101 Comments
22 hrs ago·edited 22 hrs ago

Trump is playing the "immigrant" card here in Western Pa picking on an old steel town Charoli. Hatian's have been revitalizing the boarded up.store fronts. The main employer, Anchor Hocking is planning on shutting down next year leaving 300 unemployed. The local TV station has run stories showing local support for the Haitians with a few MAGAs comments thrown in. All say TFG should be focusing on the plant closure. He's coming to my hometown Monday. (Indiana, Pa). The venue he is speaking at (college gym ) holds 5,000. The venue is not within the boro so police coverage will be our State police, stretching our law enforcement. I hope we can blanket the entrance with Harris signs.

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18 hrs agoLiked by Robert B. Hubbell

I read that Trump referenced Charleroi, PA, a community along the Monongahela River, south of Pittsburgh, where businesses, industries, coal mining, river traffic, flourished until the early 1980’s began a downturn that they have yet to fully recover, as another Springfield OH.

Where an influx of legal Haitian immigrants supposedly are wreaking havoc and local residents are living in fear of having their pets petnapped. The working population is growing older and the young people aren’t staying in town. Charleroi needs more able bodied working people. Legal immigrants are filling that role.

I know because I’m retired educator from Charleroi SD. I saw dedication to teaching every student that walked through the door. Dedication to feeding and caring for their students, not just the education but all the peripherals that accompany a good learning environment. Taxpayers are supporting this effort.

There are racists complaining, of course.

Washington county is beet red. Which makes no sense from the standpoint almost all the towns and communities greatly benefited from years of good paying union jobs. Republicans made sure the unions lost jobs and shipped the good paying jobs out of the country. Then blamed the Democrats. Gullible union workers took the bait and have spent 40 years of hating the wrong people. Blaming people of color, while republicans sat back and threw gasoline in the racial hate. Turning this awful rhetoric around is happening as small communities are beginning to see the results that immigrants are hard working, grateful to be in America and want to be a part of improving the area where they settle.

Therefore I for one, having first hand experience with this community and as a resident of Washington county, where the board of elections has been sued for throwing away mail in ballots with minor mistakes while telling people their ballots were received, but didn’t tell them there were mistakes that need corrected before they could be tabulated. They had plenty of time to notify the voters so they could correct them in time to be counted. They were all democratic votes that were discarded. The courts ruled in favor of the voters. Slowly step by step all these little act of inclusion and fairness are chipping away the Republican stranglehold on Washington county. Remember to vote for the Democratic Candidate all the way down ballot. Be part of the grassroots movement to defend our democracy and everyone’s rights

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13 hrs ago·edited 13 hrs ago

Karen,

Thank you for your testament to how your community’s trajectory was changed over the years based on the GOP’s actions that destroyed good paying union jobs followed by the lies regarding who caused the loss of opportunity in your county.

And now the trajectory is moving toward the truth:

“ Turning this awful rhetoric around is happening as small communities are beginning to see the results that immigrants are hard working, grateful to be in America and want to be a part of improving the area where they settle.”

Finally!

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In 2020 Trump won my old home county by 2 to 1. Lawrence County. Others in Pennsyltucky were worse. That was before Jan. 6. That was before he picked a VP who OPPOSES Ukraine.

104,929.Ukrainian Pennsylvanians. 800,000 Polish Pennsylvanians, Baltics, Fins, etc oppose Putin.

More than 7,000 students at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. I bet most support Kamala. Only 40% voter turnout in Indiana County 2020. 91% white. However, IUP has to be the largest employer.

FT 6 phone bank to Pa today. Kamala surrogates need to visit all the small towns in WPa., and in all the blue wall states. Visit the local media. Make local news.

We still can reach out to unrepresented folk who trend Democratic. https://www.fieldteam6.org/all-volunteer-ops/volunteer

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The fact that these people are still publicly saying they will vote for a Trump / Vance ticket despite everything just goes to show how they put power > country until the end. When you defend racist rhetoric and racism for political points to me it shows that you condone a level of it. I can't abide by it.

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Daniel, good point on the Ukraine issue. We need to press that point. The voter turnout rate in Indiana County needs help. Fieldteam6 is a way to go.

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Can we help the local Democratic Party and Harris campaign people counter this move in Indiana, PA. IUP students mobilization? Thanks for the detail. Please advise, anyone?

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Dear goodness, he's speaking at IUP?

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Yes, but IUP has made very clear they are not involved other than renting the space to him. I'm sure there is an underground entrance as there is no way they could cover all the roof tops near the convention center.

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21 hrs agoLiked by Robert B. Hubbell

One of Trump’s “enemies” has been knocking it out of the park, of course with hilarity. 😂Jimmy Kimmel had over 3.5 million views on his Tues. night monologue.He asked all in the audience who was not registered to vote. He brought one young person up on stage and then out came Oprah to help her register online.

“It’s so important to register to vote, and to vote.”

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCa6vGFO9ty8v5KZJXQxdhaw

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17 hrs agoLiked by Robert B. Hubbell

Is everybody signed up for the Kamala Harris and Oprah event this evening?

https://events.democrats.org/event/693000/

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Love the fact that Trump's second would be assassin will be prosecuted by a Haitian immigrant, Worth informing people of this fact. He's also a Gulf War veteran. And quite handsome!

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I would not inform people of this fact, because then the KKK, Nazi, White Power movement militias will be threatening him, his family, and his court staff, and the jury.

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And, the hits keep on coming! Thank you Karen.

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Nice photo!!

"Toasted marshmallow" is a perfect description.

My brother and I sat outside for a long time staring up at the moon that night... we are happy to be together in Maine for this week.

I live in Peru, he lives near Rochester NY. Two different hemispheres.

But we can always see the same moon!!!

And we know that every full moon rising we think of each other... my son and daughter also send me photos of the full moon, I send them mine. "Thinking of you tonight"

I am sure that many, many other families do this... such a basic, human thing to do ... all of us under the same heaven.

Onward!!!

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Love this Beverly

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Another Newsletter without a mention of the importance of the Senate races in Montana and Ohio. Without Democratic wins in both of these races Harris and Walz will have no chance to enact the policies they are running on. Tester in Montana and Brown in Ohio need out help; financial, physical and otherwise. Newsletters should be about what counts. Stopping Trump isn’t enough. Letting MAGAs control the Senate or House is a win for them because there will then be no government. We need to help Tester and Brown !

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Thank You George Santangelo for reminding people of this!!! I do believe this Haitian-pet-eating story is a cover for the financial misdealing of OH Senate candidate Bernie Moreno. The race between he and Sherrod Brown is close. Having Ohioans focusing on Moreno’s financial duplicity could help tip the race to US Senator Sherron Brown. Ohioans would be better served by Sherrod Brown. AND It would help the dems keep control of the senate which is crucial. And because it is such a super critical needed win for Dems, we have the shiny-object Haitian-pet-eating hoopla as a manufactured, calculated distraction. Vance is simply “taking-one-for-team-trump” by knowingly pushing this false narrative. He has zero morals. Keep our eye on the US Senate race. AND tell others!!!

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Good comment on Vance. As we cluck about his vile commens and WSJ runs an article about what did Vance know and when did he know -- as important as that is -- Moreno skates free. Link Moreno to Trump and to Vance and to his own sleazy business deals.

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Republican campaign people must know that Vance is a loser, but every minute he steals the cameras and looks stupid and befuddled is another minute that Moreno in Ohio and Sheehy in Montana are not being asked questions about their sleazy business deals and another minute that Tester and Brown are denied air time to talk about what they are accomplishing for their states.

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Yes George, and Debbie Muscarel-Powell here in Florida. Give her a listen. She has rick snot on the ropes!!!

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Here is some info on helping with Tester's race via an email from Swing Left San Gabriel Valley:

Tester is fielding a serious ground game. His campaign has knocked on over 100,000 doors to date. That’s a lot in Montana, but a lot more neighborhoods remain to be canvassed. Tester also needs money for TV ads, which are especially important in a rural state like Montana, where lots of voters are hard to reach. The Republican candidate, Tim Sheehy, is a multi-millionaire, and the Republicans are pouring money into this race. They recognize that if they beat Tester, they can win back the Senate. Here is a link to his website: https://jontester.com/

....

Besides donating directly to Tester's campaign, Force Multiplier has identified four grassroots groups in Montana who are mobilizing infrequent youth, Indigenous + rural voters in partnership with America Votes. The groups are:

* Forward Montana

* Western Native Voice **

* Montana Rural Voters

* Montana Public Interest Research Group

Give to them here:

https://secure.actblue.com/donate/forcemultiplier2024bluesurgemontana?

** Markers for Democracy (https://markersfordemocracy.org/) is writing Postcards for WNV to spread the word about Voter registration events that WNV is sponsoring.

......

Swing Left SGV also suggested making “deep canvassing” calls into Montana by phone banking with BigSky55+. You will be talking with older voters to get their votes for Tester. Training will be provided. Deep canvassing is both more fun and more effective than other types of persuasion.

You can sign up for BigSky55+’s phone bank here:

https://www.bigskyfiftyfive.org/volunteerphonebank

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18 hrs ago·edited 17 hrs ago

For Sherrod Brown's race, Activate America has a postcard campaign for OH Vote by mail. Per their website:

Activate America is working with the Turnout Education Fund and Movement Labs to conduct a 501(c)(3) compliant Vote By Mail (VBM) enrollment program in Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The program focuses on voters who are Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPoC) and are not enrolled in VBM, urging them to request a ballot and reminding them to return their ballot prior to Election Day. Some voters will receive only texts, some voters will receive only postcards, and some voters will receive both postcards and texts. The program includes a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to verify the program's impact on voter turnout. As this is a 501(c)(3) compliant program it is very important that postcard volunteers do not include any partisan or candidate messaging anywhere on the postcard.

Deadline: Please mail as soon as possible and by October 8th at the latest.

https://www.activateamerica.vote/postcards

The website also indicates that they will be posting a standard GOTV postcard for OH at a later date. (Presumably after Oct 1 or sooner if all the names and addresses for the above campaign are adopted).

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Field Team 6 also has a postcard campaign to register new voters in OH. It is one of their Project 2025 themed campaigns.

FT6 also is offering BYOP texting Boot Camps to earn how text to voter registration info to all the swing states: https://www.mobilize.us/mobilize/event/405150/

Also Saturday standard text banks to swing states with a rotating list of states: https://www.mobilize.us/ft6/event/643009/

And you can aways sign up with his campaign here: https://secure.ngpvan.com/JfpNUa_Zpk6_BeBaQjtB7Q2

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Here is the link to Tester's campaign: https://jontester.com/. Here is Brown's: https://www.sherrodbrown.com/.

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21 hrs agoLiked by Robert B. Hubbell

I am encouraged by the poll results that show Americans want to preserve the rule of law - that they understand it is the basis for the freedoms that come with democracy. I have used the following for months as the (admittedly long) “signature” on my email account. Please use it yourself if you agree. I don’t know who may have been persuaded by this message but it is a free and constant message. Note that it began as a quote from Jessica Craven that I have added to over time.

“Democracy is freedom . . . to vote, to love who you want, to have children when or if you want, to be fully yourself, to be safe from gun violence, to speak freely, to read, study and teach what you want, to worship or not as you want, to work safely for a sustainable wage, to organize freely with your co-workers, to have affordable, reliable health care, to make your home where you want and to live in a healthy world, peacefully under the rule of law. Thanks to Jessica Craven for this inspiration.”

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Wouldn’t it be nice if the woman who claimed her cat was stolen and eaten by Haitians had the courage and the grace to publicly apologize?

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author

She did apologize to her Haitian neighbors, per the WSJ.

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I saw that moon the other night; it was spectacular!

Three cheers for the Rule of Law - the restriction of the arbitrary exercise of power by subordinating it to well-defined and established laws - without which there is no justice!

For those who cheer for the idea of mass deportation, I ask: in their place, who's gonna do your bidding and be at your beck and call to accomplish those tasks that need doing?

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Thanks Robert and stunning picture of the moon! Regarding JD Vance creating a crisis in Springfield and stating that Kamala Harris has responsibility begs the question, if you as a Senator thought there was a problem why in your tenure so far in the senate did you not do something about this. That is how this works in our democracy. Instead you terrorized your own constituency. Shame, shame on you Senator Vance. Perhaps the first time a US Senator attacked his own constituency in recent political history.

I would also recommend that everyone check the recent podcast of Jen Rubin with pollster Simon Rosenberg. They are seeing great enthusiasm for Democratic candidates “down ballot” which is a great sign for Harris/Waltz. Still slot of work to go but the movement is in the right direction.

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I would also recommend that everyone check the recent podcast of Jen Rubin with pollster Simon Rosenberg.

⬆️

Here's a link to the video version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jpsR19AsqA

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That moon is easily viewed outside my bedroom window!

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We noticed the full moon on Tuesday as we were crossing the street to our house in Northern Germany. It was beautiful and we just stopped to look at it. It could also easily be viewed outside our bedroom window.

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Cue up Mister John Lennon and The Beatles. Mr. Monnlight. "'Cause we love you....Mister Moonlight."

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The Harris/Walz ticket is a 🌔 (waxing gibbous), and will become full on November 5, eclipsing the felon for good. Unlike the moon, which moves with its own grandeur, we will help make this victorious ticket a reality.

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The old Chinese concept of “ death by a thousand cuts” I think applies to Trump because more people are speaking out against him because either they believe he will lose or because they because they no longer fear him. It happening everywhere and it is building momentum. What this also means is we need to be more vigilant about voter fraud and manipulation because it is the only going to get worse

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Your amazing photos are such an uplifting start to my day. Keep them coming and thank you!!

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At a campaign rally for Trump, Sarah Huckabee Sanders stated that Harris was not a humble person because she has no biological children and therefore does not deserve to be president. The statement met with loud boos. I immediately wondered if the boos were for or against the statement? Surely, the stepparents in the audience felt some intense dislike for such a nonsensical statement! Or are the Trump worshippers so delusional that they completely forget their own stepparenting experiences, either as a stepparent themselves or having had a stepparent they loved and honored? My next thought was of Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Despite the title of "Mother," to my knowledge, she never had any biological children of her own. Does Sanders think that Mother Teresa was not a humble person? Except for Jesus and many others, was anyone on earth ever as humble as Mother Teresa? Certainly not Sanders!

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And what makes Sarah Huckabee Sanders an expert on humility?

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Absolutely NOTHING!

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She is an expert on lying - she did it daily working for Trump.

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They are all about projection, lies, and made up alternative realities.

Just like JD has been spewing hate that applies more to 45 than his stated targets, like Taylor Swift, Sanders "ignorant" statement applies more to 45 who I am CERTAIN would use ANY of his children as human shields should the occasion arise.

So SICK of the MAGA hate, division, and dehumanizing people and degrading the USA.

READY FOR LOVE, RECONCILIATION, JUSTICE AND A BETTER WAY FORWARD.

#HarrisWalz2024

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I wholeheartedly agree with everything you said!

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According to S H S, Harris does not deserve to be president because she has no biological children and therefore is not humble. Yet tRump who is a convicted rapist, a twice impeached president, a liar, a traitor to our Constitution and rule of law and a wannabe dictator who is the last person to ever display humility is qualified?

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Robert Hubbell, I now scroll down to your wonderful photography first, before listening to the daily newsletter. Thanks for the "toasted marshmallow" lunar shot.

In order to one day colonize our neighboring satellite, humanity needs to learn better cooperation.

Heartbroken over the pager/walkie-talkie sabotage - innocents inevitably harmed.

May we all work for PEACE and JUSTICE more than harm and cruelty, power and greed.

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I too am heartbroken over the pager/walkie-talkie sabotage that has killed several children and injured many innocent citizens. There is a good reason why the United States was not informed beforehand. Who besides Trump and Vance in the US would condone such actions? I hope no one, even our Jewish Americans.

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I am Jewish and I think it's appalling.

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Israel suffered an appalling raid by HAMAS almost a year ago now, virtually all of whom were innocent civilians. And still HAMAS refuses to let the hostages go. They raped women in the cruelest imaginable ways, killing many of them, and inflicting torturous pain on others.

I'm not condoning the pager biz, but I find it hard to condemn it in light of what's happened over there for most of the past year. Is Netanyahu worse than HAMAS? I think they're both to blame for the terrible goings on in the Middle East.

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We are never going to colonize Mars. If it were possible to colonize Mars, we would have colonized Antarctica. Besides being far more frigid than Antarctica, Mars is bathed in radiation that would kill any earthling that tried to perambulate outside of the thick ceilinged underground dwellings that would be necessary to keep earthlings alive.

And can you imagine living on a planet without an ocean, without ponds, and without rivers? Mars looks like they took the ugliest 10 acres on Earth and spread them out over that planet.

The US could learn all it needs to know to get better cooperation by taking a close look at the Scandinavian countries as to how they do it. Scandinavian countries were #1 through #4 in this year's world happiness survey. The US was #23.

And as for lifting people up, Kamala, Tim Walz, and President Biden understand its importance.

This article illuminates the US' problems from another point of view

https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2015/04/the-science-of-scarcity

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Right now, I'd take Mars over what Trump and his ilk plan for the US. P.S. Loved the movie "The Martian".

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I can definitely empathize with the feelings your first sentence. But I was quite bored watching The Martian.

I'll be very glad when Trump dies, as he will no longer be influencing millions of Americans, and no longer get mentioned in the news.

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