all they have left. We just have to celebrate the surge, keep the ball rolling and hold the liars' feet to the fire.
Here’s the deal. They’re trotting Trump out like the court jester that he is to TRY to do smoke and mirrors while working to steal the election. STOP giving him air and start focuses completely on the states. If he weren’t so narcissistic he might recognize that his own people think he’s a clown as well.
Thank you, Robert. For your astute analysis that recognizes that we are thinking beings and able to understand the twists and turns. Thank you for clarifying some of those twists and turns. And thank you, today, for the link to Michael Podhorzer and his Weekend Reading. Very good walk-through of what polls can tell us and what they can't, even assuming a well-designed poll (which most have not been).
And thanks for being the anchor we need. After the week of adrenalin high (aka joy), I've kind of hit earth with a thud- speaking physically, the joy remains. So, resting and repairing and then preparing for the next step in this oddball saga.
I watched Ari Melber last night but turned it off after just a few minutes of the evil, creepy, lying Stephen Miller. Thanks to substacks I already had been well versed in Project 2025 so the only thing to be learned was the lying. It’s funny though when I first saw Kevin Roberts, author 2025, my first thought was how much he resembled Steven Miller. Double creepy!
As for being Trump’s “handlers”, can you imagine a worse job anywhere?
In my long career in the Foreign Service, I became something of an expert in counting crowds of demonstrators. I found that ordinary folks overestimated crowd sizes by about a factor of three, and those who benefited from reporting large crowds overestimated by a factor of five. In Russia, the overestimates were significantly higher.
One sign of real political strength is when political campaigns accurately estimate their own crowd sizes. They don't have to puff them up because the other side is getting weak attendance. This is now happening with the Harris/Walz campaign. Their estimates of crowd size in Eu Claire and Detroit were right on the money.
It's a good sign for those who, only a few weeks before, might have been fearing for our democracy.
This is an email I sent to a corporation which has provided support to National Voter Corps.. I thought the content might be relevant for those of you who share my concern that we need to do everything practicable to protect our democracy and reach out to voters to participate in the November election. Please do share this if you think the content worth considering.
-----
1. You may well know all about this assault on voting rights by Elon Musk but his concerted action I found sobering and was new to me:
I think there needs to be a counter-attack or strategy to limit the damage. I am not sure that National Voter Registration Day is the solution but here is information to consider.
2. National Voter Registration Day is 9/17. Here is a link if you are unfamiliar with this organization:
Perhaps corporations, especially those operating outside California, might consider on National Voter Registration Day having a company-wide call or reminder to employees, family and friends that their vote is their voice in a democracy.
2.1 There is a critical need to warn voters in vote suppression states that they may have been purged if they have not voted in the prior election or have moved and haven't yet reregistered.
The Brennan Center has reported at least 9 states(such as Louisiana and Missouri) have recently left the nonpartisan ERIC system which helps Registrars of Voters in various states to update their voter records. For those 9 states, this could mean a return to the patchwork, flawed work of partisan actors who report erroneously to ROVs that voters have moved. Registered voters should be warned that they may have been removed from the voting roll without their knowledge so to be sure to verify that their registration is still in force.
2.2 New strict voter ID laws in many states have been passed since 2020, changing rules for Voting and Vote by Mail (VBM); Eligible or registered voters may go to Vote.org for details to register and to verify ID requirements in every state for voting and for applying for VBM ballots. This should be done promptly in order to obtain appropriate ID or to apply for VBM well before the close of that state's deadline to ensure that the ID and VBM hurtles can be met..
2.3 The screenshot below comes from Crushing Democracy, a powerpoint on our website, and identifies states where your clients might have operations.
When I read about Georgia, I am so grateful to live in Boston, Massachusetts, where voting is a joyful affair. You stand in line with your neighbors and trade gossip. The time passes quickly. You show up at the sign-desk and another neighbor you know is there to greet you. He knows you, of course, and knows that you'e voted many times, but he looks up your address anyway to check you off. You take your ballot to a stand-up desk with sides for privacy, check all the candidates you are voting for and slip it into a machine that counts the votes and saves the paper trail. Everyone says a cheery goodbye when you leave. And they hand you a sticker that says you've voted. It is such a wonderful time. We have signed up for voting by mail since we are now elderly, we've taken advantage of it, but when we do I miss the community time with my neighbors. No one challenging you. Only joy and fun.
Georgia, you too can make voting a wonderful time if you make it welcoming and fun. None of this challenging people (especially Black people) about their eligibility to vote. Black people are for sure American citizens since our forefathers and mothers brought them unwillingly over to serve the American economy..
We were once in Indonesia and our hotel hosts wondered if we, white folks, were American or European. Then a Black visitor walked in and they knew he was American. Apparently the only Black people who visited were Americans -- maybe Africans weren't common visitors.
I can't visit the South anymore. There is too much sadness and meanness there. Instead, Boston is a happy place -- and don't bring up the Southie whites throwing things at Black students during bussing. We have gotten past that. Those that couldn't integrate moved elsewhere and we're now left with people of all colors who mostly live together happily. Thank goodness I live here and not Georgia.
Thank you for lifting up the critical work of VoPro Pros (https://www.vopropros.com/). Check it out to learn all the ways YOU can help make sure this election runs smoothly in person or virtual - poll watch, join a state voter hotline, ballot cure and much more. So many races are won -or lost by a handful of votes, especially local and state legislative races. We have a chance to flip state legislatures in AZ, PA and more. Let’s get on board now and learn the ropes. After the election let’s be ready to get those ballots cured and win “everywhere!”
We often chafe at the big money and support going to Trump from tech billionaires and venture capitalists and other rich guys, like Elon Musk, Jamie Dimon, and many others. But we must note that there are many in Silicon Valley and other haunts of the superrich, who oppose Trump. Billionaire Mike Moritz wrote an article for the Financial Times saying that those in the venture capital business who support Trump are "making a big mistake" https://cnb.cx/3WxwGDs (The actual article is available through this story on CNBC.). Moritz and his wife Harriet Heyman have made transformative gifts to many causes including $20 million, the largest individual gift ever to the ACLU in 2018, and a gift of $50 million to the University of Chicago for the Odyssey Scholarships supporting low-income students with extraordinary potential. (Harriet Heyman received her AM from Chicago; Moritz was educated at Oxford and the University of Pennsylvania [MBA]).
Also recently 700 venture capitalists signed a pledge to support Kamala and formed the group VCs for Kamala. https://www.vcsforkamala.org/. Take heart. Spread the good word.
Beaitiful nebula! And great clarification of the elector scheme that is working about as well as the rest of their desperate schemes. Amazing that Miller would even show his face let alone backpedal in desperation...but that is really all they have left. We just have to celebrate the surge, keep the ball rolling and hold the liars' feet to the fire.
Here’s the deal. They’re trotting Trump out like the court jester that he is to TRY to do smoke and mirrors while working to steal the election. STOP giving him air and start focuses completely on the states. If he weren’t so narcissistic he might recognize that his own people think he’s a clown as well.
Thank you, Robert. For your astute analysis that recognizes that we are thinking beings and able to understand the twists and turns. Thank you for clarifying some of those twists and turns. And thank you, today, for the link to Michael Podhorzer and his Weekend Reading. Very good walk-through of what polls can tell us and what they can't, even assuming a well-designed poll (which most have not been).
And thanks for being the anchor we need. After the week of adrenalin high (aka joy), I've kind of hit earth with a thud- speaking physically, the joy remains. So, resting and repairing and then preparing for the next step in this oddball saga.
I watched Ari Melber last night but turned it off after just a few minutes of the evil, creepy, lying Stephen Miller. Thanks to substacks I already had been well versed in Project 2025 so the only thing to be learned was the lying. It’s funny though when I first saw Kevin Roberts, author 2025, my first thought was how much he resembled Steven Miller. Double creepy!
As for being Trump’s “handlers”, can you imagine a worse job anywhere?
Sjjs
In my long career in the Foreign Service, I became something of an expert in counting crowds of demonstrators. I found that ordinary folks overestimated crowd sizes by about a factor of three, and those who benefited from reporting large crowds overestimated by a factor of five. In Russia, the overestimates were significantly higher.
One sign of real political strength is when political campaigns accurately estimate their own crowd sizes. They don't have to puff them up because the other side is getting weak attendance. This is now happening with the Harris/Walz campaign. Their estimates of crowd size in Eu Claire and Detroit were right on the money.
It's a good sign for those who, only a few weeks before, might have been fearing for our democracy.
This is an email I sent to a corporation which has provided support to National Voter Corps.. I thought the content might be relevant for those of you who share my concern that we need to do everything practicable to protect our democracy and reach out to voters to participate in the November election. Please do share this if you think the content worth considering.
-----
1. You may well know all about this assault on voting rights by Elon Musk but his concerted action I found sobering and was new to me:
https://www.democracydocket.com/analysis/judicial-watchs-dangerous-influence-behind-their-assault-on-voting-rights-and-election-integrity/
I think there needs to be a counter-attack or strategy to limit the damage. I am not sure that National Voter Registration Day is the solution but here is information to consider.
2. National Voter Registration Day is 9/17. Here is a link if you are unfamiliar with this organization:
https://nationalvoterregistrationday.org/
Perhaps corporations, especially those operating outside California, might consider on National Voter Registration Day having a company-wide call or reminder to employees, family and friends that their vote is their voice in a democracy.
2.1 There is a critical need to warn voters in vote suppression states that they may have been purged if they have not voted in the prior election or have moved and haven't yet reregistered.
The Brennan Center has reported at least 9 states(such as Louisiana and Missouri) have recently left the nonpartisan ERIC system which helps Registrars of Voters in various states to update their voter records. For those 9 states, this could mean a return to the patchwork, flawed work of partisan actors who report erroneously to ROVs that voters have moved. Registered voters should be warned that they may have been removed from the voting roll without their knowledge so to be sure to verify that their registration is still in force.
2.2 New strict voter ID laws in many states have been passed since 2020, changing rules for Voting and Vote by Mail (VBM); Eligible or registered voters may go to Vote.org for details to register and to verify ID requirements in every state for voting and for applying for VBM ballots. This should be done promptly in order to obtain appropriate ID or to apply for VBM well before the close of that state's deadline to ensure that the ID and VBM hurtles can be met..
2.3 The screenshot below comes from Crushing Democracy, a powerpoint on our website, and identifies states where your clients might have operations.
Screen shot at page 11 https://nationalvotercorps.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Crushing-American-Democracy-v.4-2.pdf. {Couldn't figure out how to input a screenshot}
I hope this information proves useful.
Your vote is your voice: use it or lose it.
www.nationalvotercorps.org
What Musk is doing is illegal. He is openly defying election laws. Where is the DOJ— NOW!
In the midst of all the chaos in politics and my life, I find the nebula photos calming and grounding. Thank you.
Totally in love with Harris/Walz and your photos...you go Robert>tey make me happy
Is the JD Vance “couch” story real or fake? I think it is important to know.
Watching the Trump press event now - he’s out of his mind !!!
Remember Idi Amin?
Mr. Hubbell,
How do you know so much about astronomy?!
When I read about Georgia, I am so grateful to live in Boston, Massachusetts, where voting is a joyful affair. You stand in line with your neighbors and trade gossip. The time passes quickly. You show up at the sign-desk and another neighbor you know is there to greet you. He knows you, of course, and knows that you'e voted many times, but he looks up your address anyway to check you off. You take your ballot to a stand-up desk with sides for privacy, check all the candidates you are voting for and slip it into a machine that counts the votes and saves the paper trail. Everyone says a cheery goodbye when you leave. And they hand you a sticker that says you've voted. It is such a wonderful time. We have signed up for voting by mail since we are now elderly, we've taken advantage of it, but when we do I miss the community time with my neighbors. No one challenging you. Only joy and fun.
Georgia, you too can make voting a wonderful time if you make it welcoming and fun. None of this challenging people (especially Black people) about their eligibility to vote. Black people are for sure American citizens since our forefathers and mothers brought them unwillingly over to serve the American economy..
We were once in Indonesia and our hotel hosts wondered if we, white folks, were American or European. Then a Black visitor walked in and they knew he was American. Apparently the only Black people who visited were Americans -- maybe Africans weren't common visitors.
I can't visit the South anymore. There is too much sadness and meanness there. Instead, Boston is a happy place -- and don't bring up the Southie whites throwing things at Black students during bussing. We have gotten past that. Those that couldn't integrate moved elsewhere and we're now left with people of all colors who mostly live together happily. Thank goodness I live here and not Georgia.
Thank you for lifting up the critical work of VoPro Pros (https://www.vopropros.com/). Check it out to learn all the ways YOU can help make sure this election runs smoothly in person or virtual - poll watch, join a state voter hotline, ballot cure and much more. So many races are won -or lost by a handful of votes, especially local and state legislative races. We have a chance to flip state legislatures in AZ, PA and more. Let’s get on board now and learn the ropes. After the election let’s be ready to get those ballots cured and win “everywhere!”
We often chafe at the big money and support going to Trump from tech billionaires and venture capitalists and other rich guys, like Elon Musk, Jamie Dimon, and many others. But we must note that there are many in Silicon Valley and other haunts of the superrich, who oppose Trump. Billionaire Mike Moritz wrote an article for the Financial Times saying that those in the venture capital business who support Trump are "making a big mistake" https://cnb.cx/3WxwGDs (The actual article is available through this story on CNBC.). Moritz and his wife Harriet Heyman have made transformative gifts to many causes including $20 million, the largest individual gift ever to the ACLU in 2018, and a gift of $50 million to the University of Chicago for the Odyssey Scholarships supporting low-income students with extraordinary potential. (Harriet Heyman received her AM from Chicago; Moritz was educated at Oxford and the University of Pennsylvania [MBA]).
Also recently 700 venture capitalists signed a pledge to support Kamala and formed the group VCs for Kamala. https://www.vcsforkamala.org/. Take heart. Spread the good word.
Wonderful indeed! Oh, and the nebula too.
Democracy Docket is my "what's going on?" go to every day. Where would we be without Mark?