As Everyone Knows, Trump-- Like The Mafia-- Is An Enemy Of Law And Order... But Why Did The Republican Party Go Down That Path With Him?

 

The box on the right is the official one. The box on the left was put up by the Republican Party to steal your ballot and burn it. Be careful of Republicans; they hate democracy

No one has been arrested in the Republican scheme to steal ballots and burn them by setting up phony drop-off boxes around California. It seems to have begun in Fresno County in an attempt for the local Republican Party to steal ballots from Hispanic voters, although the coordinated Republican fraud has been detected in Los Angeles and in Orange County where it may be part of an effort by sleazy Republican congressional candidate Michelle Steel, who Kevin McCarthy's Congressional Leadership Fund SuperPAC has supported with $1,980,734 so far this cycle. This is just the kind of felony McCarthy-- an ethics-free Trump stalwart-- would get behind. It appears that Jordan Tygh, a regional field director for the California Republican Party and part of the Steel campaign, is the designated fall guy for the GOP higher-ups. Steel has not been disqualified, let alone arrested, for her decision to steal ballots.

Republicans are freaking out as they stare at the dimensions of the tsunami headed their way. Yesterday, Wall Street Journal reporters Danny Dougherty and Chad Day looked at the early voting data that helps explain the GOP freakout. "Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Virginia," the wrote, "have already received more early ballots than they did in the 2016 presidential election. Several other states have topped 2016 numbers for mail ballots returned, even as in-person early voting is opening up in much of the country. So far, 8.2 million people have voted by mail in the general election and 835,000 headed to polling places early to cast ballots, according to figures from 35 states and the District of Columbia compiled by the Associated Press. For comparison, more than 58 million early ballots were cast in 2016... North Carolina, another presidential battleground and host to a competitive Senate race, received more mail-in votes by September than it saw for all of the 2016 general election... In both North Carolina and Florida, registered Democrats have cast more ballots than registered Republicans so far. In North Carolina, independent voters have also cast more early ballots than registered Republicans.

Presumably, it was just rogue elements in the Trump coalition and not officials of the Republican Party who are behind the thwarted plot to kidnap Democratic governors. Yes, governors (plural)-- not just Gretchen Whitmer. Washington Post reporters Kayla Ruble and Devlin Barrett wrote that according to sworn FBI testimony, the same right-wing terrorists in Ohio who plotted to kidnap the Michigan governor, also talked about kidnapping Virginia Governor Ralph Northam.

Trump continually smeared and attacked both governors in a way than any violent, low-IQ follower of his might believe he was being called on by the president total action against them to "liberate" their states.

Northam spokeswoman Alena Yarmosky said the FBI “alerted key members of the Governor’s security team throughout the course of their investigation,” but to keep tight control of information about such a sensitive matter, neither the governor nor other members of his staff were told.

“At no time was the Governor or his family in imminent danger,” said Yarmosky, adding that extra security measures “have been in place for Governor Northam and his family for quite some time, and they will remain.”

The spokeswoman also faulted Trump for fueling anger.

“Here’s the reality: President Trump called upon his supporters to ‘LIBERATE VIRGINIA’ in April-- just like Michigan. In fact, the President regularly encourages violence against those who disagree with him. The rhetoric coming out of this White House has serious and potentially deadly consequences. It must stop,” said Yarmosky.

Tuesday’s hearing is to determine if some of those charged in the alleged Whitmer plot can be released on bond. Separately, seven others are charged by state authorities in Michigan with providing support to terrorist acts.

Don Don-- Criminals hate regulations

Trask, the FBI agent, described in great detail how federal agents became concerned about the accused, particularly after a June meeting in Dublin, Ohio, where self-styled militia members from four or five states gathered to discuss possible plans.

It was at that meeting, Trask said, that the notion of grabbing governors was raised, specifically mentioning the governors of Virginia and Michigan. One of the suspects, Adam Fox, then returned to Michigan and began recruiting possible accomplices for such a kidnapping, Trask said.

Fox and others conducted surveillance on the governor’s lakeside vacation home, Trask said, and at one point Fox told the others that he wanted to abduct the governor, take her away from the home by boat, and then “leave her out in the boat” so others would have to come rescue her, according to testimony at the hearing. Another option discussed was to take Whitmer to a secret location where they would put her “on trial,” Trask said, possibly in Wisconsin.

...Trask also detailed the ways in which the half-dozen suspects repeatedly discussed plans to attack law enforcement. At one point, a member of the group mentioned the possibility of attacking Michigan State Police buildings.

At another point, one of the defendants, Brandon Caserta, became irate that he had been pulled over and ticketed for driving without insurance.

“An injustice just happened to me,” Caserta messaged the other suspects, according to evidence introduced at the hearing, and he wrote he could find out where the two police officers lived and “tap them,” which the FBI agent said was slang for killing them.

Even as the FBI closed in on the group, the defendants became increasingly concerned they might be under investigation by federal agents. At one point, the accused collaborators scanned each other’s bodies for radio signals, to see if anyone was wearing a recording device, the agent said. While the scans turned up nothing, the group’s alleged plot was infiltrated by two informants and two undercover agents, Trask said, and the FBI secretly recorded more than 100 hours of the suspects’ conversations.

How Toxic Will DeSantis Be-- Not To Mention Trump-- For Down-Ballot Republican Incumbents In Florida?

 

COVID Ron with COVID Don

Polling shows that Ron DeSantis (R-FL) is the second most hated governor in the U.S. Just 29% of Floridians say he's handled the pandemic well (and that includes the 4% who think he's handled it "very well"). Who's worse? Iowans say Kim Reynolds, who only had 26% willing to say she's done a good job on the pandemic. As of yesterday, there were 685,439 cases in Florida-- 31,914 cases per million residents, the worst in the country outside of Louisiana. Florida has active 453,331 cases (worst in America by far), which means there will be more deaths added to DeSantis' already dismal 13,324.

DeSantis is one lucky-ducky he's not up for reelection in November. Still, he's dragging other Republicans down the drain even while not on the ballot. So yesterday, he took a cue from his lord and master and decided to play the Law & Order card. Reporting for CNN, Gregory Lemos and Allen Kim wrote that DeSantis released a sweeping set of proposals on Monday, probably unconstitutional, that would dramatically crack down on people who attend protests that turn violent or disorderly by threatening them with a mix of felonies and increased jail time.

DeSantis said the proposal, which was introduced at a Monday press conference-- called the Combatting Violence, Disorder and Looting and Law Enforcement Protection Act-- would impose stiff criminal penalties for actions such as blocking roadways, disrupting restaurants or toppling monuments.

"You see videos of these innocent people eating dinner and you have these crazed lunatics just screaming at them and intimidating them on a public accommodation," DeSantis said. "You aren't going to do that in state of Florida."

Micah Kubic, executive director of the ACLU of Florida, responded to the proposal in a statement, calling it "undemocratic and hostile to Americans' shared values."

"This effort has one goal: silence, criminalize, and penalize Floridians who want to see justice for Black lives lost to racialized violence and brutality at the hands of law enforcement," Kubic said.

Among the proposals is a measure allowing motorists to be waived of liability should they happen to kill or injure a protester with their vehicles while "fleeing for safety from a mob."

The governor said the legislation also enables the state to use RICO liability against anyone who organizes or funds these kinds of "disorderly assemblies," and he cited the handling of Portland's protest as an example of what not to do.

...According to the governor's office, the next legislative session commences in March 2021 but committees will begin meeting later this year to begin the process of crafting the language of the bill and finding sponsors.

I asked some of the candidates running down-ballot how they think DeSantis' cooked up "law & order" scheme is likely to impact their own races. Janelle Christensen, president of the Florida Environmental Caucus, isn't a candidate but she sure was as disturbed by DeSantis' grandstanding as many across the state were. "As Floridians watch their homes flood in the aftermath of Hurricane Sally and are forced to evacuate in the middle of a pandemic," she said last night, "DeSantis ignores their plight. Instead, he moves to pass a law that potentailly violates our First Amendment rights and crushes home rule."

Adam Christensen (no relation-- other than their shared determination to protect the environment of the state they both love), is running for the congressional seat Ted Yoho has been pushed out of-- more on that anon. Adam got right to the point: "It’s like a 2 year old throwing a tantrum. The man wants to make murder legal as long as it’s done with a car.  We simply don’t have time for his foolishness."

Just north of Adam's congressional district, Joshua Hicks is favored to oust a Republican incumbent representing Nassau and part of Duval. Joshua told me that "This 'proposal' is just an election year stunt by the Governor because this team knows Donald Trump is in trouble in Florida. This attempt to silence the voices of Floridians across the state is a pathetic and unconstitutional attempt at a power-grab. Listen, protests should remain peaceful, as we demand justice and an end to systemic racism across the country. But this proposal simply has one goal: to silence and penalize anyone who wants to speak out. That's not okay. As a member of the state legislature, I will oppose this unconstitutional legislation from DAY ONE. My opponent would support it-- because he supports everything the Governor does. We need leaders; not followers. I believe the governor's attempt to silence our voices will actually do the opposite this November: it'll fire up more young voters to go to the polls, helping Democrats win up and down the ballot, and electing Joe Biden our next President."

And down at the southern tip of the state, Bob Lynch, is challenging Trumpist power-monger Daniel Perez in a swingy Miami-Dade district the Florida Democratic Party preferred to leave without a challenger. Today Lynch told me that "On one hand, it will be music to the ears of a sizable percentage of my district, which includes radically right-wing Cubans whose Spanish language propaganda and fear mongering about the socialist/communist,s rivals anything you will hear on Fox News, OANN, or evening QAnon. On the other, Latinos in Miami-Dade County are quickly starting to see through this bullshit. The state is falling apart, unemployment is a disaster, traffic is a mess, and DeSantis left older Floridians to die as a sacrifice to the economy. Castro and Chavez/Maduro were brutal dictators, they share far more in common with Trump, the Saudis, Erdogan, Netanyahu, and President Xi than anyone else.  The brutal scare tactics that Trump Mini-Me And Fisher Price Fascist, Ron DeSantis, is employing are a distraction from his disastrous time in the governor’s mansion. We need to focus on races like mine because taking out a sycophant like my opponent offers Floridians the opportunity to provide a crucial check on the incompetence and corruption of Ron DeSantis. All of the Florida Republicans fall in line with Trump/DeSantis and every less one of them in office means leas dead Floridians."

Professor Cindy Banyai is the progressive Democrat running for open congressional seat in southwest Florida-- and it didn't take much for her to see right through DeSantis' scam. "This is nothing more than an election year ploy from a floundering politician trying desperately to grease his way to favor with Trump. This clearly limits our Constitutional right to free speech and assembly and provides an unnerving amount of power to persecute critics. I'm also concerned about the encroachment on home rule with such state level budget mandates. Between this and Trump's DOJ declaring New York, Seattle, and Portland "anarchist jurisdictions" we should all be worried about the United States becoming a facist dictatorship under martial law. There has never been a more important time to elect countervailing voices to the Florida legislature and US national offices."