Today is the California recall election. Note that Gov. Newsom’s chief rival, the seriously demented Larry Elder, has already conceded and is claiming election fraud. Make of that what you will.
The flap du jour is that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wore a dress with the words “tax the rich” splashed on it to the Met Gala in NYC. If you aren’t familiar with the Met Gala, understand that it’s a fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute. Some people come in haute couture; some people come in costumes; some people wear haute couture costumes. For example, check out what actor Dan Levy wore. See also Kim Kardashian’s all-black ensemble, by Balenciaga.
Yeah, her face was covered. I doln’t know why. The Met Gala is very trippy. I understand AOC’s dress, which looked great on her, was designed by an African-American designer and was just borrowed for the evening. Here’s AOC, and I believe the lady with her is her designer, Aurora James. By Met Gala standards, this is downright sedate.
I take it that the entire rightie media echo chamber is having a screaming fit about the dress today.
Speaking of screaming fits, Bob Woodward has a new book out, and newspapers are reporting on the juicy bits. After January 6, it says, Trump had a meltdown. Gen. Mark Milley believed Trump wasn’t mentally fit to be trusted with the car keys; Trump was screaming at everyone and constructing his own reality about his election loss. So Milley called a meeting with top officials in the Pentagon and made it clear no one was to carry out orders from Trump without checking with Milley first. And Milley made back channel phone calls to a top general in China to assure him that he wouldn’t let Trump nuke Beijing.
There are also some new questions about Mike Pence’s role in the January 6 insurrection as a result of the new book. Woodward also reveals that on November 11, 2020, Trump issued an order for all troops to be withdrawn from Afghanistan and Somalia by January 15. No one on the National Security staff were consulted about this, and apparently the People In Charge of These Things just decided to ignore the order.
In the New News department — Senate Democrats have written up a new voter rights bill with input from Joe Manchin. I take it this is a bill that can get the votes of all 50 Democrats, for what good that will do. According to this guy named Mark Elias, it’s a decent bill that would do some good. However, I have no idea who Mark Elias is or why I should respect his opinion.
The catch, of course, is that there is no way any Republican would vote to close debate on the thing and allow a vote on the bill unless Manchin and Sinema cave on the filibuster rule.
Finally, see Sorry, Everyone, but Congress Is Bringing Back Debt Ceiling Foolishness by Grace Segers at The New Republican. I don’t have the strength to think about another debt ceiling fight now.
I wonder if A.J. there is making a Bob Dylan reference w/ her leopard-skin pillbox hat.
Having one of those days myself but more in the Talkin' John Birch Society Blues mood.
Talkin' John Birch Paranoid Blues (Live at Carnegie Hall, New York, NY – October 1963) – YouTube
Marc (not Mark) Elias
General Counsel for Hillary's 2016 presidential campaign and John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign. In 2020 and 2021, on behalf of the Biden campaign and the Democratic National Committee, Elias oversaw the state-by-state response to lawsuits filed by the Trump campaign contesting the election results. In 2020, he founded Democracy Docket, a website focused on voting rights and election litigation in the United States.
As far as respect for Elias, the reich-wing hates him and he is a frequent target of BrightFart and that works for me.
I believe Mark Elias was heavily involved in work to rebuff Team Trump's election challenging (repeating @SadOldVet). Kos repeatedly linked to his tweets – Elias was good at understanding the legal battleground and tweeting about it. He gave me a lot of hope as this was unfolding after the election.
I read that Newsom was able to collect a huge amount of cash to beat back the recall – of course, this is money that we'd rather use offensively than fighting defense. Read that Elder was never really able to get significant cash from the right's donor base. Hoping I can sleep peacefully in CA tonight…
'…some new questions about Mike Pence’s roll'
ROLE.
Thanks.
So, this chick from the Bronx gets an invite to a gala on the other side of the East River and they expect what now? I hope she took the subway there, that would have been fun.
On the insanity side, "voter fraud" may turn out to be a dead end for the right, sooner rather than later. The more they cry fraud! with zero proof of it, they sap it of whatever power it has to be taken seriously as a real thing and reduce themselves to be sore losers who just don't have the popularity to win elections. Especially as we see the high profile purveyors of it — Lin Wood, Rudy, Sidney Powell, Mike Pillow lose their reputations, respect and livelihoods as the recede into the lunatic fringe.
Larry Elder appears to be realizing this. He started crying fraud days before the recall election day, but now he's already conceded and asked his supporters to be "gracious in defeat." He's still making some noises about fraud, but he's planting a leg on the other side so he has an exit strategy from the lunacy once it peters out.
Every time they go to that well crying fraud over a loss and can't prove it, they heighten their perception as lunatics who have no clue how to win. I believe by the time 2024 comes, voter fraud won't be as potent as it was in 2020. And if the nominee is Trump, he'll be running on voter fraud.