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Daily Kos Has A Really Bad Idea: Vote For Santorum.

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Subverting a democracy already pushed and pulled into something stranger than a Doctor Dolittle Push-Me–Pull-You, more tenuous than Fred MacMurray’s “Flubber,” and more falsehoods-filled than Pinocchio, is just too much to stand for. Progressives have to be the adults in the room.

Markos Moulitsas and the good folks at Daily Kos, a very popular progressive blog enterprise, want you to vote for Rick Santorum. Really. In a poorly thought out attempt to meddle with the Republican Presidential campaign keeping voters undecided for as long as possible, Kos’ “Operation Hilarity,” is anything but — but demonstrates that Markos Moulitsas’ Daily Kos has moved into a dangerous venue: ignoring what’s really important, not honoring, but devaluing the foundations of our democracy, and placing politics above all else. Some call the opposite of those acts statesmanship.

In a post titled, “Announcing Operation Hilarity: Let’s keep the GOP clown show going!,” Markos Moulitsas expains:

It’s time for us to take an active role in the GOP nomination process. That’s right, it’s time for those of us who live in open primary and caucus states—Michigan,North Dakota, Vermont and Tennessee in the next three weeks—to head out and cast a vote for Rick Santorum.

Why would we do such a crazy thing? Lots of great reasons!

Republican turnout has sucked, and appears to be getting worse by the contest. Unlike the 2008 Democratic primaries, which helped President Barack Obama and the Democrats to build a national organization, the GOP is an organizational disaster, with waning voter interest. That means that it takes fewer votes to have an impact than if Republican turnout was maxed out.

Several of the contests have produced razor-thin margins of victory. Rick Santorum won Iowa by 34 votes, Mitt Romney “won” Maine by 194 votes. It won’t take many of us to swing contests the way we want them to swing.

The longer this GOP primary drags on, the better the numbers for Team Blue. Not only is President Barack Obama rising in comparison to the clowns in the GOP field, but GOP intensity is down—which would have repercussions all the way down the ballot.

The longer this thing drags out, the more unpopular the Republican presidential pretenders become. Just look at Mitt Romney’s trajectory, which followed Herman Cain’s trajectory, and Newt Gingrich’s trajectory, and Michelle Bachmann’s trajectory, and so on.

Rick Santorum will inevitably follow the same path once he gets properly vetted. Mitt Romney has been unable to stem the bleeding despite his tens of millions. Just imagine Santorum, with the far more radical record and a continued inability to raise real money.

I want to be clear: I have great respect for Markos Moulitsas and Daily Kos. I confess I don’t read it as often as I’d like to, but I have great respect for them.

And there is no doubt that the 2012 Republican presidential campaign season has been an offense to our democracy, an insult to the intelligence of every man, woman, and child in America, and a total embarrassment.

But this is why we cannot get down in the mud and stupidity with them. Someone has to be the adult in the room. Progressives are better at it to begin with.

Besides, allowing American politics’ Homophobe-In-Chief to appear more popular than he is is offensive. We need to push back on Santorum, not propel him into perceived popularity. Santorum’s 13th century mindset needs to be exposed, not supported. His hatred of gays, women, government, and his obsessive theocratic delusions must not be given a louder voice.

Fortunately, even writers and contributors on the Kos website are not in agreement with this misguided mission. Posts like, “So now we’re subverting democracy? Count me out of Operation Hilarity,” along with the comments section of Kos’ post, are evidence of overwhelming disagreement with this idea.

And Scott Wooledge, a Daily Kos front page writer and prominent LGBT activist whose work occasionally appears in these pages, commented over at Kos:

False inflation will still result in more mainstream fawning over him.

My friend Pam Spaulding said:

It’s the whole “good intentions” thing, completely tone-deaf to the grotesque thought of any progressive casting a vote for a man who is receiving too much unquestioned attention by the mainstream media. We don’t need to help him.This is an ill-advised idea at humor — to have progressives vote for Santorum. Not one vote needs to be cast for this professional homophobe.  His campaign to control the wombs and bedrooms of Americans needs to be shamed, and exposed. Enough people vote for the wrong reasons out of ignorance, and certainly way too many are apathetic about voting at all. More energy needs to be put toward defeating candidates on their own merits.

I am not a weenie.

But a lot of vulnerable kids are placed in danger by Santorum and Bachmann and their ilk. Last week, even Howard Stern of all people was discussing the link between these homophobes and the bullying and suicides of teens. He called Santorum and Bachamann the “two worst people in the planet.”

Rather than voted for, Stern says Santorum and Bachmann should be “drummed out of the country,” “spat upon,” and “ignored, shunned, and treated as a lunatics.”

Sorry, I think this is badly conceived and a really bad idea. If Santorum is still viable in May, that will all but assure the NC anti-gay Constitutional amendment is approved.

 

Rachel Maddow unfortunately covered “Operation Hilarity” last night, putting it in context with previous similar GOP acts. But, as I said, someone has to be the adult in the room.

Subverting a democracy already pushed and pulled into something stranger than a Doctor Dolittle Push-Me–Pull-You, more tenuous than Fred MacMurray’s “Flubber,” and more falsehoods-filled than Pinocchio, is just too much to stand for. Someone has to be the adult in the room. Let it be Progressives.

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News

JD Vance Dismisses Taylor Swift’s Harris Endorsement: Voters Won’t Be Influenced by ‘Disconnected Billionaire’

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12 hours ago

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September 11, 2024

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Senator JD Vance (R-OH) dismissed Taylor Swift’s endorsement of the Kamala Harris/Tim Walz campaign, saying that it wouldn’t sway voters because they wouldn’t be “influenced by a billionaire celebrity.”

Vance appeared Wednesday afternoon on Fox News’ The Story With Martha MacCallum. MacCallum brought up Swift’s endorsement in her interview with the vice presidential candidate.

“But it was interesting last night, that Taylor Swift gave her endorsement of Harris and and Walz right after [the debate]. She has 283 million followers on Instagram, and I’m sure that someone brought your attention that she signed it ‘Childless Cat Lady.’ This is a phrase that you are going to hear in your in your dreams and your nightmares, probably for many years to come. How do you speak to women voters, who, obviously, care about what she thinks?,” MacCallum said.

READ MORE: Trump Refuses Debate ‘Rematch’, Says Harris ‘Was Beaten Badly’

“Well, look, we admire Taylor Swift’s music. But I don’t think most Americans—whether they like her music, are fans of hers or not—are going to be influenced by a billionaire celebrity, who, I think, is fundamentally disconnected from the interests and the problems of most Americans. Look, when grocery prices go up by 20%, it hurts most Americans. It doesn’t hurt Taylor Swift. When housing prices become unaffordable, it doesn’t affect Taylor Swift or any other billionaire. It does affect middle class Americans all over our country,” Vance replied.

Swift announced her endorsement of the Harris campaign last night shortly after the debate on Instagram. Alongside a photo by Inez & Vinoodh of her cuddling a fluffy cat, she urged fans to research the candidates. She also called out former President Donald Trump and his fans sharing AI-generated pictures appearing to show Swift endorsing him.

“Recently I was made aware that AI of ‘me’ falsely endorsing Donald Trump’s presidential run was posted to his site. It really conjured up my fears around AI, and the dangers of spreading misinformation. It brought me to the conclusion that I need to be very transparent about my actual plans for this election as a voter. The simplest way to combat misinformation is with the truth,” Swift wrote.

“I will be casting my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 Presidential Election. I’m voting for @kamalaharris because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them. I think she is a steady-handed, gifted leader and I believe we can accomplish so much more in this country if we are led by calm and not chaos. I was so heartened and impressed by her selection of running mate @timwalz, who has been standing up for LGBTQ+ rights, IVF, and a woman’s right to her own body for decades,” she continued.

She did indeed sign the caption “Taylor Swift, Childless Cat Lady,” in reference to a comment Vance made in 2021 that the country was run by “childless cat ladies” like Harris who “want to make the rest of the country miserable too.” The quote was resurfaced shortly after Vance was named Trump’s running mate. Vance says the remark was “sarcastic” and “willfully misinterpreted” by Democrats, according to The Hill. Harris has two stepchildren.

As for Swift’s net worth, she is indeed a billionaire with $1.1 billion, according to Forbes. The same outlet places Trump’s net worth at $7.5 billion. The majority of that is due to Trump Media, the parent company of Truth Social. However, Trump Media has been losing money recently, causing Trump to fall off Bloomberg’s list of the top 500 wealthiest people.

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News

Asif Merchant Faces Additional Terrorism Charge In Hitman Plot to Kill Politicians

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13 hours ago

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September 11, 2024

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asif merchant

Asif Merchant faces additional terrorism charges over a plan to hire hitmen to kill government officials or politicians, according to a new indictment filed Tuesday.

Merchant was initially arrested in July for the assassination plot. Originally, Merchant was only charged with murder for hire. The new indictment keeps the murder for hire charge, and adds one count of attempt to commit an act of terrorism transcending national boundaries. Merchant is from Pakistan, but has ties to Iran, the Department of Justice says.

“The Justice Department will not tolerate Iran’s efforts to target our country’s public officials and endanger our national security,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.  “As these terrorism and murder for hire charges against Asif Merchant demonstrate, we will continue to hold accountable those who would seek to carry out Iran’s lethal plotting against Americans.”

The Department of Justice says that he flew from Iran to America in April, and reached out to someone he thought could help him find someone to kill either politicians or government officials. That person reported him to law enforcement.

In June, he allegedly met up with the person again to discuss the plot, and confirmed he intended to orchestrate a chain of assassinations in the United States. Merchant asked the person to put him in contact with potential hitmen who would also be tasked with stealing information from targets, planning protests at political events and, ultimately committing the assassination at the end of summer, the DOJ says.

READ MORE: Leaders of White Supremacist Group Terrorgram Charged, Face Up to 220 Years in Prison

Merchant was put into contact with undercover FBI agents posing as criminals. He paid them $5,000 in cash on June 21, and when one of the undercover agents said “Now we know we’re going forward. We’re doing this,” Merchant replied in the affirmative.

Merchant stayed in the U.S. for another three weeks, booking a July 12 flight out of the country. The day he was scheduled to leave, he was arrested.

The complaint doesn’t mention any names of potential targets, but a senior law enforcement official told NBC News in August that former President Donald Trump was a potential target. Iran was said to be plotting to kill Trump in revenge for the assassination of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, NBC reported.

Merchant faces a life sentence if he’s convicted of the charges. The case is being heard in the Eastern District of New York.

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STILL A COWARD

Trump Refuses Debate ‘Rematch’, Says Harris ‘Was Beaten Badly’

Published

16 hours ago

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September 11, 2024

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Former President Donald Trump has declined Vice President Kamala Harris’ offer of a second debate. He compared himself to a top boxer, declaring himself the winner and wondering why he should bother with a rematch.

Trump and Harris had their first debate Tuesday night on ABC. Shortly afterward—less than an hour, according to ABC News—the Harris campaign asked for a followup debate in October. Fox News offered to be the host, which should have appealed to Trump, considering he wanted Tuesday’s debate to be hosted on the conservative-leaning cable news outlet. But apparently, he’s changed his mind.

“In the World of Boxing or UFC, when a Fighter gets beaten or knocked out, they get up and scream, ‘I DEMAND A REMATCH, I DEMAND A REMATCH!’ Well, it’s no different with a Debate. She was beaten badly last night. Every Poll has us WINNING, in one case, 92-8, so why would I do a Rematch?” Trump wrote on Truth Social Wednesday.

READ MORE: MAGA World Threatens to Boycott ABC After Trump’s Disastrous Debate Performance

Though Trump declared himself the winner, that is not a common belief. Many networks declared Harris the winner, including Fox News. Trump is correct that one poll did have him winning 92% to 8%, but that was an online poll from Newsmax. Newsmax is a far-right media outlet. It came to prominence during the 2020 election when Trump turned against Fox News for becoming the first outlet to declare President Joe Biden the winner in Arizona, a battleground state. Newsmax promoted Trump’s unfounded claims of voter fraud.

Trump shared a number of other polls on his Truth Social account shortly after the debate, but most were from explicitly pro-Trump outlets like the Daily Caller, or were taken on X, formerly Twitter, which has skewed right following Elon Musk’s takeover of the social media platform.

Polls from more mainstream outlets, however, told a different story. Newsweek’s reader poll showed Harris ahead nearly 2 to 1. CNN’s poll had a similar spread, with Harris declared the winner by 63% of viewers. In the Washington Post’s poll of 25 uncommitted swing-state voters, 23 said Harris did better. YouGov’s polling was closer, but Harris still pulled ahead 43% to 32%.

Pundits and experts also awarded the win to Harris. NPR said the debate “wasn’t close.” The New York Times said Harris “rattled” Trump.

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