“Imagine if they worked as hard to WIN the vote as they do to SUPPRESS the vote.” — Dan Rather
“I was a lifelong Republican. I left the Party in February. Because the Party became a cult. And I didn’t want to belong to a cult. The cult leader will lose in 10 days. But he will remain the cult leader. And the Party will remain a cult. Which is why we need something new.” -- Joe Walsh
Deaths
US: 230,068 (+784)
World: 1,154,770 (+5546)
Cases
US: 8,827,932 (+80,979)
World: 42,925,517 (+436,932)
Countdown: 10 days.
Last Exit From Autocracy. America survived one Trump term. It wouldn’t survive a second. Perhaps the most consequential change Trump has wrought is in the Republican Party’s attitude toward democracy...Republicans in the Trump years have gotten used to competing under rules biased in their favor. They have come to fear that unless the rules favor them, they will lose. And so they have learned to think of biased rules as necessary, proper, and just—and to view any effort to correct those rules as a direct attack on their survival....It’s a trick of authoritarian populists like Trump to proclaim themselves leaders of “the people,” even as large majorities of the electorate reject them. The authoritarian populist defines “the people” to exclude anyone who thinks differently. Only his followers count as legitimate citizens. Yet that does not mean the authoritarian populist respects his followers. He is exploiting their prejudices for his own benefit, not theirs. Trump uses power to enrich himself and weaken any institution of law or ethics that gets in the way of his self-enrichment. He holds power by inflaming resentments and hatreds. A second term will mean more stealing, more institution-wrecking, more incitement of bigotry.
Lest We Forget the Horrors: A Catalogue of Trump’s Worst Cruelties, Collusions, Corruptions, and Crimes. The complete listing (so far). Early in President Trump’s term, McSweeney’s editors began to catalog the head-spinning number of misdeeds coming from his administration. We called this list a collection of Trump’s cruelties, collusions, and crimes, and it felt urgent then to track them, to ensure these horrors — happening almost daily — would not be forgotten. This election year, amid a harrowing global health, civil rights, humanitarian, and economic crisis, we know it’s never been more critical to note these horrors, to remember them, and to do all in our power to reverse them. This list will be updated between now and the November 2020 Presidential election. — Their ‘atrocity key’ is most helpful.
Trump just quietly passed an executive order that could destroy a future Biden administration. In the event the incumbent president loses his re-election bid, this order could give him largely unfettered authority to fire experts like Dr Anthony Fauci while leaving behind a corps of embedded loyalists to undermine his successor, according to federal employment law experts...The range of workers who could be stripped of protections and placed in this new category is vast, experts say, and could include most of the non-partisan experts — scientists, doctors, lawyers, economists — whose work to advise and inform policymakers is supposed to be done in a way that is fact-driven and devoid of politics...Another provision orders agencies to take steps to prohibit removing “Schedule F” appointees from their jobs on the grounds of “political affiliation,” which could potentially prevent a future administration from firing unqualified appointees because of their association with President Trump. “It's a two-pronged attack — a Hail Mary pass to enable them to do some burrowing in if they lose the election,” said Walter Shaub...“But if they win the election, then anything goes for the destruction of the civil service… [This could] take us back to the spoils system and all the corruption that comes with it.” Shaub explained that at the core of it, a non-partisan civil service is one of the most basic anti-corruption measures that any government can implement “because they free federal employees to disobey illegal orders, be ethical, and resist fraud, waste, and abuse”. “Taking those away creates a cadre of people who are either too intimidated by or loyal to a politician instead of the rule of law and the Constitution,” he said. “That’s the goal here.”...“Through this order, President Trump has declared war on the professional civil service by giving himself the authority to fill the government with his political cronies who will pledge their unwavering loyalty to him, not to America,” Kelley added. “By targeting federal workers whose jobs involve government policies, the real-world implications of this order will be disastrous for public health, the environment, the defense of our nation, and virtually every facet of our lives.”
Admitting you were wrong is hard. But nobody needs to know what name you mark off at the ballot box. Electing Donald Trump was unequivocally a mistake, one that has had badly damaging consequences that will last for more than a generation. For the 66 million Americans who voted for his opponent, the consequences have been far more dire than we even expected, but unsurprising. For those who cast their vote for a third-party candidate in protest, or for Donald Trump in 2016 because they wanted a change, or they just didn’t like his opponent, or they felt like an outsider would help “drain the swamp,” this is a moment of personal reckoning...Sometimes you have to admit you were wrong, even if it makes you face ugly realities that cause you pain, guilt, or shame. But admitting you’re wrong, being honest with yourself, that’s not the end, that’s the beginning. That’s when healing starts. That’s when forgiveness starts. Nobody needs to know whose name you mark off at the ballot box in this election. The only person that needs to know is you.
You’re Damn Right I’m Angry. And I’m angry because I realize that despite all of these things, despite how horribly he has conducted himself and how little regard he’s shown for diverse human life and how injurious he’s been and how aware you are of his grievous sins—you’re still going to vote for him in November.
As Trump casts doubt on election, new agency contradicts him.
Trump campaign asks court to stop Nevada from counting early votes. The Trump campaign and state Republicans are demanding that a state Nevada court temporarily block election officials in a Nevada county from counting early votes, accusing election officials of mishandling mail ballots and of refusing to accommodate their observers.
Texas may not limit ballot drop boxes for U.S. election: appeals court.
Pennsylvania cannot reject mail-in ballots due to signature discrepancy: state court.
Supreme Court sides mostly with Republicans in last-minute voting cases. More rulings on election procedures with mail-in ballots in key battleground states are expected before Nov. 3. That has generally meant that Republicans prevailed in seeking to block changes that would make it easier to vote, especially in casting mail-in ballots. Of 11 election-related cases filed as emergency appeals since April, Republican interests won in eight.
Murkowski announces she will vote yes to confirm Amy Coney Barrett. -- I know you’re shocked. Vote her out in 2022.
Despite rhetoric, GOP has supported packing state courts. Republican claims that Democrats would expand the U.S. Supreme Court to undercut the conservative majority if they win the presidency and control of Congress has a familiar ring. It’s a tactic the GOP already has employed in recent years with state supreme courts when they have controlled all levers of state political power.
‘This could be huge’—economists weigh in on Biden’s proposal to forgive $10,000 in student debt in exchange for public service. To address such concerns, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has proposed creating a program that offers $10,000 of undergraduate or graduate student debt relief for every year of national or community service, up to five years.
Two trials involving coronavirus vaccine candidates are resuming. AstraZeneca has restarted the U.S. trial of its experimental COVID-19 vaccine, and Johnson & Johnson is set to resume its trial.
Pence adviser Marty Obst tests positive for coronavirus.
French hospitals will feel impact of accelerating infections in two weeks: minister.
Poland’s President Duda tests positive for coronavirus.
Kansas county spends $350,000 of COVID-19 relief money on cameras for soccer park, sparking backlash.
'A fanciful reality': Trump claims Black Lives Matter protests are violent, but the majority are peaceful.
Gifted Education’s Race Problem. White children and those from wealthy families are more likely to be identified as "gifted" — despite decades of effort to make these programs more equal. The Hechinger Report and NBC News examined possible solutions — and the challenges districts are facing.
Major fire threat on way to California while fire danger and winter storm expected in Colorado Saturday. A major offshore wind event is coming to California and extreme southern Oregon. Red flag warnings and fire weather alerts have been posted for large parts of the state including, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
New Climate Maps Show a Transformed United States. Taken with other recent research showing that the most habitable climate in North America will shift northward and the incidence of large fires will increase across the country, this suggests that the climate crisis will profoundly interrupt the way we live and farm in the United States. See how the North American places where humans have lived for thousands of years will shift and what changes are in store for your county. — These are fascinating maps.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is refusing to tell Congress what legal authority the agency is following to use commercially bought location data to track Americans without a warrant, according to the office of Senator Ron Wyden. The agency is buying location data from Americans all over the country, not just in border areas
CDC warns of multi-state Listeria outbreak linked to deli meats.
Stressed freshmen missing quintessential college experience. Amid pandemic restrictions aimed at keeping students safe and healthy, colleges are scrambling to help them adjust. But many are struggling.
RIP Jerry Jeff Walker. He was 78.
Life’s short. Live, love, create, and help others.
Until next time, my friends. Stay safe and stay sane. Good night.
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