(#6445) 40 days until the election results...

      The one advantage the republican party can count on in this election is their money. They can flood the airwaves with false and misleading ads to try to sway as many gullible voters as possible. What has been a huge advantage for republicans in the past is not as winning this time around however. Because the ads may be false and misleading but they can't mask the real harm trump is doing to we who they are trying to confuse. We feel the harm in real time so their ads no matter how clever cannot hide from the fact that republicans are the designers of our current misery. Giving them more license to make the harm even worse is a bridge too far even for many of the gullible.
     Yet as the only real advantage republicans have at their disposal expect an onslaught of ads trying to convince we the people that previous presidential administrations are to blame. That the trump administration is only trying to clean up their messes. Except that trump has been in power for most of the last 2 years and trying to make democratic administrations culprits when he has a majority in Congress and a friendly supreme court is logically against his attempt. Plus the fact that he has created most of the mess himself through tariffs, alienating allies, and attacking Iran. The economic footprint he has created for we here at home is abysmal. Cutting programs that keep our industries viable, kicking people off of health care, cuts to social security, food stamps, while unleashing ice agents to terrify our communities.
     The trump administration can and will spin all of this as a necessary harm to our society in order to instill a greater future. Yet the only ones who sense a greater future are the wealthy and their increased ability to manipulate the rest of we the people of the working middle poor class. No matter how the republicans attempt to spin examples like the destruction they caused making our food insecure while raising prices on them is foolhardy. Yet that is their best chance of diverting the most ominous blue wave coming down on their heads in less than 6 weeks. I already know the consequences of this election and therefore don't waste my time watching ads from republicans trying to persuade me otherwise. We all need to keep our minds focused and only make sure our votes are counted!

(#6444) 41 days until the results of our voting start coming in...

      Illinois begins their early voting today. Being the 6th most populated state in the US with about 12.7 million people a huge swath of our electorate will begin filling out and delivering their ballots. As Illinois is a heavy democratic voting state the interest in the early vote counts will be keen by me and others. With Virginia, a majority democratic voting state with about an 8.9 million population, the early vote count there is as well interesting to see. Most states tabulate how many early ballots go out and how many are returned back in. We won't know how anyone voted but we can discern the intensity of the early vote through participation.
     Several smaller states will begin their early voting in the next 10 days but on the 11th day from now California will begin it's early voting. California has an almost 40 million population with about 27 million eligible to vote. So far there are more than 23 million registered voters in California. Just an inkling into my brain, I expect about 70% of California voters to vote democratic. That may seem lofty but given the mess trump has caused and with about 75% of California's eligible voters not being republicans you can see why I may think democrats will triumph by such a high percentage. I sense the turnout this time is going to be amazing because of the threat to the vote the republicans represent.
     Ohio, the 7th most populace state with about 11.9 people, will begin their early voting the same day as California and normally I wouldn't think of them as being too interesting to pay attention to but not this time around. Ohio is showing itself as an almost swing state and that gives me hope that they too will surprise us with some hoped for democratic victories. I received my voter information guide for California yesterday and will give it a good look through for more information. We are in the midst of our midterm election and I couldn't be happier that it isn't tainted with trump illegal rules and demands. I still worry about postal service delivery but here in California it may be less a worry than in some other parts of the states. Make sure your ballot gets to the elections office no matter what the level of the worry though!
     

(#6443) 42 days until the election results begin coming in...

      The polling leading up to this election to me is always suspect. I am somewhat encouraged that the polls are consistently showing that trump is in trouble because his administration of our government has been abysmal. Not only abysmal but traitorous. So naturally I would suspect him of doing poorly in the polling. However the pre election polls are not trustworthy. There are too many ways errors ameliorate the final voting tallies from the early polling. All I know is that those who want change in our leadership and the power base that fuels it need to have a plan to vote to make sure their vote is counted. That is all I know as the rest of predicting is just noise to me.
     I am one dimensional on this. Vote in a way that secures your vote being counted. In previous elections the movement was to encourage all voters to vote. But now it is even tougher because some who vote may not get their vote counted. Which is why we all need to treat our vote as a deposit in the bank. Get a receipt or have a way to show that the deposit has been accepted. We do the same with our money so why not with our precious vote? If the non voting electorate who sat out 2024 come out to vote then the likelihood of democracy reemerging back into our politics becomes especially real. I cannot stress the necessity of all of us registered voters getting out and securing our vote!
     Each and every registered voter here in America needs to understand that only through voting are we allowed a voice in our politics. Sure we can debate and argue in forums and in public but unless we put our vote in for what we believe is correct and good then we are not making a difference. Who would promote an idea and then not vote for it when the time came? None who are honorable and nobly principled. We the people of America need to see to our obligation to our constitution. We won't have a constitution if we don't vote. There are tremendous forces here in America who would steal our nation from under us and that is not a lie! So to protect our nation and it's invariable freedoms, equalities, and liberties we must vote or the last resort to saving our democracy will require us fighting in the streets!
     

(#6442) 43 days until the election...

      In 2 days Illinois begins it's early voting. Even as trump is still trying to get the Senate majority republicans to eliminate the filibuster. All so they can try to pass the voter suppression save act. The senate is still refusing to listen to him. As we are so knee deep into the election now it is literally impossible to change the rules of voting during an election. But with trump there is no sticking to logic just his obsessions in the form of demands! As we get even closer to when the votes will begin to be counted on November 3rd trump is realizing that he needs  more than luck to win he actually needs an exit plan for when his republican party is defeated all over the nation, not just in congress.
     He did all this to himself. He could have taken this term as a rebuilding his image tour but instead he doubled down on his egregious characteristics and multiplied them with fervor. He is on the threshold of doing irreparable damage to our nation which is why this election is paramount to stopping him and his devious acolytes who rally him on. We the people are ready and able to blunt his ability to harm us further while nullifying his last 2 years in office. Which is why instead of being challenged and defeated for all his next attempts after the election he may want to disappear himself from the disastrous effects he has accumulated. He has a reckoning coming and surely he will run and hide instead of facing it.
     In 6 weeks we will know the emotion of this election and it's most probable outcome. Then the very next day the votes will be counted and show us the majority result. There is no miracle for trump to receive this late in the voting season to change the expected outcome. If he had only relied on being a good steward to our population and our allies he would not be in this situation. But instead he threw all of us under the bus and dived headfirst into the craven abyss. A couple of metaphors there but you get the point. This election is about our past, present, and future, not about the desires of a simpleton who thinks he is a genius. We are not there yet as trump is wildly flailing about so beware we the people to his desperate underhandedness.

(#6441) 44 days until we know and soon the early vote information will start becoming available

      With early voting now we don't know how many votes were cast for any particular candidate or proposition but we do get mostly numerical breakdowns by party. So we can project out the most likely outcome for those specific party votes. We will also see how traditional early voting patterns compare with what is happening this election. Specifically turnout! Which party is the most energized given the previous data for past elections. There is some nuance to consider also with each election because the same patterns are not driven by the same circumstances, but generally we can surmise much from how many votes are being cast and by which party. This year will be no exception.
     What this years vote will be different in is the focus on regular voters and irregular voters. Along with new voters and where they are all casting ballots. In my lifetime there has never been an election like this one. There is no doubt about understanding the two parties for their purpose. Yet there is a massive amount of voter information out there that is suspect and misleading. Yet despite attempts to propagandize falsehoods as truth, the majority of us are living through the truth of things, so the many attempts to propagandize reality is difficult to impossible, while showing republicans for the con men/women that they are!  The majority of us are so worn down from the constant interruptions of our lives with unnecessary and harmful actions and behaviors from the republican party.
     So once data is released by states about their receiving ballots is when we will start to understand the impetus of how this election will begin to formulate. We are too early for that now but within the next several weeks many large population states will be joining the early voting ranks with an expected nearly 50% vote coming directly from this midterm early voting. I have no doubt that this election will be equal with presidential election turnout given it's tremendous importance. There is an anger in our country about how the trump administration takes pride in shooting the rest of us in the foot. We the people on the other hand do not care for the chaos and devaluation of our lives. This election turnout should be incredible!

(#6440) 45 days until the election results...

      As the Europeans call him, "a belligerent idiot", trump is running out of time. He truly cannot grasp the depth of him being disliked and even hatred by the American voting electorate. It is as if the bubble of narcissism he lives within is unable to process the mountainous vile he has achieved. There will be no escape clause for him. This election isn't about Obama, Clinton, Biden, or Harris. This election is about his record and rightly we are all disgusted by it. He cannot change the reality of his last 2 years with propaganda nazi Germany would have been proud of spreading. All the current failings are his with no other way for him to hide from them.
     Over the next 2 weeks and more, many of the largest states begin their early voting both mail in and in person. My anticipation will be record numbers of early voting all across the country. With voters apprehensive about making sure their ballots are not only cast but recorded with their respective state elections officials. I do not expect too many at all who will procrastinate when it comes to exercising their right to vote. The trump regime has thrown down the gauntlet on our votes and it seems to me that although we Americans can be lazy and ignorant at times we are not generally cowards. So trump fighting to deny our votes is enough to rally the majority of us to tell him to fuck off and then cast our ballots with some genuine anger against him.
     For me the turnout question is less about if it will happen in great numbers; the turnout question for me is how great the turnout numbers will be! There is an anti trump mood in our nation that is undeniable. The republican party has used and abused the trust they were given in 2024. They had 2 years to do right by their trusting voters and instead manipulated that trust into greed and power for themselves. The republicans still have a core of ridiculous followers who will never stop supporting them but that group is tiny compared to those of us who are mad as hell and want to end the theft of our democracy by a wannabe tyrant who cannot stand to tell the truth if it in any way brings him to a place where he has to accept blame for his actions!

(#6439) 46 days until the election results

     Today the early voting starts in Vermont and Virginia according to https://www.vote.org/early-voting-calendar/. I am really getting excited for what should prove to be a large blue wave against the trump forces of tyranny and fascism. The pundits have been playing it close to the vest as to how they are predicting outcomes and that is pretty clear. I believe the outcomes will be even more disastrous for republicans than they are predicting. But it doesn't bother me to be wrong when I am sticking with my gut. Instead I am just gut punched when I am wrong like in 2000, 2016, and 2024. This year is different though. Instead of having previous republican candidates that nuanced their deceptions and never said the quiet part out loud, trump is blasting his demented ideas full blast without a filter.
     Which is why I expect the blue wave to be overwhelming. Beyond the projections, akin to Barack Obama numbers of 2008. Red states voting in democrats where republicans once held sway. Blue states decreasing their republican votes to a surprising minimum. the passion is all on the side of democrats this election along with the policies. There is too much bad happening under this national republican administration to be held in any decent esteem. The worst of our electorate will still be voting with republicans but they will not be joined in numbers like in 2024. Which to me will tip this election wildly toward democrats. Deservedly so since not only is foreign policy in tatters the economy is shrinking and very much unaffordable.
     As to the actual voting the fear is that the trump administration will still try to throttle the ideal of one person one vote. They will not let go of their unproven narrative of mail in vote inconsistencies even though every court in the land is telling them to let go of it. It isn't that the their mail in vote fallacy is proven, it is because it is their only feint possibility to control which legal citizens vote and don't vote and they don't like that. So still be wary of the postal service which is under the control of trump and his acolytes. I will do a mail in ballot but I will look at all options as to how to get that completed ballot to my county elections office. We all should do that as well, be cautious about the dearness of our vote. As to voting in person early I suggest everyone who isn't doing a mail in ballot look hard at voting early in person.

(#6438) 47 days until the election

      Minnesota and South Carolina begin their early voting today with Vermont and Virginia beginning theirs tomorrow. This is really getting exciting for those of us who want to see a correction to the debacle that was our 2024 election. Early overseas ballots and some ballots in Pennsylvania are already out there for filling out and returning and they are all important. Just as important are the next round of ballots that are scheduled to be sent out. Our states are finally at the threshold of mailing ballots out to our citizenry in processes designed by each individual state. Some call it mail in balloting and others call it absentee mail in balloting. But regardless the state wide ballots are ready and will start to go out today.
     There is also an in person voting element that will be starting today in South Dakota. We are here folks. Ballots available and voting in person starting tomorrow. Many of us will have to wait a bit longer toward the traditional election day of the first Tuesday of the month, November 3rd, but most of us will have our first option of voting early somewhere between then and now. I am an early voter since around 2000. I don't like the standing in line process since the traditional election day is somehow not a holiday as it should be so mail in voting has been my choice for well over 2 decades. For those of us who work, the idea of standing in line an inordinate amount of time to cast a vote is not efficient. Most of us cannot afford to miss work for any reason, even health concerns, such is the state of our nation.
     However we can change the state of our nation by all of us getting a plan individually to vote. We all have to participate regardless the inconvenience that may follow. Having pride in our constitution and it's duties is as American as we can be so no one can tell any of us that our voting is a detriment in any way! If what I hope will happen and we voting citizens turn out in droves then the nature of our current government administration will have a check on it that will not allow it to continue to harm us for the sake of an ego maniac who has no decency nor noble respect attached to his character. Neither will there be his underlings in power to help him. We the people will be the power and the direction of our nation will change to a level that stabilizes our futures with a greater promise toward being honorable.

(#6437) 48 days of waiting to see if our honor here in America will recover

      This election, while trump is still alive, is about our character. Somehow we managed to let him control our democracy with his greedy motives and so far we haven't lost our democracy yet. I would say the reason is because off his utter incompetence. But like all incompetent people they do evolve from their previous bungling. I expect that if we the people do not find a way through this coming election to put real restraint on trump that he will continue to sledgehammer our democracy into dust! His first 6 years of rule have shown that he is what he is and not capable of becoming a better leader, only a more excessive fiendish one.
     Which is why every citizen of America who is eligible to vote must make sure they are registered and then have a plan to vote. We are hearing that even with trump's executive order creating the postal rule, being defeated by the supreme court, trump still plans to try to force the post office to interrupt postal delivery. As a secondary method of voting by mail it is now suggested to drop ballots off either with the local elections office or one of their sanctioned drop boxes. It is early in the election season so things may get more clarified as to how to deliver our ballots but staying on top of all options is the smartest way to make sure our votes are counted.
     It isn't surprising that the creature trump who says mail in voting is rigged also votes by mail. This creature also is the only one who is "cheating" by directing the postal service to work around the supreme court ruling concerning the delivering of mail in ballots. With trump the obvious is always he blames others for what he is actually doing. He hasn't changed his methods because he thinks we don't get it. If we didn't have such a collusive republican party in power trump would have been removed long ago but with republicans keeping trump in power, because they are not true defenders of democracy, they are complicit in trump retaining power for all his greedy power lusting ambitions!

(#6436) 49 days until we see election results

      If trump were to try to disrupt the election due to his horrible poll numbers the odds of that happening now are slim to none. The reason being is that the less radical forces on the supreme court won't allow it. The 4 republican justices who sided with the 3 democratic justices are clearly not going to allow trump to pull anything unconstitutional at this point. The administrative procedure act is the bedrock that the 7 justices will stand upon to deny trump any attempt to stop or halt our elections. We are already underway in our midterm election so trump will be forced to attempt his calamities in some other form. The next most likely attempt by trump is to declare martial law.
     Yet even this would be in violation of our constitution. Congress has to approve any claim of martial law and there must be a viable reason for it. No constitutional power exists for trump to unilaterally declare martial law. But that wouldn't stop him from trying because we know as the election comes closer to being decided his desperation will increase manifoldly. So if not martial law, what then will trump attempt to deploy as a stopgap in our election? Monitoring with his goons at election polling places to intimidate or challenge voters nonstop. He could challenge every late arriving ballot everywhere. He could intimidate poll workers to delay certification of the votes.
     The trump cabal may even try some parliamentarian moves post election that delays seating of newly elected congressional winners. In order to use the existing majority he has indefinitely beyond the January 3rd swearing in ceremony to make some nefarious declaration about the just concluded election. A coup if you will. Nothing this criminal president does or could do is a surprise to me and many like me. Just know this for those who don't quite understand the depths of the trump depravity. He will stop at nothing to make himself as secure as possible from the deserves he should receive from we the people. His time is coming if we the people stick together and face him down at every turn!

(#6435) 50 days until the election...supreme court finally denies trump postal rule!

      Logical reality in this moment is staying static. Last evening the supreme court denied a stay of the preliminary injunction issued by 2 federal judges. Which in effect stops the postal rule from becoming law. However, the rule may not be completely dead as at least 3 judges think the rule has a chance to pass muster after this election season is concluded. So for the near future like for instance the 2028 presidential election, the rule could well be up for judgement by the supreme court again. Yet for now the rule is dead and will not effect the ongoing midterm election that is currently happening. The postal service may not intervene in any way from collecting and delivering ballots throughout the nation in its normal timely manner.
     We now have certainty that our mail in ballots will be delivered, collected, and delivered. This whole fiasco of an affair has already caused caution on the part of citizens. Many will not trust the postal service and I can understand why since they are controlled by the trump cabal. So drop boxes are still an alternative of choice. Most states, if not all by now have some sort of free ballot tracking system. Check where you live to see if you are eligible to receive ballot updates. Here in California I get to see when my ballot is being mailed to me, when it is in the postal service system, and then when it is received by the county elections office and added to their eventual counting queue. If things go normally from here on out I will likely stick with this system.
     Today Pennsylvania is open to distributing ballots in certain locations. Again, if you live in Pennsylvania check with your county election office to see if you can get your ballot today. In 5 days, Minnesota and South Dakota will start their early voting with Vermont and Virginia starting theirs the very next day. With what is at stake here in America and the feverish need for trump to do everything in his power to keep his majority in Congress, getting our votes to the county elections committee as soon as possible is a requisite. We the people who vote regularly and we the people who don't need to understand that every vote in this coming election is crucial so make sure we vote one and all!

(#6434) 51 days until the election...still nothing from the supreme court

     Although nothing new from the supreme court, last night however another federal judge in Washington D.C. issued his own preliminary injunction on the postal service rule. His reasoning coincides with the earlier federal judge from Massachusetts that the coming midterm election would harm vast amounts of eligible voters if implemented for this election. The contrast here on one level is that both judges were appointed by different presidents. One by Obama and one by trump. It seems that logic can transcend politics at this critical moment. With North Carolina, Delaware, Wisconsin, and Alabama already sending overseas ballots out and Pennsylvania ready to start absentee voting tomorrow the end of the trump postal rule seems imminent.
     In my mind last Friday should have been the day the supreme court lifted the preliminary injunction if they were to allow the postal rule to move forward. They didn't and now we are into Monday with more activity having occurred around the normal mail in ballot procedures. I am no genius nor wizard, but it is getting obvious that the supreme court is going to punt the appeal by trump to allow the postal rule changes. For many reasons the supreme court should nullify the rule but the one glaring reason is that our midterm election process has not only started but it is now roaring along. It would be unimaginable now for the supreme court to interfere with an ongoing election just to break constitutional law as a favor to trump!
     The entirety of the postal rule is unconstitutional in my mind so we should never have gotten this far with it to begin with. But knowing how the supreme court republican majority often bends to trump's will I am not surprised, just again disgusted by their loyalty to him, although this postal rule construction quite possibly was a bridge too far even for them. For some of the 6 republicans on the supreme court it wasn't a bridge too far but not enough to give them a majority agreement and allow the democracy undermining postal rule to become law. It is my sincere hope that at least 6 of the justices on the supreme court will hold that the postal rule is unconstitutional.

(#6433) 52 days until the election...still nothing from the supreme court on mail in ballots

     We are another day closer to our elections and all seems to have calmed down. With both the district judge and appeals court keeping things as they are the supreme court seems in no hurry to do anything to change the status quo. Which for we the people that is welcome. We know our elections work properly and the insinuation from only the trump camp that it doesn't hasn't been logical. It is trump's word that there is mass cheating and no other proof has been presented. He bases his claim off the results he doesn't like not actual proof. So far the courts still operate under the truth of things not the desires of trump outside of logic!
     North Carolina and Delaware are already sending out overseas mail ballots, in 2 days, on this coming Tuesday Pennsylvania will begin early voting. 5 days later Minnesota and South Dakota begin theirs and then the very next day, Vermont and Virginia start their early voting. If the trump postal rule was going to be initiated by the supreme court they have had 3 days since the appellate court affirmed the temporary injunction of the federal judge to stop the postal rule from moving forward, to make a ruling But the supreme court has been silent so far. With the elections underway what else are we to determine about the fate of the postal rule if not that it will remain overruled since time is an imperative?
     Right now is the best time of the season for elections. When anticipations are high and emotions are strong. It makes absolutely no sense to change the rules during an actual election and that seems to be the case with the postal rule fate. Free and unencumbered voting is what our Constitution demands and that appears to be what we will get. The will of the people is the foundation of our democracy and voting with the one person one vote ideal we will still have it. There has been no final word from the supreme court yet but as each minute passes into hours and days the only outcome they could summarize at this juncture for this disruptive postal rule is that it doesn't pass constitutional muster by affirming the federal judge and appellate court decision.

(#6432) 53 days until the election. I don't expect the supreme court will side with trump on mail in voting

      The midterm election window has begun and the trump mail in voting postal rule's window has closed, at least in my perspective. Sure the supreme court could do something totally irrational since they have a republican majority on the court, but no, since they would have done it yesterday if they were to side with trump. My logic on that is that the 1st circuit court of appeals has ruled and the appeal to the supreme court by trump officials has already been made. Yet nothing from the supreme court yesterday. If they were to rule in trump's favor then they most likely would have done it yesterday. They didn't which signals to me that they are not for the trump postal rule and are slow walking an affirmation with the federal judge and the 1st circuit court of appeals.
     The preliminary injunction issued by the Massachusetts federal judge is still in effect while it could have been lifted by the supreme court yesterday, if the supreme court was going to allow trump's nefarious postal rule to come about. By not lifting the preliminary injunction mail in balloting will continue in its normal process. As ballots are already being mailed out from the states of Delaware and North Carolina, they can continue to proceed with growing confidence that they will not be ordered to stop mailing or retrieve their ballots and redesign them along with a few other provisions to meet the underhanded postal rule requirements. In 3 days Pennsylvania will begin voting by mail. So the longer it takes the supreme court to rule on the trump appeal the more like it will be that they will deny the trump appeal.
     In my mind the postal rule is now beyond salvation. Which makes we the people 2 for 2 in defeating trump attempts to use pernicious avenues to dissuade and/or deny voters their franchise to vote. Other than any cheating musk may try to do to help trump, the rest of his agenda to upend the will of we the people is thwarted. Officially though the postal rule demise has not been thorough like the nefarious trump save act but by my reckoning it is just a matter of time now. To the credit of the supreme court it appears they were not ready to overthrow our constitution for the sake of trump. However to their disgrace, they should have made known their disgust with his attempt and not allowed it to get this far. Regardless though doing the correct thing in the end is a value they can claim as just!

(#6431) 54 days until the election...

     Today is turning into a massively important day as to what will happen with mail in voting as the supreme court now has the ball in it's court so to say. The 1st circuit court of appeals yesterday sided with the federal judge and left the preliminary injunction active against the postal service from enacting their rule. With North Carolina and Delaware already sending out mail in ballots the midterm election is literally in the process of voting. In 4 days Pennsylvania will begin it's early voting window as well. with Minnesota and South Carolina following in just 9 days. If there is any chance that the mail in voting rule will survive to become effective it will most likely happen today or this evening.
     If there is no decision after this day has passed then the likelihood it will pass becomes very unlikely. Hence the importance of today. Because the further we go into this election the more difficult it becomes to imagine the high court will abruptly halt things when they could have ruled sooner for the rule. To me the time has already dictated the looming outcome. I suspect the 6 republican justices on the supreme court are not stuck with trying to figure out a logic for agreeing with the trump postal rule. Instead they are trying to figure out how to let trump down softly so as not to anger him toward some retribution he may have in reserve over the 6 republicans on the supreme court.
     So today is critical to the mail in voting decision. I will be paying attention all day to see if anything surprising occurs. If the court does not rule today then I will be nearly certain the trump executive order postal rule will fail. Even if they rule today it could come as just an affirmation of the lower courts rulings. In all logic that should be the only statement made, an affirmation that the rule through the trump executive order is unconstitutional. At every turn trump seeks to usurp constitutionally designated powers given explicitly to congress and make them his own. Even though this supreme court is heavily republican they must know that supporting this out of control wannabe dictator will cost them more than personal outrage, it will shred what is left of their dignity while shit staining them forever!

(#6430) 1.5 million Russian soldiers dead or injured from putin's invasion of Ukraine!

      If you think one man is worth more than 1.5 million souls then you are a piece of shit! The parents of those young men are to me the worst of what parents can be or at least the most cowardly. To let putin continue even after half a million or a million was ghastly then but now another half a million more souls damaged or lost forever is so inhuman that I see why Russia is referred to as the horde! They don't care about life just consuming like a horde of locusts. Their children are just an expendable resource toward that cause. Make no doubt about it too many of the Russian people support the murder of Ukrainians in order to gain their land and resources.
     I, for the first few years of this Ukrainian invasion, felt sorry for those parents of the now damaged or dead Russian soldiers but I have come to realize they don't deserve my sympathy. They only deserve my disgust. How they are not rising up in the many ways they could to stop putin is the proof of their allegiance to putin over the lives of their lost sons. The barbarians at the gate is the perfect concept to describe the Russian people and their craven intensity to devour that which isn't theirs. Not all Russians are of this ilk but apparently not enough to stop the creatures the kremlin produces. Instead they have chosen to stay quiet and shake in their boots while more than a thousand young men die in putin's invasion!
     The Russian myth of them being barbarians is just that. They are only subservient cannon fodder willing to remain so. The few who truly are barbarous sit in the shelters, bunkers, and protected enclaves ordering others Russians to die for nothing more that dirt that isn't theirs. I have long ago given up hope that the Russian people would end their leaders madness with force. Because they don't have the courage to break free from their fear while more sons keep dying daily. How must their minds and hearts work when they look in the mirror and see such disappointment when measured against what they could do to stop the death machine they currently accept as inevitable.

(#6429) 56 days left until the election...We see this postal rule for what it is!

     I and others' know what this postal rule is all about. It isn't about making our elections safer or more perfect, it is about controlling which party gets to vote by mail easily and which party doesn't. Trying to get this rule passed at this time within the window of an election already in progress is a desperate attempt to avoid the inevitable will of the people. The trump administration has been very clear that they will stay in power regardless of the means. Take them for their word, they mean it. This flagrant attempt to run an end around our constitution is perfectly an example. The only question now is will the supreme court allow this nefarious postal rule to advance while we are already within the bounds of an election?
     From my and others' viewpoint this postal rule is an atomic bomb attempt cure in search of a problem that is essentially nonexistent.. In other words, there is no problem here to correct, only a devilish way to disenfranchise voters of their right to vote through embellished fear tactics. With only trump and a few of his sycophants claiming voter fraud, even though his party won the presidency, both chambers of congress, and hold a significant majority on the supreme court, the idea coming from republicans that there is widespread voter fraud is head scratching difficult to comprehend. Unless of course republicans are secretly blaming republicans for electing themselves, but are publicly saying that democrats are voting illegally, which is still absurd!
     In 6 days Pennsylvania will begin its early voting so between then and now the 1st circuit court of appeals and the supreme court will be making some statements as to how all of us are to proceed on this rule. I don't know how the verdict will come but if the preliminary injunction stay is not lifted then the rule will be circumvented. If the stay is lifted then the likelihood of the rule passing will be most probable. The 1st circuit court will not affirm the postal rule verdict as final unless the supreme court refuses to hear the appeal, so likely that will have to come from the supreme court and its biased 6 majority republican members. Not based upon precedence nor sound constitutional adjudication but upon twisted strategy. I am still thinking the supreme court will not change the law and allow the postal rule to come into effect, at least not for this election.

(#6428) 57 Days until the election...

      Still nothing from the supreme court on trump's direct challenge to them of the indefinite preliminary injunction issued by the presiding federal district court judge. As the hours passed since the judge first issued the indefinite preliminary injunction that stops the postal rule from going forward, I have been expecting the supreme court to either ignore it or take it up immediately. It has been almost 2 days now and the supreme court has done nothing with trump's direct challenge to them. Which is not immediate at all. So the supreme court is showing at least to me that it does not hold the trump executive order for the post office to control mail in voting in any high regard.
     The 6 majority republicans on the supreme court often side with trump on questionable issues but upsetting this core constitutional pillar does not seem to be something the supreme court wishes to sully itself with. By not taking up the challenge trump has sent them, they seem to be quietly allowing trump to understand that their ruling overall is not going to be in favor of his attempted postal service end run around our constitution. Easing trump's ego is not unimportant given his penchant to do absolutely absurd retaliation efforts. If this is the case then the idea that trump had to control who votes goes out the window along with his nefarious voter restriction bill.
     What could be left that trump may try to pull to make sure he isn't wiped out by November's midterm result? Only musk in the background playing with our voter counts. I expect there is enough state safeguards to keep that from happening but my mind is not totally convinced. The creature trump is not capable of accepting defeat. It isn't how he exists so there has to be more that is coming we either will see or is hidden from us. Whatever comes next none of us can sit back and relax over. The very idea that trump has survived this long when his criminal and behavioral conduct has been the fall of many others is a warning to all of us because he does not go easy into that long farewell goodnight!

(#6427) 58 days until the election...

      Still no action with the supreme court on the appeals by trump directly to them. This is an emergency situation in the nefarious eyes of trump so the not responding immediately like the lapdogs they have shown to be in the past is revealing in itself. As each day clicks off the calendar toward the actual traditional voting day on November 3rd the more difficult it is to see how trump can prevail in his quest to pettily deny voters he doesn't want to vote. He knows he is going to lose straight up this midterm election because all he has done is anger most of us but surely he had planned on his voter suppression act passing Congress and this insane attempt to regulate who can actually vote through the postal service he controls.
     With his obvious unconstitutional postal rule looking to be circling the drain, his plans to rig the election are going away. My sense on this was that this was a bridge too far the 6 majority republicans on the supreme court less the corruptible thomas and alito. The no involvement from the high court signifies to me that they don't want to touch this cancerous proposition from trump outside the normal flow of process. They will likely wait until the 1st circuit court of appeals has their verdict of affirmation with the district court judge published, then will be when they are forced to accept the appeal or ignore it. Personally I want them to ignore it but I would like them to publish a simple sentence of the judgement of the appellate court, that they are in affirmation!
     We are officially in the window of this midterm election so any foundational changes would be inconceivable. This 6 republican majority court knows that even if they wanted to give trump the power over our elections the timing of his attempt is too close to the election. It would break with previous excuses not to change anything while an event is in its process. Believe me I know that when this republican majority court wants something they will not restrain themselves on the stare decisis precedence nor even a timeliness issue. But them not immediately responding to trump's direct appeal to them from yesterday tells a story all in itself that even they want nothing to do with this abomination!

(#6426) 59 days until the election...

      North Carolina has already started sending out mail in ballots. In 3 days Alabama begins mail in balloting distribution. In 9 days Pennsylvania starts their early voting. Yet trump is still trying to push his unconstitutional postal rule that will severely restrict mail in voting all on the false premise that it is needed to stop rampant voter fraud. Funny that, the only voting fraud being found is by republicans who accuse others of voting illegally when all along it is the republican party doing the dirty deed. The only reason trump wants his illegal postal rule is so that he can control who votes and who doesn't. The supreme court knows this and so do we the people. Twice now trump has appealed to the high court with today's appeal, without a whisper of a response being returned as of yet.
     The 6 republican majority would be wise to avoid any contact with trump over this since it is so obviously devious and manipulative, Not even the city slickers in the republican majority are eager to move outside the appeals process. The 1st circuit court of appeals has the first appeal over the Massachusetts federal judge's decision and they will follow their protocols in how they adjudicate. The problem for trump is that the election is already beginning. So his last ditch throw the kitchen sink at the wall attempt is for many of us just theatre now. He believes he can sway anyone to his will but most of us are sick and tired of his worn out act. Yes, even republicans on the supreme court.
     I have been caught up in personal responsibilities and have not had time to monitor every detail I can find on the postal service rule predicament but what time I have invested into it today shows little movement except trump filing another appeal directly to the supreme court. After little to no action on his last appeal about the the district court temporary restraining order, and now the preliminary injunction, which shows a strong sense of the judge that she will prevail in her conclusion. The sheer naked audacity of the trump lawyers who stick to their script that no one would be harmed by their postal rule even after the clusterfuck of their presentation of the rule apparatus as wholly incomplete.

(#6425) 60 days until the election...

      The not unexpected ruling by the Massachusetts federal judge yesterday was no surprise in its conclusion. However the gravity of it coming and being unequivocal that the trump executive order on the postal rule was unconstitutional was powerful. The gauntlet has been thrown down and now if there is to be a supreme court overrule it must be able to be more ingenious than anyone could imagine. Such is the task of the 6 republican majority on the supreme court if they are to allow the trump rule. The very idea of them even trying to formulate some specious logic is unfortunately what we the people expect of them. They will be doing themselves the dishonor of being typecast as traitors to our democracy if they find for trump.
     As cynical as I can be toward the republican majority on the court I don't think they are prepared to carry that outcome out for trump. The court sees the alignment of the lower courts firmly against this particular end around our constitution for exactly what it is, a power grab outside the guardrails of our constitution. The 6 majority republicans on the supreme court know that they will be isolated within the legal profession as pariahs for the rest of their lives. There may be a few like thomas and alito who are willing to make that sacrifice but for the other 4 republicans I cannot fathom them wanting the rest of their careers to be unambiguously known as a benedict arnold type.
     If the supreme court has the courage they will take the appeal of the district judge's ruling against trump and either confirm it or refuse to accept the appeal. The noble thing would be to take the appeal and then rip it apart and expose it as the power grab it is. Or at least make a simple ruling of the executive orders unconstitutionality. Will the republican majority on the supreme court be able to read the room in time to save what is left of any dignity they may possess? We will know shortly as North Carolina sent out it's overseas ballots yesterday. Which may be a strong clue as to which way the supreme court will rule. Allowing the ballots to go out yesterday, allows for an assumption that the executive order may already be in the minds of the court, moot!

(#6424) 61 days until the election...still crickets from the supreme court

      A flurry of action is surrounding the mail in voting obstruction executive order trump is trying to implement yet the only decision yet from the supreme court was late last month when it decided to lift an injunction keeping the postal rule in limbo because the injunction was deemed too early. That issue of being early is now resolved and the injunction stopping the postal rule is back in place with the supreme court not rushing to take the case as of yet. An emergency appeal by trump to the supreme court to lift the latest injunction was delivered yesterday and no quick response yet from the supreme court. This being critical since mail in ballots are being sent overseas by North Carolina today.
     In my understanding of the supreme court, if it was anxious to allow the postal service rule through the trump executive order to usurp state rights to administer their elections guaranteed by the constitution they would have immediately lifted the latest injunction prohibiting the postal service from advancing the directive of the executive order. For me, this backdoor attempt by trump to destabilize our elections is now actually in the window of our elections and therefore highly problematic. Not only is the new postal service rule nothing more than a rule with little to no architecture to support it but it is untested and naturally prone to a trial and error stage where bugs in the as of yet phantom system need working out.
     Which is to say that the timing of this attempt by trump to reorganize our voting along with it being a constitutional violation leads me to somewhat consider the supreme court may not even want to hear this case as it is as we average folks like to describe as a hot mess! Letting the adjudication of it stay under the wise handling of it by the federal judge in Massachusetts as the best option. I may certainly be wrong about my conclusion here but so much is happening all at once with less than a clear picture of it at this time. If the supreme court does not act hastily and allows the process to proceed then the postal rule may become moot. not only by constitutional violation but as well its force into action to happen after the election has officially already begun!

(#6423) 62 days until the election...

     As we Americans inch closer to our midterm elections, Europe is facing a growing threat from Russia. It isn't just Ukraine that is absorbing the brunt of the arrogance of the tyrant putin and his henchmen. Russia is incrementally testing the will of Europe to keep helping Ukraine. What Russia does not want to do is attack Europe directly as most European countries being hassled by Russia are part of NATO.. Article 5 of the NATO defense pact states that an armed attack against one or more member states in Europe or North America is considered an attack against all of them. What Russia is doing instead of an armed attacks that directly link them is to use surrogates to cause the violent interruptions.
     The tacky strategy is no complexity. Russia threatens NATO countries and then attacks happen. The cause and effect is not in question just the ability to specifically link them. Trying to be too cute is not going to work nor are the threats going to deter Europe/NATO allies from withdrawing their support of Ukraine. The Ukrainian allies know that Ukraine is the front line of a much bigger incursion that Russia would be pleased to make; so supporting Ukraine is in actuality supporting the rest of Europe from the Russian maniacs of cruelty, brutality and barbarism!
     The democracies of America and Europe are being threatened by two bullies who love the idea of being treated like gods. So much so that their delight is using others in any manner necessary to sate their appetites. By any manner I mean using people as cannon fodder wherever and anyway possible to further their own monstrous desires. The death of people is something they are fine with as long as it isn't their own death. The focus of trump and putin is solely on themselves and nothing in a civilized world will be able to change that. What we as a society of human beings must challenge ourselves to evolve toward is to change this current scenario of death and gloom and replace it with our better and best noble intentions. The time is short for our transformation.

(#6422) 63 days until the election...

      Nothing has changed overnight on the appeal to the 1st circuit court of appeals on the attempt by trump to disenfranchise one third of Americans who vote. Even the hypocrisy of trump using mail in voting himself is not lost on any who would look objectively at this unconstitutional incompetence! What has changed is nothing so far as to the trump postal rule coming into effect. The federal judge blocked implementation of any change to the current existing mail voting protocols. In fact other judges around the country are holding the line against other attempts to set precedence that the not supreme court could use to help them align with the trump power grab.
     It is a power grab by definition since no other logical explanation is offered as proof. Even the fact of trump's continued use of mail in voting himself shows the opposite of his claim. I have been thinking about the 1st circuit court of appeals and how they did not rush a decision so that the not supreme court could immediately accept the challenge and rule as they see fit. It is almost like the 1st circuit is measuring it's response by extending the decision they must truly already have. As the case drags on the voting gets closer and makes for a change to voting like mail in voting almost impossible to reorder. I cannot help but assume that is part of the calculus as such.
     As each day extends with no change to mail in voting by whatever opportunity, the fact of changing mail in voting becomes even more impossible. Which to me is a good thing. If the not supreme court decides to hear the case with many moving parts it won't happen overnight. There are procedures that need to be followed and the soonest they could come about would be at or after the first ballots begin going out on September 4th. Most likely scenario is the not supreme court will hear the appeal of the mail in voting injunction sometime after Labor day. I expect the 1st circuit court will uphold the district judges injunction on the postal service's plans to change mail in voting. Then the not supreme court will have it's reputation to consider as well as the nefarious trump postal rule!

(#6421) 64 days until thee election... Still waiting on the courts

      The absurdity of the trump administration's postal rule change is coming to a conclusion. In logical obvious world the rule will be struck down as having been an unconstitutional power grab by trump over states rights. Yet we don't live in a logical obvious world any more. We live in the desires of trump world regardless of the legality of the question or claim. We have guardrails built within our political processes but when those guardrails are being subjugated to one branch of the government like with congress and the not supreme court then we as a nation are showing our vulnerability to not only corruption in plain sight but willful corruption with no care or worry about personal penalties.
     We the people are being played for fools in plain sight and should be outraged by the attempt. Yet our national psyche seems to be more unconcerned than alarmed. I know an increasing amount of us are starting to understand but the time is short and we the people action may well need to be required. Either the resistance to trump may lessen with a constitutional judgment against his postal service disenfranchisement, or it may well boil over if the court decides outside constitutional bounds it was created to stay within. There is no question at all that the postal rule is absurd and illegal. Yet the majority 6 republicans on the not supreme court have found ways to puzzlingly change law without wise or intuitive explanative thinking. They just make up an excuse and run with it. Sad but here we are.
     Logically I cannot believe the not supreme court will vote to keep the postal rule and increase trump's power over our constitution. Yet logic isn't the bedrock of the 6 republican majority on the not supreme court. They will probably, or likely side with trump and upset our democracy with their lock step toward authoritarianism. I only say this because they have so many times taken the side of trump when his strategy is clearly aimed at making himself untouchable and king like. What sort of objectively wise jurist would allow such behavior in a president? Only compromised jurists would and that is where we are at for the moment. The only true way forward for the not supreme court is to stand solidly by our constitution!

(#6420) 65 days until the election, the absurdity of the trump postal rule

      In 15 days Pennsylvania starts its early voting. Then 19 days until Minnesota and South Dakota start their early voting. After that, 20 days until Vermont and Virginia start their early voting. All this to say that early voting is upon us. How in the world would the republican majority not supreme court justify upsetting our electoral process by doing something unconstitutional? If they side with the trump postal rule all those states who are already primed to mail ballots to their constituents would be thrown into chaos trying to make their postal ballots adhere to the trump USPS rule!
     Not only that clusterfuck to deal with, but the mail in voting rolls will need to be sent to a federal website for their perusal to decide who can vote based upon the accurateness of the newly designed ballot envelopes. Let alone the portal for receiving these lists of mail in voters doesn't currently exist. Talk about the trial and error that goes with any new large paradigm shift of bureaucracy. Talk about uncertainty. We are literally in a pre election period with practically no time to comply. Plus those of us who are on state mail in voting rolls like me will want to decouple from those state rolls if they are forced to go the the currently non existent federal database. How would that work? We don't know because this is all happening on top of a knife's edge.
     Why is trump only trying to secure mail in ballots on a federal list and not those who vote at the booth? He is also exempting overseas ballots as they are mail in also. So this burrowing in on mail in voters is specific to his claim that he was robbed of the 2020 election. Despite there being no proof of that occurring. How the not supreme court could justify this preposterousness of trump so close to our election is beyond fathomable unless one takes the view that the not supreme court republican majority is in collusion with trump and his strategy to disenfranchise voters. I know that there is no justification for this power grab of trump within the constitution so any decision favoring his rule is an abomination to our constitution and will be addressed in a justifiable way!

(#6419) 66 days until the election...

      North Carolina will send out it's overseas ballots on September 4th. That is 5 days from today. The insanity of republicans to change our voting system just before the actual beginning of voting has reached a fever pitch. We know it to be the case that they know they are going to lose big in the midterms so instead of offering policies that attract voters their strategy is to cut down voting to eligible voters. There is no polite way to say they are being brutish when a political party is trying to subvert the one person one vote paradigm. The republicans figure that by eliminating mail in voting they will survive the total vote count come election day. they have made the calculation that mail in voting is far more a democratic party aligned process than not.
     I am not sure but they have better data to justify their diabolical plot than I. Suffice it to say though both parties will be harmed if the not supreme court upholds trump's unconstitutional power grab. Denying anyone eligible, either democrat, republican, or independent the right to vote is akin to treason. Yet that is the plan for this republican not supreme court majority to decide. The not supreme court doesn't have the appeal yet as it is still with the 1st circuit court of appeals. Yet we expect a decision from them any day now. Still the undue burden that the trumps want to make the states shoulder is enormously difficult. Should the not supreme court side with trump then the whole midterm election will be a mad scramble that may well cause enormous logistical and constitutional harm.
     Upending an election right before it is about to begin is in violation of a rule the not supreme court invented in President Barack Obama's 2nd term and was only used specifically against President Biden. The major questions doctrine. Where making changes too sweeping, or too aggressive is prohibited. This rule change under trump into the domain of states is not only barred by constitutional law but now as well by a doctrine the republican majority on the court used only against a democratic president. Will the court show it's prejudice to objectivity or will they not only uphold the constitution but also uphold their own rule against creating chaos where it doesn't need to exist?

(#6418) 67 days until the election...the courts the courts the courts

      It is all up to the courts now. The new injunction to stop the trump postal service rule was filed last Thursday, and the department of justice, ie... trump, appealed yesterday. So now the courts will expedite their decisions. first the appellate court will issue their legal finding and then that decision will be appealed to the supreme court. It is happening as fast as I anticipated since some mail in ballots go out overseas on September 4th, There is no room to spare with everything considered. The 1st circuit court of appeals will hear this appeal and should move swiftly to uphold the injunction. I say that because the 1st circuit court of appeals is not beholden to trump only their duty to the constitution.
     The logic for a quick decision by the appellate court lies with the immediacy of an election coming very soon. The appellate court also is aware of the supreme court having already laid some guidelines for this by removing an injunction while also keeping the other injunction. So the path is clear for the appellate court to give their reasoned logic to their conclusion. The appellate court could also stay the injunction temporarily while they decide their outcome but I don't think they will if they are already close to a decision. Deciding these injunctions is not as difficult as some may think. However the wording of the solution by the appellate court is highly important as to explaining the law on this postal rule. We will get the gist of how this should be decided through the interpretation the appellate court offers.
     This isn't rocket science here. Article 1 Section 4 is quite explicit as to who runs elections and not once does the executive branch come into it. So trump demanding that he be given authority beyond the express written consent of our constitution is not only a non starter but begs the question as to his motive. The supreme court is not a stupid entity. They know what they are doing and if the 6 republican majority on the supreme court rule against any core constitutional law outside the process for amending our constitution then Pandora's box of consequences will be the result. If the republican majority supreme court cannot hold the sanctity of our constitution dear then they are acting outside their authority to adjudicate!

(#6417) 68 days until the election results start coming in...

      I know a lot of people are saying that there are only 67 days left until the election but I count today as the 68th. We haven't left today yet so it is still part of my calculation. However we count the number of days left to the election the point being is that it is coming up fast and furious. So yesterday the same judge who placed both injunctions on the trump mail in ballot sabotage, and then subsequently removed here last injunction after the supreme court removed her other injunction  filed a new injunction. All this because the supreme court was worried about timing. Well there is no timing issue now so this latest injunction will now move either to an appellate court or possibly directly to the supreme court for a judgment on the merits, not just the timing of the injunction.
     Either way, through appellate decision or supreme court decision, the result will be known quite soon as there is a matter of an election starting with overseas mail in ballots going out in one week. It just seems absurd to me that the 6 majority trump supporters on the supreme court would break our constitution to help trump possibly steal these midterm elections. All semblance of partiality will be exposed and this supreme court will have lost what little remained of it's credibility. To me that would create a constitutional crisis that would need addressing immediately. When the supreme court as the final arbiter of our democracy cedes that responsibility to the executive branch our constitution is being violated at its core.
     The usual avenue of addressing this problem if it becomes one is through congressional action. However the majority in both houses of congress are also republican so counting on congress to check a real possible imbalance to our constitution is almost moot. With the executive branch controlling the legislative branch and the judicial branch a real danger exists. If it becomes reality then all that is left is we the people to rise up and break our current administration with all our ability. If we don't then the executive branch will have taken our democracy and supplanted it with a tyrannical government that has no voice left for we the people. Just know what is possibly going to happen if the not supreme court does the unthinkable and allows trump to become a dictator through his mail in ballot rule.

(#6416) 69 days until the election...

      Yesterday in the world of mail in voting a move was made to release the trump rule from the judge ordered injunction to force states to give him voter information. By removing the injunction, the judge is making way for other lawsuits that are not under any restriction of timing. The trump rule is now published and is effectively a harm states can now address in the courts. Expect a new flurry of decisions aimed at ending back up with the supreme court  As this end run around the constitution is also time sensitive. That we are even having to go through more hoops over this nonsensical attempt to stifle votes by the executive branch that has no constitutional jurisdiction is appalling.
     Yet here we are with a trump loving supreme court who should be a constitution loving supreme court. Our democracy is being shredded right before our eyes with obviously partisanship trumping precedent and objective logic. I still think this is a bridge too far for the majority republican supreme court to cross and expect them to stop this craven attempt by trump to disrupt the backbone of our democracy. There is no provision in our constitution for trump to use the executive branch to alter the power vested in states and through legislation, Congress. It is a real power grab that negates our constitution as nothing more than a suggestion. The supreme court is on the verge of delegitimizing itself for all to see. The effect will be a chaotic one where the rule of law will cease to be the final arbiter.
      If the republican majority on the supreme court thinks it can shove this new trump effort to thwart our election down our throats then they are in for a rude awakening. Civilization is not one sided. Our democracy demands that we fight to keep our right to vote. This new trump rule would effectively deny many voters an opportunity to vote. The supreme court knows this and would become culpable with trump in usurping the right of we the people to cast a ballot for our leaders. This would be akin to a coup by republicans and would not be acceptable to democratic values. The tide is heavily on the side of democracy and any attempt by any politician and their cohorts to obstruct that tide through unconstitutional means would trigger a response likely to be harsh and devoid of mercy.

(#6415) 70 days until the election...

      Within the next 8 or 9 days we should know the ruling from the supreme court on the unconstitutional trump executive order that the republican majority on the supreme court seems reluctant to oppose. I don't know how else to describe this situation other than by saying that trump and the republican majority on the supreme court are more in lockstep, than the republican majority on the supreme court should be with our constitution. If the supreme court republican majority has it's way and votes to keep the trump executive order on mail in voting as law then we the people will have to do our best to vote outside the mail in voting option.
     I know I feel confident that the supreme court republican majority will not allow the trump executive order to stand. Yet my confidence is from logic, not willful nefarious strategy. The republican party with trump at the head of it is one where the good of our society is not the highest priority. Only the machinations of trump and his desire to stay in power at all costs is the imperative. As such, the trump underlings like the 6 republican majority of the supreme court may well disregard not only precedent but constitutional law to bring about an obstruction to voting unprecedented in a democratic society. Not only unprecedented, but obviously nefariously manipulative!
     Many of us would rather be focusing our attentions on domestic remedies to the trump chaotic handling of our economy and the help that Ukraine needs to fend off the Russian horde! But no, we are stuck in a twilight zone atmosphere of almost disbelief at the sheer audacity of trump to thwart our election process by getting our highest court to side with his blatantly unconstitutional attempts to disrupt our midterm voting. We the American people have been in our own metaphorical war here at home with the destruction trump is trying to do to our democracy. It is past time for us to curtail him like we should as he disintegrates the pillars of our democracy!

(#6414) 71 days until the election with my informed prediction on mail in voting. Teaser, it will remain as it is.

     The lifting of the one injunction imposed by a federal judge on halting the executive order by trump to require a national registry of voter information was only based on the timing of the injunction, not the substance. That adjudication of the substance can now begin because the postal service under trump's authoritarian leadership has published their rule for delivering official election ballots. Now the supreme court can weigh the legality of the trump postal rule against the constitutionality of Article One Section Four: "The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators...
     The unequivocal language of Article 1 Section 4 leaves no room for the supreme court to pretzel any possible logic to side with the trump executive order. There still remains in tact the other statewide injunction that continues to stop the postal service from implementing its devious rule. That will be the nexus of the supreme court deliberation in the next day or so since military ballots are due to be sent out overseas on September 4th. The supreme court could have lifted the second injunction if they wanted but chose not to which does signal that when the final verdict in this unconstitutional trump rule is decided it will be against trump!
     If the republican majority on the supreme court was inclined to somehow choose this rule even though it is in clear violation of Article 1 Section 4 of our constitution then they would have lifted the other injunction yesterday knowing that they were going to approve the rule as it is time sensitive. But since they didn't lift the second nationwide injunction it is now likely they will decline to approve the trump executive order. Our national constitution is explicitly clear on the subject of who controls voting and the executive branch is completely shut out of the process. Only Congress can mitigate areas within the States right to manage and steward their elections. Nothing in our constitution gives the executive branch any license to do so!

(#6413) 72 days until the election with mail in voting possibly in jeopardy

      A last ditch effort by trump to regulate mail in voting is under review by the supreme court. Even though two decisions from lower federal courts stopped trump and his executive order's misuse of the postal service as a gatekeeper for mail in ballots. States, along with Congress passing laws, are given sole constitutional power to run their elections but with the executive order trump is seeking to bypass the states and Congress to turn a neutral delivery service into another level of voter disenfranchisement. The postal rule is about to be officially announced on August 26th which will then give the supreme court something to weigh judgment either for or against. In normal times this would be a nonstarter for a constitutionally minded court. However we do not live in  normal times.
     For the supreme court to allow this trump executive order to succeed it would need to create some kind of logic that at present doesn't exist. The law is simple. The states control voting in their states, less any law from Congress. This executive order would void that making the president the overseer of elections. Although this concerns mail in voting, the slippery slope of taking away from the states their right to control their states voting would begin. Therefore the supreme court must find that the trump executive order is clearly unconstitutional as we all see it is. No amount of pretzeling of premises will make a logical conclusion. The supreme court should do what is correct and dismiss this executive order out of hand.
     If somehow the 6 republican justices sink to the lowest part of the rotten barrel and approves this trump executive order then we the people must respond by voting in person. Take the mail in voting out of the equation. For some this is impossible. But turning the impossible into the possible is what we must do! If trump does take away mail in voting with his executive order he will also alienate any who have not made up their mind to vote. An attack on our democracy through removing an acceptable format for voting is a bridge too far for we the people to accept. I suspect trump would like to see us out in the streets calling for him to resign so that he could unleash his beasts on us. So be it if that is what the supreme court allows him to do!

(#6412) 73 days until the election...

     With just 23 days until Pennsylvania starts it's early voting for the midterms, the House of Representatives look to be a promising democratic environment. With only a 3 seat republican majority in the House and the frustration and anger at republicans nationwide, the House coming back into a majority for democrats is more likely than not. The other question is the Senate. At the start of 2025 after trump was inaugurated the senate looked like a lock for republicans to keep their majority after the midterm 2026 election. Yet the performance and otherwise lack thereof concerning trump has turned that thinking upside down. Now republicans find themselves behind in polling in Senate seats that should have been safer.
     Not only losing seats in Congress but losing in places unheard of for decades. If trump thinks he is doing a great job with his "stewardship" of America then he needs a fundamental lesson in the difference between fact and fiction. With Senate races in Ohio, Texas, Iowa, Alaska, Maine, North Carolina and possibly more the momentum of democrats could turn these red state seats blue. As to the House, the generic ballot in favor of democrats is averaging up near an 8 point lead. Which could not only reel back that current 3 seat republican majority but dozens more. The political environment today that trump is spearheading is abysmal for him and his acolyte republican party.
     As always until we actually get to the voting time it is just informed speculation. However, if you ask any republican if they would rather be in this environment that democrats currently enjoy, they would unanimously say yes. It is an indicator of some validity and with each passing day becomes more likely to remain. What is still encouraging for we democrats is that through perseverance, nose to the wheel hard work, the current political climate is still getting better for democrats. This election if we democrats and like minded independents and some republicans vote like it is a vital priority to correct a horrible mistake, then what happens when the votes are counted could make an amazing night for democrats and America.

(#6411) 74 days until the election...

      I am going to be optimistic in this post. I usually at best am cautious about our eventual outcome this November 3rd after all the polls are closed. Yet, the feeling inside me is abundantly clear, we are going to wipe out republicans on every level of governorship. From local school boards to county executive offices to state legislatures and state executive offices to Congressional seats. The whole gamut of political positions will be affected by the coming blue wave. Why am I being positive? Because this change of preference from republican to democrat has been going on since just after trump was elected.
     I am not embellishing here. The constant wins by democrats in traditionally close state races and even in republican held positions over long periods of time. The once safe districts republicans could always count on to win are now either lost or in jeopardy of becoming lost. There really is no safe red state anymore. Sure, some republicans in deep red pockets of voters will win but they won't win by margins they have become accustomed. The flip has been building since many realized trump had no intention of keeping some of his really important promises. Many within the maga movement are unfazed by his broken promises but those who gave him the benefit of the doubt are now as angry about him as the rest of us who knew his treachery and voted against him.
     The switch has not been sudden but it has been steadily growing with each passing day. The numbers don't lie when gauging his popularity and policies. He is barely able to keep a third of the population on his side. With each passing day now until the election his popularity is still dropping! Where it will end up when the voting time comes will be reflected in the final counted vote for republicans. That will be the true gauge of his value to we the people. In that light and with the time remaining I cannot see him reversing the downward spiral of his and the republican party's inevitable humiliating defeat. I will still remain overall cautious about how this will end but logic within reality offers no other truth!

(#6410) 75 days until the election

      My main focus now is on musk. What is he doing behind the scenes with his technology that I am sure is smarter than I imagine. He is a piece of shit character so nothing is outside his arrogance to attempt. I am still all about paper ballots just because I don't trust technology for now. Anything promoted at making things easier to count or cast ballots at this point to me is a gamble. I would rather elections officials hire many human beings to count ballots than to have some machine spit out a number that to me is not easy to verify without a visual hand count. So why not start and end with visual hand counts and then proceed to total the votes.
     I will be filing a mail in ballot with my registrar when the voting time starts here in my state. I will be taking a picture of it including the ballot number and how I marked the races. That is how much I am concerned about trump winning the midterms even though he is the most vile and loathed president of all time. Something is afoot when trump doesn't even try to win over our votes. It's almost like he knows he is going to win regardless if everyone hates him. That to me is telling and stirs my caution. I know everyone keeps saying the elections are secure but that is what people would say just as they are being manipulated. I don't trust trump and his self servicing acolytes. Even when I don't have concrete evidence of electoral corruption my gut tells me he has a nefarious strategy!
     There is one way to make sure the machines are counting and tabulating correctly and that is to do a hand count with a machine count. If any machine comes up with a variance no matter how small then it needs to be double checked. I won't mind waiting for a longer election night if we are being more careful with our ballot count and tabulation. These votes are the most significant in the history of our nation and making sure they are counted correctly is the highest priority! Like I said, even if we need to hire a massive army of counters to visually acknowledge each vote then so be it. That we have to resort to this level of caution even while we are counting our votes is unprecedented in this disingenuous trumpian time!

(#6409) 76 days until the election

      In the past we used to see national elections heat up after Labor day here in the states. However as you may obviously know we are not in normal times. The heating up phase has been since the creature trump was elected and given majorities in both chambers of Congress. He holds slight advantages in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. So he had the ability to pass legislation that has pretty much crippled our egalitarian progress on social and economic issues. He has even had a two thirds majority on the Supreme Court as a buffer to keep his constitutionally suspect legislation intact. However, he has been so severe and greedy in so many ways that even his political advantages have failed to secure his more notorious agenda.
     It is in the failing to pass even worse legislation that has helped give hope to we the people who were on paper at least at a huge disadvantage. We were close to being at his mercy but the courts outside the Supreme Court were not to be bulldozed by his nefarious attempts to further neuter democratic principles. These lower courts exhibited the courage that legislators in his party were incapable of summoning up for themselves. Which also served to give we the people hope that we would survive the overthrow of our cherished democratic nation. As cruel and inhumane as trump and his acolytes attempted to be there has been no permanent damage done yet to our electoral process.
     We have 26 days until Pennsylvania begins their early voting and 26 days left for trump to disrupt that timing. He has no constitutional avenue for subverting our election other than his unconstitutional imaginings. He won't even pretend through lies that he is trying to help we the people. He is just happy enough to call us weak and miserable souls who let emotion interfere with his brand of brutality. What is likely to happen is that he will not get to disrupt our voting and that voting will allow us to end both his majorities in Congress. It will also allow us to end a lot of republican majorities in the states. Even the local levels will see an unprecedent change to governance with democrats winning everywhere.
     

(#6408) 77 days until the election...

      What we are seeing is that a growing number of previous trump voters with a conscience are finally turning away from him. Surely at first they believed his defense of his actions as just politics by the left. Nothing to see hear just keep trusting me was his slogan. But as time and the offences he has committed and the ones he is currently committing have worn down many of his previous voters to the point where now they are undecided and many are jumping off the fence to vote with democrats. It isn't a seismic shift in allegiance from trump but it is a steady albeit stream of discordance attitude that is translating into democratic votes.
     What used to worry me in an elections like this, where the democratic wave had built over time, was nearing the voting time some dramatic event would undercut our wave and give republicans a boost just before the election. I don't feel that this time. Instead I think that these last few weeks are actually going to grow our blue wave election to even higher proportions. Because trump cannot change who he is. He is a creature of monstrous inclinations. He doesn't know how to help those who are not him and his wealthy donors. He is also not prone to accepting sound advice if it interferes with his ego. In other words he will get even worse as a human being as the voting time comes.
     I am still precautious about our chances this midterm but overall I am much calmer about it. Don't get me wrong here, I am steadfast in my resolve to see our democratic wave crush this midterm. But I don't feel the anxiety as in past elections. Possibly because trump has worn it out of me or more likely because he has really stepped in it and there is no getting the stink off his shoes. For the next 77 days though we democrats must continue to do our outreach and hone our policies to fit the narrative that we the people demand of our leaders. As for republicans they will continue to be about nothing and call us every name in the book to make themselves seem less offensive. It isn't working and that is for me a contentment I haven't felt since he was reinstalled into our lives!

(#6407) There is no normalization with trump and that is wrong!

      Our ally Ukraine, who is trying to keep their democracy from the invading Russians, is being undermined by trump. Not only is he playing both sides but he keeps changing the terms of his agreement with Ukraine. What trump is doing in Iran is even more confusing and chaotic. He is using his attack on Iran as a leverage piece in stock market gambling. Not to end the attack he initiated on his own without approval from Congress, but as an ego trip to make himself look like the strongman he so desperately wishes to be viewed as being. In his latest attempt to coddle the strongman cult he has diminished our alliance with South Korea and tried to align more closely with North Korea.
     Between 1950-53 over 36 thousand American military service personnel died fighting against North Korea and many more South Koreans, our allies, also fell victim. Now trump disregards American sacrifices of our fighting for democracy heritage to support the dictatorial regime in North Korea. We know trump secretly admires and colludes with putin and is also in contact with the dictator of North Korea. It is as if we are in an opposite universe on issues of war. and other paradigms not discussed here. We are seeing the dismantling of our American foreign policy under trump and his acolytes like musk who stopped USAID to help keep the vulnerable from dying of easily preventable diseases. Like cruelty and harm are now our priorities and nothing short of that will be tolerated by trumps!
     The best of human nature is not a value with trump. Only the worst of human nature is admired by him. It shows in his adoration of tyrants and strongmen. What was normal, things like joy and happiness, are now replaced with fear and despair! In 77 days our election day will arrive and even better early voting starts in 27 days. That is when we all get to make it known that we are for normal again and not for tearing apart all that was good and great about the first 250 years of American democracy! I for one of many cannot wait for the moment we the people of America get to stop the madness of trump and return our democracy back to it's original intent, "Of the people, by the people, and for the people, a government that serves all the people."-Paraphrased Abraham Lincoln.

(#6406) 78 days until the election...

      In four weeks Pennsylvania begins early voting in the midterm election. 28 days and it begins. I cannot tell you how happy I am to know that trump's voter suppression bill failed. I cannot tell you how happy I feel about the democratic momentum that is sweeping our country. Just know that inside me when I think about the start of our election beginning I feel transformed. Not in despair but in hope. I know to always temper my hope with caution but the feeling inside me is welcome. The time for trump to change anything untoward is disappearing. That doesn't mean he won't pull off some desperate attempt but it does mean the clock is ticking down with him in his anxious pitiful state.
     I have seen enough evidence lately to remind me trump still has his pockets of support that to me is astonishing given his actions. Yet he is like a cult figure to many and they won't let a little thing like reality interfere with their adulation of him. Yet some are and they are speaking out to those around them and causing some fracturing within his base. He is still around 30% supported by Americans which to me is ghastly. How could that many still not see what the vast majority of us see? It is not a promising view of our future when around a third of us are so incapable of being a respectable human being. We are not the great civilization we think we are although about two thirds of us really want to be.
     If it were possible to give trump a truth serum and then ask him to list his crimes only then would his cult begin to understand. Anything short of trump admitting his guilt in his many crimes would his cult turn from him. The lies, the deceptions, the grift, the total lack of empathy toward the human experience outside his own orbit is clear. He may keep trying to mask all these mental deficiencies but there is too much evidence now in the public realm for him to fool anyone clearly outside his cult. That trump will continue to exhibit his barbarism toward humanity is fact. So over the next 4 weeks and more we just need to weather the storm and then vote like cultbusters for our own future beyond him!

(#6405) 79 days until the election...

      Be careful with putting too much emphasis on polling. The types of people polled are stable more middle and upper income type folks. Even people with landlines are still contacted although that percentage is diminishing. Polling usually includes those with high school, college and professional degrees. Another big consideration in whom to contact for polling are the likely voters. Which lessens contact for new voters and those who vote sporadically. I am presenting this as a way to show that polling misses out on the real pulse of our nation as only certain types are more likely to be contacted for polling than a true cross representation of our citizenry.
     Polling is trying to predict the outcome based upon who the pollsters think will vote. Which is why we shouldn't pay too much attention to their predictions. What we should be paying attention to is getting out our vote. The pollsters are not interested in who possibly could vote they are interested in who is likely to vote and then predict their results on that. I get that what they are doing is less representative and more predictable as a way to gauge likely voter sentiment. But the problem is that they mostly only cover those who are traditional voters and less so new voters and infrequent voters. So when we see the pollsters showing close races where our intuition tells us different, just know that if our voters come out and vote those now close races the pollsters are showing will be wipeouts for us when our energized democratic party turns out to vote.
     We have 79 days to mobilize our voters to have a plan to vote, so forget about the polls. Each and everyone of us needs to know beforehand how our ballots are going to get safely and securely to the registrar's office. What we have learned from the trump era is that nothing can be taken for granted, not even our right to vote. So each of us must make sure we are registered correctly and legally able to vote. Nothing in our existence in this time of trump is more important than we democrats and independents who are like minded having a plan to vote. Allow this to be a warning. Many of us will not survive through the next two years if trump is able to keep his majorities in Congress. Please, prioritize this upcoming vote to the highest level!

(#6404) 80 days until the election...

     We all can see the polling numbers for trump are in the very low 30 approval range. We can also see the generic ballot for democrats with a consistent upper single digit to low double digit lead for Congressional races. Yet trump doesn't seem to mind that. The problem with Congressional republicans is that they have hitched their wagons to trump and as trump goes so does the republican party. Now trump is even alienating the military by dismissing their duress as nothing important. Even intimating that they are crybabies for complaining about their uncivilized living conditions on ridiculously extended deployments at sea.
     So trump now has taken a base of voters he could have relied upon for some advantage and turned it into a base angry at him and his administration. It seems that if trump doesn't cheat somehow with musk or doesn't somehow manage to "abort" the election, he will be facing a catastrophic outcome like one we haven't seen since Barack Obama in 2008. In the back of my mind I think trump believes he will overcome all obstacles and win the midterms. But like his history has shown he is more failure than achiever. Like his gambles with casinos and hotels that bankrupted 6 times. Like his 2020 election loss that he is still crying himself about.
     Now just 30 days until Pennsylvania kicks off the early vote for the midterms. What all politicians who are trailing pre election, they appeal to voters through policies that are welcome by voters. Not trump, who is by far in the worst position in a midterm I have witnessed, he is only making we voters more upset at him. He is still trying to take our democracy away even as the voting time is nearly at hand. He is as callous to we the people as he has always been. He isn't appealing to our conscience with answers that explain his punishing us, no, he is in fact condescending and rude about how we are not as great as he is and we should all be grateful that he cares enough to even harm us with his presence.

(#6403) 81 days until the election...

      The trumps are ramping up their oppressive efforts through more lies and more activity to harm our citizenry. Instead of offering us citizens programs and reliefs we seek from our daily grinds the trump cabal is trying to control us with brutal tactics against our citizenry and immigrants. The lies are in the ads they are running everywhere trying to tell us that our economy is doing great and prices are good. Well it is a strange way to lie to us since we all feel the burden of the increasing costs in our daily lives. Yet the many gullible among us will be swayed due to other nefarious republican ingrained factors of antidemocracy biases.
     The brutal tactics are the armed thugs posing as ice agents who are less about catching criminals and more about removing people of color. Their thuggery is daily and after a time instills a sense of doom and fear along with the trump strategy to scare us away from voting. What it should be doing is the opposite. Making us even more determined to vote him and his inhumane creatures of obedience to him out of office. Pennsylvania begins the early voting in 31 days. That is now just under 4 1/2 weeks. 571 days ago trump took office and we have survived that to this point. So another 81 days of him is doable if we just keep our eyes on the prize of voting against every republican on every ballot.
     Whatever all of us who are against the wannabe tyrant trump can do to make sure we are voting is our highest priority. I can envision some day that voting day will be a national holiday but until that time we each must treat our voting as a national holiday. Even if we have to miss some work or interrupt our schedules. The easier path is early voting where available that way two things get accomplished. We get our vote done and we get it into the voting registrars office safe and secure. I track my early vote ballot and get updates from the registrar when it is accepted and in the queue for counting. We all have to just make it through these next 81 days and do what we need to do to end the nightmare of trump and his power grab over our lives!

(#6402) 82 days left until the election day

      In 32 days some Pennsylvania early ballots will be available. This is how close we are to the beginning of the voting for the midterms. As it stands now nothing legislative nor by executive action is available to trump to try to alter our election. So what could possibly be left to him as a weapon against we the people of America? Somehow suspending or canceling the election due to some imaginary or made up excuse. We are ready for that as it really is his last desperate ploy to keep from being crushed in the election. He keeps playing that he is doing well with the American people but we the American people know this is an obvious lie.
     In 36 days Minnesota and South Dakota will begin their early vote with Vermont and Virginia following the next day. So staying acutely aware of trump maneuvering in these next 5 weeks will be the priority of all of we the people. Whatever scheme he and his decrepit advisors formulate we the people will have to be ready to respond. Nothing can be taken for granted when trump knows his agenda to not only destroy our democracy but to annihilate our current civilization will be ended. The natural progression of our democracy and civilized world is under attack and will become even more unstable if we do not stop trump at this midterm.
     The federal courts have been the bedrock of protecting democracy since the republican majority chambers within congress have generally abdicated their power to the wannabe king trump. The courts by and large have been solidly defending of our Constitution. Even though the not supreme court has been much less so they at least have not been all in on trump demands. No doubt we will need the full federal court system in these next 5 weeks to make sure trump doesn't try to pull some extraconstitutional gambit to circumvent our absolute right to our elections. With nothing left for trump to do to try to rig the vote his way he will try to stop our election from happening  We shall not let him!