20 minutes – Jimmy Kimmel – Special monologue for Republicans (October 29th)
Once again we turn to our long time friend and occasional contributor Don Paulson who packs a lot of punch into a few words.
Usually in an election year someone says, “this is the most important election in our lifetime.”
This time it’s actually true. Donald Trump is a clear and present danger to democracy and the United States of America.
Contrast that to Vice-President Kamala Harris. She is running on the Democratic ticket to become President of the United States, and has earned our vote. In the four years of the Biden/Harris Administration we have seen the country prosper. Record highs in the stock market. Over 15.7 million jobs added. The inflation rate is down under 2.5%. Kamala Harris has also been at the forefront of many policy initiatives in this Administration.
By urging an armed mob to the Capitol to stop the election certification process on January 6, 2021 many think Trump committed treason against the United States. You’ll recall the video of the riot in real time- several police officers were badly injured that day from Trump’s mob- no “Back the Blue” that day!
With good reason, Trump was impeached twice as President. He is a serial liar, from back then up to now. He is a convicted felon, with three more trials ahead of him. The evidence against him seems overwhelming. Yet Grassley, Ernst, Miller-Meeks, Hinson, Feenstra, and Nunn will not denounce him.
Note that Trump is increasingly talking gibberish, resorting to name-calling, and acting strange at his rallies.
There are many other reasons to not vote for Trump. One big one is “Project 2025”, which is a plan being cooked up by the Heritage Foundation and Trump’s former (and wannabe) cronies. It is over 900 pages long, and is a wish list and a “how-to” blueprint to steer the United States toward dictatorship.
The choice for President is democracy with Kamala Harris, or dictatorship with Donald Trump.
Let me add that you wouldn’t want Trump as a friend, as a neighbor, as a co-worker, as a boss, nor would you want to do business with him. Why would anyone want him as president?
President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden hand out candy at Halloween (1 hour)
One of the more interesting stories in Iowa in the past week is how Iowa’s SoS Paul Pate has tried to do his MAGA part in this election by suddenly coming up with a list of what he claims are 2022 non-citizens who may attempt to vote in this election. Of course this is hokum and Pate is merely trying to inflame the hate against immigrants and “others.”
So, Paul Pate sheds any dignity he has for a nod from the MAGA crowd. “Puppet Paul” seems to fit the situation. Not to be outdone, Brenna Bird started chirping her inanities on this story. Iowa deserves so much better from its public servants.
Questions, I’ve got questions!
A) Trying to hold a campaign rally in Albuquerque Thursday, the Trump campaign ran into what problem?
B) Since Trump is a felon out on bail awaiting sentencing, he violated terms of his current release by doing what to Liz Cheney Thursday?
C) Tony Hinchcliffe achieved his 15 minutes of fame Sunday. Who is he and what did he do?
D) What MSNBC long time newser announced she would retire after the inauguration next year?
E) Let’s sneak in a few election questions. When was the last time that a Republican candidate for president won the popular vote on their initial run?
F) This could be a record. A Russian court fined what US company 20 decillion dollars for blocking Russian media content?
G) The US is far from the only country getting wild, extreme weather. What European country experienced a year’s worth of rain in eight hours last week causing major flooding?
H) As for voter participation in elections, where does the US rank among world nations?
I) DonOLD Trump once again tries to intimidate media. Last week he sued what network for $10 Billion over the network’s interview of what candidate?
J) Where will VP Harris spend election night?
K) Vice-President Kamala Harris gave her “closing argument” before a crowd estimated at what size on the Ellipse in Washington DC Tuesday?
L) After a cosplay stint as a McDonald’s French frier last week, what cosplay did Candidate Trump engage in this week at a Wisconsin airport?
M) What news company received 250,000 cancellations after its owner squashed an endorsement for president?
N) The moving vans showed up at whose upper east side apartment in Manhattan new owners who received the apartment as partial payment in a lawsuit could look at the property?
O) Election Day as “the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November” became law in what year?
P) Speaking of the Pate fiasco in Iowa, what two organizations filed lawsuits concerning Pate’s list of ‘potential illegal voters’?
Q) Good news in Cedar Rapids as the strike at what company ended Thursday night?
R) Companies in the US are preparing to do what should Candidate Trump somehow become president?
S) In what may be early violence and vandalism associated with this year’s election, ballot drop boxes were set on fire in what two states?
T) During his presidency, Candidate Trump tried to swap Puerto Rico for what other island with Denmark?
The fact that I know more about Joe Biden’s one alleged “garbage” comment than I do about Donald Trump’s years of raping and sexually assaulting girls within Jeffrey Epstein’s child sex trafficking ring shows exactly what is terribly wrong with today’s political mainstream media. – Andrea Junker
A) They hadn’t paid a $400,000 bill from a previous event so Albuquerque refused to grant a permit. The event was held outside city limits
B) Threatening to have her shot by a firing squad
C) Hinchcliffe is a far right ‘comedian’ who gained his fame Sunday by calling Puerto Rico ‘garbage’
D) Andrea Mitchell
E) GHW Bush in 1988
F) Google ( that’s $20,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 – I think that is enough zeroes)
G) Spain – the Valencia region on the Mediterranean side to be exact – as much as 400 mm (16 inches)
H) 139th out of 172
I) CBS. For the Harris interview on CBS 60 Minutes
J) On the campus of her Alma Mater, Howard University
K) 75,000
L) he dressed up like a garbage collector and rode in the passenger seat of a garbage truck emblazoned with a large ’Trump’ sticker.
M) Washington Post
N) Rudy Giuliani’s. Giuliani lost the apartment as part of a settlement with Shae Moss and Ruby Freeman
O) 1845. Early November was after harvest, before winter and having the election on Tuesday gave folks a chance to go to town without traveling on Sunday.
P) the ACLU and LULAC
Q) Cargill
R) They are working on price rises should tariffs become law. Expect steep price rises should tariffs come in.
S) Washington and Oregon.
T) Greenland
Donald Trump talks about women at his rallies like they are objects, he doesn’t see them as equals. – Alex Cole
30 minutes: Vice-President Harris closing argument speech at the DC Ellipse October 29th
As America’s corporate media does all it can to turn this presidential election into a “horse race” with a photo finish at the end, it (the media) has done the public a huge disservice by making DonOLD Trump appear sane and competent. They have also turned inconsequential “cultural” issues into major themes while ignoring truly consequential, life altering stories.
Among the extremely consequential stories the media ignores as much as they can is abortion and women’s health care. As women die due to pregnancy complications made deadly by insane anti-abortion laws (including Iowa), the media is doing all they can to downplay the MAGA party’s responsibility for the situation.
Another major issue we hear little about is the climate crisis. Earlier this week Spain suffered through rains and storms in the category of the recent hurricanes in the eastern US. Weather around the world is much harsher, much more damaging and the power of the extreme weather is only getting stronger. Our children and grandchildren will be living in a hellscape due to weather.
And while the media has sloughed off on its duty to cover those two stories it has completely dropped the ball on what the economic consequences would be of electing either Trump or Harris. Even before that the media has totally failed in reporting the reality that the American economy is in perhaps the best shape it has ever been in. The media simply takes Trump’s statements that the economy is bad and regurgitates them in their role as “both siders.”
Nor does the media do anything to tell the story of how this administration guided the country through the drastic inflationary environment left by the Trump administration to bring us to an almost miraculous “soft landing” of today.
Yet as we approach Election Day the US economy is one of the very few economies in the world that is stable and growing. The handoff from Biden to Harris should be seamless.
Businesses love stable and growing economies. They can make plans and build offices and factories. Instead of reacting they can implement strategies.
One of the biggest differences between the choices this year is Trump’s promise of policies that will dramatically destabilize our current economy. Policies such as more tax cuts for the rich, deporting tens of millions, tariffs that will hugely raise prices of consumer goods while wrecking companies, ending or drastically cutting Social Security and Medicare and the newest wrinkle putting Elon Musk in charge of slashing government spending.
Economists across the country and world are loudly warning that such policies will be disastrous. Yet, Trump’s policy gang forges ahead with their plan aided by their new bible called “Project 2025.”
VP Harris on the other hand was instrumental in framing the policies that took an economy bereft by inflation to an economy where inflation has been almost completely tamed while at the same time creating over 15 million new jobs and a staggering amount of small businesses. As I said, today America is one of the few nations with stability.
Thanks to Biden and Harris, businesses can make plans based on a stable economy. Families also can make decisions based on a stable economy. Markets can make purchases and trades confident that the economy won’t shift overnight. A stable economy also gives government agencies the ability to steer the future rather than reacting to sudden changes.
Biden and Harris deserve huge praise from the country for what they have achieved. It is too bad the media has failed to see a story of historic consequence and therefore has failed to acknowledge what Biden and Harris have done. But more than that the media has failed miserably in warning the public of the sever economic consequences of voting for Trump.
The word “bombshell” has been so grossly overused for so long that it is guaranteed to make anyone’s eyes roll. But what other word fits?
With just a week until the presidential election, Donald Trump’s close ally and major economic adviser Elon Musk is warning supporters to expect economic chaos, a crashing stock market and financial “hardship” — albeit “temporary” — if Trump wins.
It sounds so extreme that Trump fans must either wonder why he had been so foolish as to say the silent part out loud, or maybe hope that the whole story is made up — “fake news.”
But it’s very real.
Billionaire Musk, Trump’s would-be budget-cutting and government-efficiency czar, also says there will be “no special cases” and “no exceptions” when he starts slashing federal spending after Trump takes office.
Note that “temporary” is a very imprecise word. Remember as Trump left office last time the country was hemorrhaging a million jobs a month.
Writing about this in her daily newsletter, historian Heather Cox Richardson noted the similarity between what Musk is predicting and a previous economic leader under Herbert Hoover predicted:
This exchange echoes the prescription of Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon, whose theories had done much to create the Great Crash of 1929, for restoring a healthy economy. “Liquidate labor, liquidate stocks, liquidate the farmers, liquidate real estate,” he told President Herbert Hoover. “It will purge the rottenness out of the system. High costs of living and high living will come down. People will work harder, live a more moral life. Values will be adjusted, and enterprising people will pick up the wrecks from less competent people.”
Mellon, at least, was reacting to an economic crisis thrust upon an administration. Musk is seeking to create one.
Common sense says vote for Harris AND give her a congress that will address the nation’s real problems.
Perhaps the longest, most expensive and dirtiest campaign is coming to an end. Your job – your most important job – is now at hand. You simply must vote. Not voting in this election is the same as voting for the opponent.
Iowans in the first congressional district (I think it was the second district then) saw a great candidate in Rita Hart go down to defeat by a mere 6 votes. In her place the district got one of the poorest representatives in congress, Mariannette Miller-Meeks.
I bring this up to show how important any single vote can be. Thom Hartmann on the Hartmann report Wednesday makes this point. Your vote is not one in millions, but one in what ever the difference is between candidate. In 2020 Iowa’s 2nd congressional district a vote not cast was one in six. Very crucial.
This year we have a race with very clear delineation between the candidates and their parties. It boggles my mind how anyone in this country could possibly be undecided.
One side stands for ending our democracy and replacing it with an authoritarian government with a dictator type leader. The power of government will be used for revenge against the leader’s enemies. The motivation behind their candidate to run is primarily to stay out of jail and secondarily to settle some scores using the power of the government.
Those who believe that voting for MAGA candidates will in no way affect them will them will be sadly mistaken. Perhaps those who will have the biggest surprise will be businesses when Project 2025 and financial czar-to-be Elon Musk’s monetary policies bring chaos to the market place.
The United States has become the premier economy in the world through stability. A Trump administration will upend the stability and sow chaos with policies such as mass deportations, tariffs, interference in the Federal Reserve’s guidance of the economy, Musk’s forays into massive expenditure cuts and potential moves into cryptocurrency. The predictable chaos will make our financial lives unstable at all levels.
Couple that with the push to end Social Security and Medicare, Medicaid and Obamacare and what America will get will be a society in constant turmoil. You can certainly forget about retirement and anything else that goes with financially stability.
Of course our media has totally avoided such real issues. Their focus is to make money on this race by drawing eyeballs to watch their commercials. People don’t want to think about real issues, they want pop and zazz. So the media features silly squabbles and “cultural” issues. They have for the most part avoided one of the most important issue for half the country (really more than that) in abortion.
There is a solid 40 to 45% who will be voting for a person whose whole life is built on lies, theft, misinformation and intimidation. He is obviously old and incapable of such a demanding job now. That means that the actual day to day running of our country if he is elected will be done by others such as Musk, RFK, jr.whom the people will have no power over.
In short, we are on a potential path to choose to completely upend our form of government so a childlike character can fulfill his fantasies and stay out of jail. For that many are willing to throw everyone’s lives into total chaos. Voting for Trump would be like bringing Hoover back after FDR had fixed the destruction that Hoover created during his previous term as president.
And fixing the chaos that a second time will be impossible.
Voting for any MAGA candidate at any level, from courthouse to White House is a vote for undermining our economy and introducing vast instability into everyone’s life.
Four Iowa naturalized citizens name Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate in suit.
Plaintiff Dike Williams states old data is being used by SOS. “Out of date records are also being used to make voting more burdensome for other new citizens.”
Politicial science professor cites Rep. Miller-Meeks’ infamous six vote margin to point to the fact that every vote is imortant.
My take on this is Paul Pate and fellow Republicans do not care that they are being sued. They want this public fight to drive their voters to the polls. If they lose the suit, no big deal, they will try again and again until they have suppressed every non-republican vote. This is business as usual for republicans.
So glad to see Dems utilizing radio. The Phil Wiese campaign ads aren’t your typical PAC cookie-cutter, dark, gloomy ads. They remind me of the Paul Wellstone senate campaign ads from back in the day – smart, engaging, lighthearted, funny, punchy. Phil doesn’t just have the best ads of course – he is also by far the better candidate in this race. If you live in House District 82 (Scott-Cedar-Muscatine), run don’t walk to vote for Phil who is aiming to unseat scary MAGA Republican Bobby Kaufmann.
Find out how to vote here. Check out Phil’s Facebook page here. Remember sharing is caring!
Phil Wiese on Facebook:
“We made another radio ad just for Halloween, and it turned out so good , we just had to share it here too! Hope you enjoy. Happy Halloween!”
Here’s a plug for the Iowa Sierra Club. They are doing great work for the environment and deserve our support. Check out the newsletter and sign up for updates here.
The October 2024, newsletter from the Iowa Chapter of the Sierra Club is now available. In this issue, you will find:Protecting the Environment
Call to Action – Iowa’s environment is facing significant challenges and a significant drop in state revenue makes things even more challenging.
Book discussion on “Crossings – How Road Ecology is Shaping the Future of Our Planet” by Ben Goldfarb, December 3, 7pm. Our road infrastructure has been the source of significant loss of wildlife across the country, resulting in deaths and disruption of their lives. Roads have interrupted migration patterns. They interfere with animals that want to move back and forth to nesting grounds. Furthermore, people and their vehicles are at risk from collisions with wildlife attempting to cross roads. The book also explores ways that the fragments of habitat can be reconnected. Throughout the book Ben Goldfarb addresses the issue with humor and great insight. We hope you can join in on the discussion.
CO2 Pipeline Update
Summit Fined $10,000 for Acquiring Easements Before the Informational Meetings. In August, Summit Carbon Solutions announced that it had acquired the easements that Navigator Heartland Greenway had obtained from landowners before Navigator abandoned its carbon dioxide pipeline project. Iowa law states that a pipeline company cannot purchase an easement or other interest in land before an informational meeting is held. But Summit’s acquisition of the Navigator easements occurred before the informational meetings. This transaction violated the Iowa law, resulting in a $10,000 fine.
ADM CO2 Sequestration Site Has 2 Leaks – The nation’s first permitted commercial carbon dioxide (CO2) sequestration site, owned by ADM in Decatur, Illinois, two, leaks. ADM knew something was wrong for months, but the Environmental Protection Agency and the public just found out recently.
Climate Change
The Dirty Truth About Utility Climate Pledges – the Sierra Club recently released its fourth Dirty Truth Report. The 50 utility companies in the U.S. most invested in fossil fuels are planning to replace just half of their existing fossil fuel generation with clean energy by 2035.
One thing we all have in common is that we would like to be able to look into the future. No one has such a power, but some are able to make some solid predictions based on interpretation of previous events.One of America’s best interpreters of what has happened before is Historian Heather Cox Richardson.
It is Sunday. There is a monumental election next week. Many describe it as the most important in our country’s history. As the campaign has gone on, the issues seem to shake out to a few major issues. Among those perhaps the most important now is the simple survival of the country. MAGA and the extreme right make no pretense of planning to change our checks and balance system with an autocratic form of government with DonOLD Trump at the head.
This idea is so foreign to what America has been, but nothing is guaranteed. Even the fact that such a change could even be possible high lights the fact that our democratic form of government only survives when everybody agrees on the rules. Trump has totally broken that norm.
Now that Trump has broken the norm, getting that agreement again may be very hard.
Give a listen and see what noted Historian Richardson sees coming in the days, weeks and months following this election.
In a similar vein, Rachel Bitecofer takes a very sobering look at what happened in 1933 when a man Trump has been heard to praise, took office in Germany. The comments and threats that Trump has been filling his rallies with are not comedy. They are serious. If he gets power, will there be anything that can stop him? What will the military do?
Even having Trump this close to power once more is lighting a match in the dynamite shack. And those who think it will not affect themselves better get ready for a big surprise.
“A republic, if you can keep it.”
–Benjamin Franklin’s response to Elizabeth Willing Powel’s question: “Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?”
Governor Kim Keynolds: (515) 281-5211 U.S. Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121 Iowa Members of Congress - Rep. Randy Feenstra (R) - Rep. Ashley Hinson (R) - Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R) - Rep. Zach Nunn (R) Iowa US Senators - Senator Joni Ernst (R) - Senator Charles Grassley (R)
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