Dropping Like Flies

Attempted 2016 presidential candidate. Dropped out before the primaries began.

New York Times:
Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, Dies at 71  —  Mr. Graham died of a “brief and sudden” illness on Saturday evening, his office said.  He served in the Senate for more than two decades.Dan Diamond / Washington Post:

Lindsey Graham, longtime South Carolina senator, dies at 71  —  Graham, first elected to the House in 1994 and the Senate in 2002, was running for reelection this year.  He died of a “brief and sudden illness,” his office said.  —  Lindsey Graham, a longtime Republican senator from South Carolina …

Bloomberg:   US Senator Lindsey Graham Dies at 71 After Sudden Illness

Outlived another wretched bastard. How's that other sick cracker doing?

Another Annus Horribilis (& More To Come!)

New (dead) flowers for the new yr.

If you thought '25 was a ++shitfest, you ain't seen nothin' yet, & wait'll next yr., to coin some clichés. Seems about right for these United Snakes to collapse in their 250th anniversary yr.I hoped Big Gay Don would give this country what it deserves, good & hard, as soon as he was elected in 2016; highly amusing (& a clear indication that this country is getting exactly what it deserves) that not only did he get away w/ fomenting insurresction & stealing classifed documents (to name but two of his bigger crimes) but was elected again to finish the job of turning America into a bigger shithole than it ever was. Ah, nostalgia.In the bread & circuses dep't., it was a helluva baseball season. And both brands of professional footsball have been wacky & unanticipated so far too.

In conclusion, next yr. I'll see you all in hell!!

GIFTGAS!

Hey Rat, It's Another Threat!

I hate you fucking people, I want to see every one of you eight billion heartless bastards suffer horribly before you die, & I will do anything to achieve that goal, including pushing a button, clicking a mouse, or turning the valve* that releases all the Zyklon-B I've been hiding under my bed since I had to leave Germany in such a hurry a few yrs. back. Here's a picture. See?

Not at all a picture from the internet, oh no! It's sitting under my bed, waiting.

Is that enough for you to call the fucking police?

Jesus H. Christ I can barely stand to live w/ you fucking people; how can any of you stand living w/ your awful selves, & why don't you end it all now? You'll be gone soon enough, why fucking wait? Fulfill the destiny your pig god has made for you sheep: Die already! Save me the fucking trouble.

---

*Pulling a trigger isn't efficient, nor is hijacking a car & making the streets run red w/ blood, 'though there is a certain visceral satisfaction to hands-on work. Saving the planet from its worst offspring is a massive operation. As in mass killing, but you all deserve it. Especially Republicans.

We Sell Shoes ...

... In Hollywood.

What's In The Water In Wyoming?

Overlooked during the Russian election was Liz (native of Madison, WI & Daughter of Dick) Cheney's election to the
at-large Congressional seat granted, for unfathomable reasons, to the uninhabited wasteland of Wyoming.

First edition, second printing. US$70.00.
Inscribed first edition, US$2,500.00.

Now this:
New York Times:

Erik Prince, Blackwater Founder, Weighs Primary Challenge to Wyoming Republican  —  WASHINGTON — Erik Prince, the founder of the security contractor Blackwater, is seriously considering a Republican primary challenge for a Senate seat in Wyoming, potentially adding a high-profile contender …

Discussion:

Christian Davenport / Washington Post:   Erik Prince, the Blackwater founder, is considering a Senate run in Wyoming, according to a media report

Jim Geraghty / National Review:   John Barrasso Is Not the Problem for the Trump Agenda or the GOP

Taegan Goddard / Political Wire:   Blackwater Founder Mulls Senate Run In Wyoming

Or this:

Robert Costa / Washington Post:

GOP megadonor Foster Friess exploring a run for U.S. Senate in Wyoming  —  Longtime Republican donor Foster S. Friess said Monday that he is exploring a 2018 bid for U.S. Senate in Wyoming, making him the latest conservative figure to consider challenging Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), a low-key member of the leadership.

Discussion:

Josh Israel / ThinkProgress:   Rich anti-contraception Republican mega-donor may run for U.S. senate

Taegan Goddard / Political Wire:   GOP Megadonor Mulls U.S. Senate Bid

Jonathan Swan / Axios:   Steve Bannon's next victims

Is there a way to force a state out of the union?

CD-34 Local Action: Say No To Robert Lee Ahn

By the time Calif.'s 34th Cong. District is decided in the 6 June special election I'll have voted six times in the yr. since June 2016's primary, four times in 2017 alone. (Once each month, March-June. Does not appear I'll have to participate in democracy this Nov.) Not that I hadn't already decided, but the s.o.b. who sent me this wafer-thin pot-holder

in a sad attempt to obligate me wasn't getting my vote even before this Crooks & Liars item about him revealed he was a Republican & is a sordid parasite who stole from wage-slaves at a carwash.

Paper of Record yada, if you can bring yourself to care.

One of these two Democrats will be L.A.'s next member of Congress.
Here's what you need to know

Robert Lee Ahn's 'misleading' mail tactics helped him get into L.A.'s congressional runoff. Will he use them again?

Current Conditions

THE SLICKERS - Man Is Going To Eat ManRead the "labels", kids. I've been warning you.

Congress Of Christian Crackers = Council Of Conservative Citizens = White Citizens Councils

Aleksandra Sandstrom / Pew Research Center:

Faith on the Hill  —  The religious composition of the 115th Congress  —  The share of U.S. adults who describe themselves as Christians has been declining for decades, but the U.S. Congress is about as Christian today as it was in the early 1960s, according to a new analysis …

Discussion:

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:   Congress is getting more religiously diverse. But it's not really getting less Christian.

Eric Cortellessa / The Times of Israel:   Almost 6% of Congress now Jewish — 28 Democrats and 2 Republicans

Danielle Kurtzleben / NPR:   Nonreligious Americans Remain Far Underrepresented In Congress

Thomas Phippen / The Daily Caller:   98% Of US Congress Is Religious

Josefin Dolsten / Jewish Telegraphic Agency:   Percentage of Jews in Congress increases to 5.6 percent in 2017

Emily McFarlan Miller / Religion News Service:   Religious makeup of the new Congress overwhelmingly Christian

The Council of Conservative Citizens, for the young/ignorant, used to be the White Citizens Councils.

"Conservatives Are Not Necessarily Stupid, But Most Stupid People Are Conservatives"

On which fucking fake news planet do these losers live? How many believe the moon is made of green cheese?

A new poll shows 52% of Republicans actually think Trump won the popular vote

Bestial in their ignorance & wilful stupidity. I'd really like to see a poll that shows how many (if any) Republicans "actually think", period.

Picking The Winners

P.B.S. prognosticates.
Some T-shirt deal.

Have now marked the mail-in ballot, detached the ballot stub, placed the ballot in the ballot secrecy sleeve & sealed the whole mess in the signed & dated ballot return envelope. Now, an eight-block walk to the polls to drop it like a hand grenade.

Interesting that Donald J. Trump & Michael R. Pence are on the American Independent Party ticket as well as running as Republicans in the Golden State. Yep, that's the ran-George-Wallace-in-1968 (& won five states) A.I.P. (not to be confused w/ Hollywood's American International Pictures, of course).

Our Presidential vote went to old stand-by (since 1967) Cali's own Peace & Freedom Party. LA RIVA-BANKS 2016! (Pretty much took the party's advice on all 17 Props. as well.)

Voted underdog (U.S. Senate)/anti-incumbent (U.S. Rep. & Assembly Member) for each "voter-nominated office". As noted before, "California's nonpartisan blanket primary ensures this reporter couldn't vote for a Republican (other than the Presidential ticket) even if he wanted to"; no one for whom I voted will win, but why not attempt to throw the bastards out? And while it wasn't intentional, I'm sensing a Hillary Clinton-ish theme here: Both Dems running aginst (male) incumbents are of the female persuasion, as are the four judicial candidates for whom I voted, on the basis of Democratic Party endorsements. Another good basis: Any site prominently displaying this:

Warning: Do NOT Vote for a Judicial Activist

tells you exactly how not to vote.

And our U.S. Sen. choice was between two wymyn of color, vying to replace a Jewish woman. Matter of days until Gawd punishes us w/ an earthquake commensurate w/ our sins, we s'pose.

Except the Clinton-ish theme stops at Gloria La Rivas, Peace & Freedom's Presidential candidate. You can have your first female President cake w/o eating it w/ Sec'y. Clinton or Dr. Stein!

Guam Results In!!

Guam is Clinton Country!!
Courtesy Red Paw Technologies.

HAGATNA, Guam — Hillary Clinton has overwhelmingly won the vote on the tiny U.S. island of Guam.

The territory, located west of the international date line, is 15 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time and bills itself as “Where America’s Day Begins.”

With 32,071 voters casting ballots, Democrat Clinton received 71.63% of the vote. Republican Donald Trump received 24.16%, and Socialist candidate Emidio Soltysik — the only third-party candidate on the ballot — received 4.22%.

Although all voters here are American citizens, their votes in the presidential race do not count because Guam has no representation in the Electoral College. Unlike U.S. citizens who live in foreign countries, Guam residents are not allowed to vote absentee from states.

While the result of the Guam election has no bearing on the national election, it may be an indicator of how the rest of the country will vote. Residents here have correctly chosen the winner of each presidential race since 1980, when the first straw poll for president was conducted.

Most recently:

• In 2012, President Obama received 72.4% in the straw poll vs. 26.5% for Republican Mitt Romney.

• In 2008, Obama won the island 57.3% to 34% for the GOP nominee, Sen. John McCain of Arizona.

• In 2004, incumbent President George W. Bush won 64% to 35.1% for Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, the Democratic nominee.

The predictive ability of the island was upset in 1996, when an Election Day typhoon delayed voting. America had already selected Bill Clinton as president before islanders went to the polls.

Guam had almost 52,000 registered voters as of Nov. 1, according to the Guam Election Commission.

[Pacific Daily News]

Polling Up-Date

Dixville Notch, N.H., voted 'round midnight & announced four for Clinton, two for the aged douche-bro.

The Northern Marianas closed over an hr. ago, Guam just over ten mins. ago. Our crack news-gathering team will give you the exit polling the moment we get it here in the bunker.

And Puerto Rico has less than 11 hrs. to go. Almost done!

Voting By The Numbers

State Propositions on the ballot: 17.

Pages in the Calif. General Election Official Voter Information Guide, from Secretary of State Alex Padilla: 224. (Including covers, but they're numbered, no doubt for legal reasons.)

Other official gov't. materials rec'd: Three. The Voter Information Pamphlet Special Municipal Election, from L.A. City Clerk Holly L. Wolcott, & two from L.A. County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Dean C. Logan, the Official Sample Ballot General Election & Official Vote By Mail Balloting Material.

Proposition-specific Mailers: 12. Three from No on 56, three from No on Prop 61, three from Yes on Proposition 52, two from No on RRR, Neighborhoods Against the DWP* Power Grab, "a coalition of environmental groups, consumer advocacy organizations, and employee organizations". (No true America-hater can resist that.) & one from the Coalition to Preserve L.A., which is pro Measure HHH & anti-Measure JJJ.

City Measures: Four.

County Measures: Two.

Oddities: Mailers from both Yes on 52 & No on 56 feature images of actual doctors, both sporting white lab/doctor coats (one w/ name embroidered on the coat, one w/ name-pin) & stethoscopes slung over their shoulders, in best stock photo practice.

Candidate mailers: Nine. Eight from Miguel Santiago for Assembly 2016, one from the Sandra Mendoza for Assembly Committee. Santiago's the incumbent & endorsed by the Gov. & many other Democratic officeholders, Mendoza ran against him two yrs. ago (maybe four as well, who can remember?) & is both a self-proclaimed grandmother & member of I.B.E.W. Local 11-E.A.A. (Santiago is endorsed by I.B.E.W. Local 18, hope there's no trouble.) which looks like a real union, so I'll waste my vote on Sandra. Again. Added ha-ha: California's nonpartisan blanket primary ensures this reporter couldn't vote for a Republican (other than the Presidential ticket) even if he wanted to.

Pay-for-play endorsement mailers: 10. Two (duplicates) from Educate Your Vote - a Project of the Coalition for Literacy & one from Election Digest - a Project of the Coalition for Literacy, two (duplicate) Budget Watchdog News Letters (Yes, fascist scaredy-pants bullshit: "Prop 62 means brutal killers get healthcare, privileges at Taxpayer expense for life No-62, Yes-66 for victims.") one from California Early Voter Guide (F.P.P.C.† I.D. #1387464) & one from Californians Vote Green (F.P.P.C. I.D. #1323171) both from the same address & suite number in Long Beach, which tells us "mail drop", one from Voter Guide Slate Cards (also from a "suite" in Long Beach, although a different address) a California Senior Advocates League Voter Guide (F.P.P.C. I.D. 1368249) & our favorite, from Californians for Quality Education, which suggests I vote for Gary Johnson & Loretta Sanchez. Dunno if this merely means Johnson bought the space ("Loretta Sanchez's Placement: Paid for by Citizens for Strong Leadership ... and not authorized by candidate or committee") but as there's no indication of such I wonder if Johnson's mug is on it because I'm "decline-to-state".

Of the other 10, the two duplicates of the three from the Coalition for Literacy ignored the Senate race while the third said Kamala Harris or Loretta Sanchez, five others didn't mention the race, & one other was also "paid for by Citizens for Strong Leadership". Part of her blurb there reads: "Kamala Harris is an extreme leftist!"

---

*The City of Los Angeles Dep't. Of Water & Power. Yes, L.A. is a socialist hellhole.
†California State Fair Political Practices Commission.

Post-Labor Day Polling Wrap-Up

Summer's almost gone; let's average the polls or something, & then we'll sum up the current state of the ...

How It Ends: Pay Or He Won't Play?

"Oh, the Humanity": Airship of Fools.

A not unreasonable assessment. (Violating copyright law in case you can't get beyond the paywall.)

Before they gather in Cleveland for their convention, it’s not too soon for Republicans to begin thinking about what exactly a Donald Trump defeat might be like.

As with his now-documented habit of charitable promises that seldom materialize, Mr. Trump never intended to endanger a sizable part of his personal wealth to fund a presidential campaign. That means he’ll continue to campaign on the cheap, by saying incendiary things and having them transmitted by the free media. Expect more speeches like the protectionist-cum-conspiracy theory speeches in suburban Pittsburgh on Tuesday and New Hampshire on Thursday, even if such diatribes frighten major donors and mainstream Republicans and make life harder for down-ticket Republican candidates in the fall.

In his mind, Mr. Trump may still envision a populist prairie fire carrying him to the White House. This is not his best plan to win, he may also admit to himself, but the one he’s willing to pay for.

Here resides the problem all along for those hoping for a Trump-to-the-middle move. Such moves are expensive. Base-broadening campaigns require lots of paid TV to reach non-engaged voters and Trump skeptics, pummeling them with reassuring images suggesting that a Trump presidency would be OK.

Mr. Trump not only is unwilling or unable to finance such a campaign. He evidently is unwilling to do what’s necessary to entice GOP donors to finance it on his behalf. This means GOP officeholders seeking re-election can expect a constant headwind of inflammatory Trump statements designed to stimulate the free media coverage that his asset-lite campaign requires. Republican candidates up and down the ballot therefore become unwilling sharers of a high-risk Trump electoral wager, a gamble more likely to end in a Hillary landslide than a Trump White House.

The more intriguing question concerns what happens if Mr. Trump decides he can’t win and no longer is willing to throw good money after bad. Unless they were born on a turnip truck yesterday, campaign vendors will be the first to figure it out. Look for them quickly to cut off services rather than get stiffed in the inevitable Trump campaign bankruptcy filing.

Mr. Trump’s harsher Republican critics are kidding themselves to think Mr. Trump is crazy or unstable and will suffer a breakdown. More likely, he will simply and coldbloodedly toss the ball to the GOP, saying, in effect, “If you want to pay for some events or TV, I’m available. Otherwise I’m done.” The GOP would then have to shoulder the dual burden of propping up a minimally respectable Trump campaign while also distancing its down-ballot candidates from Mr. Trump so they might survive.

And that’s the optimistic scenario. Mr. Trump has learned the value of audacity. He might well decide to cover his retreat and preserve his amour propre with a flurry of lawsuits and conspiracy theories about a “rigged” election.

He’s already begun putting narrative flesh on these bones. He speaks of “crooked Hillary” and increasingly of the Clinton Global Initiative, Bill Clinton’s philanthropy, and what he calls the Clintons’ “politics of personal profit and theft.” In his trade speeches, he portrays the Clintons as members of a nefarious global elite that has enriched itself while foisting impoverishing trade deals on the U.S. middle class.

He perhaps will throw in a few suggestions that foreign governments hold hidden leverage over Hillary because of her hacked, illegal email server. He’ll mention Bill Clinton’s pardon of Marc Rich.

Republicans can also expect to be a target of his accusations. He doesn’t need to be plausible, just tell a story that justifies his own stance that he didn’t lose, the other side cheated, “Washington elites” conspired against him, etc.

If the Trump endgame is destined to go this way, Republicans should hope it does so early, ideally before the convention is even over. To date, Mr. Trump continues to tease top GOPers and conservatives with the idea that he may yet come their way, turn his formidable talents to advancing conservative causes. This merciless exploiting of Republican romantics has begun to seem like something out of “The Blue Angel” or Lucy with the football.

Republicans need a strategy, and lots of money to fund it, to preserve their House and Senate majorities. Do they know it? The thing they should fear most: An autumn dynamic in which Mr. Trump believes the best outcome for him personally is one that does as much damage as possible to the long-run GOP cause.

Yes, & some no. The "nagonna campaign unless you pay me" possibility is quite the potential twist. Leave it to The WSJ to imagine something more cynical than even this eternal cynic could.

Cannot, however, see it happening before or during his coronationthe convention. Not w/ two+ wks. of "veepstakes" teasing yet to enjoy.*

Also unsure: Der Donald facing any possibility he'll lose before the autumnal equinox. Or Hallowe'en. Whatever narrative bones have been fleshed recently, it's been obvious for some time that if the renowned whiner about fairness lost, he'd begin to howl "cheated, stolen, rigged, crooked, conspiracy, elites, Washington, Mexican voter fraud, blah" the moment FOXNews finally gave up & called the election for Mme. Sec'y. Clinton.

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*For the contrarian hell of it, the editorial we will go out on a limb & guess that, barring bizarre V.-P. selections, convention unrest, a shooting on Fifth Ave. (maybe) or catastrophes/disasters, there'll be little appreciable change in this entire unholy mess until (Wait for it ... wait for ... two more months! Hah!) the traditional Labor Day beginning of U.S. Presidential campaigns.

21st century or not, no political savant (or Trump strategist) will know what to do until post-convention polling bumps have returned to whatever, the punters are paying attention (not before summer's gone) & polling can be trusted.

This has gone on for over a yr., & there are still four more months. If this is the price of democracy it isn't worth it.

Fuck These People & Their Pathetic Democracy Bullshit

Orange County, California. It's just one big trailermobile home park:

A judge who was censured for having sex with two women in his chambers has handily won reelection in Orange County.

Scott Steiner beat veteran prosecutor Karen Schatzle 56 percent to 44 percent in Tuesday's election, according to unofficial results from the county registrar of voters.

Steiner has been a Superior Court judge since 2011.

The Los Angeles Times says he was censured by the Commission on Judicial Performance in 2014 for having sex with two women — his intern and a practicing lawyer — in chambers. He also was reprimanded for failing to disqualify himself from a case involving a longtime friend.

Steiner ultimately acknowledged wrongdoing.

When will such scum start paying the price for their immorality, rather than being excused (& then actually rewarded) merely by "acknowledging wrongdoing"?

[KPCC]

Republican Party Soon To Be Outlawed In California

Best just to put it out of its misery now.

In this Aug. 4, 1942 file photo, Detective Inspector Frank Story, right, with gun, shot this
circus elephant after its flesh was burned away in a fire at the Ringling Brothers show grounds
in Cleveland, Ohio. It took eight bullets to put down the elephant. (AP Photo)

Golden State voters to Grand (& pathetically) Old Party: Pack your crap & get the fuck out before we throw all your ugly shit on the lawn & call the police on you!! Enough is more than enough, not that they'll ever get enough votes.

Sad! Losers!! Eat it!!!

Decisions, Decisions

Pres., in ballot order:

Willie Wilson
Roque De La Fuente
Hillary Clanton
Henry Hewes
Keith Judd
Michael Steinberg
B.S.
(Currently leaning toward Keith Judd.)

U.S. Senator:

34? Thirty-effing-four? Are they kidding me? How am I to make an informed choice? (Or any choice at all? I'm already completely paralyzed by indecision.)

A brace of loons from the official guidebook. Hey, still a few Jackson Democrats left!

The Ennui Of Calif. Democracy

Yet another imposition (It never fucking stops.): It's humid, I'm moist (& not in a "good" way) & I've yet to decide which loons will get my vote tomorrow. (Always vote Loon; it sends a message.)

P.S.: I know it's late, but my vote is absolutely for sale. Make me an offer!

Endorsement 2016

This Tuesday (& every day until you're all ghosts) there is but one issue: Reduction of the humanoid population!
Web of Evil (& Ennui) therefore calls for the deaths of billions.

House of Grafix

Second choice: Super volcanoes.