"Russia, Russia, Russia. It's always Russia!"

October 9, 2024

On a day of major political stories, the Earth is reminding us that we are guests on this planet subject to our collective good behavior over the long term. Hurricane Milton is threatening Florida like no other storm in the last century. Millions are (wisely) evacuating in the face of strong winds and a record storm surge that will inundate coastal areas.

Two months ago, Trump joked about human-caused climate change creating “more beachfront property.” In 2021, 175 House Republicans and 35 Senate Republicans voted to defund FEMA. See MTN News, A Whopping 175 House Republicans Voted Against FEMA Funding in 2021. Many of those lawmakers are now criticizing FEMA for being overwhelmed and under-resourced. Last week, Speaker Mike Johnson refused to call a special session of the House to enact emergency supplemental funding for FEMA.

Jokes aside, the substantive policy of the Republican Party is to promote fossil fuels and undermine green energy. See Center for American Progress, Project 2025 Would Jeopardize Global Climate Action. One of Trump's first acts in 2017 was to serve notice that the US would withdraw from the Paris Climate Accords, and one of Joe Biden’s first acts was to rescind that notice. If Trump is re-elected, we should expect that Trump will again seek to withdraw from global efforts to fight human-caused climate change. See NBC News, Mike Johnson won't commit to bringing House back before the election for more hurricane relief.

The weather is not the climate and record-breaking weather events are not (in themselves) climate change. But acceleration in global climate trends over time are evidence of human caused climate change. Indeed, the tendency of hurricanes to rapidly increase in intensity—like Hurricane Milton—is part of a new trend in hurricane behavior. See NBC News, Hurricane Milton's rapid intensification is part of a climate-fueled trend.  

Climate change is maddeningly difficult because its effects are difficult to track—until they are not. We may be living through one of those moments in which the effects of climate change are undeniably manifest. The question facing us is whether we have the capacity to maintain our concern and sense of urgency after the water has receded and the news crews have moved to the next breaking story. We need the ability to engage in long-term thinking and the patience to allow solutions to work over decades (or longer).

Many worthy and effective organizations are focused on fighting human-caused climate change. I have previously endorsed and appeared before Third Act, an organization started by Bill McKibben. Third Act describes itself as “a community of Americans over sixty determined to change the world for the better. Third Act harnesses an unparalleled generational power to safeguard our climate and democracy.” Check out Third Act—or highlight your climate focused organization in the Comments section.

In the meantime, my wife and I express our concern and empathy for the hundreds of thousands of Floridians affected by Hurricane Milton. Be safe and follow the guidance of authorities!

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New disclosures about Trump's ties to Putin

Bob Woodward (of WaPo Watergate fame) has written a new book that will be released this week. It contains shocking new revelations about Trump's private dealings with Vladimir Putin that again raise serious questions about whether Trump has been compromised by Russian intelligence. See NYTimes, Book Revives Questions About Trump’s Ties to Putin. (Accessible to all.)

The NYTimes identifies two areas of grave concern: Trump's ongoing private conversations with Putin during the 2024 presidential campaign and a secret transfer of a prototype Covid test machines during the early days of the pandemic. Per the Times,

The book by the journalist Bob Woodward cited an unnamed aide saying that the former president and current Republican nominee had spoken with Mr. Putin as many as seven times since leaving office in 2021, even as Mr. Trump was pressuring Republicans to block military aid to Ukraine to fight Russian invaders.

The book also said that Mr. Trump, while still in office in 2020, sent Covid-19 testing equipment to Mr. Putin early in the pandemic for his personal use.

Woodward’s report is sourced to a single Trump aid (not identified by Woodward). But the allegations are subject to confirmation by witnesses and government records. Given the limited backup for Woodward’s claims, we should proceed with caution until there is further confirmation.

But proceeding with caution does not mean that we should act naively. Trump has a long history of inexplicable favoritism toward and affection for Putin that is consistent with the actions described by Bob Woodward in his new book.

If the allegations are true, both suggest anew that Trump is subject to blackmail by Putin. As described by Woodward, when Putin received the Covid test machines, Putin told Trump,

I don’t want you to tell anybody because people will get mad at you [Trump], not me [Putin].

Putin was telegraphing to Trump that disclosure of the transfer of Covid test machines would be damaging to Trump—and keeping that transaction secret would prevent that damage. That situation is a setup for blackmail.

So, too, is the fact of Trump's continued contacts with Putin up to and including the timeframe of the 2024 presidential campaign and Russia’s war against Ukraine. If Joe Biden were in frequent, “off the record” conversations with President Xi of China, Republicans would demand impeachment and removal from office.

Trump's continued “off the record” contacts with Vladimir Putin are presumptively nefarious—especially at a time when US has seized 30 Russian websites that were attempting to influence the US presidential election in favor of Trump.

In short, it stinks to high heaven and should be a cause for a five-alarm response from any American concerned about US national security. The sad truth is that neither GOP elected officials nor Trump's base will care that he may be secretly and directly coordinating with Putin to interfere in the 2024 election.

Let’s hope that the US intelligence community is aware of the contacts and any nefarious efforts by Trump and Putin. Let’s also hope that the media will not yawn in the face of a story that would bring down any other presidential candidate.

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Kamala Harris’s media blitz

On Tuesday, Kamala Harris appeared on The View, the Howard Stern Show, and the Stephen Colbert Show.

I have not been able to watch the entirety of all of the appearances, but in each venue, Kamala Harris comes across as relatable and earnest.

See, for example, this exchange with Howard Stern about the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade: YouTube, Vice President Kamala Harris Speaks on the Supreme Court. An interesting theme developed during the interview in which Stern expressed anxiety about the state of the nation and Kamala Harris sought to ease that anxiety and reassure Stern. See HuffPo, Kamala Harris Tries To Ease Howard Stern’s Fears For Country.

During her appearance on The View, Kamala Harris announced that she would expand payments for in-home health care under Medicare. See CBS News, Kamala Harris proposes Medicare pay for more in-home health care.

Republicans criticized Kamala Harris’s appearance on the view because she refused to take the bait and indirectly criticize Joe Biden by saying what decisions she would have made differently. Harris wisely said that she was “in the room” for most of the decisions, and so agreed with them.

And on Stephen Colbert, Harris criticized Trump for sending a rare Covid testing machine to Vladimir Putin in the early days of the pandemic and for spreading disinformation about Hurricane Helene. (She also took a sip of beer, which has become the lead in every headline about the interview.) See The NYTimes, Harris Cracks a Beer With Colbert and Talks Gaza, Trump and Putin. (Behind a paywall.)

Per the Times, Harris said,

“I ask everyone here and everyone who is watching: Do you remember what those days were like?” Ms. Harris said, pointing out the number of Americans dying every day. “You remember how many people did not have tests and were trying to scramble to get them?”

She added, of Mr. Trump: “He thinks Vladimir Putin is his friend. What about the American people? They should be your first friend.”

The major media and DC press corps continue to be miffed that Harris is bypassing them. See the critique of the media by Josh Marshall in Talking Points Memo, Insider Newsletters Still Struggling to Make Interview Fetch Happen.

As Kamala Harris was filling the airwaves with the most popular media personalities, Trump was planning to appear with crowd favorites Tulsi Gabbard and RFK Jr. But that event was canceled due to Hurricane Milton (suggesting that the event was on Trump's home turf of Mar-a-Lago).

Trump's future campaign plans are puzzling, to say the least. He plans to campaign in Aurora, Colorado on Friday, a city that he has claimed has been taken over by Venezuelan gangs and is a “war zone.” Donald Trump says he'll make a campaign stop in Colorado, will speak at a rally in Aurora - CBS Colorado (cbsnews.com).

Trump will then travel to Coachella, California, which makes perfect sense because . . . it doesn’t. For those of you unfamiliar with Coachella, it is in the California portion of the Colorado Desert. Temperatures during the rally are expected to top 102° F. See LA Times, Trumpchella? Why he's holding a rally in the California desert, weeks before election day.

The simplest explanation is that Trump is heading to states he can’t win to collect money. But with less than 30 days remaining before the election to collect votes, that says a lot about the state of his campaign.

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Opportunities for Reader engagement

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Big Tent USA, Sister District, and Fair Fight

Join us Wednesday, October 9th at 7:00PM ET, as BigTentUSA, in partnership with Comics for Kamala,  Fair Fight, Sister District, and Vote Forward, hosts a Virtual Pep Rally of laughs and action. This high-energy event features a stellar lineup of speakers, including Congressman Eric Swalwell (CA-D), comedian George Wallace, and Fair Fight’s Executive Director Lauren Groh-Wargo. They are joining forces to discuss why getting out the vote (GOTV) is crucial for electing Vice President Harris and Governor Walz.

Choose from GOTV letter writing with Vote Forward, phone banking with Sister District and voter protection efforts in Georgia, led by Fair Fight. Take action to make elect Vice President Harris and Governor Tim Walz on November 5. Please use this link to register!  

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The California Grassroots Alliance

Join the California Grassroots Alliance Ballot Joy Zoom Voting Party on Wednesday, October 9 at 7:00 pm.

We will have fun videos of our six House candidates, plus celebrity videos about why to vote early, and how to use Blue Voter Guide to vote fast, smart and blue. Registration link is below:

 https://www.mobilize.us/californiagrassrootsalliance/event/697847/

Or just go to the Alliance website and watch the 3-minute Firebreak video that tells how California is the nation’s firewall in the House!

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Turbocharge Your Volunteer Efforts With the 28-Day Dem Challenge!

We are 28 days away from the most consequential election in our lifetimes. Some might argue it is the most consequential election in our nation's history. For many conscientious Democrats, “I should have done more,” was a common refrain after Donald Trump was elected in 2016. Let's not take anything for granted this time around! Starting today and continuing until 11/5, Indivisible Marin and Dems Make Life Better are launching an all-out group effort to boost the total number interactions with the segment of voters who will put us over the top in this election. These interactions are crucial to winning the trifecta our democracy so urgently needs. Sign up to take the 28-day Dem Challenge!

A List of Flexible Ways to Have Impact:

We're all busy, right? But with the Presidency, House, and Senate all too close to call, experts agree that interactive conversations with voters in this final stretch will be a deciding factor in the fate of our democracy. So we've compiled a list of ways to pitch in on a regular basis that offer flexibility for various situations and schedules. Please note that the phone and texting options require intermediate tech skills and an initial zoom training session. Visit the 28-day Dem Challenge webpage for a list of flexible ways to help GOTV.

The Goal

Our goal for the Challenge Team is to log at least an additional 2,800 hours of voter outreach in 28 days! It will keep us all more motivated to know that our increased efforts are part of a larger team effort, so we'd like to keep everyone updated on the Team's progress. To make this tracking possible, we hope that Challenge Takers will keep us updated on their progress via a simple form which you can bookmark and send in as often as you like!  We will keep everyone updated on the team’s collective results! Please bookmark this easy form and keep us updated often!

As Kamala says, “Hard work is good work!” Together we can help win a trifecta for Dems and our democracy! Let's do this!

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Concluding Thoughts

I have two thoughts tonight. First, I am starting to receive phone calls from volunteers urging me to “get out to vote” on specific candidates and issues. I am making an extra effort to be kind and appreciative toward the person calling. We know how tough it is to phonebank—and how a single kind word from a call recipient can make up for a hundred hang-ups.

Second, I want to highlight the importance of increasing the number of Democratic votes in every race up and down the ballot—but especially in the presidential race. The intense focus on “swing states” makes it appear as though the vote totals in “safe states” don’t matter. They do, for several reasons!

The popular vote total will be important in reinforcing the legitimacy of the election. If Kamala Harris wins the electoral college by 50 votes but wins the popular vote by 1 million votes, that result “seems” different than a 50-vote electoral college victory and a 15 million popular vote victory. While it shouldn’t matter, judges will be less inclined to interfere in the second scenario. So, let’s give the judges something to consider before second-guessing the election.

Moreover, healthy winning margins will deter lawsuits. Filing a lawsuit to overcome a 200-vote victory in a state’s presidential tally is inviting, but challenging that same state’s election results that is decided by 60,000 votes is a very steep hill, indeed.

So, no vote is irrelevant, wasted, or unimportant—even in “safe” states. We need a blue wave. And the only way we will get it is by turning out every vote possible! We have the grassroots and party infrastructure in place to make that happen. We just need to execute on our plan. The hour is upon us! Let’s do it!

Talk to you tomorrow!

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Daily Dose of Perspective

Below is an image of the Rosette Nebula, located 5,200 light years from Earth and 130 light years in diameter. The Chandra X-Ray Observatory has discovered that the nebula is home to approximately 2,500 newborn stars!

The image is slightly off-center, which I did not discover until the image was processed. But I have talked myself into believing that the off-center subject gives the image a sense of drama and action that would be missing from a perfectly framed image. That’s my story, and I am sticking to it!