At my polling center in Dekalb, we usually have about 15-20 machines. Today, we had 4 or 5. It is a primary (Where the main nominee was already decided) so I think less turnout was expected, but seems like a cluster everywhere else in the city. No problems OTP I'm sure where it's reliably red.

Yeah, a friend of mine who sent in an absentee ballot a while back never got it accepted so had to in line. 2.5+ hours later he got to cast his ballot.


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This is fucking insane:

https://twitter.com/markniesse/statu...709216770?s=21


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Meanwhile, I got in and out in five minutes. Absolutely no line. I am just outside the metro area.

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This is why yelling at protestors to vote to change the system doesn't make sense.

At least they have port-a-johns. :p

If voting couldn't change things, they wouldn't be trying do hard to suppress it.

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At least the Dems seem aware of the issue.

The GOP was always going to do this. And they might still get away with it in November.

But I figured that it would catch the Dems completely unawares. They would be just gobsmacked to see the GOP not playing fair.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me 1,000 times, shame on me. Fool me 10,000 times, maybe even the Dems start to gain some political instincts?

Just an incredibly sick human being. The guy who got assaulted is a Christian pacifist who if you look at the video was returning a helmet to one of the officers.

I'd ask where the evangelical community is here but we know.

Being aware of the issue doesn't mean they can change it. They've known for awhile about the closing of polling stations in black communities for years now. Once the Voting Rights Act was gutted by racists, it's full on Jim Crow in those states.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-u...-idUSKCN1VV09J

Word is Stephen Miller is writing Trump's race/unity speech

Will it be a straight copy/paste from Stormfront or something he comes up with on his own?

The bar is so low for his speeches that if he doesn't drop a racial epithet somewhere he'll be praised by his base and some of the moderates. In the end, it won't change much.

So they're saying Trump is going to unveil new police reforms soon (True Story!)

I'm guessing on list will be "Policeman must wrap barbed wire around batons"

Wait, wait wait. So Mr leave it to the states, wants to create federal police reforms? :lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

I expect a ban on chokeholds, except when cops want to use them.

Some misconduct bullshit database that will never actually be used effectively.

Some recommendations for changes that will never make it down the to state level because unions won't allow them.

And, again, not much will change.

Obviously the first step to change is voting in new politicians (not just removing Trump). If that happens, there's a chance for momentum and some form of legitimate reform.

Told my son that if we couldn't fix things after 30+ grade schoolers were gunned down, that nothing would ever move the needle...ever. I'll believe it when I see it.

I think the problem is some parts of the country are making it near impossible to vote for certain people.

You say that. But would we replace them with? Oh yeah, more of the same. Career politicians are what they are.

Who should they be replace with?

Legit question....people always find a reason to hate whomever ends up in those positions. Not who might it be, but for the sake of the Union, who should it be?

What it used to be. Small business owners, teachers, lawyers, etc.

How could you or I even try to enter a senate election. It is so cost prohibitive. Lessen the amount spent on elections. Eliminate PACs.

It makes sense that a speech read by a guy who doesn't believe it should be written by a guy that doesn't believe it.

That's a symptom, not a problem. It wouldn't be possible without decades of cynicism, apathy, etc. And it won't last if there is sufficient outrage from the electorate.


Some are clearly better than others. Politicians are not inherently bad or corrupt, and we have some good ones right now. Just not nearly enough of them. We the people could replace them with the schmuck down the road if we really wanted to.

I can agree to that.

Well we did vote in a non-politician. He even promised to "drain the swamp".


It worked out well, right?

These issues have to be solved from the bottom-up, not the top down. Politicians will always approximate the values of society; a cultural shift in what we value in our leaders. It's like the line about how everyone dislikes frivolous lawsuits until you get specific about what is or isn't frivolous. Similarly, people want politicians to stand up for what is right, until what they think is right differs - then they're mad they aren't following the will of the voters. Integrity and statesman aren't valued nearly as highly as partisanship. Until there's a sea change there, I expect things to get worse not better. The next president will be better than Trump probably, but it won't matter much if we stay on the same path.

If the people in charge don't want people who want change to vote, there is not much you can do. Is there really going to be outrage from a Republican denying a Democrat the right to vote? This is the South. Stopping black people from voting is a tradition for them.

True. But an out of touch with reality guy wasnt the best choice.

The facts simply don't support this level of characterization. Blacks consistently vote in higher numbers than those of Hispanic or Asian descent, and in similar number even to the oppressive Whites.

** 2008 turnout: 66% white, 65% blacks
** 2012: 64% white, 67% blacks
** 2016: 65% white, 60% blacks

If black voter turnout was drastically lower than other minorities, you'd have a valid argument here. It isn't. It's much higher. This is simply yet another area where listening to the dominant narrative seems to cloud the abilities of some (not necessarily yours) to think logically and critically.

I don't think any of it matters.

We are more fractured as a nation than any other time save for the civil war. It really won't matter who we have in office, if 40% of the people disagree with their policy because it isn't their "side" you can't enact change.

the rich will get richer, the poor will stay poor, and minorities will continue to get treated like shit.

idk, 1968 was a bad fuckin year.

Well, senators were picked by the political parties for much of our history.

Keep movin' the goalposts will ya?

Correlation does not imply causation. Especially when you're talking nationally and not on a state or county wide basis.

We also aren't talking about voter turnout. Older people have the highest turnout, but we don't assume that it is easier for them to vote. We also should not make a coordinated effort to make it harder for them to vote.

The fact is that in minority areas, wait times are much longer. And they are actively making them longer. Policies like "exact match" disproportionately effect minority populations. Same goes for purges in voting rolls and reduction in early voting.

It's rather obtuse to see all these moves and not understand what the goal is of them. They aren't putting all this effort into stripping the VRA for nothing.

Also things are getting worse. Georgia closed 80bpolling stations this year. Guess where they were?

I agree with you that voter suppression is a problem, and an increasing one. What I'm saying is that you are taking the argument far further than is justified. We don't know what the turnout would be without that happening. We do know it's not happening on a scale sufficient to disenfranchise blacks dramatically as compared to other blocs.

The issues with VRA and similar tactics also aren't as homogenous as is being implied. Strong majorities favor no-reason absentee voting, but nearly as many blacks favor Voter ID as whites, overwhelming numbers in both cases. So do we stand on the side of not giving them what they want because we think it's better for them?

The motivation argument swings both ways as well. It's clear why a party would want to suppress vote that strongly opposes them - but also clear why the opposing party would want to encourage that vote.

People are still waiting to vote and a judge had to extend voting hours in 20 counties. This was not a legitimate election.

And yes, the point of gutting the VRA was to make it harder for certain demographics to vote. Republicans didn't fight to overturn just for fun.

This is the exact reason Stacey Abrams decided not to run for Senate and instead is devoting her efforts to fighting voter suppression. Lots of smoke that she was cheated out of the Governor 2 years back by massive voter role purges (the aforementioned 'exact match') and by shenanigans that created massive lines at the polls in minority heavy areas. It doesn't take a genius to note that less people are going to vote of it takes an hour rather than 15 minutes. These massive lines is something that has been carried out to an extreme today. These measures are designed to depress the black vote. I can only imagine this being a trial run for November.


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Heisman Candidate Matt Jones?

(just a nugget for the old timers here)

Totally with you here. I'm not joking at all.

We saw the Trump strategy in effect in 2016... lunacy through the entire course of the campaign, then a week or two of twitter-free relative sanity right before the election, let the Dems hang themselves, and just hope the persuadables manage to find their way back to all the old standards: tax cuts, immigration, racism, abortion, rural outrage, anti political correctness, corporate profits, 401(k) balances, Hunter Biden, and whatever concoction they have manufactured to leave out as bread crumbs to vote for him.

Person in Atlanta I know waited 3 hours to vote. They say that their wait was the shortest of anyone they've talked to.

Obligatory wtf how does that happen in the "greatest democracy on earth"

Maybe if people wouldn’t take their sweet time walking through the hot coal station they would be able to vote faster.

The voter suppression serves a dual purpose.

Most directly, it suppresses the votes of black people.

Indirectly, it will cause people to point out "Hey, you are suppressing the votes of black people; that's not fair." Which means when Trump tweets some complete fiction he saw on OANN about "millions of Hispanics stuffing ballots in Wisconsin" or some shit, the media will feel the need to bothsides it and claim that "there are claims of voting irregularity by both Democrats and Republicans"

Basically, it lets the GOP suppress the vote while giving credence to their baseless claims of "voter fraud"

Does this issue mobilize democrats, minorities, and their allies to get out and elect allies to offices of influence? If not, then expect more of the same.

The GOP, following on the success of the generic Trump philosophy, is emboldened to just say the quiet part out loud. Disenfranchise the undesirable groups of voters, to win elections. Simple as that. Kick them off the rolls, intimidate them from showing up, put their understaffed polling places in bad locations... whatever it takes.

yes all this too

I don't see McGrath beating McConnell although I hope it happens. She's the "establishment" pick so I think she gets the nomination, but Charles Booker is picking up momentum right now. Matt Jones endorsed him - though that appears to at least be due in part to the fact that McGrath's campaign allegedly got him removed from his TV show (which he denies, but c'mon). I loved that show (Hey Kentucky) and it's not the same since he was forced to quit as he considered a run for Senate.

There's just something about McGrath that I don't think connects well enough, but maybe the anti-McConnell sentiment will override it. Still, it's hard to elect someone who hasn't held office and lost an election in 2018 in a state that is solidly for the other party.

Bevin killed Bevin, IMO. Honestly, he made Trump look good by comparison. I've never seen someone be as unnecessarily hateful as him - it's like he actively tried to out-Trump Trump. If he had won re-election, his response to the Coronavirus would have been a disaster. I guarantee he would have acted like George Costanza in an apartment fire to show Trump he was his most loyal servant. We probably would have had hydroxychloroquine stations on every corner.

The stupid poll skewing letter the WH released basically boiled down to arguing that the gap in registered voters will go away on election day due to people not wanting and not able to vote.

Trump attorney sends a cease and desist letter over CNN poll showing Biden ahead by 14%

https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/10/polit...oll/index.html

Seems to me he just keeps getting further and further behind.

God, I hope so.

The retired judge asked to determine if there was enough evidence to support the DOJ dropping the Flynn case filed this brief:
(check Zoe Tillman's twitter feed for more)

It really is amazing that he doesn't understand all this does is bring more eyes to the poll and make him look weaker.

I wonder if at some point polling gets so bad some of his allies start cutting bait or if they are in too deep.

So perfect.

Nancy Pelosi was asked if she’s embarrassed the KKK were once members of the Democratic Party. “Of course. We’re embarrassed Donald Trump was a Democrat for similar reasons”.

— Hoodlum ���� (@NotHoodlum) June 10, 2020

I think they are all just along for the ride (and inevitable book deal) at this point. No one left (other than the Joint Chiefs apparently who told him no when he and Barr wanted to put military in all states) seems to have the interest and/or the balls to tell him to start believing these polls or do anything close to what a normal President would do in all these crisis and issues.

I still feel if he had handled the response to the virus like any President of either party would have, he would have increased his chances at re-election. No one had the courage and/or had been kicked out long ago to do so and no matter what President or country he tried to blame it on, and his stupid vanity over wearing a mask will be the one thing that dooms him.

More and more Republicans like the Lincoln Project (who came out with an ad against Ernst of Iowa today) and the others who are just getting started in their "NeverTrump again" campaigns are really going to start to jell with Republicans and Conservative Independents as we get closer to Nov.

heh Grant

This so much. He could have gotten a huge bump out of the virus, even with the economic damage. He at times played it right. "We are at war with an invisible killer." He just couldn't then turn that into "we are all in this together." It has to turn everything into blame. CHINA! DEMOCRATS! GOVERNORS! ANYONE BUT ME!
He got a bump early, just like most presidents do in a crisis. Natural reaction has Americans rallying around the President. Then he just destroyed any good-will like Godzilla running through Tokyo.

This will only happen if they think it will help them preserve the Senate majority. If not, they're going down with the ship. And too many people on the Never Trumper side are not just going after Trump but his enablers. So I don't think they have a viable place to turn.

He didn't do it because he's inherently incapable of doing it.

The "get out and elect allies" can't happen if they make it incredibly hard to vote. That's the whole point.

You are right. It is better to stay home, and then bitch about things on Twitter. The Bernie Sander's supporters plan.

If you can't see McGrath winning (frankly the chances are so super low now) there's no way in hell Booker is going to win. However, and I'll give you this, if a progressive D can win in KY, then they are safer than someone like McGrath who ends up like a Heidkamp in ND. Someone who has to play where they can and ends up in a fight every election cycle. Still, I'd rather have anyone except Mitch. I still think McGrath has the best chance to get the disaffected former Mitch supporters to her side than Booker. If Booker can make inroads in the East and really grab support there, he might stand a chance. But either way, both would face a massive uphill battle. I'll support either one though. I still haven't voted my absentee. I might just throw it to Booker to help with momentum. McGrath has done well, her fundraising is mostly out of state money, but it's off the charts.

Trump goes all in defending the honor of Army bases named after Confederates.

So I don't know how many of y'all follow NASCAR, but there has been quite the sea change recently after the George Floyd death. Bubba Wallace is the only NASCAR driver who is black and apparently after Floyd's death and all the protests, a number of drivers reached out to Wallace. A number of drivers started posting Black Lives Matter. 7 time champ, Jimmy Johnson got a bunch of a drivers together for a video entitled "We will listen". NASCAR itself participated in BlackOutTuesday and had a moment of silence for Floyd before the race. A NASCAR official took a knee during the invocation (yes, NASCAR still has a prayer before the race) and anthem.

Today NASCAR has allowed for protests during the anthem and has completely banned the Confederate flag from being brought into any tracks going forward.

Oh, NASCAR also tweeted a LGBTQ+ Pride message yesterday too, so there is that...

It's a real whiplash moment for a lot of us who have been wanting this for a long time and are shocked it's falling into place so quickly.

Yeah, maybe by 2030 the Civil War will finally be over.

The funny thing about this is it's exactly the kind of thing that trump does. Not the lawyer shit, but the polling with misleading questions, and efforts to depress opposition turnout and energy. It's that whole, the cheater is always the one who accuses the other of cheating in a relationship. If you're doing it, then it's ok for me to do it, except he's already doing it.

It will be interesting to see if it will come up the old guys at my NASCAR pool tomorrow night. The guy who would never pick a Toyota in the pool (and consequently never won any money) because the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor died two years ago. But the Kyle Larson “n” word thing came up and there are a couple of old fucks that openly call Bubba Wallace “the n——-“. I don’t shun them because I enjoy taking their money year after year.

God, imagine not picking Toyota in a NASCAR pool, especially over the last 5 years.

Well aside from them being racist dumbfucks in general.

He actually would only take Fords. He died before Stewart Haas went Ford. I think he was mainly there just to drink Schlitz.

Good work, if you can get it.

Not everyone can dedicate 4-6 hours to stand in line for a chance to maybe vote.

Never understood this. Why name a base after someone on the opposing side who lost? Training troops at Fort Himmler or Fort Gage just seems weird.

Oh I agree Booker stands less of a chance than McGrath, but with him being African American and getting some buzz right now, there's some momentum. That said, I haven't seen any polls so it could be pulling him up from 25 to 35 percent against her, who knows. I think some of it is McGrath being the chosen one by the national party kind of being shoved down local throats, whereas Booker has won an election and feels more organic as a local candidate. But yeah, if he were to somehow pull it off, the fact that Bernie and AOC endorsed him would effectively end any chance of beating Mitch, I think.

I voted for McGrath against Barr even though I like Barr. It was simply the fact that Barr tied himself so tightly to Trump that I wanted to send a message. It almost worked, but aside from Bevin, supporting Trump was the smart move in this state. The only hope is that Mitch is as unlikeable as Bevin was. I don't think McGrath is going to win on her own merits.

Has NASCAR regained enough of its popularity to make this a risky change?

Well quite honestly with all major sports stepping up, those that don't like it will be stuck watching Cornhole Tournaments on ESPN 3

Iowa Senate Republicans just voted 30-19 to prohibit the GOP Secretary of State from mailing out absentee ballot requests to voters during epidemic, which he did in the record-breaking June 2 primary (HF2486 as amended).

2 GOP Senators voted no. Tell House GOP to stop HF2486.

— Rob Hogg (@SenatorRobHogg) June 10, 2020

I'm a casual voter in that I vote in every election and almost all primaries but I don't follow politics closely.

I didn't even realize until about a week ago that McGrath was being contested when the Booker campaign called me. I hadn't even seen any ads from anyone other then McGrath or McConnell in Louisville until a day or two ago.

I'm undecided at the moment between Booker and McGrath. I think I'd lean towards voting for Booker but I am not very hopeful on his general election chances. Then again, I don't feel optimistic about McGrath's chances either.

Alison Lundergan Grimes lost to McConnell by 15.5% six years ago when the polls showed a closer race so it's really hard to see either winning.

NYTimes is reporting that there were thousands of rounds of ammo stored at the D.C. Armory in case they were needed against the protesters.

The Defense establishment didn't go public last week for nothing.

I swear I thought this was a joke.

Right-wing fans mocked for boycotting Rage Against the Machine after realising band’s political stance | The Independent


I was really in gespair that this was even real but reading the twitter responses from people is hilarious

Tom Morello and Twitter respond to people only just realising Rage Against The Machine are political



"I really enjoy the great band Rage Alongside the Machine"

"What machine did you think they were raging against? The Dishwasher?"

yup, not divisive at all.

Trump Email Invites Supporters To Join 'Army:' Report 06/08/2020

So I heard a new one this morning from my father who is deeply religious, yet still all aboard the Trump train.

I was trying to tell him how the teachings of Christ go against almost everything Trump stands for and asked him his thoughts on Bunker Boy using the Bible and church as a prop last week.

He preceded to ask me who I get my news from and said "he was there to go inside but it was boarded up and then decided to take a picture".

I mean, just what the eff. I try to read a mixture of sources on most topics including Fox just to see what different perspectives even if they don't line up, but this was one I certainly have not heard. How far down the right wing media hole do I need to be for that whopper?

The President of the United States wanted to go somewhere, and he couldn't because it was boarded up?

He's not heading down the Tasty Whip for a cone! How much short notice travel to closed places does he think goes on with the President?

Lost cause.

Mnuchin is now refusing to say where any of the 500 billion went because it is confidential. The oversight committee has no chair and doesn’t do anything.

This was so obviously what was going to happen and Dems didn’t and won’t do anything.

I think the answer is that there were some historically unusual efforts made after the Civil War to achieve reconciliation. Reconstruction, saluting the surrendering army, etc.

In other words:


Sidenote: My son's 5th grade history book was filled with Lost Cause nonsense. Not sure why that stuff pisses me off so much but he did his research project on the Nueces Massacre that happened here in Tx.

BREAKING: Steven Mnuchin is now flat-out REFUSING to disclose the businesses receiving $500,000,000,000 in bailout funds, claiming the info is "confidential"

4.5 MILLION businesses received government funds. Zero transparency.

Unconscionable, jaw-dropping corruption.

— Public Citizen (@Public_Citizen) June 11, 2020

Yes, your daily-plus reminder that everything is a con.

Fort Hood was built in 1942.

B-b-b-but someone is getting a few bucks more in unemployment each week.

And they're both bad policies.

This is complete truth!

The other weird thing about Hood is that besides being a virulent racist, he was a garbage General. He may have been one of the most destructive forces in their own military.

Gone with the Wind was released in 1939 so it fits the timeline for that resurgence of the the lost cause.

BUT OBUMMER AND BAILOUTS!!

SI

It has more to do with World Wars. Fort Bragg was initially a temporary camp for WW1.

Yeah not at all. I'm not a Lost Cause advocate.

The top eight stories on Foxnews.com are about CAPITOL HILL DESCENDING INTO ANARCHY!!

Sorry, I wasn't accusing you of that. I just thought it was funny that 'Lost Cause' was posted just two posts away from your description of the Lost Cause myth but in a totally different context.

It is laughable. They are making it out to be Manhattan island from Escape from New York.

My dad wrote me last night saying " aren't you glad you don't live in Seattle anymore!!" He then told me Fox News is the only ones reporting on it. I tried to explain to him he should probably wonder why that is, and what message they are trying to get across. He is almost 90 so I doubt it got anywhere.

I just read a Seattle times article. Seems very peaceful to me, and while it is obviously not going to last, they have at least drawn enough attention so that if it ends badly they may be martyrs to some.