Steve Thomas

Massive Stop The Steal rally in Harrisburg, Pa. 11/16/20 Steve Thomas

Associated Press photographer Evan Vucci Steve Thomas

You think you know spooky? You haven't seen spooky. until you see Congressman Clay Higgins (R-LA). https://youtu.be/KqOxr1073LA Steve Thomas

I wonder if trump will ask his followers to commit mass suicide the way all cult leaders seem to do. Steve Thomas

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5e70e52c7c72720ed714313f/t/5f625c790cef066e940ea42d/1600281722253/State_Legislature_Paper.pdf WHEN A STATE HAS HELD AN ELECTION, THE LEGISLATURE MAY NOT SUBSTITUTE ITS JUDGMENT FOR THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE A State Legislature Usurping the Popular Vote Would Violate Federal Law The United States’ long history of selecting presidential electors through a popular vote has established an important and fundamental democratic norm of citizens participating in choosing the president.9 Once a state has held an election, a state legislature’s post-Election Day appointment of its own preferred slate of electors not only would contravene this fundamental democratic norm; it would also violate federal law requiring that all states must appoint their electors on Election Day, i.e., the “Tuesday after the first Monday in November, in every fourth year succeeding every election of a President and Vice President.” 3 U.S.C. § 1. A state legislature’s attempt to substitute its preferred electors for those chosen through a popular election held pursuant to state law would also deprive the state of protections in federal law that require Congress to honor the state’s chosen electors. The Electoral Count Act (“ECA”) includes a “safe harbor” provision that treats as “conclusive” a state’s chosen slate of electors if two criteria are satisfied: (1) the electors must be chosen under laws enacted prior to Election Day,and (2) the selection process, including final resolution of any disputes, must be completed at least six days prior to the meetings of the electors. 3 U.S.C. § 5. This year, the ECA “safe harbor” deadline is December 8, 2020. Dec. 14: Members of the Electoral College cast their ballots for president. A post-Election Day appointment of a state legislature’s preferred slate of electors would almost always deviate from the legal process for appointing electors established by the state prior to Election Day.10 Although the ECA safe harbor criteria are not mandatory, the consequences of failing to adhere to them are significant. Losing the safe harbor protection leaves Congress to decide which electors to count from a state, without mandatory deference to the preferences of either the state’s voters or legislature.11 A State Legislature Substituting Its Preferences for the Will of the Voters Raises Constitutional Concerns Finally, a state legislature’s post-Election Day substitution of its own preferences for those of voters raises constitutional concerns.12 The Supreme Court has explained that “[w]hen the state legislature vests the right to vote for President in its people, the right to vote as the legislature has prescribed is fundamental,” and is subject to constitutional due process and equal protection guarantees. Bush, 531 U.S. at 104-05. The due process clause, in particular, protects citizens’ reasonable reliance on the expectation under state law that they will be able to meaningfully exercise their fundamental right to vote.13 Even though this due process interest has most commonly been recognized in the context of protecting economic interests or preventing retroactive application of punitive laws, “the principle is broad enough to encompass changes in voting rules that inappropriately unsettle reasonable expectations concerning the operation of the voting process,” as a post-Election Day legislative usurpation of the popular vote would surely do.14 CONCLUSION A state legislature’s post-Election Day substitution of its own preferences for those of voters would violate federal law. Even if circumstances delay the final determination of the results of a state’s election beyond Election Day, a state legislature may not usurp the electoral process under the pretext of declaring a failed election. Absent a true election failure—something the country has not experienced in modern history—federal law requires states to appoint electors on Election Day. A state legislature’s attempt to override the will of voters would also violate fundamental democratic norms, jeopardize the state’s entitlement to ensure that Congress defers to its chosen slate of electors, and raise significant constitutional concerns. Steve Thomas

Far-Right Activist Laura Loomer Loses House Bid by Will Sommer Updated Nov. 03, 2020 https://www.thedailybeast.com/far-right-activist-laura-loomer-loses-house-bid “Far-right activist Laura Loomer has lost her long-shot House bid in Florida, despite support from Donald Trump and other leading Republicans. Loomer, who has been banned from most social networks and Uber and Lyft for her attacks on Muslims, emerged from the Republican primary in Florida as the rare MAGA internet candidate who was able to actually secure a party nomination. But she failed to oust Rep. Lois Frankel (D-FL) in the heavily Democratic district, with AP calling the race in favor of Frankel at 8:00 Eastern.” This is Donald Trump's Congressional District down in Florida. Steve Thomas

You can complain all you want about Donald Trump Jr. soliciting recruits for an army and calling for total war; or Steve Bannon calling for FBI Director Christopher Wray and Dr. Anthony Fauci to be beheaded and their heads mounted on pikes outside the White House; but for me, this takes the cake: - Fox News The Five co-host Greg Gutfeld - “I don’t expect somebody in the middle of the night to come in and open up and screw the turkey, which is what happened last night. They screwed the turkey. It’s all this stuff goes on—you wake up and something is going on. I thought that was really strange.” If you get an invitation to Thanksgiving dinner at that guy's house, I'd decline it if I were you. Steve Thomas

With DT's idiot son and his drunken idiot leading the election's legal challenges, is it any wonder that all of them are failing? I just saw it compared to Pinky and the Brain's attempts to take over the world. Ha. Steve Thomas

https://www.rawstory.com/2020/11/trump-campaign-manager-sparks-confusion-with-claim-that-president-is-alive-and-well/ “Campaign manager Bill Stepien insisted President Donald Trump was “alive and well…” “Stepien made the pronouncement during a call with reporters as several key states continue counting votes in the presidential election...” Um... Steve Thomas

On Thursday, as the remaining votes continued to paint a grim picture for the president’s re-election chances, Trump adviser Harlan Hill demanded that Republican groups start “bussing Trump supporters” to major cities in swing states where ballots are being counted. https://twitter.com/Harlan/status/1324314123308572672 HARLAN Z. HILL @Harlan "Republican groups should start bussing Trump supporters to Philly, Phoenix, and Detroit. Make them feel our level of pissed off." 5:34 AM · Nov 5, 2020 Yeah, they had such good luck with shuttles in Omaha and all. You go ahead and abandon a bunch of people off in the middle of Detroit or Philadelphia. See how that goes. Although why he would want to drop off a bunch of kissing people in an inner city kind of escapes me. Steve Thomas

W., Quoting from the article you cited, "Sadly, the voters who said in 2016 that they chose Trump because they thought he was “just like them” turned out to be right. Now, by picking him again, those voters are showing that they are just like him: angry, spoiled, racially resentful, aggrieved, and willing to die rather than ever admit that they were wrong." As I watched the election results rolling in Tuesday night, I was struck by the fact that in state after state after state, the cities were voting for Joe Biden and the countryside was voting for Trump. I have lived in small towns most of my life, and the one thing people in small towns hate more than anything is change. People in small towns are insular. They're a small group of people surrounded by large areas of either agricultural land or forests. Their lives are consumed by their immediate family and friends. They don't read the papers or watch the news or read books. I actually lived in a town that a history book of that town described it as being "the town that history passed by." In his campaign slogan, Donald Trump embodied that world view. It was "Make America Great Again." It wasn't "Make America Great.". it was "Make American Great Again." It expressed a longing to return to a time before all this change came in. I've been wondering what this foretells for the future. On the one hand, small towns are drying up because jobs are not to be found. On the other hand, more people are moving out of the cites to escape the crime and congestion. These people will be more educated and more adaptable to change. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. It will probably take several generations. Steve Thomas

Jim, If the Electoral College is tied and the election goes to the House, each state in the House gets one vote. There are more Republican States in the House of Representatives than Democratic ones, and Trump wins. The Senate votes for the Vice President, and Pence wins. Steve Thomas

David. Theoretically, I think the Electoral College is a good thing. If you look down through history, you can see what mobs are capable of. My complaint with the Electoral College is that for the most part, they are chosen by political parties. Why should private "companies", or political parties be allowed to choose people who are voting for the public, or all of us? What would happen if we made it a law that members of the Electoral College could not be a member of, or belong to, any political party; and that bribery, or attempted bribery of a member of the Electoral College was a felony? Steve Thomas

https://twitter.com/judgeyourself99/status/1324032771187220480/photo/1 Steve Thomas

Andrew, Four years ago, Donald Trump said, "I could shoot somebody on Fifth Ave,, and I wouldn't lose any votes." He has now killed 225,000 of us, and he still hasn't lost any votes. How high will will we let the body count go? Steve Thomas

Roger Stone Calls For Trump To ‘Declare Martial Law’ To Seize Power If He Loses By Mary Papenfuss 09/12/2020 https://www.huffpost.com/entry/roger-stone-martial-law-donald-trump-election_n_5f5d3e28c5b62874bc1dd6d2?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYmluZy5jb20v&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAD1o5Apvww7J37g-qC8ID4YeSFyFLtYFp8ZnKKCKzJHtxeHN8vP4wXplxbKa8H9AiEBQzVpCLy5BLd73l0Zl7FIsnAGoCuJ149WmQKcZXZj8blH4vmH0ab-x3LvHYx57DFKSl4divNQSwrf3e1e1Z7E_SuJ8ZfYhEOAPawy6joLE “Long-time Donald Trump confidant, and convicted felon, Roger Stone said that the president should declare “martial law” to seize power if he loses what Stone characterized as an already corrupt election. The results will only be legitimate if the “real winner” — Trump — takes office, regardless of what the votes say, Stone declared. A loss would apparently be justification for Trump to use force to take over the nation. Stone, who worked as an adviser in the last Trump campaign, made the astonishing statements Thursday on the InfoWars program of far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. Both men talked of an ongoing “coup” against Trump…” “Stone appeared resigned to a Trump loss — but blamed it on the baseless claim that early voting has already been “corrupted.” To safeguard Trump’s position, Stone called for federal authorities to seize ballots in Nevada, for FBI agents to physically block certain voters from casting their ballots, and for Trump to use his powers for widespread arrests to solidify his power, Media Matters first reported.” “While such off-the-rail suggestions could easily be shrugged off from most, Stone is a high-profile friend of the president and has his ear, critics fear. Harvard law professor and Constitutional expert Laurence Tribe warned that Stone’s “advocacy of totalitarian takeover by Trump has to be taken seriously.” - more- Steve Thomas

Donald Trump has declared that he won the election and demanded that the vote counting be stopped. Since legally he can't do that, the only reason for doing so is that he has opened the door for civil unrest. Donald Trump is trying to induce insurrection, so that he can invoke the Insurrection Act and declare martial law. Steve Thomas

Joe, America disappointed me tonight. I've been disappointed since the 1960's. Steve Thomas

Andrew, Been to Miles City a couple of times. Lonely country out there, but that's where Big Sky really means something. Your whole being gets swallowed up there. The $5 wasn't a bribe. It was the speeding fine back then, and you could pay the policeman directly. Those were the days. Steve Thomas

Andrew, What part of Montana? I lived in Bozeman for a while. I'd move back there in a heartbeat. That's not white privilege. That's Montana privilege. 🙂 Do drivers in MT still drive around with $5 bills stuck in their visors to pay the State Police when they stop you for speeding on the Interstate? Steve Thomas

Lifelong #Republican Les Otten to Cast First Vote at Midnight in Dixville Notch for #Democrat @JoeBiden His video explaining why. https://twitter.com/DixvilleVote/status/1323406240383381506?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw And that's why Biden will win this election. Steve Thomas

A very tired-sounding Trump discussing Barron on Fox & Friends 11/03/20: "He had it for about two seconds. Ya know it just went through him, and it's gone. The immune system on children, you gotta get the children back to work." Yup. That just about says it all. Big, beautiful coal. Let's get those little brats back in the mines where they belong. Steve Thomas

BIDEN WINS!!!! Clean Sweep as Biden racks the table Unanimous vote as Biden overwhelms opposition The vote was 5 – 0 in Dixville Notch, Township in northern New Hampshire. Voting began at midnight and was completed at 12:01. The Township has 12 residents. Steve Thomas

Yet Again, Trump Rally Attendees Stranded On-Site For Hours After Trump Leaves “Hundreds of Trump supporters in Rome, Georgia, huddled in the cold for hours waiting on buses to take them back to their cars after the president spoke Sunday.” By Ja’han Jones 11/02/20 https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-rally-attendees-stranded-again_n_5fa04535c5b60e7e37d0cf5e “On Sunday night ― and for the second time in one week ― hundreds of Trump supporters leaving a rally were forced to wait hours in the cold for buses meant to drive them back to their cars.” https://twitter.com/JulieNBCNews/status/1323144589448916993?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw Steve Thomas

If you're going to protest, go to Barcelona. https://boingboing.net/2020/11/02/street-pianist-plays-on-as-barcelona-ignites-with-protests.html Steve Thomas