Ugh. I said Osborn was running in Kansas. He is running in Nebraska. Which is where Omaha is. Thanks to the hundreds of you who have emailed me to let me know.
Dear Robert, it would seem that the click harvesters don’t understand basic (3rd grade) arithmetic. If a red state (nah let’s start calling them voter suppressed states) refuses to verify, those electoral votes are subtracted from the total needed to win. Not. Difficult. And thanks again for your calm voice of reason & hope. Eternally grateful, Susan
But not so easy either. It is easy to imagine the civil unrest that will result from Harris being declared the winner w/ less than 270 electoral votes. We have already seen how easy it is to incite and manipulate a mob with lies, exaggerations and half-truths. The number 270 is easy. The explanation of how the Constitution and the law applies to calculating the election result is at best wordy and at worst, well, not so easy to understand. It certainly doesn't fit in a tweet or a sound bite.
What you say is true. And there will be millions who will believe the lies put forth every minute of every day by the fascists.
But Joe Biden is president. And all the might and power of enforcement of the law will be at his disposal if there is unrest. And Kamala Harris will "announce the count" - the law will be followed.
There will be millions who won't like it. There were a lot of fascists in America in the past and there always will be. But I believe there are way more who are not. Including many Republicans and Independents. Maga will lose. And if it performs ugly acts, it will lose even more. As Ted Lasso says: "BELIEVE!"
The Mayor of DC has worked with the Secret Service, a division of Homeland Security, to provide additional security for January 6, 2025. The article states additional security can come from federal, state, and local officials:
Thanks, Linda.The counting/cert of the electoral votes has been designated as a “National Special Security Event”.Makes it harder to imagine civil unrest…
Also, thanks for writing over 2000 postcards for Florida VBM !! We appreciate you !
Great to hear, Kathy, thank you. So we know Biden will respond strongly to stop violence. We know Harris will announce the winner of the presidential election. We know Congress has no authority to and does not "certify" any election. We know the number of electoral votes needed will merely be reduced if states refuse to send electors. We know many swing states have Democratic governors. We know even Republican state officials refused to play along with stealing the 2020 election. And we know Biden presciently put in place the Electoral Count Reform Act in 2022 (although many pundits seem ignorant about it) in 2022 to harden our electoral process. Please relax.
Ya; my son is in law enforcement in DC, come the election he will be deployed again…. He was deployed to the Capitol on Jan 6. It was a tough 24 hours for us and him, he said it was like a medieval battle, we had been tracking him on his phone to make sure he was still moving. He has been one deployment after another since 2016- which includes maybe a day off in three weeks. Now he says he’ll be deployed for the next few months (while his actual work goes on the back burner). SO- thanks to that freaking criminal, trump, the entire DC Metro Police Department will take another massive hit. I really hate trump. I hate him. There, I said it out loud
So sorry you and your family have to pay such a price because of his incessant demand for attention, undeserved wealth, and insulation from any responsibility for his words or deeds. I share your feelings about him, but I can only imagine your sacrifice.
You know Joe Biden will not be sitting in his private dining room watching TV and refusing to answer phone calls for help, if any violent mob appears anywhere in the US between election day and inauguration day. Stop worrying.
I am wondering if the civil unrest will begin first in those states whose governor refuses to certify and submit its electoral votes. I can imagine a great uprising if citizens see their votes being left out of the process of electing the president and VP.
I get the basic premise that the winning target number changes if states refuse to certify, and it's a good one. But I don't get where a red state would EVER refuse to certify, since that's contrary to the reason for not certifying in the first place. Not certifying a blue state reduces the total number needed, but like a voter not voting or voting for a 3rd party, it's effectively a half vote for trump. We still need a massive landslide to be sure.
So I'm not going to fret over the math. I'm going to continue to work on GOTV, work at the polls and try to ensure a calm election in my district, and work on curing ballots in critical states.
like "voter suppressed states." Language is important. And can we all make a plan to interrupt and correct anyone who says anything about Congress certifying the election? As Robert teaches us, we must loudly say "Congress does not certify the election!"
Lucky for me I missed Jeff Bezos's attempted justification for the WaPo's non-endorsement. As duly noted by Robert in more polite terms, what a crock of shit. I can't believe that whoever wrote that for Bezos did so with a straight face, nor do I think he published it with one. Not that it matters to a guy who will never have to face any of us on his 400 foot yacht protected by his 200 foot yacht.
I think Bezos wrote it himself. The arrogance, condescension, and scolding tone are from someone that is pissed off that the peasants are paying attention. In a world of insincere apologies and excuses, this one is a doozy.
A California price fixing case against Amazon for illegally forcing merchants to accept policies that cause consumers to pay artificially high prices is pending.
Amazon just won a partial victory against the FTC lawsuit alleging illegal monopoly practices. The FTC accused Amazon of stifling competition by coercing sellers to use its service. The ruling is part of broader government scrutiny of Big Tech under the Biden administration. FTC and 17 states that joined the lawsuit asked the court to issue a permanent injunction to prohibit Amazon from engaging in its unlawful conduct and loosen its “monopolistic control to restore competition.” This doesn't mean that Bezos will prevail on the merits.
Yesterday was my first test of buying without Amazon Prime. Not that hard once you get into the search. Several small items on the way and no guilt of buying from a predator oligarch.
Daniel, every writer of good conscience must feel the same conflict about Amazon. The well-known writers even within a niche market (I am thinking of Lydia Davis) might be able to restrict their latest work to bookstores, but most writers need every avenue they can find to get the work out. Its incumbent on readers to drive their choices even at a cost premium through bookstores. And when I want to get a 20-year-old selected poems to a very ill friend before surgery, and at other times, I succumb to Amazon. Even the best of us make some real positive steps and some not so positive steps but that's better than an unconscious "who cares?" attitude that imperils a moral life and endangers a good society. Sorry for the lofty tone, I don't want to sound like I'm lecturing you on morality. Just trying to make you feel better and thank you for being a constant guidestar for positive political action almost daily over the last year -- and I am sure before that. I have much valued your advice. As one of Jesus's lesser known disciples, Obadiah the Waffler, said in his almost forgotten brief Sermon on the Slight Rise in the Road, "Blessed are the Conflicted, for at least their conscious of a conscience, which is more than I can say for some people."
I have not used Amazon for over four years. It is very doable. I have said that when the majority of Amazon fulfilment centers are unionized I will consider using Amazon again. Read "Nomadland" if you need inspiration.
Bezos did a remarkable thing: Having ticked off the right wing through his ownership of WaPo, he ticked off the left and much of the center by killing the already-composed WaPo Presidential endorsement.
Dear Robert, Thanks for emphasizing the close Senate race in Nebraska. It would be great if you could change "Kansas" to "Nebraska" in your post to prevent confusion. ;-)
Hi Robert. Thank you for the Doug Osborn continued pitch. As I shared yesterday in a request for suggestions for a few hundred $ that Linda might steer towards a worthy candidate, I suggested Doug Osborn.
Sun 5 pm EST attended a Senate Circle event with Osborn with under 20 folks that raised over $40k. Osborn discussed many things, including the importance of breaking the filibuster. He touted his unique professional background, and the personal connection & importance of unions. The intricacies re Nebraska he shared was impressive.
He's on my recurring donations list along with Harris Victory Fund, a number of Senators, and certain Democrats running for Congress, with a special focus on those candidates who can flip seats, such as Josh Riley in NY.
Mim-nice. Being fallible and able to recognize is one of the most beautiful parts of being alive ...
Of course being human=being fallible. But it sounds really good.
I am going to pull in another mentor now, Loretta Ross, who imparted to me much wisdom (and I know I had direct impact on her work and
her)...
She discusses that we are born whole. The meaning to me has so many layers I have added, including the 'holes' within oneself that need to be loved and frequently cleaned out (healed)...
From the east coast or the west coast, they look alike. But when you're in them, they're very different, at least in the western halves. I went through Kansas three times on my way across the country by the time I was 8. It was flat pretty much all the way through, if I remember correctly, with corn or grain growing throughout. I went through Nebraska the first time when I was 17. The terrain started rippling around halfway across the state, and there was a lushness at the end of the summer, with bales of hay everywhere, some of them impressively big. And the further west, the more western the terrain appeared. Nebraska was where I could feel that I was crossing the country for the first time in half my life.
I want to give a shout-out to all the postcard groups around the country. We live in Wisconsin but my husband received a multi-colored handwritten postcard from Oregon encouraging him to vote blue. He was quite touched, and encouraged that Harris will win, with that kind of grass-roots energy.
I woke up this morning thinking we may be on the verge of electing a convicted felon, someone who use his charity to rip off people, someone who stiff people, to whom he owes money, and, the clincher, someone judged to have committed sexual assault and in fact brags about it.
What message are we sending our children? How does someone explain that vote to their children and grandchildren? And most especially our daughters and granddaughters? I just don’t get it.
So…off the my local university campus again today and then phone banking later.
I don’t know who will win the election in 2024 but I do know Harris has run an outstanding campaign probably one of if not the best ever. She has reached out to Republicans and has included everyone in this country. She had endorsements from everyone from politicians to rock stars and she is everywhere. I think the Madison Square Garden debacle was a white flag as Trump took his last shot. Let’s see how the media compares Harris speech in Washington to the speech Trump made at the same place in 2020.
The Philadelphia District Attorney's Office has sued Musk for the bribery/lottery scheme. Is it all possible that Merrick Garland will do the same and sue him for this scheme and election interference?
About Musk, there‘s also been a controversy about whether he was legally entitled to establish businesses in the US, given his (non-)citizen status. See:
Still running past the finish line for every vote with phonebanks and will start ballot curing events Wednesday. But in off hours, I’m letting myself start to fantasize about President Harris’s Cabinet and Attorney General picks. She’s thinking about it, so why can’t we?
OCTOBER SURPRISE. I think we got one Sunday at Trump’s rally in Madison Square Garden. It came in the form of a racist “comedian” who may have delivered the national Puerto Rican vote to VP Harris. I think this will be BIGLY HUGE.
Ugh. I said Osborn was running in Kansas. He is running in Nebraska. Which is where Omaha is. Thanks to the hundreds of you who have emailed me to let me know.
Well, Robert, you were clearly confused by the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Perfectly understandable.
Not to worry. Even I knew what you meant!
Thank you for sharing about Osborn! I wanted to get some last donations in where they would do the most good so it was great to read that!
I also made a (small) donation to Osborn. I think I've spent more than three times as much this election season as I did in 2020...
Same here!
Anyways, I made a donation.
It proves we're paying attention!
Dear Robert, it would seem that the click harvesters don’t understand basic (3rd grade) arithmetic. If a red state (nah let’s start calling them voter suppressed states) refuses to verify, those electoral votes are subtracted from the total needed to win. Not. Difficult. And thanks again for your calm voice of reason & hope. Eternally grateful, Susan
But not so easy either. It is easy to imagine the civil unrest that will result from Harris being declared the winner w/ less than 270 electoral votes. We have already seen how easy it is to incite and manipulate a mob with lies, exaggerations and half-truths. The number 270 is easy. The explanation of how the Constitution and the law applies to calculating the election result is at best wordy and at worst, well, not so easy to understand. It certainly doesn't fit in a tweet or a sound bite.
What you say is true. And there will be millions who will believe the lies put forth every minute of every day by the fascists.
But Joe Biden is president. And all the might and power of enforcement of the law will be at his disposal if there is unrest. And Kamala Harris will "announce the count" - the law will be followed.
There will be millions who won't like it. There were a lot of fascists in America in the past and there always will be. But I believe there are way more who are not. Including many Republicans and Independents. Maga will lose. And if it performs ugly acts, it will lose even more. As Ted Lasso says: "BELIEVE!"
Maga will lose and you're right, the uglier they are, the more they will lose.
The Mayor of DC has worked with the Secret Service, a division of Homeland Security, to provide additional security for January 6, 2025. The article states additional security can come from federal, state, and local officials:
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/congress-get-enhanced-security-jan-6-2025-electoral-vote-count-rcna170747
Thanks, Linda.The counting/cert of the electoral votes has been designated as a “National Special Security Event”.Makes it harder to imagine civil unrest…
Also, thanks for writing over 2000 postcards for Florida VBM !! We appreciate you !
❤️🤍💙
Great to hear, Kathy, thank you. So we know Biden will respond strongly to stop violence. We know Harris will announce the winner of the presidential election. We know Congress has no authority to and does not "certify" any election. We know the number of electoral votes needed will merely be reduced if states refuse to send electors. We know many swing states have Democratic governors. We know even Republican state officials refused to play along with stealing the 2020 election. And we know Biden presciently put in place the Electoral Count Reform Act in 2022 (although many pundits seem ignorant about it) in 2022 to harden our electoral process. Please relax.
Ya; my son is in law enforcement in DC, come the election he will be deployed again…. He was deployed to the Capitol on Jan 6. It was a tough 24 hours for us and him, he said it was like a medieval battle, we had been tracking him on his phone to make sure he was still moving. He has been one deployment after another since 2016- which includes maybe a day off in three weeks. Now he says he’ll be deployed for the next few months (while his actual work goes on the back burner). SO- thanks to that freaking criminal, trump, the entire DC Metro Police Department will take another massive hit. I really hate trump. I hate him. There, I said it out loud
So sorry you and your family have to pay such a price because of his incessant demand for attention, undeserved wealth, and insulation from any responsibility for his words or deeds. I share your feelings about him, but I can only imagine your sacrifice.
Thank you Bob. You nailed it, because of trumps incessant demands…
What a thing for him and your family to go through. I will be thinking of you and your family.
Thank you. It’s my son’s choice, he is no victim. Still, if not for trump… he has brought so much trouble to our country
You know Joe Biden will not be sitting in his private dining room watching TV and refusing to answer phone calls for help, if any violent mob appears anywhere in the US between election day and inauguration day. Stop worrying.
Reassuring...they're so good at closing the barn door after the cows are out!
I am wondering if the civil unrest will begin first in those states whose governor refuses to certify and submit its electoral votes. I can imagine a great uprising if citizens see their votes being left out of the process of electing the president and VP.
I get the basic premise that the winning target number changes if states refuse to certify, and it's a good one. But I don't get where a red state would EVER refuse to certify, since that's contrary to the reason for not certifying in the first place. Not certifying a blue state reduces the total number needed, but like a voter not voting or voting for a 3rd party, it's effectively a half vote for trump. We still need a massive landslide to be sure.
So I'm not going to fret over the math. I'm going to continue to work on GOTV, work at the polls and try to ensure a calm election in my district, and work on curing ballots in critical states.
You are awesome, Bob!
like "voter suppressed states." Language is important. And can we all make a plan to interrupt and correct anyone who says anything about Congress certifying the election? As Robert teaches us, we must loudly say "Congress does not certify the election!"
Lucky for me I missed Jeff Bezos's attempted justification for the WaPo's non-endorsement. As duly noted by Robert in more polite terms, what a crock of shit. I can't believe that whoever wrote that for Bezos did so with a straight face, nor do I think he published it with one. Not that it matters to a guy who will never have to face any of us on his 400 foot yacht protected by his 200 foot yacht.
I think Bezos wrote it himself. The arrogance, condescension, and scolding tone are from someone that is pissed off that the peasants are paying attention. In a world of insincere apologies and excuses, this one is a doozy.
Bezos is conflicted.
When Trump was president, Bezos sued his administration for about $10 billion. https://www.reuters.com/technology/us-judge-declines-dismiss-amazon-allegations-trump-interfered-jedi-contract-2021-04-28/
Bezos publicly said Trump personally profited. https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-50717564
A California price fixing case against Amazon for illegally forcing merchants to accept policies that cause consumers to pay artificially high prices is pending.
Amazon just won a partial victory against the FTC lawsuit alleging illegal monopoly practices. The FTC accused Amazon of stifling competition by coercing sellers to use its service. The ruling is part of broader government scrutiny of Big Tech under the Biden administration. FTC and 17 states that joined the lawsuit asked the court to issue a permanent injunction to prohibit Amazon from engaging in its unlawful conduct and loosen its “monopolistic control to restore competition.” This doesn't mean that Bezos will prevail on the merits.
Yesterday was my first test of buying without Amazon Prime. Not that hard once you get into the search. Several small items on the way and no guilt of buying from a predator oligarch.
I am conflicted. I "fired" the Post months ago. I know he uses questionable business practices, similar to what I saw when I did automotive litigation in the '70's. https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2024/10/26/amazon-shuts-down-400-seller-accounts-offers-little-recourse-says-lawsuit-by-miami-e-commerce-company/
But he sells my books.
Daniel, every writer of good conscience must feel the same conflict about Amazon. The well-known writers even within a niche market (I am thinking of Lydia Davis) might be able to restrict their latest work to bookstores, but most writers need every avenue they can find to get the work out. Its incumbent on readers to drive their choices even at a cost premium through bookstores. And when I want to get a 20-year-old selected poems to a very ill friend before surgery, and at other times, I succumb to Amazon. Even the best of us make some real positive steps and some not so positive steps but that's better than an unconscious "who cares?" attitude that imperils a moral life and endangers a good society. Sorry for the lofty tone, I don't want to sound like I'm lecturing you on morality. Just trying to make you feel better and thank you for being a constant guidestar for positive political action almost daily over the last year -- and I am sure before that. I have much valued your advice. As one of Jesus's lesser known disciples, Obadiah the Waffler, said in his almost forgotten brief Sermon on the Slight Rise in the Road, "Blessed are the Conflicted, for at least their conscious of a conscience, which is more than I can say for some people."
Sitting in ambiguity is a very holy activity.
I did the same thing yesterday and did not use Amazon for a few things I needed. Very easy to use other vendors!
I have not used Amazon for over four years. It is very doable. I have said that when the majority of Amazon fulfilment centers are unionized I will consider using Amazon again. Read "Nomadland" if you need inspiration.
Bezos did a remarkable thing: Having ticked off the right wing through his ownership of WaPo, he ticked off the left and much of the center by killing the already-composed WaPo Presidential endorsement.
I have personally based my voting decisions on newspaper endorsements.
Dear Robert, Thanks for emphasizing the close Senate race in Nebraska. It would be great if you could change "Kansas" to "Nebraska" in your post to prevent confusion. ;-)
Yes sorry for the confusion. I was multi tasking when I wrote that. Blame the Dodgers.
The Dodgers have distracted me in a good way this week! One more win! We can do it!
Hi Robert. Thank you for the Doug Osborn continued pitch. As I shared yesterday in a request for suggestions for a few hundred $ that Linda might steer towards a worthy candidate, I suggested Doug Osborn.
Sun 5 pm EST attended a Senate Circle event with Osborn with under 20 folks that raised over $40k. Osborn discussed many things, including the importance of breaking the filibuster. He touted his unique professional background, and the personal connection & importance of unions. The intricacies re Nebraska he shared was impressive.
Tapped out I am although I squeezed out a donation after reading about Dan Osborne.
He's on my recurring donations list along with Harris Victory Fund, a number of Senators, and certain Democrats running for Congress, with a special focus on those candidates who can flip seats, such as Josh Riley in NY.
Josh Riley NY19! 🧢
It is Dan Osborn, not Doug.
Yes I am sorry. And Robert referred to Kansas when he meant Nebraska.
I think we are all tired, and errors can creep in.
Mim-nice. Being fallible and able to recognize is one of the most beautiful parts of being alive ...
Of course being human=being fallible. But it sounds really good.
I am going to pull in another mentor now, Loretta Ross, who imparted to me much wisdom (and I know I had direct impact on her work and
her)...
She discusses that we are born whole. The meaning to me has so many layers I have added, including the 'holes' within oneself that need to be loved and frequently cleaned out (healed)...
Tired and anxious, but determined not to let a certain creep in!
From the east coast or the west coast, they look alike. But when you're in them, they're very different, at least in the western halves. I went through Kansas three times on my way across the country by the time I was 8. It was flat pretty much all the way through, if I remember correctly, with corn or grain growing throughout. I went through Nebraska the first time when I was 17. The terrain started rippling around halfway across the state, and there was a lushness at the end of the summer, with bales of hay everywhere, some of them impressively big. And the further west, the more western the terrain appeared. Nebraska was where I could feel that I was crossing the country for the first time in half my life.
200,000 cancellations and counting. Who knows how many Amazon Prime cancellations have or will happen.
Someone said that Bezos had to know this would happen, but he didn't care.
I do not think Bezos even thinks that the public would rise up. The arrogance runs too deep.
I want to give a shout-out to all the postcard groups around the country. We live in Wisconsin but my husband received a multi-colored handwritten postcard from Oregon encouraging him to vote blue. He was quite touched, and encouraged that Harris will win, with that kind of grass-roots energy.
🧢🥳💙
Canvassing with Maxwell Frost and Jeff Jackson in Durham, North Carolina today
We're fighting actual NAZIS, people! Let's GO!
OMG, you are brilliant! Thank you! Have a fabulous day! ⭐️
The Philadelphia Inquirer endorsed VP Harris on Friday, October 25. This is the largest circulated newspaper in Pennsylvania: https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/editorials/a/endorsement-president-kamala-harris-democracy-20241025.html
I would think many more people in Pennsylvania read the Inquirer and not the NYTimes or WaPo.
Second: I found a rough transcript of Michelle Obama's incredibly emotional speech here.
https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/cnr/date/2024-10-26/segment/06
I am going to keep this transcript with all of my Michelle Obama books.
I woke up this morning thinking we may be on the verge of electing a convicted felon, someone who use his charity to rip off people, someone who stiff people, to whom he owes money, and, the clincher, someone judged to have committed sexual assault and in fact brags about it.
What message are we sending our children? How does someone explain that vote to their children and grandchildren? And most especially our daughters and granddaughters? I just don’t get it.
So…off the my local university campus again today and then phone banking later.
Thank you for your service and persistence today, Cathy. Most especially when your heart is heavy and likely the rest of you weary.
Speaking of Michelle Obama’s imperative, have you seen this great Lincoln Project ad? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlsd1wZ9jF4
Thanks, Annette. Love that ad !! ✍️🗳️
I’ve been doing the sticky notes in my MAGA community and It’s been so much fun!
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/harris-sticky-notes-women-restrooms-gyms-tampon-boxes-rcna172570
Love this! Wish I had known about them earlier. I would have sent them to my cousins in Texas and friend in Florida.
💙🩵💙🩵💙🩵💙💝 Thanks for the link--and thank you to the folks at The Lincoln Project!
Annette: Those looks. They made me cry. Well, weep a little. I know. Weird. Thanks for posting the link.
Wonderful ad. Hope it is widely disseminated.
Tears. 🙏🏽Madam President 🙏🏽
I don’t know who will win the election in 2024 but I do know Harris has run an outstanding campaign probably one of if not the best ever. She has reached out to Republicans and has included everyone in this country. She had endorsements from everyone from politicians to rock stars and she is everywhere. I think the Madison Square Garden debacle was a white flag as Trump took his last shot. Let’s see how the media compares Harris speech in Washington to the speech Trump made at the same place in 2020.
Thank you for your steadiness in the stormy feel of this election.
The Philadelphia District Attorney's Office has sued Musk for the bribery/lottery scheme. Is it all possible that Merrick Garland will do the same and sue him for this scheme and election interference?
https://www.reuters.com/legal/philadelphia-da-sues-elon-musk-pac-stop-1-million-lottery-voters-cnbc-reports-2024-10-28/
Is Merrick Garland still the Attorney General?
Sadly, yes.
About Musk, there‘s also been a controversy about whether he was legally entitled to establish businesses in the US, given his (non-)citizen status. See:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/10/27/elon-musk-immigration/
and related articles.
How that quickly disappeared surprises me (should it?).
Still running past the finish line for every vote with phonebanks and will start ballot curing events Wednesday. But in off hours, I’m letting myself start to fantasize about President Harris’s Cabinet and Attorney General picks. She’s thinking about it, so why can’t we?
Please don’t jinx us.
I’m not superstitious!
OCTOBER SURPRISE. I think we got one Sunday at Trump’s rally in Madison Square Garden. It came in the form of a racist “comedian” who may have delivered the national Puerto Rican vote to VP Harris. I think this will be BIGLY HUGE.