The Conversation -- July 13, 2024
Bloody Scene at Trump Rally; Trump Injured, Shooter Dead. New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump was escorted off the stage by Secret Service agents and into his motorcade just minutes into his rally on Saturday in Butler, Pa., after a series of pops that sounded like gunshots rang out. The exact source of the noises was unclear, but Mr. Trump's ear appeared to be bleeding as he was rushed off the stage.... A spokesman for the Secret Service, Anthony Guglielmi, said in a statement that Mr. Trump 'is safe' after 'an incident occurred' at his rally in Pennsylvania.... The former president ducked quickly after the noises began, with the sound coming from the bleachers to the left of where he was standing at a lectern. The noises came in two groups, and smoke rose from that section of the bleachers. As members of the crowd began screaming, Mr. Trump was tackled by Secret Service agents. Officials shouted for the crowd to duck and cover, whisking members of the news media off the press riser.... After a brief pause, Mr. Trump rose, surrounded by a group of uniformed Secret Service members. He pumped his fist to the crowd, and then was rushed off the stage.... After he departed, a group of officials wearing camouflage escorted someone off a set of bleachers to the left of the podium where Mr. Trump was speaking. Police officials began cordoning off the area with crime-scene tape as the rally/s attendees began clearing out, and blood was visible on the bleachers....
"The Secret Service asked members of the news media to leave roughly 20 minutes after Mr. Trump left the stage, declaring the rally site a crime scene.... President Biden received an initial briefing about what happened at the rally.... Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania said in a statement that he had been briefed, and that the state police were on scene working with federal partners." This is a liveblog. ~~~
~~~ NBC News reports on-air that the shooter is dead, that the Butler County D.A. says one spectator also is dead and another is in critical condition. ~~~
~~~ ** CNN's live updates are here. "The shooter involved in an incident at Donald Trump's rally in Pennsylvania has been 'neutralized,' according to multiple law enforcement sources." ~~~
~~~ Isaac Arnsdorf & Hannah Knowles of the Washington Post: "Trump appeared to touch his ear and then duck after the sounds, which sent the crowd into a panic." ~~~
~~~ You can see the moment here (at about 38 secs. in), where Trump grabs his ear before ducking:
Bernie Sanders in a New York Times op-ed: "I will do all that I can to see that President Biden is re-elected. Why? Despite my disagreements with him on particular issues, he has been the most effective president in the modern history of our country and is the strongest candidate to defeat Donald Trump -- a demagogue and pathological liar. It's time to learn a lesson from the progressive and centrist forces in France who, despite profound political differences, came together this week to soundly defeat right-wing extremism.... Yes. I know: Mr. Biden is old, is prone to gaffes, walks stiffly and had a disastrous debate with Mr. Trump. But this I also know: A presidential election is not an entertainment contest. It does not begin or end with a 90-minute debate."
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Presidential Race
Annie Karni of the New York Times: "President Biden fought back on Friday against escalating pressure from Democrats questioning his viability as a candidate, publicly and privately defending his decision to continue running as rank-and-file lawmakers continued to call on him to end his re-election bid. One day after a serviceable news conference that had been meant to quell the growing resistance within the party to Mr. Biden's candidacy, Democratic lawmakers returned to their home districts anxious and uncertain about how to proceed. Their House leader made it clear directly to Mr. Biden that his members still harbored deep concerns over the president's candidacy. And as he held a rally in the battleground state of Michigan, prominent Democrats were not by his side. But at the rally in a high school gymnasium in Detroit, Mr. Biden was dug in, telling a raucous throng of supporters, 'I'm not going anywhere.' What he saw there was unlikely to change his mind. An adoring crowd chanted 'Don't you quit!' as Mr. Biden delivered a fiery message, at times poking fun at ... Donald J. Trump as he drew a sharp contrast with his predecessor. In a Trumpian move, the president at one point pointed to the press stands and said, 'They've been hammering me,' eliciting boos from the crowd. 'Guess what -- Donald Trump has gotten a free pass.'" The Guardian's story is here.
Domenico Montanaro of NPR: "The race for the presidency remains statistically tied despite President Biden's dismal debate performance two weeks ago, a new national NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll finds. Biden actually gained a point since last month's survey, which was taken before the debate. In this poll, he leads Trump 50% to 48% in a head-to-head matchup. But Biden slips when third-party options are introduced, with Trump holding the slightest advantage with 43% to 42%. Those numbers, though, do not represent statistically significant differences, as the margin of error in the survey is +/- 3.1 percentage points, meaning results could be 3 points higher or lower. The poll also found that, at this point, no other mainstream Democrat who has been mentioned as a replacement for the president on the ticket does better than Biden." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: In case you're thinking, "Okay, it's a toss-up," let me disabuse you of that idea. On November 2, 2020, Joe Biden was beating Donald Trump by an average of eight points. in polls testing the popular vote. It was days after the election before he was declared the winner, and even then he barely won, eking out victories in a few swing states by a few thousand votes. (No doubt you know it was 11,700 votes in Georgia.) Therefore, Biden needs to be trouncing Trump in the polls to demonstrate even minimal dominance in the Electoral College count. ~~~
~~~ Doug Sosnik in a New York Times op-ed: Mr. Trump is now the clear front-runner to be the next president of the United States.... I've never seen such a grim Electoral College landscape for Mr. Biden: He not only faces losing battleground states he won in 2020, he is also at risk of losing traditional Democratic states like Minnesota and New Hampshire, which Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama carried.... By spring, he had the lowest job approval average of any recent president seeking re-election since George H.W. Bush in 1992. [MB: With help from Ross Perot, Bush lost in 1992 to corn-pone womanizer Bill Clinton.] His support has dropped by nearly a net 10 points since the 2022 midterm elections."
Marie: Since some time in 2022, I have wondered why President Biden's poll numbers were so low inasmuch as he's been the most effective president most voters have seen. Pollsters blamed inflation or lingering Covid malais or or or. I think it's this: there's no doubt ours is a democracy in decline. The fact that Americans could elect an ignorant, malicious con man to the presidency -- and nearly re-elect him, and now re-nominate him -- is the proof. Naturally, Americans want to see themselves as patriots in a vibrant country with a sunny future for themselves and their children. That requires a president who reflects a youthful optimism. An old man is not physically equipped to do that.
The most popular U.S. president of my lifetime was John Kennedy. He wasn't president for long and much of what we thought we knew about him during his presidency was not true. But his (partly fake) youthful demeanor, his good looks, his beautiful young family, his vibrant speeches and repartee with reporters, his decisive actions -- those all reflected what any country would want in a leader. Joe Biden is unpopular not because of what he does but because of his presentation. According to Plutarch, the great Greek orator Demosthenes had a speech defect which "he overcame by speaking with pebbles in his mouth and by reciting verses when running or out of breath." Joe Biden sounds as if he always has pebbles in his mouth. Sure, what we don't like about Biden is superficial, but the POTUS must be more than a good administrator; s/he is also a symbol of the nation, and as such, must convey a sense of strength and optimism that only a vigorous, relatively young, leader can do.
Marie: According to Erica Green of the New York Times, writing in a liveblog covering President Biden's press conference Thursday and other aspects of the presidential race, "Biden said that if his staff showed him data that Vice President Harris could beat Donald Trump, he wouldn't consider dropping out unless he was shown he couldn't win. He said no one is saying that to him." IOW, a "heads I win, tales you lose" challenge. ~~~
~~~ Philip Bump of the Washington Post agrees: "Those in the Democratic Party hoping to replace Biden with someone better positioned to win are obstructed, in part, by this obstinance from Biden. But they are obstructed, too, because while Biden's position is historically weak, polling doesn't (and perhaps can't) show someone else doing demonstrably better.... No poll says he can't win and no poll says that some other candidate definitely will win." (Also linked yesterday.)
Washington Post Editors: "With time running out before the Democratic National Convention opens Aug. 19, [President] Biden and his inner circle of advisers seem to be playing for time. Indeed, based on his comments Thursday, Mr. Biden seems to be somewhat oblivious to the political furor surrounding him and in denial about his frailty, personally and politically.... What makes Mr. Biden's cognitive decline especially damaging is that he and his aides have systematically failed to level with the public about it.... Eighty-five percent of Americans now say Biden is too old to serve four more years as president, according to a Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll published this week, and 56 percent of Democrats say he should end his candidacy. His approval rating is 36 percent. Just 14 percent of adults think Mr. Biden has more of the mental sharpness it takes to effectively serve as president than Mr. Trump.... Mr. Biden's defenders are right to insist on more attention to the dangers Mr. Trump poses.... But the best way to keep Mr. Trump away from the Oval Office is by offering a strong alternative." (Also linked yesterday.)
Maureen Dowd of the New York Times: President Biden's "gymnastics -- showing he can walk and talk in a way that instills confidence -- fill me with sadness. Every stumble, jumble and tumble will now be treated as if it's a constitutional crisis.... The president pushed back in a call on Friday with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, when Representative Mike Levin, a vulnerable California Democrat, told Biden he needed to move aside. 'That's why I'm going out and letting people touch me, poke me, ask me questions,' the president replied. 'I think I know what I'm doing.'... At a moment when Joe Biden should be getting hosannas for his good work and becoming the party paterfamilias, his team is sniping at Democratic luminaries like Barack Obama and George Clooney.... He is oblivious or in denial, bolstered by Jill and Hunter's self-interested fantasies."
Michael Grynbaum of the New York Times: "More than 23 million people -- a bigger audience than this year's Academy Awards -- tuned in on Thursday evening to see how [President] Biden handled his first live news conference since a poor performance at last month's debate with ... Donald J. Trump. The television audience amounted to roughly 45 percent of the 51.3 million who watched the debate, according to Nielsen. The president's nearly hourlong appearance, at the NATO summit in Washington, was one of the most-watched telecasts of the year, outside of sporting events. It aired across several major TV networks, with ABC, CBS and NBC all pre-empting regular entertainment programming. Millions more may have watched on digital news sites and social media platforms, which are, for the most part, not captured by Nielsen's data." ~~~
~~~ Marie: As I was reading, I was wondering, "Were these viewers people who were looking for a train wreck?" Then I read this sentence: "Fox News attracted the largest audience of any network, 5.7 million, representing nearly a quarter of the overall television viewership." So yeah.
Shane Goldmacher & Theodore Schleifer of the New York Times: "Some major Democratic donors have told the largest pro-Biden super PAC, Future Forward, that pledges worth roughly $90 million are now on hold if President Biden remains atop the ticket, according to two people who have been briefed on the conversations."
Annie Karni of the New York Times: "Representative Hakeem Jeffries, Democrat of New York and the minority leader, met one-on-one with President Biden on Thursday night to discuss the deep concerns many of his members harbor about the viability of the president's re-election campaign. In a brief letter he sent to House Democrats on Friday morning, Mr. Jeffries, a deliberate politician and a relatively untested leader, offered few details about the meeting, which took place at the Whitw House after the president's high-stakes news conference. The private meeting, Mr. Jeffries told his colleagues, had been set at his request. 'In my conversation with President Biden, I directly expressed the full breadth of insight, heartfelt perspectives and conclusions about the path forward that the caucus has shared in our recent time together,' Mr. Jeffries wrote. In a moment when every word from Democratic leaders is being parsed, it was notable that Mr. Jeffries, who has said he supports Mr. Biden, left out any endorsement of the president in his three-paragraph letter." (Also linked yesterday.)
Mike Lillis & Mychael Schnell of the Hill: "Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is working furiously behind the scenes to put pressure on President Biden to reconsider his place at the top of the 2024 ticket, according to a number of Democratic lawmakers familiar with her efforts. The Speaker emerita is talking to a broad swath of House Democrats -- from front-liners in tough districts to hardened veterans with institutional clout -- to pump the brakes on the notion that Biden should definitively be the party's nominee heading into November, these lawmakers said." (Also linked yesterday.)
Caitlyn Kim of Colorado Public Radio: "Freshman Democratic Rep. Brittany Pettersen is calling on President Joe Biden to drop his bid for reelection. She is the first Colorado congress member to take such a step. 'Joe Biden saved our country once, and I'm joining the growing number of people in my district and across the country to ask him to do it again. Please pass the torch to one of our many capable Democratic leaders so we have the best chance to defeat Donald Trump, who is the greatest threat to the foundation of this country that we have ever faced,' she said in a statement." (Also linked yesterday.)
Sarah Ferris of Politico: "A group of two dozen former House Democrats has sent a letter to President Joe Biden calling for him to step aside to prevent a GOP takeover of Washington. Instead, they want him to allow for an 'open convention' this summer to decide the 2024 ticket.... The letter includes several members who served for over two decades each, including Reps. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), Jim Moran (D-Va.), Jim McDermott (D-Wash.), Phil Sharp (D-Ind.) and John LaFalce (D-N.Y.). One is also a former senator, Sen. Tim Wirth of Colorado."
Meredith McGraw, et al., of Politico: "... Donald Trump's advisers and allies viewed President Joe Biden's press conference [Thursday] as the best-case scenario for the Republican's campaign: not enough to force him out but with enough errors that they can mine the event for opposition material. Trump's campaign is still hoping Biden stays in the race, believing he is the weakest candidate for the former president to face in November. His strategy, in part, centers on the notion that Biden is not mentally fit to be president." (Also linked yesterday.)
Dana Milbank of the Washington Post contrasts President Biden and Donald Trump. "In Washington, President Biden assembled world leaders to mark the 75th anniversary of the founding of NATO, which Biden has rebuilt and expanded over the last 3½ years.... In Miami a few hours later, former president Donald Trump assembled supporters at his Doral golf club -- another transfer of wealth from his campaign to his personal accounts -- and ridiculed NATO partners. 'I didn't even know what the hell NATO was too much before' he became president, Trump told them.... If [Biden graciously bows out]..., he will be remembered for the most substantial record of accomplishment of any president in decades. If he holds on in the face of mounting evidence that he can't win, he will be remembered for selfishness -- a trait incompatible with his character...." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: Here's a quote Milbank relates which I had not heard: "Also this week, longtime Trump adviser Sebastian Gorka told Newsmax that Vice President Harris is 'a DEI hire, right? She's a woman. She's colored." The last public figure to use such language was probably Strom Thurmond. Really unbelievable in the 21st century, but a picture window into the MATA mind.
The Big Grift, Ctd. Russ Buettner of the New York Times: "As he seeks to reclaim the presidency, [Donald] Trump has reprised the pitchman role from his reality TV days, with a crucial difference: He has intertwined the marketing of his private business affairs with the messaging of his campaign, leveraging his political stature for profit. All of it could be described as Martyr Inc., a machinery that makes Mr. Trump money and promotes his re-election by characterizing him as unjustly persecuted and selflessly saving his supporters from a similar fate." (Also linked yesterday.)
Here We Go Loopty-Loo. Isaac Arnsdorf of the Washington Post: The Heritage Foundation, progenitor of Project 2025, gave a presentation at its Washington, D.C., headquarters stating "as a given that the Biden administration was already engaged in a sweeping conspiracy to use multiple forms of federal power to influence the presidential election. It did not supply any evidence. 'As things stand right now, there's a zero percent chance of a free and fair election,' said Mike Howell, executive director of Heritage's Oversight Project.... The report said a key finding was that the sitting president is the greatest danger to the peaceful transition of power, with no mention of Trump's efforts to overturn his 2020 loss. Instead it offered that conclusion as justification for doubting the outcome of the 2024 election and trying to reject anything other than a Trump victory." (Also linked yesterday.) The Guardian's story is here.
Shayna Jacobs of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump's legal team has formally asked a judge to toss out the former president's hush money conviction and the indictment that led to his trial, saying last week's Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity means some of the evidence prosecutors used should not have been allowed."
Katelyn Polantz of CNN: "Rudy Giuliani is no longer entitled to bankruptcy protection, a judge decided Friday, making it possible for creditors to immediately pursue his assets within days. The former mayor of New York sought bankruptcy protection after a jury awarded two Georgia election workers $148 million because Giuliani defamed them after the 2020 election. The judge's decision Friday, to end his bankruptcy, paves the way for Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, as well as other creditors, who are trying to collect on the more than $150 million Giuliani owes. Judge Sean Lane of the federal bankruptcy court in New York made the decision partly because of Giuliani's lack of transparency after he filed for bankruptcy more than six months ago..... 'Mr. Giuliani has failed to provide an accurate and complete picture of his financial affairs in the six months that this case has been pending,' Lane wrote in his decision Friday. 'The lack of financial transparency is particularly troubling given concerns that Mr. Giuliani has engaged in self-dealing and that he has potential conflicts of interest that would hamper the administration of his bankruptcy case.'" The Washington Post's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: Who could possibly have guessed America's Mayor was a lying SOS?
Angry White Male. David Edwards of the Raw Story: "Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-WI) blamed the 'angry feminist movement' for emasculating men and called for the nation to 'work our way back' to the 1960s if ... Donald Trump wins reelection. In a lengthy House floor speech on Thursday, Grothman claimed feminists and former President Lyndon B. Johnson's 'war on poverty' had removed men from families." (Also linked yesterday.)
Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: "The most important takeaway from the Supreme Court's decision in Trump v. United States is that Chief Justice John Roberts, with the approval of his Republican colleagues, rewrote the Constitution to place the president above the law.... The majority's opinion in Trump v. United States is not so much a legal decision -- it is untethered from the text, structure and history of the Constitution, making claims that are, according to the legal scholar Akhil Reed Amar, 'flatly contradicted by the document's unambiguous letter and obvious spirit' -- as it is a political one.... If Trump wins a second term..., Trump v. United States would become, in short order, one of the worst opinions ever issued by the Supreme Court. And Roberts would take his place in infamy alongside the other man whose work as chief justice helped unravel the American republic before the Civil War: Roger Taney." Bouie goes on to explain how Taney's ruling in the Dred Scott case was similar to Roberts' ruling in Trump.
Jesse Wegman of the New York Times: As it imposes its right-wing agenda, "the Supreme Court is gaslighting us all.... The right-wing justices' repeated and patronizing [attempt] to minimize the importance of their unprecedented decisions.... In his majority opinion in the case about presidential immunity, Chief Justice John Roberts mocked the three liberal dissenters for striking 'a tone of chilling doom that is wholly disproportionate to what the court actually does today.' (Reality check: The immunity ruling -- which gave presidents carte blanche to break most criminal laws when carrying out their official duties -- is not grounded in any clause of the Constitution.)... During oral arguments in a case that pitted Idaho's near-total abortion ban against the federally guaranteed right of a woman to end her pregnancy if necessary..., Samuel Alito dismissed the government's concerns. 'Nobody's suggesting that the woman is not an individual and she doesn't -- she doesn't deserve stabilization,' the justice who wrote the opinion striking down Roe v. Wade said with his trademark irritation.... (Reality check: That is precisely what Idaho was suggesting, by arguing that federal law doesn't pre-empt the state ban.)"
Patrick Smith & Jason Abbruzzese of NBC News: "Hackers stole six months' worth of call and text message records of nearly every AT&T cellular network customer, the company said Friday, a breach that has the potential to reveal sensitive information about millions of Americans. The company said in an SEC filing that it learned from an internal investigation that in April, hackers 'unlawfully accessed and copied AT&T call logs' that were saved on a third-party cloud platform." (Also linked yesterday.)
Julia Jacobs of the New York Times: "A judge in New Mexico dismissed the case against Alec Baldwin on Friday after finding that the state had withheld evidence that could have shed light on how live rounds got onto a film set where the cinematographer was fatally shot. The dismissal was with prejudice, meaning that the prosecution of Mr. Baldwin is over. If he had been convicted of involuntary manslaughter, Mr. Baldwin would have faced up to 18 months in prison. 'There is no way for the court to right this wrong,' Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer said in court as Mr. Baldwin wept. It was a stunning end to the trial of Mr. Baldwin, who was rehearsing with a gun on the 'Rust' film set in 2021 when it fired a live round, killing Halyna Hutchins, the movie's cinematographer. Mr. Baldwin had been told the gun was 'cold,' meaning it should have been impossible to fire." (Also linked yesterday.)
Marie: The 100-Year Cycle of American History. In 1865, Congress passed the Reconstruction Amendments -- the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments to the Constitution abolishing slavery, granting full citizenship to everyone born in the U.S. and giving Black Americans the right to vote. In 1965, Congress passed the Voting Rights act eliminating racial discrimination in voting. In 1921, a White mob in Tulsa, Oklahoma, burned the town thriving Black community and slaughtered as many as 300 Black Tulsans. In 2020, a White policeman murdered George Floyd in broad daylight with cameras rolling; the following month the POTUS* ordered troops to tear-gas peaceful Black Lives Matter protesters outside the White House. In 1924, Congress passed an immigration act with national origins quotas and that completely excluded Asian immigrants. In 2024, Congress attempted to pass a restrictive immigration bill but failed because Donald Trump wanted to retain immigration as a campaign wedge issue.
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DeNeen Brown of the Washington Post: "Scientists have identified a victim of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre whose remains were found in a mass grave in a city-owned cemetery, Tulsa's mayor announced Friday. The man was identified as C.L. Daniel, a World War I veteran, who was killed in 1921. His remains were discovered during a 2021 excavation of a mass grave in Oaklawn Cemetery, which is blocks from Greenwood, the all-Black community destroyed by a White mob in a rampage that historians say left as many as 300 Black people dead and 10,000 homeless."
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Israel/Palestine, et al. The New York Times' live updates of developments Saturday in the Israel/Hamas war are here.
Victoria Bisset & Mohamad El Chamaa of the Washington Post: "Israel;s military targeted the leader of Hamas's military wing, Mohammed Deif, in the Mawasi area of southern Gaza on Saturday, according to Israeli officials, as Gaza's Health Ministry said at least 71 people had been killed in a 'massacre.'"
News Ledes
New York Times: "Ruth Westheimer, the grandmotherly psychologist who as 'Dr. Ruth' became America's best-known sex counselor with her frank, funny radio and television programs, died on Friday at her home in Manhattan. She was 96."
New York Times: "Richard Simmons, who for years was the face of home fitness through his wildly popular videos and his energetic personality, died on Saturday morning in Los Angeles. He was 76."
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Reader Comments (6)
Does anyone here understand the case brought against Alec Baldwin in what seemed from the beginning a tragic but wholly accidental shooting?
I don't and never did.
And I always wondered if some of the motivation might have been political....retaliation perhaps for his SNL portrayal of the Pretender or, more generally, prompted by what I have read here and there of his reportedly offensive personality?
Proof maybe that I'm not wholly immune to the lure of they're out to get ya conspiracy theories....
@Ken Winkes: This WashPo article might be slightly helpful.
I guess I don't see a conspiracy here so much as the desires of a couple of local prosecutors to (a) flex their muscles or to (b) prove that they would privilege the locals over movie stars or (c) no one is above the law. I'm not sure "all politics is local," but I think in this case, it is. I also think you're right in suggesting that the prosecutors might have been influenced by a belief that Alec Baldwin was a dick, so a big shot they would gain creds for taking down. I'd have to do too much research to confidently state the party affiliations of the D.A.s who brought the cases, but I do think the current prosecutor is a Republican.
Utah govenor says he is not voting for Trump, probably. Though he also sounds confused on why since he still wants Trump to win. I guess the moron wants to pretend his hands are clean when his party destroys the American dream.
Threats of violence work well.
"Donald Trump threatened to put “election fraudsters” in prison, including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, in a new rant on Truth Social Tuesday morning."
The results,
"Meta lifts restrictions on Trump's Facebook and Instagram accounts
Meta said Friday it was lifting restrictions on US presidential candidate Donald Trump's Facebook and Instagram accounts, ending measures put in place after his supporters violently stormed the US Capitol in 2021.
It said that "former President Trump, as the nominee of the Republican Party, will no longer be subject to the heightened suspension penalties.""
ProPublica
"Inside Ziklag, the Secret Organization of Wealthy Christians Trying to Sway the Election and Change the Country
Ziklag, an invitation-only charity organization for rich Christians, aims to take dominion over what it sees as the seven major spheres of public life, which it calls “mountains”: business, science and technology, family, arts and media, church, education and government."
As if there aren't enough worries, there is this too (gift link):
Republicans Pursue Plans to Contest a Trump Defeat
"At the heart of the strategy is a drive to convince voters that the election is about to be stolen, even without evidence. Democrats use mail voting, drop boxes and voter registration drives to swing elections, they have argued. And Mr. Trump’s indictments and criminal conviction are a Biden administration gambit to interfere with the election, they claim."
Almost unimaginable....How did we get here?