November 17, 2020

The right has a massive information advantage

https://twitter.com/TVietor08/status/1328706809092214786?s=20


GOP billionaires prop up right-wing rags like The Federalist, Breitbart and Real Clear Politics. They aren't real businesses. They're political weapons. There's just no equivalent infrastructure on the left. This + Fox is a massive information advantage.

From the article:

For three days after every major news organization declared Joseph R. Biden Jr. the victor of the presidential election, one widely read political site maintained that Pennsylvania was still too close to call.

That site, Real Clear Politics, is well known as a clearinghouse of elections data and analysis with a large following among the political and media establishment — and the kinds of political obsessives who might now have all the counties in Georgia memorized. It markets itself to advertisers as a “trusted, go-to source” admired by campaign and news professionals alike. Its industry benchmark polling average is regularly cited by national publications and cable news networks.

But less well known is how Real Clear Politics and its affiliated websites have taken a rightward, aggressively pro-Trump turn over the last four years as donations to its affiliated nonprofit have soared. Large quantities of those funds came through two entities that wealthy conservatives use to give money without revealing their identities.

Real Clear’s evolution traces a similar path as other right-leaning political news outlets that have adapted to the upheaval of the Trump era by aligning themselves with the president and his large following, its writers taking on his battles and raging against the left. As the administration lurched from one crisis after another — impeachment, the coronavirus, a lost election the president refuses to concede — Real Clear became one of the most prominent platforms for elevating unverified and reckless stories about the president’s political opponents, through a mix of its own content and articles from across conservative media.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/17/us/politics/a-popular-political-site-made-a-sharp-right-turn-what-steered-it.html

November 17, 2020

Duke Energy, Exxonmobil and AFLAC funded an anti-Semite for Congress

https://twitter.com/ColMorrisDavis/status/1328699746337361921?s=20

He lied about Naval Academy rejection, quit
@patrickhenrycol
after a semester, never had a full-time job, was accused of being racist, a sexual predator, Nazi cozy, anti-Semitic and a habitual liar, yet funded by
@DukeEnergy
,
@exxonmobil
and
@aflac
who put profits over character.




Democrat Moe Davis ran against Madison Cawthorn in Mark Meadows' old gerrymandered district.

November 17, 2020

Hate crimes in US reach highest point since 2008, FBI statistics show

Murders motivated by hate also increased by more than 112%.
ByLuke Barr


That incident contributed to a more than 112% increase in hate crime murders between 2018 and 2019, according to statistics released Monday by the FBI as part of its Uniform Crime Reporting Program. There were 51 murders in 2019 and 24 the year before. Anti-Latino hate crime incidents also saw an increase in 2019.

According to the FBI's newly released statistics, hate crimes rose in the United States for four out of the last five years.

In 2018, there were 7,120 hate crimes total, and in 2019, there were 7,314 — a 3% increase. That's the highest it has been since 2008, when there were 7,783 hate crimes across the country.

Like in 2018, more than half of the incidents were race-based, followed by crimes based on religion and crimes based on sexual orientation, according to the FBI. Within the race-based category, nearly 50% were anti-African American incidents, followed by 16% anti-white incidents and 14% anti-Latino/Hispanic incidents. Crimes based on gender identity also increased, from 157 anti-transgender bias incidents to 173.


https://abcnews.go.com/US/hate-crimes-us-reach-highest-point-2008-fbi/story?id=74238237&cid=social_twitter_abcn

November 14, 2020

I wonder what THIS is all about. Tweet from Dave Wasserman concerning down ballot losses

https://twitter.com/Redistrict/status/1327314562081763329?s=20


I’ve got a potentially award-winning story for an investigative journalist that helps explain a tiny bit of why millions in Dem $$ never translated into down-ballot success this year. DM me for details.


https://twitter.com/Redistrict/status/1327332696222261250?s=20

TBC, this story is much more in the realm of potentially prosecutable scandals than honest mistakes.



David Corn from Mother Jones, The Daily Beast and other reporters responded.

November 12, 2020

Discussion in Scottish Parliament about investigating Trump's properties and their financing

https://twitter.com/MartynMcL/status/1326916581524377600?s=20


Thread: there's been interesting discussion in the Scottish Parliament this afternoon about the use of Unexplained Wealth Orders to investigate Donald Trump's deals to acquire his Scottish properties and ascertain the sources of the financing 1/


.
@patrickharvie
said there is a need to "protect Scotland's good name from association with the toxic Trump brand" and highlighted "serious and long-standing concerns about Trump's business activities," both in Scotland and further afield 2/


Those concerns, he said, include evidence to Congress citing patterns of buying and selling thought suggestive of money laundering, and which drew particular attention to the golf courses in Scotland and Ireland. 3/

"The cause for concern is still growing," Mr Harvie told the parliament. "It's now reported that the Manhattan District Attorney's office is investigating the Trump Organisation's inflation of assets, and potential bank and insurance fraud." 4/

He added: "The Trump Organisation has been accused of repeatedly reporting fraudulent financial details to the US Office of Government Ethics, while reporting a different set of figures to the UK regulators in respect of the Trump golf courses here in Scotland." 5/

Turning to the issue of UWOs - he stressed that the Scottish Government is able to go to court and ask for an order so that it can "start getting answers," but said that so far, the government has refused to either confirm or deny that an investigation is underway. 6/

He added: "Now that Trump is set to lose immunity from prosecution in the US, he may finally be held to account there. Isn't it time that he's also held to account here? Isn't it time for answers from the Trump Organisation and for the Scottish Government to go to court?" 7/

Replying, First Minister
@NicolaSturgeon
said the decision on whether to pursue a UWO against Trump is one for prosecutors, not politicians - specifically, the Crown Office, which she said operated in a "right and proper" independent capacity from government ministers. 8/

She added: "I think everybody is prob well aware of my views about the soon to be former president, and my views are probably no different to ... many people across Scotland. The idea that I'd somehow try to protect him from due accountability I don't think holds much water." 9/

For what it's worth, my understanding of the UWO process is that it's the Scottish Government that can decide to go to court, under section 396A of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. The legislation doesn't seem to leave much room for ambiguity: https://legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2002/29/section/396A ends/

Scottish Greens UWO statement: "We can't continue to turn a blind eye to red flags that surround [Trump's] biz activities in Scotland, sending a signal to not just Trump himself but those who may be lured by our relaxed approach towards investigating possible financial crimes"

November 12, 2020

Germany's protests against coronavirus restrictions are becoming increasingly radical

BERLIN — Around 9:30 on a quiet Sunday morning late last month, a crudely made explosive device went off with a small bang and a flash in central Berlin near the building of an association of German scientific institutes. A note found nearby demanded the end to coronavirus restrictions.


The incidents come against the backdrop of a growing violent undercurrent at large-scale street demonstrations against coronavirus restrictions, including one attended by 20,000 people Saturday in Leipzig. The developments point to an increasingly radicalized movement of virus skeptics in Germany, embraced by the country’s far-right extremist groups and energized by global conspiracy theories, notably those put forth by the U.S.-born QAnon movement.

Far-right groups marched alongside the demonstrators this weekend, stoking concerns among security officials that they will gain recruits and draw more demonstrators to violence, with bomb- and weapon-making material already circulating in coronavirus-skeptic circles online.

The main organizer of the demonstrations, a group called Querdenken, or “lateral thinkers,” grew out of demonstrations in Stuttgart, where large early protests included middle-class moms concerned about vaccines. They oppose mask requirements and what they see as curbs on basic freedoms and have demanded early elections. But the demonstrations have also attracted an array of groups.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/germany-coronavirus-lockdown-protests/2020/11/12/3e9879ea-2422-11eb-9c4a-0dc6242c4814_story.html

November 12, 2020

At dinner parties and game nights, casual American life is fueling the coronavirus surge

A record-breaking surge in U.S. coronavirus cases is being driven to a significant degree by casual occasions that may feel deceptively safe, officials and scientists warn — dinner parties, game nights, sleepovers and carpools.

Many earlier coronavirus clusters were linked to nursing homes and crowded nightclubs. But public health officials nationwide say case investigations are increasingly leading them to small, private social gatherings. This behind-doors transmission trend reflects pandemic fatigue and widening social bubbles, experts say — and is particularly insidious because it is so difficult to police and likely to increase as temperatures drop and holidays approach.

The White House coronavirus task force has been urging states that are virus hot spots to curtail maskless get-togethers of family and friends, saying in reports that asymptomatic attendees “cause ongoing transmission, frequently infecting multiple people in a single gathering.”


As new daily cases in the United States surpassed 145,000 on Wednesday, New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (D) announced a 10-person limit on gatherings in private homes, calling them a “great spreader.” Similar restrictions have been imposed in states including Ohio; Utah; Connecticut; Colorado, where one recent cluster involved seven people infected while playing the dice game bunco; and Rhode Island, whose governor has pledged to fine violators. Oregon last week announced a “pause” in hard-hit counties on most groups larger than six people. “Earlier in the outbreak, much of the growth in new daily cases was being driven by focal outbreaks — long-term care facilities, things of that nature,” said Nirav Shah, director of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Maine, where cases have soared in the past two weeks. “Now, the kitchen table is a place of risk.”


https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/11/12/covid-social-gatherings/




https://twitter.com/chrislhayes/status/1326918112160178178?s=20

November 12, 2020

Trump's election challenge looks like a scam to line his pockets "It's a straight up bait & switch"

President Trump isn’t really trying to overturn the election. He’s simply running one more scam before he leaves office that would enable him to enrich himself.


“They’re trying to STEAL this Election,” declared one such Trump campaign fundraising missive from “Donald J. Trump, President of the United States” on Wednesday afternoon. “I promise you my team is fighting the clock to DEFEND the integrity of this Election, but we cannot do it alone. We need EVERY Patriot, like YOU, to step up and make sure we have the resources to keep going. … Please contribute ANY AMOUNT RIGHT NOW to DEFEND the Election.”

But at the provided link to the “OFFICIAL ELECTION DEFENSE FUND,” the legalese at the end says something rather different:
Sixty percent of the contribution, up to $5,000, goes to “Save America,” Trump’s newly created leadership PAC. And 40 percent of the contribution up to $35,500, goes to the Republican National Committee’s operating account, its political (not legal) fund. Only after reaching the first maximum would a single penny go to Trump’s “Recount Account,” and only after reaching the second maximum would a penny go to the RNC’s legal account.

“It’s a straight-up bait and switch,” Paul S. Ryan, the vice president of policy and litigation at Common Cause, tells me. Such email solicitations target small donors, so for the “overwhelming majority of people contributing … none of their money will end up in recount accounts” or be used for otherwise challenging the election.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/11/11/trumps-election-challenge-looks-like-scam-line-his-pockets/

November 11, 2020

PA AG - There is no legal mechanism for state legislature to appoint electors. None

https://twitter.com/JoshShapiroPA/status/1326655676505075712?s=20


There is no legal mechanism for the state legislature to act alone and appoint electors. None.


@ThePlumLineGS
· 58m
No, the "hail mary" plan for Trump isn't going to work. I tried to boil down the scenario in which a GOP legislature sends its own electors to make it as simple as a "Dick and Jane" story.

Pennsylvania AG Josh Shapiro's office explained it all to me here:
https://washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/11/11/no-hail-mary-plan-trump-isnt-going-work/

November 11, 2020

Evidence suggests several state Senate candidates were plants funded by dark money (FL)

MIAMI – Why would candidates for Florida Senate seats do no campaigning, no fundraising, have no issue platforms, nor make any effort to get votes?

Local 10 News has found evidence to suggest three such candidates in three Florida Senate district races, two of them in Miami Dade County, were shill candidates whose presence in the races were meant to syphon votes from Democratic candidates.

Comparisons of the no-party candidates' public campaign records show similarities and connections that suggest they are all linked by funding from the same dark money donors, and part of an elaborate scheme to upset voting patterns.

In one of those races, District 37, a recount is underway because the spread between the Democratic and Republican candidates is only 31 votes. The third party candidate received more than 6300 votes. That third party candidate is Alexis Rodriguez, who has the same last name as the Democratic incumbent senator Jose Javier Rodriguez. The Republican challenger is Ileana Garcia. Alexis Rodriguez falsified his address on his campaign filing form last June. The couple who now live at the Palmetto Bay address say they have been repeatedly harassed since then by people looking for Rodriguez, who hadn’t lived there in five years.

https://www.local10.com/news/local/2020/11/11/evidence-suggests-several-state-senate-candidates-were-plants-funded-by-dark-money/