October 14, 2024

The Stuttering Lede, Oct. 14th, 2024

22 days until we know if we can stop fascism...

Trump “is a fascist to the core.” General Mark Milley, 20th Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff

Today in History

On this day in 1906 Hannah Arendt was born.

Election 2024

• The power of lies and propaganda: On the U.S. economy, Trump voters say it’s in bad shape, Harris voters say it’s good.

• The reason NYT doesn't hold Trump accountable is in part that the NYT is sympathetic to Trump's agenda.

• Trump wants to use the US military against his domestic enemies.

  • Trump: "I think the bigger problem is the enemy from within ... sick people, radical left lunatics. And it should be easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard, or if really necessary, by the military."

  • Trump: "I will invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. Can you imagine? Those were the old days when they had tough politicians, have to go back that long. Think of that, 1798. Oh, it's a powerful act. You couldn't pass something like that today."

  • Trump: We will defend our civilization.. We will not be conquered. We will not be occupied. We will not be invaded. And I will give back your freedom and give back your life.”

  • Trump: I will rescue Arizona and every town that has been invaded and conquered. They’ve been conquered. They’re conquering the towns.”

• A reminder that US TV networks still have zero experts on authoritarianism on contract despite the importance of understanding how Fascism operated in the past and the forms it takes in the present.

• Elon Musk’s America PAC for Trump is under CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION by the Michigan AG for potentially defrauding voters.

• James Fallows: “No incumbent party has *ever* run for re-election w stronger overall econ than this one. You can look it up. Inflation bad (but going down, and real wages have risen by more.) Unemployment in re-elex years of 1984 (Reagan), 1996 (Clinton), 2004 (GWB), 2012 (Obama) *all* higher than now. So I agree that "the economy" is becoming this year's euphemism for "economic anxiety" in 2016.” The “economic anxiety:”

• Leaked polling from the top Senate GOP super PAC shows most of their candidates trailing Dems.

• Trump’s tariffs were much more damaging than we thought.

• A secret network of influencers were paid big bucks to spread sexual rumors about Kamala Harris, according to a new Semafor investigation.

• JD Vance continues to refuse to admit that Trump lost:

  • RADDATZ: I assume that if I asked you 50 times if Trump lost the 2020 election, you would not acknowledge that he did. Is that correct?

  • VANCE: You haven't asked about inflatio--

  • R: No, I'm sorry. Let's stick to this. Why won't you say this?

  • VANCE: Because when big tech ...

• JD Vance doubles down on calling women without children “sociopathic,” “bizarre,” and “deranged.”

• It's the most ominous moment of our lifetimes. America is divided by something deeper than ideas - whether we want to live in a nation that seeks truth, or surrender to the fictional, but dangerous world of MAGA Can voters wake up in time?

• Matthew Taylor was at the New Apostolic Reformation's "Million Women March" event on the National Mall Saturday. It’s fucking scary!

• Docs From Far-Right Militias Show History of Voter Intimidation Plans.

• Republicans suing to make it harder for military personnel overseas to vote.

Politics

• Over the weekend, federal emergency response personnel had employees operating in Rutherford County, N.C., stop working and move to a different area because of concerns over “armed militia” threatening government workers in the region. Delivery of aid for Helene pauses due to a militia forming. Some locals fear FEMA because of the lies.

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• On 26 October, crucial parliamentary elections in Georgia will decide the country’s political future.

• Who’s who in Georgia’s parliamentary elections?

• This is a helpful explainer about how private equity firms work. (predatory capitalism for the new Gilded Age Robber Barons).

• Kier Starmer has done so badly that Labour has already been caught in the polls by the Tories, a party that everyone hates and that hasn’t even got a leader.

• Colorado's Elections Chief Took on Trump. She Needed Extra Security As She Gave Birth.

• Seventy percent of Japanese view #Taiwan as an independent country and support establishing formal diplomatic relations between the nations.

• McDonald's sues major meatpackers for conspiring to artificially inflate beef prices.

Ukraine/Russia

• The time bomb that will constitute, in Russia as in Ukraine, the millions of veterans when they are demobilized. Management of post-traumatic stress, return to civilian life, employment, family life, pensions, injuries and disabilities…

• The Russian government is planning for 2.6 million of its people to have fought in Ukraine by 2027, according to new projections for the draft state budget. It anticipates more than doubling monthly payments to veterans to 267 billion rubles ($2.78 billion) by 2027.

• Another absolutely horrific war crime by Russians. Ukrainians ran out of ammo, surrendered, Russians made them strip, lay on the ground, then all shot in the head.

• The ranks of Russia's super-rich are reported to have grown substantially during the war in Ukraine, with the number of billionaires growing by 53% and their collective wealth increasing by nearly 65%. At the same time, small businesses and pensioners are struggling.

• With an occupation of Russian soil, Kyiv has set a precedent that could—despite the many setbacks it has suffered—still end the war in its favor.

Middle East

• Netanyahu's government is not seeking to revive hostage talks and the political leadership is pushing for the gradual annexation of large parts of the Gaza Strip.

• IDF repeatedly attacking UN Peacekeepers in Lebanon.

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is examining a plan to seal off humanitarian aid to northern Gaza in an attempt to starve out Hamas militants, a plan that could trap hundreds of thousands of Palestinians without food or water.

Tech

• Alex Proyas asks: “Hey Elon, Can I have my designs back please?”

• The dystopia we predicted: Hacked Robot Vacuums Across the U.S. Started Yelling Slurs.

Gun Violence

• 94% of police use of force in DC is against black people.

Women Rights

• Ken Paxton wants to criminalize traveling outside of Texas to get an abortion. He’s suing the Biden administration to obtain medical records of women who seek treatment out of state. This is a preview of Trump’s administration.

• Stevie Nicks’ new song “The Lighthouse” is a pro abortion and reproductive rights anthem & she sang it on SNL.

• After 23-year-old Amari Marsh delivered her baby prematurely, the state of South Carolina forced her to wear an ankle monitor and charged her with homicide. A Trump/Vance administration would encourage and allow this targeting of women.

• Jonathan Mitchell, the architect of Texas's abortion "bounty hunter" law, just quietly settled his test run of that statute: a suit against the friends & advocate who helped his client's ex-wife obtain abortion pills.

Misc

• Sorry, you hit a what with your what?!

• Ewww! Kanye West 'told Bianca Censori he wanted to have sex with her mother while she watched.'

• “On Tuesday, Lizza will have to answer Nuzzi's charges in a D.C. court room."

Humor

The Baltic Sea is a crocodile eating Finland.