Ohhh, I get it now. It was the WaVe.

A lot of people are scratching their heads about why Comey sent that letter, a letter that will live in Infamy, 10 days before the most important election of our lifetimes. The email thing is so outrageous. Just think about it. There’s no evidence that Hillary sent or received this email on her personal server. There’s no indication that the FBI found any classified material, which would be the only possible reason I can think of why they want to sift through hundreds of thousands of email.

There’s no suggestion that Hillary did anything criminal.

By the way, how is she supposed to pick a cabinet if each one of her choices is going to be subjected to this lunacy? How about her friends and acquaintances? Heck, she’s sent me a TON of email. Is my laptop next?

Anyway, Harry Reid said today that Comey had investigated and found that Russia is trying to influence our election and he refused to announce that becauussse…

He didn’t want to make an announcement on that so close to the election.

Hummph.

So, why write this vague and disturbing email letter to make Clinton look bad but hold back on the Russian Connection to the Trump campaign?

I’m sure it must be obvious by now.

Think back about a week ago. The Hillary supporters were shaking their geritol bottles a little too noisily because the polls put Hillary up to 14 points ahead of her opponent. I had to warn off some giddy twitter friends because we don’t want to look too confident or voters will stay home.

But more than that, it looked like the Democrats could take the Senate AND the House. I know, right? That prospect was making even me a little faint.

You can bet that Paul Ryan and what’s his face Chaffetz were none too pleased by that. And think of the conservative FBI agents who have an interest in preserving the status quo in Congress. They think Republicans are law and order types.

Stop laughing. I’m serious.

The Republicans looked at the lead she had and saw their date with destiny. If she had all three branches, well, she could just pitch that incremental shit and go for the full Scandanavian reconstruction of the American economy and society.

Imagine a country where family leave is fully paid for 6 months, where all children no matter their color or background start life sleeping in the American version of Finnish Baby Boxes.  Imagine a country where all citizens have access to Medicare, where genuinely highly skilled immigrants get a green card to keep wages high and where billionaires pay taxes for really reelz.

That must have given Republicans an existential moment.

I’m not sure what kind of pressure they applied to get Comey to write that letter but it must have been intense.

Whatever it was, I hope Comey and his squad of Eliot Ness wannabes (yeah, yeah, Ness was treasury. So what) have been rewriting their CVs. I’m betting that Obama is going to clean house on 11/9.

Yeah, let’s watch the Republican melt down during the lame duck session about the rout of the FBI. Get your tiny violins.

In other news, Democrats are flocking to the polls like gangbusters in Austin, Texas and elsewhere around the country. So, this ill conceived email bomb might be a squib.

What will Donald do? He’s going to have to double down. It’s not over yet and I have a feeling that if psyching is out doesn’t work, they might have to break out the thuggery.

Hold hands, stay out of dark alleys and vote together. We’re almost there.

FIB Gate

Ok, let me get this straight:

1. The emails in question were found on a Weiner device, which just sounds bad
2. The emails were not sent to or from Hillary Clinton
3. The emails were to or from Huma.
4. There are thousands of them
5. The FBI doesn’t have a warrant to look at them so the FBI doesn’t know what they are about or how they connect to Hillary or anything really.
6. Nevertheless, Comey announces his intention to tell Congress to Lynch.
7. She strongly cautions him NOT to do that so as to not look political.
8. He does it anyway because he was in a tough spot. No, this makes no sense to me. We have seen Comey in tough spots before. That never stopped him from taking risks. Why should he fear a bunch of cynical, zealous politicians who are determined to pursue the Clintons so they gum up the gears of government and get nothing done for four years?

My best guess is that Comey was trying to help downticket Republicans. He knows Trump is a bad guy.

Instead, he shoots himself and his reputation in the foot.

This looks stupid, politically motivated and short sighted.

It’s pissed off so many Clinton supporters that they’re flocking to early voting sites in large numbers and donating even more to her campaign.

Looks like Jim just made his new boss look bad. It’s a not a good start to their working relationship to say the least.

This has probably already occurred to you but…

Donald Trump is just a vehicle. 

It’s his supporters who are using HIM to strike back at politicians they see as having not served them well. 

They’re not particularly enamored with Trump. They’re not interested in his policies, because, well, he doesn’t have any. 

So, I’m not sure I would waste my time trying to understand how to convert them. They are unconvertible. They want to blow stuff up. They’re about apocalypse and destruction and pitchforks and torches. 

Donald is just being his typical opportunistic self and going after this YUGE constituency that both parties abandoned. That happens to be about 37% of the population leaving 63% of the rest of us to keep our wits. 

When Donald leaves, they’ll still be around. 

The next president is going to have to work hard for everyone because next election, we might get another Trump like candidate but with much more discipline and intelligence. Then we’re all screwed.  

It’s a sign! A sign!

First, Phyllis Schlafly dies on schedule at the ripe old age of 92 the day the first general election featuring a woman nominee “officially” started. 

Now, that nominee’s hometown team wins the pennant for the first time since a goat owner put a curse on the team wayyyyyy back in the last century. They’re going to the World Series:

Go, Cubs, GO!

GOTV Dry Run Weekend 1

Hi guys,

I’m hosting the GOTV in my neighborhood. We are doing the dry run this weekend and next. If you have some time, you too can volunteer. We are looking for canvassers, van canvassers, phone bankers. Pick your degree of sedentariness. But if you are like me, you can work off the pounds by walking some neighborhoods. Here in Pittsburgh, we’ll give you some turf with some grades. What am I saying? Almost every turf has a grade.

Breaking News: Donald is feeling vengeful.  He just said this in Gettysburg:

“Every woman lied when they came forward to hurt my campaign. All of these liars will be sued after the election is over”

You know what I call this?

Trump’s ground game.

He says something outrageous, the media covers it over and over again, his crowd gets all “fired up and ready to go”.

Do you want this man as your president? Well do you?

Damn straight you don’t.

Find a GOTV site, volunteer to canvass or phone bank, and let’s elect the person with the most practical experience, the most poise under pressure, the one with actual plans.

Let’s elect Hillary in a landslide.

Addendum: Canvassing really is useful. Two canvassers just returned to say that the people they were talking to in their turf did not know that their polling place had changed.

If you aren’t sure where your polling place is, you can check IWillVote.com.

 

 

Three’s the charm?

Not gonna lie, I think I might fall asleep before this debate starts. I get up at 5 am so 9pm is pushing bedtime for me. Maybe I’ll take a nap. Don’t let that stop you from watching it and commenting.

Reports are that Roger Ailes gave up his part-time job coaching Donald because he couldn’t focus. I don’t know whether they’re trying to lower expections again – as if they could go any lower.

The most amusing part of this debate is the lengths that The Donald will go to invite guests that he thinks are going to make Hillary uncomfortable like a newly discovered ‘victim’ of Bill’s attentions or his alleged love child.

It’s almost as if Donald and his antebellum retinue simply can’t wrap their heads around a self-actualized woman who is beating their asses and threatening to bring extinction on their party. Can a woman with that much experience, confidence and momentum really ignore the feckless attempts at yumiliation Donald and his boys are planning? Um, yeah.

Duh!

That’s why the first female president was always going to be like Hillary. It had to be her. She’s been tempered by fire. She had to be an overachiever. She had to be doggedly determined. She has to be one of the few people who “knows herself” and isn’t trying to be anything else. She’s not a reality TV star. She’s not playing games or asking for a break because she’s female.

She is simply who she is. Take it or leave it. Looks like the country is going to take it.

Ok, I’m going to take a snooze now. Be back in 45.

How do we Landslide? Everybody Push #preimpeachTrump

The NY Times reports that Clinton and the Democrats are going for the whole enchilada. They’re starting to fund downticket races bigly and looking to bedevil Trump in traditionally red states like Arizona and Texas. 

Yeeeeee-hah!

But let’s not get cocky. It’s only going to landslide if everyone gets out there and votes so hard. 

Altogether now, EVERYBODY PUSH!!

Who wants to hear Stevie Nicks sing Landslide at one of Hillary’s inauguration balls?  Let’s get a hand count. 

Undecided voters… how can I put this?

The Magliozzi Dope Slap Method

I run into undecided voters all the time, not necessarily just when I’m canvassing. They usually give me the stink eye when they know I’m for Hillary and then proudly declare:

“I don’t really like either one of them. They’re both awful”.

I have two thoughts on this, generally thoughts I do not express to their faces.

1.) Um, Yeah, you are not original. In fact you are rather boring. I know that it’s probably the popular sentiment  all your friends express. Maybe they hear so many conflicting stories about Clinton they don’t know what to think. And maybe it’s the fault of the media that really wants a very close race because it is ratings gold.

So even if the candidates are not anything alike and one is clearly orders of magnitude less loathesome than the other, don’t expect the media to tell you this straight out. Ok, the editorial section of just about every newspaper in the country will tell you to avoid Trump like the smallpox infected jacket he is growing up to be. But CNN and Fox still want a photofinish because it’s *exciting* so they’re not invested in making the choice as transparently easy a no-brainer as it actually is.

You might be playing hard to get too. Just be aware that while I try to gently persuade you to recognize the care that my candidate has taken to actually, you know, know her shit, I secretly want to administer a Ray and Tom Magliozzi Dope Slap to you. I haven’t got a lot of time to sweet talk you. I’ve got 40 more houses to hit, if I’m canvassing.

If the fact that Donald Trump wants to:

1.)commit war crimes

2.)suspend freedom of the press

3.)violate Geneva Conventions

4.)revive bills of attainder by jailing his opponent, something that is forbidden by the Constitution

5.)play with nuclear weapons because why have them if you’re never going to blow stuff up?

or

6.)feels up many women he meets under the age of 35 (you’re nothing to him after that age)

isn’t enuf to you to reject him outright, I can’t think of anything to say that will make you do it. It really is gobsmacking to meet someone like you who can so easily conflate  quite possibly the worst candidate the country has ever had with a person who had a dispute with the State Department IT department. That email problem was indirectly uncovered by a zealous Republican congressional committee with an agenda on another matter altogether

In contrast, consider Trump’s policy on immigration. Just think about what it would actually mean to deport 11 million illegal aliens. How do you transport them? In cattle cars? Where do you put them while you are processing their deportations? Detention camps? Are they entitled to food and medical care when they’re waiting? The Republicans have made it illegal to feed and medicate them. So, now you’ve got millions of people waiting to be deported in squalid conditions. What about their kids? If they’re born here, are we going to strip away their citizenship? Trump says yes. How about the property they have to leave behind? You know, houses, furniture, art.  Who gets that?

Do you see where I’m going here? If it sounds too much like Schindler’s List, that’s because it’s the same damn thing.

Anyway, I don’t understand the morality of the world you are living in when you cannot tell the difference between a woman with an email problem and a man who will destabilize the nation and the world so that he can enact revenge on anyone who dares to deny him anything.

Look, it’s like this. If there was a hurricane coming and I knew it was going to devastate you, it would be my moral imperative to tell you to get out of the way, seek higher ground and leave town.

Trump is that hurricane.

Ok, so many of you break towards the end of our brief encounters and say, “well if I vote, it’s not going to be for Trump”.

What do you mean “if” you vote??

Deep down inside, your gut is telling you Donald is bad news. Have you seen the crazies that go to his rallies? They’re now threatening the reporters in Trump’s press pool. They want a revolution. And they have guns.

This is not the time to get wishy-washy.

There is literally nothing Donald Trump can do that will keep them from voting for him. And some of them know how bad he is and they’re still going to crawl over broken glass to vote for him. They’re that nuts.

If you don’t vote, the crazies definitely will. Don’t expect the rest of us to be enough. You can always complain later that Hillary isn’t perfect enough for you, and I’m sure some people are going to start doing that the minute she’s elected. But if we get stuck with Trump, it won’t be long before we will need to impeach him.

Lets pre-impeach him on November 8.

It’s not over yet. Volunteer

I’m going canvassing today, oh best beloveds. I canvassed yesterday too. Next week, I’ll be doing dry run GOTV efforts from my house. I am taking this election very seriously.

Yes, I am exhausted on the weekend.

Yes, I have errands to run and lawns to mow.

Yes, I need to decompress and hang out with people.

But I’m going to feel really stupid after the election if Donald Trump is in the White House. He’s a bad guy. He’s got a seriously personality disorder. He wants to do illegal things, war crimes, prosecute his political enemies. With Trump, you know you’re electing a Nixon before he takes office.

Let’s pre-impeach him.

But we’re not going to sway even one Trump supporter. They aren’t interested in policy. They’re driven by anger and visions of power. We aren’t going to make headway with those people.

Fortunately, with canvassing, you aren’t likely to meet any Trump people. At this stage of the game, we are contacting likely voters, asking them for a commitment, helping them plan Election Day, letting them know where they can vote, thanking them and letting them know how important their one vote is. We’re also reaching out to uncommitted Democrats, letting them know that this time, we’re not kidding. It really is that important. We remind them how prepared Hillary is, how hard she will work for families and kids, how she wants to improve infrastructure, education and healthcare.

That’s what we canvassers do.

We get a packet of houses to hit. It only takes three hours of your time. The weather has been beautiful in Pennsylvania. You can get outdoors, walk around, take in the colors of the leaves. It is a healthy thing to do.

Those of you in Pennsylvania should know how important this state is to Hillary’s win. Polls are fluctuating more than they would in a normal election year. You should not feel confident that Hillary has this all wrapped up because the person who wins is the one who gets the most supporters to the polls.

With Donald acting out on TV every day, he is firing up his base and motivating them to vote. The networks think they are watching a meltdown. No. What they are watching is Trump’s ground game.

Hillary isn’t going to debase herself on national television. So, we’ll have to get out the vote the old fashioned way, one house at a time.

Do it with us and someday you will look back on these last few weeks with pride that you were there when the country needed you most.

Stay out of it, Melania

Melania is in the news today. She’s threatening to sue People Magazine because their writer Natasha Stoynoff gave a first hand account of being groped by Donald Trump. He shoved her against a wall and forced his tongue in her mouth then whispered, ” We’re going to have an affair “.  

All together now. 

Ewww 

Melania says it never happened. This was just around the time she had given birth to Baron. But it sure sounds like Donald’s MO. So, she’s going to sue. I don’t know why she feels she has a case. The New York Times wrote an amazing retort to Trump’s lawyers about who tarnished Donald’s reputation. Read it here. That’s going to leave marks. 

Anyway, Melania, just stay out of it. We were all starting to sympathize with you, imagining what your life must be like with The Donald. Does he weigh you everyday? Portion out your carrot sticks and nonfat yogurt? Does he compare you to younger models? (No pun intended) 

Just don’t go there. You still have a reputation left. You may need it when this is over.