Greetings from Germany! Here, my region has been posting when they have received their emailed ballots. My daughter and I received our ballots from Illinois last night. I also saw that Pennsylvania, California, New Mexico, North Carolina, New Jersey, Texas, Florida and Ohio has received their ballots. A person from Ohio also posted, "there‘s an anti-gerrymandering issue on the ballot, which the Republicans don‘t want, so the Republican SoS put language on the ballot that is the most brazenly slanted partisan b------t I‘ve ever seen. It takes up over half a page on the ballot, shot through with what could have been Fox News talking points. I‘d heard about it, because of course the Republican state Supreme Court decided this week that they could use the language. This is one of those times when I expected something bad, and still I‘m shocked when I actually see it." So, we need to stay the course. I am heartened by the Red, Wine and Blue activities in swing states, including one to support Haitian victims in Springfield, Ohio. https://redwine.blue/events/
We are holding a Defend Democracy Demonstration in Hamburg tomorrow by the City Hall. If you are in the area, it is at 16:00 CET.
The language on Ohio's Issue 1 was written to deliberately confuse the voter. A vote"yes" is a vote to end gerrymandering in our state.The Ohio Republican super-majority have done this linguistic sleight-of-hand before on previous issues in previous elections. This is where "yes"means "no" and vice versa which is actually a form of voter suppression. It is another way voters get punked/tricked. View www.CitizensNotPoliticians.org for information on Issue 1.
That happened last August, didn't it, Victoria? They also tried to move the special election date, as I recall. My memory says I wrote postcards about it.
It’s absurd how ridiculous the GOP has become. Let’s just say it: they’re not conservative anymore. They’re the sociopathic party. Top to bottom - sociopaths one and all. What kind of person actually says so proudly that he’s a “black Nazi” whatever the hell that is! Hitler would have dispatched Mark Robinson just as any Jew. And he’s proud of that? These people are beyond ignorant and it shows.
And then there’s poor ole Bret Stephens of the NYT. Did anyone see him on Bill Maher last night? He was opposite Stephanie Rhule from MSNBC. He used to be a standard moderate conservative. I think the NYT has gotten to him too. He now says that he’s one of those “undecided” voters. He can’t vote for Donald but he’s at this stage unwilling to vote for Harris because he claims she hasn’t come out and had enough interviews to make her points well known. He was focused on the Israeli war with Hamas. He called her too vanilla on the topic which prompted Stephanie Rhule to unload on him. She proceeded to verbally undress him in-front on Maher who let her have at it.
She brought all the logic to him and he failed to even have a reasonable response as to why he’s undecided. What a buffoon he’s become. It makes me more satisfied for dropping my NYT subscription.
I think poor ole’ Bret needs to look in the mirror and ask himself what the problem is. My guess is he can’t fathom a women let alone a black women become President. I said that, he didn’t. Stephanie Rhule removed all the objections for him and he still could not say anything. I don’t look at him and respect his writing any longer. He’s got some issues to resolve and evidently needs some help. Here’s a hint for Bret: it’s not Kamala Harris’s politics that bothers you. I’ll leave it there.
Here in the Bay Area - but perhaps it's country-wide? - I believe NPR has a voting website, which they update. I trust them. But this is a good reminder to both find the site, and donate!
Teflon Don. Each time something like the Access Hollywood tape comes along - things that in the past have sunk far better people than trump - I foolishly think “this is it, this is the straw that will break this camel’s back,” but it never does. I have high hopes for “women keeping their skirts down,” though.
It certainly does seem like Trump represents a third of the country's attempt to "throw the middle finger" to the rest of the country in the worst possible manner, doesn't it?
It's like they're aggrieved by (what EVER) and they're throwing sh!t in our faces, "just because."
I have never understood Trump's supposed "appeal" but I do not think it is transferable. Josh Stein saturated the airwaves with ads against Robinson frm the get go - at least here in the Charlotte media market. Since it was audio and video clips of Robinson himself, there was little for him to rebut. Here is the master LP cut: https://www.realmarkrobinson.com/
Wow; that is beyond disgusting. I suppose if someone fills his ample "britches" with lead, he'll be all about "How could anyone think that political violence is okay?" What a miserable excuse for a human being.
RE: Robinson Wasn't Mein Kampf the only book on the felon's nightstand back in 2016? Contemplating the acceptance of this ideology by principal GOP candidates should induce retroperistalsis and help shed that 10 pounds!
Mailed my 1300th postcard this week, and just received another 200 to work on this weekend; we're on the beaches and moving inland to crush this threat to our democracy. Better days are coming, and I know this Band of Brothers won't quit until the job is finished.
You are awesome! Mom has written more than 300, and I haven't kept count of mine - less, because I'm in charge of the tech, buying the stamps, ordering the cards ....... and buying a house!! Regardless, so many of us are working on it, it's really heartening.
Should have said "Band of Brothers AND Sisters"- I think there are more women than men doing this....but no matter who, we're all on the same team, and we're winning ! Tell your Mom "Thanks!".
Wow, way to go! I think I've done a whole 8 of my 200. I'm blushing and ashamed, but I will get them done!
My excuse is that I write for a living, providing content for my company which then publishes the pieces on clients' websites. I write to strict deadlines, and I'm behind, so I have to get caught up with work first.
Plus, those who know me from other newsletters know my beautiful, big, floppy Maine Coon cat, Jack (full name: Captain Jack Sparrow), died on September 12, out of nowhere, sending me into a spiral of grief.
His death came on top of that of a friend who died September 3, after a hard-fought battle with brain cancer. So things are upside down at my house at the moment.
My remaining furball, another Maine Coon named Barnaby, is NOT helping with any of it!
I spit out my coffee as I was laughing about your losing 10 lbs overnight. I didn’t realize men were that self conscious also. Have fun! I had a blast at my 50th which was in 2016. It was enlightening how many of us were Democrats. We couldn’t vote until we were 21, though our boys could be drafted at 18.
Should you miss your ten lb goal, distract them with a handy repository of astrophotographs that are conveniently available on your iPhone...or better yet, take your iPad along. Good luck!
PLEASE ADDRESS THIS ROBERT. I have just read your colleague, HCR's (Heather Cox Richarson) history lesson on the Electoral College.
My question is this: Why can we be heartened by the tremendous support and hope for Kamala from everyone from, Swifties, to past and present respected, intelligent , patriotic Republican leaders, to Oprah's truly magnificent show with Kamala on PBS (and other channels, I wish), when the fate of the election comes down to the Electoral College, when the Electoral College is often more fragile in its being swayed by snakes in the political pit like Lindsay Graham ( you can explain what he's been up to and my guess he is one of many insiders doing Trump's dirty work). Please give us hope in how Harris and Walz can win in the Electoral College.
Okay. I will address. But let's recognize that the electoral college is a problem because our country is roughly evenly divided. If people of good will refused to support a wannabe dictator, he should get zero electoral votes, and the electoral college would be irrelevant. The real problem is the electorate, not the electoral college, which is a problem only in close elections.
Reforming the Electoral College for 2024 is not within our power, but an overwhelming turnout in every voting district is. Let's work to help Vice President Harris emerge from the Electoral College Summa Cum Laude!
But Bob if this can only be by popular vote and the Electoral College can deny the popular vote of their states how can we suceed in voting Harris into the White House? I am sincerely dumbfouded as to why we have the Electoral College rules given it is so outdated! Popular votes should always rule and that will not put farmers out of business is my hunch. So the reason for Electoral College is archaic in my opinion.
I expect some surprises in states that were considered solidly red. You can't anger so many women and supportive men and not expect a strong backlash.
Dobbs as such is on the ballot - even if unofficially.
And now we have pet eating. It is hard to imagine a candidate running a worse campaign. The Walz/Vance debate will show a shamed Senator and a well respected Governor as emblematic of the the big choice. Trump has eclipsed McCain in terms of horrible VP choices. And Harris has been brilliant.
Hi Bill I loved your opening sentence but am I naive in that I still am perplexed as to why the popular vote of a state does not influence the Electoral votes! There seems to be a filmy curtain between the two in which here seems little connection and why we have this problem of losing the election even though winning the popular vote.
My guess: low population states (many of which are rural and red) each get two electoral votes by virtue of having two senators. Some really low population states such as Wyoming, Alaska, and possibly N.Dakota get a full vote for their single representative even though, by population, they would only qualify for a fraction of one.
Also I think, but not with a high degree of certainty, that the formula for allocating representatives does not mathematically correspond with a state's population. For example, I think I've read that by actual population California should have 80 Congressional seats rather than the 53 or so that they now have. All these factors contribute to allocating an out sized voting power to a minority of voters.
Another factor that tends to reduce majority influence is that under the rules of 48 states, excepting Nebraska and Maine, all of a state's electors are awarded on a winner take all basis. If the vote count is very close, all votes on the losing side are nullified because all electors are given to the winner. (Of course, this occurs as well in states where the majority of votes are for the blue candidate.) In NE and ME (I think) the electors are awarded in accordance with the winning vote tallies in each Congressional district. In 2020 Biden won one electoral vote in NE because the district encompassing Omaha went for Biden. Fact checking on any of the above observations is welcomed.
To reform, or better to get rid of the Electoral College you have line up a majority of the states to support that initiative. In a comment to HCR's very instructive description on how and why the EC came about a reader pointed to efforts which already is under way:
Thank you Stefan this is encouraging though something for future elections. I am a New Yorker so not in a critical state for Kamala's win Electorail College-wise , we knew the truth about Trump years ago! LOL! But I sure am concernd of about the popular vote being ignored in the battle states as we are all one as a nation.
I was going to post about her long and very informative history of the Electoral College, including those presidents who called for direct elections and why those efforts failed. Even though Robert doesn't want us to have this perspective, she does conclude that this election could actually come down to that one Electoral vote in Nebraska. Of course we need huge turnouts in every state, but she makes a strong argument that even that might not ultimately carry the day for Harris.
I WILL FIX ALL OF THAT, AND FAST, AND AT LONG LAST THIS NATIONAL NIGHTMARE WILL BE OVER. WOMEN WILL BE HAPPY, HEALTHY, CONFIDENT AND FREE! YOU WILL NO LONGER BE THINKING ABOUT ABORTION . . . .
Doesn’t he realize anything you type on all caps looks like a threat? All I can imagine after reading that is that he is giving all is women free lobotomies.
I learned a long time ago to stay away from using exclamation points because it sounds like you’re screaming. I never even considered using ALL CAPS in any correspondence. It makes me think of a rabid animal. Oh, wait… HE IS!
Love the photo and appreciate your reassuring message once again. Thank you for all you do to keep us informed and grounded in these turbulent times. I hope you have fun at your reunion.
I think all we have to do is follow Kamala’s clear example. She allows no one to push her in any direction. She urges supporters not to look at polls but to keep working. Advice that sounds familiar? We trust Robert. We trust Kamala. We need to live their advice for six more weeks. Kamala’ s coalition is energized and consolidating. As Simon Rosenberg says, we will finish this campaign strong.
We all should be hopeful about the Harris Walz ticket and there is finally a candidate and a message everyone can get their hands around. The Democratic presidential campaign is doing their job and putting the Harris team in the best possible position to win and we need to do our job and close the deal. It’s always the little things that win elections like the extra postcard written, the extra door knocked on and most importantly the extra voter registered and driven to the polls. The campaigns in this election are all about up and down ballot candidates not just the top of the ticket and if we want to win and electively govern we need to win the House and the Senate. We can do this
While the Georgia Elections Commission is playing footsie with our democratic rights, a good thing has happened in Arizona. "Arizona voters whose citizenship documents had not been confirmed can vote, court says--- Republican and Democrat officials relieved as court allows 98,000 people to vote in state and local races." They were already eligible to cast ballot on federal level. It is a bit complicated so good to read the story in the Guardian here-- https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/21/arizona-voters-citizenship-documents-vote?CMP=share_btn_url
The two pictures are stunning. The one of you kneeling made me linger a little longer, as this is a picture of a moment of your time that was captured perfectly. Truly one to be hanging on a wall.
I agree. The image of Robert taking the photograph of the moon was perfectly captured. Perhaps it was taken by Mrs. Hubbell, who gave him the telescope?
My apologies again to all for our SC Senator Lindsey Graham’s unethical actions. On September 18, he skipped votes in the Senate to travel to Nebraska, where he tried to convince state legislators to switch the state’s system of allotting electoral votes by district to a winner-take-all system. Fortunately, this close to the election, his effort so far appears unsuccessful but we’ve seen Graham meddle in another state’s electoral process before. Vote Blue, vote blue, vote blue.
Ms. Lindsey, the turncoat, has been flitting around the red states like a Russian butterfly. GA voters will flip the shit outta your state. Then Graham and hopefully MTG go bye-bye.
One of my fondest memories is of attending a 'star party' in the Texas Hill Country somewhere out in the middle of nowhere [or, as we sometimes say in Texas 'the middle of no Damnwhere]: a small group of people, mostly members of the local Sierra Club. The host had The Telescope and knew what to do with it, so we were all treated to beautiful and unknown and unimaginable worlds (or 'whorls' as my fingers typed before I corrected it; I think whorls is a better description anyway...). There wasn't any formal camping, but most of us including me, brought one of those old webbed lounge chairs and set them up and we slept there overnight. All the beautiful dark and quiet with the stars wheeling overhead and the moon that came up so bright that it woke me. And, thankfully, some blessed attendee brought Cinnamon rolls and coffee for the morning. Robert's photos remind me of how many people at any given time are out somewhere with their scopes pointed toward infinity.
Greetings from Germany! Here, my region has been posting when they have received their emailed ballots. My daughter and I received our ballots from Illinois last night. I also saw that Pennsylvania, California, New Mexico, North Carolina, New Jersey, Texas, Florida and Ohio has received their ballots. A person from Ohio also posted, "there‘s an anti-gerrymandering issue on the ballot, which the Republicans don‘t want, so the Republican SoS put language on the ballot that is the most brazenly slanted partisan b------t I‘ve ever seen. It takes up over half a page on the ballot, shot through with what could have been Fox News talking points. I‘d heard about it, because of course the Republican state Supreme Court decided this week that they could use the language. This is one of those times when I expected something bad, and still I‘m shocked when I actually see it." So, we need to stay the course. I am heartened by the Red, Wine and Blue activities in swing states, including one to support Haitian victims in Springfield, Ohio. https://redwine.blue/events/
We are holding a Defend Democracy Demonstration in Hamburg tomorrow by the City Hall. If you are in the area, it is at 16:00 CET.
The language on Ohio's Issue 1 was written to deliberately confuse the voter. A vote"yes" is a vote to end gerrymandering in our state.The Ohio Republican super-majority have done this linguistic sleight-of-hand before on previous issues in previous elections. This is where "yes"means "no" and vice versa which is actually a form of voter suppression. It is another way voters get punked/tricked. View www.CitizensNotPoliticians.org for information on Issue 1.
That happened last August, didn't it, Victoria? They also tried to move the special election date, as I recall. My memory says I wrote postcards about it.
Yes you are absolutely correct.It has been done on several occasions.Because I am a voting location manager, I know this sh*t in advance.smh
It’s absurd how ridiculous the GOP has become. Let’s just say it: they’re not conservative anymore. They’re the sociopathic party. Top to bottom - sociopaths one and all. What kind of person actually says so proudly that he’s a “black Nazi” whatever the hell that is! Hitler would have dispatched Mark Robinson just as any Jew. And he’s proud of that? These people are beyond ignorant and it shows.
And then there’s poor ole Bret Stephens of the NYT. Did anyone see him on Bill Maher last night? He was opposite Stephanie Rhule from MSNBC. He used to be a standard moderate conservative. I think the NYT has gotten to him too. He now says that he’s one of those “undecided” voters. He can’t vote for Donald but he’s at this stage unwilling to vote for Harris because he claims she hasn’t come out and had enough interviews to make her points well known. He was focused on the Israeli war with Hamas. He called her too vanilla on the topic which prompted Stephanie Rhule to unload on him. She proceeded to verbally undress him in-front on Maher who let her have at it.
She brought all the logic to him and he failed to even have a reasonable response as to why he’s undecided. What a buffoon he’s become. It makes me more satisfied for dropping my NYT subscription.
I think poor ole’ Bret needs to look in the mirror and ask himself what the problem is. My guess is he can’t fathom a women let alone a black women become President. I said that, he didn’t. Stephanie Rhule removed all the objections for him and he still could not say anything. I don’t look at him and respect his writing any longer. He’s got some issues to resolve and evidently needs some help. Here’s a hint for Bret: it’s not Kamala Harris’s politics that bothers you. I’ll leave it there.
I’m very glad to have Robert. Thanks.
Information about deceitful voting language hits our society hard and leaves folks searching for hints of civilization. Where do we go from here?
This confusing ballot language needs to stop! I wonder if voters in states that are doing this could file class action lawsuits?
Here in the Bay Area - but perhaps it's country-wide? - I believe NPR has a voting website, which they update. I trust them. But this is a good reminder to both find the site, and donate!
League of Women Voters has objective, non-partisan information on ballot measures, usually available on the state League website.
Same backward confusion was used on the abortion issue in Kansas! We were onto the subterfuge, though--did not work for them then; hope it won't now.
💙💙
I live in Texas and my mail in ballot has not arrived. I will be calling the elections office on Monday. Thanks for the heads up from across the pond!
California ballots are coming out first part of October. The international ballots must have gone out early.
Too bad. I am out of town, would have loved to attend and to meet you.
Ausgescheitnet!
FWIW, Robert, I'd say this Today's Edition earns at least a loss of five pounds...you're welcome!
P.S. Love the photos.
They say a camera adds 10 pounds. Stay away from cameras!
Laughing out loud!
Not just they "say" - they "do"!
HA!
Here's hoping that NC GOP gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson can become what the Access Hollywood tape was meant to be.
Teflon Don. Each time something like the Access Hollywood tape comes along - things that in the past have sunk far better people than trump - I foolishly think “this is it, this is the straw that will break this camel’s back,” but it never does. I have high hopes for “women keeping their skirts down,” though.
It certainly does seem like Trump represents a third of the country's attempt to "throw the middle finger" to the rest of the country in the worst possible manner, doesn't it?
It's like they're aggrieved by (what EVER) and they're throwing sh!t in our faces, "just because."
I have never understood Trump's supposed "appeal" but I do not think it is transferable. Josh Stein saturated the airwaves with ads against Robinson frm the get go - at least here in the Charlotte media market. Since it was audio and video clips of Robinson himself, there was little for him to rebut. Here is the master LP cut: https://www.realmarkrobinson.com/
Wow; that is beyond disgusting. I suppose if someone fills his ample "britches" with lead, he'll be all about "How could anyone think that political violence is okay?" What a miserable excuse for a human being.
That crack about women made my jaw drop. Apparently he did go on to say something about men keeping their trousers up, or something to that effect.
He is a really sick puppy. Except, I shouldn't insult puppies, even sick ones. Also, I can't believe trump was smart enough to distance himself!
RE: Robinson Wasn't Mein Kampf the only book on the felon's nightstand back in 2016? Contemplating the acceptance of this ideology by principal GOP candidates should induce retroperistalsis and help shed that 10 pounds!
Mailed my 1300th postcard this week, and just received another 200 to work on this weekend; we're on the beaches and moving inland to crush this threat to our democracy. Better days are coming, and I know this Band of Brothers won't quit until the job is finished.
You are awesome! Mom has written more than 300, and I haven't kept count of mine - less, because I'm in charge of the tech, buying the stamps, ordering the cards ....... and buying a house!! Regardless, so many of us are working on it, it's really heartening.
Should have said "Band of Brothers AND Sisters"- I think there are more women than men doing this....but no matter who, we're all on the same team, and we're winning ! Tell your Mom "Thanks!".
Who said "Band of Brothers"? Not me. Anyway, I'll tell Mom, and thank you!
Ooops, sorry, just read you more carefully. But as you say, we're all in it together!
Wow, way to go! I think I've done a whole 8 of my 200. I'm blushing and ashamed, but I will get them done!
My excuse is that I write for a living, providing content for my company which then publishes the pieces on clients' websites. I write to strict deadlines, and I'm behind, so I have to get caught up with work first.
Plus, those who know me from other newsletters know my beautiful, big, floppy Maine Coon cat, Jack (full name: Captain Jack Sparrow), died on September 12, out of nowhere, sending me into a spiral of grief.
His death came on top of that of a friend who died September 3, after a hard-fought battle with brain cancer. So things are upside down at my house at the moment.
My remaining furball, another Maine Coon named Barnaby, is NOT helping with any of it!
Wow! You put me to shame!
I spit out my coffee as I was laughing about your losing 10 lbs overnight. I didn’t realize men were that self conscious also. Have fun! I had a blast at my 50th which was in 2016. It was enlightening how many of us were Democrats. We couldn’t vote until we were 21, though our boys could be drafted at 18.
HUMOR...a time honored panacea.
Should you miss your ten lb goal, distract them with a handy repository of astrophotographs that are conveniently available on your iPhone...or better yet, take your iPad along. Good luck!
PLEASE ADDRESS THIS ROBERT. I have just read your colleague, HCR's (Heather Cox Richarson) history lesson on the Electoral College.
My question is this: Why can we be heartened by the tremendous support and hope for Kamala from everyone from, Swifties, to past and present respected, intelligent , patriotic Republican leaders, to Oprah's truly magnificent show with Kamala on PBS (and other channels, I wish), when the fate of the election comes down to the Electoral College, when the Electoral College is often more fragile in its being swayed by snakes in the political pit like Lindsay Graham ( you can explain what he's been up to and my guess he is one of many insiders doing Trump's dirty work). Please give us hope in how Harris and Walz can win in the Electoral College.
Okay. I will address. But let's recognize that the electoral college is a problem because our country is roughly evenly divided. If people of good will refused to support a wannabe dictator, he should get zero electoral votes, and the electoral college would be irrelevant. The real problem is the electorate, not the electoral college, which is a problem only in close elections.
Reforming the Electoral College for 2024 is not within our power, but an overwhelming turnout in every voting district is. Let's work to help Vice President Harris emerge from the Electoral College Summa Cum Laude!
But Bob if this can only be by popular vote and the Electoral College can deny the popular vote of their states how can we suceed in voting Harris into the White House? I am sincerely dumbfouded as to why we have the Electoral College rules given it is so outdated! Popular votes should always rule and that will not put farmers out of business is my hunch. So the reason for Electoral College is archaic in my opinion.
Amen, Bob!
I expect some surprises in states that were considered solidly red. You can't anger so many women and supportive men and not expect a strong backlash.
Dobbs as such is on the ballot - even if unofficially.
And now we have pet eating. It is hard to imagine a candidate running a worse campaign. The Walz/Vance debate will show a shamed Senator and a well respected Governor as emblematic of the the big choice. Trump has eclipsed McCain in terms of horrible VP choices. And Harris has been brilliant.
Hi Bill I loved your opening sentence but am I naive in that I still am perplexed as to why the popular vote of a state does not influence the Electoral votes! There seems to be a filmy curtain between the two in which here seems little connection and why we have this problem of losing the election even though winning the popular vote.
I believe HCR answers your question in her 9/20/24 newsletter. https://open.substack.com/pub/heathercoxrichardson/p/september-20-2024?r=bpxdl&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
My guess: low population states (many of which are rural and red) each get two electoral votes by virtue of having two senators. Some really low population states such as Wyoming, Alaska, and possibly N.Dakota get a full vote for their single representative even though, by population, they would only qualify for a fraction of one.
Also I think, but not with a high degree of certainty, that the formula for allocating representatives does not mathematically correspond with a state's population. For example, I think I've read that by actual population California should have 80 Congressional seats rather than the 53 or so that they now have. All these factors contribute to allocating an out sized voting power to a minority of voters.
Another factor that tends to reduce majority influence is that under the rules of 48 states, excepting Nebraska and Maine, all of a state's electors are awarded on a winner take all basis. If the vote count is very close, all votes on the losing side are nullified because all electors are given to the winner. (Of course, this occurs as well in states where the majority of votes are for the blue candidate.) In NE and ME (I think) the electors are awarded in accordance with the winning vote tallies in each Congressional district. In 2020 Biden won one electoral vote in NE because the district encompassing Omaha went for Biden. Fact checking on any of the above observations is welcomed.
Susannah: right! It's perplexing.
To reform, or better to get rid of the Electoral College you have line up a majority of the states to support that initiative. In a comment to HCR's very instructive description on how and why the EC came about a reader pointed to efforts which already is under way:
"We are 77% of the way to making the popular vote become the law of the land without a constitutional amendment. -- Check out https://www.nationalpopularvote.com & https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Popular_Vote_Interstate_Compact# "
Another reason to turn purple and perhaps even some of the red states blue. Vote!
Thank you Stefan this is encouraging though something for future elections. I am a New Yorker so not in a critical state for Kamala's win Electorail College-wise , we knew the truth about Trump years ago! LOL! But I sure am concernd of about the popular vote being ignored in the battle states as we are all one as a nation.
I was going to post about her long and very informative history of the Electoral College, including those presidents who called for direct elections and why those efforts failed. Even though Robert doesn't want us to have this perspective, she does conclude that this election could actually come down to that one Electoral vote in Nebraska. Of course we need huge turnouts in every state, but she makes a strong argument that even that might not ultimately carry the day for Harris.
Susannah, that's an excellent question. Robert: help?? (When you have time, after having fun at your reunion!)
I WILL FIX ALL OF THAT, AND FAST, AND AT LONG LAST THIS NATIONAL NIGHTMARE WILL BE OVER. WOMEN WILL BE HAPPY, HEALTHY, CONFIDENT AND FREE! YOU WILL NO LONGER BE THINKING ABOUT ABORTION . . . .
Doesn’t he realize anything you type on all caps looks like a threat? All I can imagine after reading that is that he is giving all is women free lobotomies.
I learned a long time ago to stay away from using exclamation points because it sounds like you’re screaming. I never even considered using ALL CAPS in any correspondence. It makes me think of a rabid animal. Oh, wait… HE IS!
Sharon: also, as with all his proclamations, he leaves you wondering, how the hell does he think he's going to do that?
Trump doesn’t think about how to get something programmatic done. He’s just trying to get attention (and votes).
Love the photo and appreciate your reassuring message once again. Thank you for all you do to keep us informed and grounded in these turbulent times. I hope you have fun at your reunion.
Could I like this ten times??! My thoughts exactly!
I think all we have to do is follow Kamala’s clear example. She allows no one to push her in any direction. She urges supporters not to look at polls but to keep working. Advice that sounds familiar? We trust Robert. We trust Kamala. We need to live their advice for six more weeks. Kamala’ s coalition is energized and consolidating. As Simon Rosenberg says, we will finish this campaign strong.
Spot on!
We all should be hopeful about the Harris Walz ticket and there is finally a candidate and a message everyone can get their hands around. The Democratic presidential campaign is doing their job and putting the Harris team in the best possible position to win and we need to do our job and close the deal. It’s always the little things that win elections like the extra postcard written, the extra door knocked on and most importantly the extra voter registered and driven to the polls. The campaigns in this election are all about up and down ballot candidates not just the top of the ticket and if we want to win and electively govern we need to win the House and the Senate. We can do this
From your lips to God's ears, Stephen!
While the Georgia Elections Commission is playing footsie with our democratic rights, a good thing has happened in Arizona. "Arizona voters whose citizenship documents had not been confirmed can vote, court says--- Republican and Democrat officials relieved as court allows 98,000 people to vote in state and local races." They were already eligible to cast ballot on federal level. It is a bit complicated so good to read the story in the Guardian here-- https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/21/arizona-voters-citizenship-documents-vote?CMP=share_btn_url
The two pictures are stunning. The one of you kneeling made me linger a little longer, as this is a picture of a moment of your time that was captured perfectly. Truly one to be hanging on a wall.
I agree. The image of Robert taking the photograph of the moon was perfectly captured. Perhaps it was taken by Mrs. Hubbell, who gave him the telescope?
My friend and running buddy, Eric, took the photo.
Linda: Yes, really nice to see Robert in action!
NYT Breaking News: Robert Hubbell, former astronomer, retired lawyer and successful Substack contributor, discovers fabulous weight loss method.
Ha ha! Thanks!
😂😂
Ya got a link to that? 😉
My apologies again to all for our SC Senator Lindsey Graham’s unethical actions. On September 18, he skipped votes in the Senate to travel to Nebraska, where he tried to convince state legislators to switch the state’s system of allotting electoral votes by district to a winner-take-all system. Fortunately, this close to the election, his effort so far appears unsuccessful but we’ve seen Graham meddle in another state’s electoral process before. Vote Blue, vote blue, vote blue.
Ms. Lindsey, the turncoat, has been flitting around the red states like a Russian butterfly. GA voters will flip the shit outta your state. Then Graham and hopefully MTG go bye-bye.
Graham is yet another pathetic, shameless old man.
He needs to mind his own damn business! In fact, he was elected to mind SC's business.
It wasn’t me! I swear.
Gisela, as so often, I wonder how people can get away with crap like that. :-(
One of my fondest memories is of attending a 'star party' in the Texas Hill Country somewhere out in the middle of nowhere [or, as we sometimes say in Texas 'the middle of no Damnwhere]: a small group of people, mostly members of the local Sierra Club. The host had The Telescope and knew what to do with it, so we were all treated to beautiful and unknown and unimaginable worlds (or 'whorls' as my fingers typed before I corrected it; I think whorls is a better description anyway...). There wasn't any formal camping, but most of us including me, brought one of those old webbed lounge chairs and set them up and we slept there overnight. All the beautiful dark and quiet with the stars wheeling overhead and the moon that came up so bright that it woke me. And, thankfully, some blessed attendee brought Cinnamon rolls and coffee for the morning. Robert's photos remind me of how many people at any given time are out somewhere with their scopes pointed toward infinity.