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For anyone interested in helping Contest Every Race to recruit candidates, they are holding a volunteer training tomorrow. MovementLabs does a lot of texting for them. It’s important work!

https://www.mobilize.us/movementlabs/event/547287/?force_banner=true&share_context=event_details&share_medium=copy_link

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Pinning to the top and will mention in tonight's newsletter.

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Yes, Robert, today was a very enlightening day. It was so pleasurable to see the seditious conspiracy charges against these thugs. What really made my eyes pop out was Kellyanne’s secret little meeting with Leonard Leo. What a stool pigeon she is but again, not surprising. Wonder if she, when interviewed by Smith or his staff, tried to use “alternate facts” as some of her answers. 😁

Leo is as much the kingpin as Trump, in my opinion. He feels he is untouchable because he sits on a golden throne, high on a hill. I would not doubt that he is the one, along with his rich cronies, who paid Kavanaugh’s debts off. I dunno, it all stinks to high heaven. Let’s make them all go away. Let’s win in 2024 and get rid of the filibuster, put ERA back where it belongs, enact the John Lewis Act, delete Citizens United, rejoice in making abortions legal and safe again, and go forward with Biden’s plan for energy and climate change! Goodnight.

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At this moment. NOW. John Roberts should be calling Thomas into his office - demanding his immediate resignation. If he doesn't, the other members of the Court should publicly demand such. There is no "iffyness" here. The guy might be the best neighbor you could hope for. He might be generous and kind to some people. But Clarence Thomas is CORRUPT. Do your job Chief Justice or forever be remembered as equally corrupt.

Ooops. Maybe he is. I forgot about the $10 million his wife harvested from guess where...from law firms that had business in front of HIS court.

Every member of both houses of Congress should be demanding impeachment. Write to your House Rep and your Senators.

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I sent the following message to my Senators (my Congressman is a MAGAt):

Please demand that the Supreme Court adopt a code of ethics and hold its members accountable. The appearance of massive ethics lapses among the Supremes has compromised the last vestige of integrity in our government.

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Bob, thanks for doing your part! I checked out your blog on Substack! Nice!

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Bob, Thanks for posting your message. Because it’s strong, concise, and beautifully written, I imagine you will get a hearing. Meanwhile, I plan to borrow parts of it as I draft a message to my House and Senate representatives.

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Done! I wrote to Alex Padilla.

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I also shared Bob's post on Facebook.

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thanks!

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From your mouth to God's ear! We have to keep at it to make this happen - Onward!

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We will!! We can!! Oh yes WE CAN!

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Oh goodness, Ms. Lerner-Bigley; I wrote nearly the same thing on another substack column!

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I did watch Colin Allred campaign announcement video yesterday and am wonderfully impressed with his credentials (NFL linebacker, lawyer, U.S. House Representative), his solid values and his caring for people. I laughed when he described Senator Cruz as all hat and no cattle! I immediately set up a monthly donation at his campaign website. Rep. Allred is a much stronger candidate than Beto O'Rourke who came very close to defeating Sen. Cruz in 2018 so I'm feeling very confident he can win and by a strong margin! It feels so good to have such a strong candidate for Senate in Texas!

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I’ve done a blockwalk or two at which Colin has given an informal send-off. I can’t stress enough what a down to earth, pleasant, humble speaker he is...yet clear and firm. He’s not a showboater, but he is quite inspiring.

And re Thomas. Throughout the last few weeks, as more stories have been revealed, there have been testimonies to what a “good guy” he is. Other justices, even liberal ones, have vouched for him.

I am reminded that people are complicated. There may well be ways, many ways, in which Thomas has been kind, generous, principled, etc. That can be true while at the same time he has made some deeply unethical decisions that make him unqualified to continue to serve. We have all known people we thought highly of who we later discovered had done something terribly wrong. With Thomas, we don’t need to resolve any inconsistencies, nor do we need to paint everything he’s ever done as unethical. It’s (more than) enough that he’s failed spectacularly as a public servant by taking lots of “free stuff,” as Barb McQuade calls it, and he should resign or be impeached.

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Like: "I am reminded that people are complicated."

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Well said. I just watched the video - what a breath of fresh air! I’m donating, too.

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I wish I felt as confident. 9.6 million Texas didn’t vote in the 2022 midterms. Getting to the ballot box and having the vote count is more difficult due to the new laws put in place after the 2020 election. We do not have a functioning TDP, we have a weak, lazy, corrupt Chairman running it and he will not do one thing to help Colin Allred.

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Hi, Rachel. Can you tell me more about the TDP? please write to rbhubbell@gmail.com. Thanks!

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I will refer this to my husband Geoff Carlton. He can write, in extreme detail, about the TDP. He wrote a response on this thread but I told him to keep it short.

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😨😱😭

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Also, please note that Senate races can't be gerrymandered since a Senator represents the entire state. So, it is strictly popular vote of those that get out to vote!

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Cathy, I would note we can’t dismiss that the Texas Senate, last week, passed nine anti-vote bills, some explicitly targeting Houston, that now move to the state House. If you have any thoughts regarding how those of us from other states can intervene, please let us know.

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Barbara Jo, I'll give your question quite a lot of thought. Closer to the election writing postcards to individual Texas voters can make a difference. Field Team 6 and Postcards to Voters are two organizations that organize getting postcards out. There is also giving donations to key races like supporting Colin Allred for Senate. The thing that would be most helpful is to develop some strong clear messages about democracy and President Biden's accomplishments and how he is making the world a better place where each person will thrive. I listen to the Movement Briefings by Anat Shenkar-Osorio an expert on communications and messaging. I'll keep thinking!

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Cathy, Thanks so much for your reply. Given how eager I am to continue to learn about “communications and messaging,” I especially appreciate the Movement Briefings reference. Meantime, I, too, at this end, will “keep thinking.”

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Seems like college and NFL football background would give Mr. Allred plenty of "street cred" with most (yte) Texans and his single mama brought-ups might give him some pull with other groups. I will be donating asap.

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A friend of mine is from Texas. No question Allred is the best viable candidate but as my friend has stated you need to be more than the best candidate in Texas you need to be the right candidate. Many Texans hate Cruz but it will take great messaging and turnout to win.

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I never got the impression that Beto was a strong candidate for anything. Allred is in a totally different league. Cruz won't know what hit him.

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I hope you are right!

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Kudos to you, Robert, for identifying and clarifying key issues for us. Lots to comment on, but I'm focused tonight on learning that not only do we have at least 2 justices who have histories of sexual abuse, but one of them is an outright @#$%&#! grifter, and he's really good at it, too. Thomas doesn't appear to be expressing remorse or embarrassment, even though anyone with a conscience or any dedication to the law would've resigned immediately after these disclosures.

Even worse is that there must be friends, accountants, the IRS, legal colleagues, SCOTUS staff, other justices, and others who've known about the Crow-Thomas bribery connections for years. Yet they did NOTHING about it - not even an anonymous whistle-blower complaint. IMHO, those who declined to speak up are complicit and have enabled the Supreme Court to become little better than what we'd expect in any failed or authoritarian country.

I'm beyond disgusted that federal political culture apparently normalizes and accepts criminal behavior and obvious ethical violations from high-level officials. Look how long it took DOJ to even start investigating Trump and his fellow grifters and liars. Listen to the silence from Chief Justice Roberts and the other justices.

I hope the intrepid journalists uncovering the SCOTUS corruption will continue their reporting. We owe them a deep debt of gratitude. Thank you, Robert, for letting me vent.

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You write, "one of them is an outright @#$%&#! grifter." In the draft of the newsletter last night, I wrote that Thomas was a grifter. I took that term out of the final version of the newsletter, but believe it is an accurate description of what is going on. Thanks for speaking the truth.

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I added the @#$%&#! right before I posted. Fun fact: the string of symbols for cursing or obscenity is called a grawlix. It was coined by comic strip artist Mort Walker in the 1960s.

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Good to know, Laurie.

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A high court fit for a third world banana republic. And yes, I know that is being rude to folks who live there, as it's usually U.S corporations that have created and encouraged that very thing for their own purposes.....well, that's my whole point.

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What I don’t get is why the DoJ isn’t questioning SCOTUS staff.

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Such an inspiring video by Rep Colin Allred.

We voted blue in '22; now let's do it some more in '24!

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Oooo, I LIKE that ditty! May I steal?

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Of course, TL!

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I also have seen Collin Allred on MSNBC. He is the real deal and has a tremendous background. Already donated because anyone who can stand up to that hateful Cruz, has my support.

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The following comments from Heather Cox Richardson illustrates clearly the impact of the outside subsidizing of Judge Thomas has had on actual court decisions. “ there is a profound national crisis at the heart of the stories emerging about Thomas. His votes were decisive not only in Shelby County v. Holder, but also in the 2010 Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision, also decided by a vote of 5–4, which opened the floodgates for dark money in political campaigns. Those decisions dramatically undermined our democracy. It now seems imperative to grapple with the fact it appears a key vote on the court that decided those cases was compromised.” I was not aware of this before and I am outraged and this situation. It’s be addressed.

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Justice Clarence “Quid Pro Quo” needs to go!

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If Robert Hubbell asks me for a personal favor - I am all over it. I just watched the Colin Allred campaign launch video - with tears welling up in my eyes. https://youtu.be/IzFWIuDqkCc

I have NEVER seen anything like it before. It is mind blowing in its beauty, its sincerity and video production quality. If you don't love this man after watching it, look inside yourself and ask why.

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Bill, I write mostly to add, if memory serves, that Civil Right Attorney and now Congressman Colin Allred had worked with Democracy Docket founder Marc Elias before entering Congress. Having heard, on more than one occasion, Allred speak about the dire consequences of no longer having any meaningful federal voter protection safeguards, I plan to do all I can to galvanize out-of-staters ( I, myself, live in MA) to get engaged, particularly since the Texas Senate, last week, passed nine anti-vote bills, some explicitly targeting Houston, that now move to the state House.

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Agree. Colin's video put some wind in my sails. Maybe we can yet get out of these doldrums.

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When you tell me to watch a video (and then add a 2nd link just to drive the point home), I do it. And I’m glad I did! I immediately made a donation to Colin’s campaign. What a breath of fresh air! Great Senate candidate for Texas (and all the rest of us).

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Colin Allred , incredible video! Yes there is hope.

Wish his last name wasn’t “All -red but All -blue”!

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Maybe it will confuse some Republican voters who only vote based on party. ;-)

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As you asked, I watched the video. It was worth those few minutes. Colin Allred is so much more appealing than Ted Cruz, it seems possible that Texas could have a Democratic Senator. Consistent with the confidence you express, this morning's Boston Globe headline is: "These [three] South Carolina women are warning their party about abortion politics, but will they listen?" We are watching and listening and can win in November.

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Thank you for these links and great information, Robert. Another (may have come up yesterday, if so I apologize) McCarthy scheme to give members a $30,000 a year raise. Because it can't be done legally as $$$ he is exploring having their rent, meals, travel, etc. paid for them. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/speakers-lobby-not-quite-pay-raise

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Yes; McCarthy's scheme is disgusting. Even if our representatives deserve the subsidy, McCarthy should be transparent about that fact.

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For me, until they actually begin to do the work we hired them to do, they do not deserve raises. I'm speaking of the MAGA Republicans.

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Oops!!

“…McCarthy scheme to give members a $30,000 a year raise. Because it can't be done legally as $$$ he is exploring having their rent, meals, travel, etc. paid for them.”

All this while McCarthy rails about federal deficits and threatens to tank the economy over the debt limit. Hmmmm.

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IKR!!!!!

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McCarthy is dastard; that is a BRIBE, pure and simple--as though ANY of the 'Pubbies in Congress have done a thing other than say "no", obstruct real legislation, play pretend Reps and run around showboating their utter ignorance of how government actually works, the Constitution and decent behavior. They are definitely NOT worth what they are paid now, let alone another $30,000 in perq's and bennies. And just think of the opportunities for grift that assigning money for such purposes would provide!

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Interesting article, Gailee. Thanks for posting.

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You hit this one right out of the park, dear Robert!! I'm so excited...as we used to say in campaigns:

FIRED UP AND READY TO GO!!

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Excellent video by Colin Allred! We need more of him in every single Senate and House race! In my opinion, we must urge the Democrats nationally at the state level to hold no punches in advertising the real and present dangers posed by the Republican Party everywhere! Listing what laws of cruelty and discrimination they are passing in red states is shocking enough. Add to that the insanity of the Extreme Court, as Republican enablers, and the length to which they will go to keep more people from voting, and we have the makings of disaster in America if Democrats don’t seize the moment and get us fired up all over the country - especially in rural areas or with folks who just don’t pay attention and realize how their lives are changing for the worse under these fascist-wannabees! No more playing nice. We simply have to go for the jugular and make this election as real, as scary, and yet as solution-oriented as humanly possible. This is not a game. I have seen my own state of NC throw all caution to the wind with the help of a traitor from the Democratic Party, who did not just change parties early this year knowing full well the dire consequences of giving the Republicans a super-majority, but who have shoved through an agenda they could only dream of the last two years when the Democrats had enough seats to prevent a veto-proof Republican Party. Karma will not be kind to Tricia Cotham, who ran on strong Democratic principles, comes from a solidly blue family, and lives in a solidly blue district. She swore that she didn’t change parties “because of her beliefs.” And she then proceeded to vote for each of the GQP’s horrible positions on gun laws, LBGTQ laws, and most significantly, abortion laws in NC. This woman had an abortion herself, and spoke to the legislature in 2015 about how the government had no business telling women what to do. Now, she has decided along with her BFF’s that it’s ok to limit access to abortion for North Carolinians, and all the other women throughout the South who were coming to NC to obtain an abortion. And worst of all is the creature that the Republicans are running for Governor of NC against an Uber-qualified and proven Attorney General. Mark Robinson is more crass than you can imagine, and he has spoken most of his words of hate, cruelty, prejudice, and fascism from the pulpits of churches. We are in a sorry state (pun intended) right now, and the majority of people who live here are terrified by the quick descent into Hell that we have seen from a power-mad Republican Party! And NC is not the only state going through this. We were just one of the last. We all must scream “enough” and take our country back! Thanks to Robert and all of you who provide hope, encouragement, and knowledge!!!!

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thanks for the description of what is happening in NC. I am going to re-post your comment in tomorrow's newsletter and invite readers to review it.

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"We simply have to go for the jugular..." because the Rs are tightening the choke hold if we don't.

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There is always reason to hope, especially if the Democrats stay focused on winning and don't get in their own way. Lucas Kunce is running again for the Senate against Josh Hawley unless, as happened last time, a spoiler gets in the race. Trudy Valentine ran a much less than half-a***d campaign and now we have Eric Schmitt. Allred's video and approach are impressive and offer Texans a strong option.

Excruciating is an understatement relative to both Jack Smith and Fani Willis. Best they make sure that the wheels of justice grind as effectively as they are slowly.

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Hi Robert,

Thank you. The Allred announcement video is well worth watching. Would you include a link to Collin Allred's campaign in your next post?

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