(#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!