As it does every year, Sept. 11 should remind us that, however absurd our current politics, the stakes could not be higher. Free people must learn to govern themselves effectively because the alternative is unimaginable.
Democrats are already making the point. At the Republican National Convention, an embarrassingly low-energy affair with loads of empty seats, Republicans played a creepy cult video that would make Kim Jong Un blush and then sent a parade of sycophants to extol the greatness of Donald Trump at Day 2 of the Dallas Trumpapalooza, which turned out to be a ratings disaster for Fox “News.”
JD Vance (defensive and racist, trying his best to avoid Trump “achievements” such as the war and tariffs), Donald Trump Jr. (long and unbelievably boring), and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (who reportedly has used military aircraft to campaign) reaffirmed their shamelessness and utter lack of substance. (Meanwhile, even Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis is bashing Trump’s $5,000 bribe giveaway promise; other Republicans appear to think ignoring it is the best idea.)
Trump returned to lead a fascist pledge (this is real): “Please raise your right hand. I pledge to the greatest president in the history of the United States. That loves us so much he can’t even breath. That I will go out with my family, my friends, I’ll do it any way — I don’t care if I’m registered or not, I’m going to try to cheat like hell.”
The term “cult” does not do justice to this sick movement.
Meanwhile, with his new PAC, Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) launched a new ad, playing off the cringeworthy Trumpalooza in Dallas and tying corruption and economic distress:
Vance running for his political life. In a piece surely spoon-fed by Vance and/or his flunkies, the New York Times tells us how studiously Vance searched for more reliable information about the Iran war, a blatant effort to distance himself from his boss’s delusional happy talk. Sorry, but it is worse that Vance knew better and continued to parrot White House talking points. He cannot escape culpability for this debacle.
The Post Office is safe, for now. On the grounds that the Elections Clause of the Constitution gives the states and Congress, not Trump, authority to regulate elections, the First Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Trump’s attempt to stay a lower court ruling blocking the Trump regime’s unprecedented assault on mail-in balloting. The First Circuit pointed to the lower court’s findings “about the chaos and widespread disenfranchisement that would occur” should the rule go into effect and the lack of evidence of fraud. The MAGA Supreme Court will now need to decide whether to revive Trump’s unprecedented voter-suppression gambit.
Missouri example. The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday finally ended Missouri Republicans’ election-rigging scheme (i.e., pushing through a re-redistricted map after blocking a voter referendum). Then the Missouri Supreme Court at a contempt hearing raked Republican state officials over the coals, making the secretary of state repeat like an errant child that the Republican gerrymandered map never went into effect and questioning whether state officials would follow its ruling. (It later held the secretary of state in contempt but found he had cured his misconduct.) Republicans’ determination to flout the law to stay in power should infuriate Americans.
When you lose Joe diGenova. MAGA conspiracy-monger Joe diGenova abruptly resigned as investigator for Trump’s “grand conspiracy” inquest, only to tell a New York Post reporter, “If you want indictments where there is no evidence, you’ve got an ethical problem.” (He later tried to clean up his remarks, but he plainly felt pressured to move without sufficient facts.) This is emblematic of the Justice Department’s utter corruption. Democrats will need to investigate thoroughly and keep impeachment of Attorney General Todd Blanche on the table.
Democrats’ strong polling. Stunners: A Quinnipiac University national poll puts Dems +11 in generic congressional polls. In recent Senate polling, Roy Cooper is up double digits in North Carolina, Troy Jackson is up by 4 in Maine, and James Talarico in Texas, Sherrod Brown in Ohio and Mary Peltola in Alaska hold leads.
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Let's also note that at the "convention," Trump encouraged unregistered voters to cheat and vote for Republicans and made an illegal bribe offer of $5000 to do so. All impeachable offenses.