As we approach this weekend, a lot of people in California are thinking, “Didn’t we vote to do away with the twice-a-year clock changing and all that Spring Forward/Fall Back stuff?”
The answer is, yes, we did. In November 2018 we voted on Proposition 7, and a clear majority of us – 60 percent – said, “Let’s stop this clock-changing crap.”
And it wasn’t only in California. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures’ website,
“In the last three years, thirteen states have enacted legislation to provide for year-round daylight saving time.”
But this weekend, we’ll be turning our clocks back…again…
And here’s the reason:
No matter how many states pass legislation to do away with the clock changing, nothing can happen because it would require an act of Congress to make the change.
That means that these folks must agree:
And Trump would have to sign it. And while, during his hospital stay, Trump proved he was good at signing a blank piece of paper…
There’s nothing for Trump to sign, blank or otherwise.
Because at present, getting the House and the Senate to agree on what day it is, much less on daylight saving time, is pretty much impossible.
And even if the House and Senate came together and passed a bill, Trump is way too busy losing the election to pay any attention.
So we’ll have to wait until Biden and Harris are in the White House…
And Democrats hold the House and win a majority in the Senate…
And the congressional gridlock…
Starts to ease.
Till then, we’ll be doing the clock-change thing twice a year.
The hot, humid summer gives way to cooler fall temperatures. People start breaking out their warmer clothes, and trees start breaking out their amazing fall foliage…
And an in-law family member – I’ll call her “G” – has an October ritual with her side of the family:
A visit to Yates Cider Mill:
For years G and her family have gathered at Yates Cider Mill every October, including this year, on October 24, the same day that this story ran:
“Record-breaking COVID-19 numbers.”
“New daily coronavirus record.”
So even though this October isn’t like last October, or any October in living memory…
That didn’t stop G and her family.
And those pesky face masks didn’t get in the way, either, especially when worn beneath the nose…
Yates Cider Mill has been around a long time, and it offers all sorts of attractions – pony rides, petting zoo, river walk. And plenty to buy – fudge, apples, gifts, apparel, donuts, and of course, Yates famous cider.
So there are lots of reasons to visit Yates Cider Mill.
And this year, I’d say lots of reasons not to:
Now, Yates Cider Mill is in step with the times – sort of. On their website there’s a link to their “COVID-19 Safety Plan,” where they “PROMISE to keep you safe” by providing hand sanitizer, increasing spacing at the register, screening employees, and ramping up their cleaning procedures.
And in return, says Yates…
“Masks are not required at all times.”
On October 24, apparently for G and family, masks were not required, period:
Yes, there were a few masks in evidence. They’re especially effective when worn beneath the nose, beneath the chin…
On the morning of October 25, Michigan’s governor, Gretchen Witmer, appeared on Local 4 News, a day after the state reported the highest one-day increase in COVID-19 cases:
The governor said, “We have to double-down on mask wearing, not having gatherings, having real physical distancing, ensuring that we’re hand-washing…We need everyone to do their part so we can avoid having to take steps backward…We all have to be a part of bringing these numbers down.”
This story appeared that same morning:
I hope this poll continues to be true.
And I hope, for G and her family…
That that trip to Yates Cider Mill doesn’t turn into a…
“Thousands and thousands of small white flags stand sentinel outside the D.C. Armory in Southeast, near RFK Stadium. When the breeze blows, the flags ripple in unison like a vast troupe of dancers, swaying between the long shadows cast by the trees that line the armory parade grounds.”
The “D.C. Armory in Southeast” is the D.C. Armory Parade Ground located in Washington, D.C. near the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium:
The “small white flags” are a public art project by D.C.-area artist Suzanne Brennan Firstenberg:
The first flags are placed by the artist.
Each of the “thousands and thousands” of flags represents an American who has died of COVID-19.
The art project is entitled, “In America: How Could This Happen…”
The COVID-19 U.S. death count on Friday, October 23.
And as the death toll grows, so, too, will the number of flags, reaching an estimated 240,000 by the project’s end on November 6.
The flags are being installed with the help of dozens of community volunteers, some who have lost loved ones to COVID-19. Members of the public are invited to visit during daylight hours to plant flags, which are available at the display, and personalize them with the names of lost loved ones.
Visitors must wear face masks, and hand sanitizer is available at reception tables.
Firstenberg began to conceptualize the project in March, a few weeks into the pandemic. Her vision was for an art installation that fully captured the magnitude of the public health crisis.
“This is public participatory art,” she says. “I want the community to come plant flags right alongside me. I want them to realize the importance of individual lives.”
And the community is coming – to plant flags…
To pray…
Because, as Firstenberg wrote in an Instagram post,
“Each Flag Has A Soul”
Instead of ending her project on November 6, if Firstenberg kept adding flags…
Recently I had the pleasure of taking two mail-in ballots – my husband’s and mine – to a very convenient drop-off location at our local library here in San Diego County.
This location was designated by, and manned by, the San Diego County Registrar of Voters office.
The box was located outside the library on a table, and two paid poll workers from the Registrar’s Office were present.
I presented two ballots, and one of the workers asked if I was dropping off for someone else. When I answered in the affirmative, she pointed to the back of my husband’s ballot envelope where, on the right side, under “Person Authorized to Return,” there was a place to print my name, sign my name, and write the nature of our relationship, like this example:
I did as she asked, and dropped both ballots in the box.
Not all Registrar ballot drop-off boxes are manned by paid poll workers, but they are official, legal drop-off boxes deployed and secured by the county elections office:
The next day I went online to track our ballots – a super-simple process – and learned that “Your ballot has been accepted. Your ballot was received by your county elections office and will be counted.”
This happened so quickly because the ballot box went from the library directly to the county elections office.
This was an all-around easy experience, and I have the peace of mind that my husband’s and my ballot will be counted.
Not everyone can do this for a variety of reasons – perhaps they’re bedridden, or otherwise too ill to make the trip to a drop-off location. Perhaps they feel safer staying home during the pandemic. Perhaps there’s a group of people – in a nursing home, for example – who need to stay in place and give their ballots to a trusted person.
Whatever the reason, in California it’s legal for someone else to drop off your ballot. It’s also legal for someone to collect a number of ballots and take them to a drop-off location.
This is called “ballot collection.”
According to an October 13 article in the Sacramento Bee:
“Ballot collection allows a designated person to deliver a voter’s mail ballot for them, and Californians have been doing it for several years.
“Previously, if California a voter was unable to return their mail ballot themselves, they could designate a family member or person living in the same household to deliver it to a ballot drop box, the county elections office, or send it back in the mail.
“But in 2016, under Assembly Bill 1921, the state Legislature expanded the law to let any person, not just a family member, return someone’s ballot for them.”
The article goes on to say,
“Republicans originally opposed ballot collection, saying such practices could open the door for fraud and could give Democrats an unfair advantage.”
Critics of the process call it “ballot harvesting.”
Including this critic, in this May 2020 story:
How times have changed – and how Republican have changed their tune.
So far, only in California. So far…
The California GOP decided to do their own ballot collecting, and installed more than 50 of their own ballot drop-off boxes in at least three California counties – Fresno, Los Angeles and Orange:
Some GOP ballot boxes look like this, with the word “Official” on the label:
Other boxes look like this – that taped-on label is a nice touch:
And I thought this “Authorized Secure” cardboard moving box in a local smog check business was an especially good idea:
California officials were not pleased, according to an October 13 story on ABC Action News:
“California’s chief elections official on Monday ordered Republicans to remove unofficial, illegal ballot drop boxes from churches, gun shops and other locations and Attorney General Xavier Becerra warned those behind the ‘vote tampering’ could face prosecution.”
(For future reference, in addition to Attorney General Becerra, another official we’ll hear a lot from is Secretary of State Alex Padilla.)
The California GOP responded as follows:
“Republicans say their collection of ballots is no different than the practice of ‘ballot harvesting’ where a third party collects signed ballot envelopes.
“‘Because ballot harvesting is legal, we wanted to be open about it,’ says Fresno County GOP Chairman Fred Vanderhoof. ‘We let people know on Facebook and social media that they could drop their ballot at a secure ballot box and we’ll take it down for them.”
Also on October 13:
“Today, the Secretary of State’s office, jointly with the (California) Department of Justice, issued a cease and desist order to the California Republican party to remove these drop boxes.”
Also – of course – what’s-his-name, now enamored of ballot harvesting, had to put in his two cents’ worth:
Representative Devin Nunes (R-CA), appearing on Central Valley radio station KMJ on October 13, had an equally articulate response:
“Screw you! You created the law, we’re going to ballot harvest.’’
But, according to an October 14 article in Politico:
“Officials argued that the placement of unauthorized drop boxes differs from Democratic ‘ballot harvesting’ efforts because voters assume their ballot will be delivered via an official-looking mechanism – all without signing their ballots.”
The deadline for the California Republican Party to comply or respond to the cease and desist order was Thursday (October 15) night.
The night of October 15 came and went.
Let’s go back to that phrase, “all without signing their ballots.”
That is not referring to the voter signing their ballot. It’s referring to when the voter gives their ballot to someone to deliver it – as my husband gave his ballot to me.
Let’s look again at that image of the back of a ballot return envelope:
Let’s assume that the people who put their ballots in the GOP drop boxes thought they were doing the right thing – using an “official-looking mechanism.” In other words, a Registrar of Voters drop box, with ballots taken straight to the county elections office.
They would have had no reason to have someone else fill out information on the back of their ballot envelope.
But I had to print my name, write my name, and define our relationship so I could deliver my husband’s ballot.
By placing these ballot boxes, the GOP has become the third party responsible for delivering the ballots – haven’t they?
That means they must fill out the back of every ballot envelope collected in their GOP drop boxes – doesn’t it?
But the GOP is not the “Person Authorized to Return,” as is specified on the envelope – is it?
So…?
If GOP people fill out the back of the envelope, do they sign “John Doe” or whomever? And in “Relationship to Voter,” they’ll write…
“Friendly neighborhood church”?
“Friendly neighborhood gun shop”?
Or – as in that cardboard drop box location, “Friendly local smog check business”?
I have visions of the GOP rushing to put together a commercial promoting their drop-off locations…
“Hey, there! I’m Cal Fraud, owner of the Your Name Here Gun shop…
“…and I’m inviting all you voters with those mail-in ballot things to drop ‘em off – that’s right, drop ‘em off – here at my gun shop. I’ve got this nice, secure box all set up…
“…and I guarantee that your ballots will be delivered – that’s right, DEE-livered – to a nice, secure place…
“So grab your ballots and come on down to the Your Name Here gun shop, and just ask for Ole Cal. And while you’re here, I’ll make you a sweet – that’s right, SWEET – deal on that AK 47 you’ve been thinking about!”
Here’s where we were as of October 13:
The Secretary of State’s office, jointly with the (California) Department of Justice, issued a cease and desist order to the California Republican party to remove the drop boxes.
California Representative Devin Nunes summed up the California Republicans’ response: “Screw you.”
Republicans did agree to remove the word “official” from signs on their ballot boxes. The party’s general counsel suggested that it was “perhaps an overzealous volunteer” who affixed the “official” labels.
Perhaps. But I doubt it.
Then, things really got confusing – from cease and desist to subpoenas.
According to this October 16 article in the Los Angeles Times:
The article says,
“California officials on Friday said that the state Republican Party has agreed to no longer deploy ‘unstaffed, unsecured, unofficial and unauthorized’ private ballot boxes and that subpoenas have been issued in an investigation into how the containers have been used in at least three counties.”
“But aside from correcting some boxes that were wrongly labeled as ‘official’ locations for dropping off completed ballots, GOP officials continued Friday to insist that their activities have been legal. Party leaders have said they will continue to use the boxes to collect ballots, with staffers overseeing the process and delivering the ballots to county elections offices.”
And what about the issue of the voter giving their ballot to another person to deliver – the requirement that the person doing the delivering must print their name, write their name, and describe their relationship to the voter on the back of the envelope?
And according to this October 16 article on NPR:
The article said,
“[Secretary of State] Padilla and [Attorney General] Becerra reiterated that while ballot collection is allowed, state rules require that whoever assists with delivering a ballot sign the envelope to record a chain of custody. But they also said ballots without that signature would not be rejected either.”
Those subpoenas were sounding like a lot of saber rattling, and not much more. It seemed that…
State officials had backed off, and they weren’t requiring the required information on the back of ballot envelopes.
Republicans were keeping their ballot boxes in gun shops and et cetera and, by the way, possibly increasing the number of boxes.
Stern warnings were issued – Padilla said that the Republican Party has “tried to spin their unlawful conduct by playing the victim all week long.” Should his office receive any indication that state law is being violated, he said, it “will not hesitate to act on it immediately.”
To which California GOP spokesman Hector Barajas sneered, “This is a thuggish voter intimidation and vote suppression tactic by our Democratic attorney general and secretary of state.”
At this point our newspaper’s political cartoonist joined the fray:
Then, on October 18, came this interview on the CBS Weekend News with Major Garrett and Secretary of State Padilla:
The interview included this:
Padilla (referring to the fake ballot boxes): It’s a violation of state law and undermining voter confidence in the election. Thankfully, it seems that they have been removed.
(Actually, it seems that the GOP was removing the word “official,” but not removing the ballot boxes.)
Padilla: Ballot collection has strict requirements, including the person assisting the voter in returning their ballot must also add their name, signature, and relationship to the voter to the envelope. And that, again, is what was lost with these unofficial, unauthorized drop boxes.
(So now the envelopes do have to be signed? Who the hell knows?)
Garrett: Mr. Secretary, I’m sure you noticed, President Trump said, “We’ll see you in court.” He said that on Twitter. Will this be fodder for post-election legal challenges and thereby throw some elections for the U.S. House or state races into doubt?
Padilla: We stand by free and fair elections in California. They are accessible, they are secure, and yes, they are safe, so if Team Trump wants to sue us for anything, we would like our chances (answer appears to be cut off).
The interview appeared to cut off Padilla’s non-answer, but it did include yet another version of the GOP’s fake ballot boxes:
And that’s where we are as of October 23.
Which leaves me with the question…
Why is the California GOP doing this? What do they stand to gain?
In the Los Angeles Times article, California Democratic Party Chairman Rusty Hicks had one possible answer:
“I believe what the Republicans are doing is a creative attempt to add confusion to the election.”
And we all know who thrives on creating confusion:
But perhaps – probably – there’s something much more sinister going on here:
It is relatively easy to get a list of the party affiliation of registered voters. That name also appears on the outside of the ballot’s envelope.
So it would be easy (though felonious) for an unprincipled person (and we’re talking about Trump fans) to methodically go through the fraudulently collected ballots and throw away those from registered Democrats.
Unless voters were to check through WheresMyBallot, they would have no idea that their vote did not count.
If you put your ballot in one of these fake ballot boxes, I urge you to run, not walk, to the nearest computer and start tracking it:
Now and then, do you hear a quote that really resonates with you?
A quote you might write down and save, and maybe even share with others?
I encountered such a quote on October 15, and here it is:
“…corruption starts with ‘yes-men’ and women, the cronies who create an echo chamber of lies and subservience to maintain their proximity to power.”
The writer was Caroline Rose Giuliani, daughter of the nightmarish Rudy.
The quote was from an article in Vanity Fair that appeared online on October 15:
And in a way that’s too bad, because I suspect that the noise from the election, the ever-growing tragedy of the pandemic, and the overwhelm of other news stores all but drowned out Caroline’s article.
And it’s truly worth reading.
I knew next to nothing about Caroline, though from the article it was easy to discern that she was articulate, thoughtful – and truly scared of what Trump and his cronies (like her father) will do this country if Trump is reelected.
A bit of research told me that she’s 31, a graduate of Harvard, a filmmaker, and a writer.
She’s a darn good writer.
Here are a few more of the quotes that resonated with me.
I urge you to read the full article, and perhaps pass along a quote or two to the people you know who have decided they’re disgusted with the whole election process and aren’t going to vote at all.
Caroline makes a convincing argument why they must vote in the November election – and vote Trump out of office:
“…running away does not solve the problem. We have to stand and fight. The only way to end this nightmare is to vote. There is hope on the horizon, but we’ll only grasp it if we elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.”
“Trump and his enablers have used his presidency to stoke the injustice that already permeated our society, taking it to dramatically new, Bond-villain heights.”
“Trump’s administration has torn families apart in more ways than I even imagined were possible, from ripping children from their parents at the border to mishandling the coronavirus, which has resulted in over 215,000 in the U.S. dying, many thousands of them without their loved ones near. Faced with preventable deaths during a pandemic that Trump downplayed and ignored, rhetoric that has fed deep-seated, systemic racism, and chaos in the White House, it’s no surprise that so many Americans feel as hopeless and overwhelmed as I did growing up. But if we refuse to face our political reality, we don’t stand a chance of changing it.”
“Biden wasn’t my first choice when the primaries started. But I know what is at stake, and Joe Biden will be everyone’s president if elected. If you are planning to cast a symbolic vote or abstain from voting altogether, please reconsider. It is more important than ever to avoid complacency. This election is far from over, and if 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that anything can happen.”
I will add this – an update of Caroline’s coronavirus death count:
If the above image is an example of Amy Coney Barrett’s listening skills, we’re in even worse trouble than I’d thought.
Every health expert in the world – this includes none of Trump’s toadies – is telling us that the best tool we have for reducing the spread of COVID-19 is wearing a face mask.
Apparently Barrett is lacking in listening skills.
So there was ole Amy at her Senate Judiciary Committee hearing last week…
Maskless, as above.
Sure, she wore a mask to and from the hearings (pictured), but when she was in front of the TV cameras, answering the committee’s questions?
Nope. No mask.
Why is that, I wondered?
Did she think her duck-and-dodge answers would be muffled by a mask?
Does she find a mask uncomfortable and/or inconvenient and/or claustrophobic, like so many of us do?
Well, get over it, and get used to it!
Wearing face masks is how millions of us have lived for months, and there’s no end in sight.
When I’m around people – in the grocery store, for instance – I wear a mask. And I communicate just fine with whomever I need to.
Me, masked: Do you have artichokes today? Store employee, masked: Sure do! Right down there, just past the carrots.
Granted, that dialogue wasn’t Senate Judiciary Committee level, but we were intelligible. I asked, the employee answered, effective communication occurred.
So why wasn’t Barrett wearing a mask? She sure as hell was around a lot of people.
And, as the image clearly shows, people nearby were wearing masks:
So it’s too bad about poor ole Amy and her lack of listening skills.
Which, I suspect, will be working just fine when it’s time to…
Kill the Affordable Care Act.
When it’s time to hear cases about a woman’s right to choose, gay rights, immigration, the Census, and possibly the election…
Barrett will be swinging that pendulum so far right she’ll make the Fox Network look like a bunch of antifa-radical-leftist-extremist-commie pinkos:
When I started this blog in May 2017 I decided to stay away from the topic of Trump.
My resolve was strong.
I did not talk about Trump.
At all.
I didn’t stay away from politics. It was so much fun, and so easy, to skewer politicians – Democrats and Republicans – for their bad behavior.
Bad behavior – like financial improprieties, sexual improprieties, political improprieties.
Knowing that not one of them was sorry about their transgression, but they were very, very sorry they got caught. Like this guy, Cal Cunningham, North Carolina’s Democratic candidate for the Senate:
So politicians were my targets, and government entities, too.
Like NASA, and the U. S. Department of Agriculture, and the Post Office, specifically Louie DeJoy, Trump’s buddy:
And I’ve had a blast, excoriating all of them.
I’ve written about lots of other things, as well – whatever struck my fancy. I’ve done posts about books I’ve read and movies I’ve watched, and about the many strange and/or funny and/or absurd (I LOVE the absurd) things in our world.
And since I live in California, as most Californians will tell you, our state is an endless source of the strange and/or funny and/or absurd:
But, eventually…
The lure of Trump’s awfulness just became…irresistible.
Trump is SO easy to mock. On a daily, even hourly basis, he hands us so many ways to mock him, you can’t hope to keep up.
And in early December 2019 – I did my first Trump blog:
After that, there was no holding back.
In the 10 months since, I’ve done more than 55 posts about Trump, and the Trumps, since I consider his parasitic wife and older children fodder, as well: the triviality of Melania, the vapidness of Ivanka, the shallowness of Trump Jr, the emptiness of Eric.
And now…
My Trump posts will soon come to an end.
Not soon enough – never soon enough – but soon.
No more writing about Trump’s always-unpresidential behavior, like this recent story:
Or about his self-serving, self-aggrandizing behavior, like this story:
Or about Trump’s lies, the endless lies that he tells and then lies about telling:
Or about his tweets, the endless tweets, especially the ones that Twitter calls him on – way to go, Twitter!
Or about the women who have accused Trump of sexual assault – it’s now at least 26, and counting:
And speaking of women, the often-racist, always-denigrating, always-bullying words Trump uses about women:
And, most recently:
And his repulsive, totally unwarranted braggadocio:
And the unforgiveable, Trump’s legacy: the blood on Trump’s hands, past, present and to come:
I could on with this list, but I had to stop somewhere.
But – will I miss writing about Trump when he’s gone?
I’m fascinated by anything related to English royal history, and when I find a new book, or spot a movie or TV show focused on the topic – I’m in.
A few years ago I discovered Lucy Worsley, hosting a program on PBS about English royal history. The program description included the information that Worsley was the Chief Curator at England’s Historic Royal Palaces, so I figured I’d be hearing from someone knowledgeable and – I was in.
And I was in – until I saw this:
Wait. What?
Lucy Worsley, the host of a PBS program, playing dress up?
What is this?
Sure – I’ve seen lots of English royal history documentaries, and they often feature actors and actresses in period costume.
But the host of the program?
It turns out that this is what Worsley does – dresses up in a costume and injects herself into an otherwise interesting show:
Yes – female or male, our Lucy is an equal opportunity dresser upper.
Worsley had lots of great information to share in that PBS program, and I hoped her costume fixation was temporary. That the show was a one-off, and the next time a Worsley program was on the TV schedule, Lucy would back off from the wigs, corsets, and et cetera.
Nope:
And as I said earlier, Worsley doesn’t just appear in costumes – she injects herself into the history she’s relating. And not just into, but right into the center, so the actors playing actual historical characters fade into the background and it’s Worsley, front and center.
It’s all about Worsley.
And it’s the worst.
So when I saw the recent PBS listing for Lucy Worsley’s Royal Palace Secrets, I passed.
I knew I’d enjoy hearing those royal palace secrets, but I couldn’t stomach seeing more of this:
And this:
And this:
As is often the case, I’m out of step with many – perhaps most – viewers:
“I’m a big fan of Lucy Worsley’s documentaries, and found this one to be incredibly informative and entertaining.”
“Big fan of Lucy Worsley. Her documentaries are engaging and colorful.”
“Lucy Worsley has a fantastic way of presenting historical events. I highly recommend any of her work.”
There were a few naysayers, but only a few:
“Hard to watch the moderator. She was just irritating. In fact, her presentation made me leave the movie before it was over.”
“I fell asleep.”
“Stupid.”
Hard to know if that last review was a commentary on the content or her costumes, but I’ll go with the latter.
If I needed further proof of Worsley’s popularity, I had only to look online and learn that since 2009 she hosted more than 40 TV programs, many of them multi-part series, including:
The Brits version of I Love Lucy.
Well, the Brits – and all her fans – are welcome to her.
Ole Lucy and I have parted company, but as a send-off, in case you’re curious – here’s what she looks like when she’s not in front of a camera but at home, relaxing and having dinner:
If only Trump had planned ahead, on October 4 he could have done the joyride outside Walter Reed Hospital and recreated his June 1 photo op in Lafayette Park…
If only Trump had planned ahead, on October 5 he could have returned to the White House from the hospital AND recreated his June 1 photo op in Lafayette Park…
The location of Trump’s next public appearance – a debate? a rally? is to be determined. But whatever it is…
Heads-up to Trump: Don’t let it be another missed opportunity…
In June 2016 when he was the presumptive presidential nominee, Trump wanted Ivanka to be his running mate, saying this to his top campaign aides:
“I think it should be Ivanka. What about Ivanka as my VP? She’s bright, she’s smart, she’s beautiful, and the people would love her!”
It sounded like Trump was talking about a contestant in one of his beauty pageants, but no – he was describing daughter Ivanka.
This is according to a book that debuts next week, Wicked Game, by Rick Gates.
I had to stop for a moment to try and remember who Rick Gates was.
I associated the word “Gates” with “Trump” and “convicted,” but which criminal was he? There are so many…
Gates, pictured in the bottom row, was Trump’s former deputy campaign manager and pal of former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, also pictured above. Gates pleaded guilty in February 2018 to conspiracy against the United States and lying to federal investigators about lobbying work he and Manafort did in Ukraine before joining the Trump campaign.
Trump berated the “Fake News” for reporting the excerpt from Gates’ book…
But Trump stopped short of calling Gates a liar.
I find the story quite plausible. First, because Trump lies all the time.
And second, Trump’s regard for Ivanka has been visible for years:
So let’s imagine Trump and Ivanka on the 2016 ticket…
Instead of kissing babies, Ivanka and Trump would kiss each other…
In her favor: Ivanka has been a public speaker for years, hawking her jewelry line…
And her cleverly named clothing line:
And her cleverly named perfume line:
Plus – another Trump talking point – Ivanka had large breasts. Or at least, she does now:
So I think Ivanka could have done well on the 2016 campaign trail.
For example, when giving a speech about her position on climate change and the natural world…
And her speeches about international relations would have wowed us:
And her commitment to child and adult literacy would have been front and center as well:
Yes, if Trump had been granted his wish, tonight at the VP debates we might have been treated to scenes like this:
But, alas, it was not to be.
Still, if you’re so inclined, you can hope that someday Ivanka will actually have her place in the White House, not down the hall as her Daddy’s senior suckup, but in the Oval Office:
Former President Donald Trump and current President Ivanka Trump; she’s seated at the Resolute desk in the Oval Office.
We don’t see much of Trump’s third offspring, Eric, 36, pictured above.
We see way too much of the eldest – Donald Trump Jr., 42. He’s big on killing big animals:
Trump Jr with the tail of an elephant he killed during a hunting trip in 2011.
And Trump Jr recently wrote a book, and then self-published it in August, I’m assuming because no publisher would touch it. Here’s the book, complete with the now-infamous typo on the cover:
The book critic at The New York Times said the book…
“fails as memoir and as polemic: Its analysis is facile, its hypocrisy relentless, its self-awareness marginal. (The writing is wretched, even by the standards of political vanity projects.)”
Then there’s Ivanka, 38, who caused quite a stir with this 2007 photo, posing with a jackhammer:
Which was nothing compared to the stir she caused with this July 2020 tweet, posing with a can of Goya beans:
Government watchdogs said, “Ivanka’s tweet was a violation of the misuse of position regulations.”
To which Ivanka replied, “And your point is?”
Then comes Trump’s third offspring, Eric, often seen caricatured on Saturday Night Live:
As one writer recently put it,
“Mikey Day plays slick big brother Don Jr. (above, right) to Alex Moffat as child-like Eric. The portrayals are way over the top, especially Eric, who is almost always acting like a not-so-bright first grader…”
But maybe today…October 5…Eric will find himself in a different setting, front and center:
According to this September 23 article, it has to do with the New York Attorney General’s “civil investigation into whether President Trump and the Trump Organization committed fraud by overstating assets to get loans and tax benefits.”
Eric is the vice-president of the Trump Organization.
The article goes on to say,
“In July, Mr. [Eric] Trump abruptly canceled an interview with the attorney general’s office, days before it was scheduled, and in August, the Trump Organization told the office that the company and its lawyers would not comply with seven subpoenas related to the investigation.”
But, the article continues, on September 23:
“…a judge in the State Supreme Court in Manhattan, Arthur F. Engoron, ruled that Mr. Trump had to sit for a deposition no later than Oct. 7…”
So, would Eric meet with the New York Attorney General’s office, or wouldn’t he?
I checked daily for updates and there was nothing until this:
According to the story, Eric is to meet with NY investigators via video today, October 5.
Of course, he’ll be so lawyered up that the lawyers will plead the Fifth when Eric is asked for his full name.
Since I can’t be a fly on the wall, I’ll have to rely on my imagination for what Eric’s deposition might sound like…
Notary: Mr. Trump, do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?
Eric: Um…I wouldn’t use the word “whole,” exactly.
Attorney #1: Eric, do you know why the New York Attorney General wants eight years of your father’s tax returns?
Eric: Um…no. We’ve done a great job of hiding stuff, so there’s nothing for the Attorney General to find.
Attorney #2: Eric, after your dad had sex with porn star Stormy Daniels, did he brag about it to you?
Eric: Um…no. He talked about it a lot, but I wouldn’t use the word “brag,” exactly.
Attorney #1: Eric, in 2016 your father agreed to pay $25 million to settle two class actions and a New York suit against Trump University. Earlier your father had said he could have settled “for very little money, but I don’t want to do it out of principle.” Do you know what “principle” your father was referring to?
Eric: Um…maybe the principal of Trump University?
Attorney #2: In 2018, New York’s attorney general filed a civil suit against the Trump Foundation and your father, along with Donald Jr, Ivanka and yourself, alleging “a shocking pattern of illegality” with respect to the foundation’s money. The Foundation was shut down and your father was ordered to pay a $2 million settlement for misusing the Foundation for his business and political purposes. What was your role in that shocking pattern of illegality?
Eric: Um…I wouldn’t use the word “illegality,” exactly.
Attorney #1: Eric, do you know you’re as dumb as dirt?
Eric: Um…yeah. But I kill animals, too! See? I killed this…whatever it is!
As of October 2, 2020, the image above is a partial list of San Diego County’s mail-in ballot drop-off locations.
There are more than 100 locations, and that’s an important thing.
An important thing – and a great thing.
That means that I can bypass these:
And the crisis deliberately caused by these bozos:
Or as this Washington Post article put it so succinctly:
The bozo on the left needs no introduction. The guy in the middle – Steve Mnuchin – was recently described as a “shameless sycophant and obsequious ass-kisser” because he’ll do anything Trump tells him to do, including screw with the Post Office.
And the third guy is Louis DeJoy, multimillionaire big-time Trump crony and donor, handpicked by Trump to be Postmaster General. The more DeJoy assures us that everything will be just swell when the United States Postal Service (USPS) starts handling the avalanche of mail-in ballots…
The more I know that my mail-in ballot isn’t going anywhere near the Post Office.
But it’s up to me to figure out how to get my ballot into the right hands.
And it’s up to you, too.
It’s up to you to find out what your options are – please don’t wait for your local TV news, or your friend or neighbor to tell you.
It’s our ballot, and it’s our job to find out:
My county has a Registrar of Voters – does yours? If not, who’s in charge?
Some states require an excuse to use mail-in ballots – does yours?
What are your options besides USPS? Can you drop off your mail-in ballot at a polling place? If yes, does it have to be your polling place?
Does your area have mail-in ballot drop-off boxes? If so, where will they be? And when?
All this information should be easy to find online.
Here’s what I found out:
My closest drop-off location is a branch of our library, about 10 minutes from my house.
The Registrar of Voters will be staffing the drop-off site, so dropped-off ballots will go directly to the Registrar.
My drop-off dates are October 6 through November 3.
If I haven’t convinced you to do just a little research to educate yourself about your options, then I ask you:
It’s our ballot, and it’s our job to find out:
I Hate Houseguests 