Equal Rights - apparently - are popular. Who knew?
2023 voters made a statement
Election Results: In Ohio, Virginia and Pennsylvania, the pro-choice voters defeated the GOP. In KY, the Democratic Governor was re-elected despite the Republican being endorsed by Trump and McConnell.
Also one of the exonerated Central Park Five guys (that Trump - before running for office - advocated executing) was elected to NYC council.
It’s yet another confirmation that sufficient numbers of voters are showing up every time abortion’s on a ballot to vote against those who believe they have the power to take away women’s rights.
But there were some problems.
Florida Representative Byron Donald was quick to attack. Other conservatives were equally critical:
First, the voting machine company was not one of the big ones that were defamed by the forces of Trump in 2020 and sued in return, winning nearly a billion dollar judgment. Via Newsweek:
”In a news conference on Tuesday, a representative for Election Systems & Software, the election machine manufacturer, said an error was caused by an employee of ES&S and they "regret the situation" and are committed to "fair, accurate results."
Previous voting machine issues in 2019 were also mentioned in the news conference on Tuesday. According to AP, Northampton County had problems with the company's ExpressVoteXL touchscreen system when an incorrectly formatted ballot in a judicial race forced election workers to count paper ballots.”
Second, Northampton County responded quickly, gaining a court order to let the voting continue. They’ll correct the flawed ballots and everyone who wanted to vote will vote there.
In Mississippi, however, in the heavily Democratic city of Jackson , several polling places ran out of ballots, repeatedly.
So in Mississippi, their problems weren’t corrected fast enough and a number of voters there didn’t even vote because of that. Mississippi has a long history of denying Black voters access and only recently did voters overturn an archaic election requirement. Statewide candidates previously had to win the popular vote and win the most votes in a majority of the counties. So a popular vote winner still would lose and the Mississippi legislature would pick the winner.
Cheating? There’s clear evidence that Mississippi has a long history of vote suppression that may still be going on. Due to the ballot shortages, officials sought to keep the polls open till 9 pm, but a circuit court judge denied that request.
Compare that to the one county in Pennsylvania where a programmer’s error caused the problem, it was resolved quickly and everyone still got to vote.
Where’s a similar outrage from Democrats about Mississippi’s ballot shortage and the slow pace of supplying more ballots in the most Democratic Congressional district in the state? Where’s Byron Donald’s feigned outrage?
From 2017 on, Republicans have lost ground at the polls nationwide every year. Will the media mention that today?
Marjorie provides a freebie to Democratic campaigns for 2024.
And if you’re keeping score in your home game versions, here’s how the anti-gay Moms For Liberty fared:
1) North Carolina: the sole Moms For Liberty candidate lost big.
2) Virginia: five Moms for Liberty school board candidates lost big. One won.
3) Minnesota: all four Moms for Liberty candidates lost big.
4) Washington: all four Moms for Liberty candidates lost big.
5) Pennsylvania: all five of their candidates, running on a platform of banning educational books related to slavery and LGBTQ inclusion lost big.
6) Iowa: twelve Moms for Liberty candidates lost their races after accusing local school districts of "disseminating pornography to children" (books discussing LGBTQ+ acceptance.). One candidate won.
7) New Jersey: fifteen Moms For Liberty candidates lost. Four won.
8) Ohio: twenty Moms For Liberty candidates lost. Five won.
I haven’t tracked every state but of these 77 races, only 11 won. Less than 15%. (Note: a more thorough tracker came up with 89 losses and 43 wins for MFL-endorsed candidates, so 68% lost)
Roe, Roe, Roe the boat, GOP. Taking rights away from people, making librarians into Snidely Whiplash villains and the continual ass-kissin’ of a predatory, windmill-fearing, water-saving-toilet-fearing compulsive criminal pushing a violent religious agenda that only a billionaire could love just aren’t catching on with Americans who vote.
Which means I fully expect the New York Times, Katy Tur and Andrea Mitchell to lead with stories about President Biden being too old and the House’s continued effort to impeach Hunter Biden’s penis.
The bank fraud trial in NYC continues. Trump lawyer Alina Habba said she’s filing a Motion to Dismiss against Judge Engoron, because he wouldn’t let Trump talk. The prosecutors were happy to let him talk - and to let his grown children talk - as their testimony continues to demonstrate their mutual wrongdoings.
When defense lawyers want their clients to talk, standard practice is to ask their clients questions.
Alina Habba has asked Trump exactly none.
The House Jim Jordan Committee issued subpoenas today to President Biden’s brother and son. The purpose of questioning them is to further baseless accusations that will re-energize conspiracy theorists devoid of a single fact as evidence.
Creating suspicions of wrongdoing is what one does when one has nothing else to work with. In this case, Jordan will try hard to show that the Bidens broke into the Watergate Hotel, sold arms to Iran to fund an illegal war in Central America, helped hide Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction and tortured men in prisons that weren’t even Hispanic.
The Countdown: The federal government will be shut down in 9 days if House Republicans fail to pass a budget again.
Additional Reading: The GOP is in a Trump Trap, by Nate Silver
And an unexpected Pink Floyd cover.